Anno 1404 / Dawn of Discovery DRM

By AnnihilatorX on June 25, 2009 6:42:16 PM from

I was thinking of pre-ordering this game on Amazon UK. then I read the reviews (well customer comments, since the game aren't out yet). Apparently, a user posted about the DRM there as being: 1. From a little known company called Tages 2. 3 install limit 3. Invasive root-level monitoring software included 4. Saps CPU resources even when game is uninstalled 5. It's an activation server dependent game. When Ubisoft pulls the plug on the DRM servers, you lose the game. If true, I absolutely refuse to buy this game. I hope the above is vast exaggeration, especially about the rootkit, hell even Sony BMG didn't escape lawsuit from that. Anyone say otherwise?

+6 Karma | 41 Replies

[quote who="Nesrie" reply="23" id="2279809"

And there are no laws on the books that dictate companies have to provide outrageous quarterly profits and screw the company, including shareholders, in the long-term. There simply isn't.[/quote]

I said nothing about outrageous quarterly profits or hurting the company long term. What I SAID was that the goal of corporate management HAS to be profit...it need not be obscene profit, but some level of making more than they're spending. THAT is on the books. It frankly makes about as much sense as corporations having the same rights as individuals, but it's there.

forgetting about the DRM on this game, the game itself is beautiful, fun, and very deep, its as much fun as 1701 was plus a lot more. very glad I purchased this.

I'm assuming it's just locked away like other buildings have been during the campaign, but for those of you playing this, how the hell do you use the bear caves as a resource? I don't see any hunting lodge or similar building-type anywhere.

I believe I'm on the fifth mission now, been a few days since I played.

I am on the 7th mission , so I have no CLUE what the bear caves are for. It still hasn't asked me to use them , maybe they are not needed in the campaign?

Well, I'm probably going to get it.

Hopefully, the following is helpful info on the game.

1. It is listed on Impulse for purchase. $49 and change. So you can buy it here; but, yes, the Impulse version does have the same DRM. As does the Steam version too I think. Why did they not just distribute via Impulse in the first place? Sigh.

2. There is a DEMO.

I couldn't find the DEMO listed on Impulse, but it is available from various other sources.

http://www.bigdownload.com/games/dawn-of-discovery/pc/dawn-of-discovery-demo/

This link delivered the DEMO with good download speed.

3. There are some good videos of Dawn of Discovery on youtube. Try both Dawn of Discovery and Anno 1404 when searching. I think it is Anno 1404 in Europe.

4. There are also versions for the Wii and the Nintendo DS if you got one of those.

Any purchase is a vote for Ubisoft to continue their malicious practices. As far as I am concerned these consumer hostile companies shall go bankrupt.

I will amend "I'm probably going to get it" to I might get it. Eventually.

Sort of stream of consciousness of the moment. The DRM is annoying, but even three activations will probably last me until such time as the game has dropped in price to where it doesn't matter much; or Ubisoft has gone bankrupt. In the latter case, midnight requisition would seem to be in order. Then too, the game is good enough that it will get patches and perhaps an expansion pack down the line. Patience is a virtue.

I am working my way slowly through the demo. The game is very very impressive; visually and from a gameplay standpoint. No complaints so far. It is immersive for sure. This game can eat a lot of time in a very enjoyable manner. Was up way too late into the wee hours last night. Just great user interface, just great everything.

Reminds me of Sins with all those islands and you need to have a "home world" colony and then go out and get more islands for resources your home island doesn't have. Trade routes and trade ships. Your free starting ship doesn't much resemble a Capital Ship!

Stream of consciousness ... after a night's sleep and couple cups of coffee come other thoughts. Sins is a heck of a lot faster to play! And GC2 may be more complex overall. Rise of Nations Thrones and Patriots very different game, but keeps coming to mind. As does Civ IV.

I wonder how Anno 1404 compares to Sid Meier's Civilization IV Colonization? Anyone played both?

Here is the Ubisoft statement about Tages copy protection on Dawn of Discovery, aka Anno 1404. The official Anno 1404 forums in English are at this link.

http://forums-de.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/5251042375

Do I need to be online to play the game?
No. After the game is activated, the PC does no need to be online to play.
Do I need to be online to activate my game?
No, if you gaming PC is not online, you have the possibility to use the offline activation option. After entering your serial key, the program will generate the file [email protected]. Just copy the file on a USB stick and go to a computer with online connection. When you click on the file, an activation key will be generate in a txt file. Copy this txt file on your USB stick, and go back to you gaming PC. Choose the offline activation option of the game and enter the activation code you find in the txt file. And you are done!
How often can I activate my game?
Usually you can activate your game on initially three different PC configurations - after those activations are used up you can simply contact the support team who will increase activation limits.
What changes to my PC require a new activation?
A PC configuration in the view of the activation system consists of the major hardware and software components of your computer – including the operating system, CPU, mainboard and system hard disc. Minor changes like replacing the graphics card, connecting an additional disc or adding more memory to the PC do not change the PC configuration and reactivation is not needed. If you uninstall the game and re-install it later, without having changed the PC configurations, you do not need a new activation. The activation data for the game is stored in the folder addressed by CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA\Tages (this translates for example usually to C:\ProgramData\Tages for Windows Vista). The game uninstaller does not remove the activation data.
What happens in the unlikely event of the publisher and/or the protection company stopping the support for the game? What happens if the activation servers are turned off?
In such a case a patch for the game will be released that removes the activation protection. Rest assured, Ubisoft is committed to the long term support of our games: you’ll always be able to play Anno 1404.
How often can I activate my game on the same PC?
As often as you want - as long as the PC configuration remains the same.
I often re-install my operating system. Do I have to activate each time I do this?
After every new installation of the operating system you must reactivate the game. If the PC configuration has not changed (including the disc partition the OS is installed on) no new activation token will be used up for reactivation as the activation server will receive the same hash value. You can also make a backup of the CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA\Tages folder and restore it on your unchanged PC configuration.

