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Will DRM Exterminate Spore?
Posted by
CmdrTaco
on Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:23 AM
from the please-don't-make-me-insert-a-cd dept.
from the please-don't-make-me-insert-a-cd dept.
AC Dude writes "Will an anti-DRM flash mob that's determined to give EA's latest sim game Spore a rock bottom rating on Amazon.com sink the game, or will Spore evolve and shed the DRM? Is this the beginning of the end for DRM-laden games?
'Over the past few years we've focused a lot on the music industry and how it has attempted to use DRM to control distribution. While DRM in this market segment has been unpopular, anti-DRM campaigns have largely fallen flat when it comes to attracting widespread public attention because of the fragmented nature of music. Games are a much easier target given the monolithic nature of their release — campaigners only need to spread the word on a handful of specific online outlets to reach a wide audience. A quick read through the Amazon reviews of Spore seems to suggest that the negative comments are already putting people off from buying the game.'"
Related Stories
Submission: Is Spore headed for extinction? by Anonymous Coward
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Video Game Trends In 2008 81 comments
Gamasutra is running a feature looking at some of the most important trends that have cropped up or become popular over last year in the gaming industry. Gamers' outrage over the DRM controversy built up a great deal of steam over the past year, and will likely remain strong in 2009. This year also saw downloadable content being used for new and varied purposes, and many developers are banking more heavily on user-generated content, as in LittleBigPlanet. They point out the increase in retro and neo-retro gaming after the success of Mega Man 9 and anticipation for the new Bionic Commando. What trends do you expect to see more of in the next year?
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Ubisoft Testing PC <em>Prince of Persia</em> Without DRM 254 comments
Ars Technica reports that the upcoming PC version of Ubisoft's Prince of Persia will not feature any sort of copy protection. (Not including Steam downloads, of course.) After the backlash in recent months over the DRM in games like Spore and GTA IV, Ubisoft is giving gamers the chance to demonstrate that DRM actually increases piracy. One of Ubisoft's community reps had this to say about their decision: "You`re right when you say that when people want to pirate the game they will but DRM is there to make it as difficult as possible for pirates to make copies of our games. 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. Console piracy is something else entirely and I`m sure we`ll see more steps in future to try to combat that."
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<em>Spore</em> the Most Pirated Game of 2008 404 comments
TorrentFreak has posted some statistics on the most pirated games of the past year. Leading the list by a large margin is Spore, made infamous even before its release for the draconian DRM attached to the game. It was downloaded through BitTorrent roughly 1.7 million times, with The Sims 2 and Assassin's Creed following at just over a million each. (It's worth noting that Spore came out in September, so that figure is essentially for a mere three months.) GameSetWatch has posted a related piece discussing the countermeasures involved in dealing with piracy. It's the second article in a series about piracy; we discussed the first a couple days ago.
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The State of Piracy and DRM In PC Gaming 387 comments
VideoGamer sat down with Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance, to talk about the state of piracy and DRM in today's gaming industry. He suggests that many game studios have themselves to blame for leaks and pre-launch piracy by not integrating their protection measures earlier in the development process. He mentions that some companies, such as Blizzard and Valve, have worked out anti-piracy schemes that generate much less of a backlash than occurred for Spore . Stude also has harsh words for companies who decline to create PC versions of their games, LucasArts in particular, saying, "LucasArts hasn't made a good PC game in a long time. That's my opinion. ... It's ridiculous to say that there's not enough audience for that game ... and that it falls into this enthusiast extreme category when ported over to the PC. That's an uneducated response." Finally, Stude discusses what the PCGA would like to see out of Vista and the next version of Windows.
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Review: <em>Crysis Warhead</em> 154 comments
When Crysis was released last year, it immediately became known for two things; excellent gameplay and ridiculously high hardware requirements. With the recent release of Crysis Warhead, a standalone expansion to the original game, Crytek's plans were to maintain or improve the quality of gameplay while simultaneously streamlining it so a broader audience would have a chance to enjoy it. As it happens, they succeeded. Fans of the original game will feel right at home in Warhead, and it provides a good chance for new players who were curious but wary of Crysis's graphical requirements to give it a shot. Read on for my thoughts.
