SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Just received this

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- - Just received this (https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=161023)

Just received this

Apparently Dude is an offensive word in Romania, but that is neither here nor there. For the sake of privacy I will not release which Dev it is, I have have also omitted some parts that may help to identify them. I am just actually shocked he took the time to write me back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John W. Hamm
Dude you can make it have all the bells and whistles you want, but if I can't play it when i want to (internet goes down, or no access to it for what ever reason) and play it with out you having access to my computer in ANY MANNER...I will not buy the game. I canceled my pre-order and will not buy it until the a offline version is made. You need to check the sub sim forums 83% have stated they will not buy this game!! Now this is a niche game and those people in that niche are all here! So your sells are going to suck and it will not be because people don't want the game!
So who cares that you can play on 10,000 computers or my games are saved on your servers or the game is fantastic....if you can't get online to play...

First of all, sir, there's nothing in this world that gives you the right to call me "Dude". You don't know me at all, so as with all the people, show me that initial respect.

Just so you know, I perfectly understand everyone's frustration about this "always-online thing" with the privacy concerns and technical possibility that the Internet may be down (even that it only happened only once to me last year, and let's not forget that I live in a God forgotten country like Romania).

BUT, I also understand that for all the Ubisoft's PC games, the piracy rate is over 90%. 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. And I see it happening all around me, even for the best of games, including Assassins' Creed, Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect 2 etc. People that say "what a fabulous game, I will buy this one because is a masterpiece". But they never actually do it. And I'm stating it again, I see all the time with people I come in contact, to the fact that I'm getting sick and tired of it.

The decision that had to be made by the business guys was "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".

In the beginning, the dev team had the same feelings as you about the whole DRM design and implementation.

In the end, my personal opinion is that it had to be done. This is the world we're living in and these are the rules that we must obey.

Just to make things perfectly clear, I've been working on the Silent Hunter games since 2006. That's 4 years with so many weekends (both Saturdays and Sundays) spent at work that it affected my health, my family life and social life.

All the above are the facts.

My message to you and everyone on subsim would be as simple as this: "It's your choice whether you adapt to the chances in the gaming industry. But remember that the gaming industry will adapt to the behavior of people as a whole (because this is what pays for the food we eat)".

Please note that this is my personal opinion and in no way it reflects the official opinion of my employer.

Now, judging by that staggering 83% figure, that's me signing off and starting to learn ActionScript (Flash) for all the casual games I'll be working on from now on.

Personally after reading this my feelings have not changed, maybe they should go ahead and go with consoles...after all if they continue to do this with all of their games they will alienate the p.c. market anyway....and they will go out of business

Quote:

My message to you and everyone on subsim would be as simple as this: "It's your choice whether you adapt to the chances in the gaming industry. But remember that the gaming industry will adapt to the behavior of people as a whole (because this is what pays for the food we eat)".

I know I'm not taking this as he meant it...but my feeling is; The game publishers will in fact adapt if you don't buy games that use DRM.

That is sad...Romania has better internet than I do.

I have doubts about the figures UBI is claiming, but I cannot prove them to be right or wrong.

What I do know for sure is that each copy protection will be cracked sooner or later. Even console games are being cracked.

Also a fact, adding such DRM into software will move even more people towards using cracked versions of a game.

Maybe UBI and other publishers should reward people who buy a game, instead of making it nearly impossible to play the legal game (anywhere, anytime).

I'm afraid that I need to find a new game genre to enjoy, not developed/published by UBI.

Herr Kaleun, I'm afraid we have to abandon the sub.
That boat is sinking.

IF our mystery dev is right, and the DRM is the first EVER to work and stop piracy, then fine, I'll see the light and happily buy the game.

But when the game does get pirated, and I can't imagine it won't... it'll be like, "what the heck was that for"???
Then the paying crowd is heavily inconvenienced, and the very thing UBI tried to stop is still happening. So in the end people would be paying for a worse version of SH5, and the pirates would be getting the free offline version.

So if this revolutionary DRM fails (and it will as they always do), it will backfire big time, and Ubi's sales will plummet to never before seen lows.
If I were Ubi I'd really be ****ting my pants right now.

Quote:

I also understand that for all the Ubisoft's PC games, the piracy rate is over 90%. 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. And I see it happening all around me, even for the best of games, including Assassins' Creed, Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect 2 etc. People that say "what a fabulous game, I will buy this one because is a masterpiece". But they never actually do it. And I'm stating it again, I see all the time with people I come in contact, to the fact that I'm getting sick and tired of it.

900k :o

Quote:

Right on.

Developer has a good point there. I see no reason why they should not protect their product. It is not easy to make a game you know :)

And eventually it will be your choice. Either play with consoles or stay online with a DRM.

