Ubisoft DRM authentification server is down, Assassin's Creed 2 unplayable

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/07/ubisoft-drm-authentification-server-is-down-assassins-creed-2/

by protomyth • 16 years ago

195 99 16 years ago

maqr2• 16 years ago

There's no way they missed the negative publicity leading up to the launch. They were trying really, really hard to not let this happen, but there we have it.

Internet: 1 Ubisoft: 0.

NathanKP3• 16 years ago

More like:

Internet: 2 Ubisoft: 0

The internet scored its first point when the DRM was cracked almost immediately. This second failure is just going to motivate everyone, even those who actually bought the game, to download a torrented copy of the cracked version.

teamonkey3• 16 years ago

It was reported cracked, but the crack didn't work.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ubisoft-drm-internet-assass...

GrandMasterBirt2• 16 years ago

Thats not Internet: 2, Thats Internet: 4

1) Many refuse to buy the game ONLY because of the DRM.

2) DRM Servers Crash

3) Game cracked almost immediately after launch.

4) Legitimate users download the crack.

Point 4 is awesome. I think Ubi should be sued because a legit user HAD to crack the game to play it with a bad internet connection / servers down, and got a virus, and sue ubi for the damages.

electromagnetic3• 16 years ago

I completely stopped upgrading my PC for gaming years ago and switched to console, I just got sick to shit of DRM adding yet another negative expense on my game playing experience. Not only does it aggravate the player, but it can put a significant drain on your CPU that should be being used almost exclusively for the game.

I've also notice games screw with the process priorities by confusing windows. The autoplay (which contains the DRM programs) gets priority over the actual game, you then have to CAD to set the priority for the actual game.

snom370• 16 years ago

So you've simply replaced crappy DRM with working DRM?

NathanKP3• 16 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the work of a DDOS. I mean Ubisoft probably worked hard to make sure this wouldn't happen so they wouldn't get even more negative publicity. The only reasonable explanation I can think of for such a terrible failure is that anti-DRM people are DDOSing the servers.

protomyth• 16 years ago

Server and networks go down. It happens, and sometimes, no matter how much local testing you do, they only fail when you are at a huge number of users at a peak time (Sunday game playing). They should have expected it to happen and program accordingly.

NathanKP3• 16 years ago

That's what I meant, though. They would have expected large numbers of users. They knew how many copies of the game they sold, and should have planned their servers accordingly. Time will tell, though, whether it was a failure on their part or foul play.

ugh• 16 years ago

Could happen to anybody, really. Who knows, next time I want to play Mafia some DDoS from some anti DRM nutcases will stop me. No, wait …

uriel3• 16 years ago

> The only reasonable explanation I can think of for such a terrible failure is that anti-DRM people are DDOSing the servers.

Don't forget Hanlon's razor.

It might be a DDoS, but given how stupid was the decision to implement such a DRM scheme in the first place, I would not be surprised if their incompetence also extended to a really lousy and unreliable implementation of the idea.

prodigal_erik• 16 years ago

This. Any DRM scheme that tries to take away users' control over their own open hardware is both despicable and doomed. How smart can you be before you decide you'd rather not have that on your résumé?

baddox• 16 years ago

Honestly, that is no excuse. Even if every black-hat hacker in the world had it out for a certain game, people who buy physical copies of the game should still be able to play it that day.

ErrantX5• 16 years ago

I'm not sure Nathans theory is correct but...

Botnets aren't particularly expensive to rent any more; you'd have to be pretty committed to taking ubisoft down but I reckon it's doable.

electromagnetic3• 16 years ago

Agreed, on initial release the DRM server would be getting hit major amounts due to the massive amounts of pre-orders. You don't pre-order unless you're planning to play it in that first week it's on sale.

cookiecaper2• 16 years ago

And we all knew that with the publicity surrounding the new DRM, something like a DDoS at release shouldn't have been a surprise. Ubisoft really should be prepared for these attacks.

illumin82• 16 years ago

Even if it is a DDOS, the hackers are doing us a favor by reminding us how much DRM harms us as consumers.

Let's hope Ubisoft does the right thing, owns up to their epic failure, and patches all DRM out of their games.

eli4• 16 years ago

I don't think you'd feel that way if you were one of the people unable to play your fancy new game.

viraptor3• 16 years ago

Unfortunately, they're likely to simply deploy even bigger cluster of authentication servers and add the cost to the next game. Then it will fall down again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

donaq3• 16 years ago

Ok, I'm against DRM too, but no, if this is a DDoS, the hackers are not doing anyone favours, because what's harming the consumers in this case isn't the DRM, it's the DDoS.

elblanco2• 16 years ago

If something you built into your software can get you negative publicity, maybe you shouldn't build it into your software?

fizx• 16 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon%27s_razor

RyanMcGreal• 16 years ago

Ubisoft's DRM == malice.

