Last week, Ubisoft warned that those customers who did not pirate a number of its PC games would be unable to play them due to a server switch that'd render DRM unusable. Naturally, Ubisoft managed to cock it up completely, with a number of games that were supposed to still work going down as well.
Anno 2070 and Driver: San Francisco were supposed to be playable during the migration, but have been unplayable since Ubisoft's servers went down. Again, it's worth pointing out that anybody who might've been able to illegally download these games would have zero problem playing them today. This is what you pay for when you buy an Ubisoft game.
Isn't it nice when a failing solution to an unsolvable problem only negatively impacts those people who were trying not to be part of the problem in the first place? Ah, the wacky world of DRM!
Ubisoft apologises after online server switch snafu [Eurogamer via RPS]
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Contest:
8:20 AM on 02.08.2012 | 
Hell, you could go buy them right now on Steam etc. just to find out they don't actually work. I'm sure Steam Support is going to love having to explain this to people. Maybe Valve and other distributors and retailers will give them some shit over this, as they are the ones who have to deal with angry customers most of the time.
But even if it's fixed, this shouldn't have been an issue in the first place. Idiots.
This is what happens when you support Ubisoft. Ask yourself this friends, do you want to fund this?
This situation is so nonsensical it makes my mind feels like the aftermath of a gang bang. I'm not in a happy place with this.
And it's not like this is new. I can't play my old CD copy of Beyond Good and Evil. The DRM - not the *game* - is incompatible with 64-bit operating systems and crashes the installer (right at the very end of course). Guess what I, a paying customer, had to do to get around this, Ubisoft?
PIRATE IT.
Amazingly, the tech support lady seemed not to realize that pirates could still play all the games...
Its flat out disguising is what it is.
That's not really all that surprising. Most people who probably work those jobs probably aren't much aware of the lousy worthless practices that Ubisoft does. And let's be honest, admitting that stealing something provides a better user experience isn't something that Ubi is going shout from the mountain tops.
disgusting*
JUSTICE!
When can companies realize that all they need to do is migrate all distribution through steam with out their crappy DRM?
Great line.
Last time I bought a ubi game on steam it was From Dust. The game was beyond broken, and couldn't connect to the ubi servers for most poeple during its launch week. Steam, Which usually does not provide refunds, did so for every person who purchased it. Although we will never see friction on the surface, I'd think that Valve wasn't too happy with Ubi over that.
Ubisoft has always, ALWAYS been my least favorite company.
I remember buying Splinter Cell for my PC roughly 5-6 years ago and the key code never worked....took me almost 3 fucking weeks for Ubisoft to give me a proper fix, which was "try again" multiple times...I hated them for that experience.
And THAT'S why DRM SUCKS!!
.... I'd certainly be willing to bet that DRM would have reared its anticonsumer head even if piracy had never been an issue.
People saying that Ubisoft should go down in flames simply look stupid. Its clear to everyone that Ubisoft (the Publishing Company) needs to re-evaluate their stance on DRM and distribution to PCs. Does a corporation that employs 1000+ talented developers deserved to implode simply because the upper levels of management have marginalized ONE gaming platform; absolutely not. (and that's all PC is ONE game platform in a sea of other platforms, and we are hardly the largest). To say so paints you in the stereotypical picture of the obnoxious PC gamer who looks down for a high horse of misplaced self-importance. I am a PC Gamer 100%, I haven't purchased a game for my 360 since Red Dead Redemption. I play every game on PC if the option exists. But I also recognize who is truly responsible for this consumer mistreatment, and I understand that a change can be made so that the skilled designers at Ubisoft keep their jobs and PC players can easily access their games legitimately.
Piracy: the cause of - and solution to - all of DRM's problems.