MASSIVE SECURITY HAZARD in Spore!

[Theo]

I haven't even played Apartment Life. Spore just owns too much. My actual copy arrives today and it will be grand.

Bundled with SecuROM and activation schemes, what more could you ask for?

And if you're willing, you may add your review of the product: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000FKBCX4/ref=cm_cr_pr_helpful

[Trubble]

Does anyone have any idea, when game tries to do an 'online activation'? I mean does it 'activate' when the game is intalling or does it 'activate' the first time you play the game? (I want to prevent it from activating, since the computer I use for gaming is not connected to the internet...at all. The internet is on another computer).

So if it activates when you first start the game, I have no problem (see gamecopyworld  ), otherwise...
(Yes, I want a copy I can legally hold in my hand)

I only had to activate it the once online, it's when you first load the game. You can play sans internets otherwise. I do have the EA downloader copy though. Not a real one or an arr'd one, though I still got it for free.

[Quill]

I'd like to report that despite changing my computer username prior to installing, it's still using my original username for the creator name on my items.  I'm not surprised, but it's a completely stupid thing to do.  I'm not connecting to the internet in Spore, so this hasn't been a problem, but it's going to keep me from sharing my content and probably keep me from ever letting the game connect. 

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to change the username Spore uses without having to copy all my files over to a new account?  My computer has been getting a blue screen of death when copying files, so that puts a bit of a wrench in the works.   

I wouldn't be worried but I have a very unusual first name, and I don't really want to be sending it out to the world if I can avoid it.  It's too easy to connect it to me.  If I had a name like Mike or Katie I'd be ok with it. 

[sirnh]

I only had to activate it the once online, it's when you first load the game. You can play sans internets otherwise. I do have the EA downloader copy though. Not a real one or an arr'd one, though I still got it for free.

Thanks... I finallly got my copy yesterday... And it indeed looks like it only activates when you run it for the first time (or at least if you use the original exe-file, and I don't....).

I noticed it also checks your drivers, since it came complaining with a message simular to "you're drivers are out of date. Please update them." I could still play the game though...

[Trubble]

Yeah mine said about drivers, but I figured it was just because I just formatted and haven't connected the laptop to the internet since to update vista and drivers and such. But it runs fine.

[EntropyGuardian]

I haven't even played Apartment Life. Spore just owns too much. My actual copy arrives today and it will be grand.

Bundled with SecuROM and activation schemes, what more could you ask for?

And if you're willing, you may add your review of the product: http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B000FKBCX4/ref=cm_cr_pr_helpful

Yeah it still works fine, I haven't been backdoored through the SUPER SECURITY HAZARD THE EVIL SERUROM OPENED WITHOUT MY PERMISSION ITS NOT EVEN IN THE EULA!!!!!!! Its installed on one my my desktops and my laptop and they both work a charm w/o the disc natively. No slow down in computer processes. Not a degree increase in CPU idle temps. My keyboard still works fine.

Seriously, it isn't a big deal. If Spore's copy protection fucked up your computer it was a shitty computer to start with.

Actually, I don't even get it. Why even worry about copy protection when most of you pirate your games anyway?

[BastDawn]

Actually, I don't even get it. Why even worry about copy protection when most of you pirate your games anyway?

SecuROM is why most of us pirate our games.

[Diala]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal. If Spore's copy protection fucked up your computer it was a shitty computer to start with.

Man, there sure are a ton of shitty computers out there, then... especially odd since most of them gave no indication of being shitty before SecuROM. Could it be SecuROM's fault? ...Naaah, it's all your stoopid pirutez fault.

Actually, I don't even get it. Why even worry about copy protection when most of you pirate your games anyway?

I feel rather strongly about buying current gen games. I bought every expansion pack up to Seasons. Once I heard the troubles SecuROM was giving others, however, I decided I rather not support a company that treats its customers like criminals. I have yet to have SecuROM on my computer, but I am not going to risk it, least my computer is too "shitty" to withstand a rootkit fucking around with it.

[sirnh]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal.

