Ubi PC Titles To Require Online Authentication

[Tinker]

Maybe they can force an automatic save every 5 minutes on the servers, that you do not have access too. If a server does go down you would be sent a link to last save, if you wanted it.

Unable to think how this could work with modding, which leaves the big question I don`t want to think about.

[TRC]

I could live with register online, as with MW2, but no offline mode for my sp play, and I'll pass, no matter how hot the game looks.

[viiiper]

Yeh it does seem to me that Ubi are making an awful big assumption about the percentage of the potential consumer base that it internet connected.

Can't you just imagine all the "I can't get this to run" returns at Game?

When your ISP goes down you loose all ability to play the game in Multiplayer or single player, if Ubi verification servers are down (like others have said) you loose the ability to play the game & if you go on holiday with your laptop & the game you have to dial ? international connections via 3G !! to play.....

It gets better & better... Codematers make big mistakes like NOT INC. a CD key & Ubi go the other way & basically nurf the game unless you connect to the net....

Pray you always have access to the net......

Nice to see development companies working on new tech. Wait for the return of the 'lenslokx'

All the rage in 1983 (never was hacked or cracked)

(because even if you owned the game you nearly always failed the verification).....

pray I'm not the only one that remembers this copy protection system.... ??

p.s. for the young un's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenslok

[WhiteKnight77]

Interesting write up by PC Gamer. Losing one's connection with the Ubi servers for whatever reason and getting kicked from the game has been one of the biggest complaints on all forums so far.

[CR6]

I could live with register online, as with MW2, but no offline mode for my sp play, and I'll pass, no matter how hot the game looks.

I had my first issue with IW's online matching service for MW2 PC last week when my PC wouldn't connect to IWNet. (I could still surf so I knew it wasn't my 'net connection) Wasn't too impressed with this but at least it forced me back to single player that evening (and discovered some of the MW2 Act II levels are very cool.)

Can't imagine how upset I would be with GRFS if I can't even play single player if Ubi's online matching service goes down.

[Tinker]

I could live with register online, as with MW2, but no offline mode for my sp play, and I'll pass, no matter how hot the game looks.

I had my first issue with IW's online matching service for MW2 PC last week when my PC wouldn't connect to IWNet. (I could still surf so I knew it wasn't my 'net connection) Wasn't too impressed with this but at least it forced me back to single player that evening (and discovered some of the MW2 Act II levels are very cool.)

Can't imagine how upset I would be with GRFS if I can't even play single player if Ubi's online matching service goes down.

Life threatening! Zillion other games on the shelf, but this would be end of the world.

[Rocky]

The thing is Tinker, if you're on the net browsing the web and your connection goes down, what you going to do? Well you slap in your latest game and get past a few levels while waiting for your ISP to sort out the connection. Not if you are playing a Ubi game though.

[oz-ares]

The best way is to stop buying games like that.

Mighty people like Razor1911 are hard working "cracks" on problems like this ones.

I ever payed for every game i wanted to play, but some publishers try to force me to be online for playing the singleplayer makes me think otherwise since some months.

Now i got a bunch of "steamless" games.

I dont feel any guilt downloading them.

All released games and upcoming games that make use of DRM and similar systems will be "redesigned" by ppl. like Razor1911.

Publishers want to stop piracy but now they lose the paying ppl. like me because of their bad actions. And i betcha, iam not the only one.

Its their own fault.

[Big]

`

Of course cause if u don't play the game u might die, don't you?

Stupid excuse. U get the game cause u want, nobody forces you to play, buy or anything.

The first part of your comment is right: "stop buying", the rest is just ....

[KRP 56]

Publishers want to stop piracy but now they lose the paying ppl. like me because of their bad actions. And i betcha, iam not the only one.

Its their own fault.

Your not the only one by a long shot and crap like being on line all the time to play the single player part of a game has me looking towards the for a way around it.

[Sgt. Atoa]

Vote with your wallets

out.

[kleaneasy]

Posted this earlier on Ubi, not sure if it answers anyones concerns/ questions but just in case

Connection speeds and bandwidth?

While playing the required connection will use a maximum 50kbits/ second, data transferred in one hours play would be 100kb

Game saves and lost connection?

