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

the game will be cracked eventually (and believe me the ones who do not want to buy a game they will have patience for a crack, waste of time ubi) , this is funny, ubisoft doesn't realize that they can't do anything about that, mass effect 2 and dragon age had no drm and they were bought like mw2, batman like other games that didn't have drm ....they do not realize that if the game is good and smooth a lot of people will buy it even tough they can copy the cracked version just to support them like in mass effect 2 case, if this will work eventually they will loose a lot of people because making a big database for people to stock their save games will only irritate the ones who buy it and will take time to get a good server to run all of the save games for lots of people and what if 200 000 players begin to play the game at the same time :)), oh well i don't care anymore about this game, waiting da:o awakening until then i am waiting for my copy off supreme commander 2...good luck ubi and yes you expanded in my country but i can not manage to preorder any of your games so go and bug others with your plans.

"Due to exceptional demand" I lol'd ..

@misterstatus: You may pay a little more for the hardware but you will end up spending more money on consoles due to price gouging for attachments, online fees, and usually an extra $10-20 per game. As for me stating my opinion that won't stop. In fact it may speed up and intensify.

This is a Brazilian laugh in a game.. So I just would like to laugh at you now Ubisoft.. HUAHSUAHUSHAUSHAUHSUAHSUHAUSUAHSUAHUSHAUSHUAHS

Why cant Ubisoft just see the sucess of COD MW 2.......Activision does not complain about these DRM issues nor they come up with new 'stupid' stuff......What companies shud concentrate is on their product and marketing....

Oy FFXI (window third party, etc. )debaters get F out of here!

wow, they've just gone too far now. FORCING customers to be logged onto a site to play a SINGLE-player game is just ridiculous. I understand where they are coming from, but they just stepped over the line. Servers should be used for hosting multi-player games, not for constant verification that you are playing a genuine version. FAIL

@PublicNuisance: The cost of PC gaming has certainly come down over the years, but you're still going to pay a lot more for a top of the line gaming PC than you are for a 360 or PS3, and from the way it's looking, the 360 and PS3 will still be around for quite a few more years as Microsoft and Sony try to come up with new ways to add life to them, like the upcoming motion sensing controllers. Also, you don't need to add your opinion to every comment that's posted.

@somajan After My experince with it, I never really heard much about it. Good to know they fixed it, thanks for the update on that. I know why they put it in there, It was just poorly implemented at first. Thanks again for the update.

@misterstatus even though you might shell out $1000 for a new computer to get SOME top of the line stuff (or somewhere close to top of the line) the computer will last you till pretty much when they make a new console, not to mention, the computer lets you do alot more then just watch DVDs and play video games. I think my PC is much more worthwhile then any system, its just a shame companies will make console exclusive games. I'd really love to see uncharted 2 or any other top tier games be played on a PC that would run the game better then the ps3/xbox360.

@ koolr: Good to know it is fixed, still utterly shameful it happened in the first place and took so long to fix.

@koolr: What do you mean ? Your statement makes no sense.

BTW,I wont make a game on PC until piracy exists.

@misterstatus: What high costs do you speak of ? Gaming hardware is very cheap these days, a good monitor costs less than a good TV, online is free, games are cheaper 98% of the time, I don't see how it costs more in the long run.

"it's not a complete version" they said that about a lot of the pirated versions of games. They were right to... for about a week or so when the game cracks were perfected. Jack asses.

this issue is now fixed 2 hours ago.

I used to be a big fan of PC games. These days, I usually just stick with my 360 and PS3, even if the PC version of a game is better. PC gaming just isn't worth the hassle and high cost anymore. You don't maximize profits by treating your customers like criminals. You maximize profits by making great games that customers are happy to pay for.

@somajan: That seems like hitting a nail with a sledgehammer. Putting out a game that couldn't be windowed because of third party tools is an overkill response. Glad to know they fixed that.

i am all against pirating a game, so even though it may cause some trouble for gamers in the shortrun, but in the long run, game developers earn mroe revenue and make better games. of course this is only a theoretrical assumption.

FAIL ubisoft PC games will be pirated and cracked 99.9% of the time no matter what kind of protection you put on it. This online connection crap will only screw over people that actually buy your games. I really dont understand why certain companies will do this to screw over loyal gamers, since those are the only people they really hurt. Those that pirate the game wont be spending any money regardless, they'll just have to wait longer for a cracked version to come out that works... If they really wanted to avoid pirated games, they should just stick to consoles because from what i've seen, console games arent pirated as much (despite the fact that they are passed around through gamefly and whatnot).

haha would like to see the ratings on amazon.com for this. just encourages people to get the pirated copy. I mean the point of protection is to keep those who didnt buy the game from playing not the people who did buy it from doing so. score another win for people who say DRM only hurts the people who buy the game legit. Since pirates are going to crack the copy protection anyways i think computer games should just be DRM free.. all that time and money wasted into solutions that do not work and only frustrate players. good thing i have the 360 version!

@Corvan FFXI has a windowed version now, an official windowed version. Also, the game used to be designed to do that so it would combat against 3rd party tools which are actually deemed illegal for use by the terms of service agreement which everybody must agree to before playing the game. They hadn't counted on having a web browser open so they could review information, or other things of that nature.

The funniest thing of all is that people were against this because issues like this would appear. Welcome to the era that you buy a singleplayer game and you cant play it because the developer's site is down :lol: Thats the big sound of a facepalm right there. I cant believe we reached a point that you buy a game and you cant play it because the gamedevelopers are not around. So in the future they will be forced to drop support for one of their titles since they cant keep the servers up an running for many diffirent games and millions of users. Basicly its messed up.

