Stolen Pixels #175: Ubisoft!
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
Silent Hunter has though.Brad Shepard said:
The text was far funnier then the comic.
Ion Storm attempted to set the world record at diving and failed when they smacked their face off the diving board. Ubisoft set out to hit their face on the diving board, and succeeded.
Daikatana - the game I bought for $2 and felt cheated.
And in every interview, Ubisoft was so smug and righteous about their incredible new DRM. And to make it worse... they blamed this server crash on the PLAYERS for their 'exceptional demand.' Get your tar and feathers, PCers... you've definitely earned the right to use them.
And in every interview, Ubisoft was so smug and righteous about their incredible new DRM. And to make it worse... they blamed this server crash on the PLAYERS for their 'exceptional demand.' Get your tar and feathers, PCers... you've definitely earned the right to use them.
I ind it more hilarious to watch people attacking Ubosoft as if the DRM had personally killed there fathers and raped there mothers right in front of them. The amount of overblown rage and prompt is almost satirical in its over-the-topness. It wound up being bad, yes, but it's not "ZOMG! THE END OF PC GAMEING! UBISOFT IS THE DEVILZ!" It was an idea that is kind of a logical step... internal codes are static and can be cracked over time, sever control ensures that hackers don't get the access or time needed to crack, it's just not not really practical. I have the feeling that a whole team of developers is crying right now since there game is getting scorned for something they couldn't control.
Edit: Why do I suddenly hear Ubisoft! as I hear the word KKHHHAAANNNN!!
Edit: Why do I suddenly hear Ubisoft! as I hear the word KKHHHAAANNNN!!
Apparently, they have also managed to successfully combat Day 1 paying customers as well...Jandau said:
I believe that this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U43Ate3Itjs&feature=related Accurately sums up my feelings for Ubisoft.
In other news, retarded monkeys have begun a political action group to express their unhappiness with gamers continuously comparing Ubisoft to them. The name of this group is the Monkey Displeasure-Expressing Committee, which they have shortened to DWERF.
...look, they're retarded monkeys, cut them a little slack.
...look, they're retarded monkeys, cut them a little slack.
Kapow, bull's-eye. Your average gamer doesn't care if pirates, Vikings or aliens are attacking Ubisoft's servers. What they care about is that they plunked down more than half a hundred dollars for a game they cannot play through no fault of their own. Ubisoft has let their attempt to save current sales sabotage future ones- after all, if you bought a game from someone and couldn't play it, would you trust that company when they release their next game?Blackbird71 said:
Surely, the whole point of DRM nowadays is to stop people cracking the game in the first week or so, where the majority of sales happen.
That's now passed, why not drop it now and let the legit players enjoy the game unharrassed?
Of course, that would mean making it look like you'd admitted to a mistake, and ego comes before bothering to supply your customers with a working product, so I guess everyone's out of luck, including the unfortunates who worked their butts off crafting AC II and SH 5, who are seeing all their hard work ignored based on a decision out of their hands.
That's now passed, why not drop it now and let the legit players enjoy the game unharrassed?
Of course, that would mean making it look like you'd admitted to a mistake, and ego comes before bothering to supply your customers with a working product, so I guess everyone's out of luck, including the unfortunates who worked their butts off crafting AC II and SH 5, who are seeing all their hard work ignored based on a decision out of their hands.
http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Creed-2-Pc/dp/B001TOQ8R0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
Anyone else having trouble getting thier 1 star review of AC2 in Amazon? I wrote mine this morning at like 8:00 AM and it still hasn't shown up yet. Seriously, it was 1000 1 star reviews on Amazon that got EA to drop the DRM.
Anyone else having trouble getting thier 1 star review of AC2 in Amazon? I wrote mine this morning at like 8:00 AM and it still hasn't shown up yet. Seriously, it was 1000 1 star reviews on Amazon that got EA to drop the DRM.
I think it hadn't been cracked as of yet- not that I follow!
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Anyway, this DRM is just hilariously bad. Hope they fix it.
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Anyway, this DRM is just hilariously bad. Hope they fix it.
Am I the only one to notice how this DRM is very similar to the Steam's one? I know steam DOES let you play offline, but anyone who tried it can tell you it is spotty at least and unreliable at worst.
