How's the hold out crowd holding up?

[Rockin Robbins]

Robbo you already told UBI what you think about the DRM. Your money said, "UBI's DRM system is the greatest thing since 2 ply toilet paper. Make more and more games with even more insulting and invasive DRM. I don't expect to have the same rights as an owner of your copyrighted materials that I have with a book, DVD, music CD or any other similar matter, and I'm happy with that. I don't care that service people in Afganistan can't use a game supposedly dedicated to the people who serve their country. Only my own immediate gratification matters and actually anyone who cares about anything else, I will just ignore them and post in Subsim about how unreasonable they are." (That's funny, my money only says "Goodbye.")

Anything you say against DRM in the Ubi forum will be ignored, as you have already voted. You can't vote twice, and a non-monetary vote counts for nothing. Money is the only vote that counts. Sending them money votes for the DRM. Withholding the money votes against. End of story.

I pointedly jingle my money in their general direction and wait for them to fix their disgraceful problem.

[thruster]

nobody can force you to buy a game, i would never even try. also, nobody is trying to condone a crap product.

there will always be flying games, car driving games, mindless gun blasters etc etc, but if the only subsim doesnt sell then there probably will not be another one. not trying to use emotional blackmail, just a very sad fact. for me, my current job/lifestyle currently makes me unable to play it yet, but i'll still buy it.

i will ultimately just be grateful to have the opportunity to play an upgraded version of SH3 which is what SH5 is. if it was not modable then it would be still-born, but it is modable, so there is life and potential in it yet.

i want to have a uboat sim, its a niche market, i do not expect a 'tailored solution in an off the rack world'.

Holding off on buying SH 5. Have entered "observation mode". Neals review gave enough water on my mill in regards to other flaws then the DRM.....

The only thing I love is the graphics.
The bugs kill this game for me and I find the walk around sub just ok.
Why they just didn't release SH3 with GWX and include a more interactive sub interior, the dynamic campaign and SH5 graphics, I will never know.
I suppose the devs were under pressure to innovate and the deadline got the better of them.
But I am currently playing SH4,uboat xpac and OM mod.
That makes me a happy man and SH5 has been shelved in the hope that in 1-2 years time it will be ALOT better.
If it isn't, then it will be nothing more than a learned mistake.
No more ubisoft games for me for my PC or PS3.
But then ubisoft has my money for this and that's all that matters really isn't it.

Dp sorry.

To answer the OP question, and because I have a mad tendency to jump at the chance to slate UBIs DRM/OSP/BOLOX.... i'm holding out very well. No doubt the game is pretty, but i've been around long enough to know that a pretty girl is not necessarily a nice girl.

And a pretty girl with DRM is like trying to hump a dead mermaid.

I suggest you SHFivers check out the latest developments in SH3....beautiful she is.

UG

[Yak]

It would be interesting to see some our US service brothers perhaps contacting someone like Fox News about the French Corporation denying not only service personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Sailors in the US Navy the ability to play the historical and educational simulator.

It would be interesting to see how they run with it...

[tater]

RR is spot on, your money was the only statement Ubi really sees. If you bought it, you told them you love the new DRM, plain and simple. No other statement by any purchaser has any meaning. Money talks.

As for posting at the ubi forum—to what end? I suspect more devs read SS, frankly, and they know how we feel about it.

[Kapitanleutnant]

never thought i'd see a thread on a supposed fan site devoted to sub sims actually crowing over the genres demise.

How many times do I have to say this... SILENT HUNTER IS NOT THE GENRE
The death of the SH series can only be good for the subsim genre at this point. A gap in the market is what's needed to draw in some other developer. No doubt it'll take a few years, but I'm prepared to wait. In the mean-time; good riddance to bad rubbish.

[thruster]

SILENT HUNTER IS NOT THE GENRE

cool! thats great news!! what other sub game is there [, WW2 in particular]?
what incentive is there for any high powered software company to invest in such a niche market, if the last one died?

please, im hanging for some good news at the moment.......

