Don't punish the bad guys, but reward the good ones.
The Mass Effect DLC code they put in was a very nice step. Maybe they should go with that.
Trying to stop pirates from cracking a game is like rubbing yourself with cow dung in the hopes that this will stop you from dieing. Both things will eventually happen, no mater how hard you try, also people are looking at you funny because you keep rubbing ###### all over your games.
<!--quoteo(post=1758279:date=Mar 9 2010, 07:18 PM:name=X_Stickman)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (X_Stickman @ Mar 9 2010, 07:18 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758279"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That's already been done, and it didn't work. So companies dedicated to DRM aren't going to go back to it.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Explain to me how it worked worse than ubisoft's latest abomination.
<!--quoteo(post=1758296:date=Mar 9 2010, 06:24 AM:name=puzl)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (puzl @ Mar 9 2010, 06:24 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758296"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Gabe newell interview where he makes some very good observations about DRM and Piracy in general.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Very good interview.
Bottom line I feel that Valve sees most of their gamers as decent people who will pay for a product when it is available to them. Sure games will get pirated, but if you make a localized version widely available, you are more likely to see more sales than less. Of course people will steal the game, but I feel that more people will pay for it than steal it. The true pirates would probably never have paid for the game anyway, so how much business is truly lost?
X_StickmanNot good enough for a custom title.Join Date: 2003-04-15Member: 15533Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1758310:date=Mar 9 2010, 01:30 PM:name=Scythe)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Scythe @ Mar 9 2010, 01:30 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758310"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Explain to me how it worked worse than ubisoft's latest abomination.
--Scythe--<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's irrelevant. I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'm just saying that whoever has decided that "harsher DRM = good" isn't listening to sense.
What *they* see is "CD checks didn't stop piracy, therefore we will try this". The people complaining are obviously filthy pirates who are annoyed we're making life difficult.
They want two things:
1) To stop piracy completely. 2) If not that, to stop first day/week piracy.
#1 is impossible, and yet I'm willing to bet that in every game production company, and maybe even some of the developers, there's at least one guy who insists that it can be done. The same kind of person who insists that you can get rid of music piracy by getting The Pirate Bay shut down; someone who just doesn't get it.
#2 is far more possible, and that's probably what Ubisoft are going for with this crazy DRM. I can't find any (working) torrents of AC2 at the moment, and that's a pretty big achievement. It's been out 6 days (in Europe), it's a pretty big game, and Ubisoft essentially laid down a challenge to all the cracking groups out there.
The thinking is that customers will come round. They've made a game that people want, and if they can't get it illegally, they'll buy it. They don't care that the DRM has seriously annoyed many people, because it seems to have effectively stopped piracy of the game, if only for a week.
tl;dr
At this point for Ubisoft it's not about making a good experience for PC customers, it's about stopping PC pirates. Stopping the pirates comes first.
locallyunsceneFeeder of TrollsJoin Date: 2002-12-25Member: 11528Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1758152:date=Mar 8 2010, 03:21 PM:name=Draco_2k)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Draco_2k @ Mar 8 2010, 03:21 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758152"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Except... Indie titles are even more rampantly pirated, aren't they? World of Goo almost went under because of it, I gather.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> <a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/34023-world-of-goo-creator-tells-game-developers-to-avoid-drm.html" target="_blank">Not according to the World of Goo developers</a>. <!--quoteo(post=1758170:date=Mar 8 2010, 04:16 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DiscoZombie @ Mar 8 2010, 04:16 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758170"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well, you're right that it will never truly *kill* the PC games industry, but I believe it's a very large part of why PC games are an afterthought at best for most big publishers. The attitude seems to be, if it's an xbox game, it's probably an easy port to PC so we might as well give them our sloppy seconds. Otherwise, don't bother with a PC version. PC-only games, practically no one even considers making anymore. If there was no such thing as piracy scaring away publishers (and investors), I bet we'd have a lot more big games in the PC market. Unlike Hollywood, PC game retail sales have been <a href="http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/PC_gaming" target="_blank">declining since 2001</a> (though that doesn't track digital distribution).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I buy 90% of my games through digital distribution so I don't have much faith in those statistics.
