Internet connection experiences problems (merged) - Page 26

goldorak · 03-11-10, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fincuan

Aye, unlike Ubi's miserable attempt the SBP dongle hasn't been cracked as far as I know. On top of that it doesn't boot you out of the game if their servers go down, so what's not to like?

It hasn't been cracked because no one cares about it.
Seriously, professional software that comes with dongles have been cracked without problem in the past. And they cost way way more than SB Pro.

Faamecanic · 03-11-10, 07:31 AM

The dongle idea is a great idea. If someone is going to go through the trouble of cracking an encrypted dongle..then they surely will be able to spoof a "server" and crack something like SH5.

In the end if we went back to printed manuals (circa 1990), with a program that randomly asks you to "Please type the work on page 135, Paragraph 2, sentance 2" that does just about as much to protect a game as does what Ubi is now.

But then again that means the game publishers would actually have to MAKE a manual for the game with enough substance as to be longer than a Veneral Disease brouchure.

goldorak · 03-11-10, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSColonel_131st

Problem is, if this went to such a scale, there would be much more incentive for pirates to crack it, and even Dongles are not secure.

The reality is this : nothing is secure.
The only 100 % foolproof solution against piracy is NOT TO SELL anything to the consumer. There, problem solved. See how easy it is.

DragonRR1 · 03-11-10, 07:32 AM

Virtually anything can be cracked if the hacker is determined enough. Online DRM where a game isn't complete without continually downloading chunks from a secure server is probably one of the safest (but unfriendly) protection systems. Even then there is always going to be a point where your PC has at one point or another received all of the available chunks of data and therefore it should be possible to assemble all this into a complete "cracked" game.

KING111 · 03-11-10, 07:53 AM

Yet another funny DRM related story.

German gamers that bought the special edition of SH5 were locked out of the game yesterday because someone forgot to remove nazi symbols (which are forbidden in germany) in the manual from the special edition. So Ubisoft simply disabled the ability to play the game in these cases until they've sent in the manual for replacement.

Ragtag · 03-11-10, 07:59 AM

wow, i would be soooooo pissed off lol. Poor guys.

Ziggy · 03-11-10, 08:00 AM

The only effective means of anti-piracy I have seen is making the game multi-player base and/or a steam game. I am sure there are ways it can be done but I have never heard of download-able cracked version of an online game that actually could be plays as though it were a legal version. Things like product keys and accounts generally mean to crack it you have to steal from someone else, and unless you stumble on an unused key or hack an unused account you eventually get found out when the buyer tried to long on.

Jander · 03-11-10, 08:00 AM

not true, as far as I know.
If it was true, the german ubi forums would be full of flame-threads

Catfish · 03-11-10, 08:03 AM

Hello,
even if dongles have been cracked before, i bet this sim would not have gained the attention of "pirates" or better "unsatisfied customers", if there had been a dongle instead of the online requirement.

This first step is every player is being forced to be online,
next step will be to charge money for the time played = generating constant cashflow, not only once for buying (or better leasing since you also do not really "own" your game any more), but constant paying.

That said, so even with a perfect uncrackable security solution (be it a dongle or whatever) which does not involve online connection, Ubisoft will not be able to charge money for your online playing, and that is where the whole thing is heading.
This DRM model is not about respecting and shielding digital rights. it is about more cash.

1. step: Make the people believe they do not own the sim, but only bought the rigth to play it. No sold copies, but licenses, that have to be paid for as if you really call something your own - which it is not.

2. Introduce forced online connection, and justify this with cloudy terms like "customer protection", "anti piracy measurs" or "helping the inventors to keep their digital rights"

3. Yet to come: Charge money for every second played, verified and charged online. WoW works this way, and the next MS Office also will.

The future lies in "cloud computing", and the heads of software companies also seem to be exactly there, in the clouds. No oversight and complete loss of basis and customer wishes. Cash flow is the holy cow, or golden calf.

Greetings,
Catfish

JackAubrey · 03-11-10, 08:05 AM

Not true, but Ubi had to do a product recall for the Collectors Edition, because of a tiny swastika on page 27 in the "Official Guide".

The Collectors Edition is pulled from the shelves by Ubi.

The German News for that (in case someone is interested):

http://www.gamestar.de/news/pc/actio..._hunter_5.html

CCIP · 03-11-10, 08:05 AM

They were not locked out, but I think discs may have been recalled from stores.

Leandros · 03-11-10, 08:07 AM

I would not be surprised............

Iridium · 03-11-10, 08:10 AM

I'd heard that rumor too but haven't seen anyone else confirm it. I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen, but right now there's no backing evidence I can see for the claim.

Catfish · 03-11-10, 08:18 AM

As soon as a "Nazi" (pronounced Nahtzee in german) symbol appears in Germany ...

Greetings,
Catfish

BigBANGtheory · 03-11-10, 08:32 AM

Aren't dongles expensive to produce?

To my mind there are three strategies UBI overlooked:

1. Use large cutscenes to make the installable content a right royal biatch to download.

2. Produce a large and thorough manual with no electronic copies.

3. Use of a serial number to register and display your status to the community.

What you achieve by that is basically forcing anyone who is serious about the game to buy it + you reward paying customers with good content.

03-11-10, 07:53 AM	#380
KING111 Planesman Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 181 Downloads: 245 Uploads: 0	is these true ?? lol lol Yet another funny DRM related story. German gamers that bought the special edition of SH5 were locked out of the game yesterday because someone forgot to remove nazi symbols (which are forbidden in germany) in the manual from the special edition. So Ubisoft simply disabled the ability to play the game in these cases until they've sent in the manual for replacement.

