Spore Spawns Virtual Protest

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mann, most annoying crap to date for paying people. its allmost better to get a console for games, cause pc its jsut retarted with allthe protection on paying people, CD-key are fine and all but limted it just not on...
almost temped to use hacks to get past the install and then use my account to log in!! (not that HAVEING to be loged in ONLINE to play a OFFLINE game but it beats haveing limted installs

Fates 7:15AM October 05, 2008

That Spore will only install three times is a minor point when you consider what it is SecuROM is doing. It installs secretly, uses malware tricks to prevent it's removal, and creates files and folders that you can not see and can not remove. It accesses priviledged system-level commands and generally behaves like a virus.

of MD 12:40PM September 11, 2008

Virtual protest? Trying to sink Spore's sales to force a change in EA's policy? Sez who?
I gave a negative review to a product I purchased from Amazon -- as did 2000 other people, for more or less the same reason. The reason is that Spore has a hidden companion -- Securom -- which not only can interfere with other installed programs but can also cause hardware failure. Worse, IT CANNOT BE UNINSTALLED. Uninstalling Spore will not uninstall Securom, which can only be removed by reinstalling Windows or directly editing its registries and services.
Calling a negative review of a product a "protest" suggests that the review is not a real product review designed to inform other consumers and demeans it. Other coverage of the negative reviews on Spore have referred to "flash mobs" and "petulant children." Sorry -- I'm a 45 year old professional who doesn't want to trash my computer with malware. How unreasonable is that?

A 45 Year Old Gamer of MD 5:58AM September 11, 2008

So i go buy this and after 3 installs my install disk becomes a coaster? that's clever stuff! How environmentaly friendly. sounds like a waste of my hard earned cash! pity looks like a good game.
I shall wait for the idiots who thought this one up to come up with a version like the apple model in the next release, (then again perhaps it is just a money making scheme as we'll have to pay another £40 for every fourth install into EA's coffers.)

Gus Dalling 6:16PM September 10, 2008

The difference between what EA is doing here and what Apple does is that with Apple you get five computers, but more importantly you can deactivate a computer and regain one of those slots.
If EA were to tell me that I could only have Spore on three computers, I would be fine with that. However, they're telling me I can only install it three times, something which is completely different.
In the last decade I've done through a lot of computers. In the last year along I've gone through two laptops, bought a new desktop, and had to wipe the desktop once due to a hardware failure. Through all of that I would have used up all of my installations, and yet I wouldn't have shared the game with a single person.
All that was in the last year, and if I buy a video game I expect it to last more than a year. I still play Starcraft, which I bought in 1999, and am eagerly awaiting its sequel. However, if they had that draconian DRM I would not have been able to do that.

of MA 6:13PM September 10, 2008

You can call EA up and they will give you more installs. Pretty easy process. So no, it's not 3 times *ever* as stated above. A superb game.

of AK 5:09PM September 10, 2008

You're spreading a little mis-information in this story by quoting the FT saying Apple only allows downloaded music to be played on 3 computers. Apple actually allows it on up to 5 at a time AND you can at ANY TIME unregister a machine and move to another machine.
The EA DRM is way more insidious. You can only install Spore 3 times *EVER*. If you upgrade machines often, like a lot of gamer types, you are screwed. Thanks, EA.

David Jones of AZ 12:50PM September 10, 2008

Every form of copy protection can and will be broken. The unfortunate thing is that the only people who lose out are the honest people who pay for the game: EA makes plenty of profit despite the outrage, pirates BitTorrent the game for free, and those of us who paid fifty bucks for the game end up having to call and beg EA for more activations should we ever have to install it more than three times.

MC Double Def DP of VA 12:21PM September 10, 2008

I was looking forward to playing Spore. I planned on picking it up on my way home from work yesterday. As I checked Amazon's site to see any pricing info I noted the tremendous activity protesting the DRM and it prompted me to learn more about SecuROM. I learned that it is the sort of self-serving nonsense that I do not tolerate on my computers.
I think this is a matter of trust. EA does not trust me to pay for their software and I do not trust them to keep junk off my machine and let me reinstall it as many times as I want on new computers as I buy them. I also do not tolerate any service industry being cavalier with my time and money. "You can call us to (perhaps) get additional installs." No thanks. I will spend my money on another Stardock product. EA folks should have stayed awake in freshman Sociology class when they covered "Labeling Theory."

Blaise of CT 11:55AM September 10, 2008