Spore

[Sirgin]

Sorry that I missed that. I just cannot stand people thinking that because I am not of legal age, I cannot do many things, such as save money. Heck, even my family said I wouldn't be able to save for a guitar that long. Sorry if that came out wrong.

No problem. We all misinterpret posts from time to time, it happens

I was merely joking with your previous "Must...resist...spending...money" post. I'd have commented the same if you were 24, your age has nothing to do with it, trust me

[NayusDante]

Who buys PC games?

I suppose I'm a bit of a PC game collector. I have more PC games than anything else (at least for a while, given my recent rates).

I picked up the Galactic Edition on launch day. I haven't had as much time to play as I'd like, but I'm getting into the Space stage and I'm really enjoying it. The four stages leading up to space are good in their own ways, but the space stage feels like its own game, in terms of quality, depth, and such. I don't think people are right in judging Spore as a game, considering that it's a Will Wright game. Sim City was a digital toy city, The Sims was a virtual doll house, so the term "software toy" still applies.

I think the best analogy is a pen-and-paper game. The game itself isn't the game, it's a book of rules on how to play YOUR game. If the game isn't fun, it's because you're not having fun with it. The game itself is the tool you use to achieve that experience, it's not the experience itself. Modern gaming has gone the other way, with the narrative of the game being all there is.

My username is nayusdante, I haven't made very much stuff yet. I want to finish the game before I go crazy with the editors.

[Kimoosabi]

Yeah, I saw that. I think it is pathetic to rate a game 1 star for graphics & sound over DRM, and just downright childish. If they felt it ruined the gameplay, then fine rate that lower, but otherwise save it for the overall rating.

Normally I'd agree with you, but these security measures seem particularly draconian.. only 1 account per copy, period, and only 3 installs per copy. After you've installed it 3 times, you have to call EA to get another one. What happens when 5-10 years down the road, one wishes to reinstall the game? I doubt you'd be able to call EA to get another install at that point. They're almost encouraging piracy. I can perfectly understand why this is irritating people. In fact, I refuse to buy the game for this very reason.

[NayusDante]

You know, one account per copy is nothing new. Has anybody played an MMO before?

In any MMO, your account is really what you're paying for when you buy the box. The software has NO DRM. You can install the client on as many computers as you want, but without separate accounts, there's no way to "pirate" the game. If your friend wants to play the game with you, they have to pay for an account. It's fine if they borrow your disk to install it, since they're going to be playing on their own account.

What Spore is doing is taking this model, and screwing it up. How many people would be playing Guild Wars if you could only install the game a few times before having to call in and defend your right to reactivate? Either use a CD key to verify the game installation, like say, Quake IV, or use the CD key to create the account, like any other MMO. Don't use one key for both in a twisted hybrid solution.

[Tondog]

Who buys PC games?

I do because I want PC gaming to survive! If no one buys games for the PC, they will disappear.

[Tan]

My biggest beef with the latest generation of DRM is the online authentication. As a gamer as well as a collector I tend to keep the best of my PC games over the years. My oldest PC games are over 20 years old and I have machines to play them on. Now 10-20 years from now when "Game A" tries to call home and there's nobody there answering anymore, the install stalls, I've wasted my time and I now have a set of plastic coasters to get rid of.

So we come full circle here. In the future one will need to rely on unauthorized patches and hacked .exe files to play these legitimate games that no longer have support.

[Zimbacca]

If I would have known that they hadn't changed their copyright protection I never would have bought the game.  I would have downloaded it three days before it came out.  So now I'm doing my part to inform others about it and encouraging them to download it instead of buying it.  So far I've convinced about 8 people to download it. 

[Sirgin]

I do because I want PC gaming to survive! If no one buys games for the PC, they will disappear.

Although I hope for you it'll last, PC gaming's future isn't the brightest around...

If I would have known that they hadn't changed their copyright protection I never would have bought the game.  I would have downloaded it three days before it came out.  So now I'm doing my part to inform others about it and encouraging them to download it instead of buying it.  So far I've convinced about 8 people to download it. 

No offense but people who download games rather than buy them are the reason they put the DRM in. I'd understand if you'd not play the game at all out of protest, but not just go and download it.

I don't know where or when PC gaming went wrong. Probably the fact that internet exists has alot to do with it.
How did this stuff started? I think nobody really knows. But here's my theory anyway: (don't have to believe it if you don't want to )

A bunch of idiots start cracking the game and putting it online (the same sort of people who make virusses, probably) --> downloading of the game becomes more and more popular --> developers take notice of this and try to prevent downloading with CD Keys, ... --> gamers are pissed off about this and download more instead of buying --> developers take more measurements against downloading --> more gamers pissed off and downloading.

It's a waterfall effect and I don't know how PC gaming is going to pull itself out of it.

Looking at all the stuff PC's/PC gaming had to go through because of some rotten apples in the basket, I fear the worst for console gaming aswell. Now that those are leaning so much on the online aspect aswell, it's only a matter of time until you see downloadable console games and virusses for consoles aswell.

