Ubi, Pirates and Release Dates

[StandingCow]

Originally Posted by IRONxMortlock

Yes, we've all seen war games but I think this method would effectively stop it. The vast bulk of software pirates would lack the skills needed to do that. It would be easier to just go to the shop and buy it.

Many do it for the challenge. One thing we are taught in networking classes.. in fact, any computer class is that the only sure way to keep a hacker out is a pair of wire cutters. Anything can be hacked/spoofed.

[IRONxMortlock]

Originally Posted by StandingCow

Many do it for the challenge. One thing we are taught in networking classes.. in fact, any computer class is that the only sure way to keep a hacker out is a pair of wire cutters. Anything can be hacked/spoofed.

Oh I don't doubt some people would get through. Like you said, they'll get through anything anyway. Most of the people who can so easily pirate games ATM (by that I mean the people who use the cracks not those who make them) would not be able to do it and majority of piracy would be eliminated.
________
Live sex

[Dantenoc]

Well, the main reason that games are migrating to consoles is that the general public is more likely to buy a $600.00 console in order to play today's hottest games, instead of having to buy a $1,500 computer.

Having said that, piracy does hurt developers.

I personally prefer computer games, mainly because:
a) the mouse and/or a touchscreen are unbeatable as input devices
b) computers screens have higher resolutions (TV's are just awfull at this)
c) Easily moddable games

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by StandingCow

The last is, many people that pirate a game would not have gone out and purchased it, they only get it because they can for free, so that throws statistics way off (Game Makers saying they lost so much money), if people that pirate games end up liking said game, many will go out and buy it, so they sort of use it like a demo. There is a very interesting article on cnn.com about this.

Very true!

[macky]

I have 2 points to add:

1) According to PC gamer there is no decline in PC gaming, in fact this will be the year of the PC. With dual core being favoured by MS and big game developers as being the breakthrough. Windows vista was made for the pc gamer. Doubt MS would throw away a lot of developing money if they thought the pc market was in decline. Although we dont see a lot of pc games on shelves, apparently the online market (legitamate one not the pirates) is booming. World of Warcraft have exceeded 8million subscribers which is bigger than many countries :p

Yes a lot of games are purely console, and tbh the type of games that they are probably deserve to be there. But there a many that never will, SH series probably one. However, as pointed out, piracy for these are also rife. Yet you dont see game developers saying not going to make any more console games due to piracy

2) As was posted previously, make the retail versions more excitable. Proper merchandise, instructions and maps etc. Make people want to buy the actual game for real. But don't spend out so much on material that the game just gets too expensive to buy. After all, piracy is here and it will stay. Don't put software protection on thats unreliable and can cause legitimate game owners PC's to crash uniformly.

btw, expecting mine after the 23rd

[Seeadler]

Originally Posted by macky

Although we dont see a lot of pc games on shelves, apparently the online market (legitamate one not the pirates) is booming. World of Warcraft have exceeded 8million subscribers which is bigger than many countries :p

Yes a lot of games are purely console, and tbh the type of games that they are probably deserve to be there. But there a many that never will, SH series probably one. However, as pointed out, piracy for these are also rife. Yet you dont see game developers saying not going to make any more console games due to piracy

An article to this topic:

"Can PC Gaming Survive in a Console World?"
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...2102189,00.asp

[Aimbot]

Originally Posted by flintlock

You may disagree, but it remains one of the reasons of declining PC sales. Moreover, there have been developers which have publicly stated that due to rampant PC pirating, they will focus future efforts on console platforms. Whether or not they are correct is irrelevant, all that matters in the end is that they perceive it to be true. That's not to say that console titles can't be pirated, because we all know they can--it's a different animal though.

As others have said, it's largely a decline in packaging and extras, increased console function, higher cost in production, increased personel requirements, and hardware issues. Hell, consoles are modded and the titles pirated as well, it's just a bit harder.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Originally Posted by CCIP

I hate to join the ranks of the ranters, but here goes one:

2) Ubi -
Great way to let the pirates get ahead of you. For shame, you're a company with millions of dollars in budget, and you can't afford to set up even an online distro system, TWO WEEKS after the game has gone gold - and after the 'scene' beat you to it.
I consider myself a very dissatisfied customer. Though I will not cancel my order, because I'm honorable enough to have two legit game copies, I must say I am seriously disappointed - I paid $49.99 US, and I can't even get a game I've been waiting for more than a year, any earlier than the pirate scambags.

3) Release date confusion -
How can a game be shipping in one country, while others who paid to pre-order in others can't even get it online or mailed to them in time?

I ask that everyone here who's pre-ordered from Ubisoft PLEASE write these guys a few emails expressing their dissatisfaction. As customers, you have to speak out for yourselves.

You will never see me whining about the game - I'll post bug reports and errors in proper threads, and that'll be the end of it. But this is where I draw the line.

Again,

I find the fact you're complaining with the game not being released despite having gone gold 2 weeks ago, and then moaning about the difference release dates on the other hand - to be rather ironic. if I'm a publisher, I need a least a minimum of a month from gold to send it to the manufacturers to press it, and then distribute it worldwide. Meanwhile I'm not going to make it available online until it's a simoultaneous launch worldwide.

I agree they cocked up the different release dates, and the differences in availability of versions. But otherwise I don't see any problem. If pirates are going to get a hold of it and immediately stick it on the net, there's little you can do about it there.

[StandingCow]

All you can do is promote people to actually but it, as somebody stated this genre is not very popular. If you see or hear of anybody pirating this game, try and convince them to go out and buy it.

I have been promoting this game on all the forums I visit in hopes that it does well and more subsims follow.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Originally Posted by CCIP

Still, I do say the biggest problem with game sales is not so much piracy but bad customer service and unfinished products. Every copy pirated is not a copy that stays on the shelf, however.

