Latest Ubisoft DRM measure - all SP saves stored on a cloud server

Aerothorn on 23/2/2010 at 03:12

This whole thing is sad to me. I was going to buy AC2 on PC, and I won't do it now, and buying it on console would only be supporting the move in another way. I like the idea of the Tesco boycott but A. no Tesco in the USA, B. It sounds dicey, C. Not really fair to punish the retailer for Ubisoft's evil.

So I guess I just won't play AC2 until this shit gets removed (which is entirely possible, though by no means certain.)

Irenices on 23/2/2010 at 09:39

I think its up to pirates to save the PC at this point, maybe they got us here, maybe ubisoft just wants you to buy the 360 or ps3 versions of there games, but im afraid that if pirates arnt able to crack this DRM in a reasonable timespan ubi and other companys will call it great success and proceed to assrape all new PC games with this shit.

Myagi on 23/2/2010 at 14:03

Quote Posted by Aerothorn

Not really fair to punish the retailer for Ubisoft's evil.

Would it not be fair to punish drug dealers, only those that make the drugs? ;)

While I'm kidding for the most part, I do think that retailers also carry some responsibility. They could also say "No we won't sell it, there's a limit to what kind of draconian crap we'll pass on to the customers". Would that ever happen? No, unless it affects them directly like the suggested returning of copies (in theory that is, not that I think enough people would do it to actually get anything going).

Thirith on 23/2/2010 at 14:06

If I'm not mistaken, the point is that Tesco's isn't stating clearly that the product requires a constantly running, stable internet connection. Therefore they are also (partly) liable - they're not giving the customer all the information they need.

mothra on 23/2/2010 at 14:36

I thought the point was Tesco having a much bigger impact on Ubi decisions than an internet petition and angry bloggers could ever have and at the same time does NOT really hurt Tesco since it's not a small company already threatened by bankruptcy. It will be just plain annoying and take up resources/time for them to send all back/handle the returns. If it goes good they write Ubisoft about it, if it goes ok they just put some stickers onto the cases. I also read the Tesco eula and you can return the product no matter what (at least if you did not use it), giving a reason is just a way to make a statement. Maybe Tesco will say: look, we won't sell those games, it's too much of a hassle to educate our customers about hidden restrictions and omissions in new games.......

we'll see, I have my AC2 copy ordered from them and ready to send it back the same day it arrives. I wanted to get the game/play it but now I will just wait for the "customer-friendly" version of it and be a bad, bad person that helps ruins pc gaming. UBISOFT MADE ME DO IT !!!

EvaUnit02 on 23/2/2010 at 15:52

Aren't you burning money on shipping though? You being in Austria and Tesco being in the UK and all.

gunsmoke on 23/2/2010 at 17:43

Quote Posted by EvaUnit02

Aren't you burning money on shipping though? You being Austria and Tesco being in the UK and all.

Yup. They don't refund shipping.

Nameless Voice on 23/2/2010 at 18:51

There are Tescos in other countries, too, though.

Al_B on 23/2/2010 at 19:12

I can't see this as being the best idea. If it does have an impact then they can pass it off as an organised internet hate campaign and another excuse to drop the PC as a market. I certainly won't be buying any software with such a DRM anyway - there's just too much chance that some group somewhere will organise a DDOS attack on their servers rendering the games unusable.

There's still a chance that this is either a huge publicity stunt on their part or turns out to be the point where copy protection was demonstrated to go a step too far. There are plenty of other publishers who are quite possibly happy by this move as they pick up sales from people switching their purchases.

Ostriig on 23/2/2010 at 21:25

Quote Posted by Jason Moyer

Thanks, I was aware of the mini-image, I just don't use virtual drives (I guess I could if it doesn't cause a conflict with any of my other games). I should probably buy GameJackal or something, but it's just easier to either not have a disk check or to backup the original exe in case of future patches and paste a cracked one.

No worries. Regarding conflicts with virtual drives, I'm not aware of anything of the sort. And I've been using Daemon Tools for many years now. The only glitch I've found so far is with my Oblivion mini-image, where if I've used the physical optical drive just before, it may throw an error message saying "disc not in drive" even if the image is mounted on a virtual one, but it's all irrelevant because the message box comes with a Continue button that allows the game to load up without any further problems. That's it, really, no other issues of any sort.

With relation to cracks and viruses, I'm no expert on this so I may well be wrong, but I imagine it would be easier to slip some shitware into a cracked .exe, that you need to manually launch, than in a disc mini-image which I'm guessing only contains an identification key, as opposed to having to run code. And, the surer advantage, unlike with a crack, with a mini-image you don't need to get a new one every time the devs issue a patch.

As for GameJackal, I've had had a quick look over its website, but I can't say I see the point. In terms of sidestepping disc checks, it seems to do exactly what a virtual drive and mini-image do, but for money. Maybe if you don't want to have to deal with the sites offering the images, that would be an advantage.

Quote Posted by Al_B

I can't see this as being the best idea. If it does have an impact then they can pass it off as an organised internet hate campaign and another excuse to drop the PC as a market.

I don't think so, for once a "boycott" campaign would have visible and clearly measurable results for a publisher to consider. If the numbers are high enough to point to a tangible loss in profits, I don't really see what they'd stand to gain from ignoring it.

After all, it's not like publishing companies all secretly hate the PC, and are waiting for an "excuse" to drop it - if they have indication there's money to be made in it, they'll want that money. Pragmatically, this entire excessive DRM bullshit they're putting us through is a direct result of that, they want to squeeze a little more money out of the PC demographic. And if they can be provided with a reliable metric to show that their efforts are having the exact opposite effect, I think there's a chance they'll reconsider.