Some Ubisoft Games Not Playable on My Birthday

@Branthog: as long as I can start actually playing it, it won't be too bad I guess but when you hear "Ubisoft", "DRM" and "Downtime" in the same sentence you can kinda jump to conclusions.

The reason I asked in the first place was I heard rumours that certain progression stuff is linked to the servers, so while the game will be playable, the downtime will have other side-effects, but judging by the vitriol around Anno and DRM around the internet, it's seems like that's already the case. :(

Shame, all of this.

@SerHulse said:

@Branthog: as long as I can start actually playing it, it won't be too bad I guess but when you hear "Ubisoft", "DRM" and "Downtime" in the same sentence you can kinda jump to conclusions.

The reason I asked in the first place was I heard rumours that certain progression stuff is linked to the servers, so while the game will be playable, the downtime will have other side-effects, but judging by the vitriol around Anno and DRM around the internet, it's seems like that's already the case. :(

Shame, all of this.

They do state that all UPlay stuff (the progression stuff, I believe - or at least the rewards you get to spend on some things in some games) will bee affected.

@Nefhril said:

One thing that worries me. What happens when they decide to take down the servers? Will I be able to play my games in 20 years that I payed for? Maybe they can remove the DRM with an update when the time comes?

I still play my NES games from time to time hell I even play on my Vectrex so I'm pretty sure I want to play some old school Xbox 360 games in the future :)

You're at the whim of the developer and/or publisher. Some have specifically stated that if you buy a game from them and they ever shut down or go away, they will update all the games to release you of the DRM locks. I think that is the case with Steam. With some . . . well, you're just fucked. Unfortunately, DRM only impacts those of us who are legitimate paying customers (and drives some of those legitimate customers to seek copies of games through other means). Those who don't pay for their games don't have to deal with the DRM, in the first place. So . . . it's all fucking pointless. But they don't care. A lot of the industry has their head so far up their asses that you'd think they were Hilary Rosen (former super-evil head of the RIAA) or Jack Valenti (former super-evil head of the MPAA).

And this is why I will only buy games with DMR that can be used off-line. I had some nightmares trying to play Assassins Creed 2 with Time Warner's DNS server crashing for 2 weeks, and swore off any game that is single player but needs the internet. And Steam does not count, because it could go into offline mode without issues.

@DarkWaterSong said:

And this is why I will only buy games with DMR that can be used off-line. I had some nightmares trying to play Assassins Creed 2 with Time Warner's DNS server crashing for 2 weeks, and swore off any game that is single player but needs the internet. And Steam does not count, because it could go into offline mode without issues.

What's ridiculous is that CD-KEYs should be just fine. They take the invasive bullshit out of the way and as long as you can provide the key, you're fine. It worked for many years and there is no way that they can contend that modern DRM is any more effective than a CD-KEY.

@Branthog: I am just par@Branthog said:

@DarkWaterSong said:

And this is why I will only buy games with DMR that can be used off-line. I had some nightmares trying to play Assassins Creed 2 with Time Warner's DNS server crashing for 2 weeks, and swore off any game that is single player but needs the internet. And Steam does not count, because it could go into offline mode without issues.

What's ridiculous is that CD-KEYs should be just fine. They take the invasive bullshit out of the way and as long as you can provide the key, you're fine. It worked for many years and there is no way that they can contend that modern DRM is any more effective than a CD-KEY.

That is why I am just praying the ME3 is not going to require Origin.

I'm born on the 7th of February :(

Aquarians rule, Patrick.

Oh man Patrick, what are you planning up for your birthday? Also I hope Ubisoft's phone support team will be riddled with people angry about this.

woo! @patrickklepek and I share a birthday! happy early birthday

That's what you get for being born.

It's incredibly depressing that there is a company out there who won't allow you to play single player games you paid for for any period of time - it's actually intentional this time - and you guys are arguing over e-peens and birthdays. Do any of you actually care? Have you accepted it as part of life? Because it's bullshit. We should be up in arms over garbage like this.

"Happy birthday zipperhead"

DRM just isn't the right answer, its not stopping pirates who really want to pirate anyways. Stuff like this is why I still prefer the consoles over PC.

