Source: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52547

Post from SimPrograms:



Source: http://www.simprograms.com/?p=528

This is just ridiculous and I don't see how the game is going to succeed after this! Now, even though I may not play Spore since I was never that interested in the game to begin with, my worry is that this new Securom version will now be used in other EA games, including The Sims 3. So, what do you guys think of all this?

By the way, the photo from the SimPrograms post is so hilarious, lol. Check it out! It's so creative but true!



EDIT: EA has heard the outcries of online communities against the 10-day validation and has removed it for offline play! While they didn’t get it removed entirely, we will no longer have to worry about our games to cease working. EA released a statement saying that Spore will now allow for offline play and will only requiring validation on a patch or game content update:

WHAT?


People don't even have that reliable of internet.
I will be SO PISSED!
Why am I being punished for buying the game????

A bad and dumb idea. It will make people annoyed. And some people use their PCs to game on, leaving their internet out of the picture. What about them?
Anyway, give the "crackers" a few days and I'm sure they'll find a way to bypass it, as they do and have done with every single other loophole they are given.

Check this out: http://www.adennak.com/blog/wordpress/ pretty hilarious!

rofl, talk about paranoia.

they do realize that this will only anger the "true paying customers" and the "people who sells illegal softwares" will continue to crack all and every of the software pirate protecting procedure.

exactly
Now I'll legally buy it
but then have to search the net through virus infested hack sites to look for a "nonactivation hack".
Thanks EA.

Searching through google on the same topic, there are a lot of unhappy potential customers now saying that they were looking forward to paying the 50$ for Mass Effect, but now refuse to pay to be treated like a thief!! This is going to be a mess for EA and BioWare (or whatever company is making Mass Effect)! Disaster.

Just keep your eyes pealed for a .exe that bypasses the security check. I bet it will be out the same day, give or take.

Wow, I was thinking of buying this game when it comes but I don't think so anymore, I don't have the internet connection on my computer and I am not getting it anytime soon. And I am not gonna get it just for this game when I haven't made my mind up about it.

They better not do this to the Sims 3, I wanna play it but not to the extent of needing the internet. Hopefully Apartment Life will be left out of this too.

Also, I always take my games with me on vacation to see my family (there's like, limited internet in the backwoods of Louisiana), but with this.... I wont even be able to play a dang game?

In trying to combat piracy, they're causing MORE piracy. People who would normally pay for games will pirate to get around this insane malware. I have paid for every single XP and SP (and I have them all) but if Spore and/or Sims 3 has this crap on it, I will not be paying for any more EAxis games. The people who bought legitimate copies of the current games (and I don't make any moral judgments either way if you did or didn't ) are already looking for no-CD cracks because of SecuROM. They've managed to not only drive their consumers to piracy, but to TEACH them to pirate. It's a small step from a no-CD crack to pirating outright, and one many players might choose. And to think I liked Bioware too *shakes head sadly*

We first make criminals, then punish them. ; )

People will work their way around this. They'll find more ways to bypass the validation. This is a big mistake EAxis has made. I hope they don't repeat it with TS3. If they do, I definitely will not buy TS3.

I was really looking forward to Spore too, but this kind of thing annoys the heck out of me. Seems like more and more, game companies are trying to make their customers feel like criminals in more and more intrusive ways. This absolutely will not stop piracy whatsoever and I'm sure there will be some crack out shortly after the game is released to circumvent this - no copy protection scheme has ever worked. Ever.

I wish game companies nowadays would take some inspiration from Stardock, makers of Galactic Civilizations, GalCiv2, and Sins of a Solar Empire, which - despite containing no copy protection whatsoever (no need to enter a key when installing, no need to have the CD in the drive, nothing - you only need the key to get updates), have sold quite well. The company's assumption has been that users who would pirate the game were unlikely to purchase it in the first place, so why make your paying customers jump through a bunch of stupid hoops?

Staff Warning: As much as this tactic by EA annoys me, let's please refrain from saying stuff like, "Oh, I'll just get the crack" or "If they do this I'll just pirate it." We can discuss the likely fact that it will be cracked soon, and that many users may simply pirate it in retaliation to such a ridiculous scheme, but please refrain from advocating such behavior yourself - you don't purchase software, but a license to use it, and agree to use it under the terms the maker has put forth. I don't want to give out warnings for advocation of theft of intellectual property for something like this (especially when I think what EA's doing is stupid in the first place), but I will if I must, so please choose your words carefully and discuss this in more general terms than your own actions. Thanks.

Well if they want to play it that way then I'm more then willing to play. I was hoping to get my hands on Spores but after reading this I'm using my money for something else and that goes for everyother game owned by EA.

Hack I'll go as far as trying to hurt their sales if I have too.

I think a lot of people are forgetting one simple thing - this "activation" scheme does not require you to have a CD in the drive.

Now, which is more of a hassle? Trying to find your game CD and having it in the drive *every time you play*, or being connected to the internet once every 10 days?

