Anno 2070 has been unplayable for over two days due to [DRM] server issues [Up: Issue resolved]

[Twingsy]

Congratulations.
It's one of my favourite 4x games too... I hope they can resolve this.


But this does bear the question; We're so reliant on Steam, which is also a DRM service - how can we be sure that nothing'll ever go wrong on that front? Newell wont be CEO forever. It'll go public eventually.

 

[Lashley]

Congratulations.
It's one of my favourite 4x games too... I hope they can resolve this.


But this does bear the question; We're so reliant on Steam, which is also a DRM service - how can we be sure that nothing'll ever go wrong on that front? Newell wont be CEO forever. It'll go public eventually.

Click to shrink...

Yep, I'm always worried about Steam, but we're kind of forced into it if they're not on GOG

 

[Skyfireblaze]

And this is why I don't understand why it can't be mandated somehow that DRM has to be removed after 1-2 years. At this point the DRM will likely served its purpose completely and further issues are ruled out. They could even code the system that the DRM will auto dissolve after a x amount of time so there wouldn't be even any extra work if things were setup previously.

Small anecdote I had my fair share of issues with the Anno 2070 DRM aswell, way back shortly after Far Cry 3 was released I also bought Anno 2070 which had somehow uninstalled Uplay on my PC to install its own, older version. I immediately downloaded the up-to-date version again but in the process somehow my entire Far Cry 3 savegame was gone.

 

[Gabora]

Congratulations.
It's one of my favourite 4x games too... I hope they can resolve this.


But this does bear the question; We're so reliant on Steam, which is also a DRM service - how can we be sure that nothing'll ever go wrong on that front? Newell wont be CEO forever. It'll go public eventually.

Click to shrink...

Because a large percentage of steam games have no actual DRM.

And no I'm not defending DRM.

And this is why I don't understand why it can't be mandated somehow that DRM has to be removed after 1-2 years. At this point the DRM will likely served its purpose completely and further issues are ruled out. They could even code the system that the DRM will auto dissolve after a x amount of time so there wouldn't be even any extra work if things were setup previously.

Small anecdote I had my fair share of issues with the Anno 2070 DRM aswell, way back shortly after Far Cry 3 was released I also bought Anno 2070 which had somehow uninstalled Uplay on my PC to install its own, older version. I immediately downloaded the up-to-date version again but in the process somehow my entire Far Cry 3 savegame was gone.

Click to shrink...

I think in ANNO's case Ubi Soft just didn't care. They made a new Anno, there is a brand new game coming out this year (or next), they simply didn't care about a 7 year old game.

 

[Sinatar]

This is unfortunate, 2070 is a great game too.

 

[Etain]

It's why I didn't bother with Anno 2070 despite hearing how good it was, even back then it was nonsense like only 5 machines ever. So it'd be fine in the short term, but years later? Hell, I guess you didn't even need to transfer to a 6th machine for this to crop up.

And sure, those kinds of problems can crop up anyway, but it's a hell of a lot less arbitrary when it's a technical issue with newer GPUs or at least GPU drivers, or an OS issue, than simply a DRM server that isn't working to authenticate your game.

 

[Alexandros]

It's been too long without Ubisoft DRM tomfoolery.

 

[Deleted member 10675]

DRM should be illegal.

 

[GreenMonkey]

I pretty much only buy from GOG, or reluctantly Steam (under $20, rarely).

The plethora of remote server authentiction checks and always-on DRM from everyone is a good part of why I stopped most of my PC gaming and swapped to console instead (admittedly Souls games stole a lot of my time also).

Ubisoft is top of the list for me, last I knew they were the worst offenders with this DRM crap. If I saw a game series I really love with Ubisoft's name on it for PC (Heroes of Might and Magic comes to mind) I don't even considering buying it.

 

[Deleted member 11018]

And the whole election thing.

