Ubisoft DRM Server Goes Down; Gamers Can't Play

[climber]

This is an example of why the could and server required computing for the user is crap. This kind of thing will only result in the developers requiring every more powerful redundant server clusters, fault tolerant around the country/globe. This will drive sticker prices up and or complexity and quality of content down, I think both. Taking control away from the user always gives the user the shaft, it's just the ignorant users don't know the difference and the developers and distribution companies don't have the magnitude of public outcry to realize they'd lose their whole customer base. So many people are ignorant, apathetic or both, bloody sheep.

 

[gladiator_mohaa]

Not surprising considering the first Assassins Creed would lag your computer every time you killed someone because for some reason the game was sending their servers info on every kill. The only resolution i found was to pull the internet plug. Being how i love games like Assassins Creed and in the Medieval time period I did not buy the second. Just like I wont be getting The Short French General Version of Total War until i read the USER reviews not the Meta Critic score that is always a paid off number. (The Short French General means I can't spell his name right, lol)

 

[davendork]

[citation][nom]Ciuy[/nom]hahahahahahahahahaha i would be SOOO PISSED if that kind of crap would happen to me .... fail DRM.Best anti-piracy scheme = cheaper games ....[/citation]
This is a good point, but as Avatar won a bunch of Oscars for throwing money at a movie, I thought the same is true for games. To keep gamers interested and to compete studios keep needing to spend more money. Is that their issue? They are pretty much betting the farm each time they make a game. That's why you see studios disappear and reappear under new names. I feel like it's my fault, the gamer, for being hard to please and have ADD for the newest graphics, etc.

 

[Nimmist]

I wonder how many legit buyers are now looking at pirate answers

 

[davendork]

I get the feeling these companies would like to drop support for the PC platform. The pirates are helping this argument and so are the people who decide to play a console instead of PC. On a PC it's harder to control cheating, pirating, more involved development because users want better graphics than a console, more hardware configurations to code for and test and no need to support a modding community on the consoles. Fire-and-forget game development. Sounds like PC games should just be thankful anyone releases PC games. Sometimes I think the only reason there are PC games is that nVidia, Microsoft and ATI secretly sponsor the ports.

 

[pcworm]

I have an Idea, I'm so pissed at the game studio (I own both F**ing DRM S**t games), I am not much of a network programmer and frankly, I want ubisoft servers down...
so that they may change their minds, so if any net programmers are reading this, I think a small program for pinging or whatever S**t that would bring the servers down
I am one to run it all day on my Internet...
a kind of volunteer D-DOS!!

 

[steiner666]

*Insert hateful statement for Ubisoft and their stupid DRM ideas here*

*derogatory comment towards Ubisoft*

 

[zak_mckraken]

Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties...

Bla bla bla. Gimme a break from yout PR BS. You failed. Admit it, solve the problem and get over it.

 

[jsm6746]

growing pains for ubisoft... lesson learned in redundancy...

 

[Djhg2000]

This is what encourages hacking to remove DRM from games and pirate them.
Thanks to Ubisoft for raising the demand for pirated games...

 

[CoryInJapan]

that why they make cracks...Not just for pirates but for people who own legit cops and dont wanna have to have the disc in drive or something stupid like this.
Just like I purchased GTA4 pc and still use a crack since Im forced to use the CD to boot.Same with the ubisoft games.

 

[Chetou]

[citation][nom]Bill Oawney[/nom]The only way to stop the DRM madness is to stop buying their games. If half of the people who bought this game where to return it as a result of this incident, I bet they'd see the light and drop the DRM scheme overnight. If I were one of their customers I would quickly change into a former customer and let them know why...[/citation]

No, no, no...You see, then they would say they haven't sold as many copies because of the dreadful pirates. It's always the stinking pirates, never their crappy game or stupid DRM. Pirates are killing PC gaming, bla, bla, bla, bla...

Hint to Ubishi..soft: Sins of a Solar Empire

 

[humbi83]

I'm not getting it. This shitty game has a crack. If you do believe that the developers earned your money then by all means .. pay. Yet you still get into this type of shit. It's not their fault they have greedy fkrs as bosses. They don;t sweat at the friggin keyboard. If you liked their work then buy it and watch those damn generics at the end. This is were you see them and how you thank them. Yeah .. ok.. get the crack and thank the "other developers" that made your experience as it was intended in the first place and not skewed by some fat swine in the management with it's DRM crap.

