Comments on: Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisoft’s New DRM

By: Ceph

Ceph — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:31:04 +0000

STEAM. I mean here is a service that just beats piracy. Its almost like Spotify in the way that it works in term of having to login.

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:36:44 +0000

Start worrying about piracy and DRM when you finally start developing half decent games.

By: Someone

Someone — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:32:47 +0000

Such DRM + DDoS on Ubisoft’s servers -> no-one can play their games.

That’s one more vulnerability to the list.

By: Just stop it, copy-protection doesn’t work!! « Jacob's Linux Odyssey and Tech bonanza

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:25:00 +0000

[...] makes buyers less likely to want a used copy of a game, just in case. Again annoying, and hell even game developers know it doesn’t [...]

By: Gorton

Gorton — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:04:13 +0000

*ahem* The game being Dragon Age.

By: Gorton

Gorton — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:03:33 +0000

They should follow Bioware’s lead, who offered “free” DLC codes for those who purchased the game.

By: Hans Pandeya

Hans Pandeya — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:42:34 +0000

who cares, this will be circumnavigated again, just like the rest. Now im off to shit on my copy of splinter cell.

By: Pirate Home Page » Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisoft’s New DRM

Pirate Home Page » Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisoft’s New DRM — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:57:17 +0000

[...] Ubisoft has announced its new solution to prevent pirates from playing their games. The upcoming DRM will require gamers to be online when playing the game Read More : Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisoft’s New DRM [...]

By: Annie Moose

Annie Moose — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:40:42 +0000

This is a TERRIBLE idea! As shocking as it may seem to game developers, there are still people in the world who only have dial-up (or have to pay per megabyte/time online or something). So you’re just going to cut off all of those customers because they aren’t wealthy enough (or don’t live in the right area) to have Internet access? Absurd. That’s not going to do a single solitary thing to cut down on piracy, it’s only going to increase it among people with limited Internet access and cut Ubisoft’s sales.

By: Coolzrock

Coolzrock — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:42:02 +0000

Oh ubisoft, ubisoft. They don’t realize that crackers will always find a way…

By: BASiQ

BASiQ — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:43:14 +0000

Way to go Ubisoft, now no one will buy your games… I dont buy games anyways, the only one I ever even considered buying was MW2 for the MP, but I decided against it and just play the SP all the time…

They should just have NO piracy protection. I mean, woho, they have some protection requiring you to be online while playing… Someone will have an emulator out in 24 hours of the release. What’s the point.

Spend the money on making the game better, not the protection.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:26:08 +0000

What about the people who don’t have the money to pay for an internet connection? This will prevent them being able to play as well!

By: Jasper van Weerd

Jasper van Weerd — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:21:28 +0000

Catch the signal, make a keygen, bounce the signal with a program, and play it offline… something else new today?

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:04 +0000

I still haven’t purchased Spore or any other game that was loaded with DRM. So go ahead, bring on all the restrictions you desire, you’ll just lose out on my money.

By: Yatti420

Yatti420 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:05:04 +0000

That’s a joke lol.. It will still end up cracked so quickly..

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:45:31 +0000

they just need to make the legit copy more enticing than a copied one. ie: free downloadable weapons, armor, achievements, for having a serial number with online authentication.

By: blah

blah — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:30:18 +0000

hey if they pay my internet connection fee, sure i’ll buy their game…

By: Erm

Erm — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:30:33 +0000

DRM is never, in any shape or form, good.

Period.

Requiring to be online for use of any cultural artefact is just ugh.

By: AnonGuy

AnonGuy — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:22:52 +0000

How about this DRM. You can only play the game on an official Ubisoft cabinet and you have to make a microtransaction of 25 cents every time you want to start or continue the game.

By: Soundwave (Have a Cigar)

Soundwave (Have a Cigar) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:04:05 +0000

I never tried the first one, but I built a new game PC recently, so I thought I might buy Assassins Creed 2.

However, with this announcement, my interest is gone.

I generally play games when my internet connection is down. Even if that wasn’t the case, I won’t even consider buying games with this DRM, not even if the price was drastically lower.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:53:45 +0000

How is this any different from Steam’s model?
Even offline mode is abysmal. Ever tried playing a Valve game over LAN?

By: Nuovo DRM per Ubisoft che lascia scettici un po’ tutti

Nuovo DRM per Ubisoft che lascia scettici un po’ tutti — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:10:21 +0000

[...] essere connessi ad internet altrimenti non potranno giocare ma gli altri sviluppatori di giochi sono piuttosto scettici da questa [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:36:55 +0000

make games cheaper and people will buy them. Look at steam when they made half life 2 like 50% cheaper they sold more copies than they did when the game came out.

