rascal101
01-28-10, 05:25 PM
Sent to Mr Ralph Wirsing Managing Director Ubisoft last night Aust Time Many thanks to whoever posted the contact info for Ubisoft on the following page http://www.mediabiz.de/games/firmen/ubisoft/people/4081
Dear Mr Wirsing,
I am writing to you in your capacity as Managing Director Ubisoft, and in my own capacity as a long time customer,
I have just read a few posts over at SubSim.com, (www.subsim.com) in view of the huge interest at that forum in the upcoming release of the latest in the Silent Hunter series, namely Silent Hunter 5.
I am pleased to report there is considerable interest in the next incarnation of the game, particularly following the release of some developer videos and interviews.
For the most part the reception to various changes has been mixed, with some cautious excitement, a little bit of unbridled enthusiasm, but also a great deal of very negative sentiment I’m sorry to say.
I would imagine this may be of interest to you as the SubSim community could very well constitute the largest single group of potential customers for this title as the forum has particular interest in all things Naval, and as its name suggests; submarines in particular.
However and to the point of this email, I have recently read an article concerning a new direction in computer gaming which has caused considerable disquiet and alarm amongst SuBsim members and the wider games community; namely your new Online Services Platform, see here for a recent published Q&A (http://support.uk.ubi.com/online-services-platform/).
As a long time player of the Silent Hunter series, and a number of other Ubisoft published titles I thought to pen a few words of my own about this new development. I find it a hard to believe that a publishing company with such an illustrious backlist would be so keen to impose a system which could effectively lock out potentially 1000's of new customers who simply do not have reliable or ongoing internet access.
Here in Australia and in a number of other countries where we have SubSim members there are whole regions that don’t even have broadband or anything that might be construed as a reliable internet.
Certainly the concept as outlined in the Q&A may be understandable from the point of view of piracy prevention and such as it is makes perfect sense for a resident of Europe or North America, but not all the world has the same level of internet infrastructure, yet many folks from these same countries are dedicated fans of your published titles.
From the point of view of those of us who enjoy your products, but who live in other parts of the world where the day to day constraints of geography, distance or sometimes even just the weather regularly interferes with or even knocks out internet access the system you are proposing would seem to be a definite disincentive to purchase Ubisoft games.
Believe it or not many of us suffer the simple, yet every day reality of a lack of reliable IT infrastructure just due to basic remoteness or isolation. All these factors essentially mean that reliable, continuous internet access as required by the system outlined in the Q&A is a luxury, or a dream - and not a standard of life as it may be in other parts of the world.
Sure, in Australia, this is not a worry in a major capital such as Sydney or Melbourne, as it wouldn’t be a problem in New York or London, but the simple fact is that we have many major towns and cities in inland or remote parts of Australia that simply do not have the kind of internet access that folks in the Northern Hemisphere might enjoy or take for granted.
A system as outlined above would therefore simply preclude potential sales in these areas. I can only speak for Australia, however we have SubSim members from all over the world, all countries in Latin America, Asia and South East Asia and Africa, these are people who’ve purchased your games and play and discuss them regularly on our forums – yet none of these folks have the sort of IT infrastructure that the system under discussion would seem to expect as the norm.
Are these potential customers to be excluded by what to those of us living happy and fulfilling lives in these places, would seem to be a very Euro / US / Northern Hemisphere concept of who plays what, who enjoys games, who has the net and how that reliable that access may be; effectively who has the right to play.
I don’t really know if I can say anything that might make you re-consider this direction, but at least I thought it best to try to say something rather than sit on the forum making rude noises.
While we are on the subject of Silent Hunter 5 I should also say there are a number of very serious concerns about some of the concepts being discussed re Silent Hunter 5, seems strange for a company to appear to be ignoring the concerns of a dedicated audience for this product, particularly as the SubSim Forum members could be expected to be your largest and most dedicated customer group with an interest in this title.
However, and in fairness to Ubisoft these concerns about the game itself are small beer compared to the concerns being raised about the Online Services Platform and its apparent shortcomings.
