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New copy protection technology outrages gamers

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  • onetruthonetruth Member Posts: 100
    Originally posted by tomaswilen

    Originally posted by theAsna


    The basic problem is manifold.

    The software is "dongled" by an internet connection to the company's "license server". In principle they try to apply the same mechanics as are used in the business world.
    The software is tied to an account. That means you cannot sell the box after you are finished with the game. Unless you sell your account as well. That leads to a problem when you have one account for several games.
    Problems with internet connections or a too little bandwith will have a negative effect on gameplay or even make it impossible to play the game.
    No company lives forever. What will they do after the company goes out of business one day? If you're lucky the company will provide a patch to solve the issue. Or you can download a cracked version. But there is still the possibility that you have to throw the game into the wastebin.
    What if the software is at the end of its life cycle? No more marketing. No more patching. No more addons. It's almost like in 4)
    Cracked Versions are ... well. Can you always trust the source you get it from?

     
    Well, up to now you could rely on being able to play off-line games whenever you wanted. 5 years after purchase, 10 years after purchase, 20 years after purchase (with a little tweaking). But now?

     

    This, marked in red, is what i think is their main reason, not piracy. I remember reading some where that second hand sales of pc games are the biggest reason for hampered sales of PC-games, not piracy. But they can't say that up front off course, but uses some lame piracy excuse.

     

    Yep.

    And I've said that at least twice in this thread already, and yet everyone keeps going on about the piracy thing.

    Wake up folks.

    ...

  • RuinalRuinal Member Posts: 195

    Like the no-cd cracks, you can bet pirates will simply find a no-internet crack. I agree, the real reason for this new copy protection is to prevent selling on your bought copy of the game. Speaking of which, isn't it ironic that the Digital Delivery platforms have game prices which are more than the box versions? Bandwidth costs my arse.

  • NifaNifa Member Posts: 324
    Originally posted by Ruinal


    Like the no-cd cracks, you can bet pirates will simply find a no-internet crack. I agree, the real reason for this new copy protection is to prevent selling on your bought copy of the game. Speaking of which, isn't it ironic that the Digital Delivery platforms have game prices which are more than the box versions? Bandwidth costs my arse.

    The difference is that on Steam (and my digital delivery copies of all my Steam games cost me the same or less than my box copy games I got on a Best Buy or other retail shelf), I have the option to turn the Steam service off, Disconnect my internet, and still play the single player games.

    With what Ubisoft is proposing, I do not have that option.

    I am single, live alone, am obsessive about my computer's security and maintenance, and don't share accounts or passwords.  So what Ubisoft is saying is that I can buy their games, yes, but unless I am somewhere that allows me a high speed internet connection, I cannot play them.  They are dictating to me when and where I can play the games I buy.  That may be acceptable in France (where Ubisoft is based, a country which is reputed to be very aggressive in protecting copyrights, for which I respect Mr. Sarkozy tremendously), Canada, Romania, Spain, China, Singapore, Germany, Bulgaria, Morocco, Italy, India, Brazil, Sweden and the United Kingdom (all nations where Ubisoft has offices), but here in the United States, where I live, we have the right to refuse to even import a product that violates the rights of our citizens.  We frequently do not do so, because our citizens have the right to make that choice with their wallets...which choice I am exercising by refusing to purchase any Ubisoft or subsidiary product until they come to their senses.

     

    Firebrand Art

    "You are obviously confusing a mature rating with actual maturity." -Asherman

    Maybe MMO is not your genre, go play Modern Warfare...or something you can be all twitchy...and rank up all night. This is seriously getting tired. -Ranyr

  • ZebladeZeblade Member UncommonPosts: 931

    "" playing for free,something they had to pay their hard earned money to play.Think about it,stealing is criminal,do we want our city full of criminals?No"

     

    Criminals? Funny how braking the speed limit or running stop signs, lying on taxes, downloading music is not a crime its.. well everyone does it so its ok. 

    Please we all do something .. so you bought a game and didnt download it .. HAHA ..sorry your just as bad.

