Far Cry 2 DRM Follow-up

[Oct 15, 2008, 09:39 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

DRM is official on the Far Cry 2 Forums is a post by a user reporting that a conversation with a Ubisoft representative about DRM in Far Cry 2, and a subsequent post by a Ubi Forum Manager confirms the use of the SecuROM DRM indicated on the French Ubisoft Shop yesterday (story). On a semi-related note, Riccitiello Says DRM a Minority Controversy has comments from the EA CEO saying he feels that Digital Rights management only represents an issue for 0.2% of their users: "We're still working out the kinks. We implemented a form of DRM and it's something that 99.8 percent of users wouldn't notice. But for the other .2 percent, it became an issue and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it." Ubisoft has not answered our mails on the topic, but here is the forum post on the Far Cry 2 DRM:

Some DRM points that will hopefully answer some of your questions and will clarify some misunderstandings about our DRM and SecuROM:

- You have 5 activations on 3 separate PCs.

- Uninstalling the game “refunds” an activation. This process is called “revoke”, so as long as you complete proper uninstall you will be able to install the game an unlimited number of times on 3 systems.

- You can upgrade your computer as many time as you want (using our revoke system)

- Ubisoft is committed to the support of our games, and additional activations can be provided.

- Ubisoft is committed to the long term support of our games: you’ll always be able to play Far Cry 2.

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131 Replies. 7 pages. Viewing page 1.
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131.

Re: Remember folks

Oct 19, 2008, 06:31

Jackplug

So what do people do, pay for a game that has a limit installations or download a pirate version that has unlimited installations? Securom doesnt stop piraters from pirating it, but what does that leave the people who pay for it, limited amount of times they can play it! So what does that do, it makes people into piraters cos they dont want to be ripped off, thinking my system has crashed and now ive lost an install ive only 'x' amount left but i can download it and it will have unlimited installs, why should I pay for it in the 1st place... If EA are killing themselves by pushing their games into the hands into pirates and people who wouldnt normally download games. I feel that EA are purposely doing this in the want to kill off the pc market! This comment was edited on Oct 19, 2008, 19:13.

130.

Re: Remember folks

Oct 16, 2008, 18:14

Krovven

It's shocking that someone can still be so naive. Did you see CJ Parkers post in "EA DRM arrogance..." thread? This comment was edited on Oct 16, 2008, 18:21.

129.

Re: Remember folks

Oct 16, 2008, 17:13

Prez

this only affects the pirates

It's shocking that someone can still be so naive.




Prez on Soundclick http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=604888

128.

Re: ...

Oct 16, 2008, 15:41

Krovven

You have 5 activations on 3 separate PCs what the hell is this supposed to mean? you can "re-activate" if necessary on 2 of 3 machines only? You have a total of 5 installations. You can install it on up to 3 PC's at once. Leaving you 2 in reserve. So if you don't properly revoke, you are now down to 4 installs on a max of 3 PC's. You can call and get the limit increased back to 5 if you run into problems. If you uninstall from one PC, you can go put it on another PC.

127.

Re: Remember folks

Oct 16, 2008, 13:25

BicycleRepairMan

this only affects the pirates Thats almost exactly how wrong you can get. this DOES NOT affect the pirates AT ALL. None. zip, zero. It affects EVERYONE ELSE. Thats the whole problem, Sure, it wont kill me, or my computer, or ruin my game, or my windows, perhaps it wont even use background resources, perhaps I wont even notice. Perhaps I will only install once anyway. But guess what... Its still annoying. It annoys me, and its an INSULT to me as a paying customer, which is why I try to avoid getting games with this baloney. I actually got Crysis WH, but I didnt know the crap was in there. I was annoyed when I found out.

126.

Re: ...

