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EA threatens to cancel Spore accounts News
PC News by Robert Purchese
EA has threatened to ban the Spore accounts of members discussing DRM issues on the official game forum.
"SecuROM has been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads," barked a moderator. "If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fan site forum.
"Please do not continue to post these threads or you account may be at risk of banning, which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore."
However, further down the page a producer for EA Maxis attempted to sooth the resulting furore.
"We are happy to support healthy exchanges on the forums. And people will only get banned for breaking the rules. Discussing DRM is not breaking the rules - and as long as it is a civil conversation, it's cool with us," said "Maxislucky".
The most controversial feature of the SecuROM anti-piracy software limits the number of times a game can be installed, either on one PC or numerous computers. Other features such as recurring online validation have caused a stir, as has being forced to install third-party software.
On more than one occasion developers have tinkered with the SecuROM features in their games to appease their fans, including BioShock developer 2K Boston and Mass Effect PC creator BioWare.
Spore is also due for some tinkering, apparently, and Red Alert 3 promises "more lenient" measures.
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sergeantdisco
24/09/08 @ 12:48
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Bit of an overly cuntish reaction to their own money-whoring morelike.
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Gee, the EA moderators sound like a really friendly bunch when the developers are quite happy with people discussing the DRM thing *provided it's civil* but they threaten people with account bans so they need to buy the game again (which I'm sure anyone would NOT do if that's their attitude). :O
Remind me never to go on the EA forums... ;) |
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"EG you puppets, fancy posting this blatant EA propoganda. Rob Purchase smells and sucks jelly babies in hell.
\is my attempt at getting banned from EG " They must be the sourest jelly babies ever, every post of his is full of bile the %^&*^&* ^&*&^ "£%* ****&^^% **^&&^&%"£!!!! \that's my attempt :D |
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PearOfAnguish
24/09/08 @ 13:10
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Ha, I hope the mini-Hitler who came out with that genius idea got a spanking.
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curtlikesmeat
24/09/08 @ 13:22
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Yeah this kind of stuff is annoying, not really bothered about Spore anyway....
But if I was.... I'd pirate it, burn it to CD, attach a post-it to the CD which read "har!" and then use it as a frisby in through an open window at EA's head office. Or probably just not buy it. |
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squarejawhero
24/09/08 @ 13:28
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Yup, rather sensationalist headline there. Surely pagehits are up after last night? :P OR DID THE WEBSITE BREAK? HAHAAA!
... Am I banned? :P Seriously, always good to see a mod get spanked. /Tobias Funke |
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"So EA your going to ban the account of people who bad mouth DRM when chances are that the people who are have the pirated version anyway and don't need to worry about your idle threats."
--------- Not really. Did you read past the headline? Seems to me it was just an over-eager moderator saying something he shouldn't have. I'm pretty sure that if EA did happen to ban the accounts of those who complained, they would only be opening themselves up for legal action and a whole world of pain... |
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kangarootoo
24/09/08 @ 13:57
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Calm down (some) people.
Some teenager flashed his moderator badge on some forum, 'cos he got sick of his mates calling him a DRM loving twat down the pub. This hardly sets EA policy. Nothing to see, move along. |
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IneptPercy
24/09/08 @ 13:59
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I can see the problem, it is happening on here. Everybody is jumping on the we hate DRM/DRM broke my PC bandwagon, the reality being that if it wasn't for all this bitching going on most people would never notice it was there and people would have to admit its virus gained from there bit torrent games which have killed there PC and the DRM has sat i the background and caused no problems with reliability or performance.
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realworld666
24/09/08 @ 14:22
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Peh thats nothing. I got an email, 7 day suspension and threat of a ban just because I shared a house shaped like a nob.
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Silvervein
24/09/08 @ 14:34
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I'm glad to see that EA does a lot to disillusion people as to their general policies regarding consumer respect. Hopefully they will pull off couple more stunts like that, losing majority of their sales,which will force them to change their attitude towards DRM.
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Maybe they backed down from the threat, but it should serve as an excellent illustration of the dangers of DRM.
You don't own DRM'd content, you're pretty much putting yourself at the mercy of the distributor. Even benign DRM such as Steam isn't exempt from this. If they ban your account (it does happen) or go out of business - poof, all your purchases gone. I refuse to buy games with online "activation". I wish everyone would, we'd quickly see the end of this nonsense. |
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FenderMaster
24/09/08 @ 15:06
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I really dont get what all the fuss is about, how many computers do you guys have?
They wa nt to protect their IP in a medium rife with piracy, the game took a long time to make, if it was me im sure I'd do the same |
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Shakey_Jake33
24/09/08 @ 15:11
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FenderMaster - You never upgrade your PC? That counts as a new machine.
