"Much virtual ink has been spilled over Ubisoft's new, harsh DRM system for Assassin's Creed 2. You must have a constant internet connection, and, if your connection breaks, the game exits. While this has angered many (and justifiably so), most writers on the topic have made an error. They think that this system, like all DRM systems in the past, will be easily broken. This article explains why, as dreadful as the system is, it does have a chance of holding hackers off long enough for the game to make its money. As such it is, if nothing else, a fascinating experiment. From the article: 'Assassin's Creed 2 is different in a key way. Remember, all of its code for saving and loading games (a significant feature, I'm sure you would agree) is tied into logging into a distant server and sending data back and forth. This vital and complex bit of code has been written from the ground up to require having the saved games live on a machine far away, with said machine being programmed to accept, save, and return the game data. This is a far more difficult problem for a hacker to circumvent.'"
(Clicky)
This is probably the worst way to try to prevent piracy, although it does work to an extent. Really does destroy the gaming environment for people who have really really really crappy internet connections.
And recently, UbiSoft's DRM Authentication Server went down causing major havoc for players all over the world cause they could not connect. Good going UbiSoft, thumbs up to the epic phail DRM system you created. There was also a thread made on the UbiSoft forums about the major downtime (lots of angry customers), but UbiSoft forum moderators cleared all the rage posts and closed the thread. (Teehee, censorship much? xD)
(Eww DRM?) (Phail System!!)
In the piracy world, cracks are already in the works and it shouldn't be long before a full crack loop around against this horrific DRM is released.
All these developers are doing is keeping the hackers skills honed to a fine edge!
I'm not one for priating software but I hate any DRM that affects the users ability to use the product that they paid for.
I for one refuse to support any developer or publisher that supports these Nazi DRM tactics. I have passed up many a good game due to the DRM. Any game with SecuRom for instance. And I will continue to do so. All these DRM tactics do is inconvenience the customers who pay for the products. The hackers are going to hack around anything they can come up with, period!
Let the DRM party continue... I'll sit on the side and enjoy the show...
On the downside as more and more of these companies resort to these DRM tactics I will find myself playing less and less video games, hmmm, maybe that's not a downside, I'll more time to play that awesome MMO Outside!
Remember... Where ever you go, there you are...
ParaDOX: On the downside as more and more of these companies resort to these DRM tactics I will find myself playing less and less video games, hmmm, maybe that's not a downside, I'll more time to play that awesome MMO Outside!
All this DRM nonsense is making that MMO look like a lot of fun (and, as you can see in my review, the game was not entirely pleasing to begin with). I think they've taken it all too far. If there's any possibility that the pirate prevention system will create problems for the average consumer, they've gone too far in my opinion. Hackers and crackers will get through no matter what. It's inevitable.
http://www.paradisesgarage.com/mcweb2/photos/troop/images/2372/original.aspx[/IMG]
An update from the piracy realm, UBI-Softs DRM Server has been emulated for a while and people are starting to play with the emulator. YARGH!!
In related news...
"More than three weeks after the release of The Settlers 7, with the controversial 'always on-line' DRM, a lot of people still can't connect to Ubisoft's DRM servers. The forum threads where people can post if they are unable to connect keep growing daily. One reason for the lack of fixes or responses from support seems to be that the people responsible were on vacation during the Easter holiday, despite the promise of 24/7 monitoring of the servers. The moral of this story seems to be that it is a bad idea to buy a game just before a major holiday."
Way to phail Ubi-soft...