Despite manual's claim, Spore only allows one account per copy

by Alexander Sliwinski { Sep 12th 2008 at 1:30PM }

The latest Spore controversy comes courtesy of some false information printed in the game's manual. The Consumerist reports that despite the game's manual stating purchasers "may have multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game," they only have one. An EA forum rep stated that the information was a "misprint and will be corrected in future printings of the manual."

Spore has been lambasted in Amazon.com's user review section for its "draconian DRM" measures. There's no clear indication whether Spore was originally meant to allow for more than one account -- did DRM measures put the kibosh on that plan?

[Via GamePolitics]

Tags: controversy, digital-rights-management, drm, spore, the-consumerist

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

gamabunta @ Sep 12th 2008 1:40PM

Another reason to not buy or to pirate until those plonkers remove the crap DRM.

Jakka(Free Mr.ESC!) @ Sep 12th 2008 1:49PM

I'd just like to point out that I had absolutely no DRM-related problems playing my torrented version.

Who the smartass now, EA?

tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 12th 2008 2:01PM

Same here jakka. In fact, I went and gave copies to like 5 people and they in turn gave it to their friends just to laugh in DRM's face further.

Nick the Hero of Canton @ Sep 12th 2008 2:15PM

Spore was on BitTorrent 3 days before the US release.

Great DRM, dipshits.

R_Fusion @ Sep 12th 2008 2:50PM

Ditto

Godmil @ Sep 12th 2008 3:45PM

So, you guys playing the torrented version... having fun sharing your creatures with your friends?

tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 12th 2008 10:19PM

No, I'm having fun making my own. Seriously who gives a fuck about sharing shit with friends? It's not a big loss by any means.

Ross @ Sep 12th 2008 1:51PM

I returned my copy of Spore and put it towards a Fable 2 pre-order.

I think it's hilarious how they think DRM is going to stop people pirating the game. All it's doing is making it frustrating for the users who actually bought it.

For instance, I bought the collectors edition only to find out that EA had given me a faulty serial key. Then I had to deal with their HORRIBLE support line at $3 per minute, only to be told to email them (which I had already done with no helpful response).

I was furious with EA after that, to the point I plan to never purchase another EA title ever again until they clean up their act.

There's plenty more to the horror story in detail here:
http://www.gamertonight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=20765

Glad I took the game back, I'd be better off pirating it. Not that I'd even bother, since the game is a steaming pile of shit anyway.

The creature creation tools are truly brilliant, sadly that doesn't make a good game.

What a darn shame this game is so awful. I really loved the concept.

Anticrawl @ Sep 12th 2008 3:55PM

I agree more or less about the game being a little less than anticipated. I had every intention of going out and purchasing Spore with a friend of mine the day it came out, but once I found out about the outrageous DRM and account problems I decided against it and to add further punishment allegidly pirated said game and informed my fellow friend about the issues and she decided to do the same.

Hopefully EA will hear the community outrage and increased pirating traffic and how they are shooting themselves in the foot.

zuburi @ Sep 12th 2008 5:34PM

Wait... do they really charge you to call their customer support line?

(Also, I thought the customization tools were limited, but I'm sure they purposely held back on a ton of items for the inevitable expansion)

Sidebuster @ Sep 12th 2008 1:55PM

I bought the game via amazon and only found out about the DRM junk after it had been shipped. Sure I coulda taken it back, but since I have been really looking forward to this game I went ahead and installed it. I ended up playing it for like 6 hours straight. It sucks about the DRM but I hope with all this hooplaw they do something about it.

tlarkin79 @ Sep 12th 2008 2:07PM

Fix the manual or fix the game. I'd rather they fix the game.

Bigfoot @ Sep 12th 2008 2:17PM

I kind of had an interest in this game, but meh...

ZippyDSMlee @ Sep 12th 2008 2:22PM

EA promoting piracy by default...they should sue themselfs....

WiNG [Life in a Game] @ Sep 12th 2008 2:23PM

Don't get this game.