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EA Hit By Class-Action Suit Over <em>Spore</em> DRM 538 comments
The ever-growing unrest caused by the DRM involved with EA's launch of Spore came to a head on Monday. A woman named Melissa Thomas filed a class-action lawsuit against EA for their inclusion of the SecuROM copy-protection software with Spore. This comes after protests of the game's DRM ranged from a bombardment of poor Amazon reviews to in-game designs decrying EA and its policies. Some of those policies were eased, but EA has also threatened to ban players for even discussing SecuROM on their forums. The court documents (PDF) allege:
"What purchasers are not told is that, included in the purchase, installation, and operation of Spore is a second, undisclosed program. The name of the second program is SecuROM ... Consumers are given no control, rights, or options over SecuROM. ... Electronic Arts intentionally did not disclose to any such purchasers that the Spore game disk also possessed a second, hidden program which secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer."
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<em>Spore</em> DRM Protest Makes EA Ease <em>Red Alert 3</em> Restrictions 486 comments
Crazy Taco writes "The heavy Amazon.com protest of Spore's DRM appears to have caught the attention of executives at EA. IGN reports that DRM for the upcoming C&C: Red Alert 3 will be scaled back. Unlike previous Command and Conquer games, the CD will not be required in the drive to play. The online authentication will be done just once (rather than periodic phone calls home), and up to five installations will be allowed, as opposed to three for Spore. While I still think five installations is too few (I've probably re-installed Command and Conquer: Generals 20 times over the years for various reasons), EA says they will have staff standing by to grant more installations as necessary on a case by case basis. So, while this still isn't optimal, at least we are getting a compromise. Hopefully, if the piracy rate for the game is low, perhaps EA will get comfortable enough to ship with even less DRM in the future."
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What Modern Games Are DRM-Free? 630 comments
IceDiver writes "I used to be an avid PC gamer. However, I have only bought 1 game in the last 18 months because I am sick and tired of the problems caused by the various intrusive, and sometimes damaging DRM schemes game publishers insist on forcing upon their customers. Once burned, twice shy! The EA announcement that upcoming releases will include SecuROM, along with verification requirements and major restrictions on installations left me wondering which recently released or upcoming games (particularly major titles) are being released without DRM? Are there any? How has DRM affected your game purchasing? Will EA be negatively affected by their DRM decision?"
The ongoing DRM controversy was stirred by the recent launch of Spore. We discussed the public outcry from Amazon's reviews (which were subsequently taken down and then re-posted). EA's response to the outcry was to say that only one percent of accounts tried to activate the game more than three times, which is the limit without help from their customer service. Meanwhile, their efforts to find a "balance" between preventing piracy and not hampering legal users may not have been as successful as they hoped. According to Forbes, a P2P research firm found that illegal copies of Spore had been downloaded over 170,000 times already. So, is it time to create a whitelist for game publishers and developers?
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Review: <em>Spore</em> 605 comments
The hype leading up to Spore was excessive. But then, so is the scope of the game; following the growth of a species from the cellular level to galactic domination was an ambitious goal, to say the least. Bringing evolution into the realm of entertainment was something Will Wright hoped and gambled he could do after the success of the Sim franchise. But rather than evolution, Spore became more about creation — creation that allows a single-player game to include the community, as well. It ties the various parts of the game together to make Spore very entertaining as a whole. Read on for my thoughts.
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Federal Trade Commission To Scrutinize DRM 211 comments
Ars Technica reports that the FTC is getting ready to take a hard look at gaming DRM, setting up a town hall meeting to be held on March 25th. They're currently recruiting panelists, and they say the meeting will, in part, "address the need to improve disclosures to consumers about DRM limitations." The controversy over DRM came to a head in 2008 with the release of Spore and the multiple subsequent class-action lawsuits focusing on the SecuROM software that came with the game. Ars Technica says the town hall meeting will also look at "legal issues surrounding DRM" and "the potential need for government involvement to protect consumers."
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http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Informative)
http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 [thepiratebay.org]
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Interesting)
If you don't believe in your cause enough to actually boycott the product, then you don't deserve to see your cause prevail.