Well, there is theory and there is practise. I have activated my GC2 already at least 10 times, while I have only 2 installations: On my laptop and on my desktop. None of these re-activations was because of a re-installed operating system. If I would have had to contact support for that I would have been crazy already. I think 3 activations can be reasonable in some circumstances, but one prerequisite would be that the customer himself can delete his earlier activations so they become available again at the customers discretion.

Still, the game has been sold and Ubisoft has no right whatsoever to deny the customer access to his own property.

Quoting dmantione,

reply 9

Still, the game has been sold and Ubisoft has no right whatsoever to deny the customer access to his own property.

This whole digital license thing is still being worked out. I am sure in a few decades it will get figured out properly, but in the mean time what happened to Kindle users is just the beginning of what can happen when your software has to phone home and get permission to do something. I mean for the Kindle, Amazon just went in and deleted the books and provided a refund without the consumers knowledge or permission. To my knowledge, the publishers of gaming software arent' actually able to do that, but at anytime they can prevent that activation, installs or not. The worst part is, the pirates, they don't have to worry about a thing. They'll be able to play their games, use their software for as long as the technology supports it.

at least its 3 activations whenever hardware has changed from the past install and not flat 3 activations no matter what

Quoting Nesrie,

reply 10

This whole digital license thing is still being worked out.

digital license digital sale

Sorry, but I believe it is important to keep the terminology correct.

In that case, you shuld have left it as it was. You are not buying software, ever. You are buying a liscence to use it. If the laws there differ, well that's the reason most software gets made in the US. Law as it exists in the Netherlands doesn't really apply to US companies.

Depends... If a company from .us starts to sell in .nl, it has to respect the law in .nl even if it has no office in .nl. Internet complicates this, and I believe a .nl resident buying in a .us webshop falls under the law of .us. This is again complicated by the issue of regional pricing, it means the company is actively targetting its products at foreign countries, which can be interpreted as being active in that market, and often is interpreted that way.

Anyway, we are talking here about Ubisoft, which is from France, and under French law software is definately sold, not licensed. Basically in the law systems in Europe, the law decides for itself when something is sold. Any agreement matching the definition of a sale is a sale. This is how things like warranty are enforced: First the law defines what a sale is, then it says that a sale has warranty attached. If a seller would be able to decide unilaterally wether something is sold or not, it would be very easy to circumvent provisions to protect consumers like warranty.

While I am no expert about .us, what I know from the situation is that in .us software is not licensed per se. It can be sold. It appears there is no definition of a sale in the law as we have in most European countries. In .us, courts have their own methods to determine wether something has been sold or licensed.

I don't know why you think French law would apply in the USA, or Canada or whever else you "purchase" your software. Ubisoft distributes in the USA. and it has to comply with USA laws while doing so. It doesn't matter that their based in France, they have some sort of legal entity in the USA. You think Microsoft doesn't have to comply with the EU because they are not based in the EU. If that is the case, why are they even bothering with EU anti-trust rulings. It doesn't work that way. Disitrbution is a lot more complex then just worrying about the laws where you are physically located when you intend to sell outside of that region.

Kindle owners bought licenses to books and those licenses were revoked. The books were removed from their hardware without permission or consent. If we actually purchased software, then this installation limit crap wouldn't hold water and companies like Amazon could not possibly remotely delete your content. They'd have to wait for you to do something illegal and then go after youin court, instead, these companies are dictating how their licenses can be used. And so long as some companies have remote control over those licenses, they can do whatever they want with it with little, if any consequence which includes deciding not to support services that are necessary to actually verify activation. Sure they might have problems in courts later, you know, after enough people got upset, setup a class action suit, filled a bunch of lawyer's pockets and only if that company had anything elft to go after but that would be a long process and a delayed consequence.

I think DRM looks and sounds good on paper; I'd be interested to learn, however, just how many of the people who make these kinds of calls actually research the effectiveness rate of DRM and how they calibrate that figure as well as how mant are aware of the general gaming public's opinion of said software. In my experience, many gamers pirate a game because it has DRM software that limits the softwares use or is invasive in some way. I avoid any game that comes with DRM. Period. My DVDs don't limit the number of times I can watch it or the number of machines I can watch it in, why should my games be any different?

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Anno 1404 / Dawn of Discovery DRM