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Title: Over 3000 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: MrMugg on 2008 September 09, 01:12:02 In just one day, there are over 900 one star posts on Amazon.com about Spore. I'm sure some of those are double/triple posts, but my goodness people are pissed off. Did anyone manage to buy or get an "arrr" version of Spore? Is it "all that and a bag of chips", or was it over-hyped goo? The reviews that I did read explained that the game was too easy, boring, and character creation had no impact on the game.
Question: I know that the "arrr" version specifies not to connect online. To avoid SecuRom, could you buy the game and use the "arrr" version to register your code and account? If the game is good, I wouldn't mind owning it and going online to see other creations, but I don't want to deal with activation limits and crapware installed on my computer. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Zazazu on 2008 September 09, 02:17:21 See thread in RetardoLand for impressions.
I've heard that the answer to your question is yes, and I see no reason it shouldn't be. As I have no valid registration code I can't test it. Honestly, I don't want people's crap in my game. You can still get creations from other players on your game by going to the site, clicking on the featured creations, and browsing from there. Just save the .png files in the corresponding folders in your My Spore Creations folder. Title: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: vecki on 2008 September 09, 07:11:02 Check out the Reviews on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Spore-Pc/dp/B000FKBCX4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1220943704&sr=8-1) A 1 star rating, all courtesy of SuckuROM! Just goes to show, it really does fuck up your game, EA.
Check out a google search of the publicity the review-bomb is getting (http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=spore+drm+review&meta=) I lurrve it. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: kaitco on 2008 September 09, 07:32:05 I was reading through some of those this evening and was actually a little disappointed that very few people actually talked about the game itself. To say that the DRM on the game is an understatement, but I think (and I could be very wrong about this as a laymen in gaming) most people who know enough about the DRM to fully understand its impact, know the ways to A) remove SecuRom from his or her system and B) know how to acquire a crack without it. What would probably make this attack of low reviews have the greatest impact is if the reviewers discussed how "great" the game is, but that people should stay away from it specifically because of the DRM.I also read that the series of negative comments was part of a coalition, of sorts, to have people speak out en masse about DRM, but what is still discouraging is that even with all the negativity, the game is still Number One on Amazon.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: lemmiwinks on 2008 September 09, 10:25:05 Who is this kaitco person? If DRM/SuckuRom comes with the game, it is part of the game. Therefore the game sucks. Get rid of the crap and then you can honestly review it on its own merits.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Inge on 2008 September 09, 11:03:27 Anyway, ignorance of how to get round Securom doesn't mean you won't have problems *with the game itself*. For instance, I would not have been able to play Freetime at all once it finally started refusing to load, and once just having the disk in my drive stopped all use of both CD and DVD drive for anything at all. I would have still given the game a bad review because as far as I was concerned it would have been unplayable due to refusing to let me read its CD. And that would be all be without ever having heard of Securom.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Hellyes on 2008 September 09, 11:28:48 Hellno, SucuROM doesn't stop Hellyes! I can haz none of that SucuROM!
I have a feeling that's the anti-SucuROM brigade. ;) SucuROM aside, I've been playing Spore for about five days, and I would have to say that it's rather repetitive. I thinkz I will get bored of it before too long. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: MaryH on 2008 September 09, 11:46:53 I've been reading about this mess..and I read some of the comments on Digg-one of which was a full review of it. Scathing, and extremely negative about the game and gameplay.
I even went to the trouble of posting it on Reclaim Your Game (I'm a mod there)-and it doesn't sound very fun. The Anti-DRM crowd did us all a favor by doing this. I'm not going to naysay them at all. Perhaps EAxis will finally listen to us, because now it's hitting the mainstream press, and they cannot afford to piss off investors. An article ran today in the Financial Times about the debacle, and I'm pretty sure that EA investors read that. Just because we can crack the damned thing does not make it right that EA is doing this deliberately to their customers. They are the leading DRM propagators, and they have to be called to account for their stupidity. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Tigerlilley on 2008 September 09, 12:35:27 This is awesome. They've been ignoring the Sims community for long enough, they can't ignore everyone now!