Lost connection for no more than a few seconds will NOT interrupt play

Any more than that and the game loads to a pause screen while attempting to reconnect. It will continue to do this indefinitely unless you manually end or try to reload the game.

There will be some differences between games on the location the game will return to once reconnected, some games will return at the exact location it lost connection i.e. Settlers 7, while AC2 would return to the last checkpoint, I should stress it’s the last checkpoint not the last auto save so any lost gameplay would be minimum

[CR6]

Life threatening! Zillion other games on the shelf, but this would be end of the world.

LOL!

I totally agree with what you're saying mate - I would be the first person to tell someone if you don't like a game, don't buy/play it and check out all the other awesome games out there. I would also tell gamers if they don't like GRAW PC go back to GR1 as it still looks and plays great, and has tons of fantastic mods.

It's really too bad that the first GR came out on PC and was so awesome. We PC gamers that are longing for an updated version will always have to compare newer iterations of the franchise to it.

It's also too bad that Ubi is really making unexplainably poor decisions regarding PC versions of every GR title since GR1:

GR2 PC - Likely a perfectly good PC version done by original develper Red Storm gets canned mid-way through development

GR3/GRAW PC - They get a totally seperate dev studio to do GRAW PC, and while GRIN put out a good game, it still seems to fall short for most of us. So one has to question why Ubi asked GRIN to do it in the first place??

GR4/GRFS - Ubi decides to slap this anti-piracy scheme that they know will be cracked within days of release on what could be a perfectly good game. Didn't they learn from the Starforce debacle? Even Activision didn't use something that draconian and they racked up $1 billion in sales for MW2 which is obviously what Ubi would like to emulate.

Makes one wonder if this is Ubi's way of getting out of the PC market as they are creating a lose-lose situation and a vicious circle/downward spiral for all of us who would otherwise be willing to legally buy their games. If we don't buy these games because of the online authentication, then Ubi will see low PC sales, then they will spend less on PC development etc. etc.

I'm sure they won't be asking Xbox 360/PS3 users to always be online when playing GRFS single player. Why will they force it on PC gamers?

[WhiteKnight77]

Makes one wonder if this is Ubi's way of getting out of the PC market as they are creating a lose-lose situation and a vicious circle/downward spiral for all of us who would otherwise be willing to legally buy their games. If we don't buy these games because of the online authentication, then Ubi will see low PC sales, then they will spend less on PC development etc. etc.

Exactly. I figured it up last night, I or my family members have spent in the neighborhood of $600 for Ubi (now that RSE is owned by Ubi, R6 is now a Ubi game by default. ) games including the R6 Gold Edition, R6 Collector's Edition, R6:RS: Black Thorn, Ghost Recon (x2), GR: Desert Siege, GR: Island Thunder, GRAW (I have yet to play it even and not sure if I will), The Sum of All Fears, Splinter Cell (x2 though I bought more expensive hardware to get the second copy as the version with the hardware wasn't available in the States any other way for PC gamers), SC: Pandora Tomorrow, Destroyer Command, Silent Hunter II, SHIII (x2), SHIV Gold Edition, Lockon Modern Air Combat, iL2 Sturmovik, iL2 Forgotten Battles Gold Pack, Pacific Fighters, and 1L2 1946.

There is only one franchise that I listed above that has not changed from it's inception though from my understanding, the new franchise will not be published by Ubi and that is the iL2 franchise. Wanna know the real irony in what Ubi is doing with PC games? While Ubi seems to be curtailing modding, they allowed modders the source code to SHII/DC to fix bugs and allow for mods to be made and then allowed modders to unoffically patch and add more content (with the help of Oleg Maddox) to iL2 1946. This is a good thing, at least for those 2 franchises (and SHIV has a mission editor even). Still, SHV has jumped the shark in order to bring casual gamers into the fold and what makes it worse is requiring this SP game to be connected to the internet and has many joining the Ubi forums just to state they are canceling their preorders and will not buy it unless it is stripped of the need to be connected.

On a side note, this is my 10,000 post here on these forums (it should have been more but the hacks,,,,)

[Tinker]

The thing is Tinker, if you're on the net browsing the web and your connection goes down, what you going to do? Well you slap in your latest game and get past a few levels while waiting for your ISP to sort out the connection. Not if you are playing a Ubi game though.

