Ubisoft Blames DRM Outage on "Server Attack"

[JEBWrench]

Wait, Electronic Arts?

Some people haven't realized that EA has given up the "evil empire" crown to Ubisoft and Activision.

 

[Retodon8]

Can't do a DOS attack if there's no service to deny.

Yeah, exactly what is this "service" customers are supposed to be getting?
DRM by default is a disservice to customers, this new system by Ubisoft much more so.
We're talking about an offline single player game: single player games don't need any services to work.

It's not even a service to Ubisoft.
It doesn't stop piracy, and it doesn't let them pretend everything is all right in press releases when the poop hits the paddle.
It was actually a clear poop invitation from the start.
I suppose the forums going down makes it a DOS attack concerning their customers, but that should have absolutely nothing to do with an offline, single player game.
Perhaps it disallowed Ubisoft from going online, caused some other problems for them, but I'm pretty sure most customers couldn't care less about that.

 

[7ru7h]

Yeah! Except that's not what it does at all. Steam only has to connect to the servers once per game, plus various other connections for patching and the like. Also, Steam has that nice little offline mode, so after you do the initial connection, you can go into offline mode and never go online again.

Then why, when my internet cuts out, do I get kicked out of a single player Steam game?
I also tested the offline mode, and it refused to let me into offline mode because I had a Steam game running.

What game? I have never had that problem with any of the games I played. As for the offline mode problems, have you tried closing out of all Steam programs, and doing the "Restart in Offline Mode"?

 

[commasplice]

Well, it sucks that some people couldn't play, but unless this is a recurring problem that affects a large number of players I still don't think it's a big deal. Also, my copy cost under $40.

As for people who don't have an internet connection, I think the big sign on the front of the box that reads:
"A permanent internet conection is required to play this game"
is a pretty big forewarning.

Hm, maybe they were warned ahead of time. I don't own the game, so I guess you'd know better than I. There's still the people that may have had service when they bought the game, but couldn't afford it at a later date to consider, though. As for the whole "recurring problem that effects a large number of players" angle, well, it apparently affected enough people for Ubisoft to make a statement about it (even if they did try to downplay it) and it seems like the problem is still ongoing. Have you tried running the game recently? Will it let you play? The Ubisoft forums are still dicking up, so I'm not really sure what the situation is myself.

As far as I'm concerned, though, the fact that anyone paid for the game and wasn't able to play because of a system that only half does its job is unacceptable.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

They just won't admit that this was a stupid idea will they?

I think this "server attack" thing is just them covering up the fact that they FUCKED UP

Also Ubisoft, stop pretending your DRM hasn't been broken, it has, quit being bitter because you've lost the battle.

 

[Echo136]

Yes it is a little annoying that I have to be connected to the internet to play a single-player game, but I think you're all making way too big a deal out of this. Steam does the same thing after all.

Yeah! Except that's not what it does at all. Steam only has to connect to the servers once per game, plus various other connections for patching and the like. Also, Steam has that nice little offline mode, so after you do the initial connection, you can go into offline mode and never go online again.

You still have to connect to the STEAM servers after being on offline mode for 30 days but by comparison it is indeed far superior to Ubi's system.

 

[Desaari]

snip

Have you tried running the game recently? Will it let you play? The Ubisoft forums are still dicking up, so I'm not really sure what the situation is myself.

As far as I'm concerned, though, the fact that anyone paid for the game and wasn't able to play because of a system that only half does its job is unacceptable.

I'll check right now, just for you.
You're right that it's unacceptable, it sucks for those players, but it's still being blown out of proportion.

What game? I have never had that problem with any of the games I played. As for the offline mode problems, have you tried closing out of all Steam programs, and doing the "Restart in Offline Mode"?

Unreal Tournament 3 and FEAR 2. I've tried what you said and it just closes Steam.

 

[commasplice]

I'll check right now, just for you.
You're right that it's unacceptable, it sucks for those players, but it's still being blown out of proportion.

<3 I appreciate it.

Whether we're overreacting or not, though, do you honestly think that Ubisoft would recognize that they're going in the wrong direction if gamers seemed anything less than outraged over this? At the end of the day, the DRM doesn't work. I mean, even if the cracks out there are still imperfect, they still let you play more that you would be able to without a connection at all, right? The whole situation is bass-ackwards. Ubisoft shouldn't even need to be told that this is stupid to begin with.

 

[Retodon8]

I just realized Ubisoft have a Twitter account [http://twitter.com/Ubisoft] where they post some official news.

One update [http://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/10167968810] states: "95% of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors"

Reading it officially worded like that... that's just wrong!
Exactly what service is being provided (supposed to be provided) to the customer here?
Technically the ability to play the game, but that should not even be a "service".

Also I don't quite believe the 5% failure rate.
I feel like I am allowed to after reading [http://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/10176718426]: "We're happy to say ACII & SH5 are withstanding the efforts to crack them.We see the rumors but still confirm no valid cracked versions exist"

Sure, not automatically believing pirated copies exist until you have proof they do, is following the scientific method, but closing your eyes and ears and shouting "LALALALA!" so you can keep it up, is not.
(To be honest I'm not so sure they are all that happy right now either.)

 

[Desaari]

<3 I appreciate it.

It's working fine, for me at least.

Whether we're overreacting or not, though, do you honestly think that Ubisoft would recognize that they're going in the wrong direction if gamers seemed anything less than outraged over this? At the end of the day, the DRM doesn't work. I mean, even if the cracks out there are still imperfect, they still let you play more that you would be able to without a connection at all, right? The whole situation is bass-ackwards. Ubisoft shouldn't even need to be told that this is stupid to begin with.

