UBI drops DRM (constant connection) for SH5.
 

Seems that members of the U-boat simulation "Silent Hunter 5" have discovered UBI has dropped the "constant connection" requirement (the dreaded DRM) for their fav game. SH5 can now be played without connection.

Link:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=177031

Interesting...maybe UBI softens up their anti piracy policy for other present (and future) products as well?

Now all they need to do is finish the game and drop the whole DRM stupidity altogether - for me to buy it that is.

A step in the right direction and long overdue IMO.

I'd rather like a different publisher for SoW instead.

now ill buy it

One big problem with SH is the sensor modelling. Without even having bought SH5 modders' work proves it's no better than in SH3 and SH4. Given that usually neither the destroyers nor the sub can see each other, sensors are crucial to the game.

SH sensors are absurd for the most part; radar warning receivers have a range limit for instance, which makes no sense. Parameters for signal sensitivity, antenna gain etc. would make sense and even if all the actual numbers were wrong modders would produce corrected versions quickly enough. SH sensors are so terrible that even modders' best efforts can't fix them though.

So... It's not that Ubi can't produce a good product, it's that they don't care if they produce a good product or not. They want games that look good and sell well. They simply don't care enough to correct absurdities that have dogged the series for more than a decade now.

dduff442

PS regarding DRM: this can be a tolerable nuisance provided players trust their ownership rights and privacy are not being abused. RoF's DRM has attracted relatively little criticism for instance. People don't trust Ubi not to switch off their products or otherwise drag them into prisoner status.

Ubi's antics are permissible for console games as the consoles themselves are sold under cost. PC owners who've paid through the nose will never accept serfdom at the hands of publishers.

LOL - Sow too?

Too little too late. Might get it when it's as good as the community modded SH3

Ill buy without drm not with it

I was joking.
Seriously, I really don't think any member in here could resist buying SOW, with or without drm - It's a must have.

The intent was not really to discuss SH5, which is becoming a great sim with the community mods since late (IMO) but the DRM policies of UBI. ;-)

That is debatable. No intent of defending UBI, but they do have the means to distribute and promote SOW on a large scale in the world, which could mean higher selling and revenue for 1C than a small distributor, like for example A2A.

Amen to that.


I disagree. There is only so much 'crap' that legit users can take. If SoW follows SH5's or RoF's path it will undoubtedly hurt their sales. I for one won't purchase if it ships with a DRM similar or worse than what SH5 has. I do understand that there has to be some kind of copy protection - what DCS team is doing with A-10C (improved Starforce with renewable activations over certain time period) would suite me just fine, Steam as well if it features an offline mode.

In other words - the only thing that would stop me from buying the game is another stupid DRM.

Again, I must point to the excellent article at SimHQ:

How to Torpedo Yourself Without Even Trying

I didn't expect this to happen. I knew they decided to start shipping their games with Steam in place of Uplay after the initial uproar, but i didn't expect them to convert the titles originally released with Uplay (Assasin's Creed 2, SH5 and Settlers 7 i think they were), especially a niche product like SH5.

On the other hand, the SH series might not be a blockbuster but it sells steadily for a long time, so maybe that was a factor in their effort to increase sales.

Edit: After skimming through that thread on subsim it appears that they didn't drop it. You still need to authenticate online when you start the game, you just won't be kicked from the game if your connection drops mid-patrol. It's just like the RoF model, where they let you fly single missions and scripted campaigns but not dynamic ones unless you are connected.

anyone got sales numbers of SH5?

Some figures for early versions here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=161973


SH5 was dead in the water for a number of reasons not just the DRM ...

http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Hunter-...ews/B002PAIPQO

Regardless of the reasons, a rule of thumb for software sales is no amount of patching and fixing will ever compensate for a dodgy release, whether the problem is bugs or a poorly thought out DRM.

RoF is a good example. By the time they changed the DRM to something more acceptable and add a few more planes to the far too limited initial set. the excitement about the game had passed.

They dropped it in the sense that you don't have to be connected to play, as it was before -- not just because of a connection drop. You can now play not being connected, and yes, that includes the dynamic campaign. Can't really see the comparison to ROF.

The similarity is that even though the details and technicalities differ, you still need at least one authentication per gaming session to be able to play the dynamic campaign.

In layman's terms, if your internet drops before you are inside the game proper then you're out of luck and locked out of your legally purchased game ;)

Well any game that forces me to be 100% online, and gives me the feeling although I have payed for the game, it does not belong to me, is a game that stays in the shops selves. I will not support that kind of treatment of legal customers. Sure there are fair reasons for protecting software, but it should not go so far to annoy paying customers so far that they rather not buy it, than put up with this kind of protection.

I will buy BoB even if I need to put a dead coala over my head to pass some kind of new DRM...

I'm not bothered at all with the DRM used, if it not uses some processing power or connection band when I'm flying...

I'm an olnline flyer, so, just for me, no problem at all even the need to go online to fly, and I'll buy this sim even if have the risk of DRM melt my rig... LOL

Anyone ask me if its worth getting SH5 i say no. Maby in 1-2 years when its modded up, but SH3 GWX stil is the best Atlantic sub sim....

I do like SH4 alot, but thats because i can sail the japanese subs......way way more fun than the German ones :)

Ltbear

I have waited a long, long time for this news. I knew eventually UBI`s idiotic draconian DRM would be the failure of their game.

Now I might actually buy.

And if SOW has a draconian DRM like this I won`t buy, and I`ve been a long term user of IL2 as well. You can screw the customer for a while, but not all customers are idiots- Any company screws with them at their peril. :)