Comments on: EA seeks to remedy its 'Spore' DRM mistake

Game maker liberalizes its digital rights music policy for the new evolution game, by Will Wright--but not nearly enough. It has to learn the difference between users and customers.

[NWLB]

File this under "Stupid DRM Trick" or the International Journal of DUH.

[Alex Alexzander]

How about providing a root kit remover. I've uninstalled the game and I would like it if the root kit would go away as well. I also think these software companies need to be sued in court to get them to fully disclose that we customers are in fact going to install a root kit so we can opt out. That also means they should fully disclose this "before" we buy the software. I would not and will not buy any game that installs a root kit in the future. So to you game publishers, take note. You want to kill the sale with this form of DRM, that's your choice. But don't ask me to infect my PC with your root kit because your worried about theft.

Alex Alexzander

[nowarken]

I will love this 2,we will not pay for it , and it will be fixed,no root kits,we do not put SONY in pc now

[ortzinator]

They completely ignored the fact that their DRM does NOTHING to stop pirating.

[gsmiller88]

Does any DRM really stop pirating?

[jimbo2150]

I suppose it is a step in the right direction. I am still certainly offended by EA and Maxis's handling of this situation and exclusivly the quote above:

"the company was "disappointed" by the misunderstanding around its digital rights management software"

So they still think it is their customers have "misunderstood" an insane restriction even after the customers clearly spoke out about it? I think users' concerns of not being able to reinstall a game after having their computer crash and have to be formatted without calling the company and going through what will most-likely be a 10-to-20-step process to activate again is a valid concern. I think users' concerns about the inevitable future shutdown of activation centers and call centers will kill the game's value is a valid concern. I think CUSTOMERS' concerns that they are being treated like criminals when pirates have had the game before it was released, with the DRM disabled/removed, without having to activate it is a valid concern.

I certainly will not buy Spore for playability reasons, for DRM concerns (some listed above), and because even now EA and Maxis still seem to act as if the consumers are the ones who should bend to their will when it comes to rights. Complaints and concerns be damned! Don't treating your customers like criminals (eg. Guilty before PROVEN innocent) and stop treating your customers with comments and concerns like they are ignorant! Whatever happened to "the customer is always right" ? This is certainly bad PR.

[nowarken]

amen 2 that !!!!

[xi0nx]

not buyin it. I'm severely disappointed in EA with this one. A lot of the games i buy are EA because i love what they make. I bought Spore, before reading all the drm ******** that came with it. Im disappointed in my purchase and disappointed in EA.

[sanenazok]

I guess now-a-days "fixing" a problem means putting some spin on it like "you people just don't understand how much we love you." I'm all for higher activation limits, but what's going to happen next time when the game doesn't have as much hype?

[ukcannonfodder]

It's not about stopping piracy its about destroying the second hand market.

[Renegade Knight]

They did that in one fell swoop. I regret ever buying this came and will catagoragly refuse to buy any game that has DRM that prevents the resale. There are far too many games out there for me to waste my time on the ones that cost more in time, money, and frustration.

[ralfthedog]

I purchased Spore when I found out Walter John Williams wrote the dialog for the space stage. I put the game on a computer I have dedicated to things I don't trust. I don't know if the root kit is a root kit. If it is, lets hope they remove it on a future update.

One other note, because I installed the game on one of my Macs I can write 0s to the drive and reinstall the operating system as many times as I want. OS X like Linux does not come with any DRM. If you wanted to wipe and reload 15 times a day you can.

[skillingssucks]

You can do the same thing with Windows.

[sythara]

if you don't like their business practice, you do not have to buy their product.

But, the company should disclose what they are going to intall on the box with the game, however. Because what if you do not want DRM software it installed on your box with the game? You cant return the game for a full refund. That has to violate some fairness law somewhere. I only wish there were lawyers willing to defend gamers or computer users.