If you are just planning on playing continuous mode, it works in offline mode. Also, if you haven't already, I suggest looking into the ARRC project to spice up your game.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the reassuring info and the pointer ! :p i'll check it without fault.

 

[Icekilla]

Fuck Ubisoft and Blue Byte. Worthless companies.

 

[Gabora]

Just fired up Anno, did a clean install, and the game seems to be working now.

 

[spineduke]

in these kind of situations i think it would be great if consumer protections would mandate that DRM solutions have to be retired at some point in a products lifecycle.

 

[Easy_D]

The only thing more asinine than DRM with online requirements is not patching it out when it has been broken.

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I'd be perfectly fine with DRM if this was standard procedure. DRM for first 3 months, then patch it out.
FakeEdit: Like the poster above me says .
I think this is something that could have a compromise that makes everyone happy.

 

[Tempy]

As for DRM, honestly I don't care in this day and age. Ten, fifteen years ago when truly invasive DRMs like Starforce were a thing I was super critical of DRM. But today? The only DRM still in use is Denuvo and to be frank, I don't find the claims about how Denuvo slows down your computer or damages SSDs very convincing. It's all just claims by hackers without any solid proof. As far as I can tell Denuvo is practically invisible.

And nobody has been able to explain to me yet why should I care about a DRM system that doesn't bother me in any perceptible way. I realize it's a very controversial talk but that's just the way I feel about this topic.

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I'm not sure you realize that this thread is about a DRM system making it impossible for people to actually play the game.

 

[KatiePT]

Whoa, a lot of people got extremely mad for me saying I don't mind Denuvo.

Unfortunately the only valid counterargument I've seen is this: Denuvo needs a server activation when you first install the game. If the game gets old and the servers get shut off AND the publisher doesn't patch Denuvo out then your game is lost. I accept that completely, haven't realized that aspect of it.

I guess my post was inspired by all the transparently fake claims about Denuvo that you sometimes read on the forums. Like "it slows down your computer", "it damages your SSD" or "it can't be played offline". Those just insult my intelligence. Always seemed to me most people must see how evidently false (or completely unsubstantiated at the very least) these claims are but they'd rather keep quiet than risking being stampeded by a livid anti-DRM mob :D

I guess I WOULD support pressuring publishers to always patch out Denuvo after some time so it becomes a market standard. That's eminently reasonable. But apart from that I just can't summon enough passion to be anti-DRM in general, I'm sorry.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

Can't wait to read some drm apologist nonsense like: Denuvo is different! DRM adds value to my games! It doesn't affect performance so it's fine with me!

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Preemptive posts like this add nothing and are just egging people on. Stop it.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

I support GOG but not as a no-DRM platform but simply as a competitor for Steam. It's never good for consumers when leviathans like Steam have so much market share.

As for DRM, honestly I don't care in this day and age. Ten, fifteen years ago when truly invasive DRMs like Starforce were a thing I was super critical of DRM. But today? The only DRM still in use is Denuvo and to be frank, I don't find the claims about how Denuvo slows down your computer or damages SSDs very convincing. It's all just claims by hackers without any solid proof. As far as I can tell Denuvo is practically invisible.

And nobody has been able to explain to me yet why should I care about a DRM system that doesn't bother me in any perceptible way. I realize it's a very controversial talk but that's just the way I feel about this topic.

Click to shrink...

Denuvo also does occasional server checks (The first time you start up the game, every time you make a major hardware change, or once a month IIRC).

Thus, it's very possible that what happened here (DRM broken because of failed server connection) will happen to every single Denuvo game in the future, and if Denuvo were to ever go down entirely, this could be permanent.

That's why you should care. In fact we have already had small previews of this already happening (IIRC, WB games with Denuvo checks were unreachable for a short while).

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

Because WE'RE ALL PIRATES

Y'AARRRR

Click to shrink...

 

[KatiePT]

I'm not sure you realize that this thread is about a DRM system making it impossible for people to actually play the game.

