If we can learn anything from the troubled launch of Spore, a videogame many people have been looking forward to for years, it is that binding products with digital rights management (DRM) restrictions hurts more than it helps. Spore, designed by Sims creator Will Wright, went on sale a week ago. It is expected to sell 2 million copies in September alone, and is currently the No. 3 best-selling game on Amazon.
But it also has one of the worst ratings on Amazon (2,016 out of the 2,216 ratings are one star) because of a concerted campaign by fans protesting its DRM. It has also been downloaded an estimated 500,000 times on BitTorrent, and is well on its way to becoming the most illegally downloaded game ever.
The DRM that comes with the official game only allows customers to use it on three machines (after that you have to call EA for permission to activate the game on additional machines). This is nothing more than an inconvenience. Gamers, in general, are more likely to have more than one computer, and to cycle through computers faster than other PC owners because they always want the latest, greatest, and fastest machines. Many will hit that three-machine limit quickly.
Maybe EA should join the rest of the entertainment industry in coming up with a consistent DRM policy. Unlike iTunes, which imposes a five-machine limit on most purchased songs and movies, there is no way to associate new machines or disassociate old ones from your account online. You have to call. That does not scale.
So now EA has a consumer backlash on its hands, and not because consumers don’t like the game, but because they don’t like EA telling them what they can do with the game after they’ve paid for it. What is worse, the DRM is obviously not stopping pirated versions from getting out there. And since the pirated version is DRM-free, many gamers consider it a better product than the DRMed one that Electronic Arts is trying to sell.
The silliest part of this whole affair is that EA has a much more effective weapon against piracy than the DRM: the game itself. Many of Spore’s most interesting features, such as the ability to upload characters you create and explore worlds created by other players, have an online component. These are integral to the gameplay. All EA needs to do is to turn these features off to anyone who cannot prove that they’ve actually purchased the game. Then no self-respecting gamer will want that pirated copy.
There is a lesson here for all media companies. Whether they are producing videogames, movies, or music, adding DRM won’t stop piracy. The best way to stop piracy is to hobble the pirated version, not the official one.
(Image via Danja Vasiliev).
You actually understate the DRM in Spore. It restricts you to 3 installs period, not necessarily 3 machines. If you upgrade or re-install your OS, that counts as another install of Spore. Just like they’re more likely to buy new computers, gamers are much more likely to re-install their OS occasionally to keep their machine running better. SecureROM (the DRM used in Spore) also runs in the background all the time to make sure you’re being a good little boy. No thanks.
My wife and I were both looking forward to Spore, but we’ll be passing. I won’t be pirating the game either. Maybe if they re-release it without SecureROM I’ll consider, but I don’t see that happening. Oh well, that’s $50 more in m pocket.
don’t treat customers like theives {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/85owQb91XN_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”don’t treat customers like theives ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/fXgAoqgnmw”}}}
Yeah the games company have to learn the messages that other media have learned over time.
“Then no self-respecting gamer will want that pirated copy.”
Really? The game companies don’t keep the pipeline so consistently pumped full of releases (especially for the Christmas season) that a gamer won’t just move on to the next ‘hot’ game?
These are pirated because the user didn’t have enough interest to buy it in the first place, they’re not likely to be shamed into paying full retail just to have a character show up on a web page.
No self respecting commenter posts anonymously.
Regardless of whether or not the game companies keep the pipeline full (and thank goodness they do), this is one industry where quality is the #1 characteristic, making your pipeline argument immaterial.
In regards to your reasoning for why this game was pirated, I think you are oversimplifying quite a bit. I have many friends who pirated the game simply on the principle of the matter because they don’t like EA (or anyone else for that matter) thinking they can tell them what to do with something after they bought it, a sentiment I completely agree with. Once I’ve bought it, don’t try to place limits on what I can do with it, as that only provides me with impetus to do exactly what you tried to stop me from doing. DRM is a failed idea, and all industries that make use of it need to find something different that actually works.
I am downloading Spore right now. Care to learn why?
I bought it without realizing how much DRM was in it. I have a clean WinXP installation (I’m primarily a linux user). Spore DOES NOT WORK. SecuROM has corrupted the binaries and I can’t do anything in-game.
“These are pirated because the user didn’t have enough interest to buy it in the first place…”
I’m a software developer. I make a living based on people buying the software I write. I understand piracy – but I also understand the concept of making something people think is worth buying. EA is trying to push that quality bar lower and lower and I find that insulting.
EA needs to get a Clue. I haven’t purchased any games from EA in 2 years because they have been pulling this kind of crap. What’s worse is that they often do this AND release a game that has so many bugs it’s nearly unplayable.