Also, I believe it is counter productive. If you pirate the game, they will know people want the game enough to jump through hoops for it. EA will just try to make piracy more difficult than buying the product. You may be saying "Great, they will take out the DRM and the game will be easier to buy than pirate!" but you're wrong. They will litigate. Think of the RIAA and where they went when music piracy got too out of hand for them. Do you want to create another monster?
If you can prove that you can go without the product if they don't make it in a form you like, then they will be much more likely to remove DRM, because its the only enemy left.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
Excellent point. This is a very silly way to 'protest' about DRM. The best way to get companies to stop using DRM is to reason with them, contact them, and let them know how you feel. I can tell you 100% that no matter how many people would pirate my games, it wouldn't convince me to abandon DRM. What convinced me to do it was actually reading through what the people had to say when they emailed me on the topic.
All rating the game badly will do is make amazon's ratings look unusable, piss off everyone who worked on the game (many of which oppose DRM no doubt), and reinforce the mentality that those who oppose DRM are doing so for childish reasons. Well-thought out, considered and intelligent emails to the publishers and developers will achieve a hundred times more, as will boycotting the game (both legal and illegal copies) and only purchasing DRM-free games.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
Random question: what's the difference between a well-thought out email sent directly to the publisher, and a well-thought out comment posted to Amazon?
Random answer: it's much more difficult to find the address of someone who cares at the publisher.
However, I like the approach. I will not buy Spore (partially because of the bad reviews, but also partially because of the DRM), but there is no easy way for me tell EA why I didn't buy it. Leaving a comment is a simple way for me to tell EA that piracy has nothing to do with the game doing badly - Securom, on the other hand, has quite a bit to do with it.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Interesting)
Corporations don't think quite the same way as individuals. The best way to reach an individual person is to convince them to do the right thing, and then morality and personal pride will often compel them to take your advice (provided you were convincing). When you're dealing with a big corporation, you have to bear in mind the fact that corporations don't work with pride or morals, they work with the bottom line. Ultimately, what you have to do is convince them that your way is the way that will make them more money, and if a boycott or bad ratings are the only way of doing that, then that's what you need to do.
I myself purchased the game, downloaded and installed the (cracked) pirated copy, then replaced the serial number in the system registry with the legitimate registration number. Illegal? Probably not, since I already own the software and I'm just downloading a backup. Breach of license? Definitely. That said, I bought their damn game. I don't intend to allow them to punish me for doing the right thing.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
piss off everyone who worked on the game
They should be clever enough to understand that the criticism is against the DRM, not the game itself.
many of which oppose DRM no doubt
Then they should not take the campaign personally, but understand that it is aimed at their publisher.
But anyway, I guess you are right. For example, Gas Powered Games released a patch to Supreme Commander a fairly short time after the release that removed the copy protection. I really liked this move, and it contributed significantly to my decision to buy the game.
reinforce the mentality that those who oppose DRM are doing so for childish reasons.
I read a few of the "reviews", and they were not childish. They were reasonable complaints against a draconian DRM scheme, fairly comparing the so-called "purchase" with a rental scheme. What's childish about wanting to play the game even after EA stops supporting it? I still sometimes play games ten years old.
Well-thought out, considered and intelligent emails to the publishers and developers will achieve a hundred times more
I would surely do that, if I thought that it had any chance of actually being read. But unfortunately, I don't think that it would, so why waste my time?
as will boycotting the game (both legal and illegal copies)
That's what I do. I really looked forward to Spore, but the DRM is a showstopper. I won't buy the game until it is put in the bargain bin for $10, or (extremely unlikely) they remove the DRM. I will also not pirate the game.
and only purchasing DRM-free games.
Unfortunately, those are few and far between. I can accept games like Supreme Commander, which are initially copy-protected, but which have the protection removed by the game developers themselves afterward (as the DRM is usually demanded by the publisher, not the developers).
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
Childish or not, it's attention getting, and sometimes that's what it takes to drive the message home.
