Spore creatures join anti-DRM protest

Essentially, DRM does not work and does nothing to deter piracy. Just ask the music industry. DRM essentially punishes the gamer who bought the game and ends up with more malicious hidden code crap buried into their Windows sub-system. Like we don't have enough to worry about with something trying to infect our computers while looking at a friend's MySpace page.

Case-in-point. Why aren't console gamers subject to this level of draconian servitude? A friend can take their X360 game and take it to their friend's house and play it on their friend's X360. Or you can take your whole X360 system over to a friend's house and play head to head against them on their network and over their internet connection. Starting to see my point?

Think of this the next time you head to your next LAN gaming party. Opps, the game won't play because you aren't playing it through the ISP IP address you installed and registered on. And that counts as one of your so-called 'play' points.

Sorry, the next high-definition super generation consoles won't let you take your system to a friend's house, or let them borrow a game from you while you borrow their's.

If we (the consumer) sit still and allow this type of so called 'piracy' protection, we risk the aforementioned restrictions to soon become reality.

"Sorry, you have used all your play and install points because you have attempted to move your console and play your game at another IP address that is different from the one you installed and registered on. Your account is now restricted. Please purchase another console and copy of the game if you wish your account to be reinstated."

I applaud the people who are otrrenting this game 6 ways to next month's Sunday (and the creature creations and Amazon review's are always novel too). Hit 'em where it hurts, in the pocketbook. It's all about the money.

There's an old saying. Treat them like criminals, and they'll act like criminals. You did this to yourselves EA; you treating purchasing customers as criminals right out the gate and at the register.

Look at the game Sins of a Solar Empire. No DRM protection at all, and the game has sold 500,000 copies in 3 months time. Not too shabby. THey treated their paying customers with respect and honesty and their customers did so in kind. And people who purchased the game legally are rewarded with patch after patch after content update after content update and a nice little expansion for $10.

Oh, and EA, if you're reading this. If you so much as think about putting any form of this level of draconian DRM on the PC version of Need for Speed Undercover or Burnout Paradise; I will not be purchasing either game at all.

I will take my money elsewhere.

This game is so boring my wife asked me if I would grind through one of the stages for her.

I would play it myself but OH WAIT ONLY ONE ACCOUNT!

And I'd rather not play as PrincessFairyGurl1985.





(no that's not her screenname, but STILL!)

The last 3 EA PC games that I bought were Sims 2 Double Deluxe with Apartment Life expansion pack, Sim City 4 Deluxe (I have patched it with a No-CD patch), and The Sims Complete Collection. I will bootleg all future EA titles from now on. I am against all forms of DRM, especially music download DRM because it restricts what players it will play on and my PSP won't play DRMed WMAs.
Ben

I was tempted to run out buy Spore right away. I despise DRM. If I'm gonna give someone 50 bucks I better da*n well better be able to load it as many times as I want. I'm thankful I only wasted a ten spot on the Creature Creator.

If you really want to send a message to the publishers about how much we despise DRM that does more to irritate the legitimate owners, get everyone you know to pre-order the game and two weeks before it ships, cancel your order and let the store know the reason you are canceling is due to DRM. Setting their expectations high and then tearing them down at the last minute is going to get noticed much more than just sending e-mail complaints or blogging about it.