# Ubisoft's new uncrackable, intrusive, and annoying DRM cracked in under 24 hours...



## newtekie1 (Mar 4, 2010)

http://www.infoaddict.com/ubisofts-new-drm-cracked-in-under-25-hours



> Ubisoft made serious waves when they announced a new DRM policy for all new PC titles, beginning with Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin’s Creed 2. The new scheme UbiSoft hoped would thwart piracy requires all legitimate users to have a permanent Internet connection that continuously authenticates a copy of the game. Additionally, save game files are now stored on UbiSoft servers. This new system has angered long-time fans who are rightfully pissed off that this new procedure will undermine the integrity of their game, i.e., lose Internet connection and you can’t play the game, or Ubisoft servers take a hike and you’re left holding your dick.
> 
> Well, Ubisoft’s master plan has collapsed in under 24-hours, as infamous cracker group Skid-Row has tackled the new DRM and rendered it useless, meaning the only people now suffering with this ridiculous DRM are legitimate owners.


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## Irish_PXzyan (Mar 4, 2010)

That quick? lmao!


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## TIGR (Mar 4, 2010)

I don't condone what they do, and you'll probably never hear this from me again, but this once, I'm just going to say it: Skid-Row, well done.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 4, 2010)

You know, I'm probably one of the few that is actually fine with _most_ DRM in games.  I'm fine with CD checks, serial numbers, and even some of the more invasive stuff like Starforce.  I'm even fine with online activation, provided it is handled properly(think Windows activation, where I can call a 800 number quickly and get the copy re-activated if need).

However, in this isntance, I think the DRM has gone too far, and am glad it was cracked so quickly.

I probably would have even accepted this DRM if it was just a matter of needing to re-authenticate every few hours of game play.  But saving the game on their servers, and needing a 100% constant internet connection is way too far for even me.


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## Binge (Mar 4, 2010)

TIGR said:


> I don't condone what they do, and you'll probably never hear this from me again, but this once, I'm just going to say it: Skid-Row, well done.



I condone what they do.  They are harmless hackers, and it's a waste of money for companies to produce DRM code.  Thanks for saying what we're all thinking though.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 4, 2010)

I love skid-row : ]

I completely condone skid-row and other hackers who help support gamers in their special way!


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## FordGT90Concept (Mar 4, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> You know, I'm probably one of the few that is actually fine with _most_ DRM in games.  I'm fine with CD checks, serial numbers, and even some of the more invasive stuff like Starforce.  I'm even fine with online activation, provided it is handled properly(think Windows activation, where I can call a 800 number quickly and get the copy re-activated if need).


Everyone is until DRM prevents them from playing a legitimately purchased game.  The industry is fueling the pirate flames.

Usually pirates are like drug runners: they make an illegal product and have distribution chains, suppliers, and dealers.  The industry has created a digital pirate--those born from wanting to make a copy for themselves but discover it doesn't work when they do.  The usual pirates are dangerous to an industry, the digital pirate only exists as a response to the industry.  It is a problem they created and a problem they can easily fix; however, they refuse because they can't see that the digital pirate they created is helping the usual pirate make millions.


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## JATownes (Mar 4, 2010)

I don;t mind DRM, as I purchase all my games, but I am appalled that Ubi has gone this far.  We just recently moved and my internet connection will not be hooked up for OVER A WEEK.  (using the one at work now).  If all my games had this bullsh*t I would be stuck playing peggle or something.  SHAME UBI!!! SHAME!!!  Congrats to Skid on a job well done.


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## assaulter_99 (Mar 4, 2010)

So much money investing in drm only to be undone in 24 hours? A joke, no less! Thinking about it, they could have invested the money in making a better sp, mp or whatever, if pirates see the love that the game has got from the devs, they would have bought the game (like stardock did with Sins of a solar empire, at least they got some good money)


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## TIGR (Mar 4, 2010)

TRIPTEX_MTL said:


> UBI can eat a dick.



Lol I simply did not see that coming. Just about spat my drink out.


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## Lubna (Mar 5, 2010)

Two black candles for Ubisoft!!!


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## Phxprovost (Mar 5, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> You know, I'm probably one of the few that is actually fine with _most_ DRM in games.  I'm fine with CD checks, serial numbers, and even some of the more invasive stuff like Starforce.  I'm even fine with online activation, provided it is handled properly(think Windows activation, where I can call a 800 number quickly and get the copy re-activated if need).
> 
> However, in this isntance, I think the DRM has gone too far, and am glad it was cracked so quickly.
> 
> I probably would have even accepted this DRM if it was just a *matter of needing to re-authenticate every few hours of game play*.  But saving the game on their servers, and needing a 100% constant internet connection is way too far for even me.



this is what i dont understand, why would my copy be legit one minute then pirated the next?   This isnt like PB making sure your not hacking...its making sure the game that was legit 4 seconds ago is still legit....... wtf?  I see absolutely no reason for it to have to be connected 24/7 other then to royally piss off the people who buy the game.  I swear companies are doing this shit on purpose just so it gets cracked and pirated to hell so they can turn around to their investors with a valid reason to leave the pc market behind........you wait and see


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## arroyo (Mar 5, 2010)

I hate DVD protection like Starforce, DRM and other garbage. I bought Splinter Cell chaos Theory recently to play on my netbook. I've installed it using external DVD reader, which I've borrowed from my frind. To play without DVD I must use cracks. 
It's not the first game that I'm glad it was cracked. I think a lot of people that have oryginal game use cracks to get rid of CD-Checks and Starforce stuff. Thank God for pirate-crackers!

One more thing:
How to not use pirate games if in my country - Poland if services like Games for Windows LIVE and XBOX Live just don't work. I cannot play in Unreal Tournament III and Gears Of War because Microsoft think, that all gamers from Poland are pirates. ARRR!!! That makes my angry. ARRR!!!


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## Thrackan (Mar 5, 2010)

JC316 said:


> When are these fuckwits going to learn? There are better hackers out there that LIVE for a challenge. Take a lesson from Bethesda and Oblivion, don't bother with copy protection, don't spend the money.



They're Ubi... Does French ring a bell?


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## mdsx1950 (Mar 5, 2010)

Lol too bad for Ubi. Piracy will NEVER stop. So companies might as well stop wasting time and money on copy protection etc lol.


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## Loosenut (Mar 5, 2010)

Thrackan said:


> They're Ubi... Does French ring a bell?



Your point being??


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## Thrackan (Mar 5, 2010)

Loosenut said:


> Your point being??



My point being that the most stubborn and old-fashioned people I know are French. I don't really want to get personal here, so I won't elaborate.


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## TVman (Mar 5, 2010)

Thrackan said:


> My point being that the most stubborn and old-fashioned people I know are French. I don't really want to get personal here, so I won't elaborate.



dont forget that they eat frogs  weirdos


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## Loosenut (Mar 5, 2010)

Thrackan said:


> My point being that the most stubborn and old-fashioned people I know are French. I don't really want to get personal here, so I won't elaborate.



I'm a french Quebecer and I resent that


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## Loosenut (Mar 5, 2010)

TVman said:


> dont forget that they eat frogs  weirdos



The only frog's legs I eat are my wife's


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## Thrackan (Mar 5, 2010)

Loosenut said:


> I'm a french Quebecer and I resent that



Which is exactly why I didn't get more into it.
Let's just say I've seen, and heard, too many bad, stupid, ignorant and stubborn things concerning French, or French speaking, people.

The fact that you *do* speak decent English makes up for a lot though


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## pantherx12 (Mar 5, 2010)

JC316 said:


> When are these fuckwits going to learn? There are better hackers out there that LIVE for a challenge. Take a lesson from Bethesda and Oblivion, don't bother with copy protection, don't spend the money.




Super true, like anon hackers do it for the lulz.

So as soon as something new comes out they'll hack it, probably not even to play the game either!


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## r9 (Mar 5, 2010)

For example the game is played by 10 mil people from which 1 mil  would buy the game and other would just use pirated one. Yes that is not fair to the company who created the game. 
But what if the company invents some super anticrack software that prevents those 9 mil pirated versions ?
It will endup with 1 mil legal players very irritated and those 9 mil people simply would not play and buy that game because it is not their way. 
So the final result is not sold more copies just punished people who bought the game.
I don`t see how this would help some company to make money.

I would like to present a theory to those greedy game makers. How about slicing the price in half and selling 3 time more copies. That sound like win/win situation for everybody.


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## r9 (Mar 5, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Super true, like anon hackers do it for the lulz.
> 
> So as soon as something new comes out they'll hack it, probably not even to play the game either!



The biggest mistake that protection makers do and would never learn is "NEVER SAY IT IS UNBREAKABLE!!!" you don`t want to motivate bored hackers .


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## Tatty_One (Mar 5, 2010)

assaulter_99 said:


> So much money investing in drm only to be undone in 24 hours? A joke, no less! Thinking about it, they could have invested the money in making a better sp, mp or whatever, if pirates see the love that the game has got from the devs, they would have bought the game (like stardock did with Sins of a solar empire, at least they got some good money)



Spot on..... they could have actually saved their money they spent on the DRM and actually released a cheaper game that more gamers could afford which in itself would have reduced pirating levels.......  whilst I understand companies wanting to protect their huge investment, in all walks of life.... if you price your product correctly, more people make a purchase.


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## Yukikaze (Mar 5, 2010)

Self-pwn3d. 

Lost the DRM and got a shitload of bad publicity. Heck, I am one of the people who was really looking forward to SH5 and I buy my games, but I am not shelling ANY money out for something with this idiotic protection scheme.