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Zilla on 2008 September 09, 12:48:07 I've been reading about this mess..and I read some of the comments on Digg-one of which was a full review of it. Scathing, and extremely negative about the game and gameplay. I even went to the trouble of posting it on Reclaim Your Game (I'm a mod there)-and it doesn't sound very fun. The Anti-DRM crowd did us all a favor by doing this. I'm not going to naysay them at all. Perhaps EAxis will finally listen to us, because now it's hitting the mainstream press, and they cannot afford to piss off investors. An article ran today in the Financial Times about the debacle, and I'm pretty sure that EA investors read that. Just because we can crack the damned thing does not make it right that EA is doing this deliberately to their customers. They are the leading DRM propagators, and they have to be called to account for their stupidity. When the Securom crap started heading downstream with BV, somebody said that it was the stock holders that "made" EA use a different type of anti-piracy software. I've never been able to confirm whether that was fact or fiction and I'm certainly not going to buy EA stock just to find out. If it was the stockholders, I hope all of them are walking around with massive bruises on their foreheads due to repeatedly smacking their hollow heads off of a wall. As far as EA listening, I doubt it. They made billions of dollars in profits last year, screaming about Spore certainly isn't going to break the bank. It may make a few EAxis employees twitch in their seats, but EA change for the benefit of peace between them and customers? Not likely. Then of course there is the issue of them putting out bug infested games that all of us are all to familiar with. I'm not sure how buggy Spore is, but it's almost guaranteed that patches will muck something up. It's just EA's way of saying " Ha-Ha! You bought our crap and now we're going to fuck it up!" Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Hellyes on 2008 September 09, 13:25:43 OMG. It's an avalanche. As of right now, out of the 1,371 customer reviews on Amazon only 61 are above 2 stars. A google search with Spore, DRM, and Amazon produces 139,000 hits. There is tons of write ups about it all over the net.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2558 But, unfortunately, EA is so stubborn they'll totally ignore it. ::) Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: NothingToSee on 2008 September 09, 14:00:38 But, unfortunately, EA is so stubborn they'll totally ignore it. ::) I read somewhere (may have been on PMBD) that EA made Amazon uk remove all the negative reviews. Seeing as the only review on Amazon UK is just one five star review, I can well believe it. I also believe that there are similar cover-up tactics going on elsewhere. It stinks and I'm glad that Amazon.com aren't being cowed! Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: MidnightVoyager on 2008 September 09, 14:33:21 It's... kinda depressing to me.
Hey, they tried something different... and are being punished for something that the idea people probably had no control over. Just the stupid corporate morans. I'm afraid that this will be interpreted as "Trying something different = bad" and "New ways of doing things in games = bad" by the people who can't see past "SecuROM stops piracy, no, really" in the first place. It seems like they will blame it on anything other than SecuROM. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Pythia on 2008 September 09, 14:50:35 There are no reviews at all for Spore now on Amazon.co.uk. However the tags for the game are quite interesting.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Arts-Spore-Mac-DVD/dp/B000FN7K2S/ref=pd_ts_vg_h__1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Arts-Spore-Mac-DVD/dp/B000FN7K2S/ref=pd_ts_vg_h__1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames) Subversion FTW Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Zazazu on 2008 September 09, 15:28:26 It's... kinda depressing to me. They may try. However, EA has proven that they will ignore or naysay anything presented to them against their use of DRM...specifically SecuROM. To me, this means that the only way they will listen up is if it hits them in their pocketbooks.Hey, they tried something different... and are being punished for something that the idea people probably had no control over. Just the stupid corporate morans. I'm afraid that this will be interpreted as "Trying something different = bad" and "New ways of doing things in games = bad" by the people who can't see past "SecuROM stops piracy, no, really" in the first place. It seems like they will blame it on anything other than SecuROM. Ok. Fine. No money for them. But then you have the problem: How does EA know why they are getting less money? So what if a few people have written them letters or emailed them. Everyone knows that pissed off people are more vocal, so it's quite possible that they only lost a few hundred/thousand sales to continued use of SecuROM. So what if they see posts around forums from fans saying they are pirating the game due to the DRM? Everyone knows they are just thieves anyways, looking for any excuse. You make it so obvious they can't help to see that their use of the DRM is affecting not only long-time fans who would normally buy the product, but also prospectives who see this information freely shared at the point where they would be making their purchase. And you do it somewhere very, very public. This campaign is extremely obvious. It's also extremely effective. Who doesn't glance at the rating for something before purchasing? When seeing a low rating, who doesn't glance at the comments? MidnightVoyager, it's always the idea people who get punished for the decisions the "suits" make. This is the world we live in. While it's not fair, it's nothing new. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: jsalemi on 2008 September 09, 15:57:34 As of right now, 1393 out of 1490 reviews are 1-star on the US Amazon site. Only 34 5-star reviews.
