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Watch Dogs Released, DRM Troubles

Posted by Soulskill on from the barking-up-the-wrong-tree dept.

Today marked the launch of Watch Dogs, a highly-anticipated action-adventure game from Ubisoft. Early reviews for the game are fairly good, but not without complaints. Eurogamer said, 'Combat encounters also draw inspiration from existing games, with slightly stiff but workable sneaking and cover mechanics and decent if unremarkable gunplay. ... There's a sense of sterility beneath the surface, though. As dazzling as the game can look, this Chicago feels like a place you travel through rather than a world you inhabit. Pedestrians gasp and gawp at car crashes, but exhibit no real life.' Polygon's review complimented the bits of structure within the open-world game: "More than any stealth game I can think of, Watch Dogs does a remarkable job in allowing for proper preparation. It creates a universal environment of constant puzzle solving, which sits cozily next to all the action on display." Rock, Paper, Shotgun added, "It feels churlish to complain about something which is only magical 90% of the time, but in some things, ten percent can seep out and render the rest infuriating and useless." It's worth noting that some users are running into problems even playing game, thanks to authentication issues with Ubisoft's UPlay digital distribution service.

19 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Entire Article... by mythosaz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...the entire article about "authentication issues" is a guy who failed to install UPlay correctly, and a link to "uplay down" on Twitter.

    Super, super informative.

    1. Re: Entire Article... by tysonedwards · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Buying the game was super easy as those servers were all up and working. The game auth servers were not though, so once it was downloaded, it could not be activated to be played "offline". So Ubisoft has no problems taking your money, just with letting you use your purchase. Then on the other side, those who pirate it get to play immediately without all of these problems, but apparently some releases include a bitcoin miner. In thinking about it, amazed that game developers wouldn't incorporate that model into games themselves where "download for free, and we lower the quality of your experience by siphoning of compute cycles to earn us money, or pay to download and not have your computer mine for bitcoin while trying to enjoy our title!"

      --
      Thirty four characters live here.
    2. Re: Entire Article... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, I am amazed that nobody had that idea yet. Install a (free) game and install a, say, bitcoin miner (or whatever you can use to make money using computer cycles) as well, which runs whenever the game doesn't use 100% of the computing speed (which is most of the time, actually).

      Wanna bet that 90% of gamers don't even notice that their computer is calculating for someone else, another 9% don't care as long as the game is free and the rest at best bitches about it (while still playing the game)?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re: Entire Article... by s.petry · · Score: 4, Informative

      They have, were caught, and sued for doing it. I'm sure that other companies thought of doing it, but realize that it's not in their best interests. Unless of course they wanted to go out of business.

      I'm pretty sure another company did the same thing a few months back with a "free" download version. It was done with disclosure, so did not result in a lawsuit. I can't find that article however.

      --

      -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    4. Re:Entire Article... by nabsltd · · Score: 2

      I hate it because I hate all DRM, but let's not pretend that Steam is any better. Steam was just early to the game and now people take it for granted.

      I'm one of those people who have had a Steam account for pretty much the entire time you could (9 years according to my Steam profile), and I have never had a "Steam DRM" issue. Some games I have had problems playing because the game had bugs, or my video card drivers needed updating, but not once have I failed to be able to play the game because a Steam server wasn't available, or it believed that I wasn't authorized. I have games I have purchased on Steam, physical purchases that I could also unlock on Steam, and purchases through third parties like Humble Bundle that unlock on Steam. All work fine, every time.

      Although Steam has had its issues, none of them compare to the constant complaints about every other DRM system, both on disk (like SecureROM) or Internet activated (like Uplay). Since Steam has now added a "buy once, play on any supported platform" rule, I absolutely can't think of any "fair use" that Steam DRM doesn't let me do.

    5. Re:Entire Article... by JImbob0i0 · · Score: 2

      It genuinely was down at one point yesterday (around 7pm BST onwards... not sure when it was usable again).

      I couldn't even log into the uplay website much less authenticate my game. Interestingly it was partially working as it would try to authenticate and then the uplay application would crash - I assume with some sort of null pointer error ... although I didn't bother to debug it.

      Since I had already started it once earlier in the day though before uplay services took a nose dive disabling my network interface allowed me to start uplay in offline mode (I could then re-enable the interface after choosing offline) and play the game fine - just without the multiplayer features.

