Ubisoft DRM Servers go Down, Assassins Creed II rendered paperweight.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98927-Ubisoft-DRM-Authentication-Servers-Go-Down

Anyone that purchased ACII on the PC, cannot play it, and has not been able to play it for the last 10+ hours.

Anyone who has pirated the game, can enjoy it in all its glory.

I'm not defending piracy, but giving companies this kind of power seems a bit much. Whats to stop them from de-activating games after say 12 months? Games seem to be headed towards a service based system, and if that is the case, then paying $50-$60 to play a game for a limited time that the company chooses, seems like they're bending the consumer over if you know what I mean.

generally speaking, if authorization for any game is ever taken down. Then authorization is supposed to be removed entirely via patch or update. I know this has been the policy for several games, and is the general policy for steam.

Anybody who knowingly bought a game with this kind of drm deserved it.ZuluEcho14

Anybody who chose to pay for a very good game (loved it on the 360, screw DRM xD) deserves to be ripped off? Kinda coldhearted lol.

Until their DRM system changes, I think I'm going to consider new Ubisoft games console-exclusive.

Jeez, they really need to stop with this DRM. I'm going to miss out on some good games if they actually want to keep this.

Not even the pirates can enjoy it, as a 100% working crack has yet to be made.rcignoni

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]Not even the pirates can enjoy it, as a 100% working crack has yet to be made.KukicAdo

From what I heard, the Crack was broken. I dont know the specifics, but from what I heard it turned out the crack didnt work 100%

isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?tehHaste

technically yes, but its very lenient. You can play games like Half Life 2 offline.

isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?tehHaste

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]Not even the pirates can enjoy it, as a 100% working crack has yet to be made.KukicAdo

God Ubi. I guess you didn't learn from the Starforce fiasco years ago. How could a company so successful be so goddamn stupid?

isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?tehHaste

[QUOTE="tehHaste"]isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?KukicAdo

isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?

tehHaste

It is, but it's also the most consumer-friendly form of DRM (especially as they roll out features like Steam Cloud). In a perfect world publishers would just abandon DRM, but Steam is the next best thing. And yes, it has an offline mode (although it has its share of issues, especially with the aforementioned Steam Cloud).

[QUOTE="ZuluEcho14"]Anybody who knowingly bought a game with this kind of drm deserved it.MellowMighty

Anybody who chose to pay for a very good game (loved it on the 360, screw DRM xD) deserves to be ripped off? Kinda coldhearted lol.

First of all, I'll make it clear that I do not support piracy. But...

If you PAID $50-60 for the god-da***d game, you have the RIGHT to play if (With, without or in spite of being online or not...). It's common knowledge that the game will be cracked (its not a matter of IF it will be, just a matter of WHEN), so... I'd simply get the crack and get hid of the DRM (Since if I pay for the game, I do feel that I do happen to have the right to play it, for Christ's Sake).

Edit: Just as a side note, I bought AC2 for the PS3, since I knew this new DRM from ubi would be bad, bad news...

There is no justification for piracy... but this comes pretty close. Shame on Ubisoft for implementing it.

that sucks when somebody who legitimately buys a game gets shafted to hell and back while the person who pirates the game is sitting there having fun

karma for ubisoft

Damn! Guess i will have to play some Bad Company 2 then.

Can someone who bought the game still get the DRM crack?

Can someone who bought the game still get the DRM crack?

akbar13

Yes.

I remember Ubisoft used a crack to fix a bug in one of their games, GRAW 2 I think. They released a patch that contained the crack:lol:

Can someone who bought the game still get the DRM crack?

akbar13

Somehow I doubt that DRM can get much more extreme without getting illegal.

[QUOTE="akbar13"]

Can someone who bought the game still get the DRM crack?

Baranga

Yes.

I remember Ubisoft used a crack to fix a bug in one of their games, GRAW 2 I think. They released a patch that contained the crack:lol:

Bethesda did the same with FO3. If you downloaded the patch you could launch the game by executing the patch instead of using a disk. It was nice because i hate having to put a disk in everytime before i play so i just used the patch to launch my game.

generally speaking, if authorization for any game is ever taken down. Then authorization is supposed to be removed entirely via patch or update. I know this has been the policy for several games, and is the general policy for steam.

cobrax25

That really bites. Piracy will never be defeated, but sadly all legit owners suffer more and more as developers try to fight the inevitable. Steam has it right though, in my opinion.

[QUOTE="rcignoni"]Not even the pirates can enjoy it, as a 100% working crack has yet to be made.KukicAdo

That really bites. Piracy will never be defeated, but sadly all legit owners suffer more and more as developers try to fight the inevitable. Steam has it right though, in my opinion.

Phazevariance

[QUOTE="KukicAdo"][QUOTE="tehHaste"]isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?subrosian

isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?tehHaste

[QUOTE="MellowMighty"]

[QUOTE="ZuluEcho14"]Anybody who knowingly bought a game with this kind of drm deserved it.surrealnumber5

Anybody who chose to pay for a very good game (loved it on the 360, screw DRM xD) deserves to be ripped off? Kinda coldhearted lol.

Being ignorant is not a sin, the average consumer would probably not know things like this.

This should help revitalise pc gaming for the masses then :roll:.

[QUOTE="tehHaste"]

isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?

PBSnipes

It is, but it's also the most consumer-friendly form of DRM (especially as they roll out features like Steam Cloud). In a perfect world publishers would just abandon DRM, but Steam is the next best thing. And yes, it has an offline mode (although it has its share of issues, especially with the aforementioned Steam Cloud).

DRM is not just to stop pirates. But it's to stop theredistribution that even legit customers will make. Say for example you buy a game and then re-sell it. or buy the game and loan it to a friend/family relative. they don't want you to do that. That is what DRM is for, they're just trying to tell you "This is our game, not yours. You're just borrowing this game for _ sum of $ and we tell you what you can and can't do with it".

And that's why DRM is fail in general really. It's all about the dev/pub wanting to have their cake and eat it. There's nothing in DRM that will ever benefit the consumer. So when DRM is as strong as what's in AC2 best thing to do is just not buy the product. that's only way they will learn.

Problem there is Steam games are cracked in no time. They pose positively no problem to pirates. Their DRM is utterly meaningless. What publishers want is an uncrackable DRM scheme and that's exactly what Ubi were trying for with this. They don't care if the DRM is nauseatingly horrible for consumers, as long as you can't pirate it.Brownesque

The point isn't to stop pirates, the point is to provide as much service as possible to you legitimate purchasers. If legitimately owning the software via STEAM lets me download it rapidly onto any computer, play the game whenever I want, be a part of the STEAM community, receive technical support AND know that I'm getting a virus / malware / spyware -free software experience, then why would I pirate anything? STEAM prices have been especially competitive - for the consumer with the ability to buy, piracy really isn't "free" (there's a cost of time, effort and risk) so you simply make the service and cost match a point where pirating doesn't add up.

-

There will never be an uncrackable DRM. If a lock can be opened legitimately, it can be opened illegitimately. Companies that place DRM security in front of customer satisfaction simply drive consumers away from their product.

[QUOTE="KukicAdo"][QUOTE="tehHaste"]isnt steam DRM as well? correct me if im wrong but i cant play Half lfie 2 without steam being online or can I?subrosian