Serving notice that I am now boycotting all games from Ubisoft (and when I boycott something, I really boycott it).
Ubisoft have always had issues with DRM. They were one of the developers who used Starforce, which is also on my boycott list, before finally dumping it after they were hit with a 5 million dollar lawsuit (I understand the lawsuit was settled out of court). Unfortunately, after dumping Starforce, they switched to SecuRom which is just another waste of time abusive DRM. Although, admittedly, SecuRom doesn't appear to be anywhere near as bad as Starforce was.
Just a couple of Ubisoft DRM incidents which stick out in recent memory.
There was a hilarious incident with the PC version of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 where one of their official patches ended up breaking the legally purchased downloaded version of the game. Ubisoft's fix for this was to distribute a new patch which solved the problem. Unfortunately, it soon came to light that the patch was actually a crack taken from a warez site without any attribution to the original author. Real classy.
And then there was the DRM in Prince of Persia. Ubisoft included no DRM in Prince of Persia. Did they finally see sense? Of course not. As you can clearly see from this post from the Ubisoft community manager on 3 December 2008, they were very surly about the decision. To quote the community manager, "A lot of people complain that DRM is what forces people to pirate games but as PoP PC has no DRM we`ll see how truthful people actually are. Not very, I imagine." Nice 'tude asshole.
I guess that given Ubisofts attitude towards DRM in the past, their latest move isn't surprising. A while ago, Ubisoft announced that they would require a constant internet connection to play their PC games. As you can imagine, this caused an uproar amongst the gaming community and I was hoping that Ubisoft would back down and change their minds. Unfortunately, this doesn't appear to be the case.
PC Gamer received the review copy of a couple of Ubisoft games and has confirmed that a constant internet connection is indeed required to play the games. If you lose your internet connection for any reason during the game (or even if Ubisoft servers are down for any reason), you are instantly kicked out of the game. Not only that, you lose any progress since your last save. You don't even get the option to save the game before quitting (probably because the save games are also stored on Ubisoft servers although I'm sure they could have found a way around this if they wanted to).
And that, for me, is the straw that breaks the camel's back and is why I'm now putting Ubisoft on my boycott list. Which is a shame as I've played several Ubisoft games in the past and really enjoyed them (I have quite a few of the Tom Clancy branded games). I was also originally intending to buy Assassin's Creed 2 (albeit on the X360) as I really enjoyed the first Assassin's Creed despite the repetitive nature of the game.
I will certainly miss playing their games, but as a gamer, I'm not willing to put up with this kind of shabby treatment (even though it probably wouldn't have affected me directly as I primarily play their games on the X360).
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Aladuchar - King of the hill
I have been keeping this journal for a while now. However, it is only now that I truly feel that words are inadequate to convey the sights that I see.
The sight at the top of the mountain leaves us breathless
After defeating Kolgrim, we continued our way up to the top of the mountain. The sight which greeted us as we arrived cannot be described by mere words alone. Even the greatest poet would struggle to find the right words. Nevertheless, that is the task which befalls me as I write this journal.
In short, we found Andraste.
We are welcomed to the top of the mountain
Or rather, we found that which Kolgrim and the cultists believed to be Andraste. It was not a fair maiden who greeted us as we appeared but a fully grown silver dragon. The creature roared when it saw us and we could do naught but stand in awe of the mighty beast before us.
And she truly was a magnificent looking creature. The dragon easily stood as tall as a house and her beady eyes glared at us malevolently as she stood perched atop the mountain, queen of all she surveyed. The sunlight glistened as it bounced off her silver scales, evident even against the glare of the snow in the bright light. Although she had large claws which could easily pick up a bronto, her large fangs, which she proudly displayed for us to see, were her real weapons. Those fangs looked sharp enough to rend metal armor as easily as flesh.
The intelligence behind her eyes clearly told all and sundry that this was no dumb animal. And the animosity behind those same eyes clearly told us that we were not welcome in her domain.
She wasted no time in attacking us. While we stood in shock and awe, she swooped down from her perch and buffeted us with her wings. The massive windstorm knocked us off our feet and the battle was on.