What is so bad about it? I seriously hope that thanks to DRM Ubi will make a ton of profit from SH5 and can use that money to carry on with the series. Make better SH6 and etc.

And yes, i have not got any internet connection problems at all. It is year 2010 and we have steady connections almost everywhere, i dont understand what is all the fuss about :woot:

We allow Microsoft to access our computer every day. So why not let Ubisoft do the same :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotmilk (Post 1252295)

Oh just pick about any other thread that discusses the DRM issues and you will find about 20 or more very good reasons. Either you have not looked or you are choosing to turn a blind eye and remain willfully ignorant.

I have some sympathy for Ubisoft's position, I recently visited two shops in the Game chain (the UK's largest game retailer) One in my town and the other in the city of Glasgow. I was shocked to see how few PC games were now in stock, only one small shelving unit on the floor with but a few budget and full price titles while the wallspace is now entirely devoted to the console market.

To me it looks like the console manufacturers (including Microsoft) and the retailers are now tyring to kill off the PC games market entirely. And it's easy to understand why, console games are easier to create, the PC is a support nightmare, and the profits/returns are much higher on console titles and piracy is now rampant on the PC platform a situation that will only worsen as broadband gets faster and faster.

I do believe that PC titles need some form of DRM/protection as the piracy levels are now extreme, however I think the new Ubisoft system is going a bit too far and may make the game too slow/ unplayable. Something like Storm Eagle's (Jutland) (originally much hated) connect once a week with no save game thing would be much more acceptable to gamers.

I hardly think that because 100 people dont buy this game to play it, then it means they have lost the sale of 100 copies - thats really a stupid argument. Howevere, I still think that they have lost significant sales because of pirates...

I think that in all of this discussion we forgot to aim our frustrations at the PIRATES!
They are the root cause of this mess.

Now we CAN argue that DRM is a really bad thing, but we cant blame Ubisoft for trying to protect their investment.
Problem is that is has been proven again and again that the protection will be broken by somebody, so we dont trust DRM to be any different.

It seems like we just get caught in the middle og the battle between Ubisoft and pirates.

So, if any of you know pirates I suggest you go and have a go at them as well :arrgh!:

I think the choice of the DUDE word is a bit poor.
I would have done the same mistake, but, look, he is a stranger to you, you have never shaken hands, never drank a beer together, and never gone to school together.

Therefor a SIR, or MIster X would have been more appropriate.
It is also, not only showing personal respect, but also respects what he does.

And plus, i would never never ever ever go to someone , and ask him for something, and then call the man a Dde, or the Lady a "chick" or something.
Thats just not nice.

You have learned a lesson here i take it?

Quote:

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav (Post 1252304)

I suppose I have...for what it is worth...but i think he was more angry at the content and what it meant. I think it was just his way of firing back. But then again what do I know. None the less as I wrote back to him to explain where I am from it is not considered an insult or disrespectful. However it is also like many other words all in the inflection...and of course you can't hear how I'm typing it...so He hears it how he is reading it in conjunction with the problem being written about. Hind sight 20-20 I wish I would have started it differently.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John W. Hamm (Post 1252300)

I am sorry. I just dont have time to read trough ALL those arguments about DRM. I am sure that "very good" 20 arguments will eventually boil down to 3 things. 1:People are whining because they feel that they have no freedom if they cant play this game offline (does not matter that most of their computers are anyway always online)
2: People are whining that the UBI service will affect their gameplay. (Server downtimes and etc.)
3: People are whining because they are not willing to let UBI have access in your computer. (But we allow MS services to do this every day whether we like it or not)

But who am i to say what is right and what is wrong. I am just a silly human who chooses to remain willfully ingorant. :rotfl2:

Quote:

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav (Post 1252304)

Dude, many native English speakers say "dude" all the time... to anyone. We Australians also tend to use "mate" a lot more, and we use it on everyone, even people we don't know.
It may be impolite to you, but it's friendly informality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John W. Hamm (Post 1252305)

This place is a Battlefield at the Moment, Torps and DCs being used like there was no tomorrow Starshells in the sky, and in the distance, two Tankers are burning.

You are mad, I am mad, he might also be mad... We are humans after all, and that is very good thing.

You and me are sitting in opne Boat, BUT you do not exactly know what kind of Boat he is sitting in.
Therefor, having a white flag with you when making contact is always a good idea.

:up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gotmilk (Post 1252306)

3: People are whining because they are not willing to let UBI have access in your computer. (But we allow MS services to do this every day whether we like it or not)

I don't let Microsoft have access to my computer every day, because I don't like it.