I've tried carefully crafted and reasoned emails, and even 'traditional' letters using paper and a stamp. I've written about why I didn't purchase the game (DRM), why I would enjoy playing it, and how much I would enjoy giving them my money if a mutually acceptable transaction were possible. I've praised companies in writing for doing something I support (reasonable protection, Linux support) and crediting that for my purchase. I've explained how I've been buying computer games since buying King's Quest for my Tandy 1000 and have several large bookshelves full of game boxes I've accumulated over the years. I've explained why my purchase of new games suddenly dwindled to nearly nothing as a result of DRM and why I support companies such as Introversion who don't use draconian DRM. I've explained why I haven't stopped playing games because I passed out of the target demographic and how I have more liquid assets available now than when I was young and poor. I've tried it all, and it has all fallen on deaf ears.
I've been thanked for my thoughtful comments, but educated in the business realities that make my position untenable, though regrettable. I've been accused of being irrelevant, since I'm only one person and what does the loss of my $50 mean anyway - there are plenty of people who buy the game so who am I to question things. Hell, I've been accused of pirating just because I stated that I won't purchase a game due to DRM or other factors, since I must obviously be incapable of resisting the impulse of playing a hot game (eg. Bioshock) because no gamer would willing avoid playing (so if I didn't buy it, I must have pirated it).
In other words, the reasoned approach has fallen on deaf ears, at least based on the fact that DRM and such has become increasingly more draconian as sales continue to dwindle for PC games.
It's very difficult for even a motivated individual to have any impact because even statements like "I'll never buy one of your products again as long as you continue this undesirable practice" have no real meaning. What do I matter to the bottom line?
I've concluded that organized efforts are more likely to get attention because the potential impact is much greater.
Question the methods if you will, but I think people have figured out that organizing is the only way to get companies to listen.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Informative)
Excellent point. This is a very silly way to 'protest' about DRM. The best way to get companies to stop using DRM is to reason with them, contact them, and let them know how you feel. I can tell you 100% that no matter how many people would pirate my games, it wouldn't convince me to abandon DRM. What convinced me to do it was actually reading through what the people had to say when they emailed me on the topic.
All rating the game badly will do is make amazon's ratings look unusable, piss off everyone who worked on the game (many of which oppose DRM no doubt), and reinforce the mentality that those who oppose DRM are doing so for childish reasons. Well-thought out, considered and intelligent emails to the publishers and developers will achieve a hundred times more, as will boycotting the game (both legal and illegal copies) and only purchasing DRM-free games.
No it isn't. I'm pretty sure the way capitalism works is by speaking with your money. These are people who are vocally boycotting the game, and explaining why. Also, if you look at the actual 1 star ratings, they all give said ratings for genuine, factual reasons. If they were accusing the game of killing puppies, or eating babies, then I would say its juvenile. However, they aren't. They're stating that it installs software similar to a rootkit. They're explaining that if the servers ever go online (as they did in the case of PlaysForSure and Yahoo Music) that you lose all ability to play your game. These aren't infantile gripes - they're very valid concerns from their consumer base.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
I think your solution, like other nice ideas, requires too many humans to change :)
For other well-known examples, see communism and abstinence.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Insightful)
But you seem to be forgetting that buying congress critters seems to be the FIRST thing they go for,no matter what the data says! Do you HONESTLY think that if we got a massive boycott going that EA would actually BELIEVE that folks weren't buying their precious IP because of their DRM crap(and for the record I planned to buy Spore but now I won't. Limited activations on something I paid for is bullshit). No,what they would do is go to congress and say "They must be stealing the game from those Darknet things we have been hearing about! Or they are so busy stealing the games that don't use our excellent 'Secure Starforce Buttraper V.2' that we are losing sales. Lock down the tubes and make Super DRM mandatory!" And the congress critters will go "Ohhh! How much money? Really?" and we will have yet another draconian copyright law.
