UbiSoft has plenty of people working for them. They have many different values and motives. But the owners and executives have one motive in common - they all want to get paid more. So that's how they act. Most corporations, as they are made up for more than a single owner, act on this one unifying motive.
If whatever they do brings in more money for them (or at least they think that it does) then they will conclude that this is a terrific idea. Losing some reputation is nothing if they percieve that they are either gaining more profit or that their profit decreased less than expected.
I too would love to have bought SH5 (I bought SH3 and SH4) and support this niche sim market, but it will NEVER, EVER happen if it is bundled with extra software designed in a way that significantly affects my ownership and use of the product they want to sell me. Moreover, it is fairly certain that they use it for very extensive data mining (monitoring and logging my personal profile + game usage patterns) for uses that might further profit them, and who knows what.
Buying this is not showing support for Silent Hunter, but showing support for this DRM (+ who knows what else) system. You are voting, with your money, sending a message to not just UbiSoft but everyone else saying "I like it, it works, and here's my money to prove it". Your forum word doesn't carry any weight if you still buy it.
I will never, ever buy Storm of War either if they try something similar. Requirement to be online to use their online gaming services (multiplayer on public servers they host) is Ok, but not for single player or playing with my friend on a LAN. There it steps into the "None of their business" zone.
If SoW did do this, then perhaps some other company will make a decent flight sim (maybe not WW2 but whatever), and I'm sure IL-2 will have increased lifespan and more improvements. And maybe some future release of a stand-alone addon to SoW will come along that doesn't have the DRM crap in it.
|