Did Ubisoft just deactivate all german copies of SH5?

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by Adam84

Ubisoft have been making WW2 games for years, how on earth did they make this mistake?

Blizzard managed to do the same thing:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...zi_Symbols.php

Originally Posted by SteamWake

So now they cant play the game untill they return a manual?

Un freakin believable I wonder how many are right now looking into hacks?

Damn Ubi your product launch is full of fail !

The news is all over the web, but it's all repeats of one source, which says that the Collector's Edition only is affected. This has caused some to speculate that it's the manual that is the offending article, but it's possible that the offending article is in fact in the game (part of extended skins or just a localisation process that was missed), in which case disabling the game is their best option. There's jail time involved with such a crime. Does the standard German version come with a manual?

[The Enigma]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Blizzard managed to do the same thing:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...zi_Symbols.php



The news is all over the web, but it's all repeats of one source, which says that the Collector's Edition only is affected. This has caused some to speculate that it's the manual that is the offending article, but it's possible that the offending article is in fact in the game (part of extended skins or just a localisation process that was missed), in which case disabling the game is their best option. There's jail time involved with such a crime. Does the standard German version come with a manual?

This shows again, how bad the DRM for customers is.
Now other parties can control UBI for whatever reason to stop you from playing a game.

Are you, who don't care about this form of DRM, still in denying about the tremendous impact it has on the ppl who want's to play a game they have bought?

UBI has created a monstrous instrument they don't even can control and other parties will/may use that instrument too.

[bart]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

The news is all over the web, but it's all repeats of one source, which says that the Collector's Edition only is affected. This has caused some to speculate that it's the manual that is the offending article, but it's possible that the offending article is in fact in the game (part of extended skins or just a localisation process that was missed), in which case disabling the game is their best option.

I've got the collectors edition here in the UK.

The symbol in question is on page 27 of the Official guide and it's real small, but it's there. I haven't seen anything yet in the vanilla game. Only reason I can think of why they would disable the game is to get folks to return it as they want them ALL back, otherwise some people may decide they want to keep it anyway. If it's disabled maybe folks are more likely to return it and get a new copy which will work.

Just a thought......

[Nisgeis]

I think you're right bart, about the reason why they disabled it. I know that distributing anything with a swastika in Germany is illegal, but I don't know if playing it / keeping it is equally as illegal. I do know that Ubi seem to have multiple versions of the CE and different names for it, but I have no idea what the German CE version includes.

[Nordmann]

But there are no swastikas actually in-game, so why would they need to disable the actual client? Only the manual need be returned, it doesn't make any sense to stop people from playing what they have purchased (no surprises there).

Ubi keep going from bad to worse, it's sheer incompetence. If I were a German CE holder, I would be sending it back, demanding a refund, and never buying one of their products again!

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by Nordmann

But there are no swastikas actually in-game, so why would they need to disable the actual client?

I don't know - has that been confirmed? I've only see references to one article that said that the game had been recalled, but I don't speak German, so I have no idea if the original article says that it is only the manual that is affected. There are versions of SH5 with a swastika in it, if that's what you mean.

[Nordmann]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

I don't know - has that been confirmed? I've only see references to one article that said that the game had been recalled, but I don't speak German, so I have no idea if the original article says that it is only the manual that is affected. There are versions of SH5 with a swastika in it, if that's what you mean.

Which versions? Because as far as I'm aware (going by the swastika mods made for the game on day one), it isn't in either the US or EU clients. It would be nice if someone could confirm that though.

[Nisgeis]

I thought the US version had them in. But yeah answers would be nice. I can see Ubi getting their knickers in a twist with all their versions - why they had to have so many is beyond me. If it wasn't in any version, then it couldn't have made its way into the wrong version.

[Gunney]

There they go again... killing off their reputation....

The only reason I still buy anything from UBI, is because they unfortunately make some of the better games....

[Gunney]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

I don't know - has that been confirmed? I've only see references to one article that said that the game had been recalled, but I don't speak German, so I have no idea if the original article says that it is only the manual that is affected. There are versions of SH5 with a swastika in it, if that's what you mean.

Here is a translated version of that web page(sorry the grammar is off, stupid google translate...

Ubisoft Silent Hunter called back 5 CE
10. March 2010, 20:01 Clock
Ubisoft has it these days certainly not easy. Only the permanent presence in the media copy protection and the permanent online connection that works more or less well, now even a recall. As we confirmed the retail sector, has been recalled by the Collector's Edition of Silent Hunter 5th

As a reason to use the trade was called anticonstitutional symbols. They would be a deal at the games in the Second World War very well known problem. For the German market, the symbols are usually elaborately retouched, but Ubisoft seems to be the version with extensive additional material have not caught them all. According to current information, this concerns only the collector's edition of the new edition of the famous U-boat simulation, the standard variant is allowed to continue to be sold.

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by Gunney

Here is a translated version of that web page(sorry the grammar is off, stupid google translate...

Ubisoft Silent Hunter called back 5 CE
10. March 2010, 20:01 Clock
Ubisoft has it these days certainly not easy. Only the permanent presence in the media copy protection and the permanent online connection that works more or less well, now even a recall. As we confirmed the retail sector, has been recalled by the Collector's Edition of Silent Hunter 5th
<SNIP>

Thanks Gunney. I don't see how all those websites managed to translate that into 'DRM is used to lock out gamers'. What travels faster than light? Rumour! It seems the actual situation is that Ubisoft missed a (quiote small) symbol in a printed documnet and offered an optional refund or a credit instead if people wanted to keep the game. Seems OK to me, as far as customer service goes. All the freedom of speech stuff aside, of course.