[James]

Looking at all the stuff PC's/PC gaming had to go through because of some rotten apples in the basket, I fear the worst for console gaming aswell. Now that those are leaning so much on the online aspect aswell, it's only a matter of time until you see downloadable console games and virusses for consoles aswell.

Actually, if you have a chipped console you can play CD-Rs/DVD-Rs which you burnt from a downloaded ISO. I go on another gaming forum where they don't allow any talk of piracy but there are still a lot of posts with "Backups, wink wink, nudge nudge " although the mods are good at stopping them going any further.

They even have a few "official" threads for the M4DS and M3 Simply, or whatever they're called. Flashcarts for the DS. No one talks about what they're used for but it's obviously piracy and not "Homebrew".





Anyway, who likes Spore?

[Cobra]

Sirgin said close to what I was going to say. If you hate the DRM so much just don't play it. As people downloading it is the whole reason they had to resort to such measures in the 1st place.

At this point I couldn't tell you how I feel about Spore, but I am currently in a competition to win a copy. If I don't win it, in protest against piracy I'll BUY a copy of it

[logical123]

Piracy is good. That is all.





Not really, but consider the facts:

Cracked .exe's are probably NOT made by virus makers. They are probably made by people in the industry. How do you think games get leaked onto the internet? Not by people like you or me, but rather employees that may be pissed at not getting a pay raise, etc.

There was a build of vista on a wink wink site almost 5 months before it was released. Same with every new edition of os x. These companies have their heads so far up their asses it is not even funny. Some nut at EA says 'HEY! Let's use a new type of copy protection that makes you have to buy the game again after 3 installs.' The idiots then thought 'BUY?....MORE?....PROFIT?....'.

As soon as a 'loyal' employee get's their hands on a disk of the final, he starts tinkering. Then, he releases his 'findings' onto the internet, thus ending the need to pay for these games.

Personally, full time pirates are annoying. However, the industry as a whole should bugger off, just because I said so. (The actual reason is a lot more complex, but I need to get ready for school.)

EDIT; And I don't think the game crackers are idiots, if they manage to get through 'fool proof' systems every darn time. A hacker and a virus maker are 2 different people. Remember that.

[James]

Not really, but consider the facts:

Cracked .exe's are probably NOT made by virus makers. They are probably made by people in the industry. How do you think games get leaked onto the internet? Not by people like you or me, but rather employees that may be pissed at not getting a pay raise, etc.

And why do you think they don't get a pay rise?




I don't agree with piracy at all. Ok, so I've downloaded a few songs but I don't make a habit of it. If you're not happy with the copy protection don't buy it but certainly don't pirate it. It's not a God-given right to play a game you're interested in. Publishers aren't forcing people to pirate games.

[logical123]

Not really, but consider the facts:

Cracked .exe's are probably NOT made by virus makers. They are probably made by people in the industry. How do you think games get leaked onto the internet? Not by people like you or me, but rather employees that may be pissed at not getting a pay raise, etc.

And why do you think they don't get a pay rise?




I don't agree with piracy at all. Ok, so I've downloaded a few songs but I don't make a habit of it. If you're not happy with the copy protection don't buy it but certainly don't pirate it. It's not a God-given right to play a game you're interested in. Publishers aren't forcing people to pirate games.

Defiantly. I don't prance around and say 'PIRATE!' and that somehow makes it legal. Heck, I can't even remember the last time I downloaded a song. The only things I download are classic games, such as CIV III, which is really crudely put together.

[NayusDante]

Civ III is STILL SOLD. Check your local Target. The copyright holder is alive and well, and still profiting from their continued shelf-presence.

The industry doesn't get the message. Sometimes I wonder if their strategy is just "make mediocre games that sell to everybody, price them higher than they should be for what they are, and sue for even more profit when somebody pirates our stuff."

Spore took a large development team quite a while to make. These aren't Chinese workslaves making $1/day. $50 for a game at release and an additional $30 for two documentaries and a book is a fair price to the consumer and a great profit for the developers. Given that EA is evil, Maxis will probably just break even.

I'm waiting for Will Wright to make a statement on the DRM. After all, EA seems to be using his great ideas to THEIR advantage, especially with the Sims brand. Will hasn't been active in Sims development since 2, and he had little to do with it. The original concept was a virtual doll house to simulate people's lives and interactions, but EA is tailoring it to be a tool for people to visualize their idealistic dreams of what they think their life should be. I can guarantee that if they institute a reactivation program that requires a fee, Maxis won't see a cent.

[Cobra]

Ending the need to pay for these games? If everyone had that philosophy there would be an easy fix, not make any more games since there is no profit to even cover the expenses to make the game let alone do it as a job to survive. 

I would rather steer clear of all of this and not clutter up this thread leaving more room for feedback of the actual game itself. But people who are willing to download the hard work of others not giving them a cent should be equally willing to work without pay for their day job.

Remember, piracy in not a victimless crime