EA Copies Ubisoft's Restrictive Internet DRM

[mindcycle]

It's no secret that Ubisoft's latest DRM scheme isn't one that's garnering any fans. The requirement for a constant and stable internet connection constantly for one to play Silent Hunter 5 or Assassin's Creed II or the upcoming Splinter Cell Conviction means that gameplay can be halted with any break in connection or fault on Ubisoft's end.

Despite the public backlash over this system, it seems that it is gaining some popularity over at EA. In a forum post by a C&C Community Manager Apoc, it was revealed that Command & Conquer 4 "has no DRM," but gamers must be connected to the internet.

"First thing to be clear about, Command & Conquer 4 has NO DRM. Zip, zero, zilch, none. We already made this clear."

"To play Command & Conquer 4, the computer needs to be connected to the internet. We've always made that clear as well."

It does appear that the internet connection is required to authenticate upon program launch, so it's possible that the game can continue being played even if the master server or your internet connection dies. We've contacted EA for clarification.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/drm-copy-protection-command-conquer-c-c,9925.html

Link to forum post: http://forums.commandandconquer.com/jforum/posts/list/35920.page

 

[Fox5]

Lol, looks like they're trying to use DRM as a negative buzz word.

 

[AndroidVageta]

internet authentication is a lot easier and hassle free than what Ubisucks is doing. I use no-DVD cracks for all my games anyways...but still, good to know that EA's head isnt completely up its ass!

 

[Lonyo]

Um, EA are hardly the ones copying.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/07/14/command-and-conquer-4-requires-constant-internet-connection/
Here's an article... from JULY LAST YEAR, on C&C4's requirement of an internet connection.

 

[Pia]

"Has no DRM", LOL.

If this is the direction EA is taking for their marketing, next they'll be saying their games are "free of charge". Of course the games will still cost money, but it's not like there is any contradiction in that, right?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Isn't EA the company that turned off console servers 18 months after the game launched?wouldn't that stop the game from working?

 

[Anubis]

hey look more games i wont be buying

 

[crownjules]

Isn't EA the company that turned off console servers 18 months after the game launched?wouldn't that stop the game from working?

They shut down online matchmaking so the only way to play multiplayer is against someone sitting next to you with another controller.

 

[Maximilian]

Isn't EA the company that turned off console servers 18 months after the game launched?wouldn't that stop the game from working?

Yeah theyre also the worst publisher in the history of video gaming from a gamers perspective.

 

[zerogear]

Yeah theyre also the worst publisher in the history of video gaming from a gamers perspective.

I don't know, Ubisoft is certainly starting to look deserving of that crown.

 

[lupi]

It's not really copying and they've announced this for sometime now. What matters is if they keep as they are now doing with reverting to just cd checks or if they move more regressive again.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm actually ok with this, it's not unreasonable of a game creator to want to protect thier investment. I'd just be more comfortable with it if you could play X amount of time without Internet check or that if the servers are going to be turned off there will be a patch to disable it.

 

[mmntech]

EA makes progress (stripping third party DRM off Steam), then takes a step back. Anybody want to buy my gaming PC? (j/k)

 

[shortylickens]

Since I planned to never again purchase an EA game, this is not really an issue for me.
But I sincerely hope to hear their screaming as they die a horrible death.

 

[vj8usa]

I'm actually ok with this, it's not unreasonable of a game creator to want to protect thier investment.

Sure, it's not unreasonable for a company to want to protect its game. What is unreasonable is the lengths they're going to. What's wrong with a Steam style authentication method where it just checks at install to activate the game? It's ridiculous to have to constantly be online to play a singleplayer game. Hell, even being online won't be good enough if their servers hiccup/go down.

 

[Skott]

I have no intentions of buying C&C 4. That'll learn them! LOL

 

[s44]

How come there were no cheers when they stripped down DRM for DD versions to the bare minimum for Dragon Age and ME2?

 

[EvilComputer92]

How come there were no cheers when they stripped down DRM for DD versions to the bare minimum for Dragon Age and ME2?

Because the gaming community, and this forum, only respond to bad news about EA with the usual "Ea suxorz" and close their ears whenever EA does anything good.

This was announced back in July of last year and now the OP makes a post about it.

Perhaps you'd like to know that DA and ME2 and Bad Company 2 all have a simple CD check in place and were all published by EA? No, let's all make the typical "BOYCOTT EA" posts before even pausing to think.

