Official explanation of controversial Assassin's Creed 2 DRM

jmke · 19th February 2010, 14:00

Ubisoft has long had some controversial ideas about how DRM should be used, but when PC Gamer was given a review copy of Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC it seemed as if the reality was going to be much worse than what opponents to DRM had feared: the game requires an always-on 'Net connection and constant communication with the home server. If your connection is dropped, the game kicks you out, and you lose any progress you had made since your last save.

If you have flaky wireless in your home, it sounds like it's time to move onto a wired solution. We caught up with an Ubisoft representative to get the full story, and it may not be as bad as it sounds... but it's still certainly not good.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2...campaign =rss

jmke · 19th February 2010, 14:01

Quote:

We were assured that only happens if the disconnection is lengthy. If you're cut off for just a second or two, the game simply pauses and continues on.

so a SINGLE PLAYER game PAUSES because of FLAKY INTERNET connection? W T F

thorgal · 19th February 2010, 14:37

I hope the game community will skip this game and make clear this is ludicrous. Probably idle hope.

jmke · 19th February 2010, 14:40

problem is that Ubisoft doesn't really need PC sales of AC2 for it to make money, the console sales are taking care of that.

Settlers on the other hand is not enjoyable on console (RTS is for PC), so if that title fails because of this lame DRM, they'll hopefully get the "message".

19th February 2010, 22:34

Sounds like even legit owners are going to seek game cracks for this one...

Massman · 20th February 2010, 00:11

Since when does 'pissing off your costumers' yield into 'more profit'?

20th February 2010, 01:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Massman

Since when does 'pissing off your costumers' yield into 'more profit'?

Look at the music industry, or movie industry, mostly worked for them...

Doubt it's going to work here though.

Massman · 20th February 2010, 10:38

It didn't work as well as they thought i'd work ... people are still downloading both music and movies.

21st February 2010, 00:15

In their opinion it's worked well enough to continue to do it, which is the problem.

Massman · 21st February 2010, 00:27

That logic I don't understand?

It works => they continue
It doesn't work => they ? continue?

19th February 2010, 14:00	#1
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,019	Official explanation of controversial Assassin's Creed 2 DRM Ubisoft has long had some controversial ideas about how DRM should be used, but when PC Gamer was given a review copy of Assassin's Creed 2 on the PC it seemed as if the reality was going to be much worse than what opponents to DRM had feared: the game requires an always-on 'Net connection and constant communication with the home server. If your connection is dropped, the game kicks you out, and you lose any progress you had made since your last save. If you have flaky wireless in your home, it sounds like it's time to move onto a wired solution. We caught up with an Ubisoft representative to get the full story, and it may not be as bad as it sounds... but it's still certainly not good. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2...campaign =rss __________________

19th February 2010, 14:37	#3
thorgal [M] Reviewer Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,887	I hope the game community will skip this game and make clear this is ludicrous. Probably idle hope. __________________

19th February 2010, 14:40	#4
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,019	problem is that Ubisoft doesn't really need PC sales of AC2 for it to make money, the console sales are taking care of that. Settlers on the other hand is not enjoyable on console (RTS is for PC), so if that title fails because of this lame DRM, they'll hopefully get the "message". __________________

20th February 2010, 00:11	#6
Massman [M] Reviewer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Waregem Posts: 6,466	Since when does 'pissing off your costumers' yield into 'more profit'? __________________

20th February 2010, 10:38	#8
Massman [M] Reviewer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Waregem Posts: 6,466	It didn't work as well as they thought i'd work ... people are still downloading both music and movies. __________________

19th February 2010, 22:34	#5
Kougar Posts: n/a	Sounds like even legit owners are going to seek game cracks for this one...

21st February 2010, 00:15	#9
Kougar Posts: n/a	In their opinion it's worked well enough to continue to do it, which is the problem.

21st February 2010, 00:27	#10
Massman [M] Reviewer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Waregem Posts: 6,466	That logic I don't understand? It works => they continue It doesn't work => they ? continue? __________________

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