There are no reviews at all for Spore now on Amazon.co.uk. However the tags for the game are quite interesting. They're back up to 9 reviews right now, with 3 1-star and 2 2-star. :) Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: HomeschooledByTards on 2008 September 09, 16:14:18 You make it so obvious they can't help to see that their use of the DRM is affecting not only long-time fans who would normally buy the product, but also prospectives who see this information freely shared at the point where they would be making their purchase. And you do it somewhere very, very public. This campaign is extremely obvious. It's also extremely effective. Who doesn't glance at the rating for something before purchasing? When seeing a low rating, who doesn't glance at the comments? This is shades of Microsoft's XP activation scheme from a few years back, when it was said that you could only fiddle with your hardware five times before being forced to beg for another try from Microsoft. The average user buys a prebuilt computer and never adds an extra hard drive, upgrades their video card, or add more ram. As such, the average user wasn't really going to be affected by this activation scheme. Microsoft still received numerous bad reviews and had quite the media blitz about it (in the tech media anyway). I believe they eventually scrapped the activation scheme due to public outcry. More people will be affected by Spore's activation scheme than they would have been by XP's simply because people reinstall non-OS software much more often than they make hardware changes. Run out of diskspace? Get tired of the game for now? Get a new computer? Uninstall and reinstall later. I'm going to be getting a new computer in the next few months, and I'm not thrilled that I'll have to reactivate my game and only have one more activation available. I miss the "good old days" when copy protection was "type the fourth letter of the fifth page of this manual". It was a lot less invasive than SecuROM. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: jsalemi on 2008 September 09, 18:26:02 I believe they eventually scrapped the activation scheme due to public outcry. Actually, no -- MS still uses that activation scheme. I ran into a problem with it when I built my new computer earlier this year and had to do multiple XP installs due to various hardware issues. They made it easier to solve, though -- just a phone call and an automated response system that reactivated your installs. Quote I'm going to be getting a new computer in the next few months, and I'm not thrilled that I'll have to reactivate my game and only have one more activation available. I miss the "good old days" when copy protection was "type the fourth letter of the fifth page of this manual". It was a lot less invasive than SecuROM. Not really -- go to gamecopyworld and get the no-cd.exe. Problem solved -- you can still connect online to get new stuff from the user community if you like, but won't have the SecuROM issues or limited count. (latest Amazon stats - 1,487/1,596 1-star reviews) Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: syberspunk on 2008 September 09, 19:00:12 I'm going to be getting a new computer in the next few months, and I'm not thrilled that I'll have to reactivate my game and only have one more activation available. I miss the "good old days" when copy protection was "type the fourth letter of the fifth page of this manual". It was a lot less invasive than SecuROM. Not really -- go to gamecopyworld and get the no-cd.exe. Problem solved -- you can still connect online to get new stuff from the user community if you like, but won't have the SecuROM issues or limited count. (latest Amazon stats - 1,487/1,596 1-star reviews) Wait... just to clarify: 1) So... limited activations include... if you ever have to re-install? i.e. if I ever have to reformat, it will count as one of the 3 time only activations? 2) I can understand how the cracked version would allow you to circumvent SecuROM... but does it actually let you re-install multiple times? I mean... wouldn't you still need a serial/activation #? I would imagine that each serial/activation # still only has 3 time only activations. Unless the cracked .exe actually does something to prevent the activation from counting? OR... does it only NOT count if you DON'T play online. in other words... you can activate and re-activate, whether you use your valid paid for serial/activation # or whether you use a cracked/key-gen'd one, so long as you NEVER go online? ??? Ste Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: HomeschooledByTards on 2008 September 09, 19:33:37 Actually, no -- MS still uses that activation scheme. I ran into a problem with it when I built my new computer earlier this year and had to do multiple XP installs due to various hardware issues. They made it easier to solve, though -- just a phone call and an automated response system that reactivated your installs. Ah. I haven't kept up with what's going on in the computer world since I left my network admin job back in 2000. I'm not really surprised (we are talking about Microsoft after all) that they haven't gotten rid of it. I have an ARR'd version of XP installed on my computer, which is probably why I never ran into problems. :) Quote Not really -- go to gamecopyworld and get the no-cd.exe. Problem solved -- you can still connect online to get new stuff from the user community if you like, but won't have the SecuROM issues or limited count. Getting the no-cd is on my list of things to do tonight (1. Get no-cd. 2. Remove SecuROM 3. Play Spore. As you can see I have a long list for tonight). Is it verified to work with the EA Store direct download version? I already activated it once, but if I install it on my next computer and use the no-cd before I run it for the first time that will keep it from activating the second time right? Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Alex on 2008 September 09, 20:03:00 It's quite an incredible backlash. EA deserve hell for this one. 3 installs? The nerve of them! But EA have had their head up their own ass, with their fingers in their ears going "lalalala" for long enough now. The word is spreading, the pirate numbers are growing. At this rate, EA will have to change if they don't want to lose their precious sales. They've been treating their paying customers like utter crap, and finally the sheeple have had enough. This may just be the revolution we've been waiting for.