I do not mind the milder DRMs, they are a hassle, they are annoying, but they are usable. But if my internet goes down (Which given Israel's cable company is twice a week), the only thing my computer is good for is gaming. If I cannot game without a 100% stable internet connection, then the game simply isn't for me.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 5, 2010)

Phxprovost said:


> this is what i dont understand, why would my copy be legit one minute then pirated the next?   This isnt like PB making sure your not hacking...its making sure the game that was legit 4 seconds ago is still legit....... wtf?  I see absolutely no reason for it to have to be connected 24/7 other then to royally piss off the people who buy the game.  I swear companies are doing this shit on purpose just so it gets cracked and pirated to hell so they can turn around to their investors with a valid reason to leave the pc market behind........you wait and see



The same reason your Windows copy can be legit one minute, then pirated the next.  It all comes down to when the key/copy is flagged as being pirated.  With re-authentication, if the servers start recieving a bunch of requests for re-authentication from different machines, they flag the key/copy as pirated, and the next time the game re-authenticates, it fails and locks the pirate out.



mdsx1950 said:


> Lol too bad for Ubi. Piracy will NEVER stop. So companies might as well stop wasting time and money on copy protection etc lol.



You, as do most, miss the point of DRM.  The companies know whatever DRM they use, it will be broken rather quickly.  However, copy protection in games is designed to slow casual pirates down, not stop hardcore hackers.  Of course the line between the casual pirates and the hardcore hackers gets a little blurrier every day...


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## assaulter_99 (Mar 5, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> The companies know whatever DRM they use, it will be broken rather quickly. However, copy protection in games is designed to slow casual pirates down, not stop hardcore hackers. Of course the line between the casual pirates and the hardcore hackers gets a little blurrier every day...



Yes, especially when you take in account the number of things you have to do to hack the game, extracting, mounting, installing, cracking, well this can really slow the rate it gets pirated cause not everyone will have the time and knowledge to to all that.


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## Polarman (Mar 5, 2010)

Pirates - 1

Legitimate owner - 0

They (Ubisoft/EA + more) will never learn. :shadedshu


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## TVman (Mar 6, 2010)

a little reading about the new DRM

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ubisoft-drm-internet-assassin-s-creed,9805.html


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## YinYang.ERROR (Mar 6, 2010)

Interesting...


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## Mussels (Mar 6, 2010)

the crack was out before we could buy it here in Au...


... and my housemate with the legit game is thinking about cracking it, so a net outage wont F his game up.


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## KingPing (Mar 6, 2010)

buy the original, play the pirate!


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## newtekie1 (Mar 6, 2010)

assaulter_99 said:


> Yes, especially when you take in account the number of things you have to do to hack the game, extracting, mounting, installing, cracking, well this can really slow the rate it gets pirated cause not everyone will have the time and knowledge to to all that.



It isn't really a matter of knowledge of how to do all that, but rather the knowledge to find the tools require, particularly where to find the actual downloads.

There are a great number of my friends that would not have their pirated games if it wasn't for me knowing where to find the downloads and getting the games for them.  For the most part, if they can't use the same CD to install it on multiple computers, and run it, they give up.


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## Mussels (Mar 6, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> It isn't really a matter of knowledge of how to do all that, but rather the knowledge to find the tools require, particularly where to find the actual downloads.



indeed.

Download image (or rar files, which is a one click extract)
mount image
install
copy-paste crack files


This has not changed in many years, and is... hell, my mum could do it if i gave her instructions.

The thing is, finding downloads doesnt really matter - everyone has a mate or work buddy they ask to do it for them - he does the work, hands them a DVD and everyone is happy. one downloader can then share it to tens, if not hundreds of people (more if he goes to LAN events)


LAN events are big on piracy, especially these days when you need net to play games... even the legit owners have to crack their games just to play them offline.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 6, 2010)

Mussels said:


> LAN events are big on piracy, especially these days when you need net to play games... even the legit owners have to crack their games just to play them offline.



Oh for sure, I know people that go to LAN events not to actually play games with everyone else, but simply to pirate as much as possible.  This includes games, movies, and music...

And most of the servers in the server sections don't host a single game the entire event.


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## EastCoasthandle (Mar 6, 2010)

when will they learn...


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## olithereal (Mar 6, 2010)

Thrackan said:


> Which is exactly why I didn't get more into it.
> Let's just say I've seen, and heard, too many bad, stupid, ignorant and stubborn things concerning French, or French speaking, people.
> 
> The fact that you *do* speak decent English makes up for a lot though



French quebecer here as well...
Basing your opinion on the few French speaking people that you heard is definitely better, right?
P.S. French Canadians (Quebeque) and French from Frances are completely different. 

On topic, glad they cracked that DRM so fast. Freaking UBI needs to get their shit together and concentrate on actually making decent games.


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## zithe (Mar 6, 2010)

I liked activating the game online with D2D. I felt secure. However, the game I bought (CoJ) wasn't exactly innovative so I didn't play it again despite the second install.


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## hat (Mar 6, 2010)

...

They should just stop using DRM. Period. The farthest thing I can legitimately see is CD keys, because in the age we live in now it's really easy to download a copy of a game, but CD keys kinda render that copy half-useless if you care to play online at all. Disc checks and all this other bullshit DRM that has surfaced in the past couple years is nothing but an annoyance to legitimate owners... it just gets cracked anyways.


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## Mussels (Mar 6, 2010)

CD keys that are single use and locked into an account for you, is all that should be needed. Steams system is a working example of this... some hate steam, but its a perfect example of how DRM can be done without totally screwing you over (excluding some games not working in offline mode)


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## newtekie1 (Mar 6, 2010)

Mussels said:


> CD keys that are single use and locked into an account for you, is all that should be needed. Steams system is a working example of this... some hate steam, but its a perfect example of how DRM can be done without totally screwing you over (excluding some games not working in offline mode)



Not realy working, considering every major steam game is available in pirated form...steam games are actually insanely easy to crack.

As I prefer a physical disc anyway, for the games that I do buy, I don't like steam all that much.  I don't really see any reasoning against a CD check for games that have a physical CD.  I also don't see a reasoning against online activation either.


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## Mussels (Mar 6, 2010)

pirated isnt the point - the point was that its DRM that doesnt fuck over legitimate users.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 6, 2010)

Mussels said:


> pirated isnt the point - the point was that its DRM that doesnt fuck over legitimate users.



I haven't really seen any disc checks fucking over legit users, short of requiring the CD to be in the drive.

And of course, steam has the horrible disadvantage of fucking over the legitimate user if they want to play a game they own that isn't install, but don't have an internet connection...wait isn't that one of the big complaints about the DRM Ubisoft is using...:shadedshu


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## Champ (Mar 6, 2010)

Well, I like the idea they cracked it. PC gamers like myself don't have an internet connection to their PC.  I usually buy all my games, but it is hell to find a buddy or business that will let you lug your rig in just to activate a game:shadedshu  That makes for really awkward moments.  They're looking at you like have you lose you phucking mind?!!


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## AsRock (Mar 6, 2010)

USB key is the better way it's been used for VBS1 and now VBS2 for years.  All though that g is shit hot expensive but don't know if thats due to the USB key though.

Ya just plug it in when you want to play that game. But i'm sure that would not be all that good if every company used it.

In the end there is no way to stop piracy only to stop people from buying your game.


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## vbx (Mar 6, 2010)

This is why PC games are released months later than console games.  Maybe one day they will scrap the PC market and just focus on the console games.


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## zithe (Mar 6, 2010)

vbx said:


> This is why PC games are released months later than console games.  Maybe one day they will scrap the PC market and just focus on the console games.



Maybe, but preferably and probably not entirely. As long as there's money in it, it's going to be there.


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## mdsx1950 (Mar 6, 2010)

vbx said:


> This is why PC games are released months later than console games.  Maybe one day they will scrap the PC market and just focus on the console games.



You mean only PS3 right? Because X360 is already cracked and having tons of pirated games


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## Mussels (Mar 6, 2010)

and if all the good games come out on the PS3, then the PS3 will end up with cracks made for it as well...


pirates go where the demand is.


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## TVman (Mar 6, 2010)

blue ray writers are too expencive so it is not cost effective to pirate on that system!!! soo simple but yet so effective


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## Mussels (Mar 6, 2010)

TVman said:


> blue ray writers are too expencive so it is not cost effective to pirate on that system!!! soo simple but yet so effective



yes. but you CAN pirate it on HDD, just like the 360, PC, and wii (yes, even the wii lets you load ISO images from USB drives these days)


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## zithe (Mar 6, 2010)

TVman said:


> blue ray writers are too expencive so it is not cost effective to pirate on that system!!! soo simple but yet so effective



Until it becomes _the_ standard.


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## Fourstaff (Mar 6, 2010)

I wonder if it is legal to buy the game and install the cracked version if it to bypass the DRM. I think this is one of the only few win-win situations for legit users, they skip the hassle of DRM and the company gets their share of moolah.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 6, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> I wonder if it is legal to buy the game and install the cracked version if it to bypass the DRM. I think this is one of the only few win-win situations for legit users, they skip the hassle of DRM and the company gets their share of moolah.




Depends what the agreement you agreed to says.

Often they say modification of software is prohibited.

If it doesn't say that go nuts!

I do it all the time as I hate having to look for the cd when I want to play a game.


