The facts of life: A heartfelt defense of Ubisoft and DRM

ParaB · 03-09-10, 01:35 PM

I absolutely disagree with you.

Especially niche games in the past have actually shown that they can sell very well without ANY kind of the draconion DRM we now see from Ubisoft. The critically acclaimed Galactic Civilization 2 from Stardock comes to mind, as well as the excellent helicopter sim Black Shark, just to name games I've recently played.

Another approach could certainly be to charge more for detailed simulations. I actually am willing to do that. I've bought Steel Beasts Pro PE which cost 125$. It uses a dongle copy protection which is a bit of a hassle, but to this day it never prevented me from actually playing the game. Unlike SH5...

Also, DRM doesn't automatically need to be implemented in a way that slaps the honest customer in the face. I am more than willing to use one-time online authentication via serial keys or other IMO less intrusive methods. STEAM works fine in that regard. I can play all my STEAM games without being connected to the internet.

And considering the unfinished state SH5 was delivered, Ubisoft would be well advised to invest more into quality control than DRM mechanisms. Maybe they would sell more games if the customer wouldn't feel like paying for beta software... beta software he can't actually play when he wants....

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03-09-10, 01:35 PM	#11
ParaB Chief Join Date: May 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 327 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	I absolutely disagree with you. Especially niche games in the past have actually shown that they can sell very well without ANY kind of the draconion DRM we now see from Ubisoft. The critically acclaimed Galactic Civilization 2 from Stardock comes to mind, as well as the excellent helicopter sim Black Shark, just to name games I've recently played. Another approach could certainly be to charge more for detailed simulations. I actually am willing to do that. I've bought Steel Beasts Pro PE which cost 125$. It uses a dongle copy protection which is a bit of a hassle, but to this day it never prevented me from actually playing the game. Unlike SH5... Also, DRM doesn't automatically need to be implemented in a way that slaps the honest customer in the face. I am more than willing to use one-time online authentication via serial keys or other IMO less intrusive methods. STEAM works fine in that regard. I can play all my STEAM games without being connected to the internet. And considering the unfinished state SH5 was delivered, Ubisoft would be well advised to invest more into quality control than DRM mechanisms. Maybe they would sell more games if the customer wouldn't feel like paying for beta software... beta software he can't actually play when he wants....