DRM a slightly different viewpoint

[KiwiVenge]

/popcorn

I can see what you are saying, but to me it boils down to how it affects each individual. If you can not always be online then it would suck big time. If it simply does not work for you it would suck big time (ie connection to server issues). If you are always online and have no connection issues then one may be able to see how it is an evil but with a decent purpose.
However, I personally hope that the future of single player gaming does not require full time online access because I realize not everyone has it.

I can quite honestly say the DRM has not affected me at all with SH5. Still, I do not think it is a good way for them to go.

[Brag]

Whetyer the permantly online DRN is the future or not depends on buyers. If you buy it , you'll get it.

If you don't, you might be able to prevent customer abuse and to continue living like a free cusomer, able to play without fear of what the publisher may do or not do.

We already see a lot of fear by SH5 buyers, this is reflected in their attitudes in this forum. Yes, Ubi will not keep its servers going forever if they lose money on a game.

[Reece]

There are many thousands of gamers who live in the country area's of Australia alone that either don't have internet access or 56k modems that are not good enough, these people have no chance to play these games at all, it's ridiculous!! I am one of them, but even so, the whole idea of being online for a single player game is stupid, activation yes, but not permanent!
My only chance to play the game is if the game is patched or a damn crack! I can see only an increase in piracy!!
There is one ray of light though, there are many who wont buy games that have this type of DRM, this will create a market for an alternate method of protection by other manufacturers! Money is money!

[Der Teddy Bar]

captainprid,

If you accept that piracy is what Ubi and others tell you it is then even then I could not agree. They have a vested interest to over inflate the affects as it can easily hides many business management/model failures and as with Ubi's new DRM takes away your right to resell or give away the game you paid for.

US government finally admits most piracy estimates are bogus

Lets look at the facts...

Do you know of any DRM that has stopped a game, movie or music from being pirated? I do not.

This is not a case of can you tell me a game that has not, because there are games that have not been pirated because no-one has a interest in it to be bothered. It is can you show me a DRM platform/version that has not.


I would say put yourself in Stardock's shoes, when everyone was ramping up their DRM and preaching how piracy was costing them 90% of their sales and boo f&cking who, companies like Stardock, Good Old Games, Matrix Games, AGEOD games and so on where releasing games with no DRM and are after all these years going from strength to strength.

There are too many success stories for me to believe Ubi and EA etc.


Lastly what has DRM done for the paying customer?

Has DRM has resulted in Ubi games being finished before being released? NO. But Stardock do.

Has DRM resulted in Ubi giving ongoing support past the cursory patches? NO. But Stardock do.

Has DRM resulted in Ubi delivering what is promised? NO. But Stardock do.

Has DRM resulted in Ubi providing additional free content? NO. But Stardock do.


DRM has not benefited the paying customer, it had caused only issues.


What of Ubi's DRM? BlueByte struggling with Settlers 7 DRM problem; Ubisoft remain silent

By Brenna Hillier - Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:54am

It's now been three DRM-plaguedThe Settlers 7. Two facts rear their unsightly heads from the public relations nightmare of the last twenty-one days: that some unhappy gamers are stillUbisoft have failed to make any statement on the problems.

The latest update on the situation comes from a single employee willing to engage with official-forum goers, who has been on unable to play the game they paid for, and that vacation.

According to a BlueByte spokesperson, the developer has been able to "unlock" accounts affected by the failure of Ubisoft's new "always-on" DRM, which left a staggering number of players unable to experience even the single-player campaign.

As the struggling spokesperson notes, the Ubisoft forums are not the official support channel for the game, but as the publisher have failed to make any official statement, press release or announcement, frustrated gamers don't know where else to turn to request assistance.

The "official" support channels are lodging a support ticket by email, or calling a paid hotline. In either case, users must await return contact, and some are reporting week-long delays to responses, or finding their support requests have been arbitrarily closed without action.

A week's wait for a reply on a fault of this scale is simultaneously par for the course and utterly unacceptable; while the sheer numbers involved must be overwhelming, in the face of a major issue like this, most companies would give up on individual responses and post regular public updates.

The lack of response and support seems even more damning in the knowledge that during the absence of one employee, there was noUbisoft are taking the problem seriously; have they only assigned one guy to diffuse this situation...?

Thanks to Brian for flagging this; he says he's had very little luck with Ubisoft support. If you've got anything to share - positive or negative - let us know in the comments section. Did you experience a fault? Has it been rectified? Did you receive sufficient information?

A week's wait for a reply on a fault of this scale is simultaneously par for the course and utterly unacceptable; while the sheer numbers involved must be overwhelming, in the face of a major issue like this, most companies would give up on individual responses and post regular public updates.

The lack of response and support seems even more damning in the knowledge that during the absence of one employee, there was no communication from either developer or publisher. This hardly suggests Ubisoft are taking the problem seriously; have they only assigned one guy to diffuse this situation...?

Thanks to Brian for flagging this; he says he's had very little luck with Ubisoft support. If you've got anything to share - positive or negative - let us know in the comments section. Did you experience a fault? Has it been rectified? Did you receive sufficient information?

I am not saying every company who does not do DRM is legendary, Matrix games sometimes fit into the same grouping above as Ubi.

Also there is the issue where EA turned off support for games that were not 2 years old and only supporting the new game, and this is what will happen with Ubi.

[captainprid]

All excellent points...I guess only time will tell how this particular DRM develops and if other developers write it into their games.

Don't get me wrong though, i'm not trying to defend Ubi and their DRM, not at all, it makes no difference to me one way or another and in an ideal World there would be no DRM at all. I'm just trying to see Ubi's justification for such draconian interference

[jdkbph]

Yeah this is a straight up cost-benefit thing.

The cost being the actual investment in dollars and resources to build, implement and maintain the DRM... which of course is passed along to the customer either as a price increase, or an equivalent slice of the project budget being redirected away from actual game development (features, QA, etc). Then there's the inevitable and entirely foreseeable bad press on review sites and boards like this all over the internet... which translates into lost sales.

On the other hand you have the benefit. The benefit being... what?

It didn't stop the pirates.

And although it may prevent 2nd hand re-sale, I don't believe that's a big market in the PC world at any rate.

Did I miss anything?

Does it still make sense?

JD

[kylania]

Seems the stupid keeps coming from Ubi:

http://www.vg247.com/2010/04/16/ubis...creative-lead/

[7thSeal]

Originally Posted by Brag

Whetyer the permantly online DRN is the future or not depends on buyers. If you buy it , you'll get it.

And the outcome will be of those provided with good connection...

It comes down to control and those still willing to buy with control implemented. If you still get your kicks out of the entertainment provided after what has been implemented, then there's your answer to this whole DRM stuff and whether it will stay. And again, that's based on ones connection in the end.