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

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

#291

Post by lc5G »

tjoff wrote: post #273
falcor84 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't DRM-free literally mean that you get a full local installation without any reliance on online licensing or any other digital restrictions?

Sure, just like the olden days. But you still need a license key or equivalent - for an offline check. And in the case of an app store that is handled by the app store, you never get or see the key. So if you are banned that doesn't help. And even if you had a key you still don't have access to the install media. You could try to extract it from your drive but there is no guarantee that will work on another computer…

This at most technically right and definitely wrong in practice. I am unsure if there is an existing exact definition of DRM (free) or you're using an uncommon definition of "license" but in practice services like GoG advertising DRM free and people buying DRM free all mean that there is no licensing check whatsoever.

A GoG game comes with a single installer executable (single as in it is the same for everyone, no built in license) that and the resulting game it installs can be freely copied and used on as many machines as you like without any requirements. For example you do not need to have an internet connection or be running the GoG store application.

So if you have downloaded and backed up the installer of the game you bought on GoG then for all intents and purposes you own this game. It does not matter what GoG does from this point on. You will always be able to use it.

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

#292

Post by malka »

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…

The only way to own is to pirate nowadays.

And people want you to believe that "it is not ethical".

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

#293

Post by birdyrooster »

malka wrote: post #292
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…

The only way to own is to pirate nowadays. And people want you to believe that "it is not ethical".

And sadly this basically locks you out of many multiplayer as DRM titles

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

#294

Post by mattdesl »

josefx wrote: post #284
mattdesl wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The OP thread is about the centralized entity revoking your digital ownership over these licenses at their will. The parent you are replying to is imagining a hypothetical future where licenses around digital ownership are not merely private records on centrally owned and mutable ledgers, but rather, public records on decentrally owned and immutable ledgers. This has nothing to do with files/media and of course it is…

so you have a license. The data you license is still centralized.The owner of that server rejects your license or simply shuts down the server. How does your blockchain help you? Note that downloading your data elsewehere is still infringement and hacking the DRM is still circumvention.

The idea would be that these tokens-as-licenses would not be revocable. If you hold the token, you hold the license and rights to download and play. This would need to be defined and enforced by the publishers own ToS and/or some hypothetical regulatory body that acts in users best interests - if they break this, such as blocking a specific license holder from access to the game, there would be grounds for a dispute, and clear records for it given the ledger is public.

Highly unlikely any of this will happen as it is more profitable and easier for game publishers just to stick with their current closed ledger, that allows them the ability to revoke any license as they see fit.

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

#295

Post by wccrawford »

dijit wrote: post #281
siva7 wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those services existed only for a few years before fb, google etc took over

AOL had been around since at least 1991 and was still extremely popular well into the mid 00's. Hotmail launched in 1996 and GMail didn't get popular until at least 10 years later. (IMAP was added in 2007~ and the beta was lifted in 2009 iirc). That's a lot of time to be relatively dominant, but they're reminiscent of zombies these days.

AOL still exists and still provides email accounts.

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

#296

Post by londons_explore »

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 try to take this to court, you will typically be offered a "goodwill payment" of a complete refund of all your games.

That's because, even though the TOS is quite clear that you can lose all your stuff due to inactivity, Ubisoft doesn't want the risk of the court deciding the TOS is unfair and striking out those clauses.

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

#297

Post by malka »

firecall wrote: post #93
causi wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days I generally pirate the single-player content I purchase anyway. Anything that requires Origin, Epic, uPlay, or any other cancerous software to be installed gets paid for and promptly pirated. I trust the Pirate Bay more than I trust Ubisoft.

Dont you worry about Malware, Viruses and suchlike?

you mean DRM and anti cheats ?

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

#298

Post by jokoon »

jorvi wrote: post #263
simion314 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Personally I always get kind of nervous around buying things on PSN My PlayStation account was blocked for online games/chat for 2 months with no clear reason, this also wasted 2 months of PS Plus subscription sice I could not really benefit from it. They did not offer any way to dispute this or clarify what exactly was wrong to avoid it. My son was using the console to play Fortnite, he told me that some guy blackm…

Sony is extremely trigger happy with suspending based on messages. I’ve gotten a few weeks suspension for ‘harassment’ because I told someone that kept messaging me I was hacking that that was ‘honestly kind of dumb’.

If I ever make a game, I would make sure there is no public chat, and that you could only chat with people you add as friends.

Imagine how easier it is to moderate, and how polite people become if you do that.

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

#299

Post by [deleted] »

iamthirsty wrote: post #99
tombert wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that? If you buy the game off Steam or something, this implies that the creators/publishers/platforms have gotten their due compensation. The cracks and files on ThePirateBay are done on a volunteer basis, meaning that it’s not costing the game developers any money.

It is costing a developer money — someone who downloads the pirated game would’ve otherwise bought it. Game devs make money on sales. However if you have already bought the game, and then download a pirated version, it isn’t.

[deleted]

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

#300

Post by tirpen »

derefr wrote: post #46
caymanjim wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your idea does nothing to force the service provider to retain your account, or even to provide you with access to the game media. Proof of ownership isn't the issue here. Ubisoft isn't denying that the user purchased those games. They almost certainly know exactly which games were purchased. I more or less trust the game services I use to keep a record of what I own in their central ledger. They could still deny me…

> Proof of ownership isn't the issue here. Wouldn't having legal proof of owning a license to an IP, entitle you to then use a copy of the files covered by those IP rights, regardless of how or where you acquire them? (E.g. if you buy a license to Windows, you don't need to download the installation media for Windows from Microsoft in order for your licensed installation of Windows to be legitimate. You can get the W…

> legal proof of owning a license to an IP

Like a receipt and a bank statement for instance?

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