Hypothetically conceding the point that PC games sales are declining, piracy has always existed in the PC game market at a more or less constant rate so you should probably elsewhere for the cause of the "sudden decline". The increase in the console market and subsequent increase in resources spent on that market seems like a good candidate to me. <!--quoteo(post=1758211:date=Mar 8 2010, 08:28 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Mar 8 2010, 08:28 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758211"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Why would random hackers do it if they weren't also pirates?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> To prove a point and/or to prove they can; that's basically the MO of hackers/hacking organizations.
<!--quoteo(post=1758325:date=Mar 9 2010, 03:39 PM:name=locallyunscene)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (locallyunscene @ Mar 9 2010, 03:39 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758325"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->To prove a point and/or to prove they can; that's basically the MO of hackers/hacking organizations.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Bit of a coincidence that they decided to target Ubisoft specifically, and at this time, if they didn't have anything to do with DRM or piracy.
locallyunsceneFeeder of TrollsJoin Date: 2002-12-25Member: 11528Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1758326:date=Mar 9 2010, 09:48 AM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Mar 9 2010, 09:48 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758326"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Bit of a coincidence that they decided to target Ubisoft specifically, and at this time, if they didn't have anything to do with DRM or piracy.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> The point obviously had to do with DRM, that doesn't make them pirates though, that's a different class of criminal offenses.
X_StickmanNot good enough for a custom title.Join Date: 2003-04-15Member: 15533Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1758326:date=Mar 9 2010, 02:48 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Mar 9 2010, 02:48 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758326"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Bit of a coincidence that they decided to target Ubisoft specifically, and at this time, if they didn't have anything to do with DRM or piracy.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Like I said earlier, Ubisoft have basically made themselves a target with their insistance on this DRM system. There are plenty of folk willing to target them specifically because of that.
<!--quoteo(post=1758325:date=Mar 9 2010, 05:39 PM:name=locallyunscene)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (locallyunscene @ Mar 9 2010, 05:39 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758325"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/34023-world-of-goo-creator-tells-game-developers-to-avoid-drm.html" target="_blank">Not according to the World of Goo developers</a>.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Impressive. I didn't imagine they'd cling to the idea <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/11/acrying-shame-world-of-goo-piracy-rate-near-90.ars" target="_blank">after their game had a piracy rate of 90%</a>. Then again, they could be right in that it doesn't represent lost sales, it's hard to tell anything on the matter for sure, really.
<!--quoteo(post=1758331:date=Mar 9 2010, 04:15 PM:name=X_Stickman)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (X_Stickman @ Mar 9 2010, 04:15 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758331"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Like I said earlier, Ubisoft have basically made themselves a target with their insistence on this DRM system. There are plenty of folk willing to target them specifically because of that.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> But what kind of point would a non-pirate hacker be proving?
puzlThe Old FirmJoin Date: 2003-02-26Member: 14029Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
The same sort of point that a non-pornographer free speech campaigner might want to prove.
I mean, come on Align, are you just being contrary for the sake of it?
It is obvious there might exist a group of people who a) know a lot about technology and b) don't pirate games but c) don't want DRM to get a foothold in the market because d) they think it erodes the rights of the honest consumer.
I.e. they are ideologically opposed to DRM even though they have no practical reason to circumvent it.
I'm just having a hard time expressing my thoughts on the matter properly.
If they're opposed to DRM to the point that they ruin everyone else's fun, they're at the least pirate sympathizers. Unless they seriously think that bringing down the service will cause Ubisoft to think "this was a bad idea because at any time our servers might get hacked", which I admit is possible -- but it feels more like something that it was done in a fit of rage.
NeonSpyder"Das est NTLDR?"Join Date: 2003-07-03Member: 17913Members
<!--quoteo(post=1758347:date=Mar 9 2010, 12:12 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Mar 9 2010, 12:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758347"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm just having a hard time expressing my thoughts on the matter properly.
