The Needles: You Only Have Yourself To Blame

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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The Needles: You Only Have Yourself To Blame

Ubisoft may have loaded the gun but you, dear gamer, pulled the trigger, so maybe it's time to stop crying about how unfair it is when it goes off in your face.

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Hurr Durr Derp

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Apr 8, 2009
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I agree 100%. While I'm not about to place the blame for what happened anywhere but at Ubisoft's feet, it's the gamers' own fault for being affected by Ubisoft's mistakes.

If you're paying to support and stimulate Ubisoft's retarded schemes, you deserve to reap the consequences. For better or worse.
 

uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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Sure, quite a few PC gamers are aware of some form of DRM. But I wouldn't say that most are aware it exists, or are even aware just what games it comes packaged in. You can't necessarily blame the consumer, some people very likely buy these games and have no knowledge of what DRM is, exactly. In any case, it's no excuse to shift the blame from Ubisoft, as regardless of what platform we wish to enjoy our games on, they are the ones shoving this bullshit down our throats. That's like saying it's the victims fault for getting shot for being in the store when it got robbed.
 

Yopaz

Sarcastic overlord
Jun 3, 2009
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Well, piracy is to blame for this... but not all gamers are stealing games. They should try to find a better way than making gamers hate them. They have now personally challenged hackers to break their code. Nice.
 

MGlBlaze

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Oct 28, 2009
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Hurr Durr Derp said:
I agree 100%. While I'm not about to place the blame for what happened anywhere but at Ubisoft's feet, it's the gamers' own fault for being affected by Ubisoft's mistakes.

If you're paying to support and stimulate Ubisoft's retarded schemes, you deserve to reap the consequences. For better or worse.
Some people are just totally ignorant like that.
*cough MW2 boycott steam group cough*

If they want to show Ubisoft that this shit won't fly then they shouldn't have bought the game; simple as that. No game, no matter how awesome, is worth a system that intrusive and retarded. It's why I'm one of all the 18 people who ACTUALLY haven't bought MW2. Yes, I will stop labouring that example now.

The majority of PC gamers should have heard of this DRM scheme, and they still went out and bought the game. Ubisoft is very much wrong here and I don't think I'll ever buy another Ubisoft-published game again if they keep this up, but the gamers who STILL got the PC version even knowing the bullshit they'd land themselves in have no right to complain.

On the opposite end of the scale, for those people who didn't hear about this and were caught off-guard; they deserve to be able to drive up to Ubisoft HQ and blast the building with a giant laser-canon or something.

Yopaz said:
Well, piracy is to blame for this... but not all gamers are stealing games. They should try to find a better way than making gamers hate them. They have now personally challenged hackers to break their code. Nice.
Something they in fact did on the very first day.
 

PopcornAvenger

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Jul 15, 2008
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I haven't purchased AC2, nor will I. I don't download pirated games. Nor, as a gamer, will I shoulder any of the blame for what's occurred.

I call it just deserts - for both Ubisoft and those who bought AC2. I hope it drives the game's sales into the ground.

I live with a lot of DRM. I buy games from Steam. I put up with activation limits. Ubisoft stepped over the line.
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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uppitycracker said:
Sure, quite a few PC gamers are aware of some form of DRM. But I wouldn't say that most are aware it exists, or are even aware just what games it comes packaged in. You can't necessarily blame the consumer, some people very likely buy these games and have no knowledge of what DRM is, exactly. In any case, it's no excuse to shift the blame from Ubisoft, as regardless of what platform we wish to enjoy our games on, they are the ones shoving this bullshit down our throats. That's like saying it's the victims fault for getting shot for being in the store when it got robbed.
I think Andy was fairly clear that he's not talking to those folks who genuinely got blindsided by this, which, undoubtedly, many people did. He's specifically referencing those who went into the situation knowing the inherent risks, then shouted to the heavens when the servers went down.

Also, it's not about shifting blame, but rather than owning up to one's share of it. I don't think anyone is arguing that Ubisoft's DRM is anything other than onerous.
 

MGlBlaze

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Oct 28, 2009
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PopcornAvenger said:
I haven't purchased AC2, nor will I. I don't download pirated games. Nor, as a gamer, will I shoulder any of the blame for what's occurred.

I call it just deserts - for both Ubisoft and those who bought AC2. I hope it drives the game's sales into the ground.
As do I. The gamers who bought the PC version of AC2 (knowing what they were getting) can enjoy their wet-cardboard, wallpaper-paste, dung and cyanide sandwiches. Ubisoft I can only hope, as you said, have their sales driven into the ground so hard that it makes everything around it resemble the surface of the moon.

As for the gamers who were caught off-guard somehow... they have every right to complain and order an artillery strike on Ubisoft HQ.
 

