Ubisoft touts games DRM

i do think that if people download the game from steam knowing they cannot play it without a steam account, then that is just fine BUT if I buy a disc for a game, I expect to be able to play it without an internet connection and that goes for mmorpg games as well. I remember eq came out with an offline tutorial when you bought the disc but today, many games do not come with any offline content and those are the games I avoid.

To damage perpetually means to damage through the emotional or the intellectual dimensions which have no physical boundaries. When you are not crossing the road, it matters not if the traffic is good, bad or indifferent. The same goes for any spirit damaging attempt. Should one be not addicted, who the hell cares - other than the addicted. of course. When zombies are marching towards their cliff-edge, should thers warn them whilst remembering that within the realm of comparison, oka Relativity, people cannot be taught, they have to [have the desire to] learn. These sorts of mongrel attempts at perpetual income through addictions under whatever excuses beggars and thieves are able to offer are not only futile lessons for those who are addicted but are specially applicable for those who have yet to realised that they are attempts at addiction. The transfer of resources, which is merely material/finite, is not the point, being damaged immaterially/infinitely is.

When it comes to differentiating between Reality, oka The Present/Living, and Relativity, oka The Past-cum-Future/Living-but-Dead, purity of desire is the key and not the desire to better one's vested interests, be it Fame, Fortune or Immortality. The aim of spinning the zero-sum wheel through pros & cons, oka "viewpoints", is to damage "forever" and all know the effects of addiction, be it emotional, material or intellectual, oka a religion within the Relative dimension. Like all religions based on judgement/relativity, the reality is never at hand, only the [blind] faith. In "gaming", it is trying to get towards the perfection of "Level X,Y & Z" - excitation of the left/past or the right/future. To excite means to revive momentarily that which is not living/truly living.

Before I buy ANY Game , the first thing I do is google the title to see if/and what type of DRM this game has. I do NOT BUY Internet activated , Heavily DRM infested games ! PERIOD. So it looks like UBI will just be another no-buy game company for me. I do not own any pirated games, I don't care about pirates. IT's ONLY A GAME - I vote with my wallet like many others must also be doing since DRM infested games do not seem to be selling well. Keep up the good work fighting DRM , I'm voting for U !

P.S. (actually I have saved more time and money and found better things to do in life than sit on my @ss gaming since DRM games has forced me too. Thanks for helping break my obsessive costly gaming habits thanks to your DRM , my newly found hobbies of camping and fishing are proving better for my health anyway!)

Psh. Do they really think they're going to eliminate cracked games this time? Don't be ridiculous. FFF and Razor1911 are going to release awesome cracks for games using the new DRM, and things will be no different than they have been.

So now what do I do when I'm out in the middle of nowhere on a two hour bus journey with a laptop and your game?

Screw this, you wanna piss on your purchasers, we're gonna piss on you. It's not as if Ubisoft have had much compelling out for years but this is beyond absurd. Never buying again.

Who cares anyway?
Have they ever made any game worth buying?
Or even worth pirating at all???
Not that I know of...

Quote From Gamespot article on this:

[ The publisher notes that if it stops supporting its Online Services Platform, a patch will be released so that "the core game play will not be affected." ]

I'm against DRM in all shapes and forms as it's primarily about creating new business models and trying to achieve the ultimate goal of "Pay as you Play" and monthly rental fees, if it "happens" to dent piracy in any way (which it DOSEN'T!!) then it's a distant second in DRM's aims.

My point is this, as quoted above from gamespot, this claim that should the servers go offline or should they stop supporting online play, then they will release a patch to basically strip the DRM from the games means putting alot of trust in UBISOFT and any company who makes this promise. Which means trusting the same companies who have, in the past, misold us products secretly loaded with rootkits, install limits and uninstallable spyware/drm that at worst can cause a total system failure, meaning i wouldn't trust them with this as far as i could kick them!!

I'm willing to bet all my DRM'ed media that THIS is how it will all play out:

1. UBISOFT's servers and website goes offline, meaning games dependant on this type of DRM are unplayable, the internet forums are in meltdown from angry gamers posting every second about not being able to play their games.