But yeah, SecuROM is part of the package. People don't want it and it ruins the game experience, therefore the 1 star reviews are justified. The game as a whole is that bad for consumers purely because of the DRM, in the same way atrocious graphics that make the game impossible to see will ruin an otherwise excellent game with fantastic gameplay (example). Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: jsalemi on 2008 September 09, 22:05:44 1) So... limited activations include... if you ever have to re-install? i.e. if I ever have to reformat, it will count as one of the 3 time only activations? 2) I can understand how the cracked version would allow you to circumvent SecuROM... but does it actually let you re-install multiple times? I mean... wouldn't you still need a serial/activation #? I would imagine that each serial/activation # still only has 3 time only activations. Unless the cracked .exe actually does something to prevent the activation from counting? OR... does it only NOT count if you DON'T play online. in other words... you can activate and re-activate, whether you use your valid paid for serial/activation # or whether you use a cracked/key-gen'd one, so long as you NEVER go online? ??? 1) Yup, that's what it means. ANY re-install counts as one of the 3. 2) Unless you're ONLY trying to avoid SecuROM, you generally wouldn't register or play online with the cracked .exe. If you want to add other folks creations to your game, you'd do it manually by downloading them from the spore site, or pretty much any fan site that has shared creatures and content. And thus you can install as often as you like. @jesslla: right -- see #2 above. (latest Amazon stats - 1,657/1,792 1-star reviews) Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: BrokenRobot on 2008 September 10, 00:03:14 My faith in humanity just jumped up a notch. Maybe the masses really aren't going to let entertainment companies stomp all over them like I thought they would.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Gus Smedstad on 2008 September 10, 00:11:42 My problem with all the SecuRom Hate on Amazon is that it doesn't look credible to a casual observer, since it's all by people who haven't actually played the game.
I'm thinking about putting up a review myself, sharing the fact that I couldn't play at all due to the copy protection until I got a crack. Except that with all the similar comments from people who haven't played, it'll probably get completely lost in the noise. - Gus Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: asthehind on 2008 September 10, 00:48:23 The .co.uk reviews have increased to 15, and the rating is down to 2.5 stars. There are a fair few hacked off people on the messageboards too.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: vecki on 2008 September 10, 01:20:54 Interesting that Amazon.co.uk is pulling the reviews, but not the discussion board. It's making them look worse.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: asthehind on 2008 September 10, 01:23:38 Whatever the reasons behind it, they've made the news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7604405.stm Title: 1800 and counting Post by: MrMugg on 2008 September 10, 01:24:55 The bad reviews are over 1800 now. Geez.
I would get an "arrr" version, but it told me it would take 5 weeks to download. Guess I'll just wait for them to put it in the bargain bin and wait for something to kill the activation requirements. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: vecki on 2008 September 10, 01:29:35 We already have a thread about this. (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,13023.0.html)
Go there. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: MrMugg on 2008 September 10, 01:52:29 Why does it take 5 weeks to download the cracked version? I must be looking in the wrong place or something. I sure as heck don't want the Sh*trom version.
Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Gus Smedstad on 2008 September 10, 02:51:52 The version I found took maybe 10 minutes. Well, actually, I have no memory at all of how long it took, but it was a typical 130 kbps download. I basically followed the link from GameCopyWorld.
Of course, I was only looking for the fixed executable, since I did purchase the game. The full thing is huge, it comes on a DVD and takes a ridiculously long time to install. I think it's probably something like 4 GB. - Gus Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Skadi on 2008 September 10, 03:05:17 It took 15 hours for my download. All 3.2gbs. If you want an invite to funfile, PM me.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: BastDawn on 2008 September 10, 03:28:57 We already have a thread about this. (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,13023.0.html) Go there. Merged now. It looks like he was first, though. :P Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Zazazu on 2008 September 10, 03:32:36 Why does it take 5 weeks to download the cracked version? I must be looking in the wrong place or something. I sure as heck don't want the Sh*trom version. Probably. I got it from btarena or whatever. I normally go through Pirate Bay. Took about 6 hours, and that was the first night it came out.Yeah, it took about a half hour to install on my rig, which is kind of ridiculous. Especially when you get up at 6 am to babysit it. Does anyone have a link to the US Spore forums? I can't find them or this supposed fansite listing. No idea why they are hiding all that. EDIT: Duh, Yahoo!. Why they couldn't link from the site is beyond me. Forums here. (http://forums.ea.com/mboards/category.jspa?categoryID=158) Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: vecki on 2008 September 10, 04:19:10 We already have a thread about this. (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,13023.0.html) Go there. Merged now. It looks like he was first, though. :P Meh. Mine's better. :P ETA: Actually I didn't even look at the times, just saw how many responses there were and decided his had come along later. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: EntropyGuardian on 2008 September 10, 04:33:56 Spore is great and nerds need something better to complain about especially things that don't really affect them at all.