Yes, some people do pirate it because they don’t want to pay for it. No argument there. However, in this case, pirating is irrelevant: The key issue is that the cracked version IS A BETTER PRODUCT than the version EA shipped.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Honestly all of the propaganda and talk about spore over the years has pissed me off to the point where I’m not going to buy it. The game was showcased years before now and I find it pretty ridiculous. It took them like 7 years of development to make the game and I’m sure they’ve hacked plenty of features out that are going to be released in the “Spore: House Party” and “Spore: Livin’ Large” expansions. Maxis + EA = a game with 10 expansion packs. Forget that noise.
I disagree with a statement made here. My Girlfriend bought the Galactic Edition and between her and me we have three computers. The first time we installed on her laptop we mistakenly thought some files were missing, because the Spore did not offer to make a desktop shortcut and only appeared in the Games portfolio. That used up one use of three. We reinstalled on her same computer, and now are scared to use it again because the CD may be useless. WE DID buy the product. We did have an interest. But now she has and I don’t because honestly the games too expensive anyways… for ten hours maybe of gameplay, you are paying $50.00!
Erick,
just when I thought no one at TC got me any more, this is right on the money. EA messed up bigtime on this one, but my money says this changes nothing over at EA. I understand the business side of things; that you have to be able to prove to the shareholders you are doing something about piracy, but as software developers they should know best that DRM is a) easily crackable by those who would .torrent anyway, and b) an incredible inconvenience to those who don’t, thus alienating the paying portion of their fans. I also completely agree with your assessment of online components being restricted. That is a great way to encourage an actual purchase and much less intrusive.
Why is it that every time I’ve read anything about EA in the last year its something negative? From poorly managed layoffs and treating their employees like slaves in general to plain old bad ideas such as the aforementioned DRM issue, EA is really turning a lot of people, myself included, off. I won’t say I’ll never play this or other EA games, but I sure will do my best to avoid them.
Not to be too snarky, but did you only learn to read a year ago?
LOLOL YES! Nice.
People are justifying stealing the game by saying that they don’t like DRM. I don’t have enough interest in games to purchase many, definitely not one that runs on the pc. That being said, I think most use this as a standing up point against drm, even though one leg is standing on a pirate ship and the other on their high horse.
Scott,
I see what you are saying by using this as justification for piracy, and to some degree I think anyone who pirates must admit you are right. Once counterpoint though, is moving this type of attitude to other purchases to see if you would be happy with the same idea. Say you buy a couch, would you not just laugh when the furniture store tried to tell you which rooms you could have it in, or better yet tried to tell you if you moved houses they had built mechanisms into the couch that would know if you moved and would render the couch usesless, thus forcing you to buy another one. Would you still buy the couch? I wouldn’t. The feeling that no company should be able to tell me what to do with products I’ve purchased isn’t completely unfounded.
In that case, you just wouldnt buy the couch. You would not steal it and then say it was justified.
-m
Krug.. dont you have some work to do?
I’ll give you some time to figure out who this is.
Anyways, one game unfortunately, i wont be buying.
Some people are using the DRM to justify them downloading it, yes. People are cheap. Others are downloading it just to add to the numbers so that EA really gets the point. It’s the reason I joined in on that mob at Amazon. I refuse to purchase this game until EA removes the DRM – and I want them to know about that. Sending an e-mail won’t change their minds. Costing them serious amounts of sales, on the other hand, will definitely get them to notice. If they get lower than projected sales + the most pirated game on the planet, they may just rethink their whole plan.
I think EA currently has the ability to work in the realm of people’s ignorance. Most of the people who purchased the game had no idea this was tacked on to it. If they did know, I think most would pass on the game. Once people become more aware of the situation they may have to abandon this practice. The backlash (and widespread news stories) should help us get one step closer.
As for now, though, I refuse to install spyware on my system.
It is so amusing to read all these arguments posing as moral positions, when in actuality, people are cheap and just want things for free. Just because you have the technology to steal or don’t agree with a business model, doesn’t mean pirating is right, whether it is music, a game, or software. You know 99% of the people aren’t concerned with replacing a computer 3 times or spreading it over two lap tops and two desktops so it can be ‘convenient’.
I’m sure if TC found people pirating posts and making ad money from it, Mike’s lawyers would be throwing out C&D orders like nobody’s business… oh the hypocrisy.
You, too, are forgetting what happened to a large amount of people, like myself:
SecuROM has corrupted my Spore install. I can’t play it anymore because of the DRM. So I’m downloading a superior product just so I’m able to play the game I bought.
