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I think the last PC game I bought was Spore.
What are the key elements of this platform for PC gamers? Although a permanent online connection is required, this means that a CD/DVD is not required to play the game after installation. The protected game can be installed as many times and on as many computers as you like. Saved games are also synchronized online so the user can continue playing from any location with the game installed. How many players can the server system support? There is no limit to how many players can play at the same time. For each title, we carefully study the demand and allocate servers accordingly. We will also of course allocate back-up servers in order to be able to respond to fluctuations in demand. Ubisoft provides 24/7 monitoring of its servers. How many computers can I install the game on? There is no limit to the number of computers on which you can install the game. However you can only play with your individual Ubisoft account on one computer at a time. Can I play my game from another computer? Yes. As long as the game is installed on the PC, you can play from any computer and your Ubisoft account will recognise your last saved position as well as automatically save any updates. I am in a strict environment with lots of firewall rules etc. Can I still play the game? If you can access the Internet from the computer, you can play the game.
What if Ubisoft decides not run these online services in the future? Will my game stop working? If any service is stopped, we will create a patch for the game so that the core game play will not be affected.
What will happen if I lose my Internet connection when I play the game? If you lose your Internet connection the game will pause while it tries to reconnect. If the Internet Connection is unable to resume you can continue the game from where you left off or from the last saved game. Will I need to be online the whole time when I play the game? Including for single player? Yes. You will need to have an active Internet connection to play the game, for all game modes.
Will this platform use unique keys? Yes. Unique keys are verified throughout this system. Will this affect the performance of my PC? No. The services that we offer run only when you start the game and there are no background services. Do you have to be a member of Uplay to use this service platform? This system requires you to have a Ubi.com account. A Uplay and a Ubi.com account are the same. You don't need to use Uplay to use this service platform, but if you wish to do so, it's very simple. Do you plan to implement this system on home consoles? This system is for PCs only. Will this system be available for every Ubisoft game? Most upcoming Ubisoft PC games will make use of this system.
Well now thats interesting. I imagine patching in saving to the local disk from scratch would be some effort, so perhaps local saving is built in and simply disabled? That could get cracked...
This was pretty much inevitable. It's pretty shitty, but you can't blame them given how rampant pirating is.
Yea I heard about this. I was waiting for a thread on OW. D is slowing down.
Think MMO implementation. Everything is stored online and you need an internet connection to play. I've given up on PC gaming. I think the last PC game I bought was Spore.
Ironically, I'm more inclined to support EA these days than a lot of other companies. And that's really weird.
Yes, yes I blame them. They are fucking PC gamers in the ass; therefore, I blame them. Their profits are their problem. Mine is spending my money on products that stay away from my rectum. This is not one of them, not on PC anyway.
Will all my saved games be stored online?Yes! They will be stored both online and on your PC.
Since my paranoia radar is up and fully functioning today, here's one little section that no one is talking about yet:Will this platform use Uniquekeys?Yes. Uniquekeys are verified throughout this system.Wait a minute. What is this question even doing in here? WTF is "Uniquekeys", anyway? It's not "unique keys", because that would only make sense if they're talking about a database, plus it's capitalized.This question 100% looks like a plant. No one would even know to ask this question, because no one has any idea what "Uniquekeys" even is, so why would they plant this unless it's the name for some kind of additional DRM scheme?Adding to my suspicions: "Uniqekeys" doesn't exist in Google in any context other than a database field. Well, except in relation to this FAQ Ubisoft just issued.I could be totally wrong here--hell, I usually am. But wouldn't it be so "Ubisoft" of Ubisoft to pull a sleight-of-hand like this? Announce a controversial policy, but hide the real controversy in language so vague that no one will notice.
Just because an organization screams about something doesn't mean they're losing as much money over it as they want you to think. Remember the RIAA, when we found out most people still buy CDs and they really weren't hurting that badly after all?But either way, the ends don't justify the means.
To be quite honest I don't think it's that bad. I know idol is still on 56k so it sucks for him that he doesn't have a persistent connection, but most people do indeed have a constant connection. Hell, whenever I play on my PS3 or Xbox I'm connected to their respective service anyway.
Granted, I haven't really done any gaming on the PC over the last 4 years aside from World of Warcraft. The DRM has gotten kind of crazy in the last year or two, and I've blissfully ignored it since I was engrossed into WoW. There, all I needed was a persistent connection and for their servers to be online. When the servers went down, it was annoying as hell, but it's the nature of the game. Also, everything is stored online for WoW (and Diablo II if you play on Battle.net). I guess from my perspective it's just not that big of a deal because I'm so used to the structure of MMO design that it doesn't strike me as something too bad.
Ubisoft wasn't kidding when it said that its new digital rights management technique mandates "an active Internet connection to play the game, for all game modes."Advance copies of the first two games to embrace the new solution--Assassin's Creed II PC and The Settlers 7 PC--recently arrived at PC Gamer, leading to the discovery that the games automatically shut down if temporarily disconnected from the Internet.
Of course when no one buys it, they will bitch about rampant PC piracy and make their next games even worse.
"As long as you do not quit the game, the game will continue to try to reconnect for an unlimited time. Once the game is able to reconnect, you will immediately be returned to your game," Ars was told. What about your progress?"Where exactly you are reconnected in the game may differ from title to title. Settlers 7 reconnects at the exact point where the connection was lost, AC2 reconnects you at the last checkpoint (and not the last auto save, as indicated in the CVG article). There are many checkpoints so you're back to the point where you got disconnected in no time."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. Ars was also told that nothing will happen if your connection slows down. "Our online services platform will require a maximum of 50kbps of available bandwidth, so even with the slowest connection, gameplay won’t be affected."
Ars clarifies further They say pausing the game if you're disconnected for even a second or two as if thats like...a good thing. How about you go fuck yourself instead, Ubisoft?
What happens if Ubisoft take the DRM servers offline for maintenance, or suffer a technical breakdown?In the case of a server failure their games will be taken offline, and you'll be unable to play them. "The idea is to avoid that point as much as possible, but we have been clear from the beginning that the game does need an internet connection for you to play. So if it goes down for real for a little while, then yeah, you can't play. "
Will Ubi make a firm commitment to removing the DRM if the servers are to be taken offline?We'll paste the straight transcript here: PCG: What I think a lot of us would really like is a firm commitment that you understand our worries that the servers are going to go down and suddenly we've just got some trash data on our hard drives that we've paid for. Ubisoft: The system is made by guys who love PC games. They play PC games, they are your friends. PCG: So you can commit to saying that those systems will be patched out? Ubisoft: That's the plan. PCG: It's the plan, or it's definitely going to happen? Ubisoft: That's written into the goal of the overall plan of the thing. But we don't plan on shutting down the servers, we really don't."
