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EA Patches Spore, Eases DRM

Posted by Soulskill on from the slowly-but-surely dept.

EA has released the first patch for Spore, the purpose of which is to fix a number of bugs and tweak some gameplay settings to be more entertaining. Some of the visual effects were upgraded as well. They've also officially responded to the complaints about Spore's DRM, stating their intention to increase the number of allowed installations to five and to set up a system to "de-authorize" systems in order to reclaim the installation credit. They plan to allow multiple screen names per account, which was an issue for many families trying to play the game. This comes not long after EA made similar changes to the DRM of upcoming RTS Red Alert 3, and after Spore's DRM protest spread to in-game creature designs. Reader SoopahMan notes that users in EA's Spore tech support forum are reporting a number of new issues caused by the patch.

22 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. How gracious of them by Verteiron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder if they actually believe this is going to change how people feel about the DRM, or if they just don't care and are trying to curb the Amazon comments?

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    End of lesson. You may press the button.
    1. Re:How gracious of them by calmofthestorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Easy. You make enough people happy that the protesters can be comfortably ignored. Deactivation isn't enough for me, but it's no longer renting the same way it was. Add in a promise to completely disable all drm if/when they shut down the servers and I think you could get most people onboard.

      Not me, but enough of the mainline gamers for it to matter.

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      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    2. Re:How gracious of them by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well,the limited activation BS equals no sale for me. When I buy something I want to actually BUY,and the limited activations make this an expensive rental. I still have games from the old DOS/Win9X era that I like to break out and play by companies long gone which I couldn't do if they had this crap. Which,of course along with killing the right of first sale is the point. To turn the whole business into an expensive rental so when a company gets bought out the buyer can simply kill the activation servers and get paid all over again for new keys.

      And any promise to get rid of the DRM when they shut down the servers is just a lie. Today most of the companies get bought out,which means their promise is worthless unless it is written in the EULA,which I'm willing to bet it's not. So sorry EA,but this is one customer that won't be buying your product until the limited activations are gone,period. This is a game,NOT iTunes.

      I would STRONGLY suggest everyone spread the word and keep as many folks from buying the game as possible,because in case you haven't heard other games are going to end up with this crap. The next one to have the limited Activation stench is Crysis:Warhead. So please spread the word and keep EA and the other major players from stealing your right of first sale!!! And as always this is one old gamers 02c,YMMV

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  2. Are they really that naive? by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We're willing to evolve our policy to accommodate our consumers. But we're hoping that everyone understands that DRM policy is essential to the economic structure we use to fund our games and as well as to the rights of people who create them. Without the ability to protect our work from piracy, developers across the entire game industry will eventually stop investing time and money in PC titles.

    Not only does this sound hilarious ("essential to the economic structure...") but not once in the history of software piracy, as far as I know, has DRM -ever- stopped piracy.

    I have to wonder if the CEOs and the decision-makers are out-of-touch and naive. Who do they think is actually going to believe this shit? Do they? Frankly, I don't think any actual malice is going on, just complete stupidity by non-techies easily wowed by the DRM snake oil.

    People like to go "ugh EA is fucking us!" and also complain "But the DRM actually hurts sales!" (probably true) and yet they STILL bang their head against the wall. If DRM worked, then the EA fucking us thing might be true. But given how worthless DRM is and how hackers break it the day it comes out (and often, before, as was partly the case with Spore) I frankly have to wonder if someone is simply just out of touch.

    Actually, I have a better idea. DRM is being used not because it works, but because someone (or some group, the people responsible for fighting piracy or such?) in the corporate structure ants the people up top to think they're doing their (impossible, and they likely know it) job so they don't get sacked. DRM stinks of a product of bureaucracy.

    1. Re:Are they really that naive? by calmofthestorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To stop piracy they crack down on BT through various means. The purpose of this DRM is to destroy resale value and make people need expensive reactivations/buy new copies if anything goes wrong/so they can shut down the servers and switch to a new model any time they want.

      This is similar to how child porn is used to justify measures that do nothing to prevent the people who make it, but seem to have an awful lot to do with curtailing protest against the gvmt.

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      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    2. Re:Are they really that naive? by Paradigm_Complex · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not only does this sound hilarious ("essential to the economic structure...") but not once in the history of software piracy, as far as I know, has DRM -ever- stopped piracy.

      (1) The goal isn't to completely stop all piracy of the product, just curb it. Some people would prefer to just buy the game rather than waiting for a crack or having to hassle with it. While it varries, this is the case sufficiently for companies to consider it worth the downsides. Of course this isn't the case when the DRM more trouble than just waiting a bit more for a clean crack, or if the crack is out before the game actually launches (as happened with Spore).
      (2) BD+ is still pretty locked down.

