Assassin's Creed 2 Review and test of DRM

Yup pretty much! Found this on digg is morning (front page) thought it was pretty funny.

 

As long as people continue to buy the games regardless of DRM because they just can't do without them (even if they are against it) that is a potential future. If we don't make any sacrifices now then nothing will change in the future. We need to look at the bigger picture. Just imagine if the vast majority of people did not purchase any games with the new DRM.

 

Must... not... buy... Splinter Cell

 

LMAO! Too funny!

 

pretty sure Ubi is gonna release a patch to remove the DRM at some point. the save files are stored on their servers and they can't keep them running forever, may it be 2 years or 5 years. by then whoever was gonna buy the game would have bought it.

Oh btw, a while ago i said the Ubisoft DRM might actually be uncrackable and got hammered by people on this forum, so far it's lasted 2 weeks already and still going strong, so in your faces everybody!!! lol

 

by that time nobodys gonna care bout this game

 

thank God I am not interested in this game. If i was, I would be so stressed. I wouldn't want to buy it at all (not just to make a stand, but because a lot of the times I would want to play a single player game would be when I didn't have an internet connection)

 

I think most people now just resounded to the "not buy until drm removed" policy

unless they have lost interest by then or a crack that works properly is releaed

 

I give it 3-6 months and nobody is going to care about this game. Heck the PS3/360 versions are already selling for $29.99 at Best Buy.

 

Steam removed AC2 and Silent Hunter V from it's catalogue because of the DRM.
Good move i would say!

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=239684

 

Look what happens when you endorse theese stupid DRM by buying the games:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/drm-copy-protection-command-conquer-c-c,9925.html

I guess no more notebook gaming machine is needed anymore since you can't get internet everywhere while you're traveling.

 

How is the constant internet connection considered zero DRM? Isn't that the DRM? Playing semantics really me off when it comes to trying to screw over the customer without them knowing by being coy. I guess C&C Manager thinks we are without functioning brains, maybe that's why C&C 4 gameplay is so infantile?

 

If this goes on, it's beginning of the end for PC gaming. Just imagine if EA tries to implement this on all of their future games.

They say the permanent online connection is not a DRM but necessary to implement a player progression tracking feature or some BS like that.

 

The way it reads is unclear though:

To play Command & Conquer 4, the computer needs to be connected to the internet.

Does this mean for authentication when you start the game? Or constant connection, it doesn't say.

Either way it sucks. Again, everyone is guilty I guess.

Unfortunately that's for UK only. If Steam would listen to its customers, and realize they already have a decent system and a great way to play games without need for DRM, they should put their foot down and refuse to sell any games with this kind of constant internet connectoin in ANY region. At least make removal of this DRM a requirement to sell it on Steam. That would probably boost Steam sales a bit too.

 

Command & Conquer 4 is going to suck anyway so who cares

 

Apparently, C&C4 is already cracked. Once again, paying customers will suffer while pirates don't have any hassle at all. :-<

 

well i like it when companies shoot themselves in the foot trying this... it makes sure they don't do it when i'm buying a game i like and coincidently , i don't like assains creed... better now than later.

 

can confirm there is a full crack out for C&C4 where you do not need to be online for it

Same method appears to be being tested on AC2 and SH5 as well

also see this

 

LOL @ video. So true. Although I think its funny how he has to take off his shirt to hit the "customer".

 

That game, in my opinion is not worthy of a purchase regardless. However, the fact that anyone who does purchase it will be limited to online locations where as the pirates will have the flexibility to play anywhere they wish to says it all.

 

that and its rubbish as well

 

I think that's the greatest video I have ever seen in my life. I think it should be nominated for best picture. It depicts life so realistically!

 

http://www.hookedgamers.com/editorials/2010/03/21/why_we_will_accept_ubisofts_drm.html

this is a good read

 

Trying to fuel the fire are you?

It's just an unnecessary requirement. It's like requiring a working radio in your car in order to drive. Just stupid.

 

i bet that guy wrote it just to get hits. no sane person would think ubi's attempt is good.

 

Why did that guy have to take off his shirt?! lol!

 

FYI AC2 hasn't been perfectly cracked yet.

 

I said the same thing. I dont' get it. Kinda funny. Just pulls his shirt off and cocks the guy upside the head. LOL.

 

It hasn't but CNC4 has and they both use a very similar method of DRM.

 

If you look closely, you'll see that the "Pirate" poured some ice cubes down poor "Ubisoft's" shirt. "Ubisoft" then gets mad, and decides to slap the hell out of the "Customer."

 

I think we get that part....but why did he need to take his shirt off to "slap the hell out of the customer".

Oh well its funny lets just leave it at that. Things usually go down hill when you need to explain a joke.

 

the methodology is out there now, relieable source of mine says that they are trying to get an exhaustive list of the address's the ubi launcher uses to create a similar workaround from the C&C4 one

bottom line is now they have a proven work around it wont be long

 

Oh, I just thought he slapped him upside his head. LOL

 

My question is that let's suppose Ubisoft really does gain more sales and thus more money through using this DRM, where the game is less pirated than without the DRM.

