Might be so, but why does UBI think that those 900.000 guys would actually BUY the game if they couldn't play it?

In my opinion, most of them would simply altogether pass on it, and that's all. They don't have the money, or if they do, they rather spend it on something else. There are LOTs of people out there with emule downloading all day things like films and games they don't ever get to play at all.

If you consider the minority of those guys who were playing pirated games and now will buy it, and compare it with the number of guys who actually bought all games and now will stop doing it (Like me), that would give you an exact figure. And I guess the result wouldn't be nice either.

Last, UBI seems to forget that the public for sub simulators is quite different than the one playing Assassins' Creed, Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect 2 etc.

OK, if that's the modern industry trend then very well, I'll stop playing new video games and just play the old ones, or simply pass altogether on that.

I am mature enough and have a personality that allows me to have thousands of different hobbies I enjoy the same or even more that playing games. I don't need the videogames at all.

As a fellow Romanian, I would kindly remind this unnamed dev a few facts of life that might shed a new light on the issues of DRM, piracy and the money earned from a game.

1. There's always the 'stick and carrot' policy, in this case the stick being the over-intrusive antipiracy methods (starforce in the past, online checks now) and the carrot being an intelligent way of promoting a product / a game. In history, it has been proven that carrot is always better than the stick - that's also why democracy won over dictatorship. In my personal view, instead of enacting a kind of DRM that alienates many, a gaming company should emphasize on the extra services and advantages of being the legal owner of the preferred game. There's many ways it could do this, from a competent support (really competent, I mean) to all kind of niceties the user could receive with the purchased game (badges, pens, even an online club he should be proud to belong to, meetings of game owners and fans etc.)

2. The game should be readily available everywhere it is in demand. As you must certainly be aware, except for developed countries, in the rest of the world most people do not have bank cards in Euros or USD, which prevents them buying a game on the internet. Here, in your home country, dear Ubi Romania, did you ever wonder how many Romanians hold a card in Euros? Moreover, given that games still address a teen or pre-teen market segment, how many of these youngsters do you think have the bank cards needed to purchase a game online?
Here, in its home country, the only option for buying the games made by Ubisoft Romania is online. I never saw them in their hard form (box, DVD, etc.) in any specialised store so far (actually, there's almost no specialised store, only supermarkets have dedicated areas for games). Even in the first weeks after SH3 and SH4 got launched, they were quasi-inexistant for the Romanian gaming market. No advertising, nothing at all that would have let Romanian gamers know that the "Sim of the Year" (as labeled by many magazines) had just reached the market.
If Ubi really wants to fight rampant piracy (yes, I am aware it exists), maybe it should "invite" people to buy its games, advertise them the smart way, and make them so readily available and desirable that every gamer feels the urge to buy them in their shiny box, rather than go illegal. Especially if these gamers really like what they play.

3. There's an old debate over how many pirates would really buy a particular game, if unavailable as illegal download. I will not open this can of worms, but only refer to the Silent Hunter series. Submarine simulations are a special breed. They are not your usual shooters, they are still mostly single-player (in a world of multiplayer), and they target a mature audience, with a higher level of conscience (related to piracy=theft) and more willing to support the producer of the games they prefer. So, I really doubt Subsims are pirated to such an extent. And - as far as I can say based on intuition alone - I don't see so many of (let's say) "casual pirates" saying something like: "Hooray, here it is, our latest sub game, let's donwload it en masse." It's rather "Huh, what's this Silent thing about? A submarine game? What on earth could this mean? Submarines are booooring. I'd rather play Call of Duty and shoot 10 people a minute."

4. Last, but not least, there's a "Big Brother" fear mounting everywhere in the world. People tend to grow over-suspicious at everything that intrudes their personal lives (and computers). Games are the last on a long list of such intrusions and this online DRM has come at the worst moment possible. Yes, game companies have the right to protect themselves against theft, but just the idea of the game "calling back home" goes against the "freedom" tradition that was imprinted upon the gaming community during the last two decades. As I said, sub simulations are mostly played by grown-ups, by people formed in the "democratic" spirit that characterized IT and internet since they were born. Maybe a teen can easily live with the idea of "ET phone home," but those used to live by some standards feel the market changes really hard and are not as willing to "re-educate" themselves.

Sorry for the long post, but I really felt i had to speak my mind.

