Proletariat Beowulf
CAG Veteran
- Feedback
- 1 (100%)
The following letter is one I sent to Ubisoft's US PR Director Jaime Borasi, not because I thought he was the best person to contact over my issues, but because, as I indicate in my letter, his was the only e-mail available that I could find. He probably has some poor intern or secretary filtering this shit out all day long. Long story short, I had some trouble with Far Cry 2: it won't let me play it when my Internet goes out. Ubisoft's project lead himself also admitted that the game was released in an unfinished state, but any bitching I have about the menu interface or the necessity of having the product key and an ubi.com account and being unable to change your name and being unable to use voice in multiplayer and being unable to join a game in progress and having to wait until every player in the lobby selects "ready" before the game will start are all rendered moot whenever Mr. Internet decides to bounce from my humble abode. I though I got a great deal, buying FC2 for $14.99 on Steam. I was pretty angry to discover that I had instead bought some pretty $15 desktop icons. I don't have to hold a seance and ask Ray Croc's long-dead ghost for permission to eat a damn Big Mac if I choose to poison myself with one after buying it: I just pay the money, then stuff it into my face and arteries. Once I bought a graphic novel that had an anti-theft sticker sensor right over Batman's goddamn face; so concerned was the bookstore that someone would steal the book that they would rather see it partially destroyed than let it go. The crux of my argument is that until Ubisoft grows up and stops breaking their games with ridiculous DRM protections, I won't reward their behavior with my money. I encourage others to follow suit, but I imagine there are already plenty doing so.
"Mr. Borasi:
First, I must apologize for contacting you with information that is clearly unrelated to your department, but as Ubisoft is apparently uninterested in providing me an alternative method of contacting the proper person to digest it, I would appreciate if you would forward this message to the appropriate destination, perhaps Quality Control. The more likely destination is the "trash" folder, but maybe someone at your company is interested in discovering precisely why I will never again purchase an Ubisoft product.
My first encounter with Ubisoft began with a demo for some long-forgotten game on PC that was freely distributed and contained the StarForce malware. Having unknowingly installed the DRM software with the demo, I had no way of discovering except by long process of trial and error that the recent malfunctions in my system were caused by StarForce; I was unable to find the source of the trouble until my DVD drive had been permanently rendered inoperable, carrying with it many an ill-burned disc replete with would-be musical tracks and backed-up data.
So we're not exactly off to a good start, are we? Nonetheless, years later, after warily installing and thoroughly enjoying the Far Cry 2 demo, I decided to buy the game. Flaws and all, and there are plenty, I still enjoy playing Far Cry 2. Or rather, I would like to. Unfortunately, one of the champions of corporate rights at your intrepid company decided to deny me the opportunity every time my Internet service is interrupted. I purchased the game online via Valve's Steam service, after which I read some but not all of the exceptionally long-winded and loquacious EULA in which I am certain the legal specialists at Ubisoft placed some infinitesimal footnote indicating that the game was playable only if some bot-dialer could phone home. In effect, my ability to utilize the software for which I paid is not dependent solely upon my mood, but how chatty my wireless connection is feeling at any given moment. In effect, your company decided to include with the software a block which almost removes my free will from the equation. If I buy a burger or taco, I am in no way obligated to contact the chef, his manager, the store owner, or the company president to ask permission to eat the product I have purchased, and I find the very idea of it offensive. Likewise, none of the aforementioned people, however large their stake in my patronage, are in any way authorized to deny my consumption of the product until they deem that I do so in such a time, place, and/or manner that they deem appropriate. The very idea of such DRM being farcical, I hear the Razor 1911 hacker group and others have done the very good service of removing the protection software from pirated versions of Far Cry 2 readily available to those who know how to acquire it. While I possess no intent to pirate the game or to implicate myself in any way during an apparent "piracy paranoia" wave sweeping the United States and Europe, know the obvious: that had I chosen not to pay for your software, I could enjoy its full range of entertainment at my leisure. Believing these to be the two most honorable and pragmatic solutions, and not a false dichotomy, I offer two options:
1) Refund my US $14.99 and revoke my purchase of Far Cry 2 from Steam, or
2) Release an update that removes the deceptive home-dialer DRM software from Far Cry 2 so that I may play it any time, irrespective of the condition of my Internet connection.
