Australian gamers unable to play Settlers 7 due to DRM woes

[Der Teddy Bar]

Games.on.net report more Ubi DRM woes this this time with Settler 7...

I will not say never, but if they removed the DRM tomorrow I will not buy their products as I have no respect for idiots.

Our review of The Settlers 7 concluded that fans of city building, micromanagement RTS games could do worse than check it out, with particular reference to the robust community features of online multiplayer.

Sounds great! I'm sure we're all going to love it! There's just one problem - most of us can't, thanks to ongoing issues with Ubisoft's controversial new "always online" DRM.

The problem reportedly strikes after the game has already confirmed an active Internet connection, and prevents the user from playing even the single-player campaign, and returning the error "server not available". But they are available, because other people are logged into them and merrily playing away.

Seeming to affect players in every territory at random, and Australians in particular, the server error has caused both intermittent and continuous connectivity problems, with some players as yet unable to play the game at all.

On top of the general server error, individual users are reporting various instances of repeated crashes, freezing and hanging that prevent play, and which also appear to be network-related.

Ubisoft's response so far has included a generic "contact support" message repeated by besieged moderators, an extremely short list of troubleshooting tips, a call for further details from those affected, and the following comment on the "server not available" message:

"Apparently this problem is especially common in Australia - we will try to get to the bottom of this."

This message was posted on Friday; Settlers 7 released on Thursday; and in case you can't see a calendar from there, it is now Tuesday, and the majority of Australian copies are unplayable.

The Assassin's Creed II PC launch was plagued by bad press following DRM authentication failures, which Ubi put down to "attacks". While the Settlers series may not be as high-profile as everyone's favourite parkour sim, it has a devoted fan base, and in the face of these persistent, significant problems, they're becoming quite vocal. The new DRM system is rapidly turning into a PR nightmare for the multinational publisher of the Splinter Cell series.

Thanks, Jim. Hopefully we'll see a fix of some kind sooner rather than later.

[gonzlor]

I Got Settlers 7 the other day, I have assassins creed 2 and SH5 and the DRM thing hasn't affected me at all

[Winders]

I ordered SH5 and received Halo 3 - something is going on I think...

[NefariousKoel]

Originally Posted by gonzlor

I Got Settlers 7 the other day, I have assassins creed 2 and SH5 and the DRM thing hasn't affected me at all

Everything's peachy then. Nothing to see here, move along.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Winders

I ordered SH5 and received Halo 3 - something is going on I think...

[oiler]

Originally Posted by Winders

I ordered SH5 and received Halo 3 - something is going on I think...

Is it joke?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by NefariousKoel

Everything's peachy then. Nothing to see here, move along.

But...but...but...




Oh, and NK, every time I see that sig I do a double-take. I know it's there but it still catches me out. I love it!

[Yak]

...

[mookiemookie]

The sooner Ubi realizes that they've caused more damage to their brand and their sales with this idiocy than pirates ever could have, the better off we'll all be.

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by Yak

The sooner this idiocy dies the better...

hmm, right.
playing games of UBI should be rewarded by cash for all the info they gather other companies pay for.

[Der Teddy Bar]

Originally Posted by Yak

I think it is very interesting that none of the game shops in Darwin even bothered stocking SH5, which is really odd given they always have and usually even taday have a lot of sims (flight etc) on the shelves due to the large ADF contingent in town.

Even Assassin's Creed II which would've usually had massive flashy displays and lots of shelf space is now just one lonely copy.

The sooner this idiocy dies the better...

That is interesting because none of the game shops in Canberra (3 in the CBD) are stocking SH5 either and I thought it was because it was not here yet and because of the DRM I will not be buying so I did not ask.


The new DRM has not stopped some of my friends from considering a title (not SH though), but it has stopped them from buying a few games as they would think nothing of buying any and everything because they could loan it to each other and/or re-sell it.

I see no reason a game should be any different to a book, no-one would find it acceptable that you could not lend or re-sell your books?

So Ubi has stopped my friends from loaning and/or re-selling their games so they no longer are willing to buy into a risky title or make a why not purchase because they are now stuck with it.

It also amazes me how Ubi does not understand how the 2nd hand market drives the initial sales as noted above and how it helps in the long term by introducing someone to franchise they never initially bought into and this indirectly drives new sales.

If Ubi were selling books they would have the Public Library outlawed

Ubi have shown that you do not have to be overly intelligent to become successful.

[Phantom453]

I live in South Australia and must admit I have not had an issue with connecting through DRM at all with my ADSL connection. Plenty of other bugs wearing me down though. Thing is though, I got an e-mail from UBI offering me a freee game download (choice between two games) to thank me for my patience in relation to the UBI SH5 servers being down.

[janh]

Originally Posted by Der Teddy Bar

I see no reason a game should be any different to a book, no-one would find it acceptable that you could not lend or re-sell your books?

That is indeed what it should be if they wanted to keep customers. You buy it, it is yours. No licensing, but of course like a book you don't just start making copies of the pages and post them, or copy the code, models etc. But it is yours to keep -- otherwise, what benefit would presently remain for paying customers?

It smelled fishy all the time that they would target pirated with the DRM, but then hit the loyal customers as badly by disallowing resale (through the agreement you sign when creating the necessary online account at Ubi).
But you can't really fault Ubi since their "concept" is in many countries legal, and in many others like Germany likely illegal, but yet "untried lands" that a case would have to properly define first. And as it appears, enough people followed them like Lemings. If at all, then their strategy shows only clearly that all they care about is "more sales, more money", which is not surprising since they are a big stockholding company.

There is only one thing you can do about it, which is voting with your wallet. Or if you live in Ger and are adventurous, sue them and see whether disallowing resale is in disagreement with German customer and basic law. This will surely happen within the next few years, someone will do it, and if it is only one of the big consumer protection organizations.

[Vandecker]

That is interesting because none of the game shops in Canberra (3 in the CBD) are stocking SH5 either and I thought it was because it was not here yet and because of the DRM I will not be buying so I did not ask.

I did see a single copy of Silent Hunter V at EB in Civic but it has since disappeared, whether its been sold or they just gave up on it I'm not sure.