    And this is not a problem. I use cracks all the time. I dont like having to have the CD.. connect to steam blah blah

     

    But in all truth.. this is nothing to whats happening around us.. be lucky to have internet for 1-2 more years..

     

  • TJ_420TJ_420 Member Posts: 224
    Originally posted by Zeblade


    "" playing for free,something they had to pay their hard earned money to play.Think about it,stealing is criminal,do we want our city full of criminals?No"
     
    Criminals? Funny how braking the speed limit or running stop signs, lying on taxes, downloading music is not a crime its.. well everyone does it so its ok. 
    Please we all do something .. so you bought a game and didnt download it .. HAHA ..sorry your just as bad.
    And this is not a problem. I use cracks all the time. I dont like having to have the CD.. connect to steam blah blah
     
    But in all truth.. this is nothing to whats happening around us.. be lucky to have internet for 1-2 more years..
     

     

    You're 100% correct... I think (based on your above post) that you and I have much in common.

    People need to wake up. But they wont.

  • BaggunsBagguns Member Posts: 152

    This would be fine for an online multiplayer game, but defeats the whole point of a single player game.  Many times I'm in a place where I don't have access to an internet connection, that is were single player games come in.  I will definitely never buy a game that has this type of protection on it.

     

    What is the point of a company doing this? It only hurts the normal person who does not participate in illegal piracy and does nothing to stop the pirates. I'm sure within days of a game's launch, the protection will be broken and the game will be pirated.  Correct me if there is some technology about this that I'm unaware of, but if the encryption can be removed from DVDs why would it be any harder for someone to remove the protection from one of these games?

    Mr. Bagguns

  • kaiser3282kaiser3282 Member UncommonPosts: 2,759
    Originally posted by TJ_420

    Originally posted by Zeblade


    "" playing for free,something they had to pay their hard earned money to play.Think about it,stealing is criminal,do we want our city full of criminals?No"
     
    Criminals? Funny how braking the speed limit or running stop signs, lying on taxes, downloading music is not a crime its.. well everyone does it so its ok. 
    Please we all do something .. so you bought a game and didnt download it .. HAHA ..sorry your just as bad.
    And this is not a problem. I use cracks all the time. I dont like having to have the CD.. connect to steam blah blah
     
    But in all truth.. this is nothing to whats happening around us.. be lucky to have internet for 1-2 more years..
     

     

    You're 100% correct... I think (based on your above post) that you and I have much in common.

    People need to wake up. But they wont.



     

    I dont think either of you gets what this thread is about (though kind of hard to tell because of the engrish...). You seem to think people are complaing about cracks and piracy.... we're not. What we're complaining about is the company Ubisoft taking such drastic steps to combat piracy that it would prevent even legitimate customers from playing a game that they purchased when they want to... only when Ubisoft says they want you to play, even though the game itself requires no internet connection (which is usually one of the main reasons for playing it to begin with as opposed to playing an MMO or online FPS instead).

  • GetViolatedGetViolated Member Posts: 335

    HELL NO 

    I won't be buying this

    f-you Ubisoft

  • TJ_420TJ_420 Member Posts: 224

    I think we fully understand this-

    This is bullshit that causes more Piracy than it combats.... We we're commenting on the control of out society in general (this being one part)

  • BaggunsBagguns Member Posts: 152
    Originally posted by Alberel


    Lol, the people that pirate games wouldn't buy it anyway. Every year companies in every media industry throw out figures for money lost through piracy yet those people would never have bought it anyway! They pirate it because it's easy and doesn't cost them anything. I also know plenty of people who pirate things and then buy legit when they know they like it (and the publishers will still count that piracy as a 'lost sale'). The companies aren't losing any money, because it's money they never would have had in the first place.
    All these draconian attempts to combat piracy are only going to FORCE legitimate consumers to pirate the games.

     

    This is the truth.  I love it when I read the lost sales of the music, movie and game industries.  If what they said were true, then things would be much worse than they are.

    For example: Some guy downloads $5000 in DVDs and the movie industry says that they lost $5000.  Do they really think that this person would have downloaded all of those movies if piracy wasn't an option for him?

