Spore and secuROM - Update on Page Two

[toroca 162]

UPDATE - EA has dropped the ten-day validation requirement for both Mass Effect and Spore!

According to a technical producer for BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect, both that game and Spore will be making use of a version of secuROM that requires the game to connect to an EA server for validation every ten days in order to keep the game functional.

This totalitarian anti-piracy effort will have little or no effect on piracy of Spore, and will only end up harming the millions of law-abiding gamers who will purchase the game.  What are some scenarios we can expect?  Well, I included them in a petition I've started against this action by EA.  Here's a quote of the main portion of my petition:

This totalitarian method of copy-protection has several potential drawbacks. Chief among them is that it unfairly penalizes law-abiding gamers who do not have an Internet connection. Such players will be unable to play Spore. Similarly, gamers who only have a laptop computer with no permanent Internet connection will be unable to play it as well.

Another possible problem is high traffic on EA's servers. If a large number of players attempt to validate their copy of the game at the same time during the game's launch, EA's servers could potentially become overwhelmed, and players may find their game unable to validate itself, or even potentially locked if something goes wrong with the validation process.

A further potential issue is lack of support: what happens a few years down the road when the game is no longer selling well, and EA decides it's not cost-effective to continue supporting it and the validation it requires? They will surely deny that they would ever do so, but it's impossible to predict future events or decisions. If EA ever deactivated its validation servers, then anyone who bought the game would be, quite simply, out of luck.

Additionally, a kink in EA's plan is that it is likely to have the opposite of the intended effect; namely, Spore may in fact end up being pirated more frequently because of this anti-piracy protection. A great many gamers will feel outraged by it and be looking for ways around it. Indeed, the outrage is already very visible throughout the community of websites that have sprung up in anticipation of Spore's release; many fans previously excited about Spore have publicly stated they will not purchase this game if it ships with this type of copy-protection.

Finally, prior versions of secuROM included with other games have been blamed with causing malfunctions on some consumers' computers, including but not limited to causing some programs to crash or become unuseable, or preventing hardware like CD burners from functioning properly even when used for legitimate purposes.

There are at least two other petitions I'm aware of for much the same thing, but mine is thus far the most detailed that I'v seen. If you agree that EA is going too far with this version of secuROM, please show your support by joining the peaceful backlash against this action, and sign the petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/sporecpy/petition.html

I honestly don't expect this to have any effect on EA's choice, but it never hurts to try, and there's always a chance the effort will succeed.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Toroca

PS: The original topic at Simphoni where I read about this is located here.  I've also begun a new thread over at SCC.

[north country dude 207]

Wow, I was actually thinking of checking this game out when it was released, but I won't waste my time and money if it has that annoying secuROM feature. I guess EA lost my $50, kinda like they did when that other game came out.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll sign the petition, but I don't hold much hope for it to work, I mean they didn't listen to the fan base before, why start now?

[Jasoncw 11,949]

Definitely against that.

[Bumdark 3]

This is disgusting. How the hell can players with no permanent Internet connection be expected to play this... legally? I presume, if the game itself (not the horrible anti-Piracy junk attached to it) is any good, then people will start pirating it and hacking it at blinding speeds...

This only acts as to alienate any remaining EA fans in my opinion. Hell, back in SC4's launch day, EA were still loved and respected... Now they're just about at the bottom of ratings. What happened?

I'm definately signing this petition. I can also guarantee, at 100%, that if they don't remove this damning stupidity, then the game will be an even bigger flop than Societies... Which in itself is hard to do. No-one will buy this (except those with superhuman patience), and hopefully this will teach those b@stards a lesson: don't work against your fans. They always win, one day or another.

[GMT 389]

one more reason that fortifies my throughout negative opinion of EA's strategies...

[toxicpiano 125]

This will have the opposite effect, mainly not because people don't have an internet connection or the money to buy it but for the reason that they will want to 'stick it to the man'. People will pirate it on principal.

[paupsers 0]

Anyone who has a computer capable of running Spore will probably have the internet as well.