Kadin• 16 years ago

So they intentionally introduced a gaping DDoS vulnerability into their software? That doesn't exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy.

The buck stops with Ubisoft, regardless of whether it's a DDoS or not. There's no good software engineering reason for the failure of one of their servers -- or even all of their servers -- to imperil all of their users, yet they decided to design their product that way anyway. That means it's their fault when the inevitable occurs. (As it would have even without the DDoS, when they decide to shut the authentication servers down if not before.)

My grandmother could have seen this coming, and my grandmother has been dead for a long time.

ArcticCelt• 16 years ago

From an article on Toms Hardware:

>It seems that the game may be making repeated requests for authentication between levels before allowing the player to continue.

>An early crack was also released for Assassin's Creed II (which hits Australia and Europe before North America's March 9 release), but those who have tried it say that they are unable to advance very far into the game without being sent back to the menu screen.

Maybe they are victim of accidental DDOS created by their own DRM security strategy. Maybe the consequences of the "repeated requests for authentication between levels" for hacked versions is what is causing the DDOS. Then hilariously, people who legitimately bought the game but can't connect try to download the hacked version and it only cause more authentication request and make things worst.

nettdata3• 16 years ago

I've done quite a few independent 3rd party tech reviews of a number of game hosting providers, and was (and am) quite shocked at the absolute crap that I saw. Sure, a few were well done and at a level of quality you would expect based on their popularity and sales numbers, but quite a few were shockingly pieces of crap.

You're making the assumption that the hosting system they're using is the former, and not the latter.

While I don't know anything about their specific situation, I wouldn't just assume that they actually have their shit together.

It could very well be that the didn't design or implement a system good enough to handle the requirements of their DRM.

nettdata3• 16 years ago

Oh, and I also have a possible theory as to why this is.

Game developers are, for the most part, quite smart.

When a game company, or any tech company, for that matter, runs into a problem that needs solving, they generally try and solve it in-house to start with. The normal traits that make a developer good at his job (problem solving skills, intelligence, confidence in his/her abilities, etc) sometimes are their own worst enemy, as they feel that they can solve that particular problem.

Very rarely have I found smart developers that understand and recognize their limits to the point that they suggest bringing in outside, professional help, rather than tackling the problem themselves. This makes them look bad to management and their peers, and can damage their ego. And it may seem like a fun challenge as well. They honestly think that they can figure out a solution to just about any problem, even if that problem is way outside of their skill set or experience.

Personally, my experience is in architecting large, scalable, fault tolerant systems, like online banking, offshore gambling, government stuff, and online global gaming systems.

I've been brought into more than a few situations where this has been exactly the case. Sure, the in-house devs have come up with a solution, and they're doing everything that a smart person would do for the first pass at a solution, but they don't have the experience to know what will or won't work down the road.

Their first iteration ran into the same problems that every other first iteration had, but their timeline, budgets, and marketing pressures don't afford them the luxury of improving it to where it should be.

I have the luxury of the experience to come in with knowledge of the 20th iteration of a solution, and can apply them early on in the process.

My current contract is just like that... I made design and implementation decisions early on that seemed to make no sense to the devs, even after I explained the reasoning, but now that we're 8 months down the road and they see those designs in action, they get it. And a lot of that also has to do with the devs lack of experience and understanding of what an operations team needs to run the system.

Anyway, this has been some of my experience, and it wouldn't surprise me to find that it could quite possibly be the case here.

icco2• 16 years ago

"We've got a really great suggestion for how to make such an assurance: Find a less abominable DRM policy."

I don't see how Ubisoft isn't getting sued for this. Here, you can own this object, it and everything on it are yours. But, if we decide so, then you can't use it at certain times, even though you paid in full to be able to use it at any time.

Sure this is being a little harsh because Ubisoft didn't do this on purpose, but seriously, this is ridiculous.

maqr2• 16 years ago

> Here, you can own this object, it and everything on it are yours.

They explicitly do not say that.

cabalamat2• 16 years ago

If you have bought the game, you have an implied right to play the game (if the small print says otherwise, it should be null and void, and Ubisoft charged with fraud, for that would be making money by deception).

If you bought the game and can't play it, due to Ubisoft's deliberate decision to tie playing the game to their server being up, then you should be entitled to your money back.

icco2• 16 years ago

This is true they don't explicitly say that. Just like food doesn't explicitly say this is edible.

froo• 16 years ago

Which is why the current 9th CCA of Vernor vs Autodesk is a fairly important case in regards to this.

dustingetz2• 16 years ago

aren't clickwrap licenses a bitch.

mambodog• 16 years ago

would clickwrap licenses stand up in court? in all cases? in this case?

smokinn2• 16 years ago

Well if Apple can get away with bricking an entire physical device I don't see why Ubisoft can't get away with a game being unplayable for a while.

bshep2• 16 years ago

I don't get the reference? When did this happen?