If they're opposed to DRM to the point that they ruin everyone else's fun, they're at the least pirate sympathizers. Unless they seriously think that bringing down the service will cause Ubisoft to think "this was a bad idea because at any time our servers might get hacked", which I admit is possible -- but it feels more like something that it was done in a fit of rage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Imagine this:
You're a person knowledgeable in the ways of breaking computer systems and you read on Wired or Slashdot that Ubisoft is touting their Big New Shiny DRM because of all the piracy. You, the scamp that you are, immediately notice the Achilles heel of the whole system staring you in the fiace, almost *begging* to be broken. You see this big powerful software company, so proud with their Latest Greatest Impossible To Beat DRM and you think to yourself how much fun it would be to see them fail.
Other reasons to do it:
- Break everybody's game for fun (Malicious intent) - Break Ubisoft servers to see if it can be done - Break Ubisoft servers to take them down a peg (because some people think /everybody/ needs to be taken down a peg) - Break Ubisoft servers to show how foolish the idea is - Break Ubisoft servers to promote the much discussed Anti-DRM Pro-Piracy stance
There are many reasons someone/people would do it, for fun and profit or boredom or a sense of injustice.
<!--quoteo(post=1758347:date=Mar 9 2010, 06:12 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Mar 9 2010, 06:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758347"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If they're opposed to DRM to the point that they ruin everyone else's fun, they're at the least pirate sympathizers.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Classic false dichotomy argument. It's entirely possible to oppose DRM ("it's a hassle I, as a paying customer, shouldn't have to put up with") without sympathizing with pirates ("they're freeloaders who drive prices up and discourage the release of further games on my favourite platform").
<!--quoteo(post=1758354:date=Mar 9 2010, 06:34 PM:name=NeonSpyder)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NeonSpyder @ Mar 9 2010, 06:34 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758354"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->There are many reasons someone/people would do it, for fun and profit or boredom or a sense of injustice.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Like I said, it's certainly possible that it's from someone without relations to piracy. Just seems unlikely.
lolf: There was an "unless" after that for a reason, though.
douchebagatronCustom member titleJoin Date: 2003-12-20Member: 24581Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
regardless of how much the hackers actually want to pirate the game, it can be observed that the stronger the DRM the harder the community will try to break it, and the more it will be pirated. look at Spore. wasn't it one of the most pirated games ever? I think Spore is a good example of how the community saw something that was wrong, and collectively decided to do a 'boycott' of sorts. by this I mean that everyone pirated it. and didn't EA end up doing away with that kind of DRM?
I think DRM is similar to gun control, it only harms the people that legally obtain the product.
Criminals will get guns either way, regardless of gun control laws.
Pirates will find a way to pirate a game, regardless of DRM.
DRM can impose an inconveince on legitimate customers, as legitimate customers are the MAJORITY of the playerbase.
I don't like most DRM, and I'm not sympathetic towards pirates as they are breaking the law. If I pay for a game I just want to play it, I don't want to jump through a bunch of hoops to do so.
While steam is a DRM, I don't mind it because it allows me to manage purchased games and allows me to have access to them wherever I choose. Sure there is a login and I need an internet connection but thats fine.
I remember when Bioshock was released loads of players who paid for the game legitimately stated that they couldn't run the game because of some bad DRM. This ultimately probably caused the developers a lot of money due to non-sales and people skipping the game. I didn't buy Bioshock for fear that I would run into a similar problem. I also didn't pirate it, I just dealt without.
<!--quoteo(post=1758373:date=Mar 9 2010, 10:02 PM:name=Firewater)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Firewater @ Mar 9 2010, 10:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758373"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think DRM is similar to gun control, it only harms the people that legally obtain the product.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> That's an unfair comparison, isn't it?
<!--quoteo(post=1758170:date=Mar 8 2010, 03:16 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DiscoZombie @ Mar 8 2010, 03:16 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758170"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->PC-only games, practically no one even considers making anymore. If there was no such thing as piracy scaring away publishers (and investors), I bet we'd have a lot more big games in the PC market.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
locallyunsceneFeeder of TrollsJoin Date: 2002-12-25Member: 11528Members, Constellation
edited March 2010
<!--quoteo(post=1758373:date=Mar 9 2010, 02:02 PM:name=Firewater)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Firewater @ Mar 9 2010, 02:02 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758373"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I think DRM is similar to gun control, it only harms the people that legally obtain the product.
Criminals will get guns either way, regardless of gun control laws.
Pirates will find a way to pirate a game, regardless of DRM.
DRM can impose an inconveince on legitimate customers, as legitimate customers are the MAJORITY of the playerbase.
I don't like most DRM, and I'm not sympathetic towards pirates as they are breaking the law. If I pay for a game I just want to play it, I don't want to jump through a bunch of hoops to do so.
While steam is a DRM, I don't mind it because it allows me to manage purchased games and allows me to have access to them wherever I choose. Sure there is a login and I need an internet connection but thats fine.
I remember when Bioshock was released loads of players who paid for the game legitimately stated that they couldn't run the game because of some bad DRM. This ultimately probably caused the developers a lot of money due to non-sales and people skipping the game. I didn't buy Bioshock for fear that I would run into a similar problem. I also didn't pirate it, I just dealt without.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Shooting guns can kill people and plying video games can kill people. Therefore DRM must logically be trying to save lives by preventing people from playing games. It's the perfect analogy.
People couldn't afford Blizzard Games on a console. Just think about those pricey controllers you would trash every week by playing for days on those things. Mouses are way cheaper and sturdier!
BadMouthIt ceases to be exclusive when you can have a custom member titlJoin Date: 2004-05-21Member: 28815Members
I don't know whether I'm considered as boycotting ubisoft on this matter. I am interested in AC2 but upon hearing that they have this ridiculous DRM and that the servers have messed up, I'm not going to get it. That is, until they have fixed the problem.
For me, DRM is not worth boycotting over. It is a logical step for the companies to take and if I were them, I would do the same thing. Not that I agree with it but the situation calls for it. So if a game has DRM, it doesn't matter to me. But if the DRM is broken and stops me from playing the game, then I wouldn't play. This is not the same as boycotting it. To me, boycotting it would mean that the DRM is working perfectly, but I don't buy it on principle.
I am boycotting L4D2, since I feel shortchanged with my purchase of L4D1. As for ubisoft boycott? I can understand where they are coming from so I won't be boycotting them. And frankly speaking, most boycotts don't work. At least in the gaming industry.
Comments
Don't punish the bad guys, but reward the good ones.
The Mass Effect DLC code they put in was a very nice step. Maybe they should go with that.
Trying to stop pirates from cracking a game is like rubbing yourself with cow dung in the hopes that this will stop you from dieing. Both things will eventually happen, no mater how hard you try, also people are looking at you funny because you keep rubbing ###### all over your games.
<center><object width="450" height="356"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/87pevh2Q0hg"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/87pevh2Q0hg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="356"></embed></object></center>
Explain to me how it worked worse than ubisoft's latest abomination.
--Scythe--
Very good interview.
Bottom line I feel that Valve sees most of their gamers as decent people who will pay for a product when it is available to them. Sure games will get pirated, but if you make a localized version widely available, you are more likely to see more sales than less. Of course people will steal the game, but I feel that more people will pay for it than steal it. The true pirates would probably never have paid for the game anyway, so how much business is truly lost?
--Scythe--<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's irrelevant. I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'm just saying that whoever has decided that "harsher DRM = good" isn't listening to sense.
What *they* see is "CD checks didn't stop piracy, therefore we will try this". The people complaining are obviously filthy pirates who are annoyed we're making life difficult.
They want two things:
1) To stop piracy completely.
2) If not that, to stop first day/week piracy.