Why is this such a huge deal? Obviously a hacker/pirate would be worried about this...

Sorry, but I think the word "totalitarian" is way too strong for this and sounds just plain melodramatic.

Get a life, people.

[toroca 162]

Originally posted by: paupsers Anyone who has a computer capable of running Spore will probably have the internet as well. quote>

The internet connection requirement is not the only issue, which you'd know if you had read what I posted.  I am personally more concerned about the long term, because I still play games that are well over a decade old, and there is no support whatsoever for any of them online.  Why should I pay for a game that's likely to stop working five or ten years from now?  Would you buy a car that you knew was going to work for only a few years and then "expire?"  There's also the matter of prior versions of secuROM harming people's computers.  Why should we pay to risk damaging our own property?

Why is this such a huge deal? Obviously a hacker/pirate would be worried about this...quote>

No offense, but that statement sounds rather naive.  Hackers and pirates NEVER worry about copy-protection, because they always find a way around it, usually within DAYS of a game's release, and often ON the day of release.

Sorry, but I think the word "totalitarian" is way too strong for this and sounds just plain melodramatic. quote>

That's your opinion.  I've expressed mine, as have the others in this thread.  As far as I'm concerned, this amounts to us paying to be treated like criminals.  And I won't.  I have no problem with anti-piracy efforts in general, but this is going WAY too far.

Get a life, people.quote>

Was it really necessary to be rude?

[Duke87 1,070]

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. What little interest I had in buying Spore once it came out is now gone.

EA, you fail. Epically. Again.

[Meg 368]

A lot of people do not have regular access to the internet. 

I think this idea is asinine.

Hopefully, they will come to their senses but I'm not holding my breath.

[toxicpiano 125]

Why don't they just put it on steam? Fools.

[Bumdark 3]

EA, you fail. Epically. Again.quote>

That pretty much summarizes the entire gaming populace's feeling about them, I think... pretty good!

As a side-note, what does "put it on steam" mean? Sorry, not familiar with all expressions...

[JanYpe 17]

This phone-back protection scheme is annoying, but to call it totalitarian seems a bit much. Expecting delays and overloads on launch day isn't unreasonable, but it's not going to be more than a temporary problem. Things were a bit bumpy when Half Life 2 was released and everybody wanted to validate through Steam at the same time, but that hardly stopped people from playing the game.

Support on past games has lapsed because its producing companies went bust, which hardly seems likely with EA. So it really all depends on how costly this validation would be. If the sales for Spore live up to its hype, EA would start making back the production investments fairly soon. After that, with the validation infrastructure in place already, the cost to keep validation going would be marginal; something that would be covered by sales of the game, sales of possible expansions and possible micro-transactions. If the online component does make up a large part of Spore, EA would already have an incentive to keep online support going even when the number of sales drops. If the game really does reach the end of its life cycle, than the whole validation part could be patched out.

I agree with thinking that this is a fairly silly plan of EA, but I don't see it as a huge obstacle that will keep me from buying Spore.

Originally posted by: Bumdark

EA, you fail. Epically. Again.quote>

That pretty much summarizes the entire gaming populace's feeling about them, I think... pretty good!

As a side-note, what does "put it on steam" mean? Sorry, not familiar with all expressions...quote>

Literally put it on Steam: Valve's account-linked game library.

[toroca 162]

Even if you're right about all of that, JanYpe (and I'm not convinced that you are), you still haven't addressed two of my other primary concerns.  What about people who don't have internet, or don't have it permanently (there are more of them than a lot of people realize)?  And also, what about the past history of secuROM causing consumers problems unrelated to the software it came bundled with?

[JanYpe 17]

If the secuROM software really causes persistent problems or even damage for the consumer, then that should fall squarely on EA's plate.

What I am wondering about the other problem is how playable Spore itself is going to be without an internet connection. Other games can be validated by calling a number using a serial the game gives you, but is there a point to that alternative if online play is at the heart of a game?

I did say it was a bit of a silly plan.

[Godzillaman 21]

Someone answer this...