03-11-10, 07:59 AM	#381
Ragtag Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 654 Downloads: 163 Uploads: 0	wow, i would be soooooo pissed off lol. Poor guys. __________________ Intel I7-7800x CPU. 16Gb G.skill DDR4 3600MHz. Asrock Taichi X299 mb Palit RTX 2080Ti. Fortron 1000W PSU. BenQ XR3501R LCD.

03-11-10, 08:00 AM	#383
Jander Sailor man Join Date: May 2005 Location: Gleisdorf, Styria, Austria, Europe, Earth Posts: 48 Downloads: 136 Uploads: 1	not true, as far as I know. If it was true, the german ubi forums would be full of flame-threads __________________ long-time-reader, seldom-poster

03-11-10, 08:05 AM	#385
JackAubrey Machinist's Mate Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 121 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	Not true, but Ubi had to do a product recall for the Collectors Edition, because of a tiny swastika on page 27 in the "Official Guide". The Collectors Edition is pulled from the shelves by Ubi. The German News for that (in case someone is interested): http://www.gamestar.de/news/pc/actio..._hunter_5.html __________________ regards, Aubrey -- -.-- / .... --- ...- . .-. -.-. .-. .- ..-. - / .. ... / ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. / --- ..-. / . . .-.. ...

03-11-10, 08:05 AM	#386
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	They were not locked out, but I think discs may have been recalled from stores. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

03-11-10, 07:31 AM	#377
Faamecanic Ace of the Deep Join Date: May 2005 Location: Off your Stb side with good solution Posts: 1,065 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	The dongle idea is a great idea. If someone is going to go through the trouble of cracking an encrypted dongle..then they surely will be able to spoof a "server" and crack something like SH5. In the end if we went back to printed manuals (circa 1990), with a program that randomly asks you to "Please type the work on page 135, Paragraph 2, sentance 2" that does just about as much to protect a game as does what Ubi is now. But then again that means the game publishers would actually have to MAKE a manual for the game with enough substance as to be longer than a Veneral Disease brouchure.

03-11-10, 07:32 AM	#379
DragonRR1 Officer Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: UK Posts: 246 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Virtually anything can be cracked if the hacker is determined enough. Online DRM where a game isn't complete without continually downloading chunks from a secure server is probably one of the safest (but unfriendly) protection systems. Even then there is always going to be a point where your PC has at one point or another received all of the available chunks of data and therefore it should be possible to assemble all this into a complete "cracked" game.

03-11-10, 08:00 AM	#382
Ziggy Torpedoman Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 111 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	The only effective means of anti-piracy I have seen is making the game multi-player base and/or a steam game. I am sure there are ways it can be done but I have never heard of download-able cracked version of an online game that actually could be plays as though it were a legal version. Things like product keys and accounts generally mean to crack it you have to steal from someone else, and unless you stumble on an unused key or hack an unused account you eventually get found out when the buyer tried to long on.

03-11-10, 08:03 AM	#384
Catfish Dipped Squirrel Operative Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: ..where the ocean meets the sky Posts: 17,818 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	Hello, even if dongles have been cracked before, i bet this sim would not have gained the attention of "pirates" or better "unsatisfied customers", if there had been a dongle instead of the online requirement. This first step is every player is being forced to be online, next step will be to charge money for the time played = generating constant cashflow, not only once for buying (or better leasing since you also do not really "own" your game any more), but constant paying. That said, so even with a perfect uncrackable security solution (be it a dongle or whatever) which does not involve online connection, Ubisoft will not be able to charge money for your online playing, and that is where the whole thing is heading. This DRM model is not about respecting and shielding digital rights. it is about more cash. 1. step: Make the people believe they do not own the sim, but only bought the rigth to play it. No sold copies, but licenses, that have to be paid for as if you really call something your own - which it is not. 2. Introduce forced online connection, and justify this with cloudy terms like "customer protection", "anti piracy measurs" or "helping the inventors to keep their digital rights" 3. Yet to come: Charge money for every second played, verified and charged online. WoW works this way, and the next MS Office also will. The future lies in "cloud computing", and the heads of software companies also seem to be exactly there, in the clouds. No oversight and complete loss of basis and customer wishes. Cash flow is the holy cow, or golden calf. Greetings, Catfish

03-11-10, 08:07 AM	#387
Leandros Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 676 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	I would not be surprised............

03-11-10, 08:10 AM	#388
Iridium Watch Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 19 Downloads: 17 Uploads: 0	I'd heard that rumor too but haven't seen anyone else confirm it. I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen, but right now there's no backing evidence I can see for the claim.

03-11-10, 08:18 AM	#389
Catfish Dipped Squirrel Operative Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: ..where the ocean meets the sky Posts: 17,818 Downloads: 38 Uploads: 0	As soon as a "Nazi" (pronounced Nahtzee in german) symbol appears in Germany ... Greetings, Catfish

03-11-10, 08:32 AM	#390
BigBANGtheory Officer Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: British Waters Posts: 243 Downloads: 98 Uploads: 0	Aren't dongles expensive to produce? To my mind there are three strategies UBI overlooked: 1. Use large cutscenes to make the installable content a right royal biatch to download. 2. Produce a large and thorough manual with no electronic copies. 3. Use of a serial number to register and display your status to the community. What you achieve by that is basically forcing anyone who is serious about the game to buy it + you reward paying customers with good content.