What's so outrageous about Uplay?

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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It doesn't work.

Every single technical problem I've had with an Ubisoft game of late has been caused by Uplay.

I've taken to cracking legally purchased games just to get the fucking things to function as intended.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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BakaSmurf said:
fenrizz said:
BakaSmurf said:
Johnny Novgorod said:
From what I've gathered listening to my PC Gaming Master Race friend's horror stories it depends entirely on which version of uPlay you're using, the console version, or the PC version.
Wait...
Do you have to install UPlay on consoles too?
Or is it optional?
No, you don't have to install it on consoles, it comes as an optional service built into every Ubisoft game. A rather unobtrusive one I might add, unless you're a whiner. "Press X to sign into uPlay" floating in the corner of the start-up screen is hardly as annoying as I've heard several people claim it to be. The sign-in wait can get a little lengthy (up to a minute on my shit boonies internet connection), but it's far from an inconvenience considering the game works just fine even if the Ubisoft servers are down.
This is me. Uplay on the PS3 is the most unobtrusive thing since canned air. I gather from this thread that Uplay can be a ***** on PC, but goes completely unnoticed on console. Like I said, I didn't even realize I had a Uplay account until my third Ubi game, and then it was completely accidental.
 

Haerthan

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It is a shitty steam clone. Also liable to break your games and in some cases even fucking take them away from you. Cause Ubisoft's coding is run by a bunch of stupid monkeys. Case in point AC Unity

Captcha: sunshine. Fuck you Captcha, just fuck you
 

Dalisclock

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I've been playing AC: Black Flag lately and I was kind of excited when I found out that Kenway can send captured ships to his fleet. Then I found out you need to be online on Uplay(instead of playing offline, like I'm doing) to actually use the fleet map feature.

I still haven't bothered to try it, because 1.) Fuck you, Uplay. and 2.) I'm 99% sure it's the same Assassin Management mini-game from every game since Brotherhood that I only used to level up my team of assasins.

So, yeah, not using it. I'm also annoyed that collecting animus fragments in this game gets you nothing other then "Ubisoft rewards", redeemable in Uplay.

And I've heard Unity is even worse.
 

aprildog18

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Feb 16, 2010
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I don't know if Uplay changed any of this, but one game I got on Uplay (Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist) was not pre-patched. So it started at v1.0, and I booted up the game, it patched once, to 1.1. Then the next time I booted up the game, it patched to 1.2, and so on (actual version numbers may be different). And that is why I don't like Uplay, but not necessarily boycott it. This was like half a year ago, so well after the final patch came out.
 

rgrekejin

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Mar 6, 2011
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I'll not repeat everyone's opinions that is an unnecessary, unasked-for Steam clone that is redundant in almost all cases, and the cause of many glitches and corrupted saves (lost 26+ hours in Black Flag... damn you, Uplay!) and add something (mostly) new:

I see a lot of people saying that Uplay gets hate for not being Steam. That's mostly correct. But not in the dismissive way that statement is usually intended. Steam, whatever your thoughts may be about it, adds value to my game collection. Uplay adds nothing of value for the user - it exists solely for the benefit of Ubisoft. Steam lets me keep everything mostly in one place, and the library management tools are excellent. I can easily go and see what DLC I have installed, and only install the bits I want. I'm a bit of a completionist, and this can be a big deal for me, especially as Ubisoft has a history of screwing up their Gold Editions of games. I've twice bought the "Gold Edition" only to end up with a key for the Standard edition, so I like to know and be able to verify what content is really there. But Uplay is worthless for anything other than opening the game and hitting "play". Want to know what expansions you have installed? You have to launch the game to check (and even that's dodgy, because Ubisoft's servers don't always communicate properly, and it's easy for something you technically "have" to never get installed, or take several days to work it's way through the system). Also, speaking of expansions, Steam supports easy modding, and curates mods for easy browsing. Uplay, obviously, doesn't.