I really hope you might read this email and may consider the points I make; access to the internet does not necessarily mean the same thing to all people in all places, (countries) – such a system as is being discussed would appear to be a bit short sighted and based on a very one sided view of the world and what constitutes reliable and ongoing internet access
I hope you might reconsider
Best Regards
Jonathan Fredman
Ubisoft Customer
Email: Rascal@twg.net.au
Ph + 61 2 4323 2732
Dear Mr Wirsing,
I am writing to you in your capacity as Managing Director Ubisoft, and in my own capacity as a long time customer,
I have just read a few posts over at SubSim.com, (www.subsim.com) in view of the huge interest at that forum in the upcoming release of the latest in the Silent Hunter series, namely Silent Hunter 5.
I am pleased to report there is considerable interest in the next incarnation of the game, particularly following the release of some developer videos and interviews.
For the most part the reception to various changes has been mixed, with some cautious excitement, a little bit of unbridled enthusiasm, but also a great deal of very negative sentiment I’m sorry to say.
I would imagine this may be of interest to you as the SubSim community could very well constitute the largest single group of potential customers for this title as the forum has particular interest in all things Naval, and as its name suggests; submarines in particular.
However and to the point of this email, I have recently read an article concerning a new direction in computer gaming which has caused considerable disquiet and alarm amongst SuBsim members and the wider games community; namely your new Online Services Platform, see here for a recent published Q&A (http://support.uk.ubi.com/online-services-platform/).
As a long time player of the Silent Hunter series, and a number of other Ubisoft published titles I thought to pen a few words of my own about this new development. I find it a hard to believe that a publishing company with such an illustrious backlist would be so keen to impose a system which could effectively lock out potentially 1000's of new customers who simply do not have reliable or ongoing internet access.
Here in Australia and in a number of other countries where we have SubSim members there are whole regions that don’t even have broadband or anything that might be construed as a reliable internet.
Certainly the concept as outlined in the Q&A may be understandable from the point of view of piracy prevention and such as it is makes perfect sense for a resident of Europe or North America, but not all the world has the same level of internet infrastructure, yet many folks from these same countries are dedicated fans of your published titles.
From the point of view of those of us who enjoy your products, but who live in other parts of the world where the day to day constraints of geography, distance or sometimes even just the weather regularly interferes with or even knocks out internet access the system you are proposing would seem to be a definite disincentive to purchase Ubisoft games.
Believe it or not many of us suffer the simple, yet every day reality of a lack of reliable IT infrastructure just due to basic remoteness or isolation. All these factors essentially mean that reliable, continuous internet access as required by the system outlined in the Q&A is a luxury, or a dream - and not a standard of life as it may be in other parts of the world.
Sure, in Australia, this is not a worry in a major capital such as Sydney or Melbourne, as it wouldn’t be a problem in New York or London, but the simple fact is that we have many major towns and cities in inland or remote parts of Australia that simply do not have the kind of internet access that folks in the Northern Hemisphere might enjoy or take for granted.
A system as outlined above would therefore simply preclude potential sales in these areas. I can only speak for Australia, however we have SubSim members from all over the world, all countries in Latin America, Asia and South East Asia and Africa, these are people who’ve purchased your games and play and discuss them regularly on our forums – yet none of these folks have the sort of IT infrastructure that the system under discussion would seem to expect as the norm.
Are these potential customers to be excluded by what to those of us living happy and fulfilling lives in these places, would seem to be a very Euro / US / Northern Hemisphere concept of who plays what, who enjoys games, who has the net and how that reliable that access may be; effectively who has the right to play.
I don’t really know if I can say anything that might make you re-consider this direction, but at least I thought it best to try to say something rather than sit on the forum making rude noises.
While we are on the subject of Silent Hunter 5 I should also say there are a number of very serious concerns about some of the concepts being discussed re Silent Hunter 5, seems strange for a company to appear to be ignoring the concerns of a dedicated audience for this product, particularly as the SubSim Forum members could be expected to be your largest and most dedicated customer group with an interest in this title.
However, and in fairness to Ubisoft these concerns about the game itself are small beer compared to the concerns being raised about the Online Services Platform and its apparent shortcomings.
I really hope you might read this email and may consider the points I make; access to the internet does not necessarily mean the same thing to all people in all places, (countries) – such a system as is being discussed would appear to be a bit short sighted and based on a very one sided view of the world and what constitutes reliable and ongoing internet access
I hope you might reconsider
Best Regards
Jonathan Fredman
Ubisoft Customer
Email: Rascal@twg.net.au
Ph + 61 2 4323 2732