Spore Boycott

[Nate]

... sigh.

I understand, but come on .. really? The hot dog thing wasn't enough to get you guys guessing that I am throwing around my sarcastic tone?

ugh.

Actually yeah I found the hot dog comments rather funny. It was simply that last line that was too far over the line.

Please, lets stay on topic.

I haven't really played Spore yet. I really don't know what all the hype, positive or negative, is about. Maybe I'll check it out and see if it could be fun.

I agree tho, it would be a bummer if you go over your install limit in a legitimate way. Hard drives crash, new computers come in from time to time...lemme use what I purchased

[NightLad]

I fail to see how saying that you’d punch me in the face is either sarcasm or humour, even if you had used a winkey-face. Sorry.

You have got to be kidding me. good lord.

Nope, dead serious.

1.) You are effectively renting EVERY game you have. Have you ever read the Terms of Service before accepting?

I own every game I’ve purchased, because when I bought the game, the CD/DVD contained the whole game. I can install it on as many computers as I want, as many times as I want, whether it be right this minute or 10 years down the road. Will the EA Remote Authentication and Activation Servers be running 10 years (or 10 days <- a BioShock reference) from now? Who knows? Is the Spore game I purchased a complete and playable copy? No, not until I log-online to authenticate it and then receive the missing content. It’s a vicious circle.

Meanwhile, illegal downloader’s are able to get a full working copy for free with the DRM removed. So who is being punished here?

2.) Graphics detail is low on purpose. Will's games are for the masses .. and the way you accomplish the cross platforming and mass audience reach is you have a game that is playable by more than the gaming geeks, the ones who have spent money on their systems gaming performance.

Thank you for that lesson. I used to work as a videogame designer.

I’m well aware of the limitations of the Wii. I’m also aware that EA promised Spore players a cutting edge gaming experience unlike anything seen before. Yet it now appears that they did not bother updating the graphics interface from the day the game went into production, roughly 5 years ago. The most they did was update driver compatibility for newer video cards prior to release.

3.) the DRM thing is getting old. If you are seriously that opposed to it, than DONT BUY IT! End of story. MOVE ON! No one is forcing anyone to buy this if they don't want to, so the DRM should be a non issue. I am not saying I like it, but that doesn't mean I am going to be pissed at the company for trying to secure their game.

They didn’t advertise the DRM prior to release. Even on the box/booklet there is no mention of it. Neither did they advertise the 3-time install limit. If they had, there would have been a much more organized and advertised opposition to it prior to release, and people like me would not have bought it. I emphatically oppose systems like DRM.

As I’ve explained, DRM does far more than just ‘secure the game’.

Go find something betting to whine about .. seriously. Well, no that I think about is, HotDogs piss me off. I think I am going to go make an entire thread to tell everyone what they should think about HotDogs. I will complain about their lack of style, and the companies miscounting on the dogs-to-buns ratio.

I’m not telling anybody what to do or what to think. I’m stating facts, as well as my own beliefs, about the inherent wrongness of DRM. I also commented on what I felt was wrong with the game play itself. I feel that the producers of Spore intentionally misrepresented the game they created, as well as its severe limitations.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t sneeze $50 bills and I sure don’t like being duped.

Peace.

[gmcclurelssu]

personally, i think this is another case of developers coming up with an amazing idea, advertising for that amazing idea, and then halfway through production realizing that they can't deliver. when my roommate bought the game, i thought it was sweet for a while. then i realized how fast they progressed through the game. in one afternoon they built an organism, evolved it and made it all the way to space. what do they want you to do after that, build another creature and start over? it looked like a lot of fun, but honestly, how many times could you play it before it gets old? After Fable, i though developers would have gotten the hint that no matter how good the game play is, if you can accomplish everything in 5 hours the game won't be that great overall.

[Shadera]

Thanks for the warning. I had every intention to purchase the game, and am glad I was waiting for the crowds to die down a bit.

3 install limit? What happens if you end up having problems and have to reinstall the game? (Take it off and put it back on, I've had to do that with other games) Do they not realize that happens from time to time?

Nah, much as I hate it sometimes, I'm sticking to Warcraft then.

[PythonWallace]

I'm not a gamer, but I agree with Night Lad. That is B.S. and it is worth complaining about. So are hot dogs. They're bad for you, but they're so delicious. What is one to do? It's quite a conundrum.