EA needs to learn from Stardock – they do not use DRM yet all the updates and cool stuff are tied to a serial number (if you want to download them and so forth)
You can off course buy the game and never use your serial number and thus never upgrade the game or get the cool extras. You feel like you own the game vs. EA where it feels like you rent the game from them. horrible horrible – I was waiting for the game and now I will NOT buy it until they remove the DRM
I don’t think EA can just turn the DRM off. The game is using SecuROM, a rootkit-like protection scheme that is built into the install process.
I bought Spore and frankly I don’t understand why the online component matters at all. I know it lets me explore an “unlimited” number of planets and see everyone’s homemade creature, but most of the user-generated content I’ve encountered looks a lot like what Maxis included with the game anyway.
I have a DRM issue with my music (mp3s). I know this is a little off subject but I modify my PC constantly. I change CPUs, oveclock, tweak with this and that. Often times I break things and need new hardware for this or that… DRM ties WMP to my CPU. Anytime I change my CPU and don’t change the OS I have tons of DRM issues when playing video or music files. Microsoft technet recommends putting my old CPU back in the PC to correct the issue… end of story!!!! DRM needs a big overhaul. I absolutely HATE DRM!! I purchase all of my music, I buy all of my games, I buy all of my hardware legally and it’s people like me who get bent over for playing by the rules. Sure you can go out and find a hack for “handling” DRM issues…. but honest hardworking people who find satisifaction in knowing that they’ve purchased a product would prefer to not break the ‘law’.
I’m sure these phone calls to unlock the game after a user has been locked out will cost EA some money. Simple economics to destroy this DRM: Inundate EA with calls to allow install on add’l machines.
erm, yea!
not really… because AFAIK the number you call is one of those premium numbers that will burn holes in your pockets. They get $ while youre on the phone with them.
“The DRM that comes with the official game only allows customers to use it on three machines (after that you have to call EA for permission to activate the game on additional machines).”
The thing people are pissed off at, and you get it completely wrong? Its not three machines, its three installs, even on the same computer! Your article makes it sound like the 2,016 Amazon reviewers (and countless other customers) are getting worked up over nothing, because allowing the game to be installed on multiple machines would be a good thing, but allowing it to be installed three times (before you have to ask them permission) in all the time you may want to play the game (i.e. many years, many computer upgrades and many OS reinstalls) is a bad thing…
You say that a better solution would be for EA to simply turn off internet features for anyone who cannot prove they own a legitimate copy.
Isn’t that DRM? How do you determine if someone has a legitimate copy? I guarantee someone would figure out how to break the “legitimate copy” mechanism within a few days and upload that to BitTorrent. The only difference between what you’re suggesting and what they did is that they also disable the local part of the game.
Perhaps you’re suggesting that this is like WoW, where you need an account that you’ve paid for to log in with. On the other hand, the only way that would work, where people don’t just share account information, is if you paid monthly, and that sucks.
It could work like warcraft 3, starcraft going on battle.net, where an account key can only be used by one person at a time to play multi-player. Sure, pirates can still pirate the game and play over the network through other means, but it’s much less convenient and there are not as many people.
You can make the worst presumptions about people, but that’s doesn’t make business sense. Some people will always pirate come what may, other will never pirate on principle and there are those who will pirate DRM just out of spite, so clubbing all these folks together is misleading at best and hardly gives an accurate understanding of the wide spectrum of consumers in the real world.
Steam- a DRM system implemented by Valve is actually popular amongst gamers. Most folks are ok with Steam because it retains their rights, unlike recent games with oppressive DRM like Bioshock and now Spore. Its legitimate to protest against DRM systems like this that give you halfway rights inspite of taking your money and leave you at the mercy of the their systems and arbitrary judgments. to use what you already paid for.
The pirates will keep on pirating, they are not concerned with these issues. The people who talk about these things do because they would like to pay and have a seamless experience, which they cannot with these systems hence the whining online, protests at amazon. Pirates have no reason to whine, they just get it online and carry on.
Even iTunes shows there is a way to do it right. Its just the content industry is obsessed with DRM and now too many people’s living depends on amplifying and magnifying this threat.
This whole article is about how EA needs to stop protecting the software they created from theft. Never once was the actual problem made to face the music: the thieves!
Stealing this software has become so easy that people act as if it isn’t stealing. Just because you don’t feel guilt, doesn’t mean what you are doing is ok. In fact, it only makes the problem greater.
Make all the justifications and “DRM is evil” arguments you want, but the bottom line is this. Ask yourself, “if everyone got the software the way i did, what would happen?”
The answer is that there would be no software, no games, no music, no nothing of any quality being produced on a mass scale. PIRACY is the real problem, NOT DRM.
