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TheDeath
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
with serious business
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posted March 07, 2010 07:07 PM |
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Edited by TheDeath at 19:09, 07 Mar 2010.
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Quote:
For me the problem is simple:
a)UBI makes DRM protection, sales go down, UBI remove DRM protection and you are right
b)UBI makes DRM protection, sales go up, UBI keeps DRM protection and you are wrong.
How can anyone know what will happen before testing?
Do you seriously think this is the first product to have DRM?
Quote:
Right! So, now that it was underlined, everyone can make his suggestion on a friendly modality to fight against and send it to UBI. What are the proposals and how feasible are they?
Short answer: you can't. Even hardware dongles get cracked (dongles are USB stuff holding encrypted communication with the program, mostly used for professional software... and those get cracked too). It is actually, security theory. As long as everything is on the client side (such as single-player, encryption keys, etc), it can be cracked.
For the less technically minded, it is akin to trying to change the laws of physics. Why oppose them so much? Why oppose human nature so much? Why not learn to use it properly?
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The above post is subject to SIRIOUSness.
No jokes were harmed during the making of this signature.
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted March 07, 2010 07:12 PM |
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Quote:
Do you even know that some crack/warez sites pop up BEFORE the original website, for some keywords/products? 
Yes, I know that Assassin Creed 2 was leaked on warez before releasing by an employee who took the game at home, then placed it on net. She is sued now for 10 millions dollars in court and she's gonna lose.
For you second question, Death, it is quite obvious. Pirates are there, they do rather well their job, and how would you expect that companies will just sit there are do nothing. This is only the start. This will be worse and worse, once all companies will agree on a commune protection, and chances are that we will not love it.
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Era II mods and utilities
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TheDeath
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
with serious business
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posted March 07, 2010 07:14 PM |
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I was talking about search results dude, not over-inflated drama.
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The above post is subject to SIRIOUSness.
No jokes were harmed during the making of this signature.
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted March 07, 2010 08:52 PM |
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Quote:
Hmm, effects of Ubisoft DDRM on honest customers... server problems: http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5251069024/m/1601001838
I just read it and that's a major mess up.. So you pay and can't play due to server issues, I'd be certain to go berserk. Seriously Ubi 
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Darkshadow
Legendary Hero
Cerise Princess
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posted March 07, 2010 09:00 PM |
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Quote:
Quote:
Hmm, effects of Ubisoft DDRM on honest customers... server problems: http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5251069024/m/1601001838
I just read it and that's a major mess up.. So you pay and can't play due to server issues, I'd be certain to go berserk. Seriously Ubi
What did you expect?it's ubisoft
EA had similar screw-ups with Bad company 2
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Roman_Lajciak
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posted March 08, 2010 12:15 AM |
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Quote:
Yes, I know that Assassin Creed 2 was leaked on warez before releasing by an employee who took the game at home, then placed it on net. She is sued now for 10 millions dollars in court and she's gonna lose.
See? This is a better way to fight piracy: suing those who actually leak the games. Without the leaks, pre-release piracy (which is the most damaging to game companies) would not exist and it would be far easier to concentrate on the relatively few possible leaks than on draconian measures that hurt gamers and are bypassed by pirates with swiftness and ease.
(Note: If what you say is true, and she has been sued for 10 million dollars, however, it is unrealistic that Ubisoft will get that much back, simply due to the fact that I doubt a normal employee has anywhere close to that amount of money or even 1 million dollars..., but even if the award is much less it might discourage others from following her example in the future.)
Quote:
This will be worse and worse, once all companies will agree on a commune protection, and chances are that we will not love it.
I agree that this will become worse and worse and I already don't love it! The only way to stop it is if a sufficient number of gamers makes a stand with their wallet and refuses to buy games with those forms of DDRM and spreads the word to other gamers, as well as expressing concerns/feelings to the companies that use such DDRM.
In any case, the DDRM is extremely ineffective at stopping pirates and is very good at hurting customers, after allUbisoft's servers are still strained: http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/5181026566/m/7541043838 So much for Ubisoft being able to assign servers according to demand, as they promise in their FAQ... Pirates are merrily playing the game, while many honest customers cannot, due to the DDRM - isn't that great? I would sure be angry if I were their customer! Not to mention the fact that they don't mention the need for their servers to be up to play the game, they merely mention that you need an active internet connection, which is deceptive.
Ubisoft says:
"Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform. This does not affect customers who are currently playing, but customers attempting to start a game may experience difficulty in accessing our servers. We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience."
Some customer responses:
"Wow, here we are going on 8 hours or more into this mess and it's STILL not fixed."
"This service has been down for like 10 hours, there is really no way to justify this."
"Soon you won't have to worry about "exceptional demand"."
"Got three words for you [Edit]:
Class. Action. Lawsuit." [Edited by moderators to remove swear words]
Oh, and here is a response by a non-customer to the travails of legitimate users:
"Not at all! My pirated version works perfectly!"