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## CrackerJack (Mar 6, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> I wonder if it is legal to buy the game and install the cracked version if it to bypass the DRM. I think this is one of the only few win-win situations for legit users, they skip the hassle of DRM and the company gets their share of moolah.



Depends on where u live

Removing any DRM is illegal.. being music,games or movies. Using a crack is no different then someone giving you a copied movie or music. Either way you look at it your removing a copyright



*No one has crack AC2 yet... as far as i'm aware and it's been out for a good time now


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## pantherx12 (Mar 6, 2010)

CrackerJack said:


> Depends on where u live
> 
> Removing any DRM is illegal.. being music,games or movies. Using a crack is no different then someone giving you a copied movie or music. Either way you look at it your removing a copyright




You can't remove a copyright, copyright is a concept not a physical item or piece of software : ] 

Infact certainly in this country your within you rights to MAKE a digital backup of any software/music/film you've bought *

Copyright law is flimsy at best, finding loopholes is easy as hell 



* you see giving the copy to another person is the bit that is breaking the copyright law


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## CrackerJack (Mar 6, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> You can't remove a copyright, copyright is a concept not a physical item or piece of software : ]
> 
> Infact certainly in this country your within you rights to MAKE a digital backup of any software/music/film you've bought *
> 
> ...




 this is what happens when i stay up till 4am... yeah meant DRM not so much copyright

I just wonder how many people will buy the game next week? Since Uby just lost all there offline players!?!? But they made a very big step doing this, for good and bad. But then again, why and the hell would the do online saves. If don't have internet in the first place... how you gonna get it? lol without burning 2-4 disc


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## pantherx12 (Mar 6, 2010)

CrackerJack said:


> this is what happens when i stay up till 4am..




I know the feeling


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## jimmyz (Mar 6, 2010)

How do they really justify the DRM on PCs when my local video store rents a single copy of a console game to 50+ people during the time it is current. so 1 sale = 50 people play it. Is pc piracy a 50:1 ratio? I know they still rent Grand turismo for ps2 and that game has been out how many years?


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Mar 6, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Depends what the agreement you agreed to says.
> 
> Often they say modification of software is prohibited.
> 
> ...



so do i 
personaly i don't see anything wrong with it as long as you bought and paid for the game ,as i know from my experience many of my paid for games have died from the age old dead sector problem ,so now i just get a "cough" crack, and my games last one hell of a lot longer ,what's illegal about that ?


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## HookeyStreet (Mar 6, 2010)

Blimey, i can remember Skid-Row back in the days of the Amiga 500  

Well done 



jimmyz said:


> How do they really justify the DRM on PCs when my local video store rents a single copy of a console game to 50+ people during the time it is current. so 1 sale = 50 people play it. Is pc piracy a 50:1 ratio? I know they still rent Grand turismo for ps2 and that game has been out how many years?



Ive been saying this for years.  Piracy isnt the main problem, rental services and 2nd hand sales are


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## newtekie1 (Mar 6, 2010)

jimmyz said:


> How do they really justify the DRM on PCs when my local video store rents a single copy of a console game to 50+ people during the time it is current. so 1 sale = 50 people play it. Is pc piracy a 50:1 ratio? I know they still rent Grand turismo for ps2 and that game has been out how many years?



Video stores pay royalties per rental, or at least they are supposed to.


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## Fourstaff (Mar 6, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Depends what the agreement you agreed to says.
> 
> Often they say modification of software is prohibited.



Well, if you didn't modify the program, but rather change how it is supposed to be run, then I take it as its legal?


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## assaulter_99 (Mar 7, 2010)

Well it seems that the drm is working, players are reporting that they can't proceed far into the game. They took the same path that batman AA took, letting the pirates experience the game then creating bugs in the game, crippling it forcing them to consider a buy.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 7, 2010)

assaulter_99 said:


> Well it seems that the drm is working, players are reporting that they can't proceed far into the game. They took the same path that batman AA took, letting the pirates experience the game then creating bugs in the game, crippling it forcing them to consider a buy.



Just like Batman:AA, they will break that protection also.


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## assaulter_99 (Mar 7, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> Just like Batman:AA, they will break that protection also.



Yeps I'm pretty sure of that!  Just give em a week or so!


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## Kreij (Mar 7, 2010)

Well, the reality is that hackers, pirates and DRM aren't going anywhere soon.
They will battle back and forth in a futile battle with the hackers making the DRM companies look like fools in short periods of time. Even if Skid-row did not completely crack the ubi-drm. they will not give up until they succeed. 

On a side note. If you are good with software and want to make a foojillion dollars, come up with a new DRM scheme that can at least hold out for a month for each game it's used on.


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## Delta6326 (Mar 7, 2010)

Sweet this is why i love the good hackers, i would rather have them hacking a game than to hack my bank info. i think we all need to head back to mass effect 1 you buy the game you can install on many computers then you can throw away the disc because the game is on the pc.

also i have not pirated a game, but i also just don't buy games i just dream about them. but i 100% support pirates teach the game dev's to not overprice a game that your going to play for 15 hours then never play again. now i would pay $60 buck's for games if they where maid like the good old Mario's, all ways fun every time you played it.


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## 99vw (Mar 7, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> You know, I'm probably one of the few that is actually fine with _most_ DRM in games.  I'm fine with CD checks, serial numbers, and even some of the more invasive stuff like Starforce.  I'm even fine with online activation, provided it is handled properly(think Windows activation, where I can call a 800 number quickly and get the copy re-activated if need).
> 
> However, in this isntance, I think the DRM has gone too far, and am glad it was cracked so quickly.
> 
> I probably would have even accepted this DRM if it was just a matter of needing to re-authenticate every few hours of game play.  But saving the game on their servers, and needing a 100% constant internet connection is way too far for even me.



I couldn't of said it better myself.


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## assaulter_99 (Mar 7, 2010)

Delta6326 said:


> i 100% support pirates teach the game dev's to not overprice a game that your going to play for 15 hours then never play again. now i would pay $60 buck's for games if they where maid like the good old Mario's, all ways fun every time you played it.



Exactly, but its a double edged sword really. As long as they are around, the devs will have the silly "we have been pirated" argument. That's what really hurting us. Now I ain't saying that game quality hasn't dipped lately, there's a lot of bullsh*t around, 4-6 hours of single player etc. I like when a good game company cranks out a good game and sells well, if drm can help them (as long as it ain't intrusive, requiring internet connection etc), let it be. Back to topic though, the longest I've seen a drm hold its ground is double agent, 8 months!


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## Grings (Mar 7, 2010)

Damn, i nearly bought Silent Hunter yesterday, glad i didn't now...

These new drm's take the piss, what about in 5+ years time when you feel all nostalgic and want to play one of these games (like i did for fallout1 after finishing fallout3) and the f***ing server is no longer online?

Dicks, there's £35 lost, and not to piracy!


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## newtekie1 (Mar 8, 2010)

Grings said:


> Damn, i nearly bought Silent Hunter yesterday, glad i didn't now...
> 
> These new drm's take the piss, what about in 5+ years time when you feel all nostalgic and want to play one of these games (like i did for fallout1 after finishing fallout3) and the f***ing server is no longer online?
> 
> Dicks, there's £35 lost, and not to piracy!



Thats the thing with this particular DRM, according to Ubisoft, a simple patch will remove it.  So when the servers go offline, the patch is released.  Of course if Ubisoft can release a patch to remove the DRM, so can the hackers...


----------



## Kreij (Mar 8, 2010)

Let's take a little nostalgic trip back in time.
Some of you might remember when games on floppies.
They used a protection scheme where certain bytes on the floppies were written at a voltage level such that it would randomly switch between a zero and one. 
The copy protection was simply to read the byte repeatedly and if it did not change, it was a bootleg copy. You needed special hardware to get your floppy drive to write these bytes, which made casual copying impossible (although the hardware was readily available if you knew about it).
No interwebz, no authentification and downloading a copy (from a BBS) was worthless.

Fast forward 20 or so years and you will notice that the old copy protection is still better, less invasive and requires no tubes. I know that you cannot compare a floppy disk to optical media, but there are always inexpensive ways to thwart the casual pirates without penalizing the real customers.

I don't think they are putting on their thinking caps when it comes to DRM. With all the technology we have today they should be doing a lot better.

Just my 2 cents.


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## niko084 (Mar 8, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> However, in this isntance, I think the DRM has gone too far, and am glad it was cracked so quickly.



While I am much more against DRM, I do understand the desire for the companies to do it.

Issue being now, it's going too far and nothing is going to stop it, the protection will get better and the cracks will get better until there is no more.

Even in a round about way, a few will ruin it for the majority yet once again.


----------



## assaulter_99 (Mar 8, 2010)

niko084 said:


> While I am much more against DRM, I do understand the desire for the companies to do it.
> 
> Issue being now, it's going too far and nothing is going to stop it, the protection will get better and the cracks will get better until there is no more.
> 
> Even in a round about way, a few will ruin it for the majority yet once again.



Exactly, if its for the sake of our beloved platform, lets just learn to live with it.


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## newtekie1 (Mar 8, 2010)

Delta6326 said:


> i 100% support pirates teach the game dev's to not overprice a game that your going to play for 15 hours then never play again. now i would pay $60 buck's for games if they where maid like the good old Mario's, all ways fun every time you played it.



World of Goo pretty much single handedly disproves your argument.

1.) The game had NO DRM.
2.) The game was only $20 when release.
3.) The game was reviewed as not only being about a 20 hour game, depending on your skill, but was also reviewed as being one of the best games of the year when it was released.

