petsfed Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 It occurred to me that more than just trying to make life harder for pirates, this is meant to make life harder for anyone with the temerity to resell a game after they've grown tired of it. Then, the game publisher doesn't receive a cent for that transaction, unless they make it so some part of the game can only be used a limited number of times (as in "free" DLC that you have to buy for a used game, or Ubisoft's move with console games, "free" multiplayer provided you bought the game new). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will wabbit hunter Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 ubisoft is blind. they don't need to go so heavy on people who are doing nothing wrong. they should tie there games to steam like other games have done of late. doing that would be a wise choice. they should not do this hardware thing at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowblade Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Totally agree, they should remove all bricks and mortar copies, make it entirely digital download only and via steam. They would be able to sell it for less and save on packaging/printing costs. On the DRM scale, Steam is the least intrusive one out there. It just checks to make sure its legit with your account and away it goes. And nobody wants to really ###### with steam over piracy as they close your account down permanently if you do. No second chances. Which means if you have a large catalogue of games then just about all of them go useless because the account linked to the steam API to run the software is literally void. I can't think of a better deterrent. Ubisoft have to think outside of the box on this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101459 Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 (edited) This is disappointing, and it looks like once more we'll see those that pirate the game in fact get the 'better user experience' while those of us that pay to play will once more suffer flaky punitive DRM all in the name of 'anti-piracy theater'. What's shocking is that all parties concerned know this is total dog and pony show/sham; DRM has no effect on piracy, has a proven negative impact on sales, and as historically has been the case -- many paying customers will have to resort to using DRM circumventing hacks to make the game playable on their PC as the sheer number of PC configurations is never adequately taken into account with DRM middleware development. So honest paying Customers may again be confronted with the moral quandary via Ubisoft's 'new' scheme: if they can't get the (non-returnable) game they paid for to work due to DRM issues; do they resort to circumventing DRM just to get access to part of what they paid for? And what happens to the loyal paying Customer that has a power surge destroy their system; are they SOL when they buy new hardware to replace what was fried or the cascade of failures that happen in the days that follow? And what happens if Ubisoft rolls-over into into too many years of too much red-ink, and various franchises and/or studios are cut, shut-down or abandoned, will we be hung out to dry with an unplayable game? Edited January 22, 2012 by 101459 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR6 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 I was just at Zellers (Canadian equivalent of Walmart/Target) and saw copies of Rainbow 6 Lockdown for Cdn $7.99 (in "earth-friendly cardboard packaging to boot). I actually have a soft spot for Lockdown and think the multiplayer could have been great if it allowed mods and wasn't tied down to Ubi's multiplayer matching service Anyways, I was thinking of picking up all 4 copies there for an old LAN setup me and a few friends play on but then I read the box that said something along the lines that the "DRM may not work with and possibly cause problems with some optical drives" and remembered the ridiculous Starforce copy protection that came with the game. Needless to say I dropped it like a hot potato. Just goes to show Ubi's short-sighted thinking adding DRM that will cripple sales in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
101459 Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Anyways, I was thinking of picking up all 4 copies there for an old LAN setup me and a few friends play on but then I read the box that said something along the lines that the "DRM may not work with and possibly cause problems with some optical drives" and remembered the ridiculous Starforce copy protection that came with the game. Needless to say I dropped it like a hot potato. Just goes to show Ubi's short-sighted thinking adding DRM that will cripple sales in the long run. I lost count of the number of times I've heard this recounted with Lockdown, the Splinter Cell games, and other titles with onerous DRM -- a lot of people that I used to play these games with just aren't around any more because they're practical, drew a line and just aren't willing to put up and pay for this sort of bs. It's bewildering that Ubisoft lacks the awareness, marking tools, and/or business acumen to make the connection between titles with respectable console sales performance that flop on PC with onerous DRM -- probably has something to do with the DRM. The old saw from Marketing 1001: 'Make your product/service as effortless to purchase and access as possible' comes to mind in the aftermath of buying these games where in some cases many are not even able to play what they paid for. That the most successful publishers have all taken steps in the roughly the same direction of the model pioneered by Microsoft (later dropped with LIVE with results parallel to and as poor as Ubisoft's) and adopted by Steam, Origin, Impulse, Desura and others that's both transparent and errs on the side of the Customer -- acknowledging: 'the Customer may not always be right but the Customer is always the Customer' (the people paying the bills after all) and are consistently more successful then Ubisoft on PC for having made that choice; should ring bells at Blue Puddle, one would think. I'm surprised Ubisoft hasn't made an approach to partnering or buying up Impulse or Desura, it would give them a ready made, proven, transparent DRM and e-tailing solution that works, and at the very least more credibility then Origin as both platforms already support other Developer/Publishers and would offer Ubisoft higher margins then any of the alternatives including their current approach... Edited January 24, 2012 by 101459 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aragorn777 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 DRMs are stupid UBI! Haven't you learned that yet? Keep is Simple Sir, is the Ghost motto for success. Yes, your software is valuable but PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEEE stop being invasive! And learn how to provide good protection for your investment- BUILD KICK-BUTT GAMES! at affordable prices and MORE people will buy it than steal it! Plus provide good simple password protection. Enough said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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