Given DDRM's general ineffectiveness against piracy, it is likely aimed at least as much against reselling games as it is against piracy. Against piracy it is about as effective as any other DRM, even customers friendly types - that is it might or might not stop pre-release and zero-day/first-day piracy, which helps if it does, but not longer-term piracy. For that, however, they could just have disk-checks and CD-keys without angering and hurting their customers. So it seems they want to attack the second-hand market. I don't buy or sell games second hand, so it wouldn't affect me, but the methods they are choosing (all the online rubbish) do affect me.
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Malakie
Tavern Dweller
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posted March 11, 2010 07:17 AM |
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Add me to the list..
I am 46 and have been involved in computers and such since the days of the Commodore 64. UBISoft was one of those companies that had products I always liked and I have fully supported them all these years as an active customer.... until now.
If they add this new DRM to all their products from this point forward, I will cease to buy anything with their name on it.
My reasons:
1) I want to be able to play and use anything I buy OFFLINE at any time I WANT to. Not when some company tells me I can.
2) I do NOT have full time internet access! How the heck are people like me supposed to do anything if software requires an active internet connection just to play a stupid game?
Whomever came up with this idiotic idea is just cutting their own bottom line because thousands of users are just going to wait and download it free cracked.
I really cannot believe the management of UBISoft bought into this lame brain idea.
Now if they want to pay for me to have full time internet access then I guess it won't be a problem. Yea right.
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tiltowait
Tavern Dweller
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posted March 14, 2010 08:39 AM |
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No more game purchases from Ubi
This is a horrible practice. Although sad, it is a fact of life that game companies go out of business and even so, I continue to play the titles I purchased from those companies year after year; previous might and magic and heroes of might and magic titles included. What happens if I buy HOMM6 with such an internet connection DRM technology built in and ubi goes under, along with their drm servers? Because of this policy, I will never purchase another ubi game again.
I actually hope Ubi goes under now. If you treat your paying customers in such ways, then you deserve to disappear like so many others.
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Shares
Supreme Hero
I am. Thusly I am.
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posted March 14, 2010 10:12 PM |
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Quote:
This is a horrible practice. Although sad, it is a fact of life that game companies go out of business...
It's also a fact that non-game companies "goes under". Like SAAB being in real danger, even though it's one of the biggest car companies in the world.
Also, I found this browsing the blogoblag:
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VokialBG
Honorable
Legendary Hero
First in line
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posted March 16, 2010 03:26 PM |
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Edited by VokialBG at 15:26, 16 Mar 2010.
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We got the first 10k sigh's  If we have 30k it may mean something 
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted March 16, 2010 03:41 PM |
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I think it sped up since AC2 came out  10k is great news, looking forward to more!
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Daystar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Back from the Dead
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posted March 16, 2010 04:01 PM |
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Hehehehhe. Funny gif is funny.
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How exactly is luck a skill?
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted March 16, 2010 04:06 PM |
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10K starts to make sense. Could you move the link to the OP Elvin, it lives a bit of an obscure life on page 6?
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What will happen now?
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Elvin
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Endless Revival
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posted March 16, 2010 04:22 PM |
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Edited by Elvin at 10:10, 17 Mar 2010.
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Masterpost edited with recent developments. Links to the petition and relevant articles added.
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H5 is still alive and kicking, join us in the Duel Map discord server!
Map also hosted on Moddb
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Roman_Lajciak
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posted March 18, 2010 10:00 PM |
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Quote:
Quote:
This is a horrible practice. Although sad, it is a fact of life that game companies go out of business...
It's also a fact that non-game companies "goes under". Like SAAB being in real danger, even though it's one of the biggest car companies in the world.
Also, I found this browsing the blogoblag:
Yep, that's a good one!
I found another one posted by a disgruntled customer (probably a former customer now):
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SKPRIMUS
Promising
Supreme Hero
The One and the Prime
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posted March 18, 2010 11:25 PM |
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LMAO at those gifs...any news on impact on sales on AC2 / refunds etc?
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Hope defeats despair - "a blatant clue"
too many idiots in VW
"to lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose"
bashing orcus 
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Roman_Lajciak
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posted March 19, 2010 12:39 AM |
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Quote:
LMAO at those gifs...any news on impact on sales on AC2 / refunds etc?
I haven't seen any figures on the sales of the game (Assassin's Creed) since its release, so it might be too early to tell.
Also, bear in mind that the main sales impact might only arrive for subsequent games. Judging from the situation on Ubisoft's boards, many people have probably pre-ordered the game and not investigated its nefarious DRM scheme, but are now angry at Ubisoft for not being able to play when Ubisoft's servers are down, especially since two weeks later Ubisoft's servers STILL have problems, preventing some people from playing. More often then not, these customers cannot return the game, so they will show up as sales for Ubisoft, but many of them have learned from the experience and won't be coming back to buy future Ubisoft titles unless this draconian DRM (DDRM) scheme is removed.