It had a 90% piracy rate!:shadedshu

The "games are too expensive" argument is a pretty lame one at best.  Price doesn't matter, even the ones that aren't overpriced get pirated to shit.


----------



## Mussels (Mar 8, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> World of Goo pretty much single handedly disproves your argument.
> 
> 1.) The game had NO DRM.
> 2.) The game was only $20 when release.
> ...



and yet, that 10% that it sold for made them a shitload of money. they even had a 'choose your own price' sale you could buy it for as little as one cent


----------



## zithe (Mar 8, 2010)

I think the ones that are cheaper get pirated more often. People might feel less guilty or something, idk. "It's only 5 bucks, what are they losing? They're making millions."


----------



## Mussels (Mar 8, 2010)

zithe said:


> I think the ones that are cheaper get pirated more often. People might feel less guilty or something, idk. "It's only 5 bucks, what are they losing? They're making millions."



no. games are pirated on "is this worth my money?"


world of goo? might have been cheap, but certainly not a game i enjoyed. IF i was to get that game, it would have been for free, or not at all.

that is the pirate mentality.


----------



## zithe (Mar 8, 2010)

A friend of mine would pirate a game, beat it, then buy it out of guilt.


----------



## NinkobEi (Mar 8, 2010)

my friend pirates loads of games, but also purchases lots of games. more than a couple per month, which is more than most people buy... so I guess technically he is justified in his piratings. 

There should just be a flat fee of, say, $40 a month and you can play any/every game on the market. And maybe that is what will happen eventually.. microsoft will offer dx17 on a monthly basis that you have to pay to activate..but all games will be downloaded from Steam, which gets part of the monthly fee from M$.


----------



## Mussels (Mar 8, 2010)

Ninkobwi said:


> my friend pirates loads of games, but also purchases lots of games. more than a couple per month, which is more than most people buy... so I guess technically he is justified in his piratings.
> 
> There should just be a flat fee of, say, $40 a month and you can play any/every game on the market. And maybe that is what will happen eventually.. microsoft will offer dx17 on a monthly basis that you have to pay to activate..but all games will be downloaded from Steam, which gets part of the monthly fee from M$.



steam has something like that, an internet cafe subscription. it has a minimum amount of PC's or something, however.


----------



## Steevo (Mar 8, 2010)

Great. 

I bought neither of these games just for the DRM bullshit. Same reason I won't buy online videos, I have a few google videos I paid for, and they went down faster than a slut at prom. Tvshack FTW! i do use netflix for WMC and the two DVD's though.


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 8, 2010)

Ubisoft servers went down , Razor to the rescue,.


----------



## SabreWulf69 (Mar 8, 2010)

ROFL, Games will always be cracked. Games will always be pirated. There's nothing ANYone can do to permanently stop this within legal reason. Bethesda definitely had it right, if people wanna pirate it then pirate it they shall, cos when a cracked copy is released, it is pirated just the same, and throughout history I don't think there has ever been a game someone hasn't developed a method to crack and pirate. Learn from history's mistakes you stupid company's and stop wasting money on DRM, cos that is making you loose more money than just piracy alone, is irritating to legitimate users, gives people incentive to crack the protection systems, and the over the top DRM systems give games moderate to high bad publicity, which I assume would be unwanted. And as far as the "point" of DRM to deter simple hackers, it only takes one person to do it and upload it. Then the mass can simply Google where to download and how to do the rest. Easy for anyone with the most basic computer knowledge - just click, read and follow instructions.


----------



## Frick (Mar 8, 2010)

I'm such a non-gamer nowadays that I don't really care about this anymore, and the few new games I actually play I buy. That Ubi DRM looks like a real pain though, it scores a lot of WTF!!-points. I should be able to play a game anywhere I want, even in that small cabin in the middle of nowhere where the very idea of being connected is laughable.

That being said, I really think the developers deserve the money. Heck, if a game is superawesome I buy multiple copies just for that (I think I've spent like $150 on Heroes 3 ). I do realise that a big chunk of the money does not go to the creators, but well, that's the way it is. It kinda sucks, but there you go.


----------



## newtekie1 (Mar 8, 2010)

Mussels said:


> no. games are pirated on "is this worth my money?"
> 
> 
> world of goo? might have been cheap, but certainly not a game i enjoyed. IF i was to get that game, it would have been for free, or not at all.
> ...



No, for the most part "is it worth my money?" has nothing to do with it, unless in the end nothing is worth the money...

Instead it is more like "I don't want to pay for things that I can get for free".


----------



## Mussels (Mar 8, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> No, for the most part "is it worth my money?" has nothing to do with it, unless in the end nothing is worth the money...
> 
> Instead it is more like "I don't want to pay for things that I can get for free".



pirates always miss out on something (online play, for example) so it comes down to whether they want the MP or not.


for example, bioshock 2 was pirated a fair bit, since the SP was 'ok' with a dated engine, and the MP was worthless. pirates gain nothing to buy it, so there is no motivation to do so.


----------



## SabreWulf69 (Mar 8, 2010)

Mussels said:


> pirates always miss out on something (online play, for example) so it comes down to whether they want the MP or not.
> 
> 
> for example, bioshock 2 was pirated a fair bit, since the SP was 'ok' with a dated engine, and the MP was worthless. pirates gain nothing to buy it, so there is no motivation to do so.



Ever heard of cracked servers? People with cracked games can play multiplayer all they want, even using himachi and vpn if they must, the saying "Where theres a will, theres a way" comes to mind.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 8, 2010)

I use copys as a trial myself,if i like the game i will buy them,especially mp games.Most often though i will buy them on steam if possible,there is a sick amount of games on my steam list.


----------



## CrackerJack (Mar 8, 2010)

tigger said:


> I use copys as a trial myself,if i like the game i will buy them,especially mp games.Most often though i will buy them on steam if possible,there is a sick amount of games on my steam list.



same here.. i hate paying $40+ for a game that blows. 



SabreWulf69 said:


> Ever heard of cracked servers? People with cracked games can play multiplayer all they want, even using himachi and vpn if they must, the saying "Where theres a will, theres a way" comes to mind.



very true.. you have crack and private servers to pick from.



Mussels said:


> pirates always miss out on something (online play, for example) so it comes down to whether they want the MP or not.
> 
> for example, bioshock 2 was pirated a fair bit, since the SP was 'ok' with a dated engine, and the MP was worthless. pirates gain nothing to buy it, so there is no motivation to do so.



Mojority pirates have legal copies



dinjo_jo said:


> Ubisoft servers went down , Razor to the rescue,.



Good luck with that.... RAZOR has had some bad luck since COD4


----------



## erocker (Mar 8, 2010)

Hypothetically there is no online distribution and you bought a DVD that used DRM, if fails. What would you do? Go to the store and steal another game? 

What we need is a way to make things right for the consumer if DRM gets in the way. How to do that? Remove DRM. Either way you will have the unethical stealing games, but you won't have angry consumers making dumb decisions to steal the games because DRM failed them in the first place. Without DRM, the paying consumer doesn't suffer and in turn they game companies can actully put some sort of effort into bringing down thieves.


----------



## SabreWulf69 (Mar 9, 2010)

Well said


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 9, 2010)

Ubisoft servers went down again


----------



## SabreWulf69 (Mar 9, 2010)

LOL, they come up with the stupid idea, if it wasn't bad enough, now their servers keep dropping on and off, it just gets better and better doesn't it.


----------



## ctrain (Mar 9, 2010)

Mussels said:


> no. games are pirated on "is this worth my money?"
> 
> 
> world of goo? might have been cheap, but certainly not a game i enjoyed. IF i was to get that game, it would have been for free, or not at all.
> ...



they sold something like 60,000 copies during their little experiment and made around $100,000 so really, they hardly did bad, especially for a two person team!

their piracy rate was corrected only 82% later as well. i wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people that payed during that "anything you want to pay!" sale were actually people who previously pirated. i guess that goes to show that people simply cant resist if the price is right.

it's not on the scale of crytek's crying about piracy (after they sold a couple million copies in reality) but really, 2d boy didn't exactly get bent over in the end.


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 9, 2010)

Now this is awesome Ubisoft is been able to keep off pirates for close to 1 week now.


----------



## Yukikaze (Mar 9, 2010)

dinjo_jo said:


> Now this is awesome Ubisoft is been able to keep off pirates for close to 1 week now.



This isn't awesome. If this scheme succeeds, the result will be more publishers/developers adopting such schemes. The end-result will be a market of DRM-filled software which we can only use online, which is a limitation that sucks.


----------



## KainXS (Mar 9, 2010)

CrackerJack said:


> same here.. i hate paying $40+ for a game that blows.



"points at rougue warrior"

that game was supposed to be so good and ended up a complete ripoff.


----------



## keling (Mar 9, 2010)

Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Silent Hunter 5. All of these games are the ones that I've been waiting for this month but the new Ubisoft DRM scheme effectively killed my plans of buying any of them. I have internet connection but through a cheap 3G mobile broadband service. My own 3G broadband provider doesn't provide 3G services in my own hometown. My sister's service provider has 3G but has a tendency to cut itself off anytime I open a game or leave it unused for more than 10 minutes. I'm planning to buy a true internet connection in a couple of months but the idea of having to be online just to play a singleplayer campaign is not my cup of tea. 

Do what EA did with BFBC2 - give us options. I chose to activate the game and that was a smart choice. Now I can play it without using DVD or staying online all the time. The 10 install limits? So what. By the third or fourth installation, BFBS3 would be coming out. And several patches later, maybe a no DVD check exe will be officially given....maybe.