Oct 16, 2008, 09:32

wallace321

It's a new day : ) So let me just address the points they felt necessary to raise - since it hasn't been brought up that I could find on this entire thread. You have 5 activations on 3 separate PCs what the hell is this supposed to mean? you can "re-activate" if necessary on 2 of 3 machines only? Uninstalling the game “refunds” an activation. This process is called “revoke”, so as long as you complete proper uninstall you will be able to install the game an unlimited number of times on 3 systems. Doesn't this contradict the previous statement? Which is it? Unlimited or 5? I thought you could "revoke" them? They'll charge you an activation even if they realize it's on one of your previously activated machines? You can upgrade your computer as many time as you want (using our revoke system) WHAT? Do we have to uninstall our game before changing our videocard now, JUST IN CASE it decides to de-activate Far Cry 2? Ubisoft is committed to the support of our games, and additional activations can be provided. They HAVE patched their games appropriately in the past (still waiting form them to remove starforce from Silent Hunter 3 and Splinter Cell: CT though....) - usually by fixing game crashing bugs that should have been squashed in QA Ubisoft is committed to the long term support of our games: you’ll always be able to play Far Cry 2. See also, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and Silent Hunter 3 - I'm pretty sure I've been reading online that these are Unplayable in Vista x64 -mainly because of Star Force but I've been told the installer detects the OS and doesn't let you install, maybe I'll give it a try this weekend to confirm - is that an unreasonable request? SC:CT and SH3 aren't THAT old, they're only 1 or 2 versions old for their respective franchises. So is playing them in Vista x64 unreasonable? If you say yes, then Ubisoft saying "you'll always be able to play Far Cry 2" is an unreasonable promise. Edit: Oh and did anybody else notice: It sounds like you can pick 3 machines to install on. Period. That's all. Even if you uninstall and revoke the activation, that's one of your 3 machines. Even if that machine (whatever a "machine" is) is thrown out. You've just lost one of the 3 machines you're allowed to activate this game one. This comment was edited on Oct 16, 2008, 14:30.

125.

No subject

Oct 16, 2008, 09:27

Dades

Basically all I'm saying is that the lead platform was the PC and ported to consoles later in development. People should be judging the various versions based on their own merits anyways. You shouldn't have to defend your statement, the fact that you do says volumes about bias around here.

124.

Re: ...

Oct 15, 2008, 23:43

Jerykk

I think we're officially burned out on DRM ranting for the day. P.S. Far Cry 2 360 has already been pirated. This comment was edited on Oct 16, 2008, 02:14.

123.

Re: ...

Oct 15, 2008, 22:42

Mead

woot!

122.

Re: ...

Oct 15, 2008, 20:21

Krovven

Thread Hijack: Peggle Nights is now available on Steam! And I raise you Left 4 Dead pre-order now available on Steam! ---------------------------------------------------- LOST SALES DUE TO DRM- Mass Effect, Crysis Warhead, STALKER Clear Sky, Dead Space...Far Cry 2 next? NoDRM group on Steam- http://steamcommunity.com/groups/nodrm/

121.

Re: Just out of curiosity

Oct 15, 2008, 20:16

Creston

Thanks Jerykk. I'll still buy FC2 because I want to support devs that make this kind of game, but I'll definitely run the cracked exe on it. Appreciate the info. Creston

120.

Re: No subject

Oct 15, 2008, 20:06

Krovven

claim of my own but just trying to refute the claim that the game was originally planned as a PC exclusive. Jerykk said "PC exclusive". I said it was announced for PC first, 6 months before the consoles. I expected it to get ported to consoles. My argument is that it was developed for PC first and then ported to console, not that it was ever an exclusive or that it was developed for consoles first and ported to PC. I think at one time in development (not public) it may have been considered an exclusive until they knew the capabilities of the consoles, but it was never marketed as an exclusive when the game was announced for PC. Basically all I'm saying is that the lead platform was the PC and ported to consoles later in development. ---------------------------------------------------- LOST SALES DUE TO DRM- Mass Effect, Crysis Warhead, STALKER Clear Sky, Dead Space...Far Cry 2 next? NoDRM group on Steam- http://steamcommunity.com/groups/nodrm/ This comment was edited on Oct 15, 2008, 20:14.

119.

Re: No subject

Oct 15, 2008, 19:55

CJ_Parker

CJ...yet none of that provides any proof whatsoever to back up your claim they made the console versions first and then ported to the PC. That's not really what I was trying to claim though (I might have exaggerated for effect at one point with that flame on Ubi's porting "talents" ). I was actually not even trying to come up with a claim of my own but just trying to refute the claim that the game was originally planned as a PC exclusive. There's really just no way it was with the history of these guys, Ubi Montreal. I am absolutely convinced that they always had console versions planned and that they used those early Xbox 360 dev kits (the Macs) to make sure that their Dunia engine would be flexible enough to run on consoles, too. I am a strong believer in the theory that they just didn't announce the console versions at first because they were not sure whether to go for last gen or next gen. So they evaluated their options behind closed doors as they began developing the PC version, however, all the while fully knowing and intending to release the game on consoles eventually. That's all I was trying to say. I do not believe in the "PC exclusive" fairytale. They might be saying that on PC-centric websites for PR reasons to make PC gamers feel better about themselves but there is just no fucking way that they ever seriously considered PC exclusivity.

