Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity • Hacker News Board

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#21

Post by Hokusai » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:31 AM UTC

> We may also close long-term inactive accounts to maintain our database.

How many kilobytes takes too store ownership data? I can just imagine that tracking data is thousands of times bigger.

> The crazy thing about this is that it’s perfectly legal for video game companies to delete your account regardless of whether you’ve spend zero or a thousand dollars on their games

It's a shame that we are going to fight for our digital rights because currently we have almost none because justice does not understand technology.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#22

Post by Forricide » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:31 AM UTC

Wow, glad I saw this - it explains a lot. Went to go and try to play an AC game again after giving up a year or two ago and couldn't figure out my login details. Guess this is (maybe?) why. Can't find a deletion email though, so it seems impossible to know for sure.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#23

Post by throw_m239339 » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:31 AM UTC

ramijames wrote: post #3

People won't like this, but we at Ultra.io are trying to tackle this exact problem by deploying certificates of ownership to a decentralized ledger as proof of your owning a game. AKA, we want to mint NFTs for each game sold, which allows a user to prove they own it. People hate those words, but we think that the tech has real value and a use-case in the market for solving inequity between publishers and users. This…

> People won't like this, but we at Ultra.io are trying to tackle this exact problem by deploying certificates of ownership to a decentralized ledger as proof of your owning a game.

How do you legally enforce that proof of ownership?

How does a NFT change anything to a license agreement between the publisher and the buyers?

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#24

Post by quest88 » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:32 AM UTC

jokowueu wrote: post #10

ramijames wrote: post #3

People won't like this, but we at Ultra.io are trying to tackle this exact problem by deploying certificates of ownership to a decentralized ledger as proof of your owning a game. AKA, we want to mint NFTs for each game sold, which allows a user to prove they own it. People hate those words, but we think that the tech has real value and a use-case in the market for solving inequity between publishers and users. This…

But my receipt proves that i own it . It's just that publishers don't care .

But it's not ~~decentralized~~.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#25

Post by pdonis » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:33 AM UTC

endisneigh wrote: post #15

This article is a great example of why we need legislation around ownership of digital items. I generally hate getting the government involved in things, but if you're paying money for goods, there needs to be a way to be credited or receive your digital goods in a way that still works without your "account". Personally I always get kind of nervous around buying things on PSN, Xbox, Stadia, Steam, Oculus, etc. If the…

If you can't be confident of your ownership of and access to what you buy, why do you buy it?

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#26

Post by josephcsible » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:34 AM UTC

pdonis wrote: post #25

endisneigh wrote: post #15

This article is a great example of why we need legislation around ownership of digital items. I generally hate getting the government involved in things, but if you're paying money for goods, there needs to be a way to be credited or receive your digital goods in a way that still works without your "account". Personally I always get kind of nervous around buying things on PSN, Xbox, Stadia, Steam, Oculus, etc. If the…

If you can't be confident of your ownership of and access to what you buy, why do you buy it?

Because people want to play the games, and there's not an alternative way to buy them that does give you that confidence.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#27

Post by endisneigh » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:34 AM UTC

pdonis wrote: post #25

endisneigh wrote: post #15

This article is a great example of why we need legislation around ownership of digital items. I generally hate getting the government involved in things, but if you're paying money for goods, there needs to be a way to be credited or receive your digital goods in a way that still works without your "account". Personally I always get kind of nervous around buying things on PSN, Xbox, Stadia, Steam, Oculus, etc. If the…

If you can't be confident of your ownership of and access to what you buy, why do you buy it?

I apologize but I find this to be a silly question. I buy because I want to play. I do not have an expectation of indefinite ownership (even though I should have indefinite ownership), hence my comment.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#28

Post by paxys » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:34 AM UTC

I paid extra for a disc version of the PS5 for exactly this reason. If I buy a game today I want to be able to play it 20 years from now. I can bet money that none of the mainstream digital stores of today will be operational by then.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#29

Post by sefrost » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:35 AM UTC

endisneigh wrote: post #15

This article is a great example of why we need legislation around ownership of digital items. I generally hate getting the government involved in things, but if you're paying money for goods, there needs to be a way to be credited or receive your digital goods in a way that still works without your "account". Personally I always get kind of nervous around buying things on PSN, Xbox, Stadia, Steam, Oculus, etc. If the…

I wouldn’t feel any guilt about pirating the content I bought on any of those services if my account was taken from me for inactivity. I’d be interested to hear the argument about why that would be wrong though.

Re: Ubisoft deleted account with hundreds of dollars’ worth of games for inactivity

#30

Post by pdonis » Mon, Dec 27, 2021, 5:35 AM UTC

Hokusai wrote: post #21

> We may also close long-term inactive accounts to maintain our database. How many kilobytes takes too store ownership data? I can just imagine that tracking data is thousands of times bigger. > The crazy thing about this is that it’s perfectly legal for video game companies to delete your account regardless of whether you’ve spend zero or a thousand dollars on their games It's a shame that we are going to fight for…

You have the right not to pay money to companies that won't give you the guarantee of ownership and access that you want.

But if the lack of that guarantee is right there in the company's terms of service, and you pay them money anyway, you don't have the right to insist that they change the terms you signed up to when you paid them just because you don't like the consequences.