Uplay/Analysis

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Revision as of 18:17, 11 July 2018 by Lequinni (talk | contribs)

Warning: I waited out the horror stories of Uplay (Which took a huge chunk of my gaming life), for Ubisoft to "Fix their (Bleep)!", and I don't know how the rest of Uplay's features work (I don't even know the rest of Steam and GOG's features myself), I just use it to play games not do socializing outside of multiplayer. Lastly, still doing my own researching and experimenting, so I'll update this Analysis.

Here's an updated review about Ubisoft's Steam clone, the ever dreaded Uplay, which I still see as a buggy mess to this day. The game company finally got off of their butts and fixed some parts of their Steam clone, which I'll explain in the Cons later. For some of the things that I like, is that there is now a working customer support and Uplay gets along well with Steam, so both can launch together. I can play my games seamlessly. But the digital management store/launcher is still a mess, feels as though Ubisoft fix the MASSIVE issues (i.e. it's "U-Shall-Not-Play" aspects of Uplay) that they know causes them to loose millions of dollars/francs and yet they overlook other things.

Pros

  • Now having a Offline mode (I haven't fiddle much with this feature).
  • Adding Google Authenticatior for maximum security.
  • A working customer support.
  • Friend guilds for multiplayer.
  • Always updating and maintain.
  • Getting rid of that weird way where you write down the code after booting up your Steam Ubisoft purchases (like, Black Flag, AC:Brotherhood, Revelations), games start up seamlessly, but those messages pops up and freaks me out a bit.
  • While playing (and buying merch from Ubiworkshop) will give me points to buy skins, new characters (multiplayer), weapons, and the like.
  • Sometimes Ubisoft gives away free games, this is perfect for getting a free game and a the "Better" Uplay account (if you've not bought a Ubisoft game before. I was able to get several games this way, like Assassin's Creed 3, Watch_Dogs, an old Sierra game, and too many others).

Annoying/Neutral

  • Like GOG, Uplay is missing some features, the most glaring one is no family share program.
  • I think people don't read the fine print, since Ubisoft has a "All Sales are final" policy in their Uplay store for their digital games/wares. It's a bit weird to me, since you can do refunds on their merch, like clothes, goods, and other physical items.
  • Beta-modes, this is the closest thing to demoing for the potential gamers and an ultimate team up, trying out the game, report to Ubisoft of the bugs, and all before the release date. (Some guys told me that Ubisoft should be doing this troubleshooting by themselves, not do this beta-thing. I dunno if these guys are right, but I want a working game from Ubisoft so badly).

Cons

  • If one doesn't know some weird tricks (i.e. Logging into Ubisoft Club to call tech support, like in the event of getting one's account hack) and not knowing where to find the Customer support guys, YOU ARE SCREWED!
    • Note:Some parts of the world, Uplay's customer support is just like Steam's.
    • Just Another Note: I find that the customer support, while excellent, have strange working hours. Which means that you're a bit screwed if Uplay crashes and the tech guys got a day/weekend off, it's gonna be a wait.
    • Another Note: I suggest heavily that you use the live chat. If you know that your country's Ubisoft's tech support is like Steam's, just change your profile's nationality into North American (Or whatever country you know has a working tech support).
  • If one doesn't have a flashdrive with lots of storage, Google Authenicator (Any authenicator will do, like Windows Authenicator for Windows/Nokia phones), and probably LastPass (Which you need to pay for their services, because it's high quality and you won't loose your stuff in case you forget your password). YOU ARE SCREWED!
  • Steam has an old version of Uplay, which causes some problems; unless one updates to the newer/better one from their website (Putting this as a warning). Plus, I asked them why didn't they "fix" it, here's what one told me (Make that if you will): https://www.reddit.com/r/uplay/comments/7et579/a_steamuplay_question/
  • There's no "workable" Uplay for Macs/Linux users, they're stuck with an old version.
  • Extra DRMs. This is Ubisoft we're dealing with, they're one of the most paranoid game companies that I ever known (I personally prefer Uplay alone and/or the Steam/Uplay combo, I refuse to buy any pc game from them which has extra stuff that's not named "Uplay", "Steam," or "GOG").

Conclusion

The PC version of Uplay is a Grade C+, since it's passable, but since this is Uplay and Ubisoft we're talking about they're not out of the woods yet for me.

D- or an F, if you don't have those apps and other things I mention.

Just buy the console version of those Ubisoft games ya want, at least, Uplay isn't in your face.