We need to get real about the actual problem is first.
You’re totally wrong. There have been many DRM-free games that did very well (Oblivion is one example that comes to mind).
I have been deadset on buying Spore for years because I’m a big biology/evolution buff – it never crossed my mind to pirate it. That changed after hearing about the awful DRM restrictions. I was seriously considering downloading from a torrent, then using the CD-key from the copy I purchased, just so I could get around SecuROM.
Excellent point Stephen!
If people stopped stealing software there would be no need for DRM.
This is peoples and companies lives. If you want good games, then lots of
money has to be spent to produce it. If people pirate it then there is no reason
to invest time and money to write the code.
@Stephen: Maybe you don’t understand the problem. I preordered and received the deluxe edition of Spore for $75 before finding out that the game included DRM. I am only able to install it three times without having to call the EA police.
There are two people in my household; however only one is able to play that game without overwriting the others profile (no matter which computer it is installed on). The manual says that I should be able to have unlimited profiles from the same copy of Spore. EA says it was a misprint, rather than admitting to a change of policy that milks paying customers.
What part of this scenario involves piracy? Sounds to me like the problem is that EA likes screwing paying customers, of which I unfortunately am one. DRM is NOT about piracy, as has been consistently proven. DRM is about maximizing profit from paying customers by limiting what they are able to do with a product they purchased in good faith. Companies will continue to push reasonable limits until customers make them pay by refusing to do business with them.
Not to skirt the issue, but I feel that you reasoning on this issue is totally backwards.
“The answer is that there would be no software, no games, no music, no nothing of any quality being produced on a mass scale. PIRACY is the real problem, NOT DRM.”
Wrong on every point. Piracy was around long before DRM, and judging by how easily all current DRM is being skirted by pirates, will be around long after. To put it more simply, this DRM does nothing but hurt the paying, legit customer. The pirates will still acquire the game illegally and obviously they will be playing without the DRM active.
Secondly, and on a broader point, what exactly makes you think people will stop making entertaining products just because they were not paid to do so? It is a horrid state of affairs when people think that without massive companies (movie studios, record companies, game companies) there would be no entertainment.
A true artist produces the art because they love to do so, not just to get a paycheck. Large companies had their place in the past, because they owned and operated the distribution channels allowing many people to see the artist’s work. Now that we have the internet to do the distributing, I feel they no longer have a leg to stand on. Anyone can make a movie and put it online, if it is popular and well received millions of people will see it. The same can be said about music and video games, or any other form of entertainment.
We are living in a unique time in human history when anyone can easily share their talent with the world and so many people are arguing over how to shoehorn the old system into this new one, just to keep the corporations up and running. The old system is finished, and should be thrown away. All of those people will find other jobs as there are plenty to go around.
You can say that I just want “free stuff” but you’d be missing the big picture.
FINALLY someone is covering this!! Well done TechCrunch.
I was ready to plunk down $50 for the game, and then possibly two more copies (2 birthday gifts). I’m glad I went to Amazon first and found out about the aggressive DRM nonsense.
I have bought the galactic edition of the game and I have yet to install it, instead I have downloaded a pirated version simply because the DRM cripples the game. I don’t want a program running in the background slowing my machine, and I don’t want to have to ask permission to install MY game more than thrice.
I feel sorry for Will Wright, having to deal with EA while not complaining has to be torture. It is obvious that Spore was not ready to be released and so now they are having to deal with EA’s horrible piracy protection program and they have to deal with Spore not being what it could have been given the time it needs.
I foresee either the right thing to be done, a massive patch to enhance and fix gameplay in the next 2-3 months, or, the EA thing to do would be an “Expansion” ready by Christmas.
I was looking forward to Spore, but I passed when I saw the DRM.
In fact, I don’t know anyone in my group of friends who has purchased the game.
EA will probably still make some decent sales, but it is definitely not maximizing return on investment for this game. And sadly, I doubt EA is smart enough to correct the problem any time soon.
In response to the various comments about “the people who pirate this are just too cheap to buy it”, etc.- That is a gross oversimplification.
I buy games. I’ve probably paid $500 for software in the Sims franchise alone, because I know that they are good games. I have enjoyed playing them for years. At this point, I’ve gone through 4 computers (and countless reformats) in the time that Sims 2 has been releasing expansion packs. I’ve reinstalled the game at least 5 times, if not more, in this timespan.
I starting looked forward to playing Spore years ago, and I was excited to preorder the game. After hearing about (what is essentially) the spyware that comes with it, I was worried. But, I figured that when I wanted to play the game I could backup my computer, install and play the game, and later restore from backup if the DRM enforcement crap was really that terrible.
