Ubisoft Makes Tiny Tweak to Driver DRM

[Keava]

Baby steps, eh? Oh well, haven't played Driver since the first one on old, grey PlayStation...and not really looking forward to new one. Plenty of more interesting way to spend my money.

After careful consideration of E3 I have to call bullshit.

To each of their own. I got DEx3, HOMM VI, Skyrim, Arkham City this year, ME3, TSW and hopefully GW2 next year. More than enough for me, and that's not counting all the possible indie productions that lately make up 60-70% of my gaming.

 

[Something Amyss]

Your Steam account must be set to auto-login (the "remember password" checkbox), so that requires you to be connected to the internet. But once that's done, if you start Steam and it can't connect to the internet, you're given the option to start offline mode.

What Ubisoft is doing with this game though is that you have to connect every time you play, not just the time you install it.

Ah. That appears to explain it. Merci.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Here's an idea:

Make you sign into the internet for the first time you launch but allow you to play any time after that.

Is that too much to ask?!

Or how about some kind of key code system that the game asks you to put in upon installation. But that would be crazy, I mean, they'd have to have something like 25 characters in a letter/number combo in order to have enough for all the individual copies.

 

[jmarquiso]

So...what they did for Assassin's Creed 2, and the reason I don't play it too often.
Got it.

 

[Uber Waddles]

I think Penny Arcade said it best. Lets all ***** about Always On DRM, despite the fact that most of us have been connected to the internet continuously since 1999.

Its getting kind of pathetic. Most of the people posting will not be effected by this issue AT ALL. Most of us have dedicated internet that runs all the time. "But I can't play it on planes/trains, etc.". Then don't purchase the game. Its that simple. This DRM system is far from perfect, but they wouldnt be doing it if a vast majority of their users didn't have a steady connection thats almost always running. I really have no sympathy for people who try to sob it up, saying they can't play this game for reason XYZ. If you're in a situation where you dont have internet, its because -

A. You put yourself into a position where you cannot access the internet. Be this because you cant pay your bills, you want to save money so you siphon internet from neighbors, or if your enlisted in the military. In these cases, I honestly don't think gaming is a priority.


B. Its temporary. Plane or Train rides can be long. But theres plenty of other things to do - not to mention that this system of DRM hardly effects any games. Zomg what am I gonna do? Oh yeah, I have an ENTIRE library of steam games.

There is really no reason for this ammount of backlash. If you disagree with what the companys doing, posting about how much you dislike it on the internet won't do jack. Put your money where your mouth is and don't buy the product.

They do this style of DRM because PC versions of their game get pirated ALOT more than their console counterparts. While its not a system that will stop piracy, it does take them quite a while to crack, and increases profit margins on PC games. Believe it or not, the people outraged by DRM are often louder than those who aren't - and more than likely the lack of your sales is going to be made up for by a whole host of others who dont care

 

[Dioxide20]

Is it against the rules to buy the game, and i stress buy in that last part, and then get the crack?

This seems to me to be a legitimate work around. You bought the game, and then you don't have to deal with the stupid DRM, why not get the best of both worlds?

 

[Worgen]

this still bodes not well for heroes 6, I hope its just got steam

 

[Baresark]

Wow, so... no improvement. I would say that they have lied in that they did not listen to the customers.

I think Penny Arcade said it best. Lets all ***** about Always On DRM, despite the fact that most of us have been connected to the internet continuously since 1999.

Its getting kind of pathetic. Most of the people posting will not be effected by this issue AT ALL. Most of us have dedicated internet that runs all the time. "But I can't play it on planes/trains, etc.". Then don't purchase the game. Its that simple. This DRM system is far from perfect, but they wouldnt be doing it if a vast majority of their users didn't have a steady connection thats almost always running. I really have no sympathy for people who try to sob it up, saying they can't play this game for reason XYZ. If you're in a situation where you dont have internet, its because -

A. You put yourself into a position where you cannot access the internet. Be this because you cant pay your bills, you want to save money so you siphon internet from neighbors, or if your enlisted in the military. In these cases, I honestly don't think gaming is a priority.


B. Its temporary. Plane or Train rides can be long. But theres plenty of other things to do - not to mention that this system of DRM hardly effects any games. Zomg what am I gonna do? Oh yeah, I have an ENTIRE library of steam games.