And BTW, I would not call Assassins' Creed and Modern Warfare 2 "the best games." To me, they look rather arcadish and console.

It is not impolite to me... i VERY MUCH prefer being called "DUDE", or "Hey man", or just plain "Yo, Leon, take a look at this!"

People call me Mister, and Sir, when i am on the Job, and: Damn, DUDE - does that make me feel Uncomforteable!

But thats just what it is like, being in contact with people that do not know you - its tact. And it takes some time to overcome that distance.

But once you overcome that distance, I have found a few customers very to be quite cool, and even swapped Telephone nubers with one of them.
No. Not the Business Telephone numbers. It led to some really interesting events. (grins)

Still, Both sides need to approach each other with Mutual respect, both Feeling and Expressing it.

The Fun and beerdrinking comes later.

"do we cancel ALL PC games FOREVER and concentrate on everything else (consoles, casual, social)? No, let's be fair to the people and give them a chance to support the games that entertain them every day".What is hidding behind the: "support the game every day" Is actually that DRM gives UBI the power to control your account daily. And most probably you will be asked to "support your entertainment" by transfering money from your bank account for every update/patch/addon they're gonna release in future. RDM turns out to be a perfect tool of manipulation IMO. Under no circumstances I will ever agree with these kind of terms that are still hidden from public, nor I let myself to be fed with any speculations that DRM is good for you, future vision, or provides a must have services.

If they wanted to make us happy about having to be online all the time why not write some content that actually takes advantage of it. People have been bitching for good multiplayer for ages. So if you want to convince people being connected is better write something that takes advantage of it, instead of just saddling us with the negative aspects?

"lets be fair to the people..." ???

i dont care about this poor statement. for me, go ahead and try your luck with console kids!!! then finally there will be smaller studios, who serve the market with pc-games. maybe this would be the better way, instead of big firms, who try to serve all niches and release a lot of half backed **** for pc.

very good statement, dcb.
I doubt the figures of 90% pirated games. better said, if the publishers had such a close insight of the pirate's market, why hadn't they done nothing against?

This dev should think about:

1) printing good and thick manuals like those we were used to
2) use an online activation like the one used by Battlefront
3) forgetting to cash in that wishful 90%. Wake up :nope:

"That means that for every 100k copies sold, there are another 900k copies being played by people that are getting what they want by stealing it."

***
Sounds like simplified model... i am sure that 70-80% out of these 900k just take it as it costs nothing, as you would try beer in a pub for 2$...
They would try it 2-3 days and forget it...

It is possible that some 20-30% out of 900k would buy original anyway.

This is not Call of Duty... and Ubi will lose more by DRM application... than they could gain "forced players".
***
DRM could be tried in a 3-4 years, when online service becomes standard "like TV remote control" and certainly on some "more commercial" titles...

With DEMO included!

You said it....:|\\





P.S. to dcb +1

Here's a radical idea to curb the spread of software piracy -

Dont charge people one of their kidneys for one of your fricken games.

I'm with Hitman and Urfish on this so far.

It is well known that piracy figures are over-estimated in order to usher in more draconian DRM measures, much akin to the way Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction were....cough...over-estimated in order to usher in a little war.....sorry I mean a long drawn out badly planned and organised war. But I digress...

That said, I understand the need to combat software piracy....but at heart I know that game publishers are only interested in profit and are consequenytly killing the PC games market, as noticed by the shelf space in shops like Game. The book publishing industry has been heading down the same road for some time....so many great books go un-noticed cos they don't contain boys on broomsticks or whatever.

Fortunately, modern tech has led to the micro-publisher, with the internet providing delivery logistics. This micro-industry is on the verge of a huge boom.

In conclusion then, games publishers desire for ever increasing income (largely to pay for the chaff within - I doubt actual profit margins are any greater than 30 years ago) will see them migrate to the consoles, to be replaced by dedicated micro PC game developers and publishers. Heralding a new age in quality PC game development.

HURRAH FOR UBI!

He is right about the 'dude' thing.
As for the rest...well...

even if the figures are 100,000 pirated copies against 100,000 sold thats a huge difference, let alone 900,000 copies.

If you want the DRM to be removed then your only hope is that someone cracks that game. So the pirated players wont have to connect internet and legimate players do.

Then UBI will realize how pointless the DRM is.