*says he will never buy the game because of DRM* *pirates the game because he wants to play it anyway* Keep sticking it to the man. Its sort of like the Bus boycott only you're riding the bus without paying for a ticket in protest. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Chain_Reaction on 2008 September 10, 07:14:06 Spore is great and nerds need something better to complain about especially things that don't really affect them at all. *says he will never buy the game because of DRM* *pirates the game because he wants to play it anyway* Keep sticking it to the man. Its sort of like the Bus boycott only you're riding the bus without paying for a ticket in protest. Are you serious? There's something wrong with wanting to play a game that you would normally buy to support the creators but don't because it'll FUBAR your computer if you try to do things legally? It's not just "nerds" complaining. Have you had this DRM cause issues with your PC? My CD drive doesn't work anymore because of it. Should I be deprived of completing my sims game collection, a game I enjoy, because of SecuRom when I bought all the ones before EA made such an airhead decision? I don't think anyone should be deprived of a game just because the suits are retarded. Anyway I think its a real shame that Will Wright spent all this time on this game and his work is going unnoticed because of EA. If he was smart, which he obviously is, he should kill all ties to EA and find a publisher with some common sense. I think he's already proven his worth and shouldn't have issues publishing his games somewhere else. I wish he'd get the sims away from EA but thats not possible now. Also I'm shocked that Amazon caved with contact from EA. Amazon sales their products, they should be offended that a company sent them a, *probably* intimidating, email asking them to remove the reviews. I was entirely ecstatic when Drea got no cheese with her whine when she came here! Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: lowbart on 2008 September 10, 08:05:15 Quote Also I'm shocked that Amazon caved with contact from EA. Amazon sales their products, they should be offended that a company sent them a, *probably* intimidating, email asking them to remove the reviews. Amazon wants more sales to go through their site. If EA goes to them saying "OMG, lots of criminals are fradulently giving our game a bad review to screw with us", it's in Amazon's interest to believe them. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: vecki on 2008 September 10, 08:22:59 Amazon.com still has almost 2000 reviews, most 1 star.
If it were EA breathing down Amazon's neck, I would have put my money on them going after the Amazon that's in their home country. That said, the reviews that are getting through on Amazon.co.uk seem to be more about the gameplay, and the average is still only 2.5 stars. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: maxon on 2008 September 10, 13:53:38 But then you have the problem: How does EA know why they are getting less money? So what if a few people have written them letters or emailed them. Everyone knows that pissed off people are more vocal, so it's quite possible that they only lost a few hundred/thousand sales to continued use of SecuROM. So what if they see posts around forums from fans saying they are pirating the game due to the DRM? Everyone knows they are just thieves anyways, looking for any excuse. I suppose the thing for them is going to be a comparison of how many sales are lost through the Securom fiasco against how many sales they think they are losing through piracy - or perhaps more pertinently through second hand resale of the game. Personally, I find this a far more convincing reason for why EAxis uses Securom. What they don't seem to have quite twigged is that they are still losing the piracy sales and are also now losing otherwise legitimate customers which in a roundabout way (sort of) supports the notion that Securom is as much about resale as about piracy. You make it so obvious they can't help to see that their use of the DRM is affecting not only long-time fans who would normally buy the product, but also prospectives who see this information freely shared at the point where they would be making their purchase. And you do it somewhere very, very public. This campaign is extremely obvious. It's also extremely effective. Who doesn't glance at the rating for something before purchasing? When seeing a low rating, who doesn't glance at the comments? I am enjoying the campaign, I admit it freely, but the thing that is actually going to stop all the stupidity properly is if we find a game we like as much made by some other company which doesn't use a DRM and piss off and play that instead. Something like Second Life kind of got close to making inroads into EA's captive audience though a) that isn't a game and b) some of the people on there make my flesh creep big time. Mind you, I have room to talk, I spend a large part of each day posting on sims boards. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Soggy Fox on 2008 September 10, 15:02:12 The game is neat, if you like a variety of simulation games in one. But, I won't buy it either - a housemate did, and then got me a no-cd patch so I can play too, but I'd have been happy just getting the whole thing rom online.