But then, I find out that I can only be assured of the right to install the game three times, and I canceled my preorder.
I refuse to encourage a company to treat their customers like shit. And that is what EA is doing. It is disrespectful and only hurts people like me who are willing to pony up the $50+ to play their games.
As it is, if I ever play the game, it WILL be a pirated copy. Way to go, EA! You actually managed to make the pirated version a safer and easier choice than what you’re selling people.
I was too looking forward to Spore… just like I was looking forward to Mass Effect and Bioshock. I will not buy these games until they are released without crippleware relying on a connection to a server.
There is more at stakes here that just installing the games on three machines only.
What will happen when EA discontinues their authentication servers a few years for now ? or when they chose a different technology to protect their games. Or if they break up into different entities.
I am still able to play old games like Starcraft or Grim Fandango on current hardware. What guarantee do we have as customers that we will still be able to play those games in a reasonable future ?
This article is about criticizing over reaching DRM, NOT defending piracy so perhaps some commentators need to explain more clearly why they are accusing folks of theft and piracy for protesting against DRM. That doesn’t compute.
The topic on hand of the DRM in Spore and whether it protects and is fair to consumer rights or not, piracy is not the topic. Since nobody has or is defending piracy here, or content owners right to be paid for their work lecturing about piracy seems pretty pointless and misses the issue altogether.
Why would you think as a consumer who pays a game that 3 installs is ok? Are you paying for the game or only 3 installs in which case shouldn’t the price reflect that? Since after 3 installs you effectively don’t own it. What happens after that, what happens if your machine crashes, what happens if you have to restore a backup, or if like Yahoo their DRM servers go down? Additionally this will install securom which is a nasty bit of software to have on your PC.
These are legitimate consumer concerns and not something to be swept under the piracy scare mongering. Also by defination and the barest application of logic it would follow that these are issues that would only concern genuine consumers who want to pay for it and not pirates who couldn’t care less. Why would a pirate care about DRM when they could anyway download and use one without any drm?
This ‘diversion’ by some commentators is curious to say the least.
If we’re going the DRM router, we better fix it so it rewards legitimate users, rather than punish them! I wrote a few ideas here: http://theory.i...son.com/?p=2318
I _was_ going to buy the game, however with that level of DRM they can screw off. I just won’t buy something with that level of DRM protection. Don’t get me wrong, I am one of the few people who understands that companies need to protect their products but there is a limit.
Half life 2 had (not sure if it still does) encrypted images on the disks. After installation it needed to contact the steam server for the keys. This prevented early leaks and protects the product. I am ok with this, this is fairly reasonable.
3 installs ? Screw that, I change hardware pretty often and I reinstall my windows partition every few months. (Only really use it for a few games anyway)
EA you done feked up good here, learn from your mistakes for next product release. People won’t put up with it for very long.
Great info, great comments!
Great piece. Agree that they should have secured their gateway at online play.
If the games were cheaper, say priced at $20 rather than $50, how much would that reduce demand for free version of game?
While I think price change could have a fairly significant impact, most mgmt and boards of large game publishers would not make the dramatic price moves needed to make a difference. Regardless, price isn’t the only motivation behind piracy.
Unfortunately the game pubs have chosen DRM that is a major inconvenience to their target audience. Inconveniencing your customers is never a good idea yet these game publishers who continue to use old, outdated thinking DRM technologies like Sony SecuROM or Macrovision SafeDisc and ActiveMARK are doing just that. Look, it’s hopeless these pernicious DRM purveyors will ever see the light and change (or go away). They think in terms of what _else_ can we do to f**k with the user playing a pirated copy. I know – I was once in that business. Change really needs to come from the publishers.
Pubs should consider dumping these DRM guys and think of using better methods to increase the desire to buy the original game. Once example could be Incorporating unique and important experiences that require periodic online checks, But if I fail a check I can still play with all the game elements up to the last successful check. They could also use incentives that don’t require game development – reward me for registering, maybe uploading my score, contributing to the game community, etc. with a valid and unique serial number. They just need to start thinking about their their users experience FIRST!
Will it stop piracy? Probably not. But would it dramatically curb it and increase their LEGITIMATE users experience and satisfaction? Absolutely.
-Robb Lewis
http://retrevo.com/
“If the games were cheaper, say priced at $20 rather than $50, how much would that reduce demand for free version of game? ”
Pitiful little in this case, as the DRM is the majority reason Spore is getting pirated.
There are many reasons why all of your comments are correct, but let me go though my opinion on it all.
