Ubisoft: Our Always-Online DRM is a Success

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In the old days, yes. My diablo II CD's were so buggy, it was easier to crack the game than try and get my legit copy to run. That went for the expansion too when it came out. Easier to crack.

Now days though, I just digital download and forget. DRM is pretty clean when you're paying and have broadband.
 
I did the same thing as you did (stopped playing PC games) but for different reasons.. I got older and do not have time and money upgrading a PC to get best performances for all new games. So I play on consoles instead. Rent copy of a game if I'm not sure it is worth it or buy games other games I'm sure I will play a lot (NHL, COD, etc..). They even take back games for small amount of money that I can spend on newer games. Think about it.. Pay 70$ for a game and return it for 25.. It makes pretty cheap gaming.
 
"While this does make things harder for pirates"

No, it makes it EASIER for the pirates - they do not have to rely on internet connection, as the legit customers do.
 
[citation][nom]michellemay[/nom]I did the same thing as you did (stopped playing PC games) but for different reasons.. I got older and do not have time and money upgrading a PC to get best performances for all new games. So I play on consoles instead. Rent copy of a game if I'm not sure it is worth it or buy games other games I'm sure I will play a lot (NHL, COD, etc..). They even take back games for small amount of money that I can spend on newer games. Think about it.. Pay 70$ for a game and return it for 25.. It makes pretty cheap gaming.[/citation]
We all get older. But I never understood why they never just gave a keyboard and a mouse as default controls on a console... It is why I don't like consoles. I do like the ability to rent, and the ability to have a unified system that isn't dependent on you latest video card hardware... But not being able to have a useable control system (sorry, but for 3d, the PS1,2,3/Xbox/GameCube controllers just don't cut it) makes gaming unbearable. The worst part is the 3D revolution seems to have pushed the industry towards focusing on how good a game 'looks' and not pay any attention to how it 'play's. Every wargame is exactly the same. Hardly any attention is put into a plot and to inviting graphics. Nintento comes closest, but the restrictions of older platforms forced much innovation that just does not exist anymore on consoles. I don't want another 3rd person shooter, or NFS racer. The timekillers have developers that put more thought into their game mechanics right now than either PC or Console game producers.
 
A success? Well just so you know Ubisoft, your DRM kept me from even thinking of buying any of these games (Same for all my friends). Too bad, I was really hoping to play Settlers 7. I wish I could get away with this definition of success in my line of work.
 
Back in my C64 days they even tried to create errors on the floppy disks that the drives could not copy. Then the programs would check to see if those errors were there. That did not even work.
 
And that's why mobile gaming on iphone/android are so popular. Lower costs of development makes it easier to take risks on new game designs/paradigm multimillions dollars game dev can't take. Simple math..
 
[citation][nom]spookyman[/nom]PC games are dying a fast death if you haven't noticed. Console games are the future of interactive gaming.[/citation]

LMAO! Do your homework before speaking please. PC game sales are actually up like it always have. The huge factor omg-i-want-the-true-gaming-platform-dead-peeps forget is Steam, that according to most experts in the field have 70-80% of the PC sales and they never release sales numbers so the published "sales" charts are always off big times on PC. If you know basic school math its not hard to see the true numbers!
 
I used to buy Ubisofts games, because lets face it, they aren't bad. But after AC2 and sitting two days straight unable to play it because servers were down(not even launch day),I am NEVER buying another game from them. So yeah, their DRM works great and they make a valid point!

If I could, I would spit, whoever decided for it to be in, in the face.
 
This has yet to stop piracy in the first place. Their methods have already been beaten by pirates and now it just becomes a burden upon those who actually but it.

Even worse is that they are crediting this as a success when they aren't really saying why it supposedly is. The only sense it would make to call it such is if piracy hits all time low records on a game with this DRM while it also sells extremely well.

As a example if a game is averagely pirated by 3/10ths of its players and this DRM lessened the above titles to 1/10ths and sales also increased 20% that would be a success. I however highly doubt this was the case.
 
