Have to admit the trailers are titilating, but it's just not happening.

What happens when Ubi makes a decision to cease support for the product? At some point profit from sales will taper to nothing and cost of maintaining support will continue for players who want to keep it and continue playing for many years after release. At some point they are going to pull the plug, and then... 

 I can see how this DRM scheme can be slightly  less unaceptable in a game like Assassins Creed 2, which has an auto-save feature, even if it might force you to restart again from furthr back than you wanted to, when your internet connection goes down.

But in a kind of game like SHV, if you forget to save your game from time to time - which is something perfectly plausible - what happens to your game, when your connection goes down (because it will)? Will you lose the 2 hours you invested in the game, or wil the game resume right back here you were? i understand that it depends on how the saving system is implemented in each game, but if SHV requirs you to manually keep saving the game for fear of losing all your progress, then that's a HUGE problem.

Sorry if I'm deraling this thread, but just take a look ath this PR guy's attempt at justifying the unjustifiable. it's kind of painful to read, actually, although you can't help laughing when he presents the 3 main advantages of this DRM method. Ubi DRM: Their side of the story

Oh, and I won't buy the game because of a lethal combo: invasive DRM + baby in the house that leaves me no time to play.

JERRY:"Vomitting is not a deal breaker. If Hitler had vomitted on Chamberlain,Chamberlain still would have given him Czechoslovakia".
GEORGE:"Chamberlain... You could hold his head in the toilet, he'd still give you half of Europe"

I am playing SH IV now...but I have to tell you...phone home DRM has to be a show stopper.

No saved games on my own hard drive? Are you kidding?

If they can GUARANTEE to me that their servers will be 100% operational, for the rest of my life, then sure, count me in.

Who am I fooling?  I tried to sit down logically and think it through ... all the reasons I shouldn't get SH5.  But in the end, the urge to play it is just too strong.

My nose is running.  My hands are shaking.  I am in a cold sweat.  My stomach is tied up in knots.  My head is aching.  My heart is pounding.

Now, please don't misunderstand any of this.  I really could stop buying games anytime I want, but it is just this one more special game.  This could be my last time.

Excuse me ... I can't stay and chat ...

(off stage there is the sound of a shredder busy grinding up old SH3 Starforce DVDs presumably to be mixed with water and pseudoephed)

Public Service Announcement:  Millions of Americans have fallen victim to VGA (Video Game Addiction).  Every 15 seconds another child falls down the rabbit hole of no return.  If you or someone you know suffers from VGA, break the cycle of shame and denial.  Take the first step and seek help.

MarkShot's 1830-PC Basic Guide

www.westpark-gamers.de/en/index.html?/en/1830.html

MarkShot's 1830-PC Advanced Guide

www.wargamer.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=334385

nm

roman2440
Now I understand the DRM boycott thing, and I don't disagree with it on principal, however I do have something to add.  The DRM is Ubisoft wide, all products.  SHV is very much a niche product, as much as any of our near and dear wargaming products usually are.  What do you think is really going to happen by boycotting SHV?  Do you really think that boycott will be as effective for say Assassin's creed 2?  or for any of the other more mainstream Ubisoft games?   I don't think so - sure it can be effective for SHV, but what will that direct Ubisoft to do - certainly not to remove DRM, but rather to drop its support of sub simming all together.   For those that don't have a reliable internet connection, then I can certainly understand and would expect you not to purchase the game.  But for those that do, but are resisting on principal, realize that all your principal is going to buy is the davy jones locker for what is truely a great series.  The DRM will march on, the numbers of lost customers for this will be just a drop compared the numbers of brainwashed who purchase their mainstream games DRM and all.

Oh, don't worry, the AC2 players are even more agitated by this than the SH fans.  In conjunction with any boycott (organized or individual by individual) by us subsimmers of SH5, the players of the more mainstream titles who will refuse to fork over both their cash as well as their connection will also hurt Ubi's bottom line.  Beyond that tho I don't know what the future of PC gaming will become-it may be that MMO titles are the only ones with any real long-term viability (Darwinism of the market).  I've been wracking my brain trying to devise how SH could go MMO for several years now, with no real success.

In any event, the numerous bugs being reported over at Subsim have confirmed that waiting would be the best policy in the long-term (something I also did with SH3/4), even if the DRM wasn't present.

No new Ubisoft products shall grace my hard drive until they remove this garbage DRM.

"Corpsman Up"



 

 







 

Well its purchased and downloading as we speak (at a crisp 1.2MB/sec from D2D).

As for the DRM and losing game progress, from what I've read for this title specifically it will save your progress if you get disconnected and allow you to resume right where you left off once the connection is fixed and you restart the game.  I'll test this and let you guys know how it goes for sure.

DennisS


I am playing SH IV now...but I have to tell you...phone home DRM has to be a show stopper.

No saved games on my own hard drive? Are you kidding?

If they can GUARANTEE to me that their servers will be 100% operational, for the rest of my life, then sure, count me in.

Now that I know this it will be a much harder decision. I'm not sure I can stomach not having control of the game files. Phone Home DRM I can barely stomach if the game is good enough....

 

RTtac. RTcamp. ww1 + DRM ;)

You know the game has issues that deter my along with the DRM.  A sim of a single Uboat is boring.  I played sh3 and all the hunting for convoys just got boring.  I think ubi should have added a strategic layer where you could control several uboats and organize wolfpacks,would have been way better.  I mean after all they call it "the battle of the atlantic".  Multi layer sims are always a hit...Battle of Britain....Falcon 4.0.  This game is just ubi trying to make money with crap.