First of all, the last thing I need to be installed on my computer is another program to “monitor” my actions. I think that is over the line. You are slowing down my computer from running faster, speed that I need to play games and stuff. So all you are doing is making me want to re-install my OS to make my computer run faster, but then re-install your “spyware” – as someone has put it.
Secondly, What I don’t quite understand, is that pirates will be pirates, they will overcome everything you have to through at them, hell it could very well be the same persons who wrote your DRM software that writes the crack for it. But any case, they are going to crack it no matter what you do, so really all you are doing is wasting more of your money on creating DRM and related stuff. Drop it, its not affective.
About stealing “money” from the company and people; These people make a living. They often make more money with their single income, than a majority of the people that play their games (as well as music, movies etc). And that includes the current rate of piracy factored into it. In my view, Piracy is a way to try to even the playing field, to allow those who can’t afford your overly expensive games, your music I can hear played over and over again on the radio, but can’t play at my own leisure without paying for it (your way), and your movies you get paid millions for, and I have to cough up the dough to pay for. In a way, that’s unfair to everyone that below that mediocre line. We can’t enjoy the “finer things in life”, or the “new forms of entertainment” because we can’t afford it. I say screw you, you capitalistic money-hungry corporate zombies. Pirates will enjoy all semi-crappy content you create to fill their heads with non-sense and propaganda to buy more of your crap. Alright, that last part was a bit out there.
Thirdly, 500,000 downloads on bittorent is most likely a grossly underestimated number on the total amount of “illegal” downloads. As for being “the most illegally downloaded game ever,” its probably already there with all the other pirate outlets.
From what I understand, (I haven’t downloaded, or played the game at all, and probably won’t ever) The whole online extent of the game, is sharing like one file. A server could be and probably already is set up where you can upload these characters and then others could check it out, if they like it, then they can download it. So really, installing SecurROM, and creating all this DRM crap was a waste of time. Because all you did, EA, is create a whole bunch of people that don’t like you, that don’t buy your expensive game, and you lose even more money. How’s that for your shareholders.
There is one thing no one is mentioning that may save some people’s headaches about SPORE. Maxis, the developing company have made a tool to deauthorize computers so you can continue to install without using EA…. you can find it on Spore’s Web Page under Spore in the News. Though this probably doesn’t solve the spyware issue of SecuROM, it does allow for more installs
Theses DRM initatives have destroyed the EA brand and from a company percpective show a lack of foresight, an article in the Observer “Developers face up to the pirates”
Game maker cliff harris talked about engaging with the pirates to find out why they ripped games, the general response was as posted here on TC. So he will try to make the games more engaging, cheaper, with no DRM, and maybe web enabled.
he went onto say in his blog “I’ve gone from being demoralised to being inspired by them”.
Peter Moore the head of EA sports and one of the most influential figures in the games industry, said that he was concearned about the image these high profile prosecutions where sending out.
“I’m not a huge fan of trying to punish your customer,” he told the gamesindusrty.biz
Well Mr Moore you have a funny way of showing it!
Put me in the “another one who was going to buy the game but won’t now due to the DRM” camp. With my husband and myself, that’s already 2 installs, and one of us is due for a computer upgrade this year, so that’s all 3. Will I pirate the game? No. EA has just completely turned me off from playing it (aside from the DRM, I’ve read reviews that say the evolution phases have been completely dumbed down, but that’s another issue). Both of us were really looking forward to this, but have moved on from our initial disappointment.
To the person who said if it was $20 instead of $50 would we buy it then? Not a chance. I might have thought about it a bit more, but we’d still run into the same issues I posted above. EA really shot themselves in the foot with this one. Out of us plus our friends who were planning on buying this, not a single one has because of this issue.
The $20 price drop would include removing the DRM – DRM Free. Because it’s cheap enough most people will just pay.
I played this game the day before release then purchased it online for it’s “enhanced content”. Where is it? I want a refund.
My girlfriend and I really enjoy playing Spore Origins on my iPhone (a very cool game, btw, she just told me she finished level 17… hah). Because of it, I almost decided to pay the 43 EUR to get the full version for my Mac even though I haven’t bought a computer game since Starcraft (I think that was 2001), because I don’t find the videogame industry at all innovative anymore. This is another reason I like the iPhone as a gaming platform: innovative stuff is coming out there… along with the crap, of course.
Anyway, after hearing about the DRM on Spore, I just can’t imagine actually purchasing it. I was on the fence, but I imagine I would’ve bought it just because it’s the right thing to do. Ugh, DRM really pisses me off.
Is EA going to acknowledge this situation and comment on it? Does anyone have a link?