I just don't get why people are frustrated about DRM anymore.. Back in the days when games installed a rootkit on your OS, I would understand.. but now, you are only required to go online.. It's a no brainer today since almost everybody has broadband connection.. you can also tether your cell phone connection for that (few kilobytes of data does not cost much on your cell data plan).. you have wifi in the most cheap hotels and campings when you are on vacation outside country.. wi-fi is even getting available in the planes etc.. About the only last place you can't use online connection is in hospitals (for no good reasons at all.. it has been proven in a british study that no interference occurs with medical equipments)

 
LOL... Not a success. Because of their DRM I refuse to buy an ubisoft game.
And cracking their DRM isnt hard it just requires a different approach, to mimic the server.
Sounds like a fail to me
 
For me these kinds of practices lead me to piracy. I have no problem paying for a game but if I can get a better version of the game (no constant connection required) from somewhere else I'm going to. I'd rather buy a game legitimately, but if its worse than the pirated version then they can f-off.
 
Really? I have yet to buy a product with "always on" connection requirements outside of an MMO. Maybe there are a bunch of people who like to use up bandwidth pointlessly but with 2 netflix streams running almost all day long, I'm not going to be one of them.[citation][nom]Roffle[/nom]It is quite successful though.Do you guys remember HAWX 2?Till now, it hasn't been cracked.[/citation]

Last I checked Hawx 2 was a flop. Maybe people don't like the game enough to care to crack it?
 
“a clear reduction in piracy of our titles which required a persistent online connection, and from that point of view the requirement is a success.”
Click to expand...
A common argument in favor of piracy is that considering a pirated copy of a game to be a lost sale is a fallacy, and that those who pirate a game wouldn't purchase it anyway. I'd be interested in seeing some sales data to see if the DRM has affected sales positively, negatively, or not at all. Judging from the context of the quote, I'd guess negatively - if their sales were positively or neutrally affected by the DRM they'd be broadcasting that news like crazy.
 
[citation][nom]bak0n[/nom]Really? I have yet to buy a product with "always on" connection requirements outside of an MMO. Maybe there are a bunch of people who like to use up bandwidth pointlessly but with 2 netflix streams running almost all day long, I'm not going to be one of them.Last I checked Hawx 2 was a flop. Maybe people don't like the game enough to care to crack it?[/citation]

You compare oranges and apples here.. Online connection requires far less than netflix streaming! Gaming would requires at most few hundred bytes send and received every now and then. Compare that to netflix that requires several hundred megabytes for an hour of video! Not in the same ballpark by a few orders of magnitude! You receive more data just reading your facebook notification emails in a day..
 
What is wrong with developers using existing, mature game engines, and forgetting about the stupid graphics, and focus on a plot, some music, and some inviting artwork? Stop wasting time on DRM and 3d graphics, and start working on some darned content...
 
yeah.. success on making me forgetting about ubisoft's games anymore. i hardly sees news about their games lately since they switched to this DRM.
 
ALL games can be pirated this is just to screw used game sales I guarantee it
I bought HAWX 1 used for $2 at the bookstore a long time ago. When I play a used game I am not tempted to buy a new one at full price
Plus being a new game does not begin to mean it is better than past titles for sure.
Guild Wars is a surprisingly good game for the $$$.
 
[citation][nom]jacobdrj[/nom]What is wrong with developers using existing, mature game engines, and forgetting about the stupid graphics, and focus on a plot, some music, and some inviting artwork? Stop wasting time on DRM and 3d graphics, and start working on some darned content...[/citation]



As a matter of fact, game engine costs are already amortized over many games. Most of the cost of developing a game is here: actors, animators, graphic arts, original music score, game script, testing and marketing. Consider this, it takes as much as few hundred artists and testers to create a game. Span this over a 2-4 year development cycle and you get the bill in the range of 20 millions..
 
[citation][nom]blacwolf[/nom]I have not purchased one of their games since they switched to this DRM scheme. I don't agree with it so I don't give them my money.[/citation]

same here - less piracy, but also less retail sales
 
[citation][nom]mexicant[/nom]Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had 0 DRM, literally 0. no cd key, you didn't even need the disk. you could install it on your buddy's comp and now he has it too. I'm pretty sure that it was a very successful game and when ES V comes out soon, i will be buying the collectors edition.[/citation]
Don't know what you're talking about. Oblivion had disc check DRM unless you live in some magical region where they removed it.
 
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