There is really no reason for this ammount of backlash. If you disagree with what the companys doing, posting about how much you dislike it on the internet won't do jack. Put your money where your mouth is and don't buy the product.

They do this style of DRM because PC versions of their game get pirated ALOT more than their console counterparts. While its not a system that will stop piracy, it does take them quite a while to crack, and increases profit margins on PC games. Believe it or not, the people outraged by DRM are often louder than those who aren't - and more than likely the lack of your sales is going to be made up for by a whole host of others who dont care

I hear what you are saying, but it's not legitimate for you to say what is and is not okay for the customer base, only for yourself. This is a legitimate concern for some people. Also, this is a stupid excuse to stop piracy, it won't stop piracy. You can be sure that within a day of it's release, a crack that will bypass the DRM will be released. Now you are punishing people who bought the game by making their version the harder one to play with more rules attached to it. Also, if you "*****" about it online, the company has a habit of listening, just not Ubisoft. Capcom removed GFWL at the behest of all the people "bitching" about how much they hate it. Ubisoft didn't, and now people will more than likely vote with their wallet. But people like to give a company a heads up and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[ASnogarD]

Ubisoft makes PC games ? Now thats news.

 

[MonkeyPunch]

Another game you won't be able to play on your laptop on travels unless you find a hotspot.
So yeah, it's not only you Andy who's hard to please.

Say what you want about Capcom but at least they changed their ridiculous DRM policy for SSFIV AE when users found out about it. So that is a game I constantly play when on the move.
(I spent all of last week in an apartment in Paris with no internet connection or TV - SSFIV and Jamestown saved me from going bonkers)

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

I think Penny Arcade said it best. Lets all ***** about Always On DRM, despite the fact that most of us have been connected to the internet continuously since 1999.

Its getting kind of pathetic. Most of the people posting will not be effected by this issue AT ALL. Most of us have dedicated internet that runs all the time. "But I can't play it on planes/trains, etc.". Then don't purchase the game. Its that simple. This DRM system is far from perfect, but they wouldnt be doing it if a vast majority of their users didn't have a steady connection thats almost always running. I really have no sympathy for people who try to sob it up, saying they can't play this game for reason XYZ. If you're in a situation where you dont have internet, its because -

A. You put yourself into a position where you cannot access the internet. Be this because you cant pay your bills, you want to save money so you siphon internet from neighbors, or if your enlisted in the military. In these cases, I honestly don't think gaming is a priority.


B. Its temporary. Plane or Train rides can be long. But theres plenty of other things to do - not to mention that this system of DRM hardly effects any games. Zomg what am I gonna do? Oh yeah, I have an ENTIRE library of steam games.

There is really no reason for this ammount of backlash. If you disagree with what the companys doing, posting about how much you dislike it on the internet won't do jack. Put your money where your mouth is and don't buy the product.

They do this style of DRM because PC versions of their game get pirated ALOT more than their console counterparts. While its not a system that will stop piracy, it does take them quite a while to crack, and increases profit margins on PC games. Believe it or not, the people outraged by DRM are often louder than those who aren't - and more than likely the lack of your sales is going to be made up for by a whole host of others who dont care

I have not been continuously connected to the internet since 1999. And just because I'm connected, doesn't mean they are. They're servers can fail; we've seen it before. I know I don't have to purchase it. That fact doesn't make this any less asinine or frustrating. Maybe I wanted to play the game. Now I can't. That's hardly ideal.

As for the rest, I should be able to put myself in a position where I don't have the internet and still play the single player game I purchased. Besides, most of us will probably go without the internet due to circumstances outside our control at some point, and for some this condition is frequent or constant. I live in an area threatened by seasonal storms, and you never know what services will become unavailable. And just for the record, I have never pirated a game.

 

[robert01]

Woooooow, considering that most games hate the fuck out of you when you Alt + Tab out, this change is nothing but total bullshit. I don't think Ubisoft gets the idea all that well. I can honestly say I haven't played a Ubisoft game in years, and apparently I am not missing out on that much either.

 

[vxicepickxv]

You know, when Ubisoft started this bullshit with always on DRM, I was angry. But since then, I've realized that the best thing I can do is not buy their games.