Isn't all that extra income negated with the cost of running and maintaining their DRM servers? So, their back to square one?

 

That is something Ubisoft has to evaluate. But certainly big companies like Ubisoft wouldn´t have ventured into such scheme if they didn´t have some reliable study/survey showing they could get more profit.

 

Less pirating doesn't equal more profit or sales. Just means if people don't pirate it, they don't play it. There is no correlation that if they can't pirate it they will buy it, no just means they play something else.

 

^ This

The majority of pirates wouldn't play the game if it wasn't available for pirating. Discouraging pirates only means less overall people are playing their game.

 

Sorry but that is a poor and unsubstantiated argument. Look at console sales where piracy on the whole is but a fraction of what it is on the PC. Console versions of games out sell PC by something like 10-1 on average, while the spread of the ratio of piracy between the two platforms is likely even greater. With that information alone your theory is proven wrong.

 

not at all, bear in mind that most people who game on consoles are teenagers and kids, people who wouldnt know how to pirate if it was a 20ft yellow sign in thier bedroom

of the games i have got copies of in the past i have brought the ones that were worth it and deleted the ones that werent

I wont buy AC2 because of the retarded DRM, simple as that.

you might like the idea of Ubisoft knowing everything you do. I do not

 

You seriously underestimate teenagers. And the average age of a gamer nowadays is closer to 30 than 13 regardless of platform and actaully uses more than one platform for gaming. Where are you getting this "data" from?

Good I am glad. But numbers on piracy as a whole, not just your little microcosm of an existence, suggest otherwise.

I don't remember saying anything about supporting Ubisoft's DRM strategy. I can see by this statement alone you like to make assumptions and base your "facts" on them. Not a great way to debate your point.

I am not buying AC2 (or any Ubi game) either. I will buy any Ubi games that motivate me used for my PS3, thereby:

1. Denying Ubi a sale
2. Legitimately acquiring a copy
3. Enjoying what I want

 

nearly ALL console gamers pirate in china. you're wrong.
also, xbl is full of teenagers.

 

Whether or not Chinese console gamers pirate their games, I think it's pretty safe to say that the piracy rate on consoles is MUCH lower than that on PCs.

Furthermore, I find it silly that you guys think teenagers are too stupid to pirate a game. First off, if anything, that demographic leads in piracy, because it sure as hell isn't the seniors or baby boomers that are downloading Modern Warfare 2. Secondly, piracy takes very little skill. That's one of the main reasons it's so widespread. If pirating something was hard, then piracy wouldn't be an issue.

 

probably the driving force imo.

 

That's all I was saying. And numbers like this back me up. Over 4 million downloads on PC ... That's like 41% of total MW2 sales on all platforms combined for 2009.

Exactly, couldn't agree more. Although it is pretty difficult to find hard evidence, logic would dictate this.

 

your logic is also flawed.

Mw2 for example i know for a fact of 5 people who pirated it and then brought it. Dont know of anyone with a chipped xbox who brought it once they got a d/load

 

That's what I was about to say. You don't know percentage of people that pirated then bought, or even bought and pirated for some other reason (avoiding DRM maybe?)

Plus what's the sales volumes for PC and X360 for each of these games?

 

No my logic is not flawed. It would be very simplistic and ultimately wrong to assume every PC download means a lost sale. But considering that the 360 torrent downloads are less than 1 million in 2009, yet sales on that platform are almost 9 million to date... that's a pretty huge gap of pirate vs sale. Now look at the PC, 4.1 million torrent downloads and sales on PC are ... dismal.

I can't find a hard number but when Activision was boasting record breaking sales of MW2 in the opening week, PC sales were nowhere near the total numbers. Probably something like 10-1 (10 cosnole sales to 1 PC sale).

So my argument is sound. PC piracy is rampant vs console piracy.

EDIT:

Ok just found this... I was mistaken PC sales aren't dismal... but according to early sales figures the PC version only makes up 3% of the total sales. I rest my case.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/104/1048287p1.html

 

one of the primary reasons the pc version tanked was the adoption of the completley rubbish match making crap

Given dedicated servers it would have done even better

they commited gaming suicide due to the fact they eliminated the entire clan base as clan games are not possible

 

Ah yes I was waiting for this *sighs*. So what about every other game out there that isn't marred by some PC controversy? Again and again the ratio between PC torrent downlaods to sales is bleak compared to console counterparts.

Maybe you should read this?

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html

EDIT:

Not to mention you yourself just said 5 of your friends who first pirated it (on PC) went out and bought it afterwards. So likely that issue has less impact on real sales than what nerd rage on forums would have you believe.

 

Because when you get into a fight, you want to make sure you can be grabbed, (hair, shirt, whatever)

This video wasnt made to mock ubisoft, its just some random guy putting the text on it.



Or maybe its just Ubi giving his property free to the pirates, before smacking that customer ><


EDIT: him I looked at it again and didnt see the other dude putting something in his shirt. Fail...