EA/Maxis censoring & threatening customers!

[Dale]

Over on the official Spore forums all threads about SecureROM, DRM, or questions about these threads are now being instantly LOCKED by EA/Maxis moderators.

Also, this was edited into one of the threads by a moderator:

http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/3869.