Bob_F_It

It stands for several things
May 7, 2008
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The gamers who make an active decision to avoid the DRM by not buying the game are indeed the clever ones. However, it won't be the entire market that will be aware of what kind of DRM was in the box; they'll be aware of DRM and what it stands for, but not all of them have the same watchful eyes that we do.
How many people that buy pre-owned games are aware that none of the money they're spending has gone to the people that made it?
 

Bagaloo

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Sep 17, 2008
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Susan Arendt said:
uppitycracker said:
Sure, quite a few PC gamers are aware of some form of DRM. But I wouldn't say that most are aware it exists, or are even aware just what games it comes packaged in. You can't necessarily blame the consumer, some people very likely buy these games and have no knowledge of what DRM is, exactly. In any case, it's no excuse to shift the blame from Ubisoft, as regardless of what platform we wish to enjoy our games on, they are the ones shoving this bullshit down our throats. That's like saying it's the victims fault for getting shot for being in the store when it got robbed.
I think Andy was fairly clear that he's not talking to those folks who genuinely got blindsided by this, which, undoubtedly, many people did. He's specifically referencing those who went into the situation knowing the inherent risks, then shouted to the heavens when the servers went down.

Also, it's not about shifting blame, but rather than owning up to one's share of it. I don't think anyone is arguing that Ubisoft's DRM is anything other than onerous.
That's true, but I think having paid for the game the affected gamers were well within their rights to go onto the ubi forums and start raising some hell. You can expect and inevitable disaster, but when it actually occurs you are still going to be overwhelmingly pissed off, regardless of whether you saw it coming or not.
 

uppitycracker

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Susan Arendt said:
uppitycracker said:
Sure, quite a few PC gamers are aware of some form of DRM. But I wouldn't say that most are aware it exists, or are even aware just what games it comes packaged in. You can't necessarily blame the consumer, some people very likely buy these games and have no knowledge of what DRM is, exactly. In any case, it's no excuse to shift the blame from Ubisoft, as regardless of what platform we wish to enjoy our games on, they are the ones shoving this bullshit down our throats. That's like saying it's the victims fault for getting shot for being in the store when it got robbed.
I think Andy was fairly clear that he's not talking to those folks who genuinely got blindsided by this, which, undoubtedly, many people did. He's specifically referencing those who went into the situation knowing the inherent risks, then shouted to the heavens when the servers went down.

Also, it's not about shifting blame, but rather than owning up to one's share of it. I don't think anyone is arguing that Ubisoft's DRM is anything other than onerous.
i see what yer saying, and i agree to a certain degree, but the owning up to ones share of it just doesn't necessarily make sense to me. i dunno, i just have a hard time keeping up the mentality that the consumer should have to own up to it at all. it's an interesting perspective, but one i just can't agree with.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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Yopaz said:
Well, piracy is to blame for this... but not all gamers are stealing games. They should try to find a better way than making gamers hate them. They have now personally challenged hackers to break their code. Nice.
True. The problem is they are currently trying to target everyone...with the idea what is good for the goose is good for the gander...and its a shame really as we are all not to blame for what is going on...I just wish they would realise this and actually come up with a method that does not punish everyone
 

Gildan Bladeborn

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Aug 11, 2009
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In this day and age, if the failure of Ubisoft's DRM caught you by surprise, then I would agree that you don't really have any right to be surprised - you do however have the right to be angry.

If you buy a product that says "Warning: This product will probably explode in your face" and when it does, get angry about it, you're pretty much a moron. If you buy a product that industry analysts warn "looks explosive", but which purports to be perfectly safe, and then it explodes, you shouldn't really be surprised but you darn well better be angry.

This is what it boils down to - Ubisoft did not clearly indicate that "by opening and installing this product you acknowledge that you may have service interrupted at any time because our servers are a piece of shit", ergo anyone who bought their games gets to be angry when that happens. It doesn't matter if everyone on the internet predicted it, the point is Ubisoft told us everything was going to be just fine and then it wasn't.

I don't have much personal sympathy for the people getting locked out of Assassin's Creed 2, as I consider them weak for not taking a stand on principle and boycotting the hell out of Ubisoft forever and ever (amen), but I'm not going to be arrogant enough to suggest they're culpable in this whole fiasco. They are the victims - shame on you Andy.
 

Russian_Assassin

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Apr 24, 2008
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I am not upset because of the DRM. I am upset because Ubisoft treats pc users like crap. We're like the retarded and neglected son of the family. Or at least, that's what Ubisoft thinks.

Also the guy above me is absolutely right.
 

jebussaves88

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May 4, 2008
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You kind of contradict your title within your article, but I think I kind of agree. I'm now planning on just getting it on 360, but it kind of feels like they've won if I do that.
 