The battle was long and hard but the fact that I am still writing this journal should be enough to tell you who the victor was. But despite my martial prowess, I have to admit that I am lucky to be alive. If it were not for the action and quick thinking of Alistair, I would now be dead. Indeed, the man has saved my life.
During the battle, the dragon reared up on its hind legs and lashed out with her claws. Focused as I was on her fangs, this move caught me by surprise. Nonetheless, I was able to twist aside just enough that her claws only managed to rake across my armour without penetrating. Alas, clad as I am in heavy armour, I wasn't able to get out of the way of her follow up. Moving quicker than I would have believed possible for a creature of her size, her serpentine neck snapped down and she was able to grab me in her fangs.
Andraste gives me her idea of a lovers kiss
Treating me as no more than a rag doll, she spun me around while clamping down with her fangs. Her fetid breath in itself was overpowering and I found myself gagging as I tried desperately to pry open her fangs. I might as well have tried to lift the mountain. The heavy armour that I was wearing was no match for the strength of her jaws and just as I felt my armour begin to buckle under the strain, Alistair came to my rescue.
He flies through the air with the greatest of ease
While the dragon had been distracted by the prospect of a dwarven dinner, Alistair had managed to sneak up behind her. He took the opportunity to jump onto her back and, as she roared in anger and frustration, she lost her grip on me. I fell to the ground with a heavy thud and could only watch as Alistair clung onto her back for dear life.
She may not have any claws or fangs that could reach the back of her neck but this didn't mean she was without defence. Using the powerful muscles in her neck, her head flicked back and forth in an attempt to dislodge Alistair. But Alistair was no fool - in the brief time he had, he was able to get a good hold of her horns and he managed to cling on.
As the dragon roared once more, Alistair took his chance and plunged his sword deep into her neck. Her last roar of frustration turned into one of despair as she realised that Alistair had dealt her a killing blow.
The blood fountained out from her neck and she collapsed to the ground in front of me. As I lay there, winded from the fall and watching the light of intelligence fade from her eyes, I had plenty of time to ponder my own mortality. I had been but a moment away from death. Nothing had come so close to defeating me in all my years of fighting darkspawn in the Deep Roads.
Alistair deals the killing blow
The sight at the top of the mountain leaves us breathless
After defeating Kolgrim, we continued our way up to the top of the mountain. The sight which greeted us as we arrived cannot be described by mere words alone. Even the greatest poet would struggle to find the right words. Nevertheless, that is the task which befalls me as I write this journal.
In short, we found Andraste.
We are welcomed to the top of the mountain
Or rather, we found that which Kolgrim and the cultists believed to be Andraste. It was not a fair maiden who greeted us as we appeared but a fully grown silver dragon. The creature roared when it saw us and we could do naught but stand in awe of the mighty beast before us.
And she truly was a magnificent looking creature. The dragon easily stood as tall as a house and her beady eyes glared at us malevolently as she stood perched atop the mountain, queen of all she surveyed. The sunlight glistened as it bounced off her silver scales, evident even against the glare of the snow in the bright light. Although she had large claws which could easily pick up a bronto, her large fangs, which she proudly displayed for us to see, were her real weapons. Those fangs looked sharp enough to rend metal armor as easily as flesh.
The intelligence behind her eyes clearly told all and sundry that this was no dumb animal. And the animosity behind those same eyes clearly told us that we were not welcome in her domain.
She wasted no time in attacking us. While we stood in shock and awe, she swooped down from her perch and buffeted us with her wings. The massive windstorm knocked us off our feet and the battle was on.
The battle was long and hard but the fact that I am still writing this journal should be enough to tell you who the victor was. But despite my martial prowess, I have to admit that I am lucky to be alive. If it were not for the action and quick thinking of Alistair, I would now be dead. Indeed, the man has saved my life.
During the battle, the dragon reared up on its hind legs and lashed out with her claws. Focused as I was on her fangs, this move caught me by surprise. Nonetheless, I was able to twist aside just enough that her claws only managed to rake across my armour without penetrating. Alas, clad as I am in heavy armour, I wasn't able to get out of the way of her follow up. Moving quicker than I would have believed possible for a creature of her size, her serpentine neck snapped down and she was able to grab me in her fangs.