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Oh yeah, as for the argument "you're pro-DRM in a thread about a game obstructed by a DRM" that I've seen pretty often too:

First of all, I'm not "pro-DRM". I'm not working for Denuvo, I honestly have no personal or philosophical stake in this debate.

And second, I said in my original post that I was very critical of the old forms of DRM that used to in vogue 10 or 15 years ago. I'm talking about Starforce, Securom, Tages or always online systems (those were the worst). I think all of us hated them and it's probably because of our pressure that publishers stopped using them.

My original post was exclusively about Denuvo, not about those old forms of DRM.

 

[Etain]

Also as a reminder: Anno 2070 is NOT DENUVO, but rather TAGES. This doesn't reset ever unless you call in after using up your activations, last I checked anyway.

 

[Atolm]

Something like this already happened in December with some WB games like Mad Max.

The thing with Denuvo is that I wouldn't mind it at launch to prevent piracy if they eventually remove it say, a year later, like they did with Doom or Hitman.

But the publishers stop giving a fuck about their games after 2 months or so. As it is, it's just a matter of time until certain games stop working altogether and you'll need a crack.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Oh yeah, as for the argument "you're pro-DRM in a thread about a game obstructed by a DRM" that I've seen pretty often too:

First of all, I'm not "pro-DRM". I'm not working for Denuvo, I honestly have no personal or philosophical stake in this debate.

And second, I said in my original post that I was very critical of the old forms of DRM that used to in vogue 10 or 15 years ago. I'm talking about Starforce, Securom, Tages or always online systems (those were the worst). I think all of us hated them and it's probably because of our pressure that publishers stopped using them.

My original post was exclusively about Denuvo, not about those old forms of DRM.

Click to shrink...

The ones you listed are from the dark ages of awful DRM.

Compared to them, Denuvo is not quite as bad, but it is still quite bad and suffers from some of the exact same problems that those older types had (particularly when it comes to preservation). It's also developed by the same people as Securom.

 

[Gabora]

Also as a reminder: Anno 2070 is NOT DENUVO, but rather TAGES. This doesn't reset ever unless you call in after using up your activations, last I checked anyway.

Click to shrink...

If you don't mind me asking, how does it work? What "uses" one of the allowed activations? I have had my steam copy activated in several different computers and never had the issue of limited activations come up.

Edit: don't mean to sound antagonistic, I'm actually curious because I've heard of the 5 activations DRM thing but didn't know Anno 2070 carried it.

 

[KatiePT]

The thing with Denuvo is that I wouldn't mind it at launch to prevent piracy if they eventually remove it say, a year later, like they did with Doom or Hitman.

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Seconded. Publishers just have to be pushed, it CAN work. We've seen they respond to our pressure in the case of the old-form DRMs or the loot boxes recently, if the pressure is strong enough obviously.

Also one more thing - and I have to say it even though it'll make a lot of people mad again: I suspect a sizeable part of that hatred for Denuvo is due to the fact that it simply works, even if for just a few weeks or months. That there's no workaround, that people really can't play a certain game on the launch day if they don't buy it. Sure there are people who are against DRM for other reasons but they're not the only ones. Angry pirates are part of that too. I suspect they are the source of the false claims about Denuvo...it's a way for them to rationalize and legitimize why they hate Denuvo. People are great at rationalizing.

 

[Mifec]

Thus, it's very possible that what happened here (DRM broken because of failed server connection) will happen to every single Denuvo game in the future

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Happened to WB games like last month for like a day or two.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Happened to WB games like last month for like a day or two.

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I quite literally mentioned that in the next line.

 

[Durante]

Unfortunately the only valid counterargument I've seen is this: Denuvo needs a server activation when you first install the game. If the game gets old and the servers get shut off AND the publisher doesn't patch Denuvo out then your game is lost. I accept that completely, haven't realized that aspect of it.

Click to shrink...

It's pretty damning that you didn't realize that in this thread of all places.