2. After 3 weeks it's still all down and the uproar has reached fever pitch, and with speculation that UBISOFT have gone out of business, the focus now turns to the commitment made years ago stating:

"if we stop supporting our Online Services Platform, a patch will be released so that "the core game play will not be affected.".

3. A month has passed, and a statement is released through Arstechnica from UBISOFT which reads:

"UBISOFT as a company ceased trading and went into liquidation as of (a month ago say), with the main reasons being rampant piracy of our products resulting in us unable to operate at a profitable level.

Some time ago when we entered into our new DRM business model, we made a commitment to our consumers which would ensure that, should our servers disappear, we would release a patch or software to keep your games playable. Unfortunatley, on reviewing this policy, we came to a conclusion that the release of such software would violate the interests of the Rights Holders on their IP and developers of our games, and it is with regret that we are inable to move any further on this issue.

Sincerlely.

MD of UBISOFT.

4.The forums and magazines are in an angry mob like, frothing at the mouth, heads on a pike frenzy now and 10000's of complaints are made to the FCC, who promise to look into the matter.

5. The FCC find that UBISOFT are in breach of the terms in which they sold their products and are fined $10,000,000. Though as UBISOFT are bankrupt and as such, don't exist anymore, the fine is unenforceable and is never paid.

6. Every other company (There are probably 100's of them at this stage) who has made the promise to release a DRM stripping patch for their games if they go out of business are questioned by various Tech Media magazines and websites etc again as to what their stance, especially in light of the UBISOFT situation, is if they stop supporting their online severs for their DRM/Games and what this would mean for their consumers?

All of them avoid the mention of a DRM stripping patch, instead using mealy-mouth replies like "Well we don't plan on going out of business anytime soon" and "We're confident that our consumers will get to play their games for as long as anyone would really want to play a game thats X years old".

Result = With ANY kind of DRM, your handing over control and the lifeline of your products to a multi-million dollar corporation who are in the business of making mega profits, and who's interest in your ability to play a game thats 10-15 years old is probably right odnw there with saving the children and feeding the needy!

This is funny. I always thought Ubisoft cared more about gamers. Example was their games, H.A.W.X & Call Of Juarez - Bound in Blood for PC had 0 DRM. I mean no protection whatsoever.

I always thought Ubisoft was in the right direction & knew I would be buying their games always in the near future.

Now they go & do this!

I don't mind requiring a CD-Key for online play but restricting the user for the ammount of installs/ needing an internet connection is absolutely retarded.

This is the same reason why I will never install that garbage Steam.

I don't care if it's the best Game known to mankind. If you shove that DRM down my throat/ restric me how I can play it...even if I pay for a retail copy...I'm out.

Besides whats the point of them implementing this crap anyway? It's going to get pirated for sure I can bet you 100 bucks on that.

EA on the other hand is getting their act right lately. NFS Shift/ Mass Effect...have securom + serial. Need the serial for online play. That's great & that's how it should be. No more install limit's from EA.

I'm okay with DRM to an extent but if it's SecuRom + Serial + XLive protection (without install limits & any crap malware on my PC),

Come to think of it if they just sold Serial's for online play without any DRM..I'm sure their sales won't take a hit. They are just doing this so that the newbie gamers get scared etc. That's an absolute shame.

DRM doesn't protect their investments. Us that buy their games are hindered or in some situations (like the rural dial-up) are crippled. Those that pirate games work around DRM.

So why are we thieves 1st? It's an insult to walk out of a store after tossing $50 down only to find I'm already under their thumb during the install moments latter.

"The system verifies the disc to see if it's a legit copy of the game using Ubisoft's servers."

closely followed by

"Now you can access your saved games anywhere. You don't need the disc in the drive. You can play from any computer that has an Internet connection"

Imagine that in 1990 one third of the world had a high speed and constant Internet connection, and LucasArts decided to put some unbreakable internet-based DRM on Monkey Island. Could we play that awesome game... 20 YEARS LATER??