Not to defend piracy, but I think companies need to take initiative to 'win'. They could sell games at more competitive prices, or use their returns to better-finance developers and make games with fewer holes to plug.

And I'll always stand by the idea that the best copy protection is a good package, lots of extras, and a detailed manual!

I think game companies need to be prodded by their customers into being more efficient and less greedy - but piracy is not the right way to do it!

I'm going to play devil's advocate here a bit, and say that the massive amount of copy protection on some games is exactly why people go for cracked or pirated ones. After playing BF1942, Battlefield 2 was horrible. The software was clunky, had to log into the server for anything and just too ages. Then with SH3 we had Starforce that caused endless headaches for certain people.

Whilst I agree copy protection has its rightful place, I get the impression some buy pirated stuff - or use cracks for legitimately purchased games - simply out of frustration with games that have heavy handed implementation.

[Fat Bhoy Tim]

Originally Posted by macky

I have 2 points to add:

1) According to PC gamer there is no decline in PC gaming, in fact this will be the year of the PC. With dual core being favoured by MS and big game developers as being the breakthrough. Windows vista was made for the pc gamer. Doubt MS would throw away a lot of developing money if they thought the pc market was in decline. Although we dont see a lot of pc games on shelves, apparently the online market (legitamate one not the pirates) is booming. World of Warcraft have exceeded 8million subscribers which is bigger than many countries :p

A declining market share in comparison to consoles, sure I can see that easily but I find the information stating declining total sales because as the article posted above says, the PC is becoming ironically what it was before - a niche platform.

[kptn_kaiserhof]

theory qestion if someone did not have the internet how will one register sh4 online?

perhaps have a ubi soft registy hotline like with microsoft??

[HunterICX]

Piracy

Nowadays , its something you cannot avoid it too happen,
in the early days it was not as worse as today, but why?
there are several reasons.

1: The games nowadays have a lot in promise
2: The amount of pirate sites that can easily be found
3: the age of the person who dowloads it, you cannot think a 14 yr old gains enough pocket money for all the games he has on his computer
4: The speed of the internet nowadays, the minimal that people have is 1 Mbit. go figure.
5: The games nowadays is poor quality/ or are in e Pre-ready state-(so the buyers have to test it), I bought BF2 , and NEVER going to buy any of the titles again. it has been an complete dissapoinment with the amount of Exploits , Glitches, bugs and errors, and FALSE promised patches that had to fix the amount of problems the game came with. 50€ down the toillet
6: *see 5* People are wondering or are afraid of the same dissapointment, is the game worth my 50€?, try & Buy thingy mention before by other posters.


thought the MP function in some cases are well defended, like CD key requirement
some games need an unique cd key in order to play online if its used before or its in the blacklist because it duplicated, or its a fake one.
the best defence of a MP feature is a .exe check.
if it sees that the .exe have been modified by a fix that it will block ur attempt of joining an online game.


things that could reduce the amount of piracy is:

*bring out a DEMO for the people to try (to see if they like it and how it runs on the system)
*Bring out the product as the final game and not something that is filled with bugs and has been poorly tested.
*make the Multiplayer feature extra attractive and hard to fool with pirate versions (like mentioned above , unique CD key and a .exe checker)

hearing me say this all, well I have red a lot about the piracy stuff, it really is interesting how they manage to beat the publisher too it. its also a big shame that it is, but hell.
the games are a big target and the movies and music as well. its a simple fact that is on the dark side of the internet. Just ignore the fact that someone has it and be proud that you support the publisher when you get the Game in the Box you paid for

but sometimes a publisher cannot exeed the budget they get for the game, its poor.
hopefully SHIV will turn out well, thought I,m not going to buy it as I have no interest in the pacific at all

(hopefully what I have said above isnt breaking the TOS of Subsim)

[IRONxMortlock]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

5: I bought BF2 , and NEVER going to buy any of the titles again. it has been an complete dissapoinment with the amount of Exploits , Glitches, bugs and errors, and FALSE promised patches that had to fix the amount of problems the game came with. 50? down the toillet

Want to get your 50 euros back? www.realitymod.com

________
Vapormatic

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by macky

I have 2 points to add:

1) According to PC gamer there is no decline in PC gaming, in fact this will be the year of the PC. With dual core being favoured by MS and big game developers as being the breakthrough. Windows vista was made for the pc gamer. Doubt MS would throw away a lot of developing money if they thought the pc market was in decline. Although we dont see a lot of pc games on shelves, apparently the online market (legitamate one not the pirates) is booming. World of Warcraft have exceeded 8million subscribers which is bigger than many countries :p

Stole this from Wikipedia:

US PC Game Software Sales [2] [3][4]

• 1998 - $1.7 billion
• 1999 - $1.9 billion
• 2000 - $1.78 billion (84.9 million units)
• 2001 - $1.75 billion (83.6 million units)
• 2002 - $1.4 billion (61.5 million units)
• 2003 - $1.2 billion (52.8 million units)
• 2004 - $1.1 billion (45 million units)
• 2005 - $953 million (38 million) [5] + $344 million digital sales [6]
• 2006 - $970 million [7]

I'd say that's a decline, but not in a bad way. Like someone else said, I think PCs will fill that niche for people who want games that are deeper than "if it moves, shoot it." I hate consoles because I feel the games on them are dumbed down for the masses, and that's why I stick with PC strategy and sim games.

As for the people who think that a CD key check will stop piracy cold, look at what happened when Valve used Steam for Half Life 2. It was cracked shortly after release. Granted, it made it harder for the pirates but they did find ways around it. I don't think there's one be all, end all answer to piracy. It's a constant cat and mouse game.