There was the PS3 incident a week or so ago and the Zune incident a couple of years ago. But I don't recall Apple having any issue like this.

Groxx• 16 years ago

They "got away" with bricking devices which were modified, which explicitly voids all warranties. I'd be willing to bet the hacks also violated TOS agreements.

While it's an ass-move to pull, and I seriously disagree with them doing it, it's fully within their rights. If you change your hardware / software, and don't expect things to possibly fail when you apply an update that doesn't expect modified hardware / software, you are an absolute moron.

jfmiller28• 16 years ago

"I don't see how Ubisoft isn't getting sued for this." There is a very logical explanation: The courts are not open on Sunday.

huhtenberg• 16 years ago

I wonder if they were DoS'ed.

DougBTX• 16 years ago

Thousands of players pinging the server every 10 seconds to save their game? It would have much the same effect as a DDoS against most public servers.

cheald• 16 years ago

If you're Ubisoft, you've got expected sales numbers, which makes projecting load levels trivial and easy to plan for. So, the options are:

a) Ubisoft MASSIVELY underestimated the number of sales they'd get (not likely, given AC1's success and Ubisoft's experience)

b) Someone MASSIVELY screwed up the load calculations and wasn't cross-checked (not likely, given what's riding on those servers)

c) They're being DDOSed (very likely, given how easy it is to get ahold of a botnet these days)

teamonkey3• 16 years ago

You called it.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ubisoft-drm-was-attacked-a...

"Servers were attacked and while the servers did not go down, service was limited from 2.30pm to 9pm Paris time [1.30pm - 8pm GMT].

"95 per cent of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors.

"All players with an open session during the attack were not affected.

Calamitous• 16 years ago

Beep beep. Welcome to "I-told-you-so"-ville.

elblanco2• 16 years ago

Color me absolutely unsurprised. If I had dropped some coin on that nonsense I'd be asking for it back about now.

jcromartie• 16 years ago

> "I'll do what I can to get more information on what the issue is here first thing tomorrow and push for a resolution and assurance this won't happen in the future."

How about this: drop the braindead DRM. Treat your paying customers like the adults that they are.

jlgosse• 16 years ago

Is it actually called "authentification", or is it a hilarious typo on the part of joystiq?

Deestan• 16 years ago

"Authentification" appears to be a real word: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/certification

Apparently it is one of a zillion synonyms for "certification", along with "verification".

viraptor3• 16 years ago

This certainly isn't a likely scenario, but I was just wondering... Since all those posts are anonymous, wouldn't it be easy to create a fake buzz about some famous DRM not working? Even without using zombie hosts, or anything advanced - with help of ~10 people you can generate hundreds of messages from different locations in the world, cafes, via tor proxy, vpses, etc. Setup a couple of blog posts and get some attention to them on twitter.

Since the issue is impossible to debug from server side (there are no errors or connections at all), I think you could keep it up for good couple of days. Is there something obvious I missed to make it more believable?

So... when is Ubisoft releasing the next game with DRM?

viraptor3• 16 years ago

Anyone cares to comment on the downvotes?

jrockway5• 16 years ago

A very drunk robot randomly clicked the "down" button?

ErrantX5• 16 years ago

There might be something in that. I believe I am in the supposedly affected area and was able to play the game all weekend when I tried.

lpgauth• 16 years ago

If you were planning on playing all day, take this opportunity to go outside and enjoy the world.

philk• 16 years ago

Going outside and enjoying the world might be more rewarding but if you've paid actual money for something you have a right to expect it to work.

teamonkey3• 16 years ago

Tell that to the B2B software industry.

jrockway5• 16 years ago

It's raining.

CamperBob• 16 years ago

Rain is a feature, not a bug. Enjoy it.

tvon• 16 years ago

Honestly, the lesson here is that your DRM servers are more important than your game servers or your website.

If something is going to break, make sure it's not something your customer doesn't want anyway.

thewileyone• 16 years ago

I hope this isn't a DDOS attack. I hope Ubisoft just fell on their faces.

dirtbox• 16 years ago

A couple of points about this, it seems everywhere is jumping up and down pointing and laughing, but there's currently no crack for Assassins Creed 2 so pirates didn't profit and also, the problem is only local to the US. Internationally, the game works fine.

I also doubt it's a DDoS.

anupj• 16 years ago

I hope that the Ubisoft execs a.k.a douchebags have realized that their new "DRM authentication" system is an epic fail. From what I've read so far, it is neither useful nor effective, but has proved to be a source of inconvenience to the customers who actually bought the game.

uriel3• 16 years ago

> it is neither useful nor effective, but has proved to be a source of inconvenience to the customers who actually bought the game.

So, exactly the same as every other DRM system ever created.

Ubisoft DRM authentification server is down, Assassin's Creed 2 unplayable

Related Stories