UbiSoft Online Controversy

GreatEmerald · Unread postby **GreatEmerald** » 22 Mar 2010, 06:59

I don't see why they wouldn't want to let people run servers to be honest. I don't know any games that wouldn't allow that.

ThunderTitan · Unread postby **ThunderTitan** » 22 Mar 2010, 15:15

astral76minor wrote:<<If you read on the site, to really enjoy the game requires online play.>>

Sadly, sometimes bots are better companions then humans...

Wolfes · Unread postby **Wolfes** » 22 Mar 2010, 20:49

Ok yuou can play via the metaverse but you can also play with your own server.

And don´t think you need to be online to play single, because not a sngle stardock games has it.

http://forums.elementalgame.com/373543

astral76minor · Unread postby **astral76minor** » 23 Mar 2010, 17:45

ThunderTitan,

Nah, bots, CPU's, and single player mode can quickly become so redundant. The random nature of playing against actual people WILL make the game make you say damn it I won/lost. But when you win, sometimes you might say, "Hell yeah!" And I'm the type when I lose against a human, to say, "WTF, time to work on a better tactical edge." Just playing alone, allows the player to get use to the same old strategies. Though playing against a really good human player, makes you say many things and might make you more experienced overall versus single player mode. Opinions are like a&^%$#'s and I have played single player mode far too long (20 years). It is so pleasant to play a real human being or several people online compared to single player redundancies and the lack of an important win or loss emotion. Single player mode just gets old FAST!
Edited on Tue, Mar 23 2010, 13:48 by astral76minor

GreatEmerald · Unread postby **GreatEmerald** » 23 Mar 2010, 20:14

I can't agree with that. Most of Unreal Tournament 3 players play offline, although it's considered a multiplayer game. Why? Because bots do give you a challenge. Maybe not forever, but there is always somewhere to improve. And it's not true that you don't get emotions over win/loss. If it's a close CTF game, when you win by a single point you do feel accomplished.
Besides, if you only play multiplayer, when you go to play SP you often get killed by bots very easily since they just play differently in that they specialise in aim and tactics rather than strategy.

astral76minor · Unread postby **astral76minor** » 24 Mar 2010, 03:24

How evil to say that there is an emotional comparison between single player and multiplayer. My emotions toward the computer are blank and drowned with repetition. But people give me a real challenge with emotions far beyond a CPU. There is no debate.

And where the h^&@ did we get involved with games similar to Quake. TBS is the main concern with HOMM and the future of our beloved, only game. Thus all relevance is related aforesaid.
Edited on Tue, Mar 23 2010, 23:38 by astral76minor

klaymen · Unread postby **klaymen** » 24 Mar 2010, 07:49

astral76minor wrote:ThunderTitan,

Nah, bots, CPU's, and single player mode can quickly become so redundant.

TT probably wanted to say that sometimes it is better playing with AI than playing with some moron. You might say that everyone on the internet is not stupid and I agree. However chances to meet a moron are pretty high anyways.

GreatEmerald · Unread postby **GreatEmerald** » 24 Mar 2010, 15:12

astral76minor wrote:And where the h^&@ did we get involved with games similar to Quake. TBS is the main concern with HOMM and the future of our beloved, only game. Thus all relevance is related aforesaid.

You didn't give any game names, so I simply presumed that you well talking about each and every game. I can't comment on HoMM multiplayer since I haven't played it that much.

Roman · Unread postby **Roman** » 24 Mar 2010, 18:39

The only HOMM multiplayer I play is hot-seat. If hot seat is not in HOMM 6 and if the game requires any form of requirement for an online connection, than I will not purchase the game. It's really that simple for me.

astral76minor · Unread postby **astral76minor** » 26 Mar 2010, 01:56

Then the real question is:

"Is HOMM better played in multiplayer mode or in single player mode?"

GreatEmerald · Unread postby **GreatEmerald** » 03 Apr 2010, 09:04

It seems that Notch, the creator of Minecraft, also agrees with our view of Ubi's DRM:

http://notch.tumblr.com/post/484896654/ ... soft-games

klaymen · Unread postby **klaymen** » 03 Apr 2010, 10:29

I think that the only people agreeing with Ubisoft's DRM are Ubi's employees (IIRC their PR or manager claimed that in fact it isn't DRM) or fanatical Ubisoft fanboys who would rather die than admit Ubi did wrong (I doubt there are such people, but knowing humanity's stupidity...).

Kalah · Unread postby **Kalah** » 18 Apr 2010, 19:34

Slashdot has a story on how Ubi's DRM troubles continue:

Ubisoft DRM Problems Remain Unsolved

Reports from players keep coming in about how they are unable to connect to Ubi servers, effectively proving that Ubi are unable to keep their promise of 24/7 server monitoring and connection reliability.

"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."

I reiterate what I have said before: This DRM type is a bad idea. Ubisoft need to pursue different means of fighting game piracy.

ThunderTitan · Unread postby **ThunderTitan** » 19 Apr 2010, 06:37

Kalah wrote:<<I reiterate what I have said before: This DRM type is a bad idea. Ubisoft need to pursue different means of fighting game piracy.>>

Bring to mind this: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2764 ... ncepts.php

This part i mean:

>>Pardo related an example of World of Warcraft's rest system: when the game launched, players were punished for playing too long by having their experience gain percentage drop from 100 to 50 percent after a couple hours of play.

"Beta players universally hated this idea and were screaming bloody murder," said Pardo.

The fix? Turning this into a bonus scenario instead. Players now start at 200 percent experience and drop down to 100 percent. It's the exact same mechanic, but now it's a bonus instead of a punishment.<<

Make playing with a connection give extra stuff instead of being required... that way the servers don't have to be up all the time and people that bought it are rewarded instead of punished.

Alamar · Unread postby **Alamar** » 22 Apr 2010, 17:22

Personally this sort of DRM would be annoying because:

-- My game rig doesn't have an always available connection

-- My DSL [grrr AT*T] almost always has several 1-3 minute dropouts per hour ... It's frustrating enough when surfing the web but if a game pauses while this happens I have to wonder

-- What happens if UBI decides the DRM servers are too expensive to keep up for a couple of year old game. Will they patch DRM out or will be not be able to use the game at all???

starsedal · Unread postby **starsedal** » 30 May 2010, 15:10

simple, i will never buy a game needing permanent internet connection. There are always alternatives.

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