Something I Don't Understand...
 

So obviously we have this huge spat with Ubisoft right now regarding OSP and SH5, along with all their future products. As much as Ubisoft may not want to call it DRM, it is. I'm sure we all can agree on that.

On the other hand, we have SH3. Now I haven't been able to play SH3 for a while, since I've got the copy that included Starforce. Vista 64bit doesn't care much for that version of Starforce, but I can't update it without installing the old version.

Lo and behold, as of January 10th of this year, Ubisoft blesses Neal with permission to post information on the "crack" to bypass Starforce on SH3, assuming one hasn't already purchased the DRM-less version.

Now I realize that Ubisoft isn't likely to make much more profit off of SH3... but I would've expected them to hunker down and take a firm stand against the removal of Starforce through that means.

Needless to say, I'll be going back to SH3 now... and I'm rather confused about the whole matter. :timeout:

And if some Ubisoft exec manages to run across this thread, I suppose thanks are in order :D, even if it leaves me feeling a bit :doh:.

It's not uncommon for DRM to be a "limited time offer" and scaled back as the product matures and chances for first time sales taper off.

I'd believe it, judging from the fact that they are selling copies without the DRM, but...

Its important to realize that OSP is less about copy protection and more about reselling the used game down the road. However, both are affected, and I don't think this would be an issue for most players if it wasn't so blasted invasive. However, for those that DO resell their games, its also a huge issue.

if sh5 is a flop.. i have sh4 on my drive which is good enough..

:rock: sh3 might have a dynoobic campaign but its starting to look very dated the graphics.

crew and water look not so good anymore..

sh4 still looks beautiful, and playabliity is good enough with fleet boats and uboat addon and mods.

IMO, graphics arnt everthing... and thats all im really seeing from 5... I have 3...

Not when said Starforce doesn't work without hassle on newer OS. It's much cheaper for Ubisoft to throw the crack (which is all they've done) into the budget version and make it "discussable" on their forums, rather than deal with the support calls and such from unknowing users.

I mean, look at how many posts there are in the SH3 forums from people unable to get Starforce to work...then just imagine that amplified by non-Subsim members asking the same question direct to Ubisoft Support. :doh: