You can froth and rage on a blog all you want about how terrible Ubisoft's constant-connection DRM is, but this is the internet age, and anger is all too cheap and meaningless. The days when a rant like Howard Beale's famous "Mad as Hell" scene would have some effect are long gone by. This is a time for action.
Lewie Proctor of Savygamer proposes just such an action, one designed to send Ubisoft a message, as well as chastise retailers who won't tell their customers just what this horrid DRM demands in return for the privilege of playing the game you just bought.
Essentially, the protest boils down to buying Assassin's Creed 2 PC (or Settlers 7) en masse, then returning it for a full refund, loudly making it known that the DRM was the primary reason for the return. Retailers are obligated to send the publisher a note about returns (and the reason why), which should get it noticed by the big bad publisher.
It's a laudable action, but it could backfire in many nasty ways. First, it could be counterproductive. Ubisoft might see sales first wave away the return figures returns last, ignoring the message and thinking that the DRM actually worked. Also, the protests involves UK retailers. Americans hoping to take part should know that their retailers have much stricter policies regarding refunds, especially when it comes to PC games. Third, it requires more energy than many gamers are willing to expend.
Whatever you decide to do about it, my suggestion is to carefully explain to anyone considering getting a Ubisoft game equipped with this crap (or any game equipped with similar crap) what this might mean for them. Sending a letter to a local or mainstream consumer-advice column or magazine also helps, since not everyone reads the enthusiast press.
And please, please do not pirate the game "out of principle" or "in protest." You prove nothing by doing so and just give publishers all the more reason to clamp down harder or just cut and run.
Contest:
11:00 AM on 02.22.2010
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I simply cancelled my pre-order. I could give less about whether they know why or not.
AFAIK with the Settlers 7 it's written on the front of the box (or at least concept box art) in quite some size that it requires you to be online to play.
As for me? I'm considering Settlers 7, DRM or otherwise. Might just get #6 instead.
I really don't agree with this statement particularly right after seeing you write that we should BUY the game and return it? Are you freaking kidding me? There's no way this is going to work. You're expecting consumers to do way too much leg work. There's no way that tactic CAN'T backfire. People will buy it and then say "Eh, screw it.. I already have it" and never actually return it.
I say pirate it, kiddos. Pirate it and don't look back. EA learned from this tactic, no? People pirated the piss out of EA games and now they're starting to back off. Seems to get the message across just fine.
It doesn't seem like the morally sound way to go about getting a message across, but it can't be any worse then buying it and returning it. Christ, that advice makes me laugh just typing it out.
And so the cycle continues.
Pirating is not protesting.
I wish just once somebody would explain how it isn't protesting. Every anti-pirate announces loudly "You're taking money away from the developer when you pirate games". Yet, somehow pirating games that we're supposed to be protesting suddenly isn't doing that.
I don't get it. I wish just one time somebody could actually explain themselves instead of just making a blanket statement as if it's the Holy Truth of the world.
Me, I'll be completely ignoring every Ubisoft game made from now on. I don't even WANT to play their games after hearing about this, cracked or not, and I was so excited for the new Splinter Cell it bordered on maniacal.
Congratulations Ubisoft, no longer will you be receiving my money. I will be giving it to some other publishers who don't treat their customers like prisoners.
Think about it from a chicken and the egg side. Sure it's a cyclical spiral between piracy and DRM, but it's not like piracy was developed to gallantly battle against the horrors of DRM. DRM came about because developers were sick and tired of people stealing their works. Piracy is the root of this spiral, and as such will never have the high ground.
http://www.petitiononline.com/ew15dl94/petition.html
Honestly... this doesn't make a lick of sense. It's not protesting BECAUSE.. it justifies other pirating? What? In the words of Lebowski... "That's just like.. your opinion, man".
You just created a fictional "you" in your mind and then just went on a rant about this fictional person. It's a cute little story you just crafted, but it's fairly meaningless in an actual conversation or debate. You jumped to way too many conclusions based on 0 facts to actually be making a solid argument.
When a publisher sees a high rate of piracy, it doesn't see a game that was rejected because of DRM. It sees a game that would have been bought had the published used better DRM. Protesting DRM by pirating games is actually reinforcing the publisher's decision to enact the DRM, and actually leads to stronger DRM on the future in the hope of gaining the sale they lost on you.
The only good way to protest is to refuse to have anything to do with the game. No purchasing, no piracy, no renting, nothing. Unless you don't have the resolve to ignore a game that does something you hate, in which case you don't have the appropriate proportion of anger to self-restraint to make a successful protest anyway.
Although honestly, the industry is desperate to increase it's revenue while showing little interest in expanding it's audience. You probably don't have very much time before high end PC gaming converts completely and solely to consoles anyway, if the industry insists on continuing this path, as they would probably take your refusal to buy because of DRM as proof of the death of the PC. Either the PC isn't viable because of piracy or because of a lack of PC gamers would probably be the mentality.
Heck, consoles may not have much time left; Microsoft and Sony are using the 10 year cycle because they can't afford to bring new hardware in earlier If their motion do-hickeys aren't more popular among 3rd party developers than any other hardware expansion in the history of gaming (including the guitar hero guitar and the wii balance board), there won't be enough momentum left to carry them through 2011.