@radioactivez0r said:

It's incredibly depressing that there is a company out there who won't allow you to play single player games you paid for for any period of time - it's actually intentional this time - and you guys are arguing over e-peens and birthdays. Do any of you actually care? Have you accepted it as part of life? Because it's bullshit. We should be up in arms over garbage like this.

I'm with you man, too much hate for each other, not enough hate for draconian DRM schemes that don't make a difference to piracy.

people still play ubisoft PC games?

wtf?

Ubisoft continues to impress...

@Branthog said:

@DarkWaterSong said:

And this is why I will only buy games with DMR that can be used off-line. I had some nightmares trying to play Assassins Creed 2 with Time Warner's DNS server crashing for 2 weeks, and swore off any game that is single player but needs the internet. And Steam does not count, because it could go into offline mode without issues.

What's ridiculous is that CD-KEYs should be just fine. They take the invasive bullshit out of the way and as long as you can provide the key, you're fine. It worked for many years and there is no way that they can contend that modern DRM is any more effective than a CD-KEY.

online checks are more about stopping used sales and lending out your copy to a friend when you're done with it. It's about propping a crappy game's market price over a longer period of time by limiting or removing secondary market. Pointing and throwing a crybaby tantrum over pirates is just a convenient marketing spin.

@tourgen said:

@Branthog said:

@DarkWaterSong said:

And this is why I will only buy games with DMR that can be used off-line. I had some nightmares trying to play Assassins Creed 2 with Time Warner's DNS server crashing for 2 weeks, and swore off any game that is single player but needs the internet. And Steam does not count, because it could go into offline mode without issues.

What's ridiculous is that CD-KEYs should be just fine. They take the invasive bullshit out of the way and as long as you can provide the key, you're fine. It worked for many years and there is no way that they can contend that modern DRM is any more effective than a CD-KEY.

online checks are more about stopping used sales and lending out your copy to a friend when you're done with it. It's about propping a crappy game's market price over a longer period of time by limiting or removing secondary market. Pointing and throwing a crybaby tantrum over pirates is just a convenient marketing spin.

I have no problem activating a game over the net, so it can bind to a system or something like steam that lets you install it wherever you want so long as you are logged into your account...and only 1 pc at a time can be logged in. I just hate things that force you to constantly be online to play a single player game. Why? Because my internet works 80% of the time, and it makes me mad when it or the DRM server goes down and I am left with something that I paid $50+ I can't play.

Also I am VERY worried about these games in 5 or so years, when I want to play them again. Sure they will work on steam, but will I have to by them again because Ubisoft or whoever removed then from their DRM server to save space? Like Deus Ex 3...I went back and played Deus Ex 1 and remembered why I was looking forward to 3.

Looks like pirates win again...

I think this is the first time I'm feeling how bad DRMs can be. I payed for Might and Magic Heros VI, fair and square. Even if this transition only takes a couple of hours, it seems unfair that I won't be able to play the game during this period.

Patrick just had to let everyone in the world know that his birthday is February 7. Now THIS is news.

wow, I had no idea I share the same birthday with a bunch of you duders!  2/7ers do it better!

And this, Ubisoft, is why people pirate games.

@phrali said:

people still play ubisoft PC games?

wtf?

My thoughts exactly. I've only considered their games on consoles since their asinine DRM scheme started. You buy an Ubisoft PC game, you get what you deserve. That's what I think, anyway.

UBISOFT YOU UBIMORONS

This is why I continue to not buy anything this company makes console or PC. Yes I missed out on some great games but I refuse to give them any of my money and I also refuse to pirate stuff. Good DRM (like steam) works but the shit they do only punishes the people who buy thier games legaly.

I have been boycotting Ubisoft since they launched the Online Services Platform DRM, and I feel good about it. I might not have gotten to play any Assassin's Creed, but I don't care. So long as Ubisoft persist with this Orwellian DRM I refuse to give them my money. They dishonor the gaming industry with this continued farce.

