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Spore DRM Controversy Spawns Protest Creatures
by Nick Breckon, Sep 15, 2008 8:16pm PDTConsumers upset over the anti-piracy measures imposed on Maxis' Spore by publisher Electronic Arts are now fighting back using the game's creature creator.
Several DRM-themed, anti-EA creatures were found in the Sporepedia by GameCulture. Many make reference to Spore's use of SecuROM technology, which limits users from installing the game more than three times before having to contact Electronic Arts for further installs.
Last week, the Spore product page on Amazon.com was flooded with hundreds of negative reviews of the game, nearly all citing the title's install-limiting DRM.
In response, Electronic Arts downplayed the controversy by stating that fewer than 25 percent of users will ever install the game on more than one machine, with less than 1 percent installing on more than three computers.
Comments
Let's assume that DRM is necessary for a new, popular piece of software. (I don't agree that it is... but let's assume). I find Spore's approach to be no more or less offensive than other methods that have been tried in the past to prove that someone is a legal owner. Code wheels, manual look-ups, cd checks. They all place the burden of proof on you, the legal owner, to show that you are legit.
(And yes, I firmly believe that ALL of these schemes only punish the paying customer and don't actually curb piracy. But that's not what this is about.)
The invisible, background online-activation is frankly an extremely unobtrusive methodology. With Spore, you don't even need the DVD in the drive to play.
Now, let's talk about the 3-install rule. Stupid, yes. But I don't believe that this will negatively affect anybody. I guarantee that in a year or so, EA will remove this in a patch once the interest in the game dies down. But before that happens... let's say you are attempting to install on your 4th computer. I don't know for a fact how it works, but my guess is that you just pick up the phone, call EA, and they give you a code, or something. Pain in the ass? Sure. Stopping you from enjoying your game in any meaningful way? No.
(And for the record... I've been playing PC games since about 1985. I can only think of a handful of absolute classics that I've installed on 4 computers.)
Another interesting take on the issue: I can't remember who said it... but someone pointed out that this was more about crippling the GameStop resale industry than it was actually about DRM.
Yet another interesting way to think about this. There nothing in place to stop you from giving your copy of the game to two friends. Is EA actually giving you the ability to pirate the game?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 19 replies.
* I probably won't get it even if it isn't THAT bad, since CPU and Motherboard changes almost certainly count and I will NEVER EVER call customer support for a game.
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