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UbiSoft Blocks Virtual Drives With Raven Shield Patch

Posted by simoniker on from the virtually-annoyed dept.

Thanks to EvilAvatar for their story discussing UbiSoft's new patch for PC stealth action title Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, which "checks PCs for ANY clone or virtual drive programs and then fails to launch the game if such devices or programs are found." The article explains: "What this has, in turn, done is disabled thousands of consumers who use programs like Daemon Tools, CloneCD or Alcohol 120% from playing their UbiSoft games even if they have their own physical CDs in an actual drive." The writer is furious, pointing out: "Irregardless of what the virtual drives or virtual clone programs on your system are for, you will not be able to play Raven Shield with patch 1.5 unless you remove them completely off your system", and wondering whether this action is allowed under the EULA for the product. There are also similar discussions on the official UbiSoft forums for the game, though many sympathize with UbiSoft's anti-piracy efforts "telling you that in order to use the product you have to keep the CD in."

2 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Holy fucking shit! by Frac · · Score: -1, Troll

    You mean I might have to go through the inconvenience of *gasp* placing the original CD into the drive, and disabling my virtual drives?

    Honestly I don't see what the big deal is. If you're a legitimate user, blame the kids that pirate the games - they're the reason games are inconvenient these days. And yes, there are ways to get around it, and yes, this kind of protection will weed out a significant proportion of casual pirates.

    Some poster on the messageboard cried out how this is just an intermediate step to some pay-per-play scheme. Oh please. Is this new patch tapping into your bank account? Until then, Mulder, please keep your theories on your Post-It notes inside your tin-foil hat.

    If this gets seriously enough, go to the BBB or the FTC and complain.

    1. Re:Holy fucking shit! by Frac · · Score: 0, Troll

      Let me be the first to tell you to RTFA

      Let me be the first to tell you to RTFP. Clearly I've read the entire bullentin board posting.

      Again, you can't even play when you have the retail cds in a drive unless those programs / virtual drives are removed.

      No, YOU read the FA:

      Try again, sport. You agree to specific conditions under which you use the license you purchased when you picked up Raven Shield at your local software r/etailer. You can use Daemon tools and Alcohol 120% all you want. You just are unable to use them in conjunction with Raven Shield running. *shurg*

      You don't have to remove anything. Just turn them off. Oh my god my fingers are aching from doing that everytime I play!

      Plus, I understood (and I guess everyone else here too) this fact by reading the /. piece alone. "Got Alcohol 120% on your system? You're a pirate! We don't want you!"

      And Group Think is always correct. *smirk* Clearly the patch is implicating "Got Alcohol 120% on your system? Turn it off before you run Rainbow Six!"

      Can't the makes of the virtual drive software sue UBI? Cmon, anyone can sue anyone in this country... let's all have some fun!

      Yeah... Kind of like how a lot of install programs force you to disable anti-virus programs during installation, Symantec must be pretty busy these days suing everyone for everyone's stupid problems.