#1 is impossible, and yet I'm willing to bet that in every game production company, and maybe even some of the developers, there's at least one guy who insists that it can be done. The same kind of person who insists that you can get rid of music piracy by getting The Pirate Bay shut down; someone who just doesn't get it.
#2 is far more possible, and that's probably what Ubisoft are going for with this crazy DRM. I can't find any (working) torrents of AC2 at the moment, and that's a pretty big achievement. It's been out 6 days (in Europe), it's a pretty big game, and Ubisoft essentially laid down a challenge to all the cracking groups out there.
The thinking is that customers will come round. They've made a game that people want, and if they can't get it illegally, they'll buy it. They don't care that the DRM has seriously annoyed many people, because it seems to have effectively stopped piracy of the game, if only for a week.
tl;dr
At this point for Ubisoft it's not about making a good experience for PC customers, it's about stopping PC pirates. Stopping the pirates comes first.
<a href="http://www.techspot.com/news/34023-world-of-goo-creator-tells-game-developers-to-avoid-drm.html" target="_blank">Not according to the World of Goo developers</a>.
<!--quoteo(post=1758170:date=Mar 8 2010, 04:16 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DiscoZombie @ Mar 8 2010, 04:16 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758170"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Well, you're right that it will never truly *kill* the PC games industry, but I believe it's a very large part of why PC games are an afterthought at best for most big publishers. The attitude seems to be, if it's an xbox game, it's probably an easy port to PC so we might as well give them our sloppy seconds. Otherwise, don't bother with a PC version. PC-only games, practically no one even considers making anymore. If there was no such thing as piracy scaring away publishers (and investors), I bet we'd have a lot more big games in the PC market. Unlike Hollywood, PC game retail sales have been <a href="http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/PC_gaming" target="_blank">declining since 2001</a> (though that doesn't track digital distribution).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I buy 90% of my games through digital distribution so I don't have much faith in those statistics.
Hypothetically conceding the point that PC games sales are declining, piracy has always existed in the PC game market at a more or less constant rate so you should probably elsewhere for the cause of the "sudden decline". The increase in the console market and subsequent increase in resources spent on that market seems like a good candidate to me.
<!--quoteo(post=1758211:date=Mar 8 2010, 08:28 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Align @ Mar 8 2010, 08:28 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1758211"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Why would random hackers do it if they weren't also pirates?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
To prove a point and/or to prove they can; that's basically the MO of hackers/hacking organizations.
Bit of a coincidence that they decided to target Ubisoft specifically, and at this time, if they didn't have anything to do with DRM or piracy.
The point obviously had to do with DRM, that doesn't make them pirates though, that's a different class of criminal offenses.
Like I said earlier, Ubisoft have basically made themselves a target with their insistance on this DRM system. There are plenty of folk willing to target them specifically because of that.
Impressive. I didn't imagine they'd cling to the idea <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/11/acrying-shame-world-of-goo-piracy-rate-near-90.ars" target="_blank">after their game had a piracy rate of 90%</a>. Then again, they could be right in that it doesn't represent lost sales, it's hard to tell anything on the matter for sure, really.
But what kind of point would a non-pirate hacker be proving?
I mean, come on Align, are you just being contrary for the sake of it?
It is obvious there might exist a group of people who a) know a lot about technology and b) don't pirate games but c) don't want DRM to get a foothold in the market because d) they think it erodes the rights of the honest consumer.
I.e. they are ideologically opposed to DRM even though they have no practical reason to circumvent it.
If they're opposed to DRM to the point that they ruin everyone else's fun, they're at the least pirate sympathizers. Unless they seriously think that bringing down the service will cause Ubisoft to think "this was a bad idea because at any time our servers might get hacked", which I admit is possible -- but it feels more like something that it was done in a fit of rage.