----------



## AsRock (Mar 9, 2010)

was just reading a review on SH5 and here's what one guy had to say. I guess it was expected though huh.



> Another disappointment from Ubisoft.....I paid almost fifty dollars for the game, played it one day, and now it doesn't even open due to a problem with the online saved game synchronization. As usual, no tech support from Ubisoft, the only suggestion from them........turn off your firewall!!!! Let's get real here. My suggestion, don't even bother to look at the trailer on this one and definately don't waste your money, its a real disappointment.


----------



## gunsmoke (Mar 10, 2010)

any fink with ubi on the game box says it all..
put it back on the shelf and save your cash and the head arc,,,


----------



## AsRock (Mar 11, 2010)

So many complaints it's silly.
http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4721051016/m/7481010838

Here's another thread about people complaining about it..  Pretty sad really and gotta wounder how much this has cost them.

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4721051016/m/9761009738


----------



## newtekie1 (Mar 11, 2010)

You would think, if they were going to roll out this new DRM that requires the user to have a connection to their server 24/7, they would make 100% sure that the server actually worked...maybe have some kind of redundancy if the first server did fail...like it did...


----------



## Yukikaze (Mar 11, 2010)

newtekie1 said:


> You would think, if they were going to roll out this new DRM that requires the user to have a connection to their server 24/7, they would make 100% sure that the server actually worked...maybe have some kind of redundancy if the first server did fail...like it did...



I am waiting on the class action, myself. It will be fun to watch the fireworks.

I really hope this thing falls flat on its face, because if it gets picked up by more games, the PC gaming market will be a very, very, very sad place.


----------



## newconroer (Mar 11, 2010)

I don't now if it was mentioned already, though I didn't see it...

The portion of entering a CD Key into the Ubisoft launcher, has been bypassed, or 'cracked,' as some would say, but both of their flagship games under this new DRM system, Assassins Creed II and Silent Hunter 5, become broken.

As mentioned in the other thread, I cannot consider it a successful cracking, if the software breaks down because of the methods use to bypass the DRM.

So until the games are 100% functioning, through a cracked method, then Ubisoft's DRM is doing it's job.


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 11, 2010)

By the way where did you get this information?

As apparently it works completely fine : ]


Skid-row don't tend to state " then play the game" in their read me files unless the game actually plays.


"    Silent Hunter NFO:

    Ü ß               ßÜ    ÜþßßßþÜ      Û                ÜþßßßþÜ
    °   ÛÜ     ²Ü     °    ÜÛÝ  ß       ²Ü     ßßÛÛÛÜÜ     ° ÜÛÜ     ²ÛÜ
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    ÜÛÛÛÛßßßßßß ²ÛÛ²  ²ÛÛÛÛßÛ²²²Û  ÜÜÜÜÜÜ²ÛÛ² ²ÛÛ²  ²ÛÛ²ß ÜÛÛ²   ²ÛÛÜ ²ÛÛ² °°°  ÜÛ²
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    ±±±±±  Þ±±±±ÛÞ±±  Þ±±±± ²²²²²Þ±±±± ° ±±±± ±±±±  Þ±±±±ÛÜ±±± ° ±±±± ±±±± °°° ±±±±
    °°°°° ° °°°°°Ý°° ° °°°°°°°°°°Þ°°°° ° °°°° °°°° ° °°°°°°°°° ° °°°° °°°°  Ü  °°°°
    ±±±±± ° ±±±±±Ý±± ° ±±±±±Ü±±±±±±±±± ° ±±±± ±±±± ° ±±±±±Ý±±± ° ±±±± ±±²ßÜÛÛÛÜß²±±
    Þ²²²² °Þ²²²²²²²² °Þ²²²²²Ý²²²²Þ²²²²Ý  ²²²² ²²²² °Þ²²²²²²²²² ° ²²²² ²²²²²ß ß²²²²²
    ßÛÛ² ÜÛ²ÛÛßÜÛÛß  ²ÛÛÛÛ²ÛÛÛß  ²ÛÛÛ²ÜÜ²ÛÛ²Ü²Ûß   ²ÛÛÛ² ßÛÛ²   ²ÛÛß ²ÛÛß ° ° ßÛÛ²
    °  ßÜÛÛßß   Ûß   ÜÛ²ÛÛß Ûß  °  ÛÛÛÛÛßßß   ß  ° ÞÛÛ²ÛÝ ° ßÛÛÜÛÛß ° ²ß   °     ßÛ
    Üßß    °     ÜÛÛÛßß  ° ßþÜÜþß ßßÛÛÛÛÜÜÜþß  °  ßßÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜÛÛß Eboy
    ßÜÜþß     þßß                                     ßßßßßß
    S   K   i   D   R   O   W

    Üß               ->  T H E   L E A D i N G   F O R C E   <-                 ßÜ
    ßÜ                                                                          Üß
    ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß ßßßßß  ß proudly presents ß  ßßßßß ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
    ° ÛÛÛ²²²²±±°° Silent Hunter 5: Battle of the Atlantic / Ubisoft °°±±²²²²ÛÛÛ °
    ±ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ±
    ²                                                                           ²
    ²   RELEASE DATE : 03-03-2010               PROTECTION : Ubisoft DRM        ²
    ²   GAME TYPE    : Submarine Simulation     DISKS      : 1 DVD              ²
    °                                                                           °
    ßÛ²ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß ßßß  ß
    ßÛÝ Release Notes: ßÛÜ                                               ° Û
    Üþ  Þ² ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÜ                                             ± Û
    Û   ÜÛß Û                                                                ² Û
    ßßß  ° Û The Skid Rowdies are looking new blood to fill up the ranks.   Û Û
    ± Û We're a professional team of dedicated sceners with big mark   Û Û
    Û Û under sceners. We believe on the ground idealism of the root   Û Û
    Û Û of the real old school scene. We do all this for fun and       Û Û
    Û Û nothing else. We don't earn anything on our hobby, as we do    Û Û
    Û Û this for the competition and the heart of what got the scene   Û Û
    Û Û started in the mid eighties.                                   Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û If you think you got something to offer, then don't hold back  Û Û
    Û Û on contacting us as soon as possible.                          Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û  _______  __     ___     _____   /__                          Û Û
    Û Û      / |/ /_/_|         _  / /_ /  /                   Û Û
    Û Û  / /| / / //| |     //_// / / / / / /                   Û Û
    Û Û /   |   /  | |_   / / / /_/ / /// /                    Û Û
    Û Û ____/|_|___/|___/ / /_/_/__/_/____/                     Û Û
    Û Û     twice the fun   / double the trouble                      Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û On with the game release information:                          Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Silent Hunter 5 hails the return of the number one submarine   Û Û
    Û Û simulation. For the first time the player will be able to play Û Û
    Û Û & feel as U-boat captain leading his crew from a first person  Û Û
    Û Û view in a true dynamic campaign.                               Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Operate against Allied shipping on a vast area all across the  Û Û
    Û Û Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and participate in famous Û Û
    Û Û encounters with strong enemy warships. Can you do better than  Û Û
    Û Û the best U-boat aces?                                          Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Silent Hunter 5 raises the levels of interactivity and         Û Û
    Û Û immersion inside the U-boat and outside                        Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û For the first time the player will walk through highly         Û Û
    Û Û detailed submarines in FPS view and be able to access every    Û Û
    Û Û inside & outside part of the U-boot                            Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û With the help of an advanced order system the player will      Û Û
    Û Û interact with the submarine crew, watch them doing their daily Û Û
    Û Û jobs and experience the tension & fear inside the U-boot.      Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Player actions will impact the outcome of battles and the      Û Û
    Û Û scenario evolution in campaign. Depending on his approach the  Û Û
    Û Û player can open new locations with upgrade and resupply        Û Û
    Û Û possibilities, while the Allied response adjusts dynamically   Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û °                                                                Û °
    ßÛ²ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÛÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß ßßß  ß
    ßÛÝ Install Notes: ßÛÜ                                               ° Û
    Üþ  Þ² ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÛÜ                                             ± Û
    Û   ÜÛß Û                                                                ² Û
    ßßß  ° Û 1. Unpack release                                              Û Û
    ± Û 2. Mount image or burn it                                      Û Û
    Û Û 3. Install                                                     Û Û
    Û Û 4. Copy the content from the SKIDROW folder on the DVD to your Û Û
    Û Û    installation directory and overwrite                        Û Û
    Û Û 5. Play the game                                               Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Additinal Notes:                                               Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Don't install/use Ubisoft launcher, or simply block any        Û Û
    Û Û connection to internet.                                        Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Install game and copy crack, it's that simple!                 Û Û
    Û Û                                                                Û Û
    Û Û Support the companies, which software you actually enjoy!      Û Û"


----------



## vbx (Mar 11, 2010)

Cities XL requires a constant internet connection and a username/password to login.  I have no issues with it so far.


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## Suijin (Mar 12, 2010)

I've grown to hate even CD authentication.  If I want to play a game on my laptop that I bought, then I need to make sure I drag the CD around with me everywhere in case I want to play it???  If I have more than 1 game I need to carry all the game CDs around, that is retarded.  Meanwhile people who didn't buy the game but have a cracked version don't have that problem and didn't have to buy the game either.  Talk about punishing the people who actually buy the game.

I just stopped buying games basically for these reasons, and no I don't pirate any either.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Mar 12, 2010)

Yukikaze said:


> I am waiting on the class action, myself. It will be fun to watch the fireworks.
> 
> I really hope this thing falls flat on its face, because if it gets picked up by more games, the PC gaming market will be a very, very, very sad place.