@silentassassin9: That would be all well and good except that these measures don't stop piracy. The game was cracked in 24 hours. That means that you and any one else who was stupid enough to buy it are getting treated like garbage for absolutely nothing. The DRM is fail and can't do it's job and is nothing but a nuisance.

I'm not in any way supporting piracy, but people who do pirate games aren't gonna go buy them just because they can't download em, i mean maybe sometime when the game gets down to like 5 bucks, but before that the game developers should know 1 thing: people who pirate stuff do it because they don't want to spend all the money that a game cost today, i mean you think 60 dollars is alot in USA? Yeah well in Denmark we pay double that amount, so note: nobody likes the price of a game anymore - at least that goes for me, i can't talk on anyones behalf though i doubt people pirate stuff for "pleasure" unless your some sort of sick twisted man with a fetish for illegal downloads :P

Spread the cracks now.. This DRM reallY...as REaLLy s*cks.. sorry ubisoft, but you made a big mistake.

The easiest way to show companies is to vote with our wallets, buy the games that have passive or no DRM, and don't buy games that have systems like this. The only way corporate will listen to our pleas is by waving money in their face.

bad idea Ubisoft.. baaaad idea..

this whole fight with pc piracy is making me laugh... isn't it obvious that the more they try to make an uncrackable DRM the more cracks will show up? IMO this time it's not about pirating Assassin's Creed 2 so everyone could get it. It's to prove to Ubisoft that they cannot treat everyone like potential thiefs and make legal custumers suffer. All of this could've been avoided if Ubisoft actually listened to it's customers...

I see death in his black robes and carrying his scythe. He appears to be pointing at UBIsofts profit margins.

I understand the need for measures against piracy, it is normal that a company wants to fight against it. I don't understand why people can't see that in the long run, when there isn't anything you can do against piracy company's will stop making Single player games for PC. No AC3,... And yes I bought this game, yes I knew it had DRM, but this is really an awesome game and I won't be playing cracked games, because it ruins the single player PC community in the long run.

what long run it hasn't been few days and it's causing already problems, if there will be after 9th march in few days a crack loads of legit customers will try to learn the ways of piracy if thats the only way to play this game

"not complete" cracked game is better than a complete pian in the arse not working game.

@ Whitsel, wow that was uncalled for. Maybe hate the company, but don't an entire people's with a derogatory remark. That's just generalizing at it's worst. I agree that Ubisoft is messing up big time with this. Instead they could have just come up with having to go through Steam which is anti piracy at it's best I believe. Edit: Wow Gamespot, thanks for taking off derogatory comments and scouting these forums for those. Never noticed you doing that before. Props for trying to keep these forums clean of that crap. Can't seem to find Whitsel's comment anywhere now. I dig it.

I was just looking at the process of hacking this game and it is brutally simple. Really Ubisoft, that's the best you could do?

"You're guilty until proven innocent, and even then we're watching you" is NOT a viable anti-piracy stance. It's suicide.

Ubisoft is dooming their PC games with obsolescence. As long as you have a working NES you can still play your original NES games that are near 30 years old. But 100% guaranteed now Ubicrap's Assassins Creed 2 will in a few years not be playable anymore - at all - once Ubisoft decides to shut down that server. Just as Microsoft just did with its original Xbox games multiplayer side, games which are still less than a decade old... As soon as the money stops coming in they will shut these servers down to make room or upgrade service to new games... But at least with Xbox games you can still play single-player, Ubi's makes your game 100% unplayable... Its a broken system for the long time game collector.

Who didn't see this one coming? I certainly did. I even posted it in a comment when it was announced. What a completely stupid idea. Trying to stop piracy is like trying to stop people from breathing air, not going to happen.

Im not surprised by this really..Final Fantasy Online has it set to were if you minimize the game on a pc..it shuts the game off..to fight against Piracy..A very stupid thing to do for those who use Ventrillo or other forms of chat programs. and now they pull this? The sales will bomb..

I understand what they are trying to do, but it seems like it causes more problems in the long run.

This is all so depressing it hurts... stop trying to kill PC gaming.

...and their website is down so i can't ask for help.

I just tried to play and I can't log in. WTF

Ubi i pay for all my games...and i thought i kind a buy this one but as i see you are bent on screwing your loyal PC gamers, then get this straight i wont pay u for this crap...i wont ..just wait and see. I'll crack it.

As funny as this failure on Ubisoft's part is, I can't help but worry that this might affect PC gaming in the long run, or at least this series in particular. Who knows if those idiots in Ubisoft won't decide to blame piracy on the PC if this game performs poorly on the market and then decide not to port the next one.

@Vuud Be less intelligent. To clarify: I do not support Ubisoft in their attempt to keep an almost secret police type level of security on their games. But let's keep it with the issues here.

FAILED!!!!! Now remove the online saving system since you cant take it.

this DRM, even if it prevents piracy, in my eyes, is a flop. a fail. a loss. A DRM that prevents piracy but evokes controversy, bad publicity , opens gamers to hackers that prevent them from playing, angry costumers and a game that doesnt work every time u try to run it is NOT A GOOD DRM!!!! OPEN YOUR BLOODY EYES, UBI!

lol this new security measure is going to be harder on the people who pay for the game than those who pirate the game. Chances are hackers are just going to come up with something that makes the game think its connected online while the payers are going to have to deal with logging in & out every time they want to play this.