Andraste gives me her idea of a lovers kiss
Treating me as no more than a rag doll, she spun me around while clamping down with her fangs. Her fetid breath in itself was overpowering and I found myself gagging as I tried desperately to pry open her fangs. I might as well have tried to lift the mountain. The heavy armour that I was wearing was no match for the strength of her jaws and just as I felt my armour begin to buckle under the strain, Alistair came to my rescue.
He flies through the air with the greatest of ease
While the dragon had been distracted by the prospect of a dwarven dinner, Alistair had managed to sneak up behind her. He took the opportunity to jump onto her back and, as she roared in anger and frustration, she lost her grip on me. I fell to the ground with a heavy thud and could only watch as Alistair clung onto her back for dear life.
She may not have any claws or fangs that could reach the back of her neck but this didn't mean she was without defence. Using the powerful muscles in her neck, her head flicked back and forth in an attempt to dislodge Alistair. But Alistair was no fool - in the brief time he had, he was able to get a good hold of her horns and he managed to cling on.
As the dragon roared once more, Alistair took his chance and plunged his sword deep into her neck. Her last roar of frustration turned into one of despair as she realised that Alistair had dealt her a killing blow.
The blood fountained out from her neck and she collapsed to the ground in front of me. As I lay there, winded from the fall and watching the light of intelligence fade from her eyes, I had plenty of time to ponder my own mortality. I had been but a moment away from death. Nothing had come so close to defeating me in all my years of fighting darkspawn in the Deep Roads.
Alistair deals the killing blow
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Aladuchar - the mad priests haven
We arrived at the remote village of Haven to a less than friendly welcome. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a guard who made it very clear that we weren't welcome. Not only did this not deter me, the fact that such a small and remote village had a guard posted was clear evidence that something was going on with this place.
My suspicions were soon borne out when we met their head priest, a man by the name of Eirik. We came across him in the village Chantry and he immediately attacked us as soon as we told him that we were looking for Brother Genitivi. It was fortunate that we were on our guard otherwise his attack would have caught us by surprise.
Eirik calls his guards - for all the good it did him
After sending Eirik on a one way journey to meet his "Maker", we found Brother Genitivi in one of the back rooms of the Chantry. It is incredible that he is still alive. Even more incredible is the tale he spun of how the villagers were an ancient cult who revered Andraste. It appears that the only reason the cultists kept him alive was because they wanted to know how he managed to find them and who else knew about the details of his search.
In any event, it appears that the Urn of Sacred Ashes is not only real, but located in a temple of the top of a mountain just a short walk from the village.
Brother Genitivi tells us the incredible tale of Andraste's Ashes
With Brother Genitivi's assistance, we were able to enter the ruined temple which is supposed to hold the Urn containing the ashes of the prophet Andraste. We haven't found it yet and are still searching the temple but considering the amount of armed resistance that we have encountered already, it is clear that there is something here that these fools believe to be worth dying for.
Armed cultists assault us at every turn inside the temple
The greatest shock so far though is that these cultists seem to be breeding dragons! We came across some feeding pens earlier and found a herd of slaughtered cattle. The reason for all the dead bovines was soon apparent when we were set upon by drakes and dragonlings. We were able to hold them off by moving to higher defensible ground and forcing the animals into attacking us one at a time. Bloody things singed my beard though.
Holding our ground at the top of the stairs
Shortly after we were ambushed by those drakes, we came across Kolgrim. Kolgrim is the head of the cultists and, get this, actually claimed that Andraste had returned. Even now, just the thought of it is enough to make me chortle.
Kolgrim is offended by my laughter
My suspicions were soon borne out when we met their head priest, a man by the name of Eirik. We came across him in the village Chantry and he immediately attacked us as soon as we told him that we were looking for Brother Genitivi. It was fortunate that we were on our guard otherwise his attack would have caught us by surprise.
Eirik calls his guards - for all the good it did him
After sending Eirik on a one way journey to meet his "Maker", we found Brother Genitivi in one of the back rooms of the Chantry. It is incredible that he is still alive. Even more incredible is the tale he spun of how the villagers were an ancient cult who revered Andraste. It appears that the only reason the cultists kept him alive was because they wanted to know how he managed to find them and who else knew about the details of his search.
In any event, it appears that the Urn of Sacred Ashes is not only real, but located in a temple of the top of a mountain just a short walk from the village.