Well I have some news:

The game does not dump you out if you lose internet connection during the gameplay.  In fact it continues on like nothing ever happened.   You can save the game fine, you don't have to, the game will continue to play fine.  You can exit the game fine, however without an internet connection you can't launch the game.  When you do finally launch the game after restoring internet service, the game will automatically sync up and save game files to the server (which seemed practically instantly in my case).  So the games you saved while offline are there.

So here's what I did.
1) installed the game (after the download from D2D finished)
2) launched it and it immediately grabbed a patch and asked me to install it (which I did)
3) launched again and this time I got a UBI login, which I logged in.
4) Started a scenario (the river one)
5) Played around a bit, traveled a little ways, explored the sub some
6) Dived down some
7) unplugged the ethernet cable from my computer (read = disconnected from internet)
8) observed no issues, no pausing, it just continued to play
9) so I play for another 20 minutes, surfaced the boat, made some course corrections, etc..
10) saved the game after all that, again no problems doing that.
11) Exited out
12) Tried to launch again (before fixing the cable) and it denied me.
13) reconnected the internet cable
14) launched again, and it popped up a little window syncing my save game files (this was after I logged in).
15) loaded my savegame and observed it was right where I saved it over 20 minutes after the internet was disconnected.

So its not all doom and gloom.  Yes the DRM sucks, and yes they should be shot for putting it in there (as it kills resale), but hey we've got a top notch sub game, and it doesn't penalize you mid game if you lose internet connectivity.  Yes you can't play if you don't have internet at the start of the game session, but at least it doesn't get you going and then give you the dumps mid game. 

Note:  I don't know if I could start a new patrol without internet connectivity or anything like that, but if I was a betting man I'd bet that I could.  It seems that the implementation is only in the launcher for barring entry to the game.

I can also attest the game is stunningly beautiful.  Also I noticed some additional RPG like elements that I haven't heard about, such as the ability to talk to your cook and have him make a special meal or talk to the bosun to make a rousing speech (although these were grayed out in the scenario I was on).

I bought my version today from GamersGate. I'm a sucker for sub sims and just have to have the latest.

The new crew interface is really nice. The best part is buying skills and thereby make them better.

-Men do not stop playing because they grow old. They grow old because they stop playing. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Is there any way to remap the keys/controls?  I couldn't seem to find an option to do this from within the game.

"You can't spell disgruntled without Grunt!"

Just got my notice from GoGamer that my copy of SH5 has shipped. I hope to have it by Friday.

MC82

DBeves




I kind of take the view that the DRM is not there to spite people. Its an attempt to stop pirating of games - which must be a good thing in the scheme of things.

Sorry if this is going too far off topic into dreaded DRM territory (wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole or even comment if this thread weren't focused on the DRM method at its start), but I totally disagree here- Heavy handed DRM systems such as starforce and even online game services such as STEAM have been hacked, cracked and pirated time and again, and played hassle-free by said pirates so many times that "It's there to stop piracy" just doesn't work as an explanation anymore IMO.  They could at least just be honest and say "We can't and never have been able to make a dent in piracy since the dawn of computer gaming (and have profitted just fine despite it), but this sure does help kill off the second hand game market", which I'd imagine greatly increases profits on the typical mainstream 5-10 hrs of entertainment for $50-60 games that Ubi generally pumps out.  No more buying it for $50, beating it in a weekend, trading it at Gamestop/Half Price Books, and then letting someone else purchase it used for $25 or so.

Obviously SHV doesn't fit the 5-10hrs of play time generality, but most of the games Ubisoft and other huge game companies produce now do.

 


Well - I think you could as equally argue that Digital Downloading per se is an attempt to kill of the second hand games market in that sense ...

Cougar_DK


I bought my version today from GamersGate. I'm a sucker for sub sims and just have to have the latest.

The new crew interface is really nice. The best part is buying skills and thereby make them better.

You know I love your signature quote ...

MC82:

Great point.  Did you come up with this, or is it a pre-existing and generally acknowledged theory?  Makes perfect sense to me.

DBeves

Cougar_DK


I bought my version today from GamersGate. I'm a sucker for sub sims and just have to have the latest.

The new crew interface is really nice. The best part is buying skills and thereby make them better.

You know I love your signature quote ...

Thanks - its just fit me, my life and perspective of life versus my old mans vision of life. 

-Men do not stop playing because they grow old. They grow old because they stop playing. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Copy protection. To prevent unauthorized copying. Requires internet connection.

This is assuming the game is uncrackable, then, the principle of this DRM would work. However, the game is not uncrackable so:

Cracked copy is patched so it does not require internet connection. Pirates enjoy nag-free gameplay.

Legit customers have intrusive DRM.

I'll wager people who will pass at this game in regards to the DRM would gladly buy this legitimately if there was a crack to remove the need for an internet connection.
 
How ironic is that?

I for one will get this game!   ...after it is in the under 10 dollar bin and Ubi has removed the DRM on the bargain "classic/gold/whaterver" version.   Silent Hunter has been in my top 3 favorite series for years, I have all of them.  But this is the end for me if the DRM is not removed at some point...and at that point...they will be making a lot less money from me.

Kind Regards,

Harry Miktarian