Ubisoft's New DRM: Good idea, or worst thing ever? - Games

The lowdown. What Ubisoft want you to do, is stay permanently connected to the internet, so that you can be connected to their servers for constant verification. To make sure you're not a FILTHY DIRTY pirate, you need to be constantly authorized. If you can't/aren't on the web? Then you can't save, or you can't even play. [quote=Shacknews][INDENT] [B]What are the key elements of this platform for PC gamers?[/B] Although a permanent online connection is required, this means that a CD/DVD is not required to play the game after installation. The protected game can be installed as many times and on as many computers as you like. Saved games are also synchronized online so the user can continue playing from any location with the game installed. [B]How many players can the server system support?[/B] There is no limit to how many players can play at the same time. For each title, we carefully study the demand and allocate servers accordingly. We will also of course allocate back-up servers in order to be able to respond to fluctuations in demand. Ubisoft provides 24/7 monitoring of its servers. [B]How many computers can I install the game on?[/B] There is no limit to the number of computers on which you can install the game. However you can only play with your individual Ubisoft account on one computer at a time. [B]Can I play my game from another computer?[/B] Yes. As long as the game is installed on the PC, you can play from any computer and your Ubisoft account will recognise your last saved position as well as automatically save any updates. [B]I am in a strict environment with lots of firewall rules etc. Can I still play the game?[/B] If you can access the Internet from the computer, you can play the game. [B]What if Ubisoft decides not run these online services in the future? Will my game stop working?[/B] If any service is stopped, we will create a patch for the game so that the core game play will not be affected. [B]What will happen if I lose my Internet connection when I play the game?[/B] If you lose your Internet connection the game will pause while it tries to reconnect. If the Internet Connection is unable to resume you can continue the game from where you left off or from the last saved game. [B]Will I need to be online the whole time when I play the game? Including for single player?[/B] Yes. You will need to have an active Internet connection to play the game, for all game modes. [B]Will this platform use unique keys?[/B] Yes. Unique keys are verified throughout this system. [B]Will this affect the performance of my PC?[/B] No. The services that we offer run only when you start the game and there are no background services. [B]Do you have to be a member of Uplay to use this service platform?[/B] This system requires you to have a Ubi.com account. A Uplay and a Ubi.com account are the same. You don't need to use Uplay to use this service platform, but if you wish to do so, it's very simple. [B]Do you plan to implement this system on home consoles?[/B] This system is for PCs only. [B]Will this system be available for every Ubisoft game?[/B] Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games will make use of this system.[/INDENT][/quote]So, [B]advantages.[/B] - No install limit. - Can play on any computer. [B]Disadvantages[/B] - Ubisoft servers go down, no game bro. - I CAN'T PLAY A SINGLEPLAYER GAME IF I DON'T HAVE INTERNET. What, THE FUCK. - No offline mode, at all. - Play on a laptop around the place? not any more. F.A.Q [B]- Do I need to make another fucking account to play a simple as shit game, even though said game may not have any online features whatsoever?[/B] yes. - [B]Really? Because I'm tired of shit like Rockstar's Social Club which did nothing. [/B]yes. [B]- Will this do anything against piracy? [/B]probably not. Sources: [URL]http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=232888&site=pcg[/URL] [URL]http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/62098[/URL] [URL]http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/27/ubisoft-to-introduce-new-online-enabled-drm-for-pc-games/[/URL] Not even an offline mode? Really? I mean, I understand they aren't necessarily putting it on every game they make, but most. It's essentially steam cloud, but worse. [quote=PCG]Today, Ubisoft, the publishers of Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Settlers and Cesar Milan's Dog Whisperer, announced a new approach to digital rights and copy protection on their PC games. It's a big deal. They're going to demand you're permanently connected to the internet so that servers back in Ubi HQ can check you're playing an authorised version. If you don't - then you don't get to save your game. This is bad news. For PC gamers, for PC gaming in general, and, I believe, for Ubisoft themselves. EDIT: Ubisoft statement added below the cut. The sad fact is that PC gaming is probably stuck with some form of digital rights management forever now. Given that PC retail is fading, the vast majority of purchases are going to be made online. Online purchases come via Steam, or Direct2Drive, or any of the other digital vendors, and all of them place restrictions on how, and when, and if you can copy the game, or transfer your purchase. Ubisoft's plan is different though. Admittedly, the DRM they're pushing offers a couple of conveniences. Once you've signed up for a Ubi account, you can install the game on as many PCs as possible. As you play, your save-games are uploaded, and made available to all your PCs, wherever they are. And, because there's online activation, you don't need to have the disc in your DVD drive when you play. But. All these advantages already exist for PC gamers elsewhere. I can install the vast majority of my games on Steam as many times as I like. More and more games are offering cloud saving. I often play Torchlight, for instance, on my laptop, and my work PC. And none of the games I've bought online need a CD check. So Ubi's perceived advantages are irrelevant to me as a hardcore gamer. The disadvantages, of not being able to play unless I'm online, are insane. Firstly, the number-one growth area for PC hardware sales right now is in mobile platforms - netbooks, laptops, and, the industry hopes, tablet PCs. That implies that consumers are looking to take their content everywhere - their music, their documents, their movies and their games. Mobile platforms aren't ever guaranteed to have online connections. Worse, and the reason I think this is a disastrous move for PC gaming, many of those mobile platforms are selling to new customers. They're not the PC gaming base, they're moms, sisters, grandparents. They're the ones who are going to be surprised by their games not working when they're out and about. I wasn't being facetious when I mentioned Cesar Milan's Dog Whisperer above - Ubi have made significant investment in casual games. Second: even in a desktop environment, online connectivity is never guaranteed. Pegging your ability to play a game on connection to a server somewhere else is a recipe for disaster. Either my connection goes, or Ubi's connection goes, and my evening put aside for playing Splinter Cell goes out of the window. And there's no guarantee that Ubi's servers are going to work. PC gaming is littered with the corpses of launches and services that simply failed to deliver what they promised. Thirdly, we just don't know what happens when Ubi turn off their servers. Right now, they're promising that they'll patch the games to take the DRM and online features out. I don't actually believe them for a second. Earlier this month, EA turned off the online servers for their 2009 branded sports titles, and there was little outcry. We've seen similar promises made in the music and film industry as DRM formats grew. When they collapsed, no effort was made to alter or patch the DRM out of purchased content. When Microsoft pulled the plug on the MSN Music Store, customers who'd purchased music with their proprietary DRM were left hanging. Finally, and most depressingly, we all know this isn't going to inconvenience pirates one bit. Pirates love to break DRM. Figuring out how to circumvent this form of DRM is going to be the number-one focus of the underground online communities, starting today. This is simply a red rag to a bull. The only ones inconvenienced will be honest, paying customers. EDIT: Ubisoft say. "We are aware that there is a lively discussion with regards to our new online services platform that will be included in most of our upcoming PC games, and which gamers are currently discovering with the Settlers 7 beta. As there are a lot of question out there, we thought you might appreciate some of the following clarification: Ubisoft's number one goal is to provide added value that will facilitate and enrich the gaming experience of our PC customers. The Settlers 7 beta version is enabling players to discover that this platform empowers them to install the game on as many PCs as they wish, to synchronize saved games online so that gameplay can be continued from where they left off (from any computer with an installed version of the game) and frees them from needing a CD/DVD in order to play. The platform requires a permanent Internet connection. We know this choice is controversial but we feel is justified by the gameplay advantages offered by the system and because most PCs are already connected to the Internet. This platform also offers protection against piracy, an important business element for Ubisoft and for the PC market in general as piracy has an important impact on this market. Any initiative that allows us to lower the impact of piracy on our PC games will also allow us to concentrate further effort to the creation and expansion of IPs for the PC - our goal is to deliver the best gaming experience to our customers, anywhere, anytime."[/quote] Tim Edwards, pretty much being right.