    The only thing anti piracy tactics will do is drive more and more people to becoming pirates.

    Mr. Bagguns

  • drbaltazardrbaltazar Member UncommonPosts: 7,856

    on average !streaming 'piracy,download (viewable,since i dont pirate music .i got a radio for that!)

    the viewable stuff i get online is mediocre at best any owner of high definition tv will say it doesnt replace HD blue ray or other media

    me i use it to filter that bad movie .like if there is a freddy krugger vs mmorpg take manahattan!you bet your self i ll check it online first!if its good its good ,i ll go see it in the movie box if not it might end up on my renting list

    some movie like lord of the ring i dug that enough to buy the collector edition even tho i saw the movie

    online.

    that being said i will not buy a trahs movie .thats why streaming or downloading isnt a big issue

    why!because often the movie that would have been completelly ignored exemple:from france with love!

    will have some viewing time why!i saw it online and i loved the style so i went to the movie box and listened to that movie in cinema ,would i own it ?hell no!but as a renter or in the movie its fair

    true there should be a resolution limit im my view 600x 800 should be the max viewable online legal!

    but anyway its no big deal since most streamer already limit this only time you get HD

    is went the movie is only avail in dvd but if it go to the movie first lol by the time you get it in hd

    3 month will have gone by so again no issue.sometime the movie industry itself release a crappy resolution online yes it does happen sherlock holmes was one very poor quality

    and they check reaction !if they like what they read they ll deliver as is but very often you got to cinema and our like wow they really polished it!

    i think its a way to get rid of pirate by releasing crappy stuff online they get rid of pirate since they lose interest and at the last week they release new info etc!

  • HoobleyHoobley Member Posts: 421

    I play online games online.

     

    I play single player games when I can't play online games.

  • KyrozKyroz Member Posts: 68

    No, I will not purchase software like this.  When I want to play offline, I play offline.  Ubisoft and any other company that follows suit will lose any and all of my business.  To hell with them.

  • Esther-ChanEsther-Chan Member Posts: 288

    Ubisoft won't change any time soon. When it comes to copywrite protection, they're leading the charge. Like I said about their DS games, most of what comes out of Ubisoft has some really sophisticated copywrite protection. It frustrates pirates, but it doesn't deter them. Now I'm just repeating what I said previously....

  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    Originally posted by SwampRob


    I can't believe some people are actually in support of this.
    Does anyone actually think that the net result of this will be more sales in Ubisoft's pocket?   
    Does anyone actually think that the net result will make people who currently pirate games suddenly start paying for them?
    No, this is a result of some suits getting angry cause a small percentage got to play their game for free.    So they threw a hissy fit and said "Fine!   We'll play hardball!     Constant, non-stop verification!"
     
    Now, the key question:   Does anyone think that this will stop potential legal buyers from buying?     You can put me down for that.

    It does not matter one bit if it results in more sales,this is a legitimate reason to STOP pirating.I am all for it,even if it stops 50% of the people.

    Like i said with them able to track your IP,you would be taking a HUGE risk to even attempt to play a hacked version.I hope they follow up on the people they catch and throw the book at them.The trend lately is to crack down on Pirate Bay and similar operations,as well ordinary people have been sued for large amounts of cash for pirating,i will always applaud any developer that shows some effort in this direction.

    I might also REMIND people that this is in no way a detriment to ANYONE,it will cause no problems whatsoever,people are making up lame excuses.

    I would be more worried about Blizzard and their embedded spyware they use on WOW players.

    GOOD JOB UBISOFT :D

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • drbaltazardrbaltazar Member UncommonPosts: 7,856
    Originally posted by Esther-Chan


    Ubisoft won't change any time soon. When it comes to copywrite protection, they're leading the charge. Like I said about their DS games, most of what comes out of Ubisoft has some really sophisticated copywrite protection. It frustrates pirates, but it doesn't deter them. Now I'm just repeating what I said previously....

     

    some of the best hacker in the world are all around they office so for them its very easy to test a techno just

    advetise in local news that this is unhackable and within moment the hackers are at ti trying to break it

    those gaming company dont care if hacker break it they only want to know how long it will stand

    if it stand 4 month ubisoft goal is achieved by then they just change the code etc!

