Ubisoft: Stupid or Evil?

[ResonanceGames]

Sometimes I wonder if these stupid DRM schemes don't just exist to appease shareholders. It seems like most of the people with a stake in the company probably aren't very savvy to how digital distribution works, but they're aware that piracy is rampant, and they demand that things be done about it. Then Ubisoft licenses this crazy software and sticks it on their products so when the next quarterly review rolls around, they can say they're using the top technology out there to fight piracy. It's an easier sell for a more traditional corporation that isn't interested in taking the necessary risks to actually innovate.

And that's why Valve is bringing in billions, while Ubisoft is constantly struggling.

 

[chuckman1]

People also pirate games because in the case of Ubisoft games the pirates deliver a better service. Always avaiable, no activation limits (change your graphic card and realise that it uses one activation of Anno FTW).

DRM also doesn't do jack to prevent piracy, it just punishes the ones who pay for the game. Better service prevents piracy.

Stealing a DVD provides a better service than buying it. In that I don't have to pay money.

This is an excuse, and a bad one at that. Video games are an entertainment product, not a right. If you don't agree with what the company that releases a specific game is doing, that doesn't magically give you the right to steal it. It means you don't play that game, if you don't want to buy it.

That's a bad analogy.
Imagine if you could only watch that dvd on ONE DVD PLAYER.
Unless of course you download the torrent (I don't condone it I'm just sayin)
thats how bad ubisoft retail copies are

 

[FalloutJack]

Can we just invent a new term for this? Like..."Stupevil"?

 

[Harlief]

Can we please ignore the one-sided hate thread? I'm sick of reading threads where the discussion value is "On a 1-10 scale, how much do you agree X sucks? Note; picking 1-8 is not allowed." Nothing is gained from this type of thing.

Then write something which logically and irrefutably defends Ubisoft's actions.

 

[Snotnarok]

They're stupid, they're not evil because they want to make money. However they're stupid and punish their customers for buying their games with stupid ass DRM.

It's why I'll never buy a PC game from them again. I have no interest in having to be constantly online for their insanity. It makes no sense, I bought the game why do I have to be online and monitored? Pirates just get the game and play it the way it was supposed to be played.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

They're French. They've already got enough stereotypes to deal with.

 

[Sandytimeman]

giving games unimaginably horrible drm drivng people to piracy, blaming pirates for EVERYTHING

DRM is protecting their product and should not drive people to piracy, in fact people pirate games cause they don't want to pay!

actually to be honest the DRM is so bad I don't want to buy any of their games. Course that also makes me not want to pirate them, cuz anything bad enough for me to not buy is also bad enough I don't want to play it.

 

[JesterRaiin]

So my question to you is, do you think Ubisoft is really this stupid?

No. We are. Proof ? It doesn't matter that corporations like Ubisoft are pulling their ideas out of arses. We are still buying this sh*t.

 

[FEichinger]

And another take on piracy from my end:

We have no statistics whatsoever to prove who pirated a game for what reason. But there is one thing for sure: People, who changed their minds in favor of piracy in an attempt to evade the DRM.
This effectively means, after the implementation of such intrusive DRM:

Pirates = People who don't want to pay plus People who don't want the DRM/who don't want to support the company anymore/whatever

Yes, the first part might be a large chunk of the actual pirates. But after all, up to this point, DRM has proven counter-productive.