So steal the game,don't steal the game. The outcome will sadly be the same. The only thing we can really do is to scream bloody murder on every site like this one and Amazon ratings in the hope we give enough ammo for the developers to go to their bosses and say "This DRM crap is hurting our bottom line" because just as the record companies still think their numbers are going down due to piracy and not that everyone thinks the pre-packaged sh*t band o' the week ain't worth having,so will the game companies never believe that their new "Secure Starforce Buttraper V.2" is the reason gamers are avoiding their precious IP like a dose of the clap. But as always this is my 02c,YMMV
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Informative)
Why stop at Amazon, let's take it to every retailer with a review page:
Best Buy Spore Product Page [bestbuy.com]
EBGames Spore Product Page [ebgames.com]
Toys R Us Spore Product Page [toysrus.com]
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Informative)
Still blows my mind that so few people know about httpS://thepiratebay.org....
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Informative)
That's not going to prevent much though. Secure transmissions like that help against hackers and ISP's trying to pry into your data. A company wanting to know who is transferring a torrent is going to connect to the swarm itself, not the http page for the site. Once there, even for encrypted data, the IP addresses of all parties involved will be shown because each client needs that information to download and/or update to those clients.
So in general, I'm just not sure how HTTPS helps this problem at all.
Parent
Re:http://thepiratebay.org/search/Spore/0/99/0 (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, 3k seeds and 77k leachers... Sounds like a succesful game.
Parent
It might. (Score:5, Insightful)
I really want this game but I will wait until a patch is available that turns off the DRM.
Some would call it a crack but if I buy the game then I say it is a patch.
A piece of code that improves the program is too my mind a patch.
I have have had more problems using DRM software that I have paid for than I would ever have hunting down pirated copies.
Companies have got to learn to stop treating paying customers and criminals.
Re:It might. (Score:5, Interesting)
Reminds me of Supreme Commander, they had 'securerom' with the original DVDs, but once installed it downloaded the usual patches, one of which disabled it. So, authenticate once and then you never have to worry about playing with the media in the drive.
I think its the best compromise we're likely to get.
Parent
Re:It might. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:It might. (Score:5, Insightful)
Some Steam games have both the Steam DRM and something else. Bioshock, for example, came with SecuROM regardless of whether you got it from Steam or a physical shop. (This is why the demo didn't work on my PC, and this is why I didn't buy it.)
Like the DRM used in games consoles, the Steam DRM is tolerable because it works properly, and the rules that it imposes are consistent across nearly all of the games (Bioshock being an exception). We do not see this "flash mob" rating all the XBox games as 1: why not? Because the DRM in that case doesn't get in the way.
Many of the problems with DRM can be solved by standardisation, but the standard must not only involve a single DRM platform for all software, but also a single online service for authentication. This would be a trusted third party - like a bank. It would assure us that purchases will continue to function after the publisher goes out of business. Steam does both of these things quite well, although we are all assuming that Valve won't go bankrupt and sell its IP to a company with less of a clue.
Parent
Re:It might. (Score:5, Insightful)
Many of the problems with DRM can be solved by standardisation, but the standard must not only involve a single DRM platform for all software, but also a single online service for authentication. This would be a trusted third party - like a bank. It would assure us that purchases will continue to function after the publisher goes out of business. Steam does both of these things quite well, although we are all assuming that Valve won't go bankrupt and sell its IP to a company with less of a clue.
Standardized DRM would do nothing to fix the primary problem with DRM, which is that it doesn't work. If you standardize DRM it will be no time at all before we have standardized cracks. Besides, there's no particular reason to assume that some third party will be more stable or reliable than game publishers.
Given that their basic business model is broken (providing a service that makes products more difficult to use while failing to prevent piracy) I would in fact go so far as to say that any company like Steam is unlikely to be around in a year or two. The solution for game companies is to find a way to sell something other than the program itself which only they can provide. Given the degree to which games are becoming integrated with the internet, this isn't such an impossible idea.
Parent
Hey (Score:5, Informative)
I agree. DRM on games sucks. Thanks to DRM on games, it's nearly impossible to play certain games on Linux with Wine, because things like SecuROM don't like Wine. Pretty worthless 'rights management' if it prevents a legitimate customer from using it.
Re:Hey (Score:5, Funny)
Pretty worthless 'rights management' if it prevents a legitimate customer from using it.
Many of us define DRM more accurately as "digital restrictions management".
