Heroes of Might and Magic MMO Announced

In yet another attempt to bring about the end of the World...of Warcraft, Ubisoft has announced an MMO version of the popular Heroes of Might and Magic series. Gameplay is to be based off of Heroes V and beta testing is already set to begin in May so it shouldn't be too long before launch. Will this be the next big thing in MMO gaming? My prediction (not really going out on too much of a limb here): it will gain a modest following (much like most installments of the series) but won't come close to generating the numbers WoW has. The brand is a solid one but has never achieved true greatness (Game Rankings scores have averaged in the 70s and 80s - good but not amazing), and being under Ubisoft's license will only hurt the game. There has been too much backlash recently regarding Ubisoft's draconian DRM system and many gamers have vowed to boycott the publisher until the situation has been rectified to their satisfaction. In order for the new Heroes of Might and Magic MMO (and any other Ubisoft games) to be successful, I think the publisher will need to revise their overly severe anti-piracy measures so as to re-brand themselves in gamers' minds as a reasonable company to be trusted.

Ubisoft's DRM Cracked

Much to the glee of game pirates everywhere, Ubisoft's DRM has already been cracked for Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin's Creed 2, rendering the illegally downloaded versions of these games playable. When the new DRM was announced, the general response was righteous indignation, as new Ubisoft games would require gamers to maintain a contant connection to the internet lest their account be inauthenticated. This ridiculous (and French) idea did not take into account those of us on wireless connections that occasionally are reset, on wired connections with spotty providers, or even those of us with clumsy roommates or selves or cats. With the successful crack (despite Ubisoft's official statement claiming the downloadable versions are incomplete), the only gamers being punished by the DRM are those of us who legitimately bought the games. There has to be a better way to protect games that won't have the unintended consequence of encouraging pirates and punishing honest gamers. I've always been a big proponent of password + fingerprint authorization (like Bloomberg terminals use, for you I-bankers reading this). Enable each member of a household to use the game and maybe have temporary authorizations permitted for visiting friends. Something, anything, that is not so easy to crack so that pirates will actually be deterred and maybe prices could come down a bit (see, I'm an optimist).