By: Tigger

Tigger — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:02:05 +0000

If a game is more than say $20 – $30 – im not gunna buy it, its just to expensive.
When im playing on some kind of digital distribution platform, ie steam or games for windows live, if your client looses its net connection when playing a multiplayer game, you have to grin and bear it, if you loose connection when playing a single player game, and get kicked out of it…that would piss me off and id download a pirated copy in a heartbeat. As far as Ubisoft new DRM goes, its sounds a bit too risky for me to spend my hard earned cash on something thats just going to piss me off, so ill give my money to Rebellion, or EA or any other game dev….and give Ubisoft and they’re DRMware a wide berth =)

By: mto4

mto4 — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:31:39 +0000

i think that piracy is overrated. that isn’t to say it doesn’t lower company revenues, it just means that, IMO, it’s not that much of a factor.

as a person who has bought several games, and now exclusively pirates, i can tell you that i wouldn’t buy the game if there wan’t a pirated version. 70$ just aren’t worth it. and i know that most of the people i know wouldn’t buy them either. they download because they can and it’s for free.

so if i’m not going to buy it in the first place, how am i lowering your sales? all that happens is either you get positive reviews and comments if it’s good, bad ones if i isn’t. free marketing, if you deserve it ;)

By: K

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:49:56 +0000

Good thing they haven’t got any good games released soon or ever, really.

By: support freeware gaming

support freeware gaming — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:35:07 +0000

they want to drive you insane until they convince you to put a chip in your brain

support the authors of freeware gaming, donate to the freeware games you enjoy and shun drm crippled commercial games.

By: Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisofts New DRM - Gaming Masters

Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisofts New DRM - Gaming Masters — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:16:24 +0000

[...] satisfied customers. Perhaps even more importantly, they could sell a lot more products. Source: Game Developers Skeptical About Ubisoft’s New DRM | TorrentFreak __________________ Robert Smith Staff Member Register | Help!! | PM Me | BBCode [...]

By: IAmAI

IAmAI — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:08:03 +0000

“In the end it’s all about finding a way to frame or sell DRM as an advantage instead of a restriction.”

Then why bother with DRM? If you provide a compelling product, people will buy it. DRM is wasted effort either way.

By: Joe Public

Joe Public — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:57:14 +0000

I don’t think I have heard of a single thing that will promote more Pirates than this.

I don’t have internet at home, its to dam expensive and I get all I need at work so what do I do..?

They say “If no Internet connection is available it means that the game wont work, period.”

Well for me and thousands of others it would then be Online DRM then no purchase PERIOD.!

I would be forced to crack it if I wanted it … or I would taking from the caring sharing community.

Result is the same they get nothing further from me and I have spent a shed load on games.

It very simple, all this will do is force more people to piracy, when they just want to play a dam game, and once they are sharing how long till they also pick up music and films..?

WAY TO GROW THE SHARING COMMUNITY … THANKS :-)

By: United Hackers Association

United Hackers Association — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:55:00 +0000

haha they should add that pandering to the top graphic card users only alienates them even furthar.
YA know how a lot of us dont have those 3000$ computers
no we have 400-600$ ones without or with limited graphics cards and they whine how sales are down thats cause its all too pricey.

GOOD however for the new AMD graphics card that 100$ USD card that does a lot of the new features. might actually do more for ubi soft then they realize.

as to DRM well don’t worry kids i can guarantee you its cracked before they even shove out the first game. WHY?

HERE IS THE MAIN REASON ALL GAMES SOFTWARE WITH DRM IS CRACKABLE.

unless its a measure to forever prevent you and there is no way to decrypt then you are crackable and a solution will be found especially on a mass production scale.

FOOLISH waste a money better spent on making a game cheaper and more playable.

/me goes back to making his Basic dnd mass combat game FOR FREE…and personal use.

By: santa is destroyed by a simple cross

santa is destroyed by a simple cross — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:27:14 +0000

Any chance these could be hallucinations?
One hallucination flattened me with a clout on the jaw.
That sounds like a painful reality.
Yes.
There must besome logical explanation.
Your signal’s weak. Can you turn up your gain?
I’m already on maximum.
Captain, shall I beam down an armed party?
Negative. Our people here are armed with phasers.
Besides, there’s yet to be any real danger.
Captain out.
McCoy. McCoy, do you read me?
Kirk to McCoy. Come in.
Captain, take cover!
There’s a samurai after me.
I mean, there was…
Captain, you’ve got to believe me.
I’ve met some interesting personalities myself.

By: AnarchyNow

AnarchyNow — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:13:44 +0000

Woh! Implementing a Internet backdoor as a copy-protection, what stupidity!
Remember, 40 years ago, no video games, so we can live without it, and there always will be people to make free games anyway, so no reason to pay to play, capitalism has lasted too long it need to go away
ANARCHY NOW!

