Ubisoft Says Always-On DRM, "A Success"

[Sightless Wisdom]

I'm calling bullshit. You don't get numbers on piracy. This DRM can and has been removed from most if not all of the games it's been put it. Pirates aren't idiots(despite the opinion of the writer of this article) and are perfectly capable of skirting around systems like this. The way I see it, Ubisoft has no idea how many people pirated their games after this DRM was implemented, but they do know that at least a small number of people did not buy their games. This means DRM : -X Piracy:? That's a definite loss and an uncertain variable.

 

[Denamic]

How does it reduce piracy, exactly?
Because it takes pirate groups like 3 days longer to crack?
I mean, it does in no way prevent pirates from playing the game by copying over a few files like usual.
All it really does it fuck with legit users like every other DRM.
Only much worse.

 

[shadowform]

Ubisoft's DRM is so effective that it doesn't just prevent piracy, it also prevents legal purchases! As a matter of fact, I've specifically avoided any Ubisoft game since they started using this type of DRM. Which is kind of a shame, since AC2 looks pretty good.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

You know what I want to see? an actual discussion of what this DRM means. I've seen lots of people who instantly sputter a gut reaction and condemn it immediately but that's incredibly short sighted. There are lots of issues to discuss here, not the lest of which is why people hate it so much (and don't give me that crap about you just hate DRM or your internet connection sucks there is more to it and you know it). I want to know why people keep blasting DRM and why stories keep getting put it. Its not about simply hating the thing, this is on the level of a zealot crusade and I want to know why. As far as I'm concerned though, it's never going to happen because people are just too angry to talk all they can do is yell. Ah well, maybe DRM should treat use like means spirited children, we sure act like it.

DRM is a pretty wide reaching term but usually when users condemn it they're talking about specific products, like SecuROM, Starforce or Ubisoft's DRM scheme. Quite often people's opinions on DRM doesn't extend to things like Steam or Battlenet, purely because they don't recognise them as such.

It's kind of sad that they don't; Steamworks is almost as bad as Ubisoft's DRM. The only real difference is if you lose your connection in the middle of a game, you don't lose anything on Steam, whereas you do with Ubisoft. In either case, if you don't have internet in the first place, you aren't playing your game, even if you've already registered it. I know Steam has an offline mode, but it only works if you're already online and you have to go off for some reason; there's no starting Steam in offline mode. Oh, it gives the option, but it almost never actually works, and it definitely doesn't work if you try to use online mode but it can't connect because there's something wrong with your internet connection. Case in point, I'm on vacation at a mom and pop hotel with horrible internet, and I can't log in to steam, which is keeping me from playing a substantial chunk of the games I have installed. I don't understand how anyone puts up with Steam for any reason other than the sales, which price games in the rental range -- which is a fair price, since it's just a glorified rental.

 

[karamazovnew]

Ubisoft has managed to encourage piracy overall. Legit users who buy their games get fed up with the DRM and just get a crack, so they get used to pirate sites. And since so many people pirate games in a "try before you buy" manner, considering just how buggy most Ubisoft titles have been in the recent years, pirates feel even more justified to do this. Especially since Ubisoft's game patch support is... well, isn't. The only title still worth something is the Assassin's Creed series, but even that has gone down the drain because of the game design (I miss Jerusalem).

On the other hand, the reduction in piracy has mostly been influenced by how fed up people are to play buggy games. I was so furious about how little support they offered for Far Cry 2 (those damns road blocks!!!!) that news of the DRM did't even bother me. The last Ubi game I bought was Silent Hunter 5 which was the first title to have permanent online DRM (one month before Settlers) which was a disaster and killed the franchise, so it isn't even mentioned anywhere. Ever since, I haven't even been tempted to pirate their games, let alone buy one. I played Assassin's Creed 2 on a friend's XBox, pirated of course... Even crack groups have lost interest in cracking their games. A quick glance on their forums, a few days after release is ample evidence of how bad their games are. I've noticed that sites such as Gamespot don't even review some of their titles anymore, such as IL-2 Cliffs of Dover.

 

[teebeeohh]

this does it. between this shit and delaying PC version for half a year for no reason i will not find out how the ass cred series ends. Although by the tome they are done milking ezio i would probably not have cared anyway.

 

[Canid117]

Haha lying is unbecoming Ubisoft.

 

[Aklyon]

it worked on Assassin's Creed 2 for something like 6 weeks, which may just be long enough. I don't know how long it worked on other titles.

It won't last anywhere near as long now, so why bother to keep using it? The crackers already got the way disable/trick/remove it once from SH5 and AS2, now its just minor modifications away from fitting whatever game they target that has it.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Their DRM has successfully increased piracy of their games. Seriously, who would even consider using a legitimate copy of a Ubisoft game for PC? Even people who buy their shit all pirate it afterwards just to have a better copy.

 

[Accountfailed]

Well, that Ubisoft rep is an idiot, time and time again always-on DRM is proved to be a fundamentally flawed idea, you don't sell clothes with the magnetic anti-theft tags permanently stitched in, but that's not why this guy is an idiot.

believe it or not, Ubisoft has successfully fought piracy, by making an always online drm checking scheme to deter filthy pirates and paying customers alike. by releasing their pc version half a goddamn century later than the console version. Quick example, BroHood.
AC:B - console, released 16th November 2010
Ac:B - PC, released 17th March 2011

The person in Ubisoft that came up with this idea needs a fucking medal, and cake, and this rep as a personal servant. It's perfect, people are pushed to buy the console port because the PC port takes longer to come out and by the time the game gets out on the scene, all the pirates have either bought it on console, borrowed it from a friend who's finished it, bought it pre-owned or just simply couldn't care because the words gotten out and the game sucks or they've forgotten it entirely.