Parent
Re:Hey (Score:5, Insightful)
No, no, no; you've got it all wrong. It's not your rights that are being managed; it's the company's.
Parent
Re:Hey (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, on the list of system requirements, I bet it says "Windows". I don't think it says "an implementation of the Windows environment".
It's totally stupid for it not to work, but if you go by what's on the box...
Parent
I hadn't heard about SecuROM (Score:5, Interesting)
and I'm a geek, a gamer (though mostly console) and a slashdot reader. The general public are screwed!
Spore is ace, and frankly if it wants to shaft my vista installation it's welcome to it. It's the only thing I use vista for.
The idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
The server side community is an integral part of the game. What do they need DRM for? Are they so used to annoying their customers that they just added the DRM out of habit?
Re:The idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
The server side community is an integral part of the game. What do they need DRM for? Are they so used to annoying their customers that they just added the DRM out of habit?
Because they are too big as a company for people with a clue to make policy decisions. The DRM choice will have been made by upper management who weren't really understanding the impact it will have.
After all, they still think DRM is a good thing.
The DRM has made me certain I will not be buying this game. Its no loss anyway, there are plenty of games out there, and if the concept is good, someone else will do something similar soon enough.
Parent
Re:The idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
The DRM has made me certain I will not be buying this game.
No kidding. I'm going to skip Spore due to the DRM.
Its no loss anyway, there are plenty of games out there, and if the concept is good, someone else will do something similar soon enough.
And this, right here, is really the heart of the matter. It's a freaking game. Entertainment. It's not a necessity. I don't need Spore. I may want to play it, but if they make it painful to use, then forget it. It's not like I really lose anything. I'll just do something else.
When will publishers realize that? It's not like we have to play their game. It's just entertainment, and there are a million other options out there. I'm not going to blow money on something just to be treated like a criminal.
Parent
What is this about DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What is this about DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)
So was Sim City a toy or a game? And did it matter?
Parent
Development of DRM: (Score:5, Interesting)
Wanted More from Spore (Score:5, Insightful)
Forget the DRM. Spore just fails to live up to its promising premise.
Actually, my 5-year-old and 3-year-old love it. They create creatures in the creature creator and play the cell and creature levels over and over. I barely completed the tribal stage before I got bored with it.
The fact is, PC games are the only digital medium I see taking a genuine hit from piracy, because pirating PC games doesn't change them (and sadly often makes them work better). People want their books to be books. They want their movies to play on their TVs. And everyone listens to music, even complete luddites. A technical person can make these things happen, but most people don't even know where to look for pirated stuff, let alone how to make it work.
The skillset required to tweak a PC for gaming and really enjoy PC games overlaps significantly with the skillset required to play pirated games. Consequently, there are two ways to really turn a profit on PC games: make the game online-only, or release a mega-hit. And face it--if you release a mega-hit, people will accept the DRM. Grudgingly? Sure. But they'll accept it.
Spore was supposed to be a mega-hit (and who knows, maybe it will be). But I would submit that Spore, while fun enough in itself, is basically five mediocre games crammed together and bundled with an amazing, stellar toolset. This makes it easier to complain about stuff like the intrusive DRM, but DRM is the least of Spore's worries, I think. Given the chance to do it again, I'd wait for Spore to hit the bargain rack at Wal-Mart.
Re:Wanted More from Spore (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're bored after the first two stages, why would you move on to the third? A game is supposed to be fun. If it's not fun relatively quickly, there's no point in playing it.
Maybe you're a masochist, but apparently he's not.
Parent
Re:Wanted More from Spore (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
3 Install limit is the kicker. (Score:5, Insightful)
All the messageboards commenting on the game are discussing the issue - and most everyone realizes that they tend to move games from machine to machine over the years, or at least are forced to reinstall windows enough that a 3 install limit is FAR too limited a deal. Oh, and uninstalling the software anecdotally does NOT appear to give you 'back' installs of the game so far.
I've worked making software protection schemes on occasion - from encrypted dongles with 'click counters' to sequentially mutating upgrade codes linked to custom hardware to send customers to extend licenses, all to make sure software was limited in terms of what users could do with it under license. This is one limit that really is too far for honorable customers.
