Spore's Draconian DRM Earns It Major Backlash

[Craig]

Quote:

If you take a look at Spore's listing on Amazon.com, you may be surprised to notice that the game (as of this writing) has an abysmal user rating of one-and-a-half stars. But that isn't necessarily an indictment of the game's quality -- out of 184 customer reviews, 159 are one-star ratings, and just about all of them have one thing in common: pure, vile hatred of the game's digital rights management, or DRM (via Destructoid).

Like the PC version of Mass Effect before it, Spore's DRM limits owners to only three activations of the game after installation. The point is to prohibit software pirates from sharing and reusing activation codes over and over, but it also means that if a user happens to uninstall and reinstall Spore more than three times for completely legitimate reasons, they'll have to contact Electronic Arts customer support to request and have approved a new authentication on a case-by-case basis. Which is precisely what has Amazon users up in arms.

A quick scan of the negative reviews reveals some bitterly sensationalistic headlines: "DRM Kills another potentially great game," "Not a chance until the DRM goes," and "DRM complicates life, removes value." One reviewer, who calls the DRM "draconian," even likened a purchase to a rental as opposed to an actual ownership of the game, since a player could theoretically be barred from playing their copy of Spore if they use up their activations and EA refuses to allow more. "What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing," the user writes.

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[CoffeeShark]

methinks the pirates doth protest too much.

I'm tired of DRM too, but ratings should be on the game, not on the DRM. Now, if you install 3 times and need to call, and you can't get it activated, you have an issue. other than that, meh.

[pinkfluff]

I admit that DRM is pretty annoying but how often do you uninstall a game that you like.. and really, if you need to free up space i would imagine spore wouldnt be the first thing you would want to delete lol.
How often do you reformat or get a new computer lol
Pirates worst enemy? lol

[VincentVega]

I agree. it's enough unless you're some kind of tool that uninstalls things 4 times in one week. It's not just pirates that keep some games from being relased on PC, but while they do (sell) fine on console - it's shit like this. support, complaints, needing a call center for DRM... and these clownboats on amazon aren't helping

[Dopefish]

DRM is just an annoyance. It has never stopped piracy and never will. The only thing that stops piracy is to make the game online and have it authenticate, much like CoD4 or other MP games.

The main thing I have against DRM is that it's whole goal is to stop pirates. In the end, though, it just ends up punishing the people who actually bought the game. Pirates have most likely had the game since before its official release date and have a crack for it, too.

I buy games and still use no-disc cracks on them. It's just terrible.


I do think that the reviews should have reflected the game and not the DRM.

[SonicSpeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dopefish

DRM is just an annoyance. It has never stopped piracy and never will. The only thing that stops piracy is to make the game online and have it authenticate, much like CoD4 or other MP games.

The main thing I have against DRM is that it's whole goal is to stop pirates. In the end, though, it just ends up punishing the people who actually bought the game. Pirates have most likely had the game since before its official release date and have a crack for it, too.

I buy games and still use no-disc cracks on them. It's just terrible.


I do think that the reviews should have reflected the game and not the DRM.

Yeah somebody on another forum I frequent said that the game was decent, 5 days before launch.

I bet if you do a quick search on the most popular torrent sites you'll find hundreds of people torrenting the game.

[Bojingles]

Meh on DRM it's retarded. If the gaming industry was serious about stopping pirates then they would have nuked China threefold already. I just hope I don't have to reinstall the game more than 3 times.

[SonicSpeed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bojingles

Meh on DRM it's retarded. If the gaming industry was serious about stopping pirates then they would have nuked China threefold already. I just hope I don't have to reinstall the game more than 3 times.

I think Steam is the answer to DRM though. They seem to have a good grip on Piracy. Sure there are people who will still find a way to get a game running without it but Valve has a way at getting back at them. IIRC they purposely setup a torrent that caught people and banned the IP's that were caught.

[FuzzyLogik]

Bah, DRM junk. I tend to keep my games for a long long time. What happens if i want to play it again in 10 years? but i can't since i've installed it over three times? what happens if i can get a hold of somebody to re-activate it? I guess i'm forced to get a crack to make my game work.

[Tulkas]

I think this is stupid bullshit. WTF put this on in the first place. Most people don't read the TOS or anything like it, they just click "Accept" and while that is their fault, companies shouldn't try to sneak things in there. I can see a kid or an adult installing this game, having to uninstall it, and then it just doesn't work. People are going to think that the game is broken, or worse their computer. I think the rating should include the DRM because it adds to the game in its entirety.

Say there was a game that made you look at ads for 5 min. or whatever before the game itself started, I would want to know about that, because it would affect my purchase decision.