  2. Ubisoft and PCs... by raydobbs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Those 'in the know' generally don't buy Ubisoft games for the PC anymore - even though they have been trying to turn over a new leaf in terms of how they view PC gamers. Many at Ubisoft apparently still see PC gamers as pirates - even those who pay for products. Not the way to garner new customers.

    Sadly, these days - the only way to buy new release Ubisoft products (if you want to at all, that is) is to buy the console versions of the products.

    1. Re:Ubisoft and PCs... by JustNiz · · Score: 2

      >> I decided I will not buy any UBIsoft products until they reverse that policy and move away from it again, back to some saner way of protecting their assets.

      I'm totally with you on that one, having made the same decision myself a while back.

      Unfortunately UBIsoft mangement have apparently got exactly the same retarded mindset as the managment of a software company that I used to work for until recently. They are all used-car salesmen that clearly haven't the first clue about the technology behind their products or what their own customers are really thinking.
      They are also never going to acknowledge that they themselves might have ever possibly make any bad decisions, so there wont ever be any real change in direction from the fucked up road they are already on, even if that road makes them go bust through lack of sales.

      Even if that happened they would still just reach for anything/everything else possible to blame (such as the unsupported claims of death of gaming on the PC as a platform) rather than ever accepting it was anything they themselves did, such as repeatedly runining their own products with layers of draconian fucked-up DRM.

      So in short, don't hold your breath.

    2. Re:Ubisoft and PCs... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Pirating also works nicely I hear.

      Then Ubisoft has you covered. I recently bought Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag at a deep discount and it's a terrific game. Really fun, deep story, beautiful to look at. Varied gameplay and the kind of game that keeps you playing until the end.

      I'll end up putting in over 100 hours in that game. I really got my money's worth.

      We've come to expect (and accept) so many problems with a game on release day, that it's never worth buying a game right away any more. By Christmas, the graphics drivers will be right, there will have been multiple (and significant) patches for Watch_Dogs, and it'll probably be $29, instead of $59.

      I can wait. I'm too old to have to run and buy something because it's all over the media and kids are lining up for it. I'm at the age where I can do things on my schedule, not the schedule of some game company.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Ubisoft and PCs... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The main problem here is that they're artificially lowering the value of their product compared to their competition. Yes, lowering. I know that "consultants" and other panhandlers from DRM companies claim that only with DRM you can actually retain value in your product (really, they do. The logic is that something that can be multiplied at will is worthless, and DRM keeps people from doing that), but actually, you lower the value of your product with DRM.

      Since it is a non-corporal product, the usual risk management system to determine value does not apply because we neither need to consider recreating the product (recreating it is trivial and possible near free of charge to the original creator), nor do we have to take into account the value for a competitor (because he could not use it due to copyright issues). What's left is the value it has to the customer. And the value to the customer depends to no small amount on the convenience to use it.

      And convenience to use it is the big advantage legal software has over illegal copies. Or rather, it could have that advantage.

      Let's face it, what is the reason for Steam's success? That you can buy stuff online? Nah. You could do that with Amazon. That it's available instantly? Nah, you get the same when you go and buy it from the local store. What makes it successful is the convenience of doing it. Buying it and installing it is easy to do and very, very convenient. Not only that but your software is available at a mouseclick, too. No need to find some DVDs, just click on "install" and wait a bit. It's installed and it "just works". And that's what people go for. They are willing to pay for stuff that "just works". That's what makes Steam a success. It certainly is not the price (seriously, compare Steam to Amazon or other online stores and Steam rarely wins, usually you can get anything you can get on Steam cheaper somewhere. But rarely this convenient).

      An illegal copy isn't that convenient. You have to find it, download it, tinker with the crack (which may actually be a problem for less tech-savvy people), hope that it works (and that the crackers managed to get rid of all pitfalls)... and all that has to be repeated every time there is some patch, some bugfix, some alteration to the game. Which is, btw, another thing that "just works" with tools like Steam.

      DRM can now take away the most important advantage a legit copy of game has over an illegal copy: Its convenience. Its "just works" character. As this example shows, bad DRM can actually even invert this relationship between legit and illegal copies: The illegal copy works while the legit one causes its user trouble.