The biggest suspicion is that all this was done to minimize the chance and value of the reselling the game. I can see that perspective... but if it's at the cost of actually selling the game in the first place, or of pissing off future customers, they've made a terrible mistake.
Ryan Fenton
Thank you, DRM! (Score:5, Funny)
For once I find myself happy a game has DRM. I was going to buy Spore, until I heard of the DRM. Once that information became available it was off my to-buy list and I forgot about it.
Then a few days ago I am informed there's a cracked version available. I decide to see if it lived up to the hype and install it. Three hours later, I delete it out of boredom.
If it hadn't been for DRM, that would've been money out the window. There can be but one conclusion. DRM really is there for my benefit.
if drm doesn't, being a terrible game will (Score:5, Informative)
Sadly it's just terrible. Horribly boring. Evolutions is largely meaningless. There's basically no point in playing more than once, even going down a completely opposite tree was an identical experience. Just painfully dull.
Re:if drm doesn't, being a terrible game will (Score:5, Funny)
Who the heck moderated this 'offtopic'? Will Wright?
Parent
DRM used to be a nuisance, now it's a hazard (Score:5, Insightful)
At one time the various methods of DRM used to be a nuisance. However, in the last few years they have become a hazard. Getting tired of this crap, if I ever have to fix another PC that gets screwed over by bullshit DRM (screwed up CD/DVD drivers, etc) I'll be filing a lawsuit.
Bad experience with Mass Effect DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
I own Mass Effect PC. No, really. As in went to the store and bought a copy. The game is great.
But the DRM? Not so much. A few days ago it just decided to stop working for a while, and instead of running would tell me that I wasn't authorized to run it. Seems odd, since not only was I running it just fine before that happened, the box is still sitting on my desk. Why am I not authorized to run a game that I paid for, while some guy who pirated it can run it just fine (and with shorter startup times due to the lack of SecuROM)? Nobody has ever really had a good answer for that other then "bend over and take it."
Since then it started working again as inexplicably as it stopped working in the first place, but the whole thing put a bad taste in my mouth.
Now, throw the three install limit on top of that, and I'm really not sure why I should ever give EA another dime. In fact I am sure, I'm not buying anything from EA again until they start acting like they care about paying customers more then pirates.
Spore is the first on the "would have bought, but won't due to DRM" list for me. It won't be the last. EA can try to blame it on piracy all they want, but the fact of the matter is that they're doing more damage to their own sales then any pirate ever did.
Selling pretty well (Score:5, Informative)
A quick read through the Amazon reviews of Spore seems to suggest that the negative comments are already putting people off from buying the game.
This line from the product page [amazon.com] seems to suggest otherwise:
That's why they call them Block Puzzles (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, the game isn't all that great... (Score:5, Informative)
I'm an avid gamer. My first games were games like Zork II, Ultima I, II, II I played on my C-64 and 20 or 30 carts I had for my 2600. I've played most of the major Sims, Strategy Games, and RTS titles. Everything from Dune II to Warcraft III. From Sim City I to CIV IV. From MOO to the demo copy of Sins of a Solar Empire, which I'm about to try.
And let me say, Spore is an interesting game, but after playing it yesterday for the first time, I think it was a real let-down considering the type. I would say that its a GOOD game, and I actually had some fun during the creature stage "tweaking" my creature, but the cell stage was a boring arcade style game. And the tribal stage was a let down because basically all you do is collect food and either kill the other tribes or play "music" to impress them.
Not really an "in depth" game like I was expecting. I'm on the civilzation stage, and I was a little disappointed to find out that you have to "harvest spice". Come on, how original is that? That goes all the way back to Dune II and Dune 2000 from Westwood. At least they could have come up with something original like "Smithore" ( M.U.L.E. )...
So I think the negative reviews are probably just that. Negative reviews.
Although one cool thing was that I encountered one of the creatures I designed about a month ago with creature creator show up in the creature phase of the game in "EPIC" size! It proceeded to "eat" half my population...