Watch it being cracked pretty soon

It allready has.

I am sick of these god damn companies trying to get their own slice of steam's market. Just use Fucking steam ubisoft :colbert:

Great thanks Ubisoft, this'll be great for me since my interenet is on/off every second

So it's steam without an offline mode? What is the advantage of this?

[QUOTE=Janus Vesta;19878789]So it's steam without an offline mode? What is the advantage of this?[/QUOTE] Ubisoft get to feel like they're fighting piracy?

Won't this use alot of Ubisoft's bandwidth?

[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;19878834]Ubisoft get to feel like they're fighting piracy?[/QUOTE] Advantage is, royalties don't go to steam. Disadvantage is more lost sales.

If it exists, it's been cracked but still... [B]WHAT THE FLYING MOTHER OF GODLY FUCK!!![/B] The want us to be connected to the internet [B]ALL THE FUCKING TIME![/B] This just means that once again the legitimate customer feels the bullshit. My interweb connection seems to have issues whenever i have to get a large server list off the net and thus the router reboots as a result. And what if, for whatever reason, your intenet goes down. Congratulations Ubisoft, you have just won the biggest customer screw over award of all time. Now for the sake of balance i can see how this would work but the solution is like putting a Ming vase in the middle of a large room and filling the room with solid concrete. The vase is safe but is nearly useless.

It's probably a bandwith hog. I feel sorry for those with very restrictive Internet caps

Wait so how does this help at all? Someone could just get a keygen and install the game while being online?

[QUOTE=Louis;19878908]Wait so how does this help at all? Someone could just get a keygen and install the game while being online?[/QUOTE] Keygens do not work, unless you're lucky enough to generate a valid key.

[QUOTE=Louis;19878908]Wait so how does this help at all? Someone could just get a keygen and install the game while being online?[/QUOTE] Wow i just realised. Ubisoft have made the most advanced anti-drm stripping DRM ever and it can easily be stopped at the simplest level. It's like having a tank with the latest quantum phase shielding that's impervious to the most powerful explosives and arms fire. And to stop it all you have to is throw a rock at the engine.