Also, Settlers 7 SUCKED I reached a gamebreaking bug in second bloody level.

 

[infohippie]

What a spectacular load of bullshit! Time to [do stupid stuff]

[image width=400]http://picardfacepalm.com/picard-facepalm.jpg[/IMG]
Dude, how many people just on this thread have already been warned for saying something like that? And you're on your second last suspension before permaban. You might wanna go back and edit your post.

 

[mikespoff]

A self-proclaimed success I might add. As far as my little inner circle goes, none of my friends, including myself, bought anything DRM-related after Ubisoft pulled that stunt. That's several hundred dollars lost just right there. It might not speak for the world as a whole, but I'm sure many followed suit to some degree. So...if by working, they mean it's not working, then I agree.

Same with me. Ubi was one of my favourite publishers a few years ago - between Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six Vegas, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Far Cry 2, etc, most of my games started with the Ubisoft logo.

Then came their AC2 DRM stunt, and I haven't bought a Ubi title since.

As much as I'd love to see what they did with AssCreed, I'm not going to buy a game under those restrictions.

 

[mikespoff]

Steamworks is almost as bad as Ubisoft's DRM. The only real difference is if you lose your connection in the middle of a game, you don't lose anything on Steam, whereas you do with Ubisoft. In either case, if you don't have internet in the first place, you aren't playing your game, even if you've already registered it. I know Steam has an offline mode, but it only works if you're already online and you have to go off for some reason; there's no starting Steam in offline mode. Oh, it gives the option, but it almost never actually works, and it definitely doesn't work if you try to use online mode but it can't connect because there's something wrong with your internet connection.

Dude, I've been using Steam for a couple of years now, and I have no idea what you're talking about. I've run it on multiple computers with multiple OS's, and I have zero problems with offline mode.

For me, Steamworks is the right balance for DRM - it's seamless, it's invisible, and one-time activation is all you need. And you can uninstall and reinstall your games all you like.

 

[fenrizz]

Always-on drm is a success: it has successfully persuaded me to stop buying Ubisoft products entirely. They don't care, of course, so fair's fair.

Same here.

I boycott all Ubisoft games on all platforms.
I will tolerate this type of DRM, and nor am I willing to support a studio/publisher that uses such a DRM system.

I am not a criminal and I demand to not be treated like one.

 

[Jodah]

If by success they mean pushing more and more people to piracy, then I agree.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Steamworks is almost as bad as Ubisoft's DRM. The only real difference is if you lose your connection in the middle of a game, you don't lose anything on Steam, whereas you do with Ubisoft. In either case, if you don't have internet in the first place, you aren't playing your game, even if you've already registered it. I know Steam has an offline mode, but it only works if you're already online and you have to go off for some reason; there's no starting Steam in offline mode. Oh, it gives the option, but it almost never actually works, and it definitely doesn't work if you try to use online mode but it can't connect because there's something wrong with your internet connection.

Dude, I've been using Steam for a couple of years now, and I have no idea what you're talking about. I've run it on multiple computers with multiple OS's, and I have zero problems with offline mode.

For me, Steamworks is the right balance for DRM - it's seamless, it's invisible, and one-time activation is all you need. And you can uninstall and reinstall your games all you like.

I've been using it for a year, and have had no end of trouble with offline mode. If you have a spotty internet connection and it goes out while it's trying to log into your account, it will refuse to log in until you get internet back. Even offline mode spits out an error about being unable to connect to the server. Similarly, Steam does DRM checks every so often on the games, even after they've had their initial registration. The last time I had a few days out of reach of the internet, I couldn't play the Half Life games at all, because even though offline mode was working (along with most of the games), the DRM on Half Life hadn't been verified in a while, and Steam wasn't about to let me play until it contacted the mothership. If you aren't having problems with offline mode, count yourself lucky -- I know I feel lucky that I only have to deal with it when I'm traveling.

Edit: It also messes up if steam locks up while you're trying to log in, which generally happens if there's something wrong with your internet connection.

 

[bakan]

Lets see, they drive away their customers and encourage piracy on the PC and call it a success.
Yet, they pretend as if piracy doesn't happen on consoles.

Well, I decided for myself not to buy any Ubisoft games, neither for my PS3 nor for my PC. (ok, I got AC for the PS3, but bought it used)

 

[tlgAlaska]

I could join the ranting against the Always-On DRM, but then I would be a hypocrite, because nowadays a huge part of my games is on Steam and that's basically the same (but at least Valve makes up for it with neat sales now and then)

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

It is a bit funny that you would condemn DRM more or less, while referencing a Valve game. You know, those games that force you to use Steam. A form of DRM, whether you like admitting it or not.

The one that I said was a version of DRM earlier? While you have the picture of Saxton Hale.

Methinks you're fencing with the wrong person.

DRM does need condemning, even Steam, so do tabloid newspapers, early death, and a lot of other things. They're also necessary/unavoidable in a world like this. Doesn't mean I have to like them.

 

[infohippie]

guess Brotherhood on the PC LOST sales?

Well, my local game store had big piles of the boxed PC version sitting there that had been marked to 50% off less than two weeks after it was released. I'm pretty sure they weren't doing that because they were flying off the shelves. When the guy at the counter saw I was buying PC games, he tried to get me to buy this too. I told him exactly why I wasn't going to - he looked kinda glum about it, but he didn't argue the point.