1. U can pay for a game legitimately, and when u install, u get securom, limited activations, have to be online to play and basically give away some info each time u play(at the bare minimum, its how many times u play)

2. Or you can download it once, apply some cleverly designed "patches", and never bother abt activations, online or give away shitty info

your choice~
me - 3. i stop playing their games a long time ago anyway.

I've done that quite a bit. Some of the games I've bought have never even left the box; rather I chose to keep using my No-CD based game because I loathe using optical media and drives.

@bizziboi
That model would not work in the long run. The only difference between being a nice buyer or a pirate is that the annoyances are similar? No, if that game/OS/program is cracked, the cracked Version remains used, even when the software is payed. Cracked software - precisely, cracked DRM - is much more reliable as the "protected" because it all too often it protects the legimite user from using it. Tha - mentioned in the article - because the as user You have to talk with two hwlplines: the manufacturer of the software and the manufacturer of the DRM.
as user ou are always a dhimmi...
Stuff

It's called a dictionary.

Often a schoolteacher's weapon of choice when dealing with dullards. Also useful, on occasion, for looking up the spelling of words.

I stopped buying computer games a long time ago, largely because I got rather hacked off with DRM and copy controls, and decided to find other things to entertain me.

Nothing like pissing all over your customer base until they go away, is there? I bet they're still screaming blue murder about how much piracy is harming them, too...

Nice post, how long have you worked for Ubisoft or some other distributer so you can give us a hack, I work for the business post?

I have contacted Ubi and let them know that I live in a rural part of the USA and have dial-up - sorry no other option at this time that is affordable.

SOmetimes, I don't have internet for a week or so at a time due to tech glitches, etc. etc etc.

They tell me that I should wait until all details of the new DRM is released before I decide not to buy Silent Hunter V.

Just thought I would let others know.

I don't understand why people get so upset about DRM. Most are online all the time anyway.
Some comments on the arguments given against.
"Make the game cheaper then we won't pirate it". This has been proven wrong, heck on the iPhone piracy rates are in the 95% rate at 99c.
"Make the games better". Well, if you download a cracked version because it sucks then why are you downloading it to begin with?
"Use a dongle". People complain about those as well (I am running out of USB ports) and it can just be cracked as well so why go for the expensive hardware solution?
"It's gonna be cracked anyhow so why bother?". I assume you have no locks on your house either.
"Not every pirated copy is a lost sale". True, but it's likely part of them are.
"I paid for the game, so it's mine". If you paid for the game there should be no problem, right? I seriously doubt you'd ever try to play it while offline.
"What if they go belly up?". Yeah, ever wondered if piracy could attribute to companies going belly up?

In the end I find it just odd. Companies are allowed to protect their investment in the game they made for you. Noone forces you to buy it, let alone play it. Don't be a hypocrit(how do you write that?), you (as in everyone) have illegal software on your system too.

You know folks it's so sad and in the long term a death knell for any company that becomes this contemptuous of it's own customers.
I purchase all of my games, so I say to you Developers and Publishers: I paid for the game, it's mine, give me the CD and the install key and keep your stupid DRM out of my life. I will run it on whatever computer I want when I want with out kissing your @ss on line to play it.
No? then it's real simple, I will not purchase your product!

I agree, and Ubisoft is now staying on my do not buy list. They were already on it for Securom and limited activations.
EA games has smelled the roses, both Dragon Age and the new Mas Effect 2 are disk check only.
This stupid "We want to control you" attitude with PC games pisses me off. It make me want to just buy a PS3 and get rid of my PC gaming (sell) all together. At least then I would have no need for Microsoft in my house at all, hmmm, something to think about.

yea.. so there 1st game that uses it, if it is a big seller day 1, it will fail.
Can you say server overload.

I would also place bets that the hacked version will play better since it will not need an internet connection to work :p (less time logging on and verifying things)

Seriously, has anyone ever done a realistic, impartial cost-benefit analysis of DRM?

All of the analyses Ive seen seem to assume that every pirated copy is a lost sale - which is patently untrue; and that furthermore, some huge number of pirated copies exists - a number that there is no way of measuring, or even estimating realistically.

