Over 3000 negative posts about Spore on Amazon

[Marvin Kosh]

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.

[Milhouse Trixibelle Saltfucker III]

"Fill in"? Don't you mean "create more"? This IS still EAxis we're talking about, after all.

[kewian]

Uh.. I bought spore and I do not have securom on my computer at all. I have checked the registry as well. Not there.

[Zazazu]

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.

[kewian]

Ok.. I will do that. I didn't mean to be a speshul snowflake. Looked under HKEY user and application data and found nothing.    I take it all back. I dug deeper into the keys and found the dirty bastard. Im so sorry. Dirty dirty bastards. But I asked for it by installing so I got it.

[jsalemi]

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.

[kewian]

Thank you. I still have that exe file. I did manage to kill some of the keys but not all of it.

[Zazazu]

I dug deeper into the keys and found the dirty bastard. Im so sorry. Dirty dirty bastards.

Yes. Yes, it is.

[kewian]

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.

[Marvin Kosh]

"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.

[witch]

Spore Hits 1 Million Mark Despite DRM

Apparently EAxis are not so very humble this week.

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.

[grig]

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.

[SimDebster]

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.  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.

[Zazazu]

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.

[J. M. Pescado]

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.

[HomeschooledByTards]

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081030/ap_on_hi_te/earns_electronic_arts

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.

[SimDebster]

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.

[Mootilda]

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:

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" [...]

[SimDebster]

Mootilda, check out this site if you honestly believe that they are not hurting.  Electronic Arts Lays Off Six Hundred

And this one. EA Loses Big, Lays Off 600

[BastDawn]

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.

[Mootilda]

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.

[SpaceDoll]

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.