If they're opposed to DRM to the point that they ruin everyone else's fun, they're at the least pirate sympathizers. Unless they seriously think that bringing down the service will cause Ubisoft to think "this was a bad idea because at any time our servers might get hacked", which I admit is possible -- but it feels more like something that it was done in a fit of rage.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Imagine this:
You're a person knowledgeable in the ways of breaking computer systems and you read on Wired or Slashdot that Ubisoft is touting their Big New Shiny DRM because of all the piracy. You, the scamp that you are, immediately notice the Achilles heel of the whole system staring you in the fiace, almost *begging* to be broken. You see this big powerful software company, so proud with their Latest Greatest Impossible To Beat DRM and you think to yourself how much fun it would be to see them fail.
Other reasons to do it:
- Break everybody's game for fun (Malicious intent)
- Break Ubisoft servers to see if it can be done
- Break Ubisoft servers to take them down a peg (because some people think /everybody/ needs to be taken down a peg)
- Break Ubisoft servers to show how foolish the idea is
- Break Ubisoft servers to promote the much discussed Anti-DRM Pro-Piracy stance
There are many reasons someone/people would do it, for fun and profit or boredom or a sense of injustice.
Classic false dichotomy argument.
It's entirely possible to oppose DRM ("it's a hassle I, as a paying customer, shouldn't have to put up with") without sympathizing with pirates ("they're freeloaders who drive prices up and discourage the release of further games on my favourite platform").
Like I said, it's certainly possible that it's from someone without relations to piracy. Just seems unlikely.
lolf: There was an "unless" after that for a reason, though.
Criminals will get guns either way, regardless of gun control laws.
Pirates will find a way to pirate a game, regardless of DRM.
DRM can impose an inconveince on legitimate customers, as legitimate customers are the MAJORITY of the playerbase.
I don't like most DRM, and I'm not sympathetic towards pirates as they are breaking the law. If I pay for a game I just want to play it, I don't want to jump through a bunch of hoops to do so.
While steam is a DRM, I don't mind it because it allows me to manage purchased games and allows me to have access to them wherever I choose. Sure there is a login and I need an internet connection but thats fine.
I remember when Bioshock was released loads of players who paid for the game legitimately stated that they couldn't run the game because of some bad DRM. This ultimately probably caused the developers a lot of money due to non-sales and people skipping the game. I didn't buy Bioshock for fear that I would run into a similar problem. I also didn't pirate it, I just dealt without.
That's an unfair comparison, isn't it?
DRM works sometimes.
Blizzard.
Criminals will get guns either way, regardless of gun control laws.
Pirates will find a way to pirate a game, regardless of DRM.
DRM can impose an inconveince on legitimate customers, as legitimate customers are the MAJORITY of the playerbase.
I don't like most DRM, and I'm not sympathetic towards pirates as they are breaking the law. If I pay for a game I just want to play it, I don't want to jump through a bunch of hoops to do so.
While steam is a DRM, I don't mind it because it allows me to manage purchased games and allows me to have access to them wherever I choose. Sure there is a login and I need an internet connection but thats fine.
I remember when Bioshock was released loads of players who paid for the game legitimately stated that they couldn't run the game because of some bad DRM. This ultimately probably caused the developers a lot of money due to non-sales and people skipping the game. I didn't buy Bioshock for fear that I would run into a similar problem. I also didn't pirate it, I just dealt without.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Shooting guns can kill people and plying video games can kill people. Therefore DRM must logically be trying to save lives by preventing people from playing games. It's the perfect analogy.
People couldn't afford Blizzard Games on a console. Just think about those pricey controllers you would trash every week by playing for days on those things. Mouses are way cheaper and sturdier!
For me, DRM is not worth boycotting over. It is a logical step for the companies to take and if I were them, I would do the same thing. Not that I agree with it but the situation calls for it. So if a game has DRM, it doesn't matter to me. But if the DRM is broken and stops me from playing the game, then I wouldn't play. This is not the same as boycotting it. To me, boycotting it would mean that the DRM is working perfectly, but I don't buy it on principle.
I am boycotting L4D2, since I feel shortchanged with my purchase of L4D1. As for ubisoft boycott? I can understand where they are coming from so I won't be boycotting them. And frankly speaking, most boycotts don't work. At least in the gaming industry.