Of course, most of these soi-disant "analyses" are produced by snake oil salesmen touting their crappy DRM systems, so perhaps its too much to expect them to be unbiased. But then the companies buying those systems should be aware of this moral hazard, surely?

Anyway, I digress. My question is: how much, exactly, did this DRM scheme actually cost to develop? How many sales must it make before it breaks even?

If Ubisoft cant answer those questions - and I suspect they cant, at least, not competently - then theyre even stupider than they look. And they look plenty stupid right now.

(Declaration of interest: I dont play games, so its no skin off my nose one way or the other. I do, however, despise stupidity.)

Seems that, amid the 150+ games I legally own, there's less than 8 that are Ubisoft games.
And given this, there's a very strong chance that there won't be any more.
I'm a gamer. I say no to DRM.
Find something else if you want my money, Ubisoft.

With a bit of luck it will be another nail in the Ub3r developer coffin. Shitty games + paying customer punishment = less customers.

As always going AAARRRRRGHHH Pirate is the least hassle and meets the consumers needs.

Avast me harties. Good work in destroying your own businesses.

Desperate measures all around. They put more DRM, they put less, they change, they turn around and somersault.

All their DRM has amounted to nothing in stopping piracy whilst at the same time irritating legit users.

The power of choice is in our hands, we can choose to pay, or not. This has been the case since PC games began. Consoles are no different.

The price of a game is such that if I buy one and do not like it, I become quite upset. For most people this involves going to the store...it's much easier, and simpler to download the game & play it. Some people never pay, some never will and there is no way to stop it. Others will pay for a product they think is worth the money.

Personally I play first and buy later. Even after I buy I do not actually use the packaged product, it's easier to run everything off files.

Games, movies, music etc. Why should they be any different from any retail product?

IF I could buy a game, movie, song & return it for a FULL REFUND, without the hassle, or even leaving my house, I'd but exactly the same amount of media I do now, with the exception of doing it "legally".

Ever tried to get a refund for a movie? even one that had screening problem?
Forget about refunding your music CDs...games can be often exchanged...but this still requires that I go to the store and wait for some spotty teen manager to approve things.

Thanks but no thanks. You have a system in place, it sucks. I make my own.

And IF you really enjoy what you obtain via torrents, buy it, that's what I do.
(Yes, even MS software)

As mentioned all types of DRM can be cracked, it's only a matter of effort and resources.
But normally that process has to be repeated over and over again for each new software, patch and upgrade, which makes it less appealing unless there's something to gain from it.

As also mentioned: One good way of preventing piracy is to make games that people really wants to pay for. One prime example is the first three games in the Combat Mission series. Sure there were cracked versions available and spread, but the nature of those games is such that those that liked them also bought them.

When it comes to choosing what DRM to use I think eSimGames did the right thing when they prepared the release of Steel Beasts Pro PE: They asked their future customers what they wanted! (The result was that the sim requires an USB dongle to run. A fairly expensive solution, but for a $125 product it offers excellent protection with a minimum of fuzz for the legal user. The high level of protection also made the publisher reduce their expected losses due to piracy, resulting in a reduced retail price.)

I will newer pay for a game that i can't install 5 Years after purchase.
I still play (from time to time) Privateer and few other old games. Just load separate partition with XP SP1 or WinME (I know shitty sistem but for me it worked without problems), or better have some old junk around P3 1+ghz for best "OLD" gameplay.

No need for hundreds of platforms.

-.-

Whilst I agree with the sentiments of your post, it all hinges on one deeply flawed assumption - that this DRM won't be cracked.

History has shown that almost every piece of DRM out there has been cracked. SecuROM for some recent releases has barely even lasted hours, let alone days. Therefore, history tells us that this DRM will be cracked before too long.

So! That being the case, the pirates will still be able to grab a copy of the game from BitTorrent and play it without buying it. Therefore, it's also important that the DRM isn't annoying enough to drive away customers who otherwise would part with their money for a legal copy of the game. Once DRM measures get so invasive that they cross this threshold, they end up doing more harm than good.