Brother Genitivi tells us the incredible tale of Andraste's Ashes
With Brother Genitivi's assistance, we were able to enter the ruined temple which is supposed to hold the Urn containing the ashes of the prophet Andraste. We haven't found it yet and are still searching the temple but considering the amount of armed resistance that we have encountered already, it is clear that there is something here that these fools believe to be worth dying for.
Armed cultists assault us at every turn inside the temple
The greatest shock so far though is that these cultists seem to be breeding dragons! We came across some feeding pens earlier and found a herd of slaughtered cattle. The reason for all the dead bovines was soon apparent when we were set upon by drakes and dragonlings. We were able to hold them off by moving to higher defensible ground and forcing the animals into attacking us one at a time. Bloody things singed my beard though.
Holding our ground at the top of the stairs
Shortly after we were ambushed by those drakes, we came across Kolgrim. Kolgrim is the head of the cultists and, get this, actually claimed that Andraste had returned. Even now, just the thought of it is enough to make me chortle.
Unfortunately, I couldn't contain my laughter at the time either which didn't particularly please Kolgrim. Falsely believing that I was mocking him (just to be clear, I wasn't mocking him although I would have if I had been able to stop laughing) he and his band attacked us. Despite his silly delusion, the man was a strong and capable fighter and pushed us hard.
Kolgrim is offended by my laughter
In the end though, as with all others, he fell before my blade. And with that, I should get moving again. The others look as if they have sufficiently rested from our encounter with Kolgrim and I don't want to hang around too long.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Aladuchar - the search for Genitivi
The good news is that Morrigan managed to do it. The wonderful bitch woke up after several hours and reported that she had defeated the demon which had possessed Connor. This was soon borne out when we tromped upstairs and found the boy in a supreme state of confusion. Its probably a good thing that he remembers nothing of the ordeal that he went through.
All in all, a good day's work by Morrigan. It also shows that perhaps the Chantry is right in their dealings with the Circle of Magi. Having spent my life in Orzammar, I admit that I know little about mages other than the rumors. But having seen first hand how much damage even a little boy could wreak, I have to concede that some of those rumors may indeed be true.
Alas, it appears that the poison fueling Arl Eamon's sickness was not caused by the demon. Although Connor has fully recovered, Arl Eamon remains in a poor state. Jowan was helpful in providing us with the actual poison that he had been administering to the Arl. However, he didn't actually know what the poison was as he had been given it by an aide to Loghain. Considering that even Morrigans considerable skill with herbs was not able to help us in this instance, I have a suspicion that the poison involves magic of some kind.
Which left me in a dire predicament. The rumors regarding the health of my father have continued and I desperately want to return to Orzammar to ascertain the truth of these rumors myself. However, the Arl is close to death and if a cure is not found soon, he will be dead before the first of the winter storms arrive.
Rumors of King Endrins poor health continue
But how to cure the Arl? Bann Teagan remains convinced that the Urn of Sacred Ashes, said to contain the sacred ashes of the prophet Andraste, is the only way to save Eamon. It is said that even a pinch of the ashes can cure any sickness. Yeah.
I should have ignored these fools, who were so blinded by their belief in the "Maker" that they had already wasted so much of their time on such a fools errand. However, Alistair pleaded for us to at least talk to Brother Genitivi who was Fereldens foremost scholar on the Urn.
Even so, I would have ignored them if it hadn't been for Brother Genitivi residing in Denerim. Ser Gorim, my former man, had told me that he planned to travel to Denerim upon his own exile. The hope of meeting my loyal man, and having him fight by my side again, was enough to sway my decision. And so it was that we travelled to Denerim.
We find Gorim in the market district
We found him all right but he won't be able to join us in our fight against the Blight. Poor Gorim. On his way to Denerim, he had been attacked by bandits and, although he was able to fight them off, his leg was crippled in the process. He was a mighty warrior in his own right but now, he has been reduced to selling Dwarven wares in the marketplace. Still, can I say my own fate - to fight the darkspawn until the taint within me grows beyond my control - is any better?