That's why I like Impulse. They make games already assuming a cracker will pirate it, so they make sure their DRM doesn't bother their costumers adding an annoyance that pirates don't have to deal with. And even a game as vastly pirated as Demigod end up selling very well by its own (one of the best sold titles of Impulse, actually), because the customers know that they care.
Publishers have to realize that in this age of information availability, they're not offering products to customers anymore unless this product is strictly material (that means, a machine or other functional object, not a vessel for data like a DVD or Book). They're asking customers if their product is worth paying for, simple as that. They also need to realize that customers want to have some practicality to mess with their bought products nowdays, be it modding freedom or the possibility of having backups. No-one HAS to pay for this kind of product anymore, it is a choice of the costumer to decide if the product is worthy the price. And it works, otherwise Impulse would be bankrupt by now. Actually, the whole entertainment industry.
That's why I like Impulse. They make games already assuming a cracker will pirate it, so they make sure their DRM doesn't bother their costumers adding an annoyance that pirates don't have to deal with. And even a game as vastly pirated as Demigod end up selling very well by its own (one of the best sold titles of Impulse, actually), because the customers know that they care.
Publishers have to realize that in this age of information availability, they're not offering products to customers anymore unless this product is strictly material (that means, a machine or other functional object, not a vessel for data like a DVD or Book). They're asking customers if their product is worth paying for, simple as that. They also need to realize that customers want to have some practicality to mess with their bought products nowdays, be it modding freedom or the possibility of having backups. No-one HAS to pay for this kind of product anymore, it is a choice of the costumer to decide if the product is worthy the price. And it works, otherwise Impulse would be bankrupt by now. Actually, the whole entertainment industry.
A note to the console owners commenting in the thread:
The only way this type of DRM can fly to the big companies is because Internet connectivity has become commonplace for PC owners. Ubisoft seem to be saying that since 90% of gaming PCs are connected at all times to the Internet (which isn't accurate at all, but how Ubisoft justify their approach), they can sacrifice the 10% of other legitimate users because they will make far more money back from the people who would have otherwise pirated the game (an enormous flaw because it assumes everyone that pirated the game would have - or could have afforded to - purchase the game, which is questionable logic at best, and always has been).
If the experiment is successful, than have no doubt it will be extended to the consoles as well. Once it reaches the point where say 90% of PS3s are connected to PSN at all times or 90% of X-Box 360s are connected to X-Box Live at all times, then the temptation to employ Internet-based DRM to stamp out the small numbers of pirates on those formats will become difficult to resist, especially after it's 'success' on PC.
Now, given that piracy is a much smaller issue on consoles, you might argue that it will not come to this, and perhaps not if piracy was the sole concern. However, it has been clear for some time that the secondary purpose of DRM has been to destroy the second-hand gaming market, which is, to their minds, costing the console companies vast sums of money: (since it is often cheaper to buy a used copy of say the last hot GTA game rather than pick up the official budget edition). DRM has succeeded is pretty much eliminating the second-hand PC gaming market here in the UK, for example. The consoles will be next, have no fear.
The only way this type of DRM can fly to the big companies is because Internet connectivity has become commonplace for PC owners. Ubisoft seem to be saying that since 90% of gaming PCs are connected at all times to the Internet (which isn't accurate at all, but how Ubisoft justify their approach), they can sacrifice the 10% of other legitimate users because they will make far more money back from the people who would have otherwise pirated the game (an enormous flaw because it assumes everyone that pirated the game would have - or could have afforded to - purchase the game, which is questionable logic at best, and always has been).
If the experiment is successful, than have no doubt it will be extended to the consoles as well. Once it reaches the point where say 90% of PS3s are connected to PSN at all times or 90% of X-Box 360s are connected to X-Box Live at all times, then the temptation to employ Internet-based DRM to stamp out the small numbers of pirates on those formats will become difficult to resist, especially after it's 'success' on PC.
Now, given that piracy is a much smaller issue on consoles, you might argue that it will not come to this, and perhaps not if piracy was the sole concern. However, it has been clear for some time that the secondary purpose of DRM has been to destroy the second-hand gaming market, which is, to their minds, costing the console companies vast sums of money: (since it is often cheaper to buy a used copy of say the last hot GTA game rather than pick up the official budget edition). DRM has succeeded is pretty much eliminating the second-hand PC gaming market here in the UK, for example. The consoles will be next, have no fear.