PC Assassin's Creed II stumbles on Ubisoft DRM server snafu

PS3 using DRM.. like last time!! when server down you can't playing some games... I don't want my PC like PS3 crap.. & again I'm not paying for crap!! boundaries dude!! don't exceed the boundaries!!

I do not have broadband at home so I cannot play multiplayer games. I do not have broadband at home so I cannot download a pirated copy even if I wanted to. The only way i can get a copy of AC2 is to go into a shop and buy it. This DRM is only hurting people who are happy to pay for the game. This DRM has to stop or it will be taken up by other developers.

@DeadReckoning19 Look whatever your problem is weather your a UBI Soft employee defending this DRM crap. No matter how hard you try you will never get these people to agree with you. All that’s being said is this DRM Internet required to play a SINGLE PLAYER game is stupid. It's not about weather it's on the box or not. This has happened to people who couldn't play it because UBI Soft servers crashed. Guess what they PAID for the game. As Rick James would say "I wish I had 2 more hands to give you 4 thumbs down" "David David Chappelle"

TOTALLY UNREASONABLE! I will never buy any game with this kind of DRM crap! Hey ubisoft do u want to not sell games or are u trying to eliminate PC gaming! If I have to boycott all your games on all my systems I will! There are still other developers who still have their integrity to buy games from and support!

A DOS attack, huh? Their servers better start getting used to it. Guess what lads? It's March and we already have the winner in the Dubious awards category.

@icepop4who Sins does not require Impulse to play, nor is Impulse "Steam like DRM". Impulse will allow you to play the game whether or not Impulse is running or even installed. Impulse is there so you can re-D/L games or grab automatic updates. As for GalCiv, you do not need to enter a serial to install the game or play single player; you only need the serial to make a multiplayer account. And, you can still play LAN even if you don't have a key. Also, Demigod did quite well actually. It sold over 80 thousand copies its first week (not 18,000) and over the 3 months it remained on the NPD Top 10 PC charts sold over half a million copies. Which is basically pure profit since GPG spent next to nothing developing it.

My local store is refusing to sell any Ubisoft PC Games (AC2, C+C4) with this new DRM method. The owner thinks that it is an unreasonable step taken by the developer, which treats those gamers unfairly that actually buy the game. In my opinion it is the same thing as with unskippable anti-piracy commercials on DVDs. If you paid for it, you just don't need this kind of warning...

"Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform," Yeah right!?

@DeadReckoning19 It's a shame your posts are getting rated down, you're arguments are at least intelligent and have some merit to them. My main problem with DRM isn't so much that's it's obtrusive, but more that it's viewed as nothing but a challenge to cracking groups. There's no consequences for breaking it or even TRYING to break it. They'll crack AC2, and soon...it's too high profile for them not too. And I doubt It's driving any groups crazy, they love this ****. It's the Starforce fiasco with a new coat of paint, and unless this new protection turns out to be THE solution to internet piracy, then pirates probably aren't going to have to wait very long to play it. Imagine this get's cracked within the week, what then? How much money did Ubi flush down the toilet on this whole deal, all the bad press with this hiccup, lost sales, returns etc. Will it have been worth it?

If you enter the AC2 forum on Ubi's site you'll notice more problems and bugs.THe latest one is in Sequence 11 you cannot do anythin, neither start or finish..Epic UbiFail..I hope you rot in Hell!

The funny thing is if sales suck they will blame it on piracy rather than their failed DRM.

What did they have in mind, ways to lose customers? If so, WELL DONE Ubifail!

@icepop4who One thing I can say about locks is that they actually ya know, deter some people. Can you say the same for DRM so far? If anything it's a game to see who can get through it first. The constant internet connection idea is an interesting one though, I've often wondered what took them so long to figure that one out. But with a game as high profile as AC2 I seriously doubt a workaround will be far off.

Thist is completely laughable. Whoever ever came up with the idea for you needing to log in to a company's server in order to play single player games is the worst idea ever. Not only does it make it feel as if the game you bought isnt even yours to own. But now they can also do whatever they want with it after you have bought said product. As stated before. As soon as the company no longer supports a game all you have left is a useless DVD. That shouldnt be legally allowed anywhere. And I fell that people should step up to this sort of shinanigans. I for one do not feel for having to ask Ubisoft or any other company permission as to when I am allowed to play a game I have bought at any time.

I agree with Rainbow_Lion

Hah!Ubisoft sucks! I hope no one buys this crappy drm infested garbage ****

whoever bought this game should ask for a refund it's just freakin retarded not to be able to play a game that u honestly paid for especially considering that it has no multiplayer support whatsoever -.-' ubisoft u guys are gettin dummer or what? all u'll acomplish with this retarded DRM B.S is lose even more clients -.- especially cause the only thing to be done about piracy is to slow it down! no one will ever shut it down..as soon as u realise this and start to maybe...just a idea...maybe reward ppl who actually spend time and money with u guys...maybe thenn ull see things and perhaprs your sales will reach higher rates

first u wait for more than 3 mths then pay a high price then u also take a constant connection agreed then u get error messages not agreed at all ubi

This will ultimately lead to more people getting pirated versions just to avoid these sort of problems, ubisoft are idiots

Do they actually believe people still want to support them? They are looking more pitiful than usual, for a change.

one of the crackers already confirmed that the game will be cracked in no time. ubisoft failed.