So far, they’re sweeping it under the rug and refusing to face anything. They won’t even look at the debug logs that are generated when people’s games crash.
I do admire the intent of the article, but you missed something kind of big – the online sharing/downloading content you’re talking about IS disabled for the pirated versions. The online features in that game not so integral the the gameplay that a lot of people are willing to go without it.
Besides that, people can get around it easily enough by manually downloading packs of thousands of new creatures from the same places they get a pirated copy in the first place.
Well,
Being the owner of a game development company, I have some points to add to this discussion:
1- People talked about not paying for Spore, Bioshock and yadayada. Do you know that the DRM of Bioshock has been removed?
2- Pirating Spore – All this must be the BIGGEST example of how stupid gamers can be. After spending YEARS developing this huge game and all the technology beneath, Will Wright and his team team will suffer with revenue share due to the high piracy of Spore. For God Sake!! What is the problem with the 3 installs? What has happened that lead to such an anarchic point of view?
3- I develop only for consoles, so the piracy problem is not so huge. But if I had to release a game for PC I would use EXACTLY the same DRM techniques.
Everyone, stop of excuses. If you do not want to buy the game because you are a **cking retarded pirate, then good for you!!
Just do not use the DRM issue as an excuse.
BTW, EA has commented on the issue: http://www.amaz...9896&sr=1-1
Well apparently you’re viewing it from a non-gamer point of view, which you obviously are. All upper management really don’t know what’s going down at the base level do they? Wait till you need to install crap on your console perhaps you will change your tune mr bruno, or brain-no
To be a little less insulting…
The problem isn’t solely with 3 installs, although that is a big one.
The problem with 3 installs is that a lot of people are having trouble getting Spore to work in the first place (myself included – I’m already on my second install), or upgrade their computers quite a bit anyway. And no one knows what triggers a second “install” – changing the CPU? Changing the graphics card? Both have triggered new installs in other DRM-laden games.
The other problems are with SecuROM itself. It has corrupted my Sporebin.exe file, and I cannot play the game. The same with an enormous amount of other people. Not to mention the philosophy behind it, that EA is treating its paying customers as thieves.
I think I’ll torrent Spore. I’m not a gamer, and would not have bought it, but seeing as it’s out there and free, I’ll give it a go. Who knows, maybe I’ll get hooked and buy the upgrades? If not, they’ve not lost any sale and I’ve had a bit of fun.
Amazon should only allow reviews from actual customers. Doing so would raise the overall quality of the reviews, and help prevent idiots from attempting to game the system to suit their own agenda.
There is no agenda, prospective buyers are expressing their disappointment with the DRM, no one is not obligated to like or support DRM.
You and others for whom DRM is not an issue can always choose to ignore ‘this agenda’ and buy the game. At least those who would ordinarily not be aware of DRM issues now know and can make an informed decision. This only benefits customers. Do you have a problem with that?
Since its obvious that few if any customers would be happy with this rather invasive drm, its clear that the hysterical diversions to piracy which the author of this topic or anti DRM commentators doesn’t support in any way, being as it is about invasive DRM, and anger against customers expressing themselves can only mean we are seeing lot of astroturfing here to ’shift opinion’.
Content owners need to realise they can’t bully customers anymore, or benefit from their ignorance. The old days of ‘trend shaping’ and controlling media and opinion are history. The Internet means people will express themselves and issues will be out there and there is little you can do about this other than genuinely aspire to deliver value.
According to the manufacturer’s response posted on http://ecx.imag...818qwj9DusS.pdf, they allow you to play on three computers, and you can reauthenticate as many times as you wish on the same computer.
So why are there people “correcting” Erick?
sqylogin says: “According to the manufacturer’s response posted on http://ecx.imag...30;..j9DusS.pdf, they allow you to play on three computers, and you can reauthenticate as many times as you wish on the same computer.”
You must have read a different response at that link than I did:
“Reauthentication is required only if you make significant changes to your PC’s hardware, reformat your hard drive, or in some cases, upgrade your Operating System. Multiple installations of the game on the same computer do not count against the number of computers the game can be installed on. ”
So if I add a new video card, which is a significant change, that’s a reauthentication. Upgrading my computer is another. Wiping my drive to do an optimization is another, etc…
if you don’t like the DRM, then don’t play the game. your anger at the *inconvenience* or *unfairness* of the DRM process can be expressed in ways that do not involve stealing.
i get it — having to call EA to put it on another computer is a pain. i’m not an outside observer — i think it’s a nuisance too. but is the price of this inconvenience my integrity?
the oversimplification of thinking is not done by those, like me, who say, “stealing is wrong”. that is simple, but true. oversimplification is done by those who think, (a) “it’s not stealing, it’s leveling the playing field’.” or (b) “no matter how much i steal from someone, they will continue to create and innovate for me”. not only is this false, it’s just plain foolishness.
if i can’t or don’t want to afford a video game, then i need to learn to do without. i am not entitled to these things.
that is very nice game graphics, but we hope that would be nice game
Here’s the thing. There’s people who pirate for a few reasons. They either don’t have the money (and are playing on a laptop or cheap-ass computer), don’t like the demo (the Punisher demo was ridiculously short, about 1/8th of a level), or just do it just for the hell of it. DRM or no-DRM, a game will be pirated.