You do know about the 3 install limits in spore and the activation procedure in spore, do you?  EA made certain that after 3 installs the game will not work any longer. So if you buy a new computer, or format your current computer, you loose an install. If EA takes the activation servers offline (knowing EA they will do that the moment spore2 comes out) you can no longer activate (and play) spore, since spore wants to 'activate', on install and everytime you go online.

No big deal? Are you certain about that?

If Spore's copy protection fucked up your computer it was a shitty computer to start with.

I tried the first ep of the sims that had securom (without a no-cd), nero didn't work as it should an my dvd-burner (that I use for BACK-UPS) didn't work as it should either. And allthough all problems are solved now (and I'm using a no-cd), it shouldn't have happend with a 1-year old computer in the first place. MY computer to be exact. I never gave permission to install securom and there wasn't a  single notice about securom, so that makes it basicly spyware. And no-one wants spyware on his/her system, so most people go for the free 'spyware'-free version of the game that doesn't break their system.

Edit to fix spelling mistakes...

[FourCats]

Actually, I don't even get it. Why even worry about copy protection when most of you pirate your games anyway?

SecuROM is why most of us pirate our games.

This is true for me.  I used to be very anti-piracy.   I would pay for everything.  Then I met securom, and found how easy piracy is.  I will not pay for a securom infested game. 

[EntropyGuardian]

I can still burn CD/r and DVD/r's. I'll keep you updated as to when the evil ROOTKIT COMPUTER VIRUS doesn't allow me to anymore. I'm going to install Mass Effect right now then uninstall it and continue to do so until it doesn't let me anymore. I'll let you know when that happens as well. I'll also let you know when the evil BACKDOOR TROJAN doesn't allow me to back up my harddrive onto my backup HDDs.

Don't hold your breath.

[witch]

I can still burn CD/r and DVD/r's. I'll keep you updated as to when the evil ROOTKIT COMPUTER VIRUS doesn't allow me to anymore. I'm going to install Mass Effect right now then uninstall it and continue to do so until it doesn't let me anymore. I'll let you know when that happens as well. I'll also let you know when the evil BACKDOOR TROJAN doesn't allow me to back up my harddrive onto my backup HDDs.

Don't hold your breath.

Hur. One born every minute.

[Kyna]

I can still burn CD/r and DVD/r's.

Lucky you.  I've heard too many stories, including in real life, of people who had drives stop working completely after installing something that came with SecuROM (including people with non-shitty computers purchased fairly recently).  They can't all be coincidence or a faulty drive or be the case that the drive's time was somehow up.

My son is sometimes called upon by various family members and his friends to fix their computer issues, and the first thing he looks for when he's fixing a computer with a bad CD/DVD drive is SecuROM - and he always finds it.

My daughter installed BV from the disc she purchased legally.  The game refused to run while the disc was in her drive, it kept telling her she needed to insert the disc.  Up until that point we'd always bought two copies of every EP in the Sims line - going back to TS1 base game - one for her and one for me.  We never got around to purchasing a copy of BV for me, and we chose to pirate FT & AL.  She's also pirated Spore due to SecuROM.  Why would we pay for a product that doesn't work and that has killed the drives of people we know, when the pirated version works and doesn't kill drives?

[jsalemi]

My daughter installed BV from the disc she purchased legally.  The game refused to run while the disc was in her drive, it kept telling her she needed to insert the disc. 

That's exactly what happened to me, and why I first got a no-cd.exe. Took a bit to get SecurROM off my system, but I learned my lesson. In my case, it was a 2-year old mid-line Dell machine.

[Zazazu]

Seriously, it isn't a big deal. If Spore's copy protection fucked up your computer it was a shitty computer to start with.

Fucking trolls.

Many here would probably get wet thinking about my Addison. I love him, yes I do. He is far from shitty. Yet SecuROM deemed my antivirus and firewall OMG EVIL and disabled them, plus disabled my ability to get updates. You, sir, are part of the problem. Did you even pay for your rig, or did Mommy and Daddy buy it for you? I've put over $2k in mine, and no one is going to kill it just because they want to bundle a DRM program that is ineffective at doing what it was meant for and only too effective at screwing with things it has no business bothering with.