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Roman_Lajciak
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posted March 30, 2010 12:12 AM |
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I still cannot find any sales data for Assassin's Creed II. The only thing I have found that might be remotely indicative is a chart of players on Steam:
Quote:
View Steam players per game
Top 75 games by current player count
Current Players Peak Today Game
53,238 96,304 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Multiplayer
53,172 91,866 Counter-Strike: Source
43,428 76,097 Counter-Strike
17,568 23,976 Team Fortress 2
16,748 23,401 Football Manager 2010
16,059 21,979 Battlefield: Bad Company 2
11,604 17,565 Left 4 Dead 2
6,491 10,692 Empire: Total War
5,600 9,937 Napoleon: Total War
5,546 7,618 Garry's Mod
5,241 9,080 Condition Zero
4,595 10,551 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
4,272 6,239 Torchlight
4,255 6,463 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising
3,598 5,261 Left 4 Dead
3,491 6,166 Day of Defeat: Source
3,457 5,059 Football Manager 2009
3,252 5,130 R.U.S.E. Beta
2,696 4,330 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
2,460 3,737 Dragon Age: Origins
2,227 3,441 Just Cause 2
2,138 3,535 Supreme Commander 2
1,373 2,509 Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
1,371 1,942 Killing Floor
1,258 2,077 Half-Life 2
1,151 3,437 Metro 2033
1,089 1,618 Day of Defeat
927 1,342 Mass Effect 2
893 1,217 Grand Theft Auto IV
881 2,010 Aliens vs Predator
858 1,380 Borderlands
801 1,047 Global Agenda Live
759 1,165 Star Trek Online
712 731 Mount&Blade: Warband
688 935 Plants vs. Zombies
658 924 America's Army 3
637 899 Portal
548 864 Assassin's Creed II
538 898 The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom
524 813 Mass Effect
505 723 Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
498 715 Mount and Blade
488 645 Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
449 771 TrackMania Nations Forever
440 628 Zombie Panic! Source
416 645 Half-Life 2: Episode Two
389 887 RACE 07
381 499 EVE Online
376 897 Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
371 552 Rome: Total War - Gold Edition
359 557 Company of Heroes
350 451 Titan Quest: Immortal Throne
334 607 Saints Row 2
327 499 Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat
311 509 Half-Life 2: Episode One
300 434 Half-Life
299 410 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
287 385 Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
276 443 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition
272 374 Global Agenda - Demo
271 378 Medieval II: Total War
261 433 Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II
243 306 Team Fortress Classic
232 323 Audiosurf
225 338 League of Legends
224 351 Sid Meier's Civilization IV
221 416 Batman: Arkham Asylum
220 352 DiRT 2
219 295 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
219 285 Battlefield 2
214 361 Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight
213 308 Defense Grid: The Awakening
208 268 EVE Online Demo
207 367 RailWorks
200 414 F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
The table is from about 6pm EST 29 March 2010. The bolding in the table is mine - I bolded both Ubisoft games with this DDRM - Assassin's Creed II and Settler's 7. Another game with the DDRM is Silent Hunter 5, but it does not appear in the top 75 games played today.
I would say the numbers are rather unspectacular, given that Assassin's Creed 2 was released only about 3 weeks ago, Settler's 7 was released 6 days ago in North America and 3 days ago in Europe. Silent Hunter 5, I believe, was release about 1 month ago.
However, this is only an indication that sales might not be stellar for a game release of that magnitude - it does not act as a confirmation by any stretch. For that we will have to wait for some sales numbers and those can be hard to come by (and can be interpreted in different ways).
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koteban
Tavern Dweller
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posted April 14, 2010 11:11 PM |
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about DRM in general...
put too much pressure on the customers and they will be paying nothing
any kind of protection can be reverse engineered and removed, it has been done with all sorts of software, video games, consoles, hardware such as automobiles, iphone, PSP, mobile phones and other devices. Every operating system has been hacked and there exist a stable 'free of charge' version of it.
When USA's adult video industry tried to apply DRM onto their WINDOWS media container.. wmv, it grew largely unpopular and lead to establishment of free video formats. Secondly, enforced property rights caused the video to be less popular and more 'free sharing resources' came into existence.
UBI's policy to enforce DRM will lead to removal of DRM and mass distribution of the video games through online sharing resources. If UBI takes extra measures to cut down extra features that can only be accessed online, the game will become less popular.
WHY did COUNTER strike become such a HIT in the days of the past? The answer is easy - you could play it on any machine and lots and lots of free unprotected servers existed.
You could simply copy a folder of counter strike onto another machine and start playing. All in all, the developers of counter-strike and half life profited from the mass appeal of the title.
Just the opposite, subscription only games with CD key protection often ended up underrated with no mass audience. QUAKE III arena or Unreal Tournament are good examples of games that didn't live long and were low on the the total players number.
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antipaladin
Promising
Legendary Hero
of Ooohs and Aaahs
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posted April 15, 2010 02:10 PM |
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where do i sign?
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types in obscure english
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This thread is pages long: 
