What is Uplay?

Ubisoft's "client" that integrates with all of their games, even if you bought said games through Steam. It's notorious for kind of sucking and even if they've relaxed their DRM policy in regards to playing offline a lot of users here don't like it (even past the ones who don't like any sort of DRM, period). It is, at best, an unnecessary layer between the player and the game. At worst... well, it hasn't eaten any of my cloud saves, but I've heard that complain enough to see it as valid.

I'd also just like to say that Might and Magic X is probably the single best revival of the series one could have realistically hoped for. It has a lot of rough edges and was clearly not made for much of a budget, but if you want a RPG that nails the feel of those old M&M games (i.e. the balance between exploration and combat), it's not a bad one to pick. Just don't expect it to be another Mandate of Heaven.

Uplay would be the server system for multi-player--- but you must connect whether multi-play or not? Is that about right?

UPlay does have some server functionalities for some Ubisoft multiplayer games, but it's main function is to verify that you're playing a legitimate copy of the game.

Gottcha.
Games aren't the only ones.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140227/06521826371/keurig-will-use-drm-new-coffee-maker-to-lock-out-refill-market.shtml

Want some DRM in that coffee?

Bob

There is no multi-player in M&MX. Still you either have Uplay running to get the additional content play without it.

Has there been any word yet on whether or not M&M X is going to show up for sale on GOG? I'd like to buy this game, but I don't want to buy it on Steam only to have it appear on GOG a short time thereafter.

From the RPG Codex interview: " As the game will be based on Uplay, the chances of it being available on GoG are fairly slim, as their policy is no DRM at all".

I wouldn't expect to see this game on GOG any time soon if it happens at all.

They may have sucked me in on MM10. Did some research on the platform and I still don't like 'em. I think Nuance was my first experience with always on in the Background with Heroes 5 (I think that's the one), and hated it. But the idea seems to be expanding. When I looked at MM10, I noted that I would need to go through either Uplay or Steam then Uplay.
Is this correct? And would there be any reason to go through Steam first? Or would it be an unneeded layer.

Thanks
Bob

Steam still has to be running for Uplay games purchased through Steam; Steam starts the Uplay launcher which in turn launches the game itself.

It's really down to whether getting a Uplay game through Steam is cheaper and/or more convenient for you. If you want a Uplay game attached to your Steam account you must get it directly through Steam (any other versions don't activate on Steam).

Thanks. I guess I'll wait to see if it comes up on a week-end sale. I guess Origin has one of the platforms also for its own games. I never stole a game in my life, but it sure gets tempting when they make you feel like a thief before you even buy their games.

Bob

Well, as the Mac version does not use U-Play, and also does not require Steam if purchased from another source, I went ahead and purchased it from the Mac Game Store. No DRM at all. Pretty sweet.

I actually feel really bad about this, because the reviews of MM10 make it sound excellent, and I very much want more games like it. But I just can't make myself sign up for Uplay. I really hope that a DRM-free version appears at some point. In fact, I'd love to see it somewhere that would let me pay extra, since I'd gladly pay more than the current $25-30 pricetag for a DRM-free version.

Well, there really is little need to suffer the slings & arrows of Ubisoft DRM. Do what I did: buy the game (it's now in my steam library) and then scour the 'net for a DRM-less version, and play that version, instead. There's a slight downslope to doing that, though--if and when Ubisoft releases another patch (the latest is 1.5.x), I'll have to put my saves aside (for later use), uninstall the game, and then reinstall it from my Steam library, insert my savegames, then internally within the game itself I'll have to go through my Ubisoft account to download the newest patch....;)

Just a suggestion, although that sure is a lot of trouble when I think about it. Actually the game is very stable for me @ 1.5 and I love the game itself, so I'll likely just delete the DRM-less copy and stick with the Steam version as I really don't anticipate many more patches for the game--although I could be wrong about that. Sigh--I don't like DRM! All it does it make honest people who buy their games jump through all sorts of hoops to play their games, while the pirates get all the convenience without paying a dime.

Edit: wanted to report another down slope I just discovered: I decided I'd like to fire up my Steam version and transfer my saves just to see if there was any difference between the DRM and DRM-less versions--and I discovered I cannot actually do that as I had thought when I made the above recommendation! I know where the save games are located per version, finding them is not the problem. The problem is that they're in different *formats*.

Ubi-DRM 1.5 format:

1.save

DRM-less 1.5 format:

save001.save

Renaming save001.save to 1.save doesn't work. So, now, unless some kind soul has a suggestion (*cough* Arkose *cough*), the irony is that even though I own the legitimate Ubisoft version, I cannot play it with my DRM-less saves from the same version of the game. Lol...;) (I know, the question is *WHY* would I want to play the DRM version, anyway--especially since I have to jump through both Steam and Ubisoft DRM hoops during each session? I was just curious as to whether the DRM version is any different.) Ah, well, I guess I'll have to start another game later on with the Steam version to find out...

...In carefully contrasting the file structures of the two versions of the 1.5 version of the game, it is immediately apparent that the people who converted the game to its DRM-less state did quite a bit of work--or so it appears, anyway. If anyone has any ideas I'd surely listen (I enjoy tinkering almost as much as playing...;))