You'd think Ubisoft would have learned their lesson from previous experiences with consumer complaints involving Tages and Star-Force protection.  Instead, they decided SecuROM wasn't good enough so they moved back towards the agressive protection methods of Tages and Star-Force and, *surprise*, people hate it.  Ignorance alone is killing PC gaming.




newconroer said:


> I don't now if it was mentioned already, though I didn't see it...
> 
> The portion of entering a CD Key into the Ubisoft launcher, has been bypassed, or 'cracked,' as some would say, but both of their flagship games under this new DRM system, Assassins Creed II and Silent Hunter 5, become broken.
> 
> ...


It is stupifyingly simple to break Internet authentication: just mimic what the server does locally.  Done.  They can make game protection extremely complex to break like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (I think it took over a year to break) but it will evetually be broke and in the meantime, you're making your customers unhappy.  It is lose-lose for everyone except those companies that make the anti-piracy software that doesn't work.


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## CrackerJack (Mar 14, 2010)

Well just notice there is a working crack for AC2 lol not much for a crack, the game was crack a week prior of the release. Just as we all know the whole server connection and saves was crackers fear. Well not anymore, I can say I really see this coming. Using Crack/Server Emulator


With that said I would say game dev have made a HUGE improvement! It's one small step against piracy. Ubi just needs to keep there servers up!


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## pantherx12 (Mar 14, 2010)

Protip : Pirates always find a way.

Most of them are extremely talented software engineers or have just been hacking for years.

To fight them is a waste of resources.

Especially when they cause little to no damage to sales.

People that pirate games probably would not buy the game anyway, simple as that.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 14, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Protip : Pirates always find a way.
> 
> Most of them are extremely talented software engineers or have just been hacking for years.
> 
> ...



+1 to that.

To fight them is a waste of resources. And a pain in the ass for the customers who buy the real thing and have to struggle alot.  

If hackers can pirate Windows 7 and the best virus guards (Kaspersky and NOD32). What can they not do?


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 14, 2010)

Let alone hacking into US military data bases etc.

There was a UK guy a few years ago who hacked into loads of US high security servers.

The Pentagon etc etc


He was just one guy.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 14, 2010)

So just imagine a whole team LOL!


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 14, 2010)

The US tried to make him have his trial over there so they could put him away for ever*, I wonder what ever happened to him : [

Should of given him a job, I don't think he even done anything malicious was just leaving silly notes and changing backgrounds and other silly bits.




* I assume this was because if their was any secret things he looked at they were shitting bricks he would say something.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 14, 2010)

Maybe they recruited him to work as their personal hacker. (Can never say )


----------



## CrackerJack (Mar 14, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> Protip : Pirates always find a way.
> 
> Most of them are extremely talented software engineers or have just been hacking for years.
> 
> ...



I'm fully aware of that

You be suprise on how many pirates buy games  

I was just shock it took them this long to do it. Most groups are in the numbers of 30+ spread world wide. 

But from what I said before, I can't figure out the team that did this. I would more likely say Skid, Razor or Reloaded but I know it's not them


----------



## CrackerJack (Mar 14, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> Maybe they recruited him to work as their personal hacker. (Can never say )



More than likely... This how several friends and relatives got there jobs


----------



## WhiteLotus (Mar 14, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> The US tried to make him have his trial over there so they could put him away for ever*, I wonder what ever happened to him : [
> 
> Should of given him a job, I don't think he even done anything malicious was just leaving silly notes and changing backgrounds and other silly bits.
> 
> ...



You mean this guy.


----------



## CrackerJack (Mar 14, 2010)

> Mr McKinnon, 43, who has Asperger's syndrome, is accused of breaking into the US military computer system. He says he was seeking evidence of UFOs.




LMAO UFO's Hackers favorite excuse


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 14, 2010)

WhiteLotus said:


> You mean this guy.





That's the one thanks man, was wondering how it was going for him


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 14, 2010)

He was just a harmelss idiot i think,i can understand why hs is terrified of a trial in the us,he would get 25yrs or something rediculous.


----------



## douglatins (Mar 14, 2010)

I am worried that no AC2 has been released


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 14, 2010)

tigger said:


> He was just a harmelss idiot i think,i can understand why hs is terrified of a trial in the us,he would get 25yrs or something rediculous.




60 : [

Messed up


----------



## Velvet Wafer (Mar 14, 2010)

thats totally inhuman... he probably could have got access to really high security stuff, he probably even read things, people already died for knowing. but he is psychological ill, so its totally pointless to lock him up that long... no one would believe him, even if he saw, what brained people already know: we cant be alone.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 15, 2010)

He might know the actual location where they have locked up Megatron


----------



## Velvet Wafer (Mar 15, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> He might know the actual location where they have locked up Megatron



the allspark haz yu


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 15, 2010)

Shit i wanted to play this game badly and game is still not available in our country


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## Triprift (Mar 16, 2010)

Just read this one http://www.neoseeker.com/news/13357-ubi-com-hacked-free-goods-coming-for-previous-downtime


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## Mussels (Mar 16, 2010)

Triprift said:


> Just read this one http://www.neoseeker.com/news/13357-ubi-com-hacked-free-goods-coming-for-previous-downtime



comments say its a fake screenshot


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## Triprift (Mar 16, 2010)

Yes i did read that bit even though they deserve it if it was real.


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## pantherx12 (Mar 16, 2010)

Mussels said:


> comments say its a fake screenshot




I can only see 10 comments or so, and only the first one says its fake.


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## RoutedScripter (Mar 16, 2010)

Yeah 
http://gadgetsteria.com/2010/03/14/...e-ubisofts-site-hacked-by-disgruntled-gamers/

Here , they have a "real" image taken one hour after , and if you look , UBI were in a hurry and taken that out , but written their own "site maintenance" with the graphics on both sided missing. But the "hacked" image doesn't look fake to me ...


----------



## Mussels (Mar 16, 2010)

thanks ruski, that cleared it up.


----------



## RoutedScripter (Mar 16, 2010)

Mussels said:


> thanks ruski, that cleared it up.



rly ?  heh , sry for my english now i corrected what i meant to say.

 I , just think this way , it's not a fact rly. Cause everybody's talking it's fake but well why would it be , DDoS wasn't fake , so if it was true it was like only for one hour, and not many people saw it.


----------



## Mussels (Mar 16, 2010)

the link helped clear up that it wasnt a fake.


----------



## RoutedScripter (Mar 16, 2010)

So i was useful 


Well ofcourse ubi would throw up a maintenance messeage later , but a lot of people still think the whole thing is fake , if it's true it's pwned and I say they well deserve it.

EDIT:
"I myself as well as several other friends checked Ubi’s site last night when this was all the rage and did in fact see the hacked image above" .. oh of course...


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 17, 2010)

Pirates finally have a answer to UbiSoft and they have given a answer to Ubisoft today.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 17, 2010)

Razor1911 cracked the game right? So is it 100% cracked now?


----------



## AsRock (Mar 17, 2010)

Mussels said:


> the link helped clear up that it wasnt a fake.



Well even if the pics were fake it don't matter although i wish they were fake to be honest as they are only putting the wrong message out by hacking peoples servers.

All the proof is on steam\UBI forums  as the complaints are more than any other type of game issue.

I'll buy both SH5 and AC2 if they remove the DRM always on tomorrow if they did and sure many others would too.

I wish there was some way to see how this has effected sales for these two games.


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 17, 2010)

The message their putting across is that Pirates are inevitable and probably unstoppable.

Or that's what they intended anyways <_<


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 17, 2010)

Not sure whether its 100 % cracked or not, can someone please confirm.

I'm not promoting piracy but just asking for some info.


----------



## AsRock (Mar 17, 2010)

pantherx12 said:


> The message their putting across is that Pirates are inevitable and probably unstoppable.
> 
> Or that's what they intended anyways <_<



Well until now i've never seen them as bad people due to making games playable when the release version of the game was not or even if it was just to remove the CD\DVD check because your sick of finding the CD\DVD.

But now i think they have gone to far.  The people are voicing the issue just as well it's not as if they had to hack the servers in the 1st place..  In fact it might make UBI think that most of the complaints are caused by the hackers and not just their crappy assed DRM.


----------



## Fourstaff (Mar 17, 2010)

Its very hard to hear all those cries when you are so high up sitting on a comfy chair ranting about falling sales.


----------



## Frizz (Mar 17, 2010)

That is some serious doo doo
*
QUOTE Anonymous:*

From what I understand, the servers weren't just taken down, and it wasn't just the site that was hacked. Apparently, Skidrow also managed to steal the content of the game stored on the ubisoft servers. I think that, basically, all they have to do is hack the .exe files so that they look in folders on your computer rather than the ubisoft computers. Just what I've surmised based on what I've heard though.


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 17, 2010)

XD if that quote is true Skid are insane XD

Talk about best way to crack this DRM or what!

te he


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 17, 2010)

So does Ubisoft have courage to release Splinter Cell : Conviction with this DRM ?


----------



## Frizz (Mar 17, 2010)

dinjo_jo said:


> So does Ubisoft have courage to release Splinter Cell : Conviction with this DRM ?



I assume they'd release a new and improved version of this DRM which would probably take only 24-27 hours to crack 

The further steps they take into restricting non-legitimate end users the farther they get from delivering proper service to legitimate end users, it really seems that way and looks to be lose-lose situation in terms of profit and marketing.


