^^
Whew, it's getting a little bit warm in here. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y116/oleman/hot11.gif

ahhhhh ... too much to read here!! :O::rotfl2:
just sharing something I just read on slashdot, regarding actually playing a review copy of assasin's creed 2 ... :: http://games.slashdot.org/story/10/0...-DRM-Confirmed

... i found it interesting, if short ...

ttfn

Ya know, I spent about an hour writing a post containing my thoughts regarding the DRM... only to have Subsim TIME ME OUT when I hit "submit."

So for now, the nutshell version:

UBISOFT SUCKS... and the DRM is the idiots way to nuke whole villages to kill lone insurgents.

Good post Mookie.

(No offense intended Neal, I really like you... but it is in yours and Subsim's interests to defend Ubisoft's use of said DRM w/SH5. Said DRM does NOTHING for the honest gamer/user... except to create yet another Ubizoo-branded pain in the a$$. ...and I am not lumping the actual Silent Hunter Devs into my statement... Ubisoft puts the screws to them anyway.)

The above statement(s) are only my view.

Imagine my excitement when I heard that SH5 was about to become a reality! Then, the news slowly started to trickle in. At first, it didn't sound too bad: "new 3D crew interaction," "improved graphics," "even more moddable than before!" Great!

But that was just the hook. After we got all excited, UBI started to pull the rug out from under us: simplistic, arcade interface; apparent emphasis on the "casual" gamer; only one sub type available (WHAT??); campaign only through 1943 (HUH??!!).

Finally, the ultimate disappointment: permanent, internet connection required. WTF!! Supposedly designed to stop pirates in their tracks! Scoff!

To Ubisoft: I have NEVER downloaded or even played a pirated version of any computer game. Nor have I illegally downloaded music or videos, etc. Everything on any computer I have ever owned has been legally bought and paid for. I have also been a loyal customer of Ubisoft and sub simulations starting with Silent Service II. Until now. It makes me sad to say that I will not be purchasing SH5 until this extremely obtrusive and unnecessary on-line DRM requirement is either removed or substantially redesigned so that I don't have to be constantly monitored by you when I simply want to relax by playing a computer game.

Big Brother lives! Welcome to 1984!

P.S. Please don't patronize me with the line that your customers demanded this "feature" and how fantastic and convenient it will be. We both know that DRM is being implemented for one reason only--to maximize Ubisoft's profits. Now who does it appear is the pirate????? Hmmmpph.

thats my made up quote you scoundrel .

I 2nd Sobers quote and testify also I that being of sworn testimony..

PS: Is that the proper way to word it to a judge, or would it be better to shoot the judge?.........AND, no hijack intent here

DRM will get you banned from your own games. Just like it happened to me.

Holy Bejioschritofferson: Wow! What a resume. Why do you hang around here?....Do you have emotional problems?, such as I. My resume is very good but I have also asked myself the same question.....BTW, there are real lives out there if you can catch one.:salute:

Don't worry, I was just a bit drunk when I replied. Nevertheless, my point is valid.

Ubi spokesperson Answers your questions
 

PC gamer put some of our concerns to ubi.

Link:- http://www.computerandvideogames.com...35596&site=pcg

Quote:

Do Ubisoft understand that we don't want to be permanently online? They've spotted the outcry, yes. "We know that requiring a permanent online connection is not a happy point for a lot of PC gamers, but it is necessary for the system to work.

Looks like ubi are not going to back down on OSP :damn:

Quote:

If my internet connection goes down during play, will I lose my progress? That depends on the way the systems have been implemented. The two examples we have now, Assassin's Creed 2 and Settlers VII, show differing implementations. In Assassin's Creed, if your connection cuts out, you'll be taken back to the last checkpoint. "With Settlers, your game will resume exactly where you left off," says Ubisoft's spokesperson.

I would GUESS (I dont know for sure) that SH5 would have the same system as Settlers, so unlike AC2 you wont lose your progress :yeah:

Quote:

What happens when it becomes economically inefficient to run the servers for these games? Will Ubisoft take the servers down? And will that mean we can't play the games we bought? The first point Ubi makes is that they intend for the servers to stay up. "Say in 5 years someone who bought Assassin's Creed 2 wants to go back and play it, the hope is, the plan is that we'll be on Assassin's Creed, I dunno, 3, 4, 5, and the servers will still be there to serve those new games," explains their spokesperson. "They'll also be able to serve the old games." But Ubisoft have the ability to patch the DRM out of their games. "If for some reason, and this is not in the plan, but if for some reason all of the servers someday go away, then we can release a patch so that the game can be played in single-player without an online connection. But that's if all of the servers are gone."

Sounds like they have no intension of ever removing OSP unless they are going to shut their servers down. And then they have not promised to do so.:nope:

Quote:

Will Ubi make a firm commitment to removing the DRM if the servers are to be taken offline? We'll paste the straight transcript here: PCG: What I think a lot of us would really like is a firm commitment that you understand our worries that the servers are going to go down and suddenly we've just got some trash data on our hard drives that we've paid for. Ubisoft: The system is made by guys who love PC games. They play PC games, they are your friends. PCG: So you can commit to saying that those systems will be patched out?

"Thats the plan" dosen't mean yes they will :damn:

Just wondering... why Ubi didn't announce that "DRM present" the same day when SH5 was announced ?
It just leavs that bitter feeling - that somebody was hurrying up to undermine GWX4... and 5 months later to continue with their service presentations...

With a fully operational and offline GWX4 in January2010 - where would be "DRM cheerleaders" and Ubi now ?
:dead:

Ubi never listens,look at sh3 final patch...

The more I read this, the more I am convinced they are just posturing at the moment. Some one has determined that this is the way forward and whilst it might be 10% about making it harder for the game to be cracked, it's 90% about killing the resale market and moving people towards a new kind of lock in which will make them more money.

However.. no game remains uncracked for ever and it's just a matter of time before one is released that will bypass the need to be online and make save games possible locally.

If they can delay the cracks for a few weeks or even a few months, they will regard it as a success... and I suspect that a patch will be released to soften the protection after a few months. After all it's those first few months sales that count.

I still won't be buying it on principle, I object to being dictated to in this way and I suspect some one will start a class action suit in the US to ram the point home.

I love the Settlers series and have played them all, still have 3, 4, 5 sat on my shelf... I won't be buying 7 either.

"That's the plan" being repeated so often is laughable. Anyone that actually runs a business knows that one of the first things you build into any plan is flexibility to deal with market conditions.

Ubisoft's replies sound like a man telling a woman that birth control isn't necessary because he doesn't intend to make her pregnant.

What sane company takes an action (DRM type in this case) that alienates so many of its core customers?

If Ubi is sane, which I hope to be the case, then perhaps its core audience for SH5 is not the folks who tend to gather here.