These game developers and other anti-piracy idiots think that re-loading your windows software and their game again is piracy. This is why they think that their games are pirated so often. Heck, I end up having to re-load my XP about once a year because of all the junk many programs leave after you un-install them. So, according to their stats I've pirated 8 copies. Get real, DRM does not work.

is spot on. currently suffering my way through Rainbow Six: Vegas: 2. Maybe they asked their QA team to create this new DRM scheme.

Seriously, GameSpy?!?
Whoever played Unreal Tournament 3 (which utilizes it) knows what a sh***y system they have created. The game pings on every five minutes their servers and when the connection to them times out (and they tend to do get overloaded) you get dropped off. On top of that GameSpy used to share login names for all of the games so that players from UT3 couldn't register their nick if someone from another game did it before.

If Ubisoft are going to reinvent the wheel - let them copy Steam or something that at least makes our lives easier for once (digital download, community support, holiday deals, etc.) It is a move in the right direction after all, ofcourse if they manage to avoid the mistakes many like Epic made.

Besides, given the fact that a software giant like Microsoft can't figure out a way to protect their golden goose, we should not expect much from a french gaming studio.

@Tim nowdays people are 24/7 online. So no, having no Internet is as much an argument as having no electricity...

The only people that gets annoied by these DRM schemes are the legit buyers. They have to authenticate, to keep online, etc. Pirates will patch the game and use it as they like. Probably laughing at them.
It's really amazing because so much time passed, no DRM ever really worked and those morons still throw money at it. And it's a lot of money. Now, they'll keep servers online just to authenticate a game everytime it's played. Not smart.

I am not a big gamer so I won't spend more than $20.00 for a game. If they sell 10 games for $20.00=$200.00 instead of 4 games for $200.00 you might make more money. You can't stop piracy and expect people to spend a small fortune for a game. Lowering the price will at least help some people pay to play. Personally I don't even like the idea of cloud computing or having to do anything online,it's to evasive.

Seriously. The crap these companies try to stuff your computer with has gotten too much.

Basically, they've re-invented Steam, but without offline play. I doubt that's going to go over well. Even at that, I'm sure there will be a crack for it within weeks, if not days of release. Over protective crap like this just hurts the legitimate user, scaring them off.

Ok so after dropping a DRM which pissed people off because they had to be online to activate it and it had check in every two weeks or so for it to remain active they decide the right way to go is to make it so you always have to be online to play at all? How is this better? Seriously Ubisoft you've just made that problem worse.

It's also worth pointing out that this, like basically every other DRM, will be hacked. Proof in point, Steam activation which went unhacked for all of about 4 days after they first introduced it with Half-life 2. The simple fact is there is no DRM which is hack proof, there is no way to prevent piracy and the best way to limit piracy is to make games which people think are worth the money, a concept Ubisoft seems to have had lots of trouble with the last few years barring a couple exceptions. For those who doubt that there is no DRM which can not be hacked keep in mind DRM's are made by a few thousand or so middle aged guys worldwide who have to try to protect against every possible attack while the hacking community is made up of several million younger people who are often smarter then the middle aged guys and only have to find one exploit so the odds are heavily stacked against the DRM makers before the contest even begins.

good, It's annoying going into game shops and pc games take up the crappy little dusty corner because pc gamers refuse to pay for software (though ironically don't mind paying thousands for the hardware).

warcraft has proven that people will pay when they're forced to, this is good news for tomorrows games investments.

They've already invented a form of DRM most gamers don't seem to mind, and it's called Steam.
Unlike this horrible Ubisoft plan Steam actually can add value to a game, rather than penalize paying customers... whereas the pirates can play without any problems at all.

And what happens to the software that you purchased when UBI goes belly up?

I don't really see where they get this growing need from given that PC games are increasingly bought ONLINE from services like Steam which has implicit DRM.

I don't know why Ubisoft needs a new DRM scheme. They already has a great anti-piracy system: making shitty games. Why bother pirating a game when you know it's going to suck so much ass?