[RoyalGuardian]

Lol gamers are pissy... I should know I am a junior video game programmer/ designer. Cuda is right you know. just don't buy it if you don't like it. Instead of getting all riled up over a GAME, go write a letter to the us fish and wildlife dept and tell them not to take away our snakies. ... if worse comes to worse We will have to sell our snakes like drugs on a black snakie market. THAT is way better use of your time then downing a GREAT game. Stop being pissy and start being a big boy.

[m00kfu]

3 install limit? What happens if you end up having problems and have to reinstall the game? (Take it off and put it back on, I've had to do that with other games) Do they not realize that happens from time to time?

Don't you know? If you're re-installing things multiple times you're OBVIOUSLY doing something illegal...

[Vomitore]

Here's a solution. Buy an NES and SNES. Boycott internet games.

[NightLad]

Cuda is right you know. just don't buy it if you don't like it.

To repeat myself: I believe EA intentionally misrepresented the game and its limitations. They also never advertised the aggressive DRM and 3-install limit.

I believe one of the biggest reasons so many people are upset is not that the DRM exists, but that it came as such a shock. BioShock and Mass Effect (for example) at least got the word out prior to release, and although it didn't tickle most people, at least they could make an informed decision whether or not to buy it to begin with. Unlike with Spore, they didn't buy it, install it, and then find out about the DRM via third-party message boards.

Had EA made these things better known, and I still chose to buy the game, then (and only then) would you be correct in telling me to accept it and move on. But they didn't. I, and thousands of other gamers, bought a game that is A) not complete in the package we purchased, B) forces online activation, C) limits our ability to install and use the product should the remote servers be down/offline, and D) does not represent what was advertised to the gaming community for the past nearly 5 years. (That last one is a matter of personal opinion.)

Would you like to buy a music CD, only to find out that a few of the tracks are missing, and you can only get them when you log onto the producers website and register your copy... and you can only do it 3 times before its worthless?

No?

Then why should I put up with that when I spend $50 on a game?

Instead of getting all riled up over a GAME, go write a letter to the us fish and wildlife dept and tell them not to take away our snakies.

I have. I've also spent hours speaking with representatives from many levels of government. (And was rewarded with a nasty long distance bill!) I also donated a great deal of time to letter-writing and phone-calling to Canadian representatives to fight the SPCA supported Exotics Ban out west earlier this year.

Maybe you think I'm some game-addict who does nothing but sit in front of his computer. Sorry to shatter the stereotype, but no. Call it a nostalgic form of escapism I enjoy. I also have a fondness for attending classical music recitals, playing my harp, and reading. I’m a real rebel.

...if worse comes to worse We will have to sell our snakes like drugs on a black snakie market.

If it comes to that, I'll help organize the underground railroad.

THAT is way better use of your time then downing a GREAT game.

GREATness is in the eye of the gamer. I personally think this game was highly overrated, hyped, and was intentionally misrepresented as for its game-play and limitations. I think this is a case of a game's hype outgrowing its own performance, and the designers saying... "ohoh" a little too late.

They had National Geographic do an episode about the game. They had Robin Williams promoting it, featured as a guest celebrity at one of the presentations. (He created a creature on-stage while making jokes about it. Funny stuff, actually. YouTube it.) They made it larger-than-life.

Keep in mind this is from the creator of the Simms. You and I both know there are a million expansion packs already in the works. Too bad EA was only interested in releasing a bare-bones starter set that feels like just that. At least, to me it did. Everything I'm saying about the game play and performance is from a personal perspective.

Stop being pissy and start being a big boy.

Tsk. You've already said this is a "GREAT game," so I assume that you are either a fan coming to its defence against what you perceive as unwarranted "attacks", or... hm. No, I'd bet that about sums it up.

Look, I'm not trying to bash it. I've never said that it is a terrible, awful, horrible game. I acknowledge that there are many people who like it - and I'm glad! I hope they get many years of enjoyment out of their purchase. But for me, it did not live up to the hype, but my primary displeasure remains the addition of DRM. We are allowed to share our personal opinions here, right?

Peace.

[NightLad]

Here's a solution. Buy an NES and SNES. Boycott internet games.

Buy them? I still have my originals.

I was video game deprived as a child. Amnesty International did a special feature about me. My thumb muscles were terribly underdeveloped and my eyes could not handle the flickering of strobe lights for more than a minute, because the photons receptors were so weak from lack of heightened use.

Sad but true story: the Christmas SNES was released my parents bought me a regular Nintendo. The Christmas N64 came out, I got an SNES. The scars are deep in this one.

I love ROMS. Since NES and SNES games are no longer being created, I don't have a problem with downloading them. Fun stuff!