Here's another valid counterargument for your consideration: Denuvo prevents some types of binary modification, like those you might apply to mod ultra-widescreen support into a game.

 

[Hieroph]

in these kind of situations i think it would be great if consumer protections would mandate that DRM solutions have to be retired at some point in a products lifecycle.

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But who would or could enforce something like this? It's practically impossible.

 

[Cecil]

But this does bear the question; We're so reliant on Steam, which is also a DRM service - how can we be sure that nothing'll ever go wrong on that front? Newell wont be CEO forever. It'll go public eventually.

Click to shrink...

We can't be sure of it. We can just be more or less confident that Steam is the safer option. Steams DRM is the lesser evil, and an evil that we have gotten to know.

I guess my post was inspired by all the transparently fake claims about Denuvo that you sometimes read on the forums. Like "it slows down your computer", "it damages your SSD" or "it can't be played offline". Those just insult my intelligence. Always seemed to me most people must see how evidently false (or completely unsubstantiated at the very least) these claims are but they'd rather keep quiet than risking being stampeded by a livid anti-DRM mob :D

Click to shrink...

The rumours about performance/SSD issues is a godsend for Denuvo. It has enabled them get supporters and be the good guys, everytime it's been debunked, taking away focus from the real issue with it.

99% of the gaming press have let them off the hook, as soon as performance issues have not beeb able to be proved, and all of them have ignored the server depency that they gladly write about for othe types of DRM.

 

[Alexander DeLarge]

This is what everyone can expect from many of the AAA releases from 2014 up to now when those Denuvo servers inevitably go offline. I keep getting told that they'll remove it when it becomes a problem... Bullshit.

We can't be sure of it. We can just be more or less confident that Steam is the safer option. Steams DRM is the lesser evil, and an evil that we have gotten to know.

99% of the gaming press have let them off the hook, as soon as performance issues have not beeb able to be proved, and all of them have ignored the server depency that they gladly write about for othe types of DRM.

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At least Steam has stated there's redundancy in place. Now whether you believe that is up to you... But at least it has been said. Denuvo has no such policy.

And yeah I really do blame the gaming press for not doing their due diligence on the subject. It sucks.

 

[julian]

Ummmm....

 

[kingven]

Click to shrink...

I hope Ubi fix this issue... Anno Series are the best..

Btw i prefer this version...

 

[R.T Straker]

The game never worked for me in the first place.

I bought it around 2014, got home, added the key that came with my disk into Uplay, downloaded the game fine but when I launched it it would always say invalid authentication or something like that.

I just gave up on it. Didn't even try to request support from Ubi. Only Anno that I haven't played. Shame since it's soundtrack is outstanding.



Fuck DRM.

 

[~Fake]

Preemptive posts like this add nothing and are just egging people on. Stop it.

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He got a point. Indeed we have people defend this. Really hard because pirate games runs fine when original consumers need to wait servers back...

 

[Hopping_Mad]

Preemptive posts like this add nothing and are just egging people on. Stop it.

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So if the ignorant and foolish wont listen to facts and logic, we should just sit quiet in the corner when they continue to spout nonsense?

 

[Duxxy3]

The always online DRM for this game, and all single player games, is long overdue for removal.

 

[R.T Straker]

I also remember Ubi added Denuvo in 2205 after the game released with none and it was already cracked day 1.

What's the point? It shows that Ubi gives 0 fuck when it comes to PC games or customers.

 

[Cecil]

And yeah I really do blame the gaming press for not doing their due diligence on the subject. It sucks.

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It really is pathetic from their side right now. I think all of the articles I've seen written about it have been from the publishers viewpoint. Is it cracked or not cracked, and what does that imply for the publisher? Nothing is written about it from the customers viewpoint. Who are the ones behind the DRM? Why should the customers trust them? Why should the customers accept it? What is the customer compensated with, with yet another source of technical issues is added, that have no value for the paying customer?

