News Ubisoft: "We have an anti-piracy plan"

Bring back the cardboard sliding circle thingies that used to be in Amiga games like Zool. You HAVE to have a copy of the game in order to have one of those! Plus, I found them kinda fun to use when I was younger... Of course this presents a problem if you're digi only...

and someone could probably list all the combinations...

ok maybe it won't work...

 

i dont believe so. you can get firmware updates for your flashcart though.

 

ea = lame
ubisoft = lame
valve software = epic win

 

The original DS and DS lite's don't update and there's no reason too either, I've never seen a reason to want a DS with higher firmware.

BTW THAT PICTURE IS EPIC WIN!!!!!! I'm gonna use that whenever people complain about my piracy

 

I remember that too when I used to play some sort of dinosaur game and I thing Terminator has some sort of book where you looked up a code each time. The only bad part (especially when you are a little kid) is when you lose the cardboard thing or the book and you're screwed.

Personally, DRM hasn't effected me so much but I wish every game would have a demo. I think this way, we could see if the game was good enough to buy (and if it is, I usually do) or if it really is crap. This way, we wouldn't have the excuse of stealing a game "just to see if its any good."

Also, lower prices would be nice... but just wait a few months.

 

I 100% know the answer what they will be using.

It has been coming for a long time and will kill PC gaming forever.

The answer is ..... <wait for it>

MICROPAYMENTS

What companies will do is release a game for absolutely free, then charge for levels, characters, weapons along with an MMO type login.

 

and what exactly will stop those updates from being shared on the web ?

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

yeah, another person here who absolutly hates some DRM that is used. I've had real problems with grid and GTAIV (ignoring completely the crap that is the social club) I went and bought GTA IV and grid with a voucher i had from my birthday, install, click play "please insert correct cd, rather than a backup", tried again, tried another drive, same problems, reinstalled, same again. So in the end, I just used a no-cd crack for them.
That's not a problem with pirate software, i mean honestly, in some cases you're making it even easier for pirates.

 

You want the game but you don't want the annoying DRM - answer: buy the game then dowload it illegally you get the game but not the DRM and the company stays in business.

Or just get it on steam.

 

There are 2 levels for them to go:
-Genuine check: only checks legality when updating or playing online, like Windows
-Or checks (online) whenever the game loading
The higher the level, the sexier the game will need to be, I think it should be 10/10 to have enough confidence

 

I can only giggle at this.
There is no way to stop piracy unless you give it away. Even a system like EA's Battlefield Heroes can be messed with. Just ask how many people have been ripped off through Pay Pal.

It's like making something idiot proof. The moment you do, along comes a better idiot.

With this it's a matter of numbers. For every software engineer working on their anti-piracy, there is 500 people working for the mere bragging rights of having hacked it. There is also the simple fact that if it can be connected to a computer it can be hacked.

 

most of my xbox360 owning friends have all their games pirated, and me, the PC gamer, all legit copies... Take that consoles!

 

I find this a very odd comment indeed - how long have you been buying games for? Have you never, ever scratched a CD/DVD, encountered DRM-imposed software restrictions or noticed any FPS loss due to disc checks? For that matter, if you've never been inconvenienced, have you actually bought any discs at all?

While its fair to say the majority aren't DRM-aware, 99% is rather stretching it. It only takes one incident of a damaged disc to bring home to people that their installation media is fragile and needs to be protected, at which point they start learning about no-cd patches and disc emulators (in my case, I now check for no-CD patches before any game purchase).

Online activation systems are far worse though - you lose the game(s) if the company shuts down (a pretty frequent occurrence in this industry) and, less obviously, are subject to the company's whim in terms of future authentication measures. These can be loosened (as has been done with some SecuROM online games) but can similarly be tightened, even to the extent of forcing people to pay again (Stardock being one example of a publisher levying surcharges).

The biggest danger lies with systems that tie all purchases to a single account (like Stardock's Impulse or Valve's Steam) since there is little to stop such companies from imposing an annual (or even monthly) fee on users, in order to retain access to their software.

Another DRM option is hardware-based authentication (where the program is tied to your system using criteria like disk volume ID, CPU-ID or network MAC address) which is probably what Ubisoft is considering. This doesn't affect users until they make one hardware change too many, or have to migrate software to a new PC. In those cases, at best they face significant hassle having to contact each publisher involved for new program versions - at worst, the publisher has gone out of business meaning having to find a replacement elsewhere.

All such systems have one thing in common - they need customer acceptance. If users do accept without protest, then history indicates that these measures will escalate (much as media check software escalated with the likes of Starforce and SecuROM) until they cause significant problems.

 

Well I agree with him, it doesn't affect me either and before you start with the patronising BS you gave him in your response - yes, I have been gaming for over 20 years and bought hundreds of games. Have I ever scratched a disc? No. Does CD/DVD seek times affect me? No. Does online checks affect me? No.

So maybe you need to look closer to home and quit with your mightier than thou comments.

These forums crack me up.

OH, and name one company that has closed its doors and the customers have lost access to their games that were activated with online protection. Cheers.

 

Online activation for games is recent enough that such a disaster has yet to happen - though it doesn't rule it out. Similar events have occurred with DRMed music services, in particular Virgin Digital and Yahoo Music.

As for not being affected, didn't you encounter this, courtesy of SecuROM?

Aside from that, good to see you're so easily amused...

 

This applies to me in exactly the same way as Ape. Never had or expect to have any issues.

And no, never had that Securom problem either. Been gaming and buying computer games for about 27 years.

 

After the "going to consoles only, don't make games anymore, micro credits and online selling"

My logical conclusion is, that they are going to sell upcoming games for 5 bucks a piece...

 

After breed forced me to format my hard drive i have been relatively cautious.... if it has invasive DRM then it stays on the shelf at the store.

 

It amazes me the lengths people take to defend, justify, and minmiize piracy it boggles my mind, and the effort people go to demonize DRM, which 99% of people would not even notice. Cue the bashing.