  • VartinVartin Member Posts: 6
    Originally posted by graggok

    Originally posted by Toquio3


    Usually, when I play a "offline" single player game is when I dont have access to internet. so in the future, if I want to play a ubisoft game, ill just download an illegal version of it, with all that anti-piracy crap removed. because lets face it, this isnt gonna stop piracy. not in the slightest.

     

    I agree.....they are making them stronger, smarter, faster.....but gaming companies would rather shoot themselves in the foot, theft is one of the oldest crimes never gonna stop it

    Well there is one method of fighting theft that has proven effetive....... hiring them at lest till a better one comes along then well shit happens

    Live and let live OR ELSE

  • mklinicmklinic Member RarePosts: 2,014
    Originally posted by Wizardry
    It does not matter one bit if it results in more sales,this is a legitimate reason to STOP pirating.I am all for it,even if it stops 50% of the people.
    Like i said with them able to track your IP,you would be taking a HUGE risk to even attempt to play a hacked version.I hope they follow up on the people they catch and throw the book at them.The trend lately is to crack down on Pirate Bay and similar operations,as well ordinary people have been sued for large amounts of cash for pirating,i will always applaud any developer that shows some effort in this direction.
    I might also REMIND people that this is in no way a detriment to ANYONE,it will cause no problems whatsoever,people are making up lame excuses.
    I would be more worried about Blizzard and their embedded spyware they use on WOW players.
    GOOD JOB UBISOFT :D

    Your comment assumes that a crack for the game would not actually either remove the internet verification piece or route those request to a local response server running on the same machine as the game. Either method would eliminate any potential for connection to Ubisoft and thus any possibility for Ubisoft to identify someone running a pirated copy.

    As far as it not mattering if it results in more sales; if it doesn't why do it? If it does not produce any more sales, then all it has done is cost them money which is generally in opposition to the main focus of business. As it stands, this DRM implementation requires a certain level of infrastructure in order to provide any reasonable SLA. If they did not think this would make them money, they could easily go with a DRM scheme that is not constantly connected and come out ahead (even with pirating).

    All that said, it's easy to wave a hand and dismiss people's concerns, but really, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. As a few games come out that use this DRM, we'll either hear a lot of complaints, or hear nothing because it is working as intended. Right now, it's all theory and speculation. Theoretically, I don't like that a company would require me to be connected constantly when playing a game that is not "online" by nature. If they subsidized my internet connection, I might have significantly less issue with that though ;)

    A comparison to WoW's Warden is a bit apples and oranges in this case. While I also disagree with Warden, WoW is an online game by nature and Warden doesn't seem too absurd when lined up with other anti-cheating tools distributed with online games. Now, if a single player game tried to install Warden, then that would be a more direct comparison.

     

    -mklinic

    "Do something right, no one remembers.
    Do something wrong, no one forgets"
    -from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence

  • rznkainrznkain Member Posts: 539

      I can put up with some minor unobtrusive checks so long as it is kept to a minumum but alot of this stuff is getting out of hand when it gets to the point your treating your legit customers like thieves.I don't pirate.I will usually roll a dice on a game I am interested in and if it sucks well not the first one I have bought and I will remember the companies name in future when looking at new games coming out.The problem with the gaming companies as well as RIAA and all the other bs is they wanna count up fake ass profits on sales they never would have had to begin with so they can cry and moan we lost billions of dollars over this.DO they lost some sales? No doubt but not enough to cover the damage and the legit buyers they lose due to all this silly protection schemes they come up with.Like i said I bnuy a game I am okay with some min checking though I feel registering a game via a website and it checking when I update or launch a game or make me have to launch it while connected every say 7 days but I sure wouild never buy a game that constantly will be checking my connectiion non stop.