The only reason I could see for Will selling out to EA is that running Maxis took time from creating - the problem is, now his creations are being whored out with STDs and it makes him look bad too. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Mandapotpie on 2008 September 10, 15:24:18 Why does it take 5 weeks to download the cracked version? I must be looking in the wrong place or something. I sure as heck don't want the Sh*trom version. Utorrent said it would take 6 days when I first opened it, but it really only took about 7 hours. It might say 5 weeks but it probably won't really take that long. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: Gastfyr on 2008 September 10, 20:55:30 Whatever the reasons behind it, they've made the news. I think the article focused too much on the limited instillations, when as far as I understand it, that's not the main issue with SecureRom. I've heard it demands the deletion of various legally obtianed programs from the computer before it even lets you play the game. Also, that it does serious dammage to the computer all on it's own, like a virus.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7604405.stm Also, the comments by the ea person about the DRM preventing you from making 1000 coppies to distrubute on the internet were pretty silly imo. Aren't coppies allready available online, dispite this DRM that's supposed to "prevent" that? Overall, the article seemed a bit biased and left me feeling the main point of it was, "A bunch of pirates and hackers are mad that they EA is making it harder for them to illigally copy and distrubute Spore." Title: Maybe people just don't like the game. Post by: Doc Doofus on 2008 September 11, 02:42:51 I have to admit, when I first heard about Spore, a year ago or more, I was enthusiastic. But having seen all the previews, it looks pretty but boring. There have been quite a few games like this, where you play it once, and after you finish the tutorial, there's no point in playing it again.
Will Wright is brilliant, but his goal of creating "toys, not games" depends on the toy having enough interesting emergent possibilities to sustain itself. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Faizah on 2008 September 11, 12:34:08 I have to admit, some of the Spore previews I saw were a tad underwhelming. (I won't lie though, I always intended to at least try the thing. I've never been easily won over by promotional garbage, nor lost by it. Stuff that makes it impossible to play the game legally, that makes me keep my money. Bought BV, it refused to run, claiming the CD in the drive was not the CD. Haven't bought another EA product since.) The game though, that's anything but. People may like/dislike different things about it, but there's definitely a lot to explore. Especially once you get out into space.
Every time I think of the space stage, I think of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. '"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space."' (Yeah, I looked it up.) Spore is also very customisable. Even I can make things in it. (I'm better at creatures, I had time to practice with the creator that was released earlier. I made a crappy Enterprise-based space ship, and was actually quite proud of it, until I noticed that there was already a better ship of similar design by Maxis.) And you can customise everything. Even the colour of the planet's land, sea, and sky. (May not be available on home planet, some tools aren't, but you can go to town on any colony planets you might have.) Honestly, you could sit around all day just creating things, if you felt like it. (Though that'd get dull quickly, for me.) Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: kazebird on 2008 September 18, 01:48:00 EA is going to have so many lawsuits on their hands, that they won't even think about a DRM ever again. They will most likely never use anything from Sony either.
I absolutely am cheering this protest on! Try to take away our rights, AND try to get money for the same game more than once! Who do they think they are! Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: vecki on 2008 September 18, 04:51:36 Noticed the DRM issue even made it into the local paper's 3 paragraph review of Spore. It's not just 'serious' game reviews that are bringing it up now. ;D
I still lurrve it. Title: Re: Spore is Review-Bombed, All Thanks to SecuROM Post by: J. M. Pescado on 2008 September 20, 09:27:52 Overall, the article seemed a bit biased and left me feeling the main point of it was, "A bunch of pirates and hackers are mad that they EA is making it harder for them to illigally copy and distrubute Spore." This is, of course, rubbish, because it's easier to get a pirated version than the real thing.Of course, the protesters have ultimately proven to be UTTERLY SPINELESS, since apparently 84% of them bought it anyway. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Mandapotpie on 2008 September 24, 17:50:25 Someone is using the Amazon reviews to bring a class action suit against Ea over SecuRom. http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/09/23/Spore.pdf (http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/09/23/Spore.pdf)
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Zazazu on 2008 September 24, 18:51:35 I'm so happy, and now everyone at work thinks I'm more of a dork than before. Impressive!
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Marvin Kosh on 2008 September 25, 12:41:44 I wrote a Spore review on Amazon.co.uk but it didn't appear until weeks after. I predicted that there would be some kind of expansion to fill in the massive holes in the gameplay.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Milhouse Trixibelle Saltfucker III on 2008 September 25, 13:01:46 "Fill in"? Don't you mean "create more"? This IS still EAxis we're talking about, after all.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: kewian on 2008 September 25, 16:35:32 Uh.. I bought spore and I do not have securom on my computer at all. I have checked the registry as well. Not there.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Zazazu on 2008 September 25, 17:43:17 Well, aren't you just a special snowflake?
