DRM News

Since they sort of fit together in terms of what they do, it sort of makes sense to do a bit of an article mash-up.

As has been reported here and approximately 7 billion other locations online, Ubisoft’s new DRM system is generating just a SLIGHT bit of controversy. Well, they’ve done an interview with PC Gamer magazine in an effort to clear the air on their system. The full interview can be found here. A few notable parts :

Do Ubisoft understand that we don’t want to be permanently online?
They’ve spotted the outcry, yes. “We know that requiring a permanent online connection is not a happy point for a lot of PC gamers, but it is necessary for the system to work.
Which PC games will require an always on internet connection?
All announced Ubisoft PC games will include the online services, whether sold online, or from brick and mortar stores. That includes Splinter Cell, Silent Hunter 5, Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia and the newly announced Ghost Recon. “It’s hard for us to say, yes, from now until the day that we all die all of our games are going to include this,” says their spokesperson, “but most will.”
If my internet connection goes down during play, will I lose my progress?
That depends on the way the systems have been implemented. The two examples we have now, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Settlers VII, show differing implementations. In Assassin’s Creed, if your connection cuts out, you’ll be taken back to the last checkpoint. “With Settlers, your game will resume exactly where you left off,” says Ubisoft’s spokesperson.
How will I know what I’ll lose?
“You’ll have to wait for the reviews, and to hear what your peers are saying.”

So…different games will use slightly different implementations of the same system, but apparently Ubisoft can’t tell me or any other gamer which game uses what? We have to wait and see what reviewers and other players tell us? Ummm…huh?

As for Command & Conquer 4, yes, it will also require a full time online connection to play.

It’s also reported that the game will not have LAN or dedicated server support. Okay, the pull of LAN is too bad but…has ANY real time strategy game ever HAD dedicated servers?! Seems kind of odd to me that Destructoid felt the need to point out the lack of a feature that C&C 4’s competition and forebears also completely lack…

The reason being, as lead designer Sam Bass put it, is because of the global player progression system. This system is “across single-player, multiplayer and skirmish and all the information is stored in a server. So if you go to another machine — friend’s house, Internet café — whatever, you can login with your profile and all the stuff you’ve unlocked is accessible to you there. It all lives on a server so you can’t really do dedicated servers with that.”

It’s not all bad news in terms of multiplayer, at least. EA Los Angeles has “completely redone the networking back end of this game.” The previous infrastructure that was in place was getting really dated but this new system is “a lot more solid, a lot more modern. There’s a really solid networking and just sort of getting into a game is much easier then it was in the past.”

So, it sounds like C&C’s system bears quite a resemblance to Blizzard’s new iteration of Battle.net.