Same. Although I'm up for From Dust. But other than that, this is pretty much a Ubi-Free Zone. (Which is relatively easy since Ubi doesn't publish much of anything I care about anyway.)

I hate always on DRM for single player games so much, I'm not getting any Starcraft 2, nor am I getting Diablo 3.

When it comes to an MMO, always on is how it works. I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem with single player always on. I can't always get on. Some of us travel too much, and can't always get stable internet connections for always on single player.

 

[Helscreama]

I agree, this doesn't change anything. You still have to be connected to the internet. I just don't think that is fair.

 

[The Random One]

It's a huge improvement. The problem is that the original idea was buried so deep in shit that a huge improvement is barely enough to see out of it.

 

[ZenoX969]

It's a small improvement. But it's still a shitty deal. Stuff like this wouldn't matter on a multiplayer game. But when it's single player it becomes more convenient to pirate it... even if you did purchase the game and just want to be able to play it whenever you wish.

They're trying to fight piracy, but they have no idea what they are doing. And are therefore just screwing over their loyal customers instead. Which could possibly lead to even less sales for them on the PC. And potentially more pirated copies being downloaded.

But hey... it's their money, they can waste it however they wish.

 

[Kagim]

I really hope the people who are pissed off about this will do the right thing and not come in contact with the game in any way shape or form. The answer to a company pulling crap isn't to spray paint the word fag on it's wall. The answer is to steer clear of the company and ALL of it's products, not just the offending one, and advise others to do the same.

When a company loses profits and can't blame illegal downloading for it they will feel the wrath of investors pulling out.

If you give them "WELL IT'S PIRATE BAYS FAULT!!!!" as an excuse investors won't be so quick to pull out of the company.

I wonder if that offended someone.... Probably... Gonna go back to planning out the order I'm going to devour all the legal, free, drm-less games that are pouring out of the woodwork...

 

[AzureRaven]

Ubisoft don't seem to be the brightest minds out there, eh?
Well, I've only ever been interested in 3 games they ever published anyway.
2 were Splinter Cell games which I don't think I want another of.(I liked Chaos Theory and Conviction, I just want the series to die now though, it's gone long enough.)
And the other is Armored Core: For Answer....and that's the only AC game they published, Namco Bandai is handling the next one.
So given that...I honestly don't care what they do at this point. If they want to dig their own grave, let them. They'll have to figure it out sooner or later.

 

[duchaked]

well I guess that kind of helps...

guess it really depends on the game. there are only some worthy of being played when I'm in a situation where I am away from home and don't have Internet (traveling at some airport where I don't want to pay for theirs or something)

 

[Nurb]

They don't understand that this pushes people INTO piracy because they will be looking for a crack to turn off the "always on" DRM and when they're looking they'll figure they don't need to pay for it at all if it comes to all this hassle. People here have even said they'll buy a game and download a crack to turn it off. They shouldn't have to rely on pirates to have a better gaming experience

This is bullshit. If this requires some sort of internet tether that prevents you from playing if your net is out, then you're basically renting the game and it shouldn't be full priced.

If two people are playing a game, and a pirate can still play if their connection is down all day while the paying customer can't, that means the pirate has a the better gaming experience and not the customer, which is very wrong.

But then I don't care, I don't have any sympathy for the big companies anymore when it comes to pirates.

There is really no reason for this ammount of backlash. If you disagree with what the companys doing, posting about how much you dislike it on the internet won't do jack. Put your money where your mouth is and don't buy the product.

They do this style of DRM because PC versions of their game get pirated ALOT more than their console counterparts. While its not a system that will stop piracy, it does take them quite a while to crack, and increases profit margins on PC games. Believe it or not, the people outraged by DRM are often louder than those who aren't - and more than likely the lack of your sales is going to be made up for by a whole host of others who dont care

Just to point out, there hasn't been a single company that produced numbers showing how much piracy hurt them. It's all guesswork and this "potential sales" crap. They might as well call bad reviews theft because it would disuade customers from buying a game and therefore cost a publisher a potential sale.

They use it as a scapegoat whenever their sequels don't don't sell, like those Prince of Persia sequels that were horrible enough it kept people from playing them but they blamed piracy for not selling as many as they thought they should/