My wife, who was hyped for Spore since it was announced, and who doesn't really play games, stopped playing after saying "This isn't even a game, there is no gameplay. It's just boring, all you do is click on fruit for 4 hours."

zuburi @ Sep 12th 2008 5:35PM

To be fair, there's plenty more to get bored with after that phase.

LOKIOLR @ Sep 12th 2008 5:52PM

So it's Animal Crossing...?

Author X @ Sep 12th 2008 6:32PM

Also, it's slightly more exciting if you're a carnivore (naturally), as you have to kill your prey to eat. I assumed an herbivore would have to defend itself from carnivores, but apparently not? I've only played on my friend's compy (blah, blah, DRM, honestly I wasn't as excited as him for Spore in the first place).

Mike @ Sep 12th 2008 2:33PM

NO SALE EA! you suck.

R_Fusion @ Sep 12th 2008 2:38PM

so more reasons for not buying it

Virtuous @ Sep 12th 2008 2:40PM

DRM will adversely affect Spore sales. EA may one day learn locked down DRM isn't a good idea.

AlphaMatrix @ Sep 12th 2008 2:41PM

I played a copy of this game for an hour or two before dumping it. Having a large scope of customization is nothing if the underlying game isn't much fun, which it isn't IMO.

DRM punishes only legit customers. It only takes one pirate outsmarting the DRM once, which they often do before the game is even on store shelves. Do publishers not see their DRM being broken so quickly and question the expense of such ultimately anti-consumer measures?

I will continue to crack my legitimately purchased games as I refuse to be punished by unreasonable and unsuccessful DRM measures.

Blazur @ Sep 12th 2008 2:53PM

DRM is so damn stupid, it only harms the legitimate gamers who purchase the software. Clearly it doesn't impede pirates, but in fact only entices them further.

There has to be a better way...

Geist @ Sep 12th 2008 4:23PM

The better way, as Stardock has shown, is none at all. Then hey, look, people don't get pissed at you and they actually purchase your product.

fco. @ Sep 12th 2008 3:09PM

Why do people think that because a game has DRM that gives them the right to pirate it?

Don't like the DRM? well just don't it, but asume that then you wont be playing it.

What will happen now is that when EA tries to explain the lower sales, intead of saying "maybe we had a faulty product, maybe we shouldn't have used that DRM" they will say "this MUST be related with this increasing piracy figures, we'll have to use an even harder DRM next time"

Don't think I'm supporting EA, I hate what they're doing, but I just think piracy is not the answer.

Live in 3D @ Sep 12th 2008 4:54PM

I have to agree with this statement no matter how unpopular a stance it may be. Apparently some people do not understand what a boycott really is. I disagree entirely with the DRM the game has, therefore I won't be playing it at all.

tmacairjordan87 @ Sep 12th 2008 10:23PM

That doesn't make much sense. If you're boycotting a game you like, you're costing them a sale but you don't get to play a game you wanted to play. If you pirate it, you still cost them a sale but you actually get to play the game.

Live in 3D @ Sep 13th 2008 7:31AM

Ah yes the "have my cake and eat it too" mentality. The point of boycotting a product is not solely to cost them a sale. It is about making a statement of protest that even though I would like to play the game, I refuse to do so even if I CAN pirate it.

As soon as you pirate the game, you are completely legitimizing their draconian DRM scheme no matter how ineffectual it might be.

Do you really believe that the argument of "If you don't remove the anti-piracy measures of your software then I will pirate your software" is going to be effective to an EA executive? Of course not. He is going to say that you were going to steal it anyway, then use that as as a valid reason to include even worse DRM in the next product.

To me the answer is simple: reward companies who do DRM right and avoid companies who do it wrong while giving no company a legitimate reason to put these measures in their product in the first place.

Granted this occasionally means having to miss out on some things (GASP! What, no instant gratification? OMG!)

JonFitt @ Sep 12th 2008 3:29PM

This is just as bad as the 3 install limit IMHO. For my wife to play this game after me, even if we are really careful with the installs, she can't have her own set of creatures.