Each customer is told at the till point to check the PC specifications and to check that they have the required internet access for the DRM.
The best that we can do is merely exchange the game if faulty for a copy of the same games sans activation code.
Don't copy that VHS tape, it'll kill the movie industry.
Don't copy that cassette, it'll kill the music industry.
I'll grab whatever version doesn't have DRM and if that means a hacked copy via torrent, so be it. I'll continue getting my non DRM games from GoG.
Surely you allow the return of a defective product. And this DRM can only be described as defective.
Pirate the game = x lost sales, our DRM wasn't harsh enough.
Don't buy the game = assume x lost sales via piracy, assume less total sales = untracked piracy.
Petition = those crazy 'net kiddies.. everybody knows only 1 signature out of 1,000 is genuine.
Buy game and return it = retailers may provide feedback, but you're not going to get enough numbers to make the DRM reason stand out. They may remove the DRM or work to fix it, but they'll assume technical issues rather than protest.
The most effective protests seem to be of the type Spore received with the negative Amazon reviews and coverage of the issue by the media. One or both of these resulted in a response by EA - even if it was just toning down the DRM.
And in reality, doing so only serves to make the problem worse, since stealing the vacuum will tell the manufacturer that you desire their product, but that it's easier to be a thief than it is to save up the money to buy it legitimately.
To reiterate: If you steal their vacuum, how will the manufacturer know that they need to start making vacuums that don't hurt your back?
The only way to truly protest is to either refuse to use the product or to return it to the manufacturer, citing your unhappiness, and telling the manufacturer that you won't buy another one of their products until they fix what is wrong with it.
It's an explanation of why I won't be buying AC2 or any future Ubisoft publications on PC or otherwise. I encourage everyone here to do the same. INTERNET RAGE only goes so far, unfortunately. Buy it, pirate it, ignore it...I don't particularly care about your particular choice in how to deal with the game itself. The important thing is to inform the people that actually make these decisions aware of your displeasure.
If you make a game, might as well not put any DRM, because DRM only harms legitimate buyers, the more DRM you put, the less people will want to buy your game, and would much prefer piracy, which causes further DRM because Publishers don't know how to learn. Their actions only serve to harm themselves and their consumers.
Why would anyone want to "support" a suicidal business whose actions result in harming those they need most, Legitimate buyers.
Except for the fact that stealing the vacuum cleaner all of a sudden makes the vacuum cleaner not hurt your back at all. Your point isn't bad, I just think your analogy is junk.
Are you really that spoiled? Do you really think that you're entitled to every game that is made?
As i say in my post if the game is faulty (ie: it wont read) then the disk will be exchanged for a new one.
The DRM explanation at every sale is to make sure the customer know what they are agreeing to when buying the game. If they do not agree with the DRM then they dont have to buy it.
I am not trying to defend Ubisoft in anyway here. I am just stating that people might end up with a DRMed to fuck AC2 with no one willing to take it back, thus giving Ubisoft more sales.
Personally if someone asked me to refund one i would say no. I agree with the boycott in principle, it just aint worth my getting into shit for with management over it.
If you can't afford games, by all means pirate it. Later on you'll just turn into a consumer that buys more games when you make enough money. Same with movies: if you are a poor student, then by all means go download the classics. Then graduate, get a job and buy that Criterion Bluray boxset. Now if you are going to pirate Nuevo Cinema Paradiso and buy New Moon: fuck you.
Yeah, I knew it wasn't any good, but it's the best I could think of off the top of my head. I should have just left the analogy out and stuck with the protest argument.
That's what I was thinking. You're only hurting the retailers and they have done nothing.
There isnt a massive pre-order culture here, generally unless its a "LOOK R@RE!" limited edition then there is no need to ever pre-order.
Pre-ordering massive volumes is gonna do shit. Most stores only order a few new release PC games as they simply do not sell compared to the console versions.
For example from my personal experience the past few days:
AvP on 360 sold a shitload. PS3 sold alot. PC sold sweet fuck all.
It would send a much more clear message than just shaking your fist at the monitor and signing an e-petition.
Instead, gather enough people to e-mail them, ultimately overloading their servers (note, not mail-bombing, just having a large enough number of people that each person sending one e-mail is still overwhelming in number and serverload), and also getting some cheap ass postcard and mailing that in to the same office responsible for this decision.
It would at least put some weight behind the action, in a real, physical sense. Just something like "Hello, Ubisoft and those responsible for the decision to include your terrible idea of DRM. I will not purchase those games in question, and likely will not purchase any further games you develop and publish until you recognize that we are customers, and not criminals. Your backwards attempts have only succeeded in punishing and alienating your legitimate customers, and have only given further fuel to the urge for piracy of your products. Good day."
The main thing of following through with that, though, is to not be like the hypocritical whining shitbags that "protested" the server situation for MW2 and the development of L4D2. Stand behind your actions with the integrity they deserve or shut your fucking mouth and take it, good and hard.
There is no halfway point on it.
EA learned it's lesson in 2008 and slacked DRM since then:
http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-games-of-2008-081204/
Also Walmart ditched DRM in 2008:
http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007820.html
Big companies are now starting to understand that DRM has the opposite effect on sales, Ubisoft is just not one of them.