      --
      "A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
    3. Re:Are they really that naive? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Your first paragraph sure nails this thing. That is precisely what DRM is about. Not pirating software but to make it harder to resell games. Games companies have already mentioned that places like Gamestop that sell used games hurt the developers.

      Sony and Microsoft are combating it in a similar way with the PS3 and XBOX360. They are trying to push for more games being sold through PSN or XBox Live. Your reselling of games at that point is pretty much toast. What they don't seem to realize is that in the long run this hurts them too because by not being able to trade in the online purchased games they users are not able to afford purchasing as many new games.

    4. Re:Are they really that naive? by Aereus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wonder what they have to say about the fact that the game was already cracked before the release date, and more than half a million people pirated it in the first week alone? How do they still justify that it prevents piracy?

      In many cases the crack lets you get the game running faster than trying to mess around with driver and firmware upgrades to get the DRM functioning.

  3. To borrow a phrase... by lowlymarine · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From Benjamin "Yahtzee" Croshaw of "Zero Punctuation" fame:

    "They could not have missed the point further if they had fired in a completely different direction and the point was in another country altogether."

    The point is, EA, I WILL NOT be treated like a criminal. 5 activations is more than 3, yes, but it's still less than infinity, the number I should have. The number every other game (BioShock and Mass Effect aside) gives me. And I will not buy a single-player game that you can turn off at any time for any or no reason. Period. So back off the insane DRM or you will never get another penny out of me ever again. And I doubt I'm alone in that sentiment.

    1. Re:To borrow a phrase... by calmofthestorm · · Score: 3, Informative

      They say "let us manage your rights, you can trust us." I say "let me manage my rights, you can trust me."

      The difference is, I've never helped someone pirate a game I bought, and I don't buy games with DRM (aside from dumb shit like cd keys/anything that is replay vulnerable)

      They screw over honest players time and time again.

      Until the free (pirated) version is harder to make work than the expensive broken version, I'm not buying.

      Or rather I'm buying from competitors and skipping Spore because it is, as noted below, a shallow, tedious clickfest.

      I hate half baked games nerfed to appeal to the IQ of 60

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      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
    2. Re:To borrow a phrase... by lowlymarine · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Seeing as all of my Steam games are installed on all of my computers at once all the time, and have been reinstalled countless time without ever jumping through any special hoops to "refund activations," I'd say it's not much of a comparison. And while Steam is pretty restrictive DRM, it comes with upsides - I can install any game I own at any time on any computer without needing the disc. I can even play against other people on my account at LANs. Spore's DRM, however, doesn't offer any upsides. It's all restrictions, and only on the legit users. I'm pretty sure that despite the online activation and phone home nonsense, you even still need the cocking disc in the drive to play!

    3. Re:To borrow a phrase... by malkavian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm on death row. The death is irritating, but at least they're not using the electric chair.

      Somewhere along the line, you've missed the point; This DRM cripples your rights to resell a game (if it stinks, you can sell it on and recoup some of your losses, if it's not one you want to hold on to and play again and again, you can resell it). It cripples your ability to do anything with it that you'd normally expect to do with something you buy (you can lend a book to your mate; CD in the drive protection allows you to do this with a game, DRM doesn't).
      There is a whole historic section of law that guarantees the purchasor's rights to do what they want with items they have bought. Software companies, and DRM in particular have been trying VERY hard these last few years to work their way around the law, so that technically, you do still have the right to sell on the game (you can put the install DVD on Ebay or whatever), but it will be useless to the person who purchases it, making your legal rights useless.
      In other words, yes, these companies are effectively stealing from you (yes, exactly what they're saying pirates do to them).
      They are deliberately killing the resale market, ensuring you have no ability to recoup any of the money you spent on the item (or donating it to charity in the way of charity bookshops etc.), in any way the law says you should be able to do with such an item (as it was fair to be able to do such a thing).
      Yes, I know the first sale doctrine is confused because the software companies say that software is 'licensed'. The day they turn round and say that they'll replace all media once it's broken, and allow perpetual updates, and not tie it to any particular machine, and vastly reduce the cost, then I may think twice (actually, I use Steam, as it lets me do most of that).
      As it stands, the companies are way too greedy and grasping, feeling quite at home screwing over their customers in the attempt to create larger sales. The sooner this ends, and a 'fair' market resumes (in the same way it happened with books and such) the better.

  4. I fixed it a week ago already by unity100 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    and it works great. no issues with drm at all.

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  5. Who chose this title? by pembo13 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I read that as "EA Patches Spore, Erases DRM"

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    "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
  6. Meh by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm honestly not entirely sure what I've been let down by. Perhaps it's something to do with the DRM or maybe it's just a random bug in the game. Whatever it is, I haven't been able to actually play the game for over a week now. I've Google searched the problem endlessly, but haven't been able to come up with a solution and I've even resulted to dealing with EA support (albeit comically*) to try and figure out what's wrong.