      That's about the WORST you can do to your IP. Because that kills the most important (and some would say only) advantage a legal copy has over an illegal one.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Ubisoft and PCs... by Thanshin · · Score: 2

      I'm about to buy a graphics card. Watch Dogs comes free with it. What are my options?

      1 - Ask somebody else to open the box and throw the game away before I see/touch it.
      2 - Save that innocent person's soul and do the throwing away myself, even at the risk of physically touching the Ubisoft game at some point (a tear in the hazmat suit) and suffering a painful mind-death.

      I'm not a bad person, but fear is pushing me towards the first option.

      I don't think I'll be strong enough.

      I'm sorry.

      God have mercy on our souls.

  3. Oh, this is news? by pslytely+psycho · · Score: 2

    What AAA game release HASN'T started out in the shitter in recent years?

    It would be news if it went smoothly..... ;p

    --
    Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
  4. Re:Don't understand the hype by r1348 · · Score: 2

    No, it's basically GTA5 with less crazy shit and more techno-babble.

  5. Re:Hack it. by Noah+Haders · · Score: 2

    responding to self, I would not be surprised if future AAA titles were only released to PC through OnLive style services. this approach cuts out all the pirates.

  6. UF***D by Eddy_D · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I hate UPLAY... so much.

    I battled with it on Far Cry 3. I still do not understand why I needed to login to UPLAY *after* I logged into Steam (where I played it from). Wasn't Steam enough of a DRM check for UbiSoft? 2 levels of login really?

    AFAIK the original article was about someone who did not even install it correctly.. but still having to require it on top of Steam is just ridiculous.

    --
    - I stole your sig.
    1. Re:UF***D by Psyborgue · · Score: 2

      Believe it or not, Half Life 2 and episodes are DRM free and can be run without Steam. Lots of steam games don't have DRM. Steam is simply a distrobution platform that provides optional DRM that actually works pretty well. On top of all this, Steam's family sharing even lets you share your games with family and friends. The only games that don't work with family sharing are those with additional DRM on top, like Uplay, GFWL, Rockstar, etc. because they require a secondary login and the key can only be registered to one account.

    2. Re:UF***D by Torp · · Score: 2

      What do you mean "did not install it correctly"? Isn't it Ubisoft's responsability to make sure there is no wrong way of installing it? If there is a right way and a wrong way to install UPlay, it means that their QA failed completely. IF they had any QA.

      --
      I apologize for the lack of a signature.
  7. Got it with a new GFX card for free by PPalmgren · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'll straighten out the details on this clickbait.

    First, while uPlay is indeed a complete flaming piece of shit, it doesn't prevent you from playing the game once installed. When you launch it and press 'play', even if it wont sync with ubisoft's servers, it will still launch. It takes a good while (couple of minutes) for uplay and the sync to time out, but it works.

    An actual gripe on uplay: what kind of game publisher doesn't institute predownloads for people who've already bought the game? It didn't show up in my games list until today so I couldn't even get the DL started. Their servers being crippled is partly due to not distributing downloads for pre-purchasers properly, forgivable 5 years ago but not in today's distribution systems.

    Console port gripe: mouse acceleration is on by default and you must turn it off by actually going in and editing the xml settings file. If that doesn't scream lazy, I don't know what does. The menus and mouse control aren't bad overall, but that mouse acceleration makes the gameplay infuriating, felt like I had a joystick deadzone on my mouse. After googling and changing this setting, the game felt much better.

    Overall though, I'm happy with the game, though I've not gotten far into it. I wouldn't have bought it straight up, partly due to bitterness about destroying the Thief franchise and partly due to their shitty company policies, but I've enjoyed it as a bundle purchase. Ubisoft is a frustrating company. Their policies and DRM money-grubbing aspects make them almost as unlikeable as EA, but they make the type of games I tend to enjoy. I prefer to stay away on principle but its hard.

  8. So you haven't learned yet? by Torp · · Score: 2

    Do not touch UPlay and Origin. They're Steam clones done on the lowest budget possible and basically do not work. Personally I prefer GoG style distribution, but Steam is at least functional most of the time.
    And for whoever said you should buy Ubisoft games on console, there are comments on the related Eurogamer article mentioning UPlay problems on the PS4. Sounds like you need that piece of shit even on a console now, which basically rules out ever touching their games.

    --
    I apologize for the lack of a signature.