The registry entries don't seem to be completely consistent. Make sure you checked under "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" just in case...I know that with NWN2, which I reinstalled and patched before remembering that the patches had SecuROM, that the version didn't put entries under "HKEY_USER". A few people have said that they didn't find registry entries at all but that they did find the hidden files in C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR NAME HERE\Application Data\Securom. Make sure Windows isn't being an interfering bitch and hiding things from you. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: kewian on 2008 September 26, 03:07:03 Ok.. I will do that. I didn't mean to be a speshul snowflake. :P
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: jsalemi on 2008 September 26, 03:50:42 You can kill SecuROM, use the no-cd.exe, and still go online if you want. It appears that the online signon just checks for a legitimate serial number; it may send a command back to SecuROM, but with the no-cd.exe, it gets swallowed up and nothing is installed on your system.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: kewian on 2008 September 26, 04:36:40 Thank you. I still have that exe file. I did manage to kill some of the keys but not all of it.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Zazazu on 2008 September 26, 05:04:21 I dug deeper into the keys and found the dirty bastard. Im so sorry. Dirty dirty bastards. Yes. Yes, it is.Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: kewian on 2008 September 26, 07:00:47 Well thanks to your tutorial, I am now securom free. Although I could not find the Securom folder in application data or the uaservice 7 thing at all. But I did go to the keys after that and I was able to delete the whole deal and its gone. Thank you.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Marvin Kosh on 2008 September 26, 09:21:33 "Fill in"? Don't you mean "create more"? This IS still EAxis we're talking about, after all. Honestly, if they created more you wouldn't notice 'cause the game is like Swiss cheese at the moment. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: witch on 2008 September 27, 21:14:43 Spore Hits 1 Million Mark Despite DRM (http://www.pcworld.com/article/151615/spore_hits_1_million_mark_despite_drm.html)
Apparently EAxis are not so very humble this week. Quote Given the sales numbers today, we at GamePro can understand why Gibeau was not fully committed to an apology, and why Spore forum moderators were so quick to silence further criticism regarding the DRM key, called SecuROM. "If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum," said one moderator, before threatening that a ban from playing the game was possible if criticisms persisted. Nice. Make 'em pay, stuff their machines, then threaten to remove access to a legally purchased item if they complain. EAxis customer care. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: grig on 2008 October 19, 08:43:47 Personally I wish there was more people could do about the DRM than just trolling the amazon site.
Despite the songs the DRM cults sing about 'putting a stop to its evil' they're helping EA more than hurting... people read about the game being bashed by the various sects and think 'boy they sure are being rude and knocking the hell out of that game... I wonder if its really that bad?' then they see movies on YouTube, count the member number on the Spore site (up in the millions, three namely) and before long the Spore game has users by the billions and is one of the top games sold. Any publicity, in the modern market, is good publicity. EA realizes this... I wouldn't be all that surprised if they never do a thing about the DRM because its HELPING the games selling numbers. If we really wanted to them stop we wouldn't buy the game, wouldn't pirate it either because that helps EA keep its policy on 'enforcing' the protection of the game. I'm not pointing fingers here or anything - I'm just as guilty and I love the game - I'm just saying that bashing the game on Amazing ain't hurting EA its helping it... As for Spore - or Splotch - itself, shes a solid game. As TS2 was when it first came out its bare... but, I'm sure everyone realized this, its one of Will Wrights creations... the man loves his expansion packs and despite what fans may think about Will Wright being 'forced' to use the DRM he's just as fortune happy as EA is. What it REALLY comes down to is how much more us gamers are really willing to take before we stop jumping around on sites like Amazon - performing like dancing monkeys for the benefit of EA whether we realize it or not - and actually DO something about the DRM. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: SimDebster on 2008 October 30, 20:47:57 There is more that someone could do. If you have bought an EA game that contained SecuROM, then go to this site Girard Gibbs LLP (http://www.girardgibbs.com/Spore.asp?_kk=spore&_kt=ab4da11e-36c2-4686-9632-ad225132aa8f&gclid=CInOuIX1gJYCFQNaFQodpXNOEQ). And the other thing is, "Stop buying EA games until they remove SecuROM." Until the Amazon outcry, I thought I was alone or in a small majority. Believe me, there are far more people upset over this than the number of posts on Amazon, because my post there never made it.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Zazazu on 2008 October 30, 20:56:20 You are definitely not alone. Many members here have gone to piracy due to SecuROM (hi...me) or just stopped buying/obtaining the products. I am boycotting all games with SecuROM and all other products from EA at large, including console games.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: J. M. Pescado on 2008 October 31, 01:21:05 What it REALLY comes down to is how much more us gamers are really willing to take before we stop jumping around on sites like Amazon - performing like dancing monkeys for the benefit of EA whether we realize it or not - and actually DO something about the DRM. And this is why people who buy SecuROM must be stigmatized and subjected to ridicule. It is not enough to merely not buy the game: You must also brand those who DO with the BLACK MARK OF SHAME.Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: HomeschooledByTards on 2008 October 31, 01:30:52 http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081030/ap_on_hi_te/earns_electronic_arts