Good job stirring up the crowd as usual though, especially with your topic titles. CNC4 sucks anyway but this is an idiotic reason to start hating on EA especially when they have started to change their policies.

 

[TheJTrain]

How come there were no cheers when they stripped down DRM for DD versions to the bare minimum for Dragon Age and ME2?

I give EA kudos for those games every single time I mention DRM, and especially for Bad Company 2, which is the first instance of a retail disc-based release actually giving the purchaser a choice of which DRM mechanic to use (decided at install): online-authenticated SecuROM (and no disc needed in drive to play) or disc-check every time (but no online authentication, ever). Granted, the multiplayer-focused nature of that particular game limits the awesomeness of the latter choice, but still! Look! Choices!!!

Choices, good. Unreasonably restrictive mandates, bad.

 

[Lonyo]

How come there were no cheers when they stripped down DRM for DD versions to the bare minimum for Dragon Age and ME2?

Actually I was annoyed that Dragon Age had a disc check.
I was hoping for a Crysis Warhead like system when I just install and forget. Even "reinstalling" Crysis Warhead just involved re-entering the CD key after running the .exe (didn't actually need to put the disc in the drive and reinstall after changing OS with Warhead installed on a different partition).

Instead I had to download a no-CD crack so I could watch a DVD and play Dragon Age at the same time because of the disc check.

Nice to hear that BFBC2 gives users a choice between the two, because I would have welcomed that.
Also BFBC2 gives a third choice for DRM. You can do disc, SecuROM or Steam (with no SecuROM on the Steam copy, since they removed it). 3 different methods, all giving you different choices depending on personal preferences.
Now if only they would be consistent with their DRM and do it across products!

 

[s44]

Actually I was annoyed that Dragon Age had a disc check.

Then you should have gotten a (non-Steam) DD version. Only restriction: 5 activations per 24 hours.

 

[mindcycle]

Because the gaming community, and this forum, only respond to bad news about EA with the usual "Ea suxorz" and close their ears whenever EA does anything good.

This was announced back in July of last year and now the OP makes a post about it.

The article I linked to is dated 3/18/10. There are also many other articles from late last week about the same topic. http://tinyurl.com/yf8dpqj

Perhaps you'd like to know that DA and ME2 and Bad Company 2 all have a simple CD check in place and were all published by EA? No, let's all make the typical "BOYCOTT EA" posts before even pausing to think.

Hummm.. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2045614&highlight=

 

[clok1966]

HUGE Settlers fan, but when i seen the "alwasy on" internet connection crap .. First BLU BYTE Settlers game i wont be purchaseing.

Piracy is bad, we all get it. But Pirates will (and do) crack "ANYTHING". New forms of DRM are seldom worthwhile for more then a day or two in stopping it.

Copy protection that stops legit people from playing is bad, No ammount of marketing spin on it that will make it good. They just stopped me.

STEAM (excellent online digital distro) has stopped my pirating ways.. I can have a game almost instantly (if they preload, get with it game companies! preload!). It almost always has a pre-order deal (like $10 off). And patchs in background ... I think the last non legit game i ever saw (wherever it might have been) was FAR CRY2 .. which ... I myslef did buy on STEAM when it was cheap.

If they outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.

 

[mindcycle]

Here's en excerpt from the 1up.com review of C&C 4 that mentions the DRM.

In keeping with the ill-advised, MMO model, you have to always be online while you're playing Command & Conquer 4. Let's say, for example, I've been having router problems. Which I have. I expected it would interfere with playing Bad Company 2, Lord of the Rings Online, and anything from Ubisoft. But I didn't expect that it was going to interfere with the story mission where I'm activating some kind of "GDI hoo-ha mumbo jumbo resonance tower ascension McGuffin ship with a million hit points puzzle mission." I get disconnected and have to start all over. This discourages piracy, but that's not really my concern. All I'm getting out of the deal is that on the way to restarting the campaign mission, I can see a chat window with people complaining about the always-online requirement.

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3178417

 

[Lonyo]

Then you should have gotten a (non-Steam) DD version. Only restriction: 5 activations per 24 hours.

Considering I paid £14 (~$21), paying out the ass for a DD would have been a waste on Dragon Age just for a tiny bit of convenience (although many people seem to like paying 50%+ more for Steam etc copies), but you have a point. It would be nice if EA had a standardised box copy DRM solution though.
'Unfortunately' the cheapest way to get games in the UK is by far buying boxed copies, unless there is a monster sale on a digital copy somewhere, which just highlights a disconnect between the economics and the reality.