    I purchased the game the day it came out, installed it without a hitch and had a generally okay time playing the game. It wasn't everything I had dreamed it would be, but I found it fairly entertaining in its own right. For whatever reason, on the third day the game stopped working. I hadn't updated my system, changed any settings, or done anything that should suddenly stop the game from working; but for whatever reason, it just stopped working.

    I've pretty much stopped caring and even if I were to get it working again I'm not entirely sure how much more I would play the game after having to deal with as much crap as I have. I looked over the patch notes and it seems as though there might be a potential fix, but of course I'm running the Mac version of the game so who knows when they'll actually patch that. After dealing with EA, it hasn't even been the DRM that's turned me off so much as the customer support in general. I've finally become a casualty to this monster that people have been decrying for so long. I guess I'll take my number and join the group.

    * In case you were wonder I've been undergoing support through EA's online support system. This entails me submitting my problem and them getting back to me sometime within the next three days with generally unhelpful advice. The last piece of advice I got was from a guy (every time someone has got back to me, it's been a different person) who instructed me to follow steps which started with "Go to Start -> Run ..." despite the fact that I'm on a mac. I got a pretty good laugh out of it, but at this point I really have to question how much EA has their shit together. From my end the answer seems to be, "Not very."

  7. Re:Installation limits by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What ever happened to The First Sale Doctrine? You have a right to resell that game when you've finished playing it.

    They're just trying to kill the second hand market.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  8. Though this has already been hinted at... by Etrai · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...no one has said it outright: DRM (and plain old copy protection if you care for the distinciton) only punishes those who care to buy the software. While this might not have been the intent this is the reality of the matter.
    Stardock saw it, why can't EA (et al.)?

  9. Re:How gracious of you by bky1701 · · Score: 4, Informative

    "You are publicly admitting to larceny and I hope you're nailed to the wall for it."

    Copyright infringement, at best. I am getting tired of having to point this out to those who ether refuse to acknowledge the difference, or are simply too brainwashed to tell.

    --
    Great Intellect...
  10. Overwhelming Gall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From Frank Gibeau's open letter:

    ... we're hoping that everyone understands that DRM policy is essential to the economic structure we use to fund our games and as well as to the rights of people who create them. Without the ability to protect our work from piracy, developers across the entire game industry will eventually stop investing time and money in PC titles.

    I can't believe the gall of EA to speak about the PC game industry like this. Here is the largest third-party game publisher in the world (unless Ubi Soft has them now), holding exclusivity contracts with multiple major sports franchises so their yearly Madden installments have no competition - who routinely releases malfunctioning games to the end consumer - who has been called out for overworking and underpaying its employees - who would rather charge you a buck to unlock a cheat code, or put ads in your game, than respect you as a customer - and this guy has the nerve to speak about what is good for the industry?

    No, EA. Not buying it. Not buying your game, not buying your bullshit. Cry me a fuckin' river about software piracy -- no way I'm feeling sorry for you being hoisted by your own SecuROM petard.

  11. Re:How gracious of you by calmofthestorm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh did my rental expire? My dad bought the games decades ago and gave them to me. Or was the right of first sale retroactively abolished too.

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    93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
  12. Re:How gracious of you by ultranova · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Copyright infringement, at best. I am getting tired of having to point this out to those who ether refuse to acknowledge the difference, or are simply too brainwashed to tell.

    More importantly, calling things which aren't stealing stealing is slowly but surely making the concept meaningless, or at least not carrying the negative overtones it once did. That can and probably will have nasty consequences, when someone does the obvious conclusion that since downloading abandonware is OK, so is looting a store, since they are both stealing.

    It's a bit like how the word "sex offender" is losing its meaning due to being used in every conceivable and inconceivable context: guy who pees in the bushes, guy who walks in the street naked, guy who rapes little girls... These are all "sex offenders" if caught, so the last nasty critter gets to hide behind the first two harmless ones. Not to mention the guy who was proven innocent in a court of law but is still kept in the registry...

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  13. EA/Maxis threatening to ban Spore accounts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Over on the official Spore forums all threads about SecureROM, DRM, or questions about these threads are now being instantly LOCKED by EA/Maxis moderators. Also, this was edited into one of the threads by a moderator:

    http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/3869.page

    quote:
    SecuROM as been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads. If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum. If there is any change you will be able to read it on the official Spore site.

    Please do not continue to post theses thread or you account may be at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore. /quote:

    So it would appear EA/Maxis's OFFICIAL stance is that if you question them, they will lock your account and force you to purchase another copy.