Quote NEW YORK - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc., whose titles include "Rock Band," posted a wider quarterly net loss Thursday and said it is laying off about 6 percent of its work force to cut costs as it heads into the most lucrative season for the games industry. Higher development and marketing costs led to the bigger loss for the July-September period. The quarter's revenue surpassed Wall Street's forecast thanks to the success of games like "Spore" and "Madden NFL 09," but the company did not exude the cheery optimism that has characterized the video game industry in the past few months even amid the economic turmoil. The company's shares, which have been trading at their lowest level more than five years, tumbled in after-hours trading. "Considering the slowdown at retail we've seen in October, we are cautious in the short term," said John Riccitiello, chief executive, in a statement. "Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular." The company lost $310 million, or 97 cents per share, in the quarter, the second in its fiscal year. That was worse than the loss of $195 million, or 62 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales jumped 40 percent to $894 million. Excluding one-time items, EA says it lost 6 cents a share in the latest quarter, matching the expectation of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. Adjusted sales, which exclude deferred revenue for some online games, were $1.13 billion, beating expectations for $1.08 billion. Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown said the company remains "cautiously optimistic" about the holidays. EA, like other video game companies, makes the bulk of its money in November and December. "We have heard that retailer foot traffic is down in general, which is a negative," he said in an interview. "But we also know that retailers are increasing their shelf space (for video games ahead of the holidays)." EA lowered its full-year profit outlook range because of the strengthening dollar and the delay of the latest "Harry Potter" game, though it kept its revenue forecast intact. The company expects to earn between $1 and $1.40 during the fiscal year, excluding items, down from its previous forecast of $1.30 to $1.70 in adjusted earnings. On this basis, analysts are predicting a profit of $1.42 for the year. The job cuts will amount to between 500 to 600 positions across all functions and locations, EA said. While some of these jobs are open, most will involve layoffs. The company said it expects about $50 million in annual pretax cost savings as a result. Shares of the Redwood City, Calif.-based company sank $4.03, or 14.5 percent, to $23.70 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down 31 cents at $27.73. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: SimDebster on 2008 November 01, 15:24:35 Good news, but I wonder how much EA needs to hurt before they realize that they need to remove SecuROM?
It is good to know that I have not been alone in my protest against EA. I have taken it further and have boycotted all Sony products because they are the company that created this malware abomination. And they are going to be hurting money-wise much more than EA. I am also not buying Adobe's products anymore since they now are using SecuROM, as well as any game that contains SecuROM or any draconian DRM. That included Sid Meier's Colonization that I had intended to buy. If some company wants to tell me what I can and cannot have on my computer, then they better well cough up the money to buy me a computer. Until then, what is on my computer is my business. It feels good to rant. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Mootilda on 2008 November 01, 22:02:22 Good news, but I wonder how much EA needs to hurt before they realize that they need to remove SecuROM? Unfortunately, there's no indication that EA is hurting because of SecuROM. They're hurting because they spend too much creating and selling their games: Quote Higher development and marketing costs led to the bigger loss for the July-September period. The quarter's revenue surpassed Wall Street's forecast thanks to the success of games like "Spore" [...] Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: SimDebster on 2008 November 01, 22:26:35 Mootilda, check out this site if you honestly believe that they are not hurting. Electronic Arts Lays Off Six Hundred (http://kotaku.com/5071439/electronic-arts-lays-off-six-hundred)
And this one. EA Loses Big, Lays Off 600 (http://redherring.com/Home/25382) Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: BastDawn on 2008 November 02, 01:47:15 Oh, they're hurting. But they have no incentive to blame themselves when they can blame the economy, development costs, pirates, or anything other than their own foolish behavior.
Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: Mootilda on 2008 November 02, 20:42:30 I absolutely believe that EA is hurting. I know that they are laying people off. However, they insist that it has nothing to do with SecuROM. Instead, they blame high development and marketing costs.
Until they decide to start blaming SecuROM, they aren't going to consider removing SecuROM to be a solution to their problems. As far as I know, there's no publicly-available statistics which show that SecuROM has adversely affected their sales. If you know of such stats, I'd love to see them. Title: Re: Over 900 negative posts about Spore on Amazon Post by: SpaceDoll on 2008 November 02, 22:49:53 You will never see stats like that published.
They may be assholes, but they're not idiots. They have whole departments whose job is to know how Securom is affecting their sales, but they are going to stick to the "We're so awesome, it hurts. We are so fucking awesome, we sometimes spend too much money being awesome!" PR for sure. |