I totally agree with everyones opinions, TBH. Just waiting for someone to post a new way to combat piracy on the PC.

@ oz-ares

Openly admitting to pirating games here, can lead to a perminant ban I believe.

Reasons why, and why not, to online authentication is the subject.

[WhiteKnight77]

No to Ubisoft DRM is a petition to get Ubi to stop using DRM. I was checking the signatures and guess who I found, an old friend from Germany when I visited there, Mathieu Girard, one of the producers for GRAW PC. He has this to say:

No to exxagerated DRM!!!

[NoQuarter]

Just waiting for someone to post a new way to combat piracy on the PC.

Better registry cyphers.

And/Or, how 'bout forcing a couple of those scurvy pirates to walk the plank?

I believe that there are already plenty of laws on the books regarding intellectual property rights. Maybe a few examples of those laws enforcement are in order.

Instead, Ubi decides to cripple their titles -and screw their consumers in the process- from the get-go.

Go figure...you have gotta love the French.

[bangurdead]

how 'bout forcing a couple of those scurvy pirates to walk the plank?

I believe that there are already plenty of laws on the books regarding intellectual property rights. Maybe a few examples of those laws enforcement are in order.

Instead, Ubi decides to cripple their titles -and screw their consumers in the process- from the get-go.

Go figure...you have gotta love the French.

I gather you're on the ignorant side of things regarding piracy and the music industry.

Sure UBI could go after every Tom, Dick, And Joe Prate but ultimately it'll cost the publisher more than what its worth and in the grand scheme of things do nothing to curtail Piracy on the open sea. Now on the other hand if they go out and say fine Captain Black Beard of the SS. PIRACY who's responsible for Hornswaggleing the game's code and distribute his Booty they may actually get somewhere...

on a More serious note, ultimately we as consumers will lose either way because neither side is backing down or actually addressing the issue.

In a hypothetical world without piracy we have to ask, do we think publishers would continue to ###### off/abuse customers? ###### like Modern Warfare2?

all hypothetical roads lead to yes...

and here is the many reasons/excuses why people pirate today and I don't see a whole lot of them being solved in the "hypothetical world"

1. not releasing demos

-a. restricting reviews till the game is already out

-b. is it a cruddy port that will run even on the beefiest systems

-c. is the recommended specs honest or playable

-d. is the game good and will I enjoy it

2. crappy support

-a. why did I pay to beta test the full game

-b. will the patches be effective (see R6:Vegas 1 where the issues never were fixed)

-c. should these issues have made it out of the developer's studio...

-d. Why is it today games still cannot/don't have the correct FOV for PC widescreen (see modern warfare2 & battlefield badcompany 2 beta)

3. history of Suck-age

-a. EA's Sports lineup same game each year but the roisters changed and being charged at the standard maxium amount (this is the one thing I support the use of DLC for)

-b. UBI's support for their other games, let alone their standards of quality control

4.ETC...there's many other reasons too.

I don't see publishers in "magic fairy land" being any less lazy than they already are today or honest for that matter either. all too often trying to find any excuse as to why their game didn't sell well or actually deceiving their customers into buying the game (cough UBI cough)

to summarize: a good game (stable release, no game stopping bugs), marketed well (demos, ads,tv), with good support for both bugs and community development(mods), with un-hindering DRM(disk check), will sell very well in the PC market.

[oz-ares]

`

Of course cause if u don't play the game u might die, don't you?

Stupid excuse. U get the game cause u want, nobody forces you to play, buy or anything.

The first part of your comment is right: "stop buying", the rest is just ....

I wont die. ^^

I want to play games i like. and if any of those games makes use of DRM or similar protections, i have to get an other "version" of the game to play it offline.

I.e. i got Left4Dead. 1 is original and the other one is "[Thing that should not be spoken of here]". Guess which version i use.

For every game that i play SP only i got a "[Thing that should not be spoken of here] , because i hate to choose the DVDs 1000 of times.

GRAW2 runs offline and it runs without the DVD. THAT IS GREAT !!!! THAT IS HOW IT HAVE TO WORK !!!

I wasted too much money in games that dont run offline. So this is the way i will handle it.

Doesnt matter if you are conform with it or not.

PS: I didnt say that any puplisher forces me to play their games.

___________________________________________________

@bangurdead:

Your post is just correct.