118.

Re: Just out of curiosity

Oct 15, 2008, 19:55

Jerykk

Securom is supposed to be integrated into the exe so it doesn't activate until you run the uncracked exe. The crack consists of a few files which you replace before running the game, so Securom is never activated. Securom doesn't install when you install the game.

117.

Just out of curiosity

Oct 15, 2008, 19:44

Creston

With these secuROM ~~protected~~ inflicted games, if you download a cracked exe, does that fix the whole activation problem? Or would you have to download the entire pirated game? I'm guessing the former, but I'm not all that up on the workings of the pirate scene. If it's just the .exe, and I bought the legit version, how do you prevent the game from wanting to check when you first install it? While I don't typically let DRM stop me from buying something (Starforce shit excepted back when), I'm getting fucking annoyed that every game I now get shafts me with it. I just found out that my STEAM version of X:TC will have that fucking TAGES shit still on it. And that doesn't even make any fucking sense, since all Tages does is prevent a disc from being copied. But those fucking drivers will still get installed through the Steam version. Fuckdammit. Time for an annoyed smiley. Creston

116.

...

Oct 15, 2008, 19:43

theyarecomingforyou

No, it didn't. From the extremely small shoebox levels to the retarded interface (especially the tedious inventory management) and on to the non-existent challenge level it had "console" plastered all over it.
On top of that it was also an epic borefest but, OK, granted, that had more to do with the lack of talent and creativity at BioWare than with the game being on consoles.

It's simply impossible to make any progress in any topic relating to "ports" or "consoles". Fine, be like that. I'm too busy enjoying computer games to worry about such things.




Core i7 2600-K (4.6GHz) \| 12GB DDR3 \| GTX680 SLI (1215/1605) \| OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD \| Windows 8 Pro Hazro HZ30Wie 30" \| Saffire PRO 40 \| Razer Mamba \| Coolermaster RP1000W SteamID: theyarecomingforyou

115.

Re: No subject

Oct 15, 2008, 19:41

Krovven

CJ...yet none of that provides any proof whatsoever to back up your claim they made the console versions first and then ported to the PC. Do you really think they decided to make a 50 square kilometer open world game with muddy textures on the console first and port it to PC with high res textures and all sorts of extra graphical features? I know you are dumb, but not that dumb. Everything points to the PC version being developed first. ---------------------------------------------------- LOST SALES DUE TO DRM- Mass Effect, Crysis Warhead, STALKER Clear Sky, Dead Space...Far Cry 2 next? NoDRM group on Steam- http://steamcommunity.com/groups/nodrm/

114.

Re: Upgrade vs. new computer

Oct 15, 2008, 19:34

Creston

Doubtful. They'd have to spend money to make a patch to do so. BZZT! Bioshock didn't require any user-side intervention - they just made the servers just accept activations rather than keep count. True. Creston

113.

Re: No subject

Oct 15, 2008, 19:27

CJ_Parker

To think they used a Mac to develop under DirectX instead of developing it on a PC for a PC and later porting to consoles, is absolutely ludicrous. Your arguments are irrational. sigh ... first of all, you do realize that the Xbox 360 has IBM Power PC CPUs installed that just happen to be the same ones as in Apple Macs? Secondly: All early X360 demos were running on said Apple PowerMac G5 systems instead of the actual Xbox and these systems were used as the dev kit, too... http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?I=2420&p=5 http://lowendmac.com/musings/05/0513.html http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2004/02/28/xbox-2--sdk-released-on-cool-apple-power-mac-g5s http://news.cnet.com/2100-1043-5706658.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360#Development Need more? Quote from the last link at Wikipedia... Before the launch of the Xbox 360, several alpha development kits were spotted using Apple's Power Mac G5 hardware. This was due to the system's PowerPC 970 processor running the same PowerPC architecture that the Xbox 360 would eventually run under IBM's Xenon processor.

112.

Re: ...

Oct 15, 2008, 19:18

CJ_Parker

KOTOR was a console port but did it play like a PC game? Yeah, damn right it did. No, it didn't. From the extremely small shoebox levels to the retarded interface (especially the tedious inventory management) and on to the non-existent challenge level it had "console" plastered all over it. On top of that it was also an epic borefest but, OK, granted, that had more to do with the lack of talent and creativity at BioWare than with the game being on consoles.

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