Ubi DRM: Their Side of the Story

[Samwise]

Not the first game by a long shot to do that.  It's not even limited to games.  When I finished doing my taxes, TurboTax asked if I wanted to brag about it on my Facebook page (and I did).  I'm surprised Steam doesn't have an option yet to tweet your achievements.

[KallDrexx]

Not the first game by a long shot to do that.  It's not even limited to games.  When I finished doing my taxes, TurboTax asked if I wanted to brag about it on my Facebook page (and I did).  I'm surprised Steam doesn't have an option yet to tweet your achievements.

Thank christ they don't

[Ratman_tf]

I wiped my ass today. I thought everyone here should know about it.

[Ollie]

Inflicting your banal everyday tedium on others is what social media is all about. 

[Azazel]

Yeah, the facebook/twitter shit is Ubi's attempt to add additional value to buying their games, and suffering through the "always on" aspect. XBL does this now with it's facebook and twitter integtration, as well as MSN. Man I hate bullshit social networking (andmost people), but so many of the kids today are right into it.

Hey, at least they'll be even easier to cyberstalk as adults!

[LK]

It'll be interesting to see where our social-networked society will be in 10 or 20 years. The amount of information they are putting out there that can be used against them is extremely high, and they don't even realize it.

[Ratman_tf]

It'll be interesting to see where our social-networked society will be in 10 or 20 years. The amount of information they are putting out there that can be used against them is extremely high, and they don't even realize it.

It's already ridonkulous when people blog or tweet that they hate their boss, who's on their friend list or whatever.

[naum]

Is Settlers 7 using the same "need to be online" DRM?

Is there even multiplayer in Settlers 7?

[Kageh]

Yep, comes with UBI-DRM.

I think it has multiplayer too, not sure though.

[tgr]

Apparently Silent Hunter 5 players get a free game, either shaun white snowboarding, or prince of persia. Assassins Creed 2 owners get the choice between Hawx, Heroes over Europe, EndWar or Prince of Persia.

Somehow, I can't see how getting a 2 year old game of snowboarding, or PoP would appease me if I bought a submarine simulator.

Weak.

[Kageh]

Apparently Silent Hunter 5 players get a free game, either shaun white snowboarding, or prince of persia. Assassins Creed 2 owners get the choice between Hawx, Heroes over Europe, EndWar or Prince of Persia.

Somehow, I can't see how getting a 2 year old game of snowboarding, or PoP would appease me if I bought a submarine simulator.

Weak.

AFAIK that is only for US customers. EU AC2 customers get the bonus maps from the Black Edition, and for the Black Edition owners, they get the bonus maps from the Black Edition (no, that is not a copy and paste error  ). Ubi forums are fun to read at the moment.

[tgr]

Some guy apparently thinks UBI is going in the right direction, and that we'll all learn to accept our new role as whipping boys:

Regardless of whether or not you believe Ubisoft's DRM is intrusive or restrictive or unreliable, you may still think it's evil because it assumes all gamers are pirates and treats them accordingly.

Granted, there are nicer solutions to piracy out there. Stardock's GOO ties games to a gamer's account, instead of hardware or a distribution platform, and allows for the resale of PC games. Even EA has adopted an enlightened approach to DRM: The Sims 3, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect 2 all only require a basic disc check. To reward legitimate gamers, EA has provided free day-one DLC to consumers for each of these titles.

Comparing Ubisoft's DRM to such examples, it may seem like a push in the wrong direction. But unlike previous solutions to piracy, it doesn't install malicious software (StarForce, SecuROM) on our computers, nor does it intentionally restrict our access to the content we've purchased.

Considering everything, Ubisoft's DRM treats PC gamers more like average PC users than criminals - it's hardly evil. Because it's an extension of conventional PC gamer behavior, and because it's leading the way in taking advantage of increasing connectivity, Ubisoft's DRM is ahead of its time.

He has apparently also not gotten the memo where EA is also going in the same direction, where the exact same reaction is occurring.

"Ahead of its time" indeed.

[Merusk]

I question the credentials and legitimacy of anyone who mentions Stardock ahead of Steam.

[tgr]

That depends. When I bought the medieval: total war game, it required I be online to initiate it the first time I fire it up. stardock's system doesn't require that, but it rewards you if you do register and update the game. They also have a resale policy. Overall, however, if you do have a fairly quick internet connection, then yes, steam is usually the more convenient system, but there are situations when that isn't the case.

[NiX]

He also fails to mention that the day-one DLC was available to pirates too.

[HaemishM]

He also glosses over the fact that the game can't be fucking used if your internet connection is down. Which while not maliciously intended, sure as fuck would feel like a punch in the gut when it happens on a single-player game.

[Sky]

nor does it intentionally restrict our access to the content we've purchased.

[Musashi]

nor does it intentionally restrict our access to the content we've purchased.

[LK]

That smilie better become a standard, stat.

[tgr]

He also glosses over the fact that the game can't be fucking used if your internet connection is down. Which while not maliciously intended, sure as fuck would feel like a punch in the gut when it happens on a single-player game.