(Taken from: http://masseffect.bioware.com/forum...forum=125&sp=15 )

My sims CD never leaves the drive. Or maybe it does for short times when i need it for soemthing else. lol.

That being said, if they include that sort of copy protection I'm not buying their games anymore. Computers go though upgrades, hd reformats, OS reinstalls and even game reinstalls. Owners go on vacations or on business trips and shouldn't be forced to play the damn game every ten days. With that scheme you can't even sell it to someone else if you get bored of it.

Ridiculous Idea.

I hate it. My house doesn't even have a phoneline. Makes getting on the internet a little hard.

croco, I don't think Sims players are indicative of the general gaming community. I, for example, might play 2 or 3 games in a sitting, and not one, thus I'm forever swapping CDs and making small stacks of them on my desk.

I, as a gamer who plays lots of games, would much rather have the game phoning home once every 10 days than have to keep swapping cds. After all, it's only once every 10 days, and it's totally unobtrusive. If I go on holiday and come back then the game will just activate as soon as I get back - no big deal.

With regards to upgrades etc, I think the thing here is that it wont matter - you'll be able to install the CD and use the same code. From my understanding, the only check will be if that's a valid code against a database - ie a pirated code or one thats on a serial site. Thus, if you use your own code, there shouldn't be any issues with "activating it".

I'd rather have to put in the CD.


Like I said there are lots of places where internet isnt available.

We are discussing this in case the same protection will be used for Sims3 so sims players are indicative of Sims gamers community.
Anyway, how are they going to check if the CD Key has become public/warez'd in order to ban it? Are they going to check by the IP or by installing some cookie in your machine, or how? People, install and reinstall, change PCs, install on another PC or laptop they have, and change internet providers or have IPs that change periodically. Will it cease to function if I reinstall my game for the 10th time because my neighbourhood is messed up, or if I use a different internet connection because I changed the service provider?

not going to buy it lol, I think I'll safe my money to buy Guild Wars 2 bye bye spore, spore all you want lololol i can do with one less game, and save my wrist.

It's not that big a deal to change a CD. Physical possession of a CD seems, to me, better proof of having legally obtained the game. I predict Keys will be flying all over the place since people won't actually need a CD. Kinda silly. And since anyone intent on pirating may need a fresh key every ten days or so, the likelihood of someone being victimized by having their legally purchased Key stolen only increases as time goes on.

And did it occur to anyone that the people who don't have a regular internet connection probably aren't pirates in the first place? Kinda tough to pirate if you can't get on the net every ten days...

Ideally, we enter a license code once when we first install and register a game. If someone else enters the same license code after that, they get an error and can't finish the installation. Security developers for gaming should concentrate on how hackers obtain and share keygens to circumvent the system before making the system both more frustrating and more complicated. Keep the damned database of license codes safer in the first place. Maybe there should be some sort of POS validation when you purchase the game that registers that key as legally obtained. Maybe a simple password associated with that particular key. In other words, surely there's a better way to both thwart pirating and respect/protect the end user who has actually paid for the product.

Scenario: I purchase this game and religiously validate every ten days. Then comes a day where I go to play the game, and I found I'm banned because of a duplicate key? Oh joy. Brilliant. *eyeroll*

I agree that having an actual CD is not that much of a hassle. Sure, if I leave home with my laptop and forget to bring the game with me, bummer, but that's what I get for not thinking. :D

I have a question though, and it might be a stupid one too, but... How will they ensure that the CD Key of a paying customer that has NOT shared said CD Key, will not be cracked? There are people that keep on trying various codes until they find one that work, and so what guarantee does one have that one's CD Key will remain non-public?

This is completely and totally rediculous.Hopefully the uproar that is going up will make them change their minds,even if it means delaying the game *again*.
Is it just me or has the development of Spore been one cock up after another?

Oh yeah, MEPC and Spore were both games I would have bought without hesistation. Now I am hesistant. As mentioned, it is likely to increase piracy somewhat simply by being annoying... or at least people will get cracks for their legally bought copies. I guess the all mighty first week sales are those that really matter, and if it's not cracked at that period, all is well saleswise. Having to keep disk in drive is much less hassle for me than having some annoying malware running on background and requiring internet connection while I play. The disk pretty much stays in the drive when I'm going through a game like ME anyways.

Since Stardock was mentioned: http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.co...x?postid=303512

I just love that attitude. Might buy Sins just to support them even though I don't care about RTS that much (TBS is real strategy in my mind.) Bought GalCiv 2 for partially same reasons.

Edit: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1645

I feel this not the same thing. Both are hassles but one is different from the other. The online check means I have to connect to the internet to play a non-online game. It is also the idea that I am being checked constantly for a game which I paid for. And why 10 days? If I stop playing for a month, what happens? Will my game stop working?

I was looking forward to both Mass Effect and Spores. I guess I will not be buying these games. A similar reason why I did not get Bioshock. If sales are low, how much will they blame on piracy and how much will they blame it on the protection driving away customers?