  • SwampRobSwampRob Member UncommonPosts: 1,003
    Originally posted by Wizardry

    Originally posted by SwampRob


    I can't believe some people are actually in support of this.
    Does anyone actually think that the net result of this will be more sales in Ubisoft's pocket?   
    Does anyone actually think that the net result will make people who currently pirate games suddenly start paying for them?
    No, this is a result of some suits getting angry cause a small percentage got to play their game for free.    So they threw a hissy fit and said "Fine!   We'll play hardball!     Constant, non-stop verification!"
     
    Now, the key question:   Does anyone think that this will stop potential legal buyers from buying?     You can put me down for that.

    It does not matter one bit if it results in more sales,this is a legitimate reason to STOP pirating.I am all for it,even if it stops 50% of the people.

    Like i said with them able to track your IP,you would be taking a HUGE risk to even attempt to play a hacked version.I hope they follow up on the people they catch and throw the book at them.The trend lately is to crack down on Pirate Bay and similar operations,as well ordinary people have been sued for large amounts of cash for pirating,i will always applaud any developer that shows some effort in this direction.

    I might also REMIND people that this is in no way a detriment to ANYONE,it will cause no problems whatsoever,people are making up lame excuses.

    I would be more worried about Blizzard and their embedded spyware they use on WOW players.

    GOOD JOB UBISOFT :D

    Are you actually believing what you type?    Look, few people here are in favor of piracy.

    The company is in business to make money.  OF COURSE it matters if it results in a loss of sales.

    And you are completely wrong to say it is not a detriment.     Many posters here have stated they cannot always get internet access when/where they want.    I frequenly lost my net connection for a second here or there, like, 20+ times a day.    Yet you casually say it will cause no problems whatsoever.     You are simply utterly incorrect in that statement.

    I do not pirate games.   I would have bought some upcoming Ubisoft products.   I will not do so now, and neither will many others simply because of this.   If you think that Ubisoft doesnt' care about lost sales, I think you need to look up why businesses are in business.

     

  • RuinalRuinal Member Posts: 195

    In a sense it is already here. I bought the digital deluxe version of Dragon Age. If I am not online the DLC is not available and any of the saves I have are 'not validated' or some such shit and I cannot load them until I get online and log in to the server (yet another effing password to remember). Similar thing with Mass Effect 2 and the cerebus network.

    It was Microsoft's Games for Windows that lead the charge with online validation each and every time you want to play a game.

    I find it incredibly disrespectful that the game companies make us have to jump through these hoops in order to run a game, when a pirated crack by-passes the lot and likely they'll not have paid for it.

    I don't know what exactly Ubisoft are releasing that I'd be looking to buy, but I agree with the sentiment that they'll lose customers not gain them over this.

     

    In reply to the poster who said je/she has bought most of the steam games cheaper than the retail box, sure, Steam does have good offers at times, the Xmas sales were great in that regard. Still, compare a new release on most digital channels vs a retailer (I use play.com a lot) and ironically the box copy is a *lot* cheaper. Case in point - Alien vs Predator, £25 on steam, £18 on play.com. Say I bought the game, which version do you think I'd be able to sell on once I'd finished with it? Hint, it is not the one on steam. Maybe it is just an EU thing where Steam likes to shaft us...

     

  • UmbroodUmbrood Member UncommonPosts: 1,809

    This seems redundant.

    Would it not just be easier to hire someone at gameshops.

    "Ah, you bought a ubisoft game, well those come with this!"

    - Swift kick to the groin.

    System like that would probably do as much to increase sales of their games as this will.

    I do not have a problem with figthing piracy, but this will do the absolute opposite, increase it.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Originally posted by Jerek_

    I wonder if you honestly even believe what you type, or if you live in a made up world of facts.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  • rebelhero1rebelhero1 Member Posts: 229

    Assassin's Creed 2; The game that no one bought.

     

    Seriously, this doesn't stop pirating, it just slaps all their loyal customers in the face.