And no, the "Uplay Rewards" don't count as added value for the user. Sure, they may be extra content, but they fall decidedly on the wrong side of the "new content which extra effort was expended to create" vs "cutting out bits of the original game and calling it new content" divide as far as DLC is concerned.
 

Loonyyy

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It's bad at it's job. It's legendary for it's numerous failures, often preventing people from accessing their paid for games. Before this version, I had the same problem with AC II. Was not worth finishing the game.

It's trying to do the Steam or Origin bit. Difference is, they hide it better. Steam actually has a properly functional store, and social service. So does Origin (Which has improved greatly over time, but still has some major issues, particularly with integration in core EA titles). uPlay is another piece of shit installed on my machine to check that I'm allowed to play the game I've bought, that I wouldn't use for anything else. Steam and Origin are already a penalty on a player. Imagine the player who doesn't have one of these services buying a game with it. That's the position HL2 put everyone in, with quite a backlash. That's the same mistake EA made with Origin, which got them a bigger backlash. And that's the same thing that uPlay is doing, because the user almost certainly does not want, need, or have any use for uPlay, and it takes time, installing, space, updating, and system memory to run. uPlay offers the player no tangible benefit. This is why, for instance, Origin has been releasing games for free. It builds up a player's library, builds loyalty, and gives them a reason to want the service, which serves EA doubly, to sell stuff, and to protect (sort of) stuff.
 

Javetts Eall Raksha

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for me, i just really don't want to open steam and then open uplay to then open a game. i bought 'child of light', now i was completely unaware there was no longer a uplay tag on steam (as i don't seem to buy their games often). so i was sad to find out about that when i went to play it. i've owned 'child of light' for months now and still haven't got to play it. i don't want to install more than what's absolutely necessary. for these reasons, i've been on a search for a crack of 'child of light'. i already paid for it, can i please play my game that i paid for without this uplay leash? it has nothing to do with not being steam, it has to do with accessing multiple online game programs to play an off-line game.

i can access unique programs on my phone from anywhere, convert and download a plethora of things in moments, but if i want to play a game on my computer to which it is already downloaded, installed and up to date, i have to jump through hoops? no. now that i'm aware steam no longer has a uplay tag (for whatever reason), i just make an effort to avoid all ubisoft games because i don't know which ones require uplay or not. being as the uplay tag has apparently been gone for awhile, i believe avoiding their games will be a relatively easy task.
 

votemarvel

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I dislike Uplay for the same reason I dislike Steam or Origin. Why after buying a game do I have to run a DRM service to show that I've bought the game.
 

thewatergamer

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My problem with it is simply this: I'm already having to go through steam, why do I also have to go through U-play?

Origin gets a pass from me because one: It doesn't require steam as well as Origin, 2 is has a decent overlay feature, 3 it has pretty solid customer support, 4 lately its been having alot of sales as well as special mention to the free games I've got through "On the house" I get why some people hate Origin, because this is EA we are talking about but lets face it U-play has NONE of the above benefits it's only purpose seems to be "lets make the monkeys jump through another hoop just so we can have more control"
 

Carzinex

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Mar 29, 2011
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my first uplay game was black flag.

I had no problem installing it as i had steam and origin(actually like origin).

When i had finished black flag i uninstalled it and uplay, not until a little later did i notice that my SDD was quite full so i had a look in uninstall programs, nothing strange there so i had do delve into program files in windows and there it was, the full 23GB of black flag, unplayable and yet sitting there not showing up.

Needless to say im never installing the buggy peice of shit(uplay) ever again
 

SmallHatLogan

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Jan 23, 2014
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Well I've just had my very first Uplay experience. I bought Trials Evolution a little while back and finally got around to firing it up. I wasn't aware it was a Uplay game (my own fault for not checking). I create an account and input the CD Key. Apparently it's invalid. I do a bit of googling and there are a few suggestions. I open the game again... "Updating Uplay". That was about half an hour ago. It's still updating.

First impressions are important and so far I'm not impressed. If I can't get the CD Key to work then this is my first and last Uplay purchase.

Actually even if the game does work I'll still probably avoid Uplay where possible.