I feel that if you treat your potential customers as if they’re all thieves, you’ll just piss them off. You won’t affect the pirates, they’ll do it regardless of what you do. Game companies should focus on the customer instead of on piracy. Lose the DRM, put some awesome multiplayer with a few dedicated servers (at least for 2 years) and watch the sales skyrocket.
I skipped Spore (didn’t really get into it, found some indie games online for free that Spore ripped its ideas off of). I also skipped Half Life 2. While I’m incredibly sad that I had to, I had to due to the ‘activation requirement’. Whether I’ll pirate it (as I’m sure there’s a crack by now) remains to be seen. I probably won’t, as Valve deserves a lot of respect for the games they’ve made.
Piracy is incredibly overstated, even today. Counting every act of piracy as a lost sale is ridiculous. If we did more stories and highlights on FREE games (legally free) and open-source games, as well as indie games, we’d not only have everyone benefit, but diversify the gaming environment.
DRM sucks and so does microsoft… long live sharing…
EA needs to take a look at what Blizzard (Vivendi Univesal Games) has been doing for years with their Warcraft series, and now with World of Warcraft.
Blizzard would gladly give the games away for free. Actually, that’s what happens with WoW! You can download the full version, and get a trial account… because SO MANY INTERESTING FEATURES NEED A VALIDITY CHECK ONLINE, you can’t use a pirated version.
For WoW, you HAVE to type in a CD key, which leads to creating a unique account, tied to your credit card. No way to escape it if you want to play the game. For warcraft 3, Starcraft, you NEED to have a valid CD Key (hence, to buy the game) for online play, which represents more than 80% of those games’ usage.
I can’t get why EA won’t use this kind of system. But then again, they should brainstorm a little bit more out there….
)
1- buying Rupture $30m was a very expensive FAILURE (never launched, 0 community, and… actually doesn’t WORK! you can’t register
2- Launching an expected blockbuster with a DRM? epic FAIL
Guess what? Spore does use the CD-Key system. Then 3 installs was put on top of that. Then SecuROM was put on top of even that….
Sorry, but I have to say that 90% of you are just a little bit silly. Because if you hear the evil “DRM”-word, you immediately say “oh, thats soo bad!” without thinking and without INFORMING yourself EXACTLY.
The DRM in Spore only restricts the number of installations AT THE SAME TIME. That means, you can only install it on 3 computers in parallel.
And here comes the point:
When you deinstall it from a computer (while being online), the counter increases by one! So you get one installation back, each time you deinstall it.
So where is the problem? You can reinstall your computer as many times as you want, and DE-install and install Spore again and again, because with every deinstallation you get one “installation score” back.
And for me personally, I don´t see any need to really play the game on more than 3 computers in parallel. For me, one is enough, some others maybe need 2 or 3. But why more than 3? If your whole family wants to play it, they can do it on one of the three computers!
Actually, that’s not true. A lot of people have already burned through the installations just trying to get it to run, and they were never “refunded” installations when the un-installed it.
Spore is a great game…but with DRM EAgames fail!
switch on your brain and read my statement above yours.
I have bought several games over the last few months (way more than usual) because of the efficiency and utility of Valve Software’s Steam. I will probably never play UT2004 or Quake 2 again because I simply don’t know where the install discs are. When Spore is availability either through Steam or a similar system (unlimited downloads in the future because the game is tied to a single user account), I will buy it. Until that time, I will just have to find something else to play.
Waits, I have Spore installed on 5 computahs already?
Is this affecting only American people or what?
Great post Erick. I’m wondering if the solution you suggest for Spore can work for music? How about some online perks with your legal music? maybe an Easter egg in the form of band special T-shirt, VIP tickets for their next gig or a special widget for your blog/social community profile?
The best way to stop piracy is to hobble the pirated version, not the official one.
Excellent. Erick.
betiful post and betiful comments i have bougth spore long ago vbefore i knew about DRM now i im screwed i just hope that i can play it and tha EA go into senses soon