----------



## pantherx12 (Mar 17, 2010)

I remember way back when UBIsoft used to be a cool company

Didn't they make hostages on the Atari?


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 17, 2010)

The game is cracked 100% by Razor1911. People have already played the cracked version and they say it works perfect. So i guess thats that.

Too bad for Ubi. But in your face Ubisoft 

EDIT: Also SkidRow has a 100% working crack now.


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 18, 2010)

No its not yet


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Mar 18, 2010)

Yup, my reliable, unmentionable sources say Assassin's Creed 2 hasn't been defeated yet.  The same source confirms Skidrow has defeated Silent Hunter 5.


----------



## IINexusII (Mar 18, 2010)

assassins creed 2's current crack freezes with white screen when you enter the animus, which is 30seconds from the start


----------



## Mussels (Mar 19, 2010)

IINexusII said:


> assassins creed 2's current crack freezes with white screen when you enter the animus, which is 30seconds from the start



there is a savegame fix to bypass that, however you need to basically patch the savegame and load each level individually - you cant play the game start to finish (and therefore, no achievements, no records of YOUR progress, just those in the savegame)


----------



## mdsx1950 (Mar 19, 2010)

dinjo_jo said:


> No its not yet





FordGT90Concept said:


> Yup, my reliable, unmentionable sources say Assassin's Creed 2 hasn't been defeated yet.  The same source confirms Skidrow has defeated Silent Hunter 5.





IINexusII said:


> assassins creed 2's current crack freezes with white screen when you enter the animus, which is 30seconds from the start



The 3 of your'll are wrong. Check the comments in this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2upmQzEZK8Y

Everyone has played the game without any errors or whitescreens. The new crack fixes ALL  bugs and whitescreens.

Here are some comments from youtube that i quoted :-



> jasper66130 (7 hours ago) Show Hide
> Marked as spam
> Reply
> I have a GT9800 and can only play this on medium with average fps. Do any of you guys know how to tweak my video board? Could also be an issue wit the ram i have..
> ...





> playsafe18 (19 hours ago) Show Hide
> Marked as spam
> Reply
> no whitescreens at last.. i tested it myself. thanks!



I'm not promoting piracy. But this is the truth. ACII is 100% cracked.


----------



## Mussels (Mar 19, 2010)

mdsx1950: unless you have teh crack in your hands, you cant claim its real. I've been searching all the places i know of (public and private) and so far, its not cracked.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 19, 2010)

I've just looked on my normal stuff site and its there but no working crack.

I'm a bit nervous of posting about pirating and cracks with mussels post above mine.


----------



## Mussels (Mar 19, 2010)

we arent discussing how to do it, or where to find the cracks - its borderline acceptable, because we're discussing the topic of "is this game uncrackable" since it will have severe ramifications for PC gaming.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Mar 19, 2010)

It isn't uncrackable.  Like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, it will just take a while.


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 19, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> The 3 of your'll are wrong. Check the comments in this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2upmQzEZK8Y
> 
> Everyone has played the game without any errors or whitescreens. The new crack fixes ALL  bugs and whitescreens.
> 
> ...



The video is a fake one.


----------



## dr emulator (madmax) (Mar 24, 2010)

i was just out with mate who needed a new montor and came across crisis 2 £9.99 
which i thought was ok, till i was walking to the cash register and read the game installs drm and required online activation, 
which would mean i could only install it so many times ,so back it went on the shelf:shadedshu


----------



## Illuminutty (Mar 24, 2010)

DRM Starting up...





It's SO NICE to have a my save games 'backed up'!!!





Ubisoft holding my hand while I play... Makes you feel warm & fuzzy all over!... They love me, they REALLY love me!

I bought the game, and I find it ExTReMeLy annoying that Ubisoft has to keep tabs on me EVERY time I play. So OK, I paid for the use of the game, now they should BACK off and allow me to play whenever, wherever, however I wish. Instead of looking over my shoulder as if I were a criminal on parole!

As soon as the crack is available, I'm applying it. Just out of sheer spite and principle.


----------



## newconroer (Mar 24, 2010)

Mussels said:


> we arent discussing how to do it, or where to find the cracks - its borderline acceptable, because we're discussing the topic of "is this game uncrackable" since it will have severe ramifications for PC gaming.



Maybe, but you are openly admitting to searching sources that are rampant with piracy.

Borderline indeed.

I'll support your comment, that the current method results in the "Animus bug," and you would have to somehow 'fix' it after every level, but even then it would still fail.

I'm major psyched about this new DRM, I love reading all the whiner posts about how Ubisoft is the anti-Christ and that piraters actually think they are customers who deserve better(although not paying customers of course..).

@Illuminutty

I'm about as 'paranoid' as they get when it comes to things like big government, corporate takeovers and being spied upon in general - but really, you're 'connected' to the internet 24/7 anyways, you're being 'watched' by all kinds of different services and various types of companies every time you go on the internet. What does being connected to Ubisoft make any difference - especially given that they're just a gaming company? 

Your comment about the crack, out of spite, is one of the things that litters the communal mentality of piraters. They're like a bunch of fourteen year olds trying to pull the moral high ground card, yet they haven't a faint clue about morals themselves.

In the end, the only people that cause piraters to suffer, are other piraters.
It's just a shitty situation that they also affect proper customers.
Ubisoft is doing something about it, where most people have failed. Even if it only lasts a month or two, it's worth it for several reasons.


----------



## PVTCaboose1337 (Mar 24, 2010)

As a general rule, the harder someone tries to prevent something, the harder people work to allow it again.  History repeats itself with such examples as:

-The American prohibition
-Communism (not entirely but whatever USSR is no more!)

And now introducing software DRM!


----------



## D007 (Mar 24, 2010)

Which is why I'm not buying any games with this DRM or anything like it ever again.


----------



## RoutedScripter (Mar 24, 2010)

PVTCaboose1337 said:


> As a general rule, the harder someone tries to prevent something, the harder people work to allow it again.  History repeats itself with such examples as:
> 
> -The American prohibition
> -Communism (not entirely but whatever USSR is no more!)
> ...



-eu
-nau
-911
-i better stop here


----------



## Illuminutty (Mar 24, 2010)

newconroer said:


> @Illuminutty
> 
> I'm about as 'paranoid' as they get when it comes to things like big government, corporate takeovers and being spied upon in general - but really, you're 'connected' to the internet 24/7 anyways, you're being 'watched' by all kinds of different services and various types of companies every time you go on the internet. What does being connected to Ubisoft make any difference - especially given that they're just a gaming company?



Princely why I don't need yet *another* entity 'watching me, and resent that they so do.
I'm well aware of the many eyes out there, we don't need them in gaming as well.



newconroer said:


> Your comment about the crack, out of spite, is one of the things that litters the communal mentality of piraters. They're like a bunch of fourteen year olds trying to pull the moral high ground card, yet they haven't a faint clue about morals themselves.



I'm sure pirates existed BEFORE I made the comment and will continue to do so even if I don't say anything at all. Morality is a subjective concept with many layers. What is moral to one society is an outrage to another. We do live in *this* society where the suits want to call the shots and corporations want to own the planet. What do you suggest we do? Bow and take it up the wazoo? i don't think so.



newconroer said:


> In the end, the only people that cause piraters to suffer, are other piraters.
> It's just a shitty situation that they also affect proper customers.
> Ubisoft is doing something about it, where most people have failed. Even if it only lasts a month or two, it's worth it for several reasons.



I applaud the fact that doing something. But actions like the use of a permanent DRM only feeds the fire. Ubisoft has a history of inserting pain-in-the-rear copy protection. However, time will tell if this one in particular does anything to lower the price of games, which is attributed to counter supposed losses due to piracy.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 25, 2010)

For a lot of pirates its more about can we do it than should we do it.Also is a pirate someone who makes the crack or uses it? I think its a hacker who makes it and a pirate that uses it but thats just my opinion.

Imo if they put no copy protection on games just as many people would buy it as use a copy.If someone is gonna buy it they will buy it,if someone is gonna use a copy they will use a copy,nothing will change that.


----------



## n-ster (Mar 25, 2010)

I'm in the plane, or in the backseat of my car or van or I'm on a long bus trip or train trip... and I am not allowed to play my game? Yea, as if I won't download the crack version of my game to do so lol


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 25, 2010)

Anyone who says hackers who make the cracks are dumb kids are idiots.Hackers are usually very intelligent and adept at programming languages and such,no one is gonna blunder into a game disc and discover how to crack it,it take intelligence and knowledge of programming etc.

I am not saying i condone it at all,just that i dont think these people are idiots.Also it is pretty obvious they dont do it to make money else why would they post them on sites that anyone can find on the net.


----------



## D007 (Mar 25, 2010)

olithereal said:


> French quebecer here as well...
> Basing your opinion on the few French speaking people that you heard is definitely better, right?
> P.S. French Canadians (Quebeque) and French from Frances are completely different.
> 
> On topic, glad they cracked that DRM so fast. Freaking UBI needs to get their shit together and concentrate on actually making decent games.



People are different..
Regardless of where the come from.
it has nothing to do with where you are.

It has everything to do with "who" you are.
Not much pisses me off more in this world than people who think their different or better than other people based on their location.
I find that to be extremely ignorant and offensive.


I'm not saying that was your intention in your response.
Just saying I see hints of that in there.
It's a bad way to think.


annd back on topic as well..lol
I have never condoned piracy at all.
I have bought every single game I have ever owned and am happy to pay for all of the hard work put into it.
But once things come to a point where we are all being treated like criminals and are being virtually punished by someone who thinks they have the right to be our E-Daddy.

