Ubisoft Cuts Off Legit Players With DRM Server Migration; Pirates Play On
from the of-things-to-come dept
When it comes to DRM, nothing is more annoying and hated than DRM that requires a constant internet connection. This DRM regularly pings a server controlled by the creator of the game in order to prove that you, the paying customer who paid money to buy the game, are not a dirty pirate. One of the loudest critiques of this type of DRM is what happens when the DRM cannot make the connection to the server. We have already seen what happens to Ubisoft games when there is an unexpected server crash. Gamers weren't too thrilled about that. Now we learn that Ubisoft is looking to give its paying customers another look into why such DRM systems are a real bad idea. Ubisoft will be taking its authentication servers down on Tuesday, February 7th for an unspecified amount of time.While Ubisoft takes its servers down to migrate them, gamers who paid good money in order to play DRM'ed games will be unable to do so. What makes this worse is that all those pirates that this DRM was supposedly going to stop will be able to play those games all they want during the migration. This is the thanks that paying customers get. This is the thanks that fans that want to support Ubisoft in its PC gaming endeavors get for their loyalty. When it comes time for Ubisoft to go to bat for them, the fans get slapped in the face.
To top things off, Ubisoft seems to not be all that concerned with how this affects paying customers. In the announcement of the downtime, it states:
We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience. This move ultimately will help us improve the maintenance of our infrastructure and deliver better uptime and greatly improved services for our customers.Hey, thanks for the sympathy. Unfortunately, Ubisoft has not apologized for the inconvenience of having to prove you are not a criminal every few seconds while playing legally purchased games. Too bad Ubisoft is not improving its services by not forcing paying customers to prove they are not dirty pirates. Ubisoft could really go above and beyond in thanking its customers but is instead continuing on the same path of DRM.
This server migration is merely an example of what happens when content creators rely on these types of DRM in their fight against piracy. This is a taste of what will happen when Ubisoft decides it is just not worth it to support these authentication servers any more. When these servers go dark permanently, all those paying customers will never legally be able to play their games again. Yet, the pirates will be able to continue playing as this DRM never stopped them to begin with.
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Filed Under: drm, internet connection, video games
Companies: ubisoft
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Take this time as an educational moment of what pirates face every day, not being able to play because they didn't buy legitimately!
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Also by even setting up such a service, Ubisoft most likely has another internet-facing server with access to a database containing customer information, which would be just another place where hackers could potentially steal data.
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...Do you have a vendetta against Mike or something? :|
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It isn't critical of the op, just pointing out an additional detail often missed/ignored in discussions about this type of copy protection.
When playing online multi-player it doesn't really matter anyway since you already need a good connection, but when it prevents you playing your favourite game solo while wasting time at the hotel, that's a problem.
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This plays in with the article about saving old software
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Re: This plays in with the article about saving old software
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Re: This plays in with the article about saving old software
You have now. But you never would have if not for pirates copyin' that floppy.
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Re: Re: Re: This plays in with the article about saving old software
That said, I've installed SimTower and other (Win3.11) games on WinXP and it worked without tweaking (though the fast mode was a bit too fast)
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As I recall, the DOS/Windows versions of Infocom games were distributed as a data file and an interpreter. People have written more modern interpreters, such as WinFrotz, which will read those data files. You just need a way to copy the files to your system. Find someone with a floppy drive and copy the .Zx files to a USB drive.
Also, once you have WinFrotz, you can then access all the Inform/Z-Machine format adventure games at the Interactive Fiction Archive. (you can get WinFrotz there)
http://www.ifarchive.org/
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: This plays in with the article about saving old software
I might still have an old floppy tucked away in a drawer, but I'll probably just ignore the law and find a more convenient source. I'm sure they must be around somewhere. It just bugs me that I'm not 'legally' allowed to use what I purchased (several times over since I also purchased some of them for other systems and in multi-packs) just because some politician is too lazy or greedy to do his job properly.
Sorry, it's hard not to break into a rant these days.
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:|
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I am still wondering if their business model is based off a suicide bombers.
I do not play Ubisoft games. At all. Period. I don't illegaly download them. I don't want Ubisoft to get any of my attention.
Bad Ubisoft. Bad.
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Re: Suicide Bombers
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I Need Psychiatric Help
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Good article effected by a typo.
"To top things off, Ubisoft seems to not be all that concerned with how this effects paying customers."
Should be:
"To top things off, Ubisoft seems to not be all that concerned with how this AFFECTS paying customers."
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Re: Good article effected by a typo.
C'est la vie.
Bad Ubisoft. Bad.
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Re: Good article effected by a typo.
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Exactly. And, furthermore...
*BEGIN RANT*
This is why I specifically seek out PC games that do not have DRM for purchase (and no, I do not pirate). Sadly, that is becoming harder and harder to find these days. [And for the record, I am okay with Steam and have no issues using the service.] But secuROM and it's ilk? Keep that crap off my system, thank you.
And limited amounts of activations? Well a fat lot of good any of that does me once their servers go down. I can only hope that 5 years from now that corporations can look back on this DRM movement and go "man, what were we thinking? We totally tried to fuck ourselves and our customers".
Oh, that's right, they don't seem to give a shit about their legitimate paying customers. Assholes.
*END RANT*
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Re: Exactly. And, furthermore...
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It's terrible
So I went back to the store and returned it. They didn't want to accept the return as I had opened it, but did when i mentined the ACCC.
Then I downloaded the game, and that version works perfectly in hotels.
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How much was that migration?!
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Not worth it.
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If Ubisoft is so concern for people play their games without paying money...
They get their money, players get less annoyed. A Win-Win situation.
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Re: If Ubisoft is so concern for people play their games without paying money...
Maybe because some people still like single-player games?