    PRIVATESERVERWHAT

    Playing: *sigh* back to WoW :(
    --------
    Waiting for: SW:TOR, APB, WoD
    ---------
    Played and loved: Eve and WoW
    --------
    Played and hated: WoW:WotLK, Warhammer, every single F2P

  • nakumanakuma Member UncommonPosts: 1,310
    Originally posted by TheHatter

    Originally posted by alkarionlog

    Originally posted by TheHatter

    Originally posted by alkarionlog

    Originally posted by sn0wblind00

    Originally posted by TheHatter

    Originally posted by zymurgeist


    Companies will never learn. People who pirate games are not going to buy your game no matter what you do. They are not your customers. Instituting insane schemes that piss off potential customers, the ones who actually would buy your game, to exclude a few miscreants who inevitably find a way around your ineffectual nonsense is incredibly counterproductive. Take reasonable measures and move on. If a few schmucks pirate it that costs you nothing.

     

    I've pirated games to use that as a trial. If the game is worthy of my money, I go buy it. If it's not worthy of my money, it usually ends up getting deleted anyway.

    Most recently, I did that to Borderlands. Pirated it first, played till about lvl 15 and went and bought it. I've also done that to Fallout 3 and a few others.

    Demos are crap, they usually show you a tiny portion of the game that's actually fun and cut you off right before the crap fest starts back up.

     

    I'm probably rare though. I've met a few people like me, but most are what you said. I just believe in supporting what I think is good. Just doing my small part to help keep the gaming and software industry on the right track. You give me quality, I will give you my money.

     

    I can't imagine how you gamed in the 80's-90's.  Did you only purchase games that were on store display? Gaming is like going to a movie...sometimes you pay for crappy ones, and sometimes you get good ones.  It's amazing how cheap this generation is.

     

    back then I would rent the game first of see it on my friends place before I see if I could buy it, or just trade cartridges with my friends(hey let me borrow your super metroid, I borrow my rocking roll racing for it)

     

    Exactly.

    And technically, I wasn't a gamer till around '99 when I picked up my first MMO. I had better things to do. lol. Honestly, I don't think I really became a "gamer" until about '01 or '02. When I was a teenager, I could find things to do in the real world that were free or cost very little money. Not so much as I grew up. lol

    The first 2 PC games I really played were Age of Empires and Heroes of Might and Magic III.

     

    well i'm old school XD 26 years on my back and the atari was from my father XD I only get my nintendo on the 88 or 90 i'm not sure 93 was my super nintendo.

    but really sometimes I miss the old days(damn i'm getting old :P). for now I just hope they fail and fail hard, but before that I will try and see how it worked XD, what can I say i'm a programmer and like to learn from the other people mistakes

     

    Heh, if it makes you feel any better, I turn 26 this year. I got my NES with Super Mario Brothers for Christmas when I was 6 in 1990, and I'm starting to feel old compared to these kids who haven't even played any 2D games besides the flash games they play on Facebook.

    i got back further, to Atari 2600 :) My dad got it in 83' when my we were stationed in Germany Frankfurt. I think i was maybe 7 at that time :) they had some really good games, though some were some bad arcade ports and money grabs like today. I loved missile command, demons, defender, freeway, frogger, lock & chase, bomber, choplifter the list goes on. Hell I think my dad still has his 2600 atari, the faux wood grain and black one. good days of gaming :) simplicity at its best.

     

    3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.

  • CeridithCeridith Member UncommonPosts: 2,980
    Originally posted by rebelhero1


    Assassin's Creed 2; The game that no one bought.
     
    Seriously, this doesn't stop pirating, it just slaps all their loyal customers in the face.



    PRIVATESERVERWHAT

     

    Not only does it not deter piracy, it actually promotes it.

    A lot of people refuse to buy DRM ridden games, only to download cracked versions that are stripped of said DRM. There are people that would have otherwise paid for a legitimate copy of the game if it were not laced with DRM.

    Which is ironic really, because for all of the time, effort, and money it costs a company to think up new ways to try to force people to conform to their standards, it only takes one to a few people to undo all of that work in a fraction of the time in the form of a crack.

    The overwhelming research on the topic shows that DRM has very minimal impact in detering piracy, yet has noticeable negative impact on legitimate software use. Furthermore the cost of developing and/or licensing said DRM also raises software costs, which are passed directly onto the paying customer. It's a vicious circle really, as the more intrusive DRM becomes, the stronger the piracy becomes to counteract it.

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