They got another thing coming.
I will pirate the shit out of this game and any game that uses a similar DRM relentlessly and I fully condone it.


----------



## dinjo_jo (Mar 26, 2010)

Command and Conqueror have been successfully cracked they allowed to point to your local adddress


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Apr 8, 2010)

There is now a 90%+ working crack for Assassin's Creed 2.  As suspected, they just emulate Ubisoft's server.  It is just a matter of time before a 100% working crack appears.

AC2 was released March 9, 2010.  It took just under a month.  Pirates = 1; Ubisoft = 0.


----------



## AsRock (Apr 8, 2010)

FordGT90Concept said:


> There is now a 90%+ working crack for Assassin's Creed 2.  As suspected, they just emulate Ubisoft's server.  It is just a matter of time before a 100% working crack appears.
> 
> AC2 was released March 9, 2010.  It took just under a month.  *Pirates = 1; Ubisoft = 0*.



UBI score too as people are still buying it.  Now if no one got it then some thing might happen but most people are like sheep or just take the crap anyways.  Sure i could buy it and crack it but will not anyways due to the wrong message that be sent which would be there sales figures and as long as there are high enough they don't care..


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Apr 8, 2010)

It may be selling well on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 but I doubt Ubisoft will ever give the sales figures for each platform.  They won't want the public to know how much their new DRM hurt PC sales.


----------



## PCpraiser100 (Apr 8, 2010)

Lets face it, even when we buy the game we are still sick of all this DRM crap in the way of all the fun. When Xbox gamers debate to PC gamers, the first things they say if they look up stuff (for once) is DRM which is probably the most insulting thing they could say about the platform. Show them Skid Row's ways, and they will stfu lol.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Apr 8, 2010)

I might just get the cracked because im really pissed off at Ubi (i probably wont do it... But i feel like it sometimes because the DRM is so annoying!!). Even Splinter Cell Conviction is going to need a 100% stable internet connection at all times!


----------



## keling (Apr 8, 2010)

My sister recently left her laptop for a while to cook dinner. The laptop was connected online but it was idle, no programme in the foreground. After half an hour I heard her Avira anti virus software rang out an alarm. It detected and prevented a system volume intrusion.

That's why I don't like the idea of being connected to the internet while gaming especially when I'm only playing a singleplayer mission. Multiplayer is different because that's the way it's meant to be played - connected to other PCs.

Besides, I think Ubisoft's new DRM is more than meet the eyes. I think it's simply a great cover for Ubisoft's true reason - free and real time testers for it's Cloud servers. Everyone who purchased Ubisoft games circa Assassin's Creed 2 will unconsciously be participants in a covert software development cleverly disguised as a DRM. 
It's interesting to see their and everybody else's reaction once the real programme is finished and launched and then we'll be charged to be members or to be able to access some features. Cloud computing won't be free in the future. 

EA required online connection for C&C4. EA is also testing cloud servers. Blizzard require Starcraft 2  to be connected to it's own servers for multiplayer. I think the Cloud factor is present here.

Why build a DRM (traditional DRMs such as CD Keys, Starforce) that will prevent you lose sales when you can enforce a DRM/server that will give you more money in return (cloud servers, Skynet)

FYI : a friend of mine is playing Silent Hunter 5. He's playing it offline and paid nothing for the game- he's playing a cracked version of the game he downloaded from somewhere.


----------



## assaulter_99 (Apr 8, 2010)

Maybe this is old news, could be a fake but I heard that when the story broke out. Seems skidrow had hacked into ubi's site. Seems ubi are making a lot of enemies lol.


----------



## Crazykenny (Apr 8, 2010)

There is nothing that cant be cracked. My sincere regards to Razor 1911, seriously, those people are internet icons.


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Apr 8, 2010)

Skidrow hasn't released a crack for Assassin's Creed 2 yet.  Maybe that was for Silent Hunter 5?


The two exisiting cracks aren't by groups I've ever heard of.  I'm sure a Skidrow, Razor 1911, or Reloaded crack is coming but they won't release it until it is 100% good.  It sounds to me like it isn't hard to spoof the Ubisoft server.  They just have to make sure they catch and spoof every single time it tries to access the Ubisoft server.  They basically have to play the game through twice (once to engineer the spoof and again to verify it is flawless), completely, to makes sure it is good.  That takes a lot of time.


----------



## kid41212003 (Apr 8, 2010)

I believe I read somewhere that was saying Ubisoft was leaving the PC market months ago... (CEO blamed pirating).


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Apr 8, 2010)

They brought it upon themselves.  If you call your customers criminals, why would they even step through the door?  Potential customers are simply responding to that message Ubisoft is sending.


----------



## mdsx1950 (Apr 8, 2010)

I've been a fan of Ubi for years. Specially after the Prince Of Persia series. Its gonna suck knowing that POP: Forbidden Sands might have the same shit DRM


----------



## Deleted member 67555 (Apr 8, 2010)

I just noticed this thread and i have got to say Skid Row rocks..

they cracked Steams MW2 as well in like 1 day..


I don't pirate but I don't like retarded DRM's either 
so when I buy a game with an intrusive DRM..

I know who to turn to..


----------



## erocker (Apr 8, 2010)

jmcslob said:


> I know who to turn to..








Everybody just remember the guidelines on posting please.


----------



## Solaris17 (Apr 8, 2010)

The more you tighten your grip, Ubi, the more customers will slip through your fingers.


----------



## Deleted member 67555 (Apr 9, 2010)

Yes the Buddy Christ
that is who I always turn to LOL

In all seriousness I pay for every program I use(except the actual free ones) because I want to support the programmers that made it 

But I have to admit it completely pisses me off that some of my money is going into DRM development. I don't want them don't need em and don't think they should even be legal let alone a condition for purchase


----------



## FordGT90Concept (Apr 21, 2010)

Assassin's Creed II has *officially been cracked by Skidrow*.  Some of the release info:

```
While we worked on this release, we noticed that several news 
webpages, forums, blogs etc. posted information, including a  
screenshot of a Ubisoft server attack message, which showed   
our group name.                                               
                                                              
First of all, that picture is a fake, nor would any member of 
Skid Row cause such riot, as we're only here to compete with  
our game release competitors, nothing else.                   
                                                              
Neither do we encourage anyone to take such actions, no matter
how much we agree, that DRM's like this one, are only hurting 
those that do want to buy the game or have bought it.         
                                                              
Another point is those news medias, we mentioned before, post 
anything these days, no matter if it's a joke or not. Beware  
what you're posting, just because you want to prank someone.  
                                                              
This release is an accomplishment of weeks of investigating,  
experimenting, testing and lots of hard work.                 
                                                              
We know that there is a server emulator out in the open, which
makes the game playable, but when you look at our cracked     
content, you will know that it can't be compared to that.     
                                                              
Our work does not construct any program deviation or any kind 
of host file paradox solutions. Install game and copy the     
cracked content, it's that simple.                            
                                                              
Since we don't want to see cheap imitations, we protected our 
work with a solid shield. Not because we want to deceive the  
majority, like certain people out there, but because we have  
in the past been an open book of knowledge for our competitors
                                                              
Real cracking is done by The Leading Force!                   
                                                              
 _______  __     ___     _____   /\__                         
 \    / |/ /_/\_|   \    \  _ \ / /_ \/\  /\                  
 /\ \/| / / \/\/| |\ \    \//_// / / / / / /                  
/  \ \| \ \ /  \| |_\ \  / / \/ /_/ / /// /                   
\____/|_|\_\\__/|___/ / /_/\_/\__/_/\____/                    
    twice the fun   \/ double the trouble
```


```
Special Notes:                                                
                                                              
Thank you Ubisoft, this was quiete a challenge for us, but    
nothing stops the leading force from doing what we do. Next   
time focus on the game and not on the DRM. It was probably    
horrible for all legit users. We just make their lifes easier.
                                                              
                                                              
Special greetz to our friends in GENESIS, you guys are amongst
the very few who still manage to do this with the scene spirit
intact. Well done guys!                                       
                                                              
                                                              
Support the companies, which software you actually enjoy!
```

Note that the Dormine release is a server emulator (technically not a crack), this is a crack (removes the DRM).


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## TVman (Apr 21, 2010)

i think even skidrow has to admit that Dormine´s workaround was genius


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## Naelex (Apr 21, 2010)

saw that earlier, can't wait to finally play 

down with drm!


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## FordGT90Concept (Apr 21, 2010)

TVman said:


> i think even skidrow has to admit that Dormine´s workaround was genius


Dormine's was obvious (run a server locally) and messy but it still worked.  Their solution is still packed full with DRM--they just caught it and handled it at the choke point (networking).


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## KainXS (Apr 21, 2010)

I gaurentee you alot of people will use this crack even if they didn't pirate the games since its incomparably simpler then the other method, it will be pirated to hell an back but im just saying if I bought this I would use the crack.


skidrow did something good this time round,


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## Hockster (Apr 21, 2010)

Whole thread was tl dr, hope this wasn't posted already.


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## KainXS (Apr 21, 2010)

lol


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## Mussels (Apr 22, 2010)

i can confirm the working crack was out several weeks ago, my housemate uses it so that he doesnt lose his progress when our net drops (which is a few times a day if its raining).


Really, no more needs to be said on this topic - uncrackable DRM cracked, and everythings already been said so i'm gunna lock the thread before people start going overboard and saying things they shouldnt be saying on here.


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