Weylon answers our questions
What grates the most though is that even after all this, it looks like I still won't be able to return to Orzammar yet. We weren't able to find Brother Genitivi in Denerim. Instead, we found his assistant Weylon who readily answered our questions about where Brother Genitivi had traveled to in his search for the Urn.
Luckily for me, he made a slip of the tongue and when I pressured him on it, he attacked us! We dispatched the fool easily enough and found the body of the real Weylon in the back room. Even now, I can scarce believe it but it turns out that the real Weylon had been killed and an impostor put in his place to mislead people in their search for the Urn and the missing Brother Genitivi.
We found some indications that Brother Genitivi had actually gone to a small town called Haven, a remote village which wasn't even on any of our maps. Considering the lengths which these people had gone to keep others away from this town, I cannot help but wonder if there could be some truth in the rumor that the Urn of Sacred Ashes is real.
If this is indeed the only hope of saving Arl Eamon then I guess I have no choice but to investigate the village of Haven. I know not whether King Endrin is really sick. However, one thing is clear - without our aid, Arl Eamon will surely die.
All in all, a good day's work by Morrigan. It also shows that perhaps the Chantry is right in their dealings with the Circle of Magi. Having spent my life in Orzammar, I admit that I know little about mages other than the rumors. But having seen first hand how much damage even a little boy could wreak, I have to concede that some of those rumors may indeed be true.
Alas, it appears that the poison fueling Arl Eamon's sickness was not caused by the demon. Although Connor has fully recovered, Arl Eamon remains in a poor state. Jowan was helpful in providing us with the actual poison that he had been administering to the Arl. However, he didn't actually know what the poison was as he had been given it by an aide to Loghain. Considering that even Morrigans considerable skill with herbs was not able to help us in this instance, I have a suspicion that the poison involves magic of some kind.
Which left me in a dire predicament. The rumors regarding the health of my father have continued and I desperately want to return to Orzammar to ascertain the truth of these rumors myself. However, the Arl is close to death and if a cure is not found soon, he will be dead before the first of the winter storms arrive.
Rumors of King Endrins poor health continue
But how to cure the Arl? Bann Teagan remains convinced that the Urn of Sacred Ashes, said to contain the sacred ashes of the prophet Andraste, is the only way to save Eamon. It is said that even a pinch of the ashes can cure any sickness. Yeah.
I should have ignored these fools, who were so blinded by their belief in the "Maker" that they had already wasted so much of their time on such a fools errand. However, Alistair pleaded for us to at least talk to Brother Genitivi who was Fereldens foremost scholar on the Urn.
Even so, I would have ignored them if it hadn't been for Brother Genitivi residing in Denerim. Ser Gorim, my former man, had told me that he planned to travel to Denerim upon his own exile. The hope of meeting my loyal man, and having him fight by my side again, was enough to sway my decision. And so it was that we travelled to Denerim.
We find Gorim in the market district
We found him all right but he won't be able to join us in our fight against the Blight. Poor Gorim. On his way to Denerim, he had been attacked by bandits and, although he was able to fight them off, his leg was crippled in the process. He was a mighty warrior in his own right but now, he has been reduced to selling Dwarven wares in the marketplace. Still, can I say my own fate - to fight the darkspawn until the taint within me grows beyond my control - is any better?
Weylon answers our questions
What grates the most though is that even after all this, it looks like I still won't be able to return to Orzammar yet. We weren't able to find Brother Genitivi in Denerim. Instead, we found his assistant Weylon who readily answered our questions about where Brother Genitivi had traveled to in his search for the Urn.
Luckily for me, he made a slip of the tongue and when I pressured him on it, he attacked us! We dispatched the fool easily enough and found the body of the real Weylon in the back room. Even now, I can scarce believe it but it turns out that the real Weylon had been killed and an impostor put in his place to mislead people in their search for the Urn and the missing Brother Genitivi.
We found some indications that Brother Genitivi had actually gone to a small town called Haven, a remote village which wasn't even on any of our maps. Considering the lengths which these people had gone to keep others away from this town, I cannot help but wonder if there could be some truth in the rumor that the Urn of Sacred Ashes is real.
If this is indeed the only hope of saving Arl Eamon then I guess I have no choice but to investigate the village of Haven. I know not whether King Endrin is really sick. However, one thing is clear - without our aid, Arl Eamon will surely die.
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