Those are pretty much the defining aspects of any DRM in my experience.
I'd hate for anyone to miss out on playing Assassin's Creed 2 because of this though, by throwing a hissy fit and refusing to buy it because of this. The DRM while somewhat unnecessary really isn't as bad as it's being made out to be. AC2 really is a great game, and I'm more than prepared to overlook the DRM problems to have it.

 

[7ru7h]

Yes it is a little annoying that I have to be connected to the internet to play a single-player game, but I think you're all making way too big a deal out of this. Steam does the same thing after all.

Yeah! Except that's not what it does at all. Steam only has to connect to the servers once per game, plus various other connections for patching and the like. Also, Steam has that nice little offline mode, so after you do the initial connection, you can go into offline mode and never go online again.

You still have to connect to the STEAM servers after being on offline mode for 30 days but by comparison it is indeed far superior to Ubi's system.

Agreed. Once every 30 days is much better than every second you want to play.

What game? I have never had that problem with any of the games I played. As for the offline mode problems, have you tried closing out of all Steam programs, and doing the "Restart in Offline Mode"?

Unreal Tournament 3 and FEAR 2. I've tried what you said and it just closes Steam.

Well, yeah it closes Steam, since it needs to restart in offline mode. As for those games, I can't say anything one way or the other, since I don't play them, but I have never been kicked out of a Steam game while playing.

 

[Valiance]

Ubisoft has a problem with their servers and paying customers can't play their game.

Man, I don't know what they're thinking. DRM problem? Add more DRM!

 

[Hedberger]

You gotta give them credit for their optimism though. Saying that "only 5%" was affected is kind of like saying "Yes, Port-Au-Prince being demolished in an earthquake was kind of sad but hey, at least Cthulu didn't rise up and swallow the entire island." They really couldn't have missed the point more and the fact that they chose this system themselves fully knowing that this would probably have happened sooner or later.

I can't believe this is even legal. Imagine if someone else did this. Imagine if you weren't given the keys to your car and you had to call the manufacturer and ask him/her to unlock it and if the line is full or they're having electrical problems the only thing they have to say for themselves is we're sorry, not sorry enough to actually change something or compensate for it, but at least only a couple of thousand people was affected.

THIS is the kind of bullshit that is killing PC gaming. The sort of hassling you don't have to go through if you're using a console.

 

[commasplice]

Snip.

Those are pretty much the defining aspects of any DRM in my experience.
I'd hate for anyone to miss out on playing Assassin's Creed 2 because of this though, by throwing a hissy fit and refusing to buy it because of this. The DRM while somewhat unnecessary really isn't as bad as it's being made out to be. AC2 really is a great game, and I'm more than prepared to overlook the DRM problems to have it.

I'm kind of conflicted, personally. I'm looking forward to Beyond Good and Evil 2. I've been waiting for it for just about six years now. This is honestly the first game since the second generation of Pokemon to have me give this much of a shit about whether or not it ever gets released. All that being said, though, I'm seriously contemplating not buying it just because of this nonsense right here.

To me, it doesn't really matter how minor an inconvenience the DRM is when it doesn't work. It's the principle that bugs me. It's not just the fact that you have to go online to play offline. It's not just the fact that you can't play at all if you don't have the internet. It's the fact that Ubisoft seems to care more about the opinions of its shareholders than the opinions of its customers. It's the fact that they don't seem to understand that the we're more essential to their existence than the guys on Wall Street are. Beyond Good and Evil means a lot to me, but there is no doubt in my mind that my money means more to them.

Edit:

You gotta give them credit for their optimism though. Saying that "only 5%" was affected is kind of like saying "Yes, Port-Au-Prince being demolished in an earthquake was kind of sad but hey, at least Cthulu didn't rise up and swallow the entire island." They really couldn't have missed the point more and the fact that they chose this system themselves fully knowing that this would probably have happened sooner or later.

I can't believe this is even legal. Imagine if someone else did this. Imagine if you weren't given the keys to your car and you had to call the manufacturer and ask him/her to unlock it and if the line is full or they're having electrical problems the only thing they have to say for themselves is we're sorry, not sorry enough to actually change something or compensate for it, but at least only a couple of thousand people was affected.

THIS is the kind of bullshit that is killing PC gaming. The sort of hassling you don't have to go through if you're using a console.

Preach, Brother, preach!

 

[StriderShinryu]

I'm willing to buy the story of a DOS attack, but that doesn't let Ubisoft off the hook. Even if you think that customers need to be monitored 24/7 to prevent them from suddenly pirating a game they already bought (which is 'pants-on-head' retarded), it makes no sense to implement a measure that requires your servers being reachable at any time if you can't even guarantee that your servers won't go down the first one some kiddies decide to unleash a simple DOS script on them...

The whole attack would never have been a problem if they didn't have such draconian DRM measures in the first place, and it's more than likely that the attack wouldn't even have happened in that case.

Exactly. Whether it was a DOS attack or not doesn't really matter. The outage, whatever the reason, simply demonstrated just how stupid this DRM is.

 

[L33tsauce_Marty]

Ubisoft Blames DRM Outage on "Server Attack"



The company also maintained that despite reports to the contrary, its hot new DRM system hasn't yet been cracked, adding, "We also confirm that, at this time, no valid cracked version of either Silent Hunter 5 or Assassin's Creed 2 are available."


Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ubisoft-drm-was-attacked-at-weekend]


Permalink

Riiiiigghhhhttt.....

 

[BlackWidower]

This is exactly why DRMs suck.