Playbahnosh

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Dec 12, 2007
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Susan Arendt said:
uppitycracker said:
Sure, quite a few PC gamers are aware of some form of DRM. But I wouldn't say that most are aware it exists, or are even aware just what games it comes packaged in. You can't necessarily blame the consumer, some people very likely buy these games and have no knowledge of what DRM is, exactly. In any case, it's no excuse to shift the blame from Ubisoft, as regardless of what platform we wish to enjoy our games on, they are the ones shoving this bullshit down our throats. That's like saying it's the victims fault for getting shot for being in the store when it got robbed.
I think Andy was fairly clear that he's not talking to those folks who genuinely got blindsided by this, which, undoubtedly, many people did. He's specifically referencing those who went into the situation knowing the inherent risks, then shouted to the heavens when the servers went down.

Also, it's not about shifting blame, but rather than owning up to one's share of it. I don't think anyone is arguing that Ubisoft's DRM is anything other than onerous.
What would you have them do instead? Sure, there are soccer moms who bought AC2 for their kids not knowing the included Clusterfuck? DRM, but those are the minority. Many gamers also bought AC2 because they like it, and wanted to play with it, and yes, they were probably aware of DRM, but what other choice they had? Either buy it, DRM and all, or pirate the shit out of it.

You can't blame the honest customers for a failure on the publisher's part. Most of them bought AC2 and other Clusterfuck?-ed games very well aware of they are getting into, but what else could they do? Either put up with it, or not play (or pirate it, yes, but that's not the point here). This entire shitstorm is Ubisoft's fault, for putting a shitty DRM on their games AND the failure to live up to their promises of maintaining server availability. Shit got hacked, so what, it's not the customer's fault, it's Ubi's fault, they should go and fix it, the players had no share in that whatsoever. So, no, I disagree with sharing the responsibility of Ubi's mistakes, it's their shit, and no one else's. The players who bought the game and were totally unable to play it because of Ubi's failure have every right to be angry, they payed fucking money for the right to play and now it's taken from them without any tangible reason whatsoever. Of course they are angry and I don't blame them.
 

tomvw

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Feb 5, 2009
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Hmm, this entire Ubisoft DRM thing is giving me HL2/Steam launch flashbacks.

Anyway, on topic, Ubisoft's aggressive DRM system was doomed to fail, and if you didn't see it coming as an experienced gamer, you're either naive or stupid. Still, I can see a lot of less experienced customers fall for this kind of scheme, not really knowing what they're getting themselves into. These people are the real victims and have every right to complain to Ubisoft.

In the end, this is the kind of thing that makes me choose the console version of a game over the PC version *sigh*
 

Cody211282

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Apr 25, 2009
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PopcornAvenger said:
I haven't purchased AC2, nor will I. I don't download pirated games. Nor, as a gamer, will I shoulder any of the blame for what's occurred.

I call it just deserts - for both Ubisoft and those who bought AC2. I hope it drives the game's sales into the ground.

I live with a lot of DRM. I buy games from Steam. I put up with activation limits. Ubisoft stepped over the line.
This is what I think to, I was planning on buying AC2 when it came out for my computer, then heard about the DRM and that kept me away from any new Ubisoft game that is coming out with it. But I do have to say I did feel rather good when I heard that the server was brought down twice in a week, because that was one epic fail on their part.
 

Internet Kraken

Animalia Mollusca Cephalopada
Mar 18, 2009
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I'm also inclined to think that gamers savvy enough to go to the Ubisoft forums to wail about the injustices of the universe should also be savvy enough to consider DRM before buying games.
So using an internet forum somehow makes some savvy? I don't see the logic here. Being an active member of a gaming forum probably means you are savvy. But joining a forum just to complain about your game not working the way Ubisoft said it would does not strike me as savvy as all. I'm betting a lot of them joined to complain about their game not working, which seems like a valid reason to join a forum. I really doubt many people who heard about all of this drama would have bought the game. Some might have ignored it, thinking that Ubisoft would know how to properly manage the DRM they are implementing, in which case it's still Ubisoft's fault.

I just don't see how this is the consumer's fault at all. Ubisoft claimed that the DRM would work fine. Some people had faith in this statement. Maybe they are foolish, but I don't see how this means they have no right to complain. All of the blame here belongs to Ubisoft. That's the way I see it. I don't see how it's fair to berate a someone who pays for their product and expects it to actually work.
 

HentMas

The Loneliest Jedi
Apr 17, 2009
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i dont know why but i get the feeling that in later news we are going to see a bunch of legal action from ubi against 100 kids who are attacking the server...

was this some kind of "troy horse" scheme?? did they knew the servers would be attacked?? are they going to make an example of the people attacking the servers??

who knows, but i hope DRM goes away... or at least its replaced with something more functional