[Renegade Knight]

I bought because they didn't reval the DRM and the fact that I could not resell for whatever it was worht when I was done enjoying the game. Had they said that. I would not have bought the game. There are about 10 coming out this fall that I'd love to play. I have time for about 4.

[nowarken]

thanks

[ddesy]

Allowing deactivation and reactivation is nice and all, but since it still installs a rootkit I think I'll pass.

[Lifeshifter]

EA killed one of its other games "Battlefield 2142" with Spyware on your computer to track the users use of the game and that ultimately killed that game for them, this doesnt surprise me though a lot of companies are seeing that they are losing money by using DRM on games because of the hastle of it.

[thelemurking]

EA will never get it. Games like BF2 that have been out for years and likely to be at the very bottom of the pirated games list STILL require a CD check. Why not release a NO CD patch when the game hits the end of it's support cycle? If EA is no longer going to release updates and fixes for a game, shouldn't it be time to drop the disc check as well?

[nowarken]

yes to that

[PANdaRUS]

I've got to say that EA just lost a few sales with me and my friends (after I shared this news with them) due to word of mouth on the various websites related to this game. I had no idea that they installed root kits and I had no idea this game was going to be such a hassle with DRM issues.

I must agree...I'm very disappointed in their "wording" about being "disappointed" in the misunderstanding of their DRM. When will these companies learn that not all of their customers are 12 year old children who got the game through Mommy and Daddy? Or that not everyone is a pirate waiting in the shadows to liberate 40 copies of their gaming booty to share with others?

This trend doesn't only affect EA however as many game developers are showing an increasingly "disappointing" disrespect for the hand that feeds. Be it through buggy games that need to be patched regularly upon release or DRM foolishness such as this.

Quite honestly I hope this new economy hits them where it hurts when people start to become more and more cautious of purchasing titles first without checking for word of mouth via the web and friends.

There really needs to be an organized movement to remind game developers that as customers we demand a little more respect. I'm all for developers being vigilant and protecting their interests...but when they over-step their boundaries and install things on my machine without informing me, only to be discovered by myself later on when it causes problems on my computer that they won't pay to correct, then I'm "disappointed" by their disrespect.


Here's a thought: Perhaps the "enemy" of our current "enemy" is our "friend." If gaming companies want to laugh us off and continue to disrespect us as consumers, perhaps a few phone calls to congress and others like the dreaded "Hillary" who are so deadset against games for years and have seen very little victories, might find some solice in legislating that if these companies are going to continue to make their games, they MUST be held accountable for their shoddy practices with DRM, etc. I bet after the first company (Looking at you EA!) gets fined a hefty amount for every copy sold, they along with others will fall into place REAL fast and get with the program.

[Lerianis]

The fact is that DRM is NOT NECESSARY and only punishes legitimate customers. The best thing to do: drop DRM totally or make the DRM system CD-Key based like on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from EA (though it also has a 'disc-check' that I easily got rid of with a patch).

That is the best kind of DRM system out there, if it is internet-enabled (who doesn't have internet today, in all honesty).

[The_Decider]

It is still draconian and installs malware.

Those minor changes do nothing to remedy it.

[Imalittleteapot]

After the public's response on DRM why not just release a patch to disable it? Why does EA continue to argue with their customers? A crack is already available for download. What's the point of insisting on the DRM anyway?

The DRM just doesn't work. It's like a company that sells TVs and they say every TV sold comes with a dead cat to stop thieves (DRM). I don't know how a dead cat would stop thieves, but I don't understand how DRM stops pirates either so there, take that.

Now you don't want the dead cat. Also, the cat is dead and it doesn't meow like it's supposed to. Also, less people are buying TVs from you because they don?t like dead cats. However, the company still insists on giving you a dead cat. Why? Just get rid of the stupid cat!

Still sounds to me like some kickbacks or something is going on somewhere. It's the only explanation I have for how DRM companies continue to sell their products even though they have a 100 percent failure rate.