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Go Ubisoft. Make people absolutely mad. The more ridiculous shit you force down people's throats, the more they will notice the smell.
I mean, a pirated product is clearly superior to the original here. Who would have thought. In my country, I can buy the original and legally play the superior pirated version, and that's exactly what I do when shit like this happens to me.
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in other words
The.Settlers.7-Razor1911
Might.and.Magic.Heroes.VI-SKIDROW
Might.and.Magic.Heroes.VI.Upd ate.v1.2.1-RELOADED
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At some point in time, these servers will go dead. A year, 10 years, whenever. When they do, those customers that would still like to play the game they bought will be screwed. Any promises they make today isn't a promise they may keep then.
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Imo.
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When I become "Malevolent World Dictator" (tm) ... (humour)
WE, (the developer, e.g., UBISOFT) guarantee that our DRM server will not be unavailable for any period longer than 4 hours, or more frequently than once in 30 days. In any event wherein we cannot deliver on said promise, the life of our top remaining executive is forfeit. In the event we run out of executives with which to vouchsafe this guarantee, the code will be released into the public domain, etc., etc., ....
Also, don't be surprised if this rule is enforced retroactively once the Malevolent-World-Dictatorship comes into power.
Now, about those SOPA/PIPA supporters ... They're in for some REAL problems. :)
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Need to say NO DRM in big letters if they want my money.
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Big deal. The same thing happens with Spotify and MegaUpload
The weird thing is that all of the so-called new business models that are celebrated by this site are usually just like the old fashioned DRM. If you stop putting in the money, the content disappears. If the business goes under, the content disappears.
But we see this again and again. If the The Onion puts up a paywall, you call it a "paywall". But if Louis the comedian does the same thing, you fall all over yourself to celebrate it as something new.
The biggest difference is that places like Spotify never promise very much. That's what makes them smart. They rename the DRM and make no long term promises. That means fewer disappointments.
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Re: Big deal. The same thing happens with Spotify and MegaUpload
With Ubisoft games, you buy a physical copy from the store, that gets turned into a rental once you install the game. Which is criminal behaviour, because in essence, Ubisoft is fucking with consumer rights. You buy a product, you own said product.
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Re: Big deal. The same thing happens with Spotify and MegaUpload
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Re: Big deal. The same thing happens with Spotify and MegaUpload
"But the same thing would happen if Spotify went under."
Nobody is under the delusion that you own music streamed through Spotify. If you stop paying, you lose access to the music you're RENTING. Nobody has the expectation of keeping content they RENT. Slight difference, and false equivalence.
"The weird thing is that all of the so-called new business models that are celebrated by this site are usually just like the old fashioned DRM. If you stop putting in the money, the content disappears. If the business goes under, the content disappears."
Bullshit. That happens with rental models and the corporate DRM. If Radiohead, NIN, GOG, the Humble indie guys, Louis CK, Cory Doctorow and archive.org all go out of business tomorrow, I still get to access all the content I *bought*. of course the rental systems wouldn't work, but I don't get to keep the VHS tapes from that video store that went out of business either. I'm not sure why you think this is new.
"They rename the DRM and make no long term promises"
No, they make promises they can KEEP. They offer you a rental system, and make it as easy to access the content you rent while you're doing so, even offline. They don't promise ownership, and thus can deliver on expectations. They even offer ways to consume the content without direct payment if you prefer (where's your paywall then?). Their "DRM" is essentially the same as your phone contract. Don't pay? You don't get to make calls. According to you, virtually everything is a paywall.
That's very different to something like Ubisoft, who pretend that you have paid 6 times the amount a Spotify sub would cost you for a single game, then remove your ability to play the game at a whim.
You're comparing apples the elephants again, and then wondering why we think you're ridiculous.
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This is why I bought C&C4...then Pirated it.
That said, before I uninstalled C&C4 (because it's not really an RTS game as much as EA would like to claim it is) I bought it. Once I started playing, I rapidly discovered that, even offline in a singleplayer skirmish match, I had to sink 2-3 days into "leveling up" before I could use all the units. And this is supposed to be an RTS game. Seriously.
My normal practice is to pirate a game, try it for no more than 2 weeks (14 day trial, just like everyone used to offer anyway) and either buy it, or make myself uninstall it. However, C&C4 was a very large download, and the series has always been my favorite, so like an idiot I bought it anyway. After the cannot-build-more-than-basic-infantry problem, I pirated it (or rather an offline max-level fake server) and used that to play it for a few days before I finally decided that C&C4 simply isnt an RTS game.
But the moral of the story? Online DRM made me pirate the game, even after I bought it.
(Sorry this is not the best example of the problem, as this was more a feature issue than DRM, but by using the crack it actually dircumvents the DRM too. Go figure.)
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That is only reasonable, seeing that a judge would never decide otherwise if you bought a physical CD and the salesperson decided to come to your house and snap it in two or prevent you from listening to it for any other reason.
Let's see how many would use DRM then, when the risk is on the salesperson's side.
And guess what, people should still be allowed to break DRM, because the DRM-ed thing is their property.
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"Ubisoft Cuts Off Legit Players... Pirates Play On"
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Ubisoft DRM
Long story short, you can still play your games; and to the Author of the article, do some fucking research. Ubisoft dialed back their DRM considerably after the release of Assassin's Creed 2.
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Ubi
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http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6295/196/
Pretty big handout for a company who is being decimated by piracy.
I'd like to see the numbers shown to investors and Governments enabling this kind of funding for such a risky business.
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Ubisoft Is French
I've (unfortunately) had to work with these useless pieces of human excrement over the years, and they are persistently crap at whatever they do. Why Oh why did the allies give France back to French, when we should have let the Germans keep it!
If there are any French people reading this and I have offended you... well good, I am better than you and it's my privilege!
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