Solution: make all games an MMO. Whee! Yay!

(that dubious smilie was so awesome I had to steal it.)

[Ginaz]

This is the reason I won't be buying AC2 or any other Ubisoft product.  I've never pirated anything ever, be it games, music, movies or whatever, and yet I'm being subjected to restrictions as a paying customer.  Gaming companies better pull their heads out of their asses and find other ways to combat pirating without adversly effecting people that are actually buying their product.  If DRM methods become too intrusive, I'll find other places to spend my disposable income that aren't gaming related.  It might be difficult at first, but I can find other hobbies to spend my money on.

[Ollie]

Seeing the stellar retention rates in most recent MMOG launches, I doubt Even Ubi is dim enough to go all service industry on us.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, being the broken record that I am: If Ubi could find it in their hearts to insert a bit more perceived value and incentive and fewer punitive measures in their DRM, I'd be a happy camper. Nobody likes being treated like a criminal, especially when forking money over.

[Margalis]

I've been disconnected from single player vs AI Starcraft 2 beta games multiple times.

There is absolutely no way I would ever pay any amount of money to play something single player that required constant internet access. The second I got dropped from my own game I would snap the disc in half.

[Sky]

Fallout 3 was tied to GFWL for save games and DLC, iirc. I forget if it caused any problems, I don't remember any...but I also reconnected quickly every time it kicked me off. If each boot had actually interrupted gameplay (I think it may have interfered with saving/loading?), I would've been pissed.

[Tebonas]

The only problems with that was localization (only German for German-speaking countries, racist Microsoft assholes). But I had a problem with my Firewall once (didn't connect to GfW so I had to turn it off), and as soon as I was in the game, I could turn the Firewall back on and could still play the game.

[eldaec]

Fallout 3 was tied to GFWL for save games and DLC

There was no compulsory GFWL bullshit in my fallout 3.

You needed GFWL to buy the DLC - which was enough to stop me buying it, so I don't know if it required you to remain connected.

[Azazel]

Nod. I got my Fallout 3 DLC via retail discs - which just had the files dumped onto them. No G4WL connection needed.

[Tebonas]

The only thing was that if you saved a game in GfW mode it wasn't available to you if not online. But if you started offline and stayed that way all worked splendidly.

[Sky]

That's what I did, I think it was the only way to get achievements. Then I remembered I don't care about achievements and the fallout ones aren't great anyway.

[Paelos]

Steam was pimping Settlers 7 on the ads menu when I closed Titan Age. Neat, I thought, having really read much about the series. I was reading the features and ran into this brick wall at the end:

A PERMANENT INTERNET CONNECTION AND CREATION OF A UBISOFT ACCOUNT ARE REQUIRED TO PLAY THIS VIDEO GAME AT ALL TIMES AND TO UNLOCK EXCLUSIVE CONTENT. SUCH CONTENT MAY ONLY BE UNLOCKED ONE SINGLE TIME WITH A UNIQUE KEY. YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 13 TO CREATE A UBISOFT ACCOUNT WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT. UBISOFT MAY CANCEL ACCESS TO ONLINE FEATURES UPON A 30-DAY PRIOR NOTICE.

I mean, good lord. You actually put this shit on customers who are already on Steam, and have to have an internet connection to even play your game? NO, NOT ENOUGH ASSHATS! WE MUST PRINT IN BOLD LETTER THAT YOU NEED EXTRA ACCOUNTS AND SHIT BECAUSE YOU HAVE MONEY AND ARE FUCKING CRIMINALS.

I'm not exaggerating about the caps, that's actually how they printed it.

[Ollie]

Sheer class, yelling at the customer. I love the French. 

Silly joking aside, I'd understand the connectivity issue if we were talking about a retail box copy, but on Steam? Seems a bit redundant. The separate Ubi account on the other hand is plain douchebaggery, no excuse there. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of an umbrella service. Someone should clue Ubi in on why people like Steam in the first place.

[tgr]

That would involve ubisoft cluing in on why it's nice to actually have CUSTOMERS in the first place. I'm starting to get worried they've forgotten all about that bit lately, at least that's what it looks like.

As for the yelling, could that be for some EULA-type legal reason? I know they love to type in allcaps.

[jakonovski]

That would involve ubisoft cluing in on why it's nice to actually have CUSTOMERS in the first place. I'm starting to get worried they've forgotten all about that bit lately, at least that's what it looks like.

Well duh, removing the customers allows you to remove the product allows you to remove the employees. All of those cost Ubi money. So logically, if you go all the way, only profit will remain!

[Ollie]

As for the yelling, could that be for some EULA-type legal reason? I know they love to type in allcaps.

Yes indeedy. Legalese has its textual conventions. I just find it funny when those conventions clash in different social contexts. One man's legalese is another's yelling on an internet message board.

Yes, I'm a nerd. 

[Koyasha]

Would wer rather it not be mentioned?  Having it plainly stated in all caps seems like something we should be thankful for.  It could only be improved by being put at the top in giant flashing colored font.