Constant 'net connection for AC2 on PC

Dan

Dan

Makhulu Silverback
Constant net connection required to play Assassin's Creed 2 on PC

17-Feb-2010

When we heard of Ubisoft's plan to require an internet connection for all their future PC games, we hoped they'd abort it or scale it back in the face of the outrage and astonishment it caused. They haven't, and it's here. Details are below.

We've just received Assassin's Creed 2 and Settlers VII for review, and verified with Ubisoft that the DRM is the same as the boxed product. If you get disconnected while playing, you're booted out of the game. All your progress since the last checkpoint or savegame is lost, and your only options are to quit to Windows or wait until you're reconnected.

The game first starts the Ubisoft Game Launcher, which checks for updates. If you try to launch the game when you're not online, you hit an error message right away. So I tried a different test: start the game while online, play a little, then unplug my net cable. This is the same as what happens if your net connection drops momentarily, your router is rebooted, or the game loses its connection to Ubisoft's 'Master servers'. The game stopped, and I was dumped back to a menu screen - all my progress since it last autosaved was lost.

Even if everyone in the world had perfect internet connections that never dropped out, this would still mean that any time Ubisoft's 'Master servers' are down for any reason, everyone playing a current Ubisoft game is kicked out of it and loses their progress. Even massively multiplayer games aren't so draconian about the internet: you can't play when the server's down, but at least you don't lose anything for getting disconnected.
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sauce

No biggy IMHO since I found AC2 to be one of last year's biggest disappointments, but I'm sure it won't be long before the PC fanboys start throwing tantrums and circling petitions.
 
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Thanks for the sauce there Rusty... And yeh I can see a huge controversy starting and this being a major WAR... Fanbois from all over are going to definitely throw their toys out of their cots, because no one not even myself wants to play a game (I purchased for single player offline gaming) online... however I see the upside to them doing it because it fixes alot of Piracy problems but there are more downsides to this than there are up.

let me name a few:
Upside:
* Decrease in Piracy
* Guarantee of saved games not becoming corrupt
* Saved games get stored on a server and you start from where you left off should you reload windows

Downside:
* People will find a way to hack it like they did on MW2
* Piracy might increase and people will either make offline functionality
* Ubisoft could end up going bankrupt for causing an issue like this
* The percentage of users who do not have internet will end up putting a major hole in the Publishers pocket.
* (As said in the article) Server issues
* Online Lagging
* Profiles going missing due to Hardware failure (Server side)

That is just some of the stuff I guess i could go on but wouldnt wanna bore anyone to death :p I feel that if Ubisoft proceed with this idea it could mean one of 2 things for them... Either they will be successful... or they will be the company that falls after being successful for so long due to one incident that they caused.
 
I don't think i what to but this game any more. If you don't have a big internet cap its just not worth it. I will save the bandwidth for COD or something.
 
Matty28 said:
I don't think i what to but this game any more. If you don't have a big internet cap its just not worth it. I will save the bandwidth for COD or something.
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Alternatively you buy the game when a crack is released and just crack it... will save you so much more time and hassles :rolleyes:
 
sycogrim said:
Alternatively you buy the game when a crack is released and just crack it... will save you so much more time and hassles :rolleyes:
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See the problem is that it requires Internet even for Sp witch makes just using a crack problematic.
 
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I really don't mind playing on a console. I just find fps games alot more harder than pc ones. I did manage to play quake 3 on the ps3 and really enjoyed the split screen multiplayer.
 
I dont think there is any reason to feel bad about pc gaming. I still think pc gaming is brilliant. The developers wants to involve the net more it looks like but they are struggling to find the right mix between what works for them and what works for the general gamer.

Take this match making system of MW2, it works brilliantly when it works. Another thing i like about PC gaming which i realised this week is there isnt so many shit games out every week on pc as on the consoles. I have MW2, WoW, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2 and Left for Dead 2 on my pc so im pretty satisfied at the moment.

I would love if AC2 is just a bit longer than the 1st one. And guys if a game needs the Net to even play SP it will increase piracy not decrease. Think about it.
 
This is a case of making the playing experience better for the people who pirate the game over the people who pay for it... you basically punishing people for buying your product... specially in regards to server issues and you unable to save the game.... this is slap in the face for people who purchase their products...
 
Personally I am in a very blessed and fortunate position to be online at home whenever my PC is on. Whether it's ADSL or 3G...I have the option of both. So the advantage to have my save game stored on an off-site server is very cool because if I ever had to format I wouldn't be stuffed.

I do however feel that applying these harsh DRM settings in a country like South Africa will have a much more negative impact and I really sympathize with the people that do not have internet access like I do.
 
Neo said:
Personally I am in a very blessed and fortunate position to be online at home whenever my PC is on. Whether it's ADSL or 3G...I have the option of both. So the advantage to have my save game stored on an off-site server is very cool because if I ever had to format I wouldn't be stuffed.
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So do I, but I have the problem of my internet getting occasionally dropped, even for just for 5 seconds, during a session of browsing or gaming. I don't want to have to deal with the game crashing at inopportune times because of that happening.
 
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