DRM could very well push PC gaming over the edge (Score:5, Interesting)
DISCLAIMER: I'm a die-hard PC gamer. I go all the way back to the Commodore 64 and I've owned and I have had the privilege to play some of the best games of all time.
PC gaming is already in a fragile state. There is much competition from the Console market. Cheaper hardware, less compatibility problems, more stability and no DRM (at least until they go all download based). Assuming that DRM will eventually permeate every PC game, it could very well be the factor that pushes PC gaming over the edge. It just adds one more reason to choose Console over PC as a gaming platform. Soon, everyone will compare the two and most likely arrive at the following conclusions:
In today's day and age, consoles are unfortunately what most people want. They want to go buy a game at the store, plug it into their console and start playing right away. As much as I hate to say it being a long-time PC gamer, this is just one more nail in the coffin for PC gaming.
If the PC gaming platform is going to be saved there are many issues that need to be addressed. Gaming PC's need to be cheaper to be competitive with the price point of Console rivals. There has to be some sort of compromise about DRM. There has to be a way to raise the level of quality (stability, hardware support) of PC releases. Most PC releases, especially console ports, seem like they were just slapped together. Lots of products are released that are buggy as all hell and you have wait for 2 or 3 patches to get to play the game properly.
I sincerely hope that PC gaming lives on but right now it seems like it's fading away.
Re:DRM could very well push PC gaming over the edg (Score:5, Interesting)
My father in law was an avid PC gamer too. Then he had two games in a row fail to work on his machine due to weird DRM incompatabilities with his hardware. We could never figure out exactly what the problem was, since he wasn't doing anything all that strange and although it was a custom-built system, it was all pretty standard hardware.
He solved the problem by buying an Xbox 360.
He expects that if he buys a game and puts the disk into his machine, it should run. DRM caused that to not happen. To me, it doesn't seem like an unrealistic request (and the Xbox has no problem doing it).
And people wonder what is killing PC gaming? Its the companies that make PC games.
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What DRM? (Score:5, Informative)
As far as I can see no commenter yet has actually installed this game, it's just a bunch of "EA Sucks"/"I won't buy this (but I wouldn't have anyway)"/"It will run under WINE" rants based on stories they've read on slashdot.
I bought it and installed it and, aside from the usual serial number, I've not noticed any DRM yet.
And probably I won't because I won't be playing it again. DRM won't kill Spore, brain dead gameplay will kill Spore. Such a beautiful and well executed concept has been ruined by Will Wright's desire to go for the Sims-level market. There's nothing even remotely challenging about the first stages, though the concept and execution are great, then the last stage over-compensates by being impossible (it's basically Elite II without the tedious flying bits, but you always start next to large and aggressive empires who give you not a chance). I truly hope that they have a change of heart and produce some kind of advanced gamer mode patch to make the promising pre-space stages deeper and longer, but having read WW's unapologetic response I won't be holding my breath.
Re:What about my legal rights? (Score:5, Informative)
If you read the EULA, EA owns your creations. You only get the rights to use them as they see fit.
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Re:Been bitten (Score:5, Insightful)
Your emails would have more force if you explained you'd never buy it or even better will spend money with their competitors rather than pay them money. When you threaten to pirate, that is the only thing they are going to see or consider. Tagging yourself a pirate means you weren't apt to be a customer in their eyes anyway. You are also threatening to combat a wrong with wrong. The corporation may be faceless but a human probably reads your mail at some point and such a statement isn't morally impressive.
Parent
Re:DRM? (Score:5, Insightful)
If it's anything like they are saying, it will be like Bioshock/Mass Effects DRM. I'm sure it's in more detail around here.
Basically, on install, it calls home to check if the unique DVD you got has been installed more than three times. If so, it halts the installation process until you call EA and get it removed. The problem should be apparent.
No internet? In this day and age, hard to believe but I'm sure someone out there had their internet being fixed, etc.
Problems with EA's connection/equipment? A bit more believable
What if EA doesn't believe you/you don't fulfill their requirements? No install for you.
EA goes under/stops support for activation servers? Don't expect an official fix.
Honestly, go find a cracked version, and install that. You did your part in paying for it.
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