Steam has proven that you can have DRM method that doesn't strangle your players at the same time. Ubisoft fail to understand this. P.S. Patrick's birthday' is 3 days before mine.

@DarkWaterSong said:

@tourgen said:

@Branthog said:

@DarkWaterSong said:

And this is why I will only buy games with DMR that can be used off-line. I had some nightmares trying to play Assassins Creed 2 with Time Warner's DNS server crashing for 2 weeks, and swore off any game that is single player but needs the internet. And Steam does not count, because it could go into offline mode without issues.

What's ridiculous is that CD-KEYs should be just fine. They take the invasive bullshit out of the way and as long as you can provide the key, you're fine. It worked for many years and there is no way that they can contend that modern DRM is any more effective than a CD-KEY.

online checks are more about stopping used sales and lending out your copy to a friend when you're done with it. It's about propping a crappy game's market price over a longer period of time by limiting or removing secondary market. Pointing and throwing a crybaby tantrum over pirates is just a convenient marketing spin.

I have no problem activating a game over the net, so it can bind to a system or something like steam that lets you install it wherever you want so long as you are logged into your account...and only 1 pc at a time can be logged in. I just hate things that force you to constantly be online to play a single player game. Why? Because my internet works 80% of the time, and it makes me mad when it or the DRM server goes down and I am left with something that I paid $50+ I can't play.

Also I am VERY worried about these games in 5 or so years, when I want to play them again. Sure they will work on steam, but will I have to by them again because Ubisoft or whoever removed then from their DRM server to save space? Like Deus Ex 3...I went back and played Deus Ex 1 and remembered why I was looking forward to 3.

The problem is that no DRM is acceptable, when the real reason is clearly as tourgen also mentioned and not "piracy". It's further not acceptable when, as is always pointed out in these discussions, only legitimate customers are impacted by this. So, it accomplishes nothing and only hurts their actual customers. There is no rational and acceptable justification for doing it, as a result. Even if they used an entirely reasonable DRM (and no matter what kind of DRM you use, I am of the opinion that it should dissolve itself after a couple or so years, after the money generation portion of the title's life has come and gone).

I guess this is news...

This sucks for all the Settlers fans(and those still playing AC1 on Mac i geuss).

Happy Birthday Patrick!

GRRR I CAN'T GO A DAY WITHOUT THE GAMES I WASN'T GOING TO PLAY ON THAT DAY ANYWAY

I was going to buy Silent Hunter V, then I saw Ubisoft...

Ehm, there's no Mac version of the first Assassin's Creed game.

@Rolyatkcinmai said:

GRRR I CAN'T GO A DAY WITHOUT THE GAMES I WASN'T GOING TO PLAY ON THAT DAY ANYWAY

It doesn't matter if they were or were not going to play the games on that day. They can't play the games they purchased, and that's a problem.

That's why this digital distribution future we're headed for is fucking bullshit, I don't care whether it's Steam, XBL, Origin, whatever. We no longer own our games, just a license to play them.

Happy birthday in advance, Patrick!

Well, if you think of those games as 'Online Games', which they somewhat are, with the DRM, then it's perfectly normal to have some server downtime.

@inappropriate_touchscreen: Quite a few of them aren't. Granted, some of them are pretty old.

See, stuff like this is why DRM is so stupid.

The other day I found some ol' PC games in a store. Bought them, could play them afterwards easily. (besides 1 of these 7 titles I bought, 1 I needed to find some fan-launcher to play it under Windows 7)

Can you imagine that with DRM-enabled Games? Nope! In 5-10 years, you can just as simply throw them by the window. (or find some cracks online...which in the end would be better to find a pirate copy of the game to begin with...)

I just discovered i share a birthday with patrick.

I like the part where people who paid money are inconvenienced while the pirates are (conceivably) able to play their games.

Ubisoft keepin' it real.

@UltimAXE said:

I like the part where people who paid money are inconvenienced while the pirates are (conceivably) able to play their games.

Ubisoft keepin' it real.

And this is why I pick up no-cd, no-DRM cracks for the games that I purchase legally. If I pay for it, I can modify it how I want, including removing the ridiculous locks.