I appreciate your swift response. Additionally, I recommend you take some of these Escapist articles to heart:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...perienced-points/5961-10-Ways-to-Fight-Piracy
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/5930-The-Impossible-DRM .
Have an enlightening day."
For added comedy, Ubisoft includes this lie on their support FAQ page for FC2:
"7. Do I need to be online every time I play 'FarCry 2'? No, you need to be online only for a fresh install. An Internet connection is also required to revoke the license when uninstalling the game. A high speed connection is not required."
"Mr. Borasi:
First, I must apologize for contacting you with information that is clearly unrelated to your department, but as Ubisoft is apparently uninterested in providing me an alternative method of contacting the proper person to digest it, I would appreciate if you would forward this message to the appropriate destination, perhaps Quality Control. The more likely destination is the "trash" folder, but maybe someone at your company is interested in discovering precisely why I will never again purchase an Ubisoft product.
My first encounter with Ubisoft began with a demo for some long-forgotten game on PC that was freely distributed and contained the StarForce malware. Having unknowingly installed the DRM software with the demo, I had no way of discovering except by long process of trial and error that the recent malfunctions in my system were caused by StarForce; I was unable to find the source of the trouble until my DVD drive had been permanently rendered inoperable, carrying with it many an ill-burned disc replete with would-be musical tracks and backed-up data.
So we're not exactly off to a good start, are we? Nonetheless, years later, after warily installing and thoroughly enjoying the Far Cry 2 demo, I decided to buy the game. Flaws and all, and there are plenty, I still enjoy playing Far Cry 2. Or rather, I would like to. Unfortunately, one of the champions of corporate rights at your intrepid company decided to deny me the opportunity every time my Internet service is interrupted. I purchased the game online via Valve's Steam service, after which I read some but not all of the exceptionally long-winded and loquacious EULA in which I am certain the legal specialists at Ubisoft placed some infinitesimal footnote indicating that the game was playable only if some bot-dialer could phone home. In effect, my ability to utilize the software for which I paid is not dependent solely upon my mood, but how chatty my wireless connection is feeling at any given moment. In effect, your company decided to include with the software a block which almost removes my free will from the equation. If I buy a burger or taco, I am in no way obligated to contact the chef, his manager, the store owner, or the company president to ask permission to eat the product I have purchased, and I find the very idea of it offensive. Likewise, none of the aforementioned people, however large their stake in my patronage, are in any way authorized to deny my consumption of the product until they deem that I do so in such a time, place, and/or manner that they deem appropriate. The very idea of such DRM being farcical, I hear the Razor 1911 hacker group and others have done the very good service of removing the protection software from pirated versions of Far Cry 2 readily available to those who know how to acquire it. While I possess no intent to pirate the game or to implicate myself in any way during an apparent "piracy paranoia" wave sweeping the United States and Europe, know the obvious: that had I chosen not to pay for your software, I could enjoy its full range of entertainment at my leisure. Believing these to be the two most honorable and pragmatic solutions, and not a false dichotomy, I offer two options:
1) Refund my US $14.99 and revoke my purchase of Far Cry 2 from Steam, or
2) Release an update that removes the deceptive home-dialer DRM software from Far Cry 2 so that I may play it any time, irrespective of the condition of my Internet connection.
I appreciate your swift response. Additionally, I recommend you take some of these Escapist articles to heart:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...perienced-points/5961-10-Ways-to-Fight-Piracy
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/5930-The-Impossible-DRM .
Have an enlightening day."
For added comedy, Ubisoft includes this lie on their support FAQ page for FC2:
"7. Do I need to be online every time I play 'FarCry 2'? No, you need to be online only for a fresh install. An Internet connection is also required to revoke the license when uninstalling the game. A high speed connection is not required."
