Is Anno 2070 Complete Edition on Steam worth $7.49?

[Greybriar]

During its Summer Sale, Steam is offering Anno 2070 Complete Edition for a mere $7.49 U.S. (75% off) The only DRM warning on the game's Steam store page is: "Incorporates 3rd-party DRM : One or more products in this package may use the 3rd party DRM TAGES™." Some posts in Anno 2070's Steam forum claim that the Tagès DRM has been removed. Other posts insist Tagès is still there. (Personally I do not find a 3 machine install limit too onerous as you regain one install per month provided, of course, that the existence of Tagès doesn't cause any problems when playing the game.)

It looks like both Steam and UPlay are required in order to run Anno 2070. How does that work? Is UPlay just required for activation? Or does it have to run every time the game is fired up, the same as Steam? If both Steam and UPlay have to be active while playing Anno 2070, do either or both of them conflict with the other?

Would anyone who plays Anno 2070 Complete Edition on Steam care to comment on the above or any other aspect of purchasing and playing the game on Steam? Your input would be appreciated.

[jamus34]

TBeen a while since I played it but I think both need to be up and running to launch thegame. It's the same with asscreed 4 I believe.

[Greybriar]

Thanks for the response, Jamus. O0

I think I will wait until Anno 2070 gets rid of at least one layer of its DRM before I buy it. That's what I did with Anno 1404 and I don't have to have either Steam or UPlay running in order to play it.

[Millipede]

Thanks for the response, Jamus. O0

I think I will wait until Anno 2070 gets rid of at least one layer of its DRM before I buy it. That's what I did with Anno 1404 and I don't have to have either Steam or UPlay running in order to play it.

afiak, Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery in U.S.) is the last game from Ubi that doesn't have any DRM. I know that, for that reason, it is the last Ubi game I have purchased... but that's just me.

[Greybriar]

afiak, Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery in U.S.) is the last game from Ubi that doesn't have any DRM. I know that, for that reason, it is the last Ubi game I have purchased... but that's just me.

That's what I thought because Anno 1404 was the last Ubisoft title I purchased that was DRM-Free.

I don't believe UPlay is any worse than Steam, but why the need to require both Steam and UPlay? And if Tagès is also present as some on the Steam forum have claimed, the triple layer of DRM is ridiculous.

[bbmike]

I think Uplay is worse than Steam because of the limited number of 'activations' you get when you install.

[Greybriar]

It's Tagès that limits the number of installations, not UPlay (but since they are both because of Ubisoft, I get your drift). In my initial post in this thread I pointed out than on Anno 1404's product page Steam warns that the game may use Tagès DRM (which some Steam forum members dispute).

[WallysWorld]

When my HDD crashed back in February and I tried to reinstall SH IV that I bought from Gamersgate onto the new SSD I bought,  I had issues getting it to activate. Finally had to open a ticket with Ubisoft and they asked me to email them the receipts proving that I bought the game. A few days later I got new license codes from them.

[Greybriar]

According to this, Silent Hunter IV uses SecuROM v. 5.03.06.0034, which I am not familiar with. SecuROM used to be the "industry standard" DRM. Now--if what I've read on the 'net is true--SecuROM is not compatible with Windows 10. That's just another reason to buy DRM-Free games.

It is my understanding that the version of Tagès in use on Anno 2070 has a limit of three game installs with one install being regained each month. I read *somewhere* on the net that changing a video card can cause the loss of one install, but that's not much cause for concern for people like me.