Well, I like the advantages offered, but it's still a fucking joke. I've never pirated a game, just like a load of other people, yet everyone on the PC gets a raw deal because some people pirate shit. Also, I can almost guarantee that you'll be able to pirate the games using this anti-piracy method within 2 weeks of release. After that, it won't stop pirates, it'll just stop genuine customers playing their legally bought games without a buttload of hassle. Really, Ubisoft, if you think this is going to help, chances are you're completely wrong. Just let me play my fucking games that I paid good money for. It's not like they're a bargain either. If I pay you £30, I expect something that will work without me having to jump through a whole fuckton of hoops. Besides, if anything, a new anti-piracy method will probably just give people an incentive to try and crack it, just to see if they can. All anti-piracy methods are complete and utter bollocks, none of them seem to work for more than about 20 minutes, after that they only ever affect paying customers. It's the same with every new DRM. It never fucking works. Same with those stupid DVD piracy messages. It hasn't stopped people pirating films, it just makes me sit through a piece of shit message about what I would and wouldn't steal, whilst the pirates probably just get the film without adverts and anti-piracy messages. Long rant short, this is stupid. In the unlikely case it works, good, but if (or, more likely, when) it doesn't work, I, the paying customer will be fucked over as always, whilst Blackbeard and his friends get a free game that they don't have to dick about with to play. [editline]05:00PM[/editline] That is a lot more text than I thought I wrote.

[QUOTE=Mr_Minion;19878969]Well, I like the advantages offered, but it's still a fucking joke. I've never pirated a game, just like a load of other people, yet everyone on the PC gets a raw deal because some people pirate shit. Also, I can almost guarantee that you'll be able to pirate the games using this anti-piracy method within 2 weeks of release. After that, it won't stop pirates, it'll just stop genuine customers playing their legally bought games without a buttload of hassle. Really, Ubisoft, if you think this is going to help, chances are you're completely wrong. Just let me play my fucking games that I paid good money for. It's not like they're a bargain either. If I pay you £30, I expect something that will work without me having to jump through a whole fuckton of hoops. Besides, if anything, a new anti-piracy method will probably just give people an incentive to try and crack it, just to see if they can. All anti-piracy methods are complete and utter bollocks, none of them seem to work for more than about 20 minutes, after that they only ever affect paying customers. It's the same with every new DRM. It never fucking works. Same with those stupid DVD piracy messages. It hasn't stopped people pirating films, it just makes me sit through a piece of shit message about what I would and wouldn't steal, whilst the pirates probably just get the film without adverts and anti-piracy messages. Long rant short, this is stupid. In the unlikely case it works, good, but if (or, more likely, when) it doesn't work, I, the paying customer will be fucked over as always, whilst Blackbeard and his friends get a free game that they don't have to dick about with to play. [editline]05:00PM[/editline] That is a lot more text than I thought I wrote.[/QUOTE] The Rich stay Rich, the poor stay poor and the people independent of the system get to live it by their rules. HOIST THE COLOURS AND PULL UP THE ANCHOR, FOR TONIGHT WE SET SAIL TO WATERS UNKNOWN AND LIVE FREE OF THE TORMENT OF THESE BIGOTS!

Yep, this system does not make more people want to buy it, at all. It's ironic how illegal game is free of this crap, but legit one is a mess.

[QUOTE=johanz;19879004]Yep, this system does not make more people want to buy it, at all. It's ironic how illegal game is free of this crap, but legit one is a mess.[/QUOTE] i think they should think the OTHER WAY ROUND! Instead of trying to stop pirates, encourage customers. Pirates are inevitable so the idea is to make as much legit money as you can by supporting the customer.

What we would do if steam and valve didn't exist.

God dammit.

Good thing Ubi doesn't make or publish any decent games.

Hahahahh, oh hahah. You make me laugh Ubisoft.

Say goodbye to my custom Ubisoft

I like everything about it except that it doesn't have a fucking offline mode!

I was going to buy Bioshock 2, I heard about this system, I changed my mind. Ubisoft are morons if they think that this will solve anything.

Hey look at our completely foolproof DRM, sure it shits in the user's mouth but this should show them pirates Oh shit they bypassed it completely, that's never happened before :saddowns: (this is exactly how it's going to go)

I don't really believe any DRM is anti piracy because when exactly has it stopped pirates?

Pirates will crack the games anyway. If I buy a ubisoft game with this DRM I'll probably use a crack on it so I can play it when internet is down.

This is just another prime example of DRM only hurting people who don't pirate. This is another reason why PC gaming has been loosing momentum. They waste so much money/time on these stupid ass protection systems that usually are bypassed within days of release.

Shit isn't Assassins Creed 2 tied in with Ubisoft? If so fuck buying it then, I've beat it on PS3 anywho