The Glade 4.0

Alright. So, Ubisoft's new DRM. Supports unlimited installs and Cloud-based save data. Requires absolutely unbroken access to their master servers, or the product ceases to function. I can boil it right down for you:

Nobody wins.

Well, except pirates. Pirates always win, on a long enough timeline. Honestly, the timeline doesn't even need to be that long.

Visit any thread regarding the topic, and I mean any thread, and it won't be three posts until someone raises the Goddamned Jolly Roger and says they'll pirate the game as a gesture consistent with some comprehensive ur-morality they've ginned up, one where stealing things is alright provided they were very angry when they did it. It's entirely possible that you don't like being spoken to in this way, but somebody has to get this done. What Ubisoft is doing here is Draconian - I don't mean those lizard dudes, I'm talking about laws which are characterized by their severity. Before they eventually dismantle it, and it will be dismantled, it will have achieved exactly the opposite of their intention. But what I won't tolerate from rational beings is the idea that you don't understand why they're doing it.

Every avenue of convenience for the user is also a vector of exploitation.

They have given up.

As fiery rhetoric goes, this sucks. It doesn't have that revolutionary quality that rallies the faithful. The trouble is that this dialogue between pirates and publishers, one which was always characterized by falsehood and ill-will, has ceased to exist in this case. A maneuver this extreme means that they're finished talking altogether: this mechanism is their response, the final word. Only it's impossible to get the final word here in The Cloud. Ever.

And no-one of any sense has ever bet against the scorn and resourcefulness of young men.

That said, if I bought a game and couldn't play it single player because my DSL modem was down, I'd be pretty damn pissed off.

This is how most all Xbox Live downloadable games are. Try playing them offline. You buy them, but you have to be connected to the internet to access them, even though they're downloaded onto your HD. If you're not connected, it just lists the games as a "trial version." This sounds very similar. I won't be buying any games like this.

Facism is not a school of thought, it is a racial slur.

This is patently false.

In comic strips the person on the left always speaks first. - George Carlin

I don't know how it can be false. I unplug my internet connection and my 15 XBL games turn to trial versions. Are you implying I'm actually just off in the twilight zone when it occurs to me?

Roophus, weren't you the one that didn't have internet and used to lug your X-Box hard drive to a friend's house?

If you were doing that when you downloaded the XBL games, your license is probably associated with your buddy's X-Box, and you need to migrate them as above.

Ubisoft DRM authentification server is down, Assassin's Creed 2 unplayable

Earlier today, our tips inbox and the official Assassin's Creed 2 forum were set ablaze by incensed owners of the PC version of the aforementioned Italian revenge epic. According to numerous reports from prospective players of the game, Ubisoft's DRM authentification servers have crashed, forcing some players to suffer lengthy login periods when booting up Assassin's Creed 2, and locking some folks out of the game entirely.

A Ubisoft representative responded to a particularly rage-filled forum thread, stating "clearly the extended downtime and lengthy login issues are unacceptable, particularly as I've been told these servers are constantly monitored." The representative added "I'll do what I can to get more information on what the issue is here first thing tomorrow and push for a resolution and assurance this won't happen in the future." We've got a really great suggestion for how to make such an assurance: Find a less abominable DRM policy.

Ubisoft's DRM Failure
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The Ubisoft Forums have posts from customers who were unable to play games protected by Ubisoft's online DRM yesterday because the DRM servers were offline. Needless to say most of the posts express severe unhappiness at being unable to play and express anger over a DRM scheme that locks paying customers out of their own game. This Ubisoft tweet explains: "Apologies to anyone who couldn’t play ACII or SH5 yesterday. Servers were attacked which limited service from 2:30pm to 9pm Paris time," and this one follows up: "95% of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors."

Thing is, they won't work. It will get cracked just as fast, if not faster. All this does is inconvenience legitimate customers.