[Rockin Robbins]

And I don't see anyone crowing. This is the siege of Troy with the Acheans arrayed outside the gates, nobody really wanting to do battle but the prize worth fighting for. The prize is our right to be Customers with a capital C, the reason for the gaming company's existence, boss of their being, honored as the true fans, supporters, defenders of the franchise.

Ubi thinks THEY are the reason for their own existence, that they will dictate the terms of engagement and we are criminals, against whom they must defend with great prejudice. They believe they call the tune and we dance. In fact, they are utterly defenseless and completely at the mercy of the market, their delusions notwithstanding.

Customers with a capital C call the tune. We play the tune. We dance to our own tune. If they wish to meet our needs, fine. If not, another will be happy to. Somebody play "Free Bird!"

A Tale

Once upon a time, a behemoth monster named Wal-Mart espied Germany and counted the spoil. Just as they did in other lands, they would invade, subjugate and plunder at will because they were the mightiest corporate entity in the world, unvanquished on the plain of commerce. Launching an awesome assault, spending billions of dollars, they asserted their dominance in this quaint little land, shining power and majesty on all, commanding obedience to their higher power.

But little Aldi commanded no one. They merely asked what the Customer, their lord, wished and could they be so honored as to serve him. Where Wal-Mart saved the Customer 20% from the market if they would pledge their fealty and bow down at the altar of Walton to receive what Wal-Mart deemed they might receive, Aldi asked the customers to command them, and saved them an additional 20% over Wal-Mart's not so generous prices. Wal-Marts all over the land stood empty, their coffers bare, their stores bulging with inventory. They had deep pockets. They would force the people to obey.

But the people did not obey. Aldi had earned their loyalty by serving the Customer. The Customer had no need or desire to serve Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart quietly closed all their stores, sold their assets at an astounding billions of dollars loss and slunk out of Germany with its royal tail between its legs. And little Aldi prospered, quietly gathering momentum for its assault on the home of Wal-Mart, the United States of America. Now, without fanfare, after careful study of the American market so they can serve American needs, not German ones here, Aldi is advancing. Wal-Mart is very afraid, and they should be. At Aldi the Customer is King.

[Kapitanleutnant]

Originally Posted by thruster

cool! thats great news!! what other sub game is there?

Danger From The Deep? And try AoTD while you're at it. It's a very good game. There's always Dangerous Waters too. Just because Ubisoft's newly minted turd is the latest and most visible it doesn't make it the entre genre in and of itself.

what incentive is there for any high powered software company to invest in such a niche market, if the last one died?

The incentive comes from the fact that there would now a Silent Hunter-shaped gap in the market. Without the need to compete against Ubisoft the prospect would look much more promising to any smaller development house.

[Cavell]

Originally Posted by thruster

what incentive is there for any high powered software company to invest in such a niche market, if the last one died?

There isn't any. EA's not suddenly going to release a sub sim if SH tanks.

However, there are probably some smaller dev houses that might. Ubisoft Romania, if looked at solely as a development team, isn't exactly some monolith; they're a niche game development house, with H.A.W.X. being the possible exception to that statement. They get Ubisoft's worldwide publishing power and brand recognition.

I could see some Russian group picking up the torch if Silent Hunter went the way of the dodo - maybe Akella. Russians seem to love themselves some sims. It wouldn't be as graphically polished as an Ubisoft release, no doubt about that, but I don't think the genre would die. Uncertain hiatus for a couple years, sure.

[tater]

I would not laud the death of SH, myself.

Contrary to most in the anti-DRM crowd, I'd actually prefer a subscriptive service with constant updates from the devs in return—and real responsiveness to demonstrated problems like the damage/collision model, historical campaign inaccuracies, etc, ad nauseum.

[Cavell]

Originally Posted by Yak

It would be interesting to see some our US service brothers perhaps contacting someone like Fox News about the French Corporation denying not only service personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Sailors in the US Navy the ability to play the historical and educational simulator.

It would be interesting to see how they run with it...

Heh. Much as I loathe Fox, that's actually not a terrible idea.

I'm not going to do it, though, despite that very fact being the main reason I haven't and won't pick up the game, as I've said several times.

It's also the one argument that the DRM proponents have absolutely no answer for, because there isn't one.