I dont believe in ppl. that will say: "Wow, well. A DRM system. Have to buy that game!"

Moreover there are a lot of countries and districts that dont have a "flatrate" for the internet.

So those ppl. will be ###### up.

[MadMike]

UBI, this is as wrong as it can be

If you think that we (the PC community) will buy more of your games by punishing us with completely ridiculous DRM, I think you are underestimating our intelligence badly.

You really dont have a very good business model, if a cracked version of your game provides more value than the version you want people to pay for.

You need to turn this upside down and provide people with a lot more added value by buying the game as opposed to acquiring it illegally. For instance, the added value could be nicely printed discs, a comprehensive manual, a special strategy guide, a large map of the game, posters etc. etc. Use your creative imagination for crying out loud, instead of just being more and more destructive

Its not us that are killing PC gaming and making revenues drop... Its you, with stupid things like this!

[WhiteKnight77]

Someone over at the Ubi forums made this.

Ubi OSP Flow Chart

[WhiteKnight77]

In all fairness, I will post Ubi's response to the PC Gamer article, ironically posted at PC Gamer also.

Ubi DRM: Their side of the story

If my internet connection goes down during play, will I lose my progress?

That depends on the way the systems have been implemented. The two examples we have now, Assassin's Creed 2 and Settlers VII, show differing implementations. In Assassin's Creed, if your connection cuts out, you'll be taken back to the last checkpoint. "With Settlers, your game will resume exactly where you left off," says Ubisoft's spokesperson.

How will I know what I'll lose?

"You'll have to wait for the reviews, and to hear what your peers are saying."

What happens if Ubisoft take the DRM servers offline for maintenance, or suffer a technical breakdown?

In the case of a server failure their games will be taken offline, and you'll be unable to play them. "The idea is to avoid that point as much as possible, but we have been clear from the beginning that the game does need an internet connection for you to play. So if it goes down for real for a little while, then yeah, you can't play. "

Do Ubi believe this DRM is unhackable?

They accept that it's all DRM's fate to be eventually hacked, explaining that internally, they've already talked of a timescale for how long their games will be protected by it. But, they believe that it's secure enough for them. "We wouldn't do it if we didn't believe in it. The guys who designed it believe in it. Do we think that it's the one system that God has sent onto earth that will never be cracked by anybody ever? We can't guarantee that, but we believe in it. "

In a way, they expect it to be cracked too. The worst part is that SP only games will be unplayable when the servers are down. Having to wait to know what progress will be lost is very insightful. Ubi develops the game, but they do not know where progress will be saved.

[Sup]

One studio under the ubi name develops the game. Another studio in another place who shares nothing but the same vestigial chain of command answered this faq.

anyway, this is seriously a horribly, hilariously bad idea, it doesnt warrant much further discussion. Ubisoft has silly ideas about DRM, ubisoft employees are forced to defend it in comical ways.

[MarkAm_i]

In all fairness, I will post Ubi's response to the PC Gamer article, ironically posted at PC Gamer also.

Ubi DRM: Their side of the story

Do Ubi believe this DRM is unhackable?

They accept that it's all DRM's fate to be eventually hacked, explaining that internally, they've already talked of a timescale for how long their games will be protected by it. But, they believe that it's secure enough for them. "We wouldn't do it if we didn't believe in it. The guys who designed it believe in it. Do we think that it's the one system that God has sent onto earth that will never be cracked by anybody ever? We can't guarantee that, but we believe in it. "

In a way, they expect it to be cracked too. The worst part is that SP only games will be unplayable when the servers are down. Having to wait to know what progress will be lost is very insightful. Ubi develops the game, but they do not know where progress will be saved.

What I read here is that yes, they expect it to be hacked and when the time comes that they are no longer making profits on legal copies, they will eliminate the cost of running their servers and shut them down.

[Bota:16]

-d. Why is it today games still cannot/don't have the correct FOV for PC widescreen (see modern warfare2 & battlefield badcompany 2 beta)

BC2 does adjust the FOV depending on your resolution, it goes as far as supporting eyefinity. The FOV may be low but it does adjust it for widescreen and doesn't merely cut/crop/stretch. MW2 is locked at 65, no matter what resolution you use. BC2 will allow you to adjust your FOV via one of the config files in a post retail patch as well.