[Diala]

Fucking trolls.

This chum seems to have been around since 2006. Ether it decided to turn troll for the lulz, or it is one of those dense sheep who think that EAxis can do no wrong, and everyone else's complaints about SecuROM are part of one vast pirating conspiracy.

ETA:

I'm going to install Mass Effect right now then uninstall it and continue to do so until it doesn't let me anymore. I'll let you know when that happens as well.

Mass Effect only allows three installs. Good luck wasting them, you dit.

[J. M. Pescado]

Ass Defect has no online component of any worth, however, so even if he gets it locked out just to see how easy it is to do, he can just crack it.

[Zazazu]

Same thing with Spore. There's really no reason to let Spore connect to the Internet. What, so you can get other people's stuff in your game? You can already do that by browsing the Sporepedia at the main site and saving the .pngs. And guess what? No penis creatures, unless you were specifically searching for that sort of thing.

[Theo]

I'll keep you updated as to when the evil ROOTKIT COMPUTER VIRUS doesn't allow me to anymore.
[...] I'll also let you know when the evil BACKDOOR TROJAN doesn't allow me to back up my harddrive onto my backup HDDs.

* Hanlon's razor shreds hyperbole to bits.

Now, it appears that a serial key will only give you one Spore account, as stated in this article. And that instead of correcting it in a patch, EAxis intends to correct the manual that says otherwise!

PS: Link craftily chosen for creature pic.

[Trubble]

I discovered that yesterday and was pretty annoyed. But I can always download content directly from the site I guess. Was it not the case with TS2 anyway, one account per serial? TS1 let you have more than one account. Those were the days...

[Zazazu]

I'll keep you updated as to when the evil ROOTKIT COMPUTER VIRUS doesn't allow me to anymore.
[...] I'll also let you know when the evil BACKDOOR TROJAN doesn't allow me to back up my harddrive onto my backup HDDs.

* Hanlon's razor shreds hyperbole to bits.

Now, it appears that a serial key will only give you one Spore account, as stated in this article. And that instead of correcting it in a patch, EAxis intends to correct the manual that says otherwise!

PS: Link craftily chosen for creature pic.

Well, they are claiming the manual is a misprint and that the back of the game's box states there's only one account per copy. Which, if it was a mistake...fine. But this is not how you handle mistakes. You apologize, then you make it so that people can have multiple accounts with one copy of the software. I'd even say it was a fine solution if they wanted to charge a minimal fee ($5-$10) for an additional account. But no. They want you to pay another $50 and install the software twice. Nevermind that you can't really do that unless you have a second harddrive/computer, so what they are really saying is to pay them $50 and then pay $1,000 for a new computer.

[Faizah]

What I don't get is, if it's $50 US ($60 Aus) for the game, why does it cost $99.95 Aus ($83 US) for the exact same thing over here? (The 'galactic edition' crap is even more expensive, $139 Aus/$116 US)

[Alex]

Yes, I too long for the days where they con every country out of their money.

[Zazazu]

Get "fixed" .exe through Gamecopyworld's link. Screw activating online content, you can download that directly from www.spore.com with 100% less chance of penis creatures.

[EsotericPolarBear]

Not really spore related, but further evidence of EA's draconian control-freak behavior.  As you know (or may not), for Xbox live games, EA demands that they maintain their own servers that are not part of XBL.  As a result, the EA servers are periodically down...thanks to EA's stellar QA department. 

The real kicker:  When my brother and I got Mercenaries 2 to play on XBL, he couldn't connect to the EA servers.  XBL worked fine, but EA rejected his connection.  Why?


His Xbox system clock was off by three minutes.  Now, there was no indication that this was the problem, as the error message simply said "cannot connect"...and it took an hour on the phone with EA tech support (not counting hold time) to determine that the system clock being off was causing his xbox to be labelled as modded or cheating and therefore connection to the EA servers was rejected.