Godmil @ Sep 12th 2008 5:16PM

Yeah I'm in the same boat, I let my girlfriend play it first, now everything I make appear online under her name.

Yakko @ Sep 12th 2008 3:47PM

Amazon.com deleted all user review off their site or hid them either way... booh! terminating purchasing from them.

F1 @ Sep 12th 2008 4:08PM

How much you wanna bet EA had something to do with it? Seriously they had such great reviews from critics but as soon as fans get ahold of it the slam it into the ground. And face it, user reviews hold a lot more creedense then professional reviews (Just as long as they don't troll).

Jon @ Sep 12th 2008 4:22PM

Not only did they delete the anti-DRM reviews, but they also deleted negative reviews with legitimate complaints about the gameplays. Shameful.

Anticrawl @ Sep 12th 2008 4:33PM

Gamers unit! Rush the consumer report sites! Slam Amazon for altering to save sales!

Anticrawl @ Sep 12th 2008 4:35PM

I hope Joystiq reports on Amazon deleting customer reviews on their gaming products to keep people buying their products. It directly affects gamers as a whole. What happens when some less informed casual gamer buys this product from amazon and runs into all of these issues? They quit gaming perhaps, and those singular people add up over time, hurting the industry as a whole.

fco. @ Sep 12th 2008 5:09PM

I still see them..

Jon @ Sep 12th 2008 5:11PM

Well the reviews are back. Who knows, maybe their server was truly busted or it was a damage control limitation?

But glad that they reinstated the reviews.

Procris @ Sep 12th 2008 4:49PM

DRM only EVER hurts the customers. Then again, thats exactly what EA wants. Companies know DRM will never stop piracy. What it does do is force legit customers to have to rebuy the game when they run out of their 5 installs. What if you lose your EA account info or its stolen? Again, you are screwed. I've forgotten my EA account for games like C&C generals a million times and often thanks for EA's awful online system, recover password is never an option. Thankfully, you could always create new ones. Can't do that with Spore.

Its a shame i'm missing out on the Spore experience but honestly, it just reminds me why i game on a console. I can put my game disk in any 360 if its a 360 game or any Wii if its a Wii game and not be restricted. EA can keep the game. If they want me, a valid customer to buy their PC games, they better stop trying to screw me over. I bought the game, i want to be able to install the game however many times i want, even if i reformat my OS or buy new computers/parts. Picture Starcraft having this kind of DRM. I've reinstalled, got new computers, reformat OS hundreds of times since i bought that game over a decade ago. Spore wouldn't last as long. i'd have to go buy another copy..

Killimus @ Sep 13th 2008 1:11AM

Sir, if you played Creature Creator, you got the Spore experience. The game outside the creator is a pile of shit.

Snowblind @ Sep 12th 2008 4:54PM

Well, it's all been said again, but I'm not buying the game for this reason alone.

$40 is too much for a rental and the DRM is so easy to get around, it's just ridiculous. It isn't putting anyone off pirating the game, it's only hurting the buyers. etc.

Anticrawl @ Sep 12th 2008 4:58PM

You wanna hear what is truely outrageous? They are charging $49.95 for a direct download from their site.... Downloads are suppose to be cheaper than retail purchases because there isn't any cost associated with dealing with the middle man from shipping/packaging and no mark up from the retailers so they can cut a profit.

zuburi @ Sep 12th 2008 5:38PM

I thought Jem was truly outrageous. :(

Snowblind @ Sep 12th 2008 6:59PM

Yeah, I was pretty annoyed at that too, considering I bought the creature editor, then expected to get a discount on buying the full game, only to see that even with the discount, it would still cost £10 more as a direct download from the website than it would for me to go out and buy a boxed copy..

Jon Doe. @ Sep 13th 2008 2:46AM

Fuck Spore. I have better things to do then dick around with DRM 4 years from now when I get a craving for some oldschool Spore and I can't do shit because I've been anal raped by EA's DRM. Go to hell EA and take your crap practices with you.