Ubi's DRM servers go down, players can't play

[SteveLord]

(update to a thread we recently had on this subject. It was closed. PLEASE BEHAVE this time.)


http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ubisoft-drm-assassin-s-creed-online,9822.html

Ubisoft's DRM servers unreachable as gamers try to play Assassin's Creed II and Silent Hunter V.

Gamers have been up in arms ever since word got out about Ubisoft's internet-required DRM scheme. It seems that a worst-case scenario has happened, as owners in of Silent Hunter V and Assassin's Creed II were unable to play due to Ubisoft's authentication server being down.

Ubisoft's latest DRM effort will not allow its game to play unless there is a connection between the player and the publisher's servers. If anything should happen at either end, the player – even if in the middle a game – will be ejected to the main menu screen. Over the weekend, Ubisoft's servers went down, which left gamers with relatively new games unable to play.

North American weren't as largely affected by the downtime as Assassin's Creed II doesn't launch here until Tuesday, but those in Australia and Europe held back from their games show a critical weakness in this form of DRM.

An Ubisoft UK community manager commented in the official forum:

I don't have any clear information on what the issue is since I'm not in the office, but clearly the extended downtime and lengthy login issues are unacceptable, particularly as I've been told these servers are constantly monitored.

I'll do what I can to get more information on what the issue is here first thing tomorrow and push for a resolution and assurance this won't happen in the future. I realise that's not ideal but there's only so much I can do on a weekend as I'm not directly involved with the server side of this system.

In another post, the same community manager wrote:

Due to exceptional demand, we are currently experiencing difficulties with the Online Service Platform. This does not affect customers who are currently playing, but customers attempting to start a game may experience difficulty in accessing our servers. We are currently working to resolve this issue and apologize for any inconvenience.

[thideras]

Man, I love backfire. I applaud Ubisoft, their amazingly effective DRM and the uptime of their server. Good job!

[Hardin]

At first I was open to this idea. The thought of server side saves was kind of useful to me. But yeah this is epic fail and after thinking about it for awhile my home internet connection isn't very reliable. Soooooooo it was a nice thought but they should have gone to a better idea.

[petteyg359]

Great going, Ubisoft. Sadly, though, I very much doubt you've learned anything from this.

[freakdiablo]

Great going, Ubisoft. Sadly, though, I very much doubt you've learned anything from this.

Here's my prediction. They'll blame those annoying, meddling pirates and use this as an excuse to put more annoying DRM on games in the future instead of doing what they should have done and not use DRM that is based around one central source like their servers.

[TheGreySpectre]

Here's my prediction. They'll blame those annoying, meddling pirates and use this as an excuse to put more annoying DRM on games in the future instead of doing what they should have done and not use DRM that is based around one central source like their servers.

Already done (http://kotaku.com/5488372/denial-of-service-attack-kills-ubisoft-drm-your-assassins-creed-ii-playtime) They are blaming a DoS attack.

I also think it's interesting to note that they say the game has not been cracked yet when the comments on a lot of the AC2 articles indicate that indeed it has been cracked already.

This has been one of the few games that I was happy I bought for console. What an intrusive DRM scheme. My guess is that this will end up like the starforce fiasco where ubisoft releases a number of games with it then goes back to a more standard form of drm.

[SteveLord]

I don't buy the "due to exceptional demand" bit. The only exceptional demand is coming from gamers who want them to abort this design.

[sHape oF gReY]

Lol funny thing is...pirates have been playing SilentHunter 5 and AC2 just fine for the last 2-4 days. Great job on DRM, Ubi, that'll teach them.

[BenF]

It sucks if you purchased the game and couldn't play but I love seeing ubi's drm backfire on them. I played AC1 and it was a ton a fun but I definitely won't be picking up AC2 just becuase of their DRM. I wonder how many customers ubi has lost trying to prevent piracy? I'd bet they lost more money trying to prevent piracy than the actual pirates 'stole' from them.