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FenderMaster
24/09/08 @ 15:15
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very rarely, once every 4 years or so... still you have 4-5 d/l's, and you can unregister old pc's, its a hassle alright, but its not a big deal, it wont affect most gamers for years to come, and by then they'll be done with the game...
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 24/09/08 @ 16:17
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@FenderMaster
I have original games that are over 10 years old, their respective studios/publishers long gone. Provided the install media still work, I could install and play them just fine. That's as it should be. I'm certain that with DRM'd games it won't be possible. Just imagine if classics such as Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment or the original Fallouts had been DRM-"protected". No one would be able to play them today (legally). It would be a shame and a loss to our culture. Besides, I don't see why any publisher should have that much control over their games. Being required to "phone home" for every installation, or even startup of the game (think of Steam) is an invasion of my privacy. It's none of their freaking business when, where or how often I install/play a particular game. |
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BlankOBlank!
24/09/08 @ 15:30
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Oh to go back to the good old days when we only had to rely on CD-ROMs to ensure our lifelong ability to play a game.
Thank god they were utterly indestructible/scratch proof/immune to girlfriends taking them out and leaving them on the carpet silver side down so they could put The Sims in EVERY FRIGGING TIME/impossible to lose/not noisy/not slow/not rubbish. EDIT: And thank god the developer only saw about 12p of the 35 quid we paid for them in the first place after the retailer/distributor/publisher had taken their cut. Bastard developers and their pathetic mewlings about "feeding their families".
Edited 3 times,
most recently on 24/09/08 @ 16:36
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Even windows requires on-line activation these days (or you can do it via the telephone). Yes DRM can be dodgy as hell, (though why is Steam better the SecuROM? becasue they also try and sell you stuff?) but until someone comes up with a better solution companies like EA, Sony, Valve et al will continue to try and protect their IP, and in world of torrents, scandinavian websites and people with too much time on their hands the only solution is more and more restrictive copy protection or go console exclusive.
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jamie_fear
24/09/08 @ 15:45
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@BlankOBlank!
Damn right! I've still got a load of CD-ROMs from my 486 days. Still got System Shock 1 although I can't get it to run on anything these days. |
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sergeantdisco
24/09/08 @ 15:52
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Restrictive protection only hampers paying customer though, that's not right. Some developers need to address the problem of illegal copies being a more satisfactory experience than legal ones.
Plus, if it really is to combat piracy (which it's not) it's a pretty piss poor effort when the cracked version of Spore was available before people who'd pre-ordered years ago got their copies. |
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Shakey_Jake33
24/09/08 @ 15:54
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Well, it would all be quite valid if these schemes prevented piracy. But we know they don't.
Steam is better because your purchase it tied to your account and thus you as a person, not to a specific machine. You can use a Steam game on any PC in the world as long as you log in as yourself. |
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@Rex
I consider Steam relatively benign because they don't try to restrict your usage of the game. So long as you've internet, you can install anywhere and as often as you like. It's convenient, but still DRM. As for your second point - you'll realize that draconian DRM doesn't prevent piracy in the slightest. The only result is that pirates have superior versions than honest customers. Many people suspect that DRM isn't even aimed at the pirates, but at the second-hand market. |
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jamie_fear
24/09/08 @ 16:06
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@ karstux
"I consider Steam relatively benign because they don't try to restrict your usage of the game. So long as you've internet, you can install anywhere and as often as you like. It's convenient, but still DRM. " I think it depends what game you purchase. I was looking to buy Crysis since they put that up on Steam the other week but it said in the disclaimer that you could only install this 3 times, then after that you'd need to contact EA Support. |
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BlankOBlank!
24/09/08 @ 16:22
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For those who are still falling for the sensationalist headline (which is fair enough), this was the work of an over zealous mod, it didn't come from the Death Star- I mean EA.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 24/09/08 @ 17:22
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FenderMaster
24/09/08 @ 17:04
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Okay I see now, its not the best system, its just that personally, i cant seemyself playing Spore in 5 years time(even 2 years time, but i guess if this persists then it would be very bad for the industry
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Silvervein
24/09/08 @ 18:05
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@BlankOBlank!
While it is indeed true to the account banning comments came from EA forum moderator, it's also true that while posting as a moderator he's a representative of whole company and their attitude. What he posts under anonymous accounts, it's his business. When he posts as a moderator, his actions reflect on the whole company. Besides, it's not like this kind of attitude is something shocking or strange coming from EA, now is it. |
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That's the US Spore forum. Euro moaning is here. http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/spore...
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