 

[cruiseoveride]

People still pay for software?

 

[dgingeri]

I buy all my games. I pay my tribute to the guys who make the games.

I don't understand why I should be punished for it.

You have to wonder about a game that needs a continuous connection unless it is for game oriented interaction. (MMOs have an excuse.) Just what information is going back and forth between the game and the server that would need such a thing? How do we know they aren't sending the file contents of your hard drive to the developer so they could find out if you had pirated anything else? Maybe they're just after free demographic info. I don't trust them.

 

[rockinthepe]

serves ubisoft right.

 

[bildo123]

[citation][nom]jgiron[/nom]My ISP was up 30% for the past 2 days and I was barely online. All I wanted to do was play a little Titan Quest. But since my ISP was down I was stuck programming. Why can't you just let us play we legal purchase![/citation]

Titan Quest..through Steam I'm assuming? There is an offline mode you can use if that's the case. Unless we are on two different pages...

 

[pocketdrummer]

[citation][nom]underpatch[/nom]i honestly feel sorry for the poor saps trying to be legal with ubisoft .... but i am sure they have seen the light now[/citation]

Piracy isn't "the light" and for that matter, neither is DRM this restrictive. Obviously they have to make it inconvenient to pirate, but this just makes it inconvenient for EVERYONE, especially those who have enough moral fiber to pay the developers for their hard work.

There's no good in this either way.

 

[smithereen]

[citation][nom]pocketdrummer[/nom]Piracy isn't "the light" and for that matter, neither is DRM this restrictive. Obviously they have to make it inconvenient to pirate, but this just makes it inconvenient for EVERYONE, especially those who have enough moral fiber to pay the developers for their hard work.There's no good in this either way.[/citation]

Exactly. They sink tens of millions of dollars into a game, they're not going to take it lying down. It's like car security; you're lock isn't going to stop a determined thief, but it's the principle of the thing.

 

[marraco]

So, if you want to design your software only to be run by pirates, this is the perfect solution.

 

[IFLATLINEI]

Im sure this is going to be a great game and im sure the DRM wont be that big a deal. Although this is exactly whats wrong with this DRM in particular. The problem is this. This DRM may not be the end of the world but its the beginning of something much worse and if you dont start voting with your wallets now its going to keep getting worse. They will take what you give them then push for more.

 

[marraco]

Still, I got fun with the first game, and plan to play the second.

I plan to do this:

I gonna play the cracked version, buy the original DVD, and send it to Ubisoft by standard mail, with this message:

"See?, I paid your game. You DRM forced me to pay the pirates also."

 

[Nimmist]

[citation][nom]smithereen[/nom]Exactly. They sink tens of millions of dollars into a game, they're not going to take it lying down. It's like car security; you're lock isn't going to stop a determined thief, but it's the principle of the thing.[/citation]
Now imagine if the car you just legitimately purchased would occasionally lock you out until you called the dealership who would then tell you to call the manufacturer who then told you it was the weekend and you needed to call back Monday between 9 and 5. Or as you are driving down the road the car security decides you don’t own your car and pulls off to the side of the road and shuts down until you call the dealership…

 

[smithereen]

[citation][nom]Nimmist[/nom]Now imagine if the car you just legitimately purchased would occasionally lock you out until you called the dealership who would then tell you to call the manufacturer who then told you it was the weekend and you needed to call back Monday between 9 and 5. Or as you are driving down the road the car security decides you don’t own your car and pulls off to the side of the road and shuts down until you call the dealership…[/citation]

Stretching the metaphor beyond it's intended use will do that, yes.

 

[g-thor]

I just went to the Ubisoft wesite to send them an email to explain why I won't be buying Assassin's Creed 2 and guess what. They don't have any email contact info - NONE! Boy, do they ever want to stay in touch with the customers. Fortunately they do provide mailing addresses from all over the world. Looks like snail mail it is.