Are they stupid?

[Boggy1 45]

Quite a crazy idea, especially if you want to play it on a laptop with no wireless or ethernet connection. But then again, surely Spore was going to need internet access anyway? I was under the impression that the galaxy would be populated by user made created which are downloaded from the internet. I do recall Will Wright saying that those without a connection would get quite a bare game; creature wise.

Still, stupid idea.

[Cornish terrorist 1]

what happened to you EA, you used to be cool.

[oracomm 0]

I won't be getting this game because of this feature

[coolotter88 2]

I'm on the side of the gamers, perhaps I should go yell at EA games over the phone.

[north country dude 207]

39 signatures, was 18 this morning, wonder how many signatures there will be on Monday?

Sorry paupsers, not to be rude, but hackers would be the least worried by secuROM, it's the honest consumer that will be inconvenienced, remember,...there is always a back door,...always.

[Xyloxadoria 1,098]

First SCS now this?

What is EA thinking? This will be bad for the avarage player who wants to legaly play the game, not the hackers. If you are a hacker and you have the skill and time to pirate Spore, then you will probably have the skill and time to get around the protection. Sure it will prevent some people from using the game, but the majority of the pirarters have the experience to get around it.

[1ajs 49]

Originally posted by: paupsers Anyone who has a computer capable of running Spore will probably have the internet as well.

Why is this such a huge deal? Obviously a hacker/pirate would be worried about this...

Sorry, but I think the word "totalitarian" is way too strong for this and sounds just plain melodramatic.

Get a life, people.quote>

not nessarly.... if they live out on a farm... were theres not net acces

[toroca 162]

Originally posted by: north country dude 39 signatures, was 18 this morning, wonder how many signatures there will be on Monday?quote>

Actually, when I first posted it here, it was only 11, and that was after about ten hours of it being posted only on Simphoni. Since I despise being treated like a criminal instead of a customer, I decided to spread it a bit more, so I posted it at the two other Sim forums I'm a member of, here and at SCC.

I leave it to others to link it from the Spore websites or other locations if they wish, since I'm not currently a member of any of them.  It'd almost be worth it to me to sign up elsewhere to spread this news to more gamers, but I just can't be bothered since I don't expect the petition to actually succeed in making them reconsider.  Who knows, though.  It wouldn't be the first time; Ubisoft once dropped a particular anti-piracy tech because of a poll of its fans.

[hamsterTK 93]

I think it is going to be obnoxious and one more thing that will go wrong with the game. Imagine if something screws up and you game gets "locked" even though you bought it?

[toroca 162]

I just found a great blog over at PC World on this subject.  Have a read, it's the best article I've seen on any of the gaming/computer websites about this.  The best bit is the quote from the CEO of Stardock Games (emphasis added by me)

The reason why we don't put CD copy protection on our games isn't because we're nice guys. We do it because the people who actually buy games don't like to mess with it. Our customers make the rules, not the pirates. Pirates don't count. We know our customers could pirate our games if they want but choose to support our efforts. So we return the favor - we make the games they want and deliver them how they want it. This is also known as operating like every other industry outside the PC game industry.quote>

[Explodingsims 3]

Hmmm....Typical EA logic again...

"Lets take something millions have been looking forwards to, and complety screw it up!"

Yarg.....Unless this is changed, no $50 from me!

EDIT: Okay, it's too awesome not to buy. Besides, isn't this whole setup almost a carbon-copy of Steam?

[AdmiralCrunch 11]

For some reason this makes me think EA is run by Vogons.

Not that I didn't suspect that before.

[vilbe 6]

i really wonder why at this point in Mr. Wright's life he's still letting EA stick it to him....

i had a passing interest in spore, not one to buy on game day, but to add to the list of check out when you can things. i don't buy things with added spyware [which it'll probally have if its secure locked etc]. EA is becoming the AOL of video games [abit 10 years later].

[WeekendCityPlanner 19]

Heh, EA run by Vogons. I think all the profits have gone to their head. Only a crisis like what the American automakers are having that'll change EA.