By: SilPHONZA

SilPHONZA — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:54:13 +0000

phew.. seems like a new project is being allotted for crackers!!!
but nevertheless crackers always complete their project on time!

By: Wanker

Wanker — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:53:35 +0000

That would be pathetically easy to bypass. Heard of server emulation?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:51:35 +0000

That would be pathetically easy to bypass. Heard of server emulation?

By: Virotelisa

Virotelisa — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:43:03 +0000

Right. At times i want to play on a laptop, LAN, or friends house for some coop, and in those cases i won’t always have Internet. So i cannot play the game i legally bought?

For comparison:

LEGAL:
+ Supports game developers
- Costs money
- Restrictions: Install limits, Can’t play when not online,
- Installs possibly harmful DRM software.

PIRACY:
+ Completely Free
+ No Draconian control measures
- Doesn’t support game developers.

I don’t mind forking over money for a good game. If i like it, i will gladly pay for it. However, if paying money means buying restrictions and ridiculous measures as well, i prefer free.

I’m not supporting developers that are fools, in other words.

By: Giggaflop

Giggaflop — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:40:51 +0000

This Should Be Easily Fixed With a Host’s File Alteration :P redirect the request back to your own pc where a mini “activation” server program runs

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:31:24 +0000

Four children.All with laptops and gamestations.We go on holidays where there is no internet connection.(Along with many other families)So you know what they think,and what they will be doing!!Or to put it simply.Two lolly shops .One with locks and one with no doors.Where do you think you will find your kids???

By: AJ

AJ — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:04:20 +0000

‘the danger of DRM is that the pirated copy turns into a more desirable product than the retail version.’

Did someone say SPORE?

By: bring back oink

bring back oink — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:47:05 +0000

there would probally be a work around it using 127.0.0.1

By: Fizzadar

Fizzadar — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:43:21 +0000

It won’t stop piracy, they just have no brains whatsoever when they invent these stupid fucking DRM bullshit. Simple solution is for people to pirate, to avoid these dumb drm ‘features’.

By: What a REASONED MIND really sounds like

What a REASONED MIND really sounds like — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:39:47 +0000

Frederick Banting deserves millions of dollars for creating insulin. Why does Lily Allen deserve millions for writing ‘The Fear’? Even if you think it’s a great song, she isn’t saving lives.

Bottom Line – Piracy offers better versions faster than corporations. Pirates can download music, movies, games, and television shows at whatever quality and format they want with great speeds. Offer pirates this at REASONABLE prices and you have defeated the ‘threat’ of piracy without having to waste money trying to outlaw it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:13:05 +0000

Demonoid registration is currently open if anyone is interested.

http://www.demonoid.com/

By: Raisin Brain

Raisin Brain — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:10:21 +0000

PSP
PS1
PS2
PS3
Xbox 360

none of these require internet to play games.

By: Nailin Pailin

Nailin Pailin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:05:05 +0000

Its stupid to bother with DRM any more.

Ubisoft’s attempt is nothing but utter failure right from the start.

How do they expect legitimate buyers who have limited internet connections to play they games they buy?

Moreover, do they really believe that crackers won’t be able to find a work-around for such protectionist measures?

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:02:10 +0000

Ubisoft should just copy Steam’s business model. Steam’s dominating the market right now.
http://store.steampowered.com/

By: lol

lol — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:35:20 +0000

@83 fail the original xbox is no where near as good as a ps3 can you put linux on the xbox? can you run a webserver from the xbox can you play xvids from usb stick on the xbox? You can on the ps3.

By: thelazysamurai

thelazysamurai — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:41:03 +0000

Great Article! Added benefits for paying users are the way to go. Steam ‘paved’ the way, now others should follow and maybe do it even better…right? There is nothing wrong with making money, but serving the customer is the 1st and the only priority the company should have.. if that’s ok, the money should pour in, especially in the media/entertainment business you’d say.

Anyways, the best way to change the way the ‘big’ companies think is not to fight from outside but from within. So if you ever think about fighting them, please get( a university/college degree and an important position at a big media company and stay true to your ideals! Make them believe in the new order of things!
Viva la Internet! For Universal Internet and Privacy rights! If we can’t get it now, we’ll go for it in a few years! Yarr!

/revolution mode off

So that was my rant for today :)

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:00:07 +0000

The PS3 a crap idea making unhackable, you simply cannot unlock the full power of the unit as with all modern tech. The old Xbox was a prime example, standard it was crap and basic. Hacked it turned into a total media centre with far more capabilities than the 360 or the PS3 have right now and they are the next gereration. This is a step in almost the right direction, steam is by far my best friend when it comes to legit games and if the game happens to be great I don’t mind purchasing it. If my internet goes down as living in Guernsey (a crap little island of inbreds) it often does I would be rather pissed off at the fact that I can’t use my game. Therfor I will be downloading the pirated version to be safe.