 

[Viavi]

It's why I didn't bother with Anno 2070 despite hearing how good it was, even back then it was nonsense like only 5 machines ever. So it'd be fine in the short term, but years later? Hell, I guess you didn't even need to transfer to a 6th machine for this to crop up.

And sure, those kinds of problems can crop up anyway, but it's a hell of a lot less arbitrary when it's a technical issue with newer GPUs or at least GPU drivers, or an OS issue, than simply a DRM server that isn't working to authenticate your game.

Click to shrink...

Same here. Only reason I never bothered getting Anno 2070 (it was instead gifted to me, haha) is because of the DRM from the get-go. This was a long-time coming - surprised it didn't happen sooner.

 

[Gabora]

Same here. Only reason I never bothered getting Anno 2070 (it was instead gifted to me, haha) is because of the DRM from the get-go. This was a long-time coming - surprised it didn't happen sooner.

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Because it has happened before.

 

[Liam Allen-Miller]

So if the ignorant and foolish wont listen to facts and logic, we should just sit quiet in the corner when they continue to spout nonsense?

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Posting facetious gifs reacting to outcomes that have yet to happen isn't helping anyone.

 

[708]

Unless it's a topic that generates a lot of clicks, sadly gaming media is pretty pathetic when it comes to criticizing publishers' decisions and defending consumers.

 

[708]

Edit: Sorry for double post.

 

[Gabora]

Unless it's a topic that generates a lot of clicks, sadly gaming media is pretty pathetic when it comes to criticizing publishers' decisions and defending consumers.

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The media doesn't care because it's happening to a 7 year old game, of a niche genre. This is not the first time Anno 2070 has had problems, the media didn't cover uPlay problems in the early days of 2070, they are certainly not going to cover it now.

 

[saenima]

Seconded. Publishers just have to be pushed, it CAN work. We've seen they respond to our pressure in the case of the old-form DRMs or the loot boxes recently, if the pressure is strong enough obviously.

Also one more thing - and I have to say it even though it'll make a lot of people mad again: I suspect a sizeable part of that hatred for Denuvo is due to the fact that it simply works, even if for just a few weeks or months. That there's no workaround, that people really can't play a certain game on the launch day if they don't buy it. Sure there are people who are against DRM for other reasons but they're not the only ones. Angry pirates are part of that too. I suspect they are the source of the false claims about Denuvo...it's a way for them to rationalize and legitimize why they hate Denuvo. People are great at rationalizing.

Click to shrink...

Right now, pirates can play Anno 2070. I, on the other hand, who actually own the game on Steam, cannot. So i pose a question to you: what is the benefit of DRM to the consumer?

 

[MMaRsu]

Ubisoft is just the worst

 

[KatiePT]

Right now, pirates can play Anno 2070. I, on the other hand, who actually own the game on Steam, cannot. So i pose a question to you: what is the benefit of DRM to the consumer?

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I'll just refer you to post #70.

 

[Gabora]

Right now, pirates can play Anno 2070. I, on the other hand, who actually own the game on Steam, cannot. So i pose a question to you: what is the benefit of DRM to the consumer?

Click to shrink...

Have you tried it recently? The problem has been fixed for a couple of hours now.

 

[708]

The media doesn't care because it's happening to a 7 year old game, of a niche genre. This is not the first time Anno 2070 has had problems, the media didn't cover uPlay problems in the early days of 2070, they are certainly not going to cover it now.

Click to shrink...

Well, that's exactly the problem. And this isn't the first time that something like this has happened, it happened to Warner Bros. games a few month ago.
They should write articles about problems that Denuvo and DRM in general bring to consumers. They should try to inform the consumers and try to pressure publishers into removing Denuvo after a few months. But they don't. I kinda understand why websites like IGN and Gamespot don't do these things because most of their audience are console gamers. But websites like PCGamer, DSOGaming and PCGamesN? No, they aren't doing what they should do.