It's not demand, it's ddos .. omfg Ubi

Massive bugs in the code in my opinion. A singleplayer game shouldn't need to have a constant connection to a server to work. It's like spying on you.

this is ACTUALLY against the law. not to mention another awesome game ruined. well done morons.

outright stupidity if not criminal

"Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform" -Ubisoft thats the dumbest coverup for a failed launch ive ever heard...exceptional demand lol...how bout u just make the game work for people. the hackers stripped the game of all the crap Ubisoft put in... "Anthony414 said: Ha this is one instance when a pirated copy surpasses a retail copy in terms of user experience!" ya damn right... Ubifail better not be moving in the way of starforce or other half-brain anti-piracy systems that end up destroying the very product its designed to save.

haa haa haa ubisoft fools haa haa haa haa trying to stop piracy or trying to stop the customers haa haa haa what a fool ....................

Ha this is one instance when a pirated copy surpasses a retail copy in terms of user experience! Great way to encourage piracy ubisoft!

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Fail. This is a lousy system and it has been just that since its conception; it practically turns an end product into a "service" for lack of a better word. Solo players are forced to get flat DSL internet connections to play single player campaigns. And while spreading the internet to more and more people isn't a bad thing, it's preposterous having to pay in order to play a game you've already paid for. If gamers had to pay a monthly fee to Ubisoft to play its games there would be a lot more reactions, but people just need to realize that they're already paying this fee, to their internet services provider. As far as the recent news are concerned, I can't even see what's the thinking behind a company admitting their infrastructure is inadequate rather than confirming that they've been attacked by hackers..

I want my money back! NEVER AGAIN ubisoft i will never buy your products again !

surely there is a better system for this kind of thing? I just wanna play the damn game, I shouldnt HAVE to have an internet connection all the time to play this game! Bloody stupid.

If this is progress, I want no part of it.

Hate these restrictions! What if, for example, I play the game like 6 years later when they don't have on-line support for the game? Would the game be locked by the DRM and players prevented from accessing?..

I will rather pay the same for a cracked game wihtout this nonsense.

@renofury ubisoft employee detected

God forbid what Ubisoft will do when they see the latest charts for piracy on the 360. Solid double digit growth. If only the US economy was doing just as well eh?

i totally suport ubi soft in this thou maybe not the best way to stop piracy and is inconviencing legitimate players something has to be done to stop piracy.

i don't know about anyone else but after EA's attempt with DRM i'm staying away from games with DRM that becomes a hindrance.

wow....i mean how dumb can ubisoft be ... didn't they ever learn from what happened to gta IV.....do they think that pirates would buy the the game if they weren't able to crack this....SERIOUSLY

Well this is like shooting on a crowd off people , ignorantly hope full of getting the pirate element on the head. What has been done here is that you have created un called for complications for those who are legit fans of the game........... rather than putting the friends on Ur side, ur only pushing them away ... The only thing that'll happen here is that it'll only take less than a week for notorious crackers to hack and modify the the "packet retrieve" branch of the subroutine in the binary to prevent execution or just skip over it ... the game will run without asking for packets. There r many other ways games can be ripped and shared all over the Internet, without the company being able to do anything bout it for there benefit or to benefit there valid customers wore getting a hard time .. The only way to turn this battle in ur favor is by providing much better on-line content that adds to the experience rather than limit it ... =/

Good job Ubisoft your failed DRM does not help an already late "6 months later" port release.

@koolr Only 5%? That means that if only 10,000 people buy the pc version of ACII, that 500 people couldn't play it after spending 60 dollars. FIVE HUNDRED PEOPLE, and thats if only ten thousand buy!! There shouldn't be one single person that can't play their leaglly purchased product. Not one. There is no excuse for this. Yes, people that pirate games and don't support the industry make me angry, but this is not acceptable.

Supporting the comments of others before me, yes, piracy is unavoidable. And if non-technical decision makers believe any obviously false claims from techies in the industry or in their own companies, trying to sell them a revolutionary "new anti-cracking" technology, then they're fools falling for someone's trap, someone trying to make money. Piracy is unavoidable for many reasons, but one very big reason is--oddly enough--Challenge! Yes, it is very clear from some of their posts and declarations, many of the crackers and pirates are out there, with a LOT of free time on their hands, just for the challenge of cracking an new technology, then laughing at the corporations who have developed those technologies. I know it is too hard to swallow or believe, but yes, a young kid without a university degree CAN crack your crap....he's just one in a million, of course, but he's there and he's got the patience, time, and will to do it.

I have paid for all of my games and I detest pirates but this is possibly the most Draconian method of DRM which does nothing to curb piracy and only hurts paying consumers. As long as this type of DRM is in place I will take my hard earned money some place else that's more consumer friendly.

this is just not fair. no matter what you do your game will be cracked. i paid my money for your game and this is what i got? i paid for many of your games because i loved them and i wanted to support your hard work. maybe in the future i will just get your games from those pirates instead. free games and no headaches.

Damascuss, you hit the nail right on the f*ckin head ! kudos to you for sharing you view and opinion. I can only assume countless others like me agree with you 100% !!!!

If a security code can be made it can also be cracked. and, if you treat your customers like crap you will be hacked. And yes, their drm was cracked in 25 hours. Just gives pirates that extra boost to do it and not support you. GJ!

Ubi, when are you gonna learn? The only way to end the fight with the piracy is to lose.

@Koolr You know how many paying customers should be effected? 0%. This should be the target for every company to place a game on a shelf. But if you support that type of non-sense then that's your prerogative. Not that I buy that number you're supplying, but out of curiosity, did you fall into that 5%. Are you fine with being punished for others actions? If you're not apart of that %, would you be singing a different tune?