Take a look at Spore's listing on Amazon.com, you may be surprised to notice that the game has an abysmal user rating of just one star.But that isn't necessarily an indictment of the game's quality - out of 1,776 customer reviews, 1,642 give a one star rating, and just about all of them have one thing in common: pure, vile hatred of the game's digital rights management, or DRM.
Like the PC version of Mass Effect before it, Spore's DRM limits owners to only three activations of the game after installation.
The point is to prohibit software pirates from sharing and reusing activation codes over and over, but it also means that if a user happens to uninstall and reinstall Spore more than three times for completely legitimate reasons, they'll have to contact Electronic Arts customer support to request and have approved a new authentication on a case-by-case basis.
A quick scan of the negative reviews reveals some bitterly sensationalistic headlines: "DRM Kills another potentially great game," "Not a chance until the DRM goes," and "DRM complicates life, removes value." One reviewer, who calls the DRM "draconian," even likened a purchase to a rental as opposed to an actual ownership of the game, since a player could theoretically be barred from playing their copy of Spore if they use up their activations and EA refuses to allow more. "What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing," the user writes.
A quick scan of the negative reviews reveals some bitterly sensationalistic headlines: "DRM Kills another potentially great game," "Not a chance until the DRM goes," and "DRM complicates life, removes value." One reviewer, who calls the DRM "draconian," even likened a purchase to a rental as opposed to an actual ownership of the game, since a player could theoretically be barred from playing their copy of Spore if they use up their activations and EA refuses to allow more. "What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing," the user writes.
Just one comment...
The DRM for the game utilizes securom which is essentially a virus that installs itself without warning when you install the game. There is no way to completely remove it without reformatting and it is constantly running in the background if not removed. Sucking up computer resources.And believe it or not, this backlash comes after EA and Maxis made Spore's DRM less stringent, when fans decried the originally announced plan to require online authentication every 10 days. As for how much the Amazon debacle will affect sales of the game remains uncertain, but it's probably a PR problem that EA and Maxis could have happily lived without.
It also is overpriced. This is actually a RENTAL, not a bought game because it only lets you install 3 times. If you install over 3 times then you must call EA customer support and beg them to let you play the game you bought. Did I mention the call is not free? If you live outside the U.S. it will be a very expensive call.
DO NOT BUY THIS, and if you do buy it keep in mind that you are renting it. Not buying it. Whats really ironic about this is the DRM hasn't even stopped the pirates as it was pirated a few weeks ago. And the pirated version doesn't have Securom or install limits which makes it a better version. EA shouldn't treat its consumers like trash if they want my money.
More SPORE posts on Gamezplay.org here...