Did Ubisoft just deactivate all german copies of SH5?

Kapitanleutnant · 03-19-10, 12:27 PM

I just read this on another forum:

Quote:

Ubisoft disabled all german Collector's Edition copies of Silent Hunter 5. They forgot to remove a Swastika in the CE manual and demand that the customer sends the manual to Ubisoft. Until then, their game will be disabled. Great way to care about the customer.

Can any German forum members confirm or deny this?

edit: semi-confirmation from this website, but that just confirms a recall. Still don't know about deactivations.

gimpy117 · 03-19-10, 12:39 PM

they have to. im sure this is the German government...not UBI

its actually illegal to show Nazi symbols in Germany. so the have to recall and remove it.

Kapitanleutnant · 03-19-10, 12:44 PM

They have to recall it, but if they've disabled the game (can't confirm that) that would only be possible because of That Which Must Not Be Named. In any previous time the recall would be ultimately down to the customer to decide whether or not to give up access to their game.
Course, we still don't know if Ubi have actually disabled it.

Adam84 · 03-19-10, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gimpy117

they have to. im sure this is the German government...not UBI

its actually illegal to show Nazi symbols in Germany. so the have to recall and remove it.

Ubisoft have been making WW2 games for years, how on earth did they make this mistake?

SteamWake · 03-19-10, 12:50 PM

So now they cant play the game untill they return a manual?

Un freakin believable I wonder how many are right now looking into hacks?

Damn Ubi your product launch is full of fail !

Decoman · 03-19-10, 12:51 PM

If this is true, I suppose this is another awkward bieffect of the DRM initiative.

Nisgeis · 03-19-10, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam84

Ubisoft have been making WW2 games for years, how on earth did they make this mistake?

Blizzard managed to do the same thing:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...zi_Symbols.php

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteamWake

So now they cant play the game untill they return a manual?

Un freakin believable I wonder how many are right now looking into hacks?

Damn Ubi your product launch is full of fail !

The news is all over the web, but it's all repeats of one source, which says that the Collector's Edition only is affected. This has caused some to speculate that it's the manual that is the offending article, but it's possible that the offending article is in fact in the game (part of extended skins or just a localisation process that was missed), in which case disabling the game is their best option. There's jail time involved with such a crime. Does the standard German version come with a manual?

The Enigma · 03-19-10, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Blizzard managed to do the same thing:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...zi_Symbols.php

The news is all over the web, but it's all repeats of one source, which says that the Collector's Edition only is affected. This has caused some to speculate that it's the manual that is the offending article, but it's possible that the offending article is in fact in the game (part of extended skins or just a localisation process that was missed), in which case disabling the game is their best option. There's jail time involved with such a crime. Does the standard German version come with a manual?

This shows again, how bad the DRM for customers is.
Now other parties can control UBI for whatever reason to stop you from playing a game.

Are you, who don't care about this form of DRM, still in denying about the tremendous impact it has on the ppl who want's to play a game they have bought?

UBI has created a monstrous instrument they don't even can control and other parties will/may use that instrument too.

Prientje · 03-19-10, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kapitanleutnant

I just read this on another forum:
Can any German forum members confirm or deny this?

edit: semi-confirmation from this website, but that just confirms a recall. Still don't know about deactivations.

Its not true and nonsens !

I have the Collector's Edition

and im in Germany

longam · 03-19-10, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam84

Ubisoft have been making WW2 games for years, how on earth did they make this mistake?

It was that 10th developer they hired to do graphics. He has never been to Subsim.com so he know nothing of the world.

Nisgeis · 03-19-10, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prientje

Its not true and nonsens !

I have the Collector's Edition

Are you in Germany with the German Collector's Edition?

bart · 03-19-10, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

The news is all over the web, but it's all repeats of one source, which says that the Collector's Edition only is affected. This has caused some to speculate that it's the manual that is the offending article, but it's possible that the offending article is in fact in the game (part of extended skins or just a localisation process that was missed), in which case disabling the game is their best option.

I've got the collectors edition here in the UK.

The symbol in question is on page 27 of the Official guide and it's real small, but it's there. I haven't seen anything yet in the vanilla game. Only reason I can think of why they would disable the game is to get folks to return it as they want them ALL back, otherwise some people may decide they want to keep it anyway. If it's disabled maybe folks are more likely to return it and get a new copy which will work.

Just a thought......

Nisgeis · 03-19-10, 04:23 PM

I think you're right bart, about the reason why they disabled it. I know that distributing anything with a swastika in Germany is illegal, but I don't know if playing it / keeping it is equally as illegal. I do know that Ubi seem to have multiple versions of the CE and different names for it, but I have no idea what the German CE version includes.

Nordmann · 03-19-10, 05:04 PM

But there are no swastikas actually in-game, so why would they need to disable the actual client? Only the manual need be returned, it doesn't make any sense to stop people from playing what they have purchased (no surprises there).

Ubi keep going from bad to worse, it's sheer incompetence. If I were a German CE holder, I would be sending it back, demanding a refund, and never buying one of their products again!

Nisgeis · 03-19-10, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordmann

But there are no swastikas actually in-game, so why would they need to disable the actual client?

I don't know - has that been confirmed? I've only see references to one article that said that the game had been recalled, but I don't speak German, so I have no idea if the original article says that it is only the manual that is affected. There are versions of SH5 with a swastika in it, if that's what you mean.

03-19-10, 12:39 PM	#2
gimpy117 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Kalamazoo, MI Posts: 3,243 Downloads: 108 Uploads: 0	they have to. im sure this is the German government...not UBI its actually illegal to show Nazi symbols in Germany. so the have to recall and remove it. __________________ Member of the Subsim Zombie Army

03-19-10, 12:44 PM	#3
Kapitanleutnant Frogman Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 305 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	They have to recall it, but if they've disabled the game (can't confirm that) that would only be possible because of That Which Must Not Be Named. In any previous time the recall would be ultimately down to the customer to decide whether or not to give up access to their game. Course, we still don't know if Ubi have actually disabled it. __________________ Oh worse than Hitler! You wouldn't find Hitler playing jungle music at three o'clock in the morning!

03-19-10, 12:50 PM	#5
SteamWake Rear Admiral Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 13,224 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	So now they cant play the game untill they return a manual? Un freakin believable I wonder how many are right now looking into hacks? Damn Ubi your product launch is full of fail ! __________________ Follow the progress of Mr. Mulligan : http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147648

03-19-10, 04:23 PM	#13
Nisgeis Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 2,909 Downloads: 77 Uploads: 11	I think you're right bart, about the reason why they disabled it. I know that distributing anything with a swastika in Germany is illegal, but I don't know if playing it / keeping it is equally as illegal. I do know that Ubi seem to have multiple versions of the CE and different names for it, but I have no idea what the German CE version includes. __________________ -------------------------------- This space left intentionally blank.

03-19-10, 05:04 PM	#14
Nordmann Commodore Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: England Posts: 628 Downloads: 62 Uploads: 0	But there are no swastikas actually in-game, so why would they need to disable the actual client? Only the manual need be returned, it doesn't make any sense to stop people from playing what they have purchased (no surprises there). Ubi keep going from bad to worse, it's sheer incompetence. If I were a German CE holder, I would be sending it back, demanding a refund, and never buying one of their products again! __________________ "I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea." - H. G. Wells

03-19-10, 12:51 PM	#6
Decoman Frogman Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 306 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	If this is true, I suppose this is another awkward bieffect of the DRM initiative.