Which pretty much is the ultimate death sentence for that game, hm?

GWX raised the expecations to such a level it's hard to stick with SH5 without hopes of something similiar coming in the long run. If that is not a given, it's back to SH3/4.

Well, I guess new modders will too step forward, and we still have to wait for the patches, so only time will tell. But the SH-series is kept alive by the modscene, always has. Who wants to play the stock versions of SH3/4/5 for more than a few days/weeks (provided you can :rotfl2:)... So yeah, no mods, SH=bye bye

If the mod-ing tools wouldn't have used the Ubisoft Launcher, then the 1st day crack would have had "start sh5.exe in modding mode" as the first step to play the game without paying for it.

Computer pirates and biologic viruses are things that can cause massive damage and there's not much you can do about it (how can you defend yourself against a massive DDoS?).


The whole thing is a loss-loss situation. There really is the need for a new business model (WoW style?).

Well Ubisoft already implemented a new business model.
You rent the game for 60 $, and when Ubuisoft takes down the server you're out of luck.
Really, the only difference between SH 5 and WoW, is that for SH5 you pony up the whole sum when you "rent" the game.
With Wow you pay each month a certain amount of $. In either case, no internet no play.

I understand.
True, although some measures can be taken, it is very hard to completely protect yourself against it, and mostly it costs even more money.
I agree. I see goldorak's sentiment, but it is different. If the startup fee is lower for the customer, more will buy it instead of the hassle of getting a pirated copy so your customer base is already bigger. If you don't like it, you didn't spend a whole lot of money, you simply stop the subscription. In the end it may be more expensive to the consumer, but the added value through constant improvements and updates of the publisher/developer should be well worth it (provided they actually deliver!). I think a sim like SH is perfectly suited for this type of business model. Always online is no longer per se required, no subscription simply means not the best game experience. And faults from the past could never sneak into a sequal, since there isn't a sequal anyway. I hope your management realizes someday what they are doing right now to the SH-fans...

No, no WoW style, but Bioware Style.

Release basic, finished games that come without any copy protection software, include a license (or several licenses) to download additional stuff, promise to provide more content for free later on (in the case of SHV, a type II or IX, for exammple) ét voila, everybody playing games because they "want" to play will purchase it. It's far superior to UBIs modell simply because folks actually get rewarded for buying the product instead of beeing punished like UBI does.