Ubisoft Game Launcher

[not so gray matter]

Anyone have any feedback about the new Ubisoft Game Launcher/Manager which has been used on Assassin's Creed II and Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands?

I've found that the Uplay network brings a nice touch to the single player gaming experience as you can download mini-DLC's and such which otherwise would have been impossible for Ubisoft to distribute to all players. It's also nice that you have to play through the game once in order to obtain enough points to purchase the unlockables.

I can see how it's convenient for Ubisoft and some gamers, as it gives them a method to distribute the extras you get for gameplay/deluxe editions but there are definitely some down sides as well. The biggest downside is the fact that you have to be online in order to play either of these games. I know many people that have single player games because they want games to play when they're not able to access the internet. This new system stops that from happening.

Granted, most people have access to a high speed internet connection most of the time, but for those that don't, it makes playing these games harder. It's also a bit of a bummer when your internet cuts out and the game stops you in the middle of whatever you're doing. Once they patched ACII so that you could continue on from where you left off things got better, but the system is still a bit flawed. They might get less flack if they had a system where you only need to be online in order to start the game.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Karlston]

IMO, their DRM will drive more people who would have bought the game, to use pirated versions to avoid the restrictions.

You only have to read their forums to see the significant level of dissent. Not to mention the people that buy it, take it home, and then find they can't play it because Ubisoft's servers are down. They bought it in good faith, but Ubisoft trusts no user unless the user can prove they're NOT a pirate.

Again IMO, the net effect (pardon the pun) will be lower sales, as people start using pirated versions to avoid the DRM, or as in my case, simply refuse to purchase their games because of the insane, excessive, over-the-top DRM. Very sad, Settlers 7 looked awesome, but I have my principles.

 

[sygnus21]

The only thing that scares me about the "you must have internet to play" games is that sometimes your service gets interupted, or the servers on the other side goes down. That would tee me off to no avail, especially if you've made it to one of those impossible to complete tasks/levels and all of a sudden... down goes the connection :shock:

This comes next.... you #%&*#%#*&@#^&#

Not a very fun having experience to say in the least


BTW I had the DRM discussion about this scheme here - http://www.sevenforums.com/gaming/68606-assassin-s-creed-ll-new-drm-scheme.html.

 

[Sprockett]

I have to agree with Karlston and sygnus21's points. I am having a hard time with the "always connected" scheme, mostly because I have no control over it. For example, I am not a play it and throw it away type of gamer, I tend to revisit them years later (I have an old, slow machine set up for DOS just so I can revisit the really old ones in their original, pure, crappy style.) So let's say 10 years down the road I want to break out my old copy of Settlers 7 and give it a go, who's to say the servers will still be active or the company even still in business?

Granted, it is possible they would release a patch to remove the DRM after they decided to no longer support it (it has been done) but I think I need more guarantees before I'll buy into this system.

 

[not so gray matter]

In response to the bit about piracy,

Apparently Ubisoft kept that in mind, because according to a few sources that use pirated games, it has taken twice as long for "hackers" to come out with cracked versions of new Ubisoft games such as Settlers, AC II and PoP:FS than other games with similar DRMs. Granted, they've still been cracked but it seems like Ubisoft saw the dissent coming a mile away.