[HN Gopher] Ubisoft is killing off a game millions have bought (...
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       Ubisoft is killing off a game millions have bought (The Crew)
        
       Author : beretguy
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2024-02-26 19:42 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.windowscentral.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.windowscentral.com)
        
       | not_your_vase wrote:
       | It really adds a new meaning to the saying "You get what you pay
       | for".
       | 
       | If you don't vote with your wallet, no one else will do it for
       | you.
       | 
       | Of course, one could also get a discless PS5 slim/xbox. All games
       | will cease to work in 2033, but that time will never come, so why
       | not.
        
         | beretguy wrote:
         | > It really adds a new meaning to the saying "You get what you
         | pay for".
         | 
         | It's more like "you DON'T get what you pay for".
        
           | scotty79 wrote:
           | You don't get what you think you've paid for.
           | 
           | In actuality all that you paid for is "protection" money to
           | copyright mafia enforcers.
        
       | markx2 wrote:
       | Do not forget that when you look at your Steam profile;
       | 
       | https://steamcommunity.com/id/[username]/games/?tab=all
       | 
       | that you own none.
       | 
       | Zero
       | 
       | You own a license which can be revoked and you - currently - have
       | no recourse.
       | 
       | https://gog.com is one alternative, I am sure others here know
       | more.
        
         | beretguy wrote:
         | > You own a license which can be revoked and you - currently -
         | have no recourse.
         | 
         | Correct.
         | 
         | In USA it's all thanks to ProCS v. Zeidenberg:
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProCD,_Inc._v._Zeidenberg
         | 
         | As far as I understand based on reading that wiki if company
         | writes in that license that they can take away your ability to
         | use software then you don't own software that you buy.
         | 
         | People need to boycott online only, server dependent games.
         | 
         | However, in other countries this may be illegal and needs to be
         | challenged.
        
           | armchairhacker wrote:
           | > As far as I understand based on reading that wiki if
           | company writes in that license that they can take away your
           | ability to use software then you don't own software that you
           | buy.
           | 
           | I didn't get that at all? The ruling just states that a
           | company can put a license in their software that you have to
           | open first, and you accept once you start using the software.
           | It doesn't say that licenses that arbitrarily revoke the
           | software are enforceable.
        
             | beretguy wrote:
             | > However, this did not lead to a victory for Zeidenberg,
             | because the circuit court held that copyright law does not
             | preempt contract law. Since ProCD had made the investments
             | in its business and its specific SelectPhone product, it
             | could require customers to agree to its terms on how to use
             | the product, including a prohibition on copying the
             | information therein regardless of copyright protections.
             | 
             | Specifically this part:
             | 
             | "it could require customers to agree to its terms on how to
             | use the product".
             | 
             | Since Ubisoft invested money into developing a game they
             | can legally say in their license "at some point you won't
             | be able to use this software", which basically translates
             | to "you don't own software".
        
         | EA-3167 wrote:
         | > You own a license which can be revoked and you - currently -
         | have no recourse.
         | 
         | Well famously there is one recourse, it's just that things like
         | Steam are more convenient. If that changes though, well...
         | 
         | ...Arr.
        
         | JohnFen wrote:
         | Yep.
         | 
         | This is why I won't pay money for a product that I can't have
         | in my physical control. It's just not worth it.
        
         | transcriptase wrote:
         | Sure, but people were saying that 20 years ago when I made my
         | Steam account and so far the sky hasn't fallen.
         | 
         | Meanwhile there are plenty of games I have the CDROM for that
         | won't work because of hardcoded compatibility requirements, key
         | authentication servers being offline, or multiplayer being tied
         | to a defunct service like MSN zone or GameSpy.
        
         | drexlspivey wrote:
         | If a game requires some server to be online somewhere in order
         | to function what difference does it make if you bought it from
         | steam or gog or anywhere else?
        
           | beretguy wrote:
           | It doesn't. Eventually you won't be able to play the game
           | regardless.
           | 
           | But you mentioned gog. AFAIK gog does not sell games you
           | can't own.
        
             | 0cf8612b2e1e wrote:
             | Not true. There are several games on GOG that retain DRM.
             | Not the majority, but they exist in various flavors of
             | requiring a network connection.
        
       | beretguy wrote:
       | ... and this is the court ruling to blame for such a thing to be
       | legal in USA:
       | 
       | ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg
       | 
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProCD,_Inc._v._Zeidenberg
        
       | jabsters wrote:
       | Accursed Farms on YouTube is trying to gather the community to
       | take actions, specifically outside the US:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAD5iMe0Xj4
        
       | Jemm wrote:
       | Prior to NAFTA we could rent software. NAFTA made that illegal.
       | Now we have this system but how is it really different?
        
       | yungporko wrote:
       | really reaching for a story here. ubisoft are shutting down an
       | online game that has been running for 10 years which flopped,
       | wasn't very good, and which zero people actually care about.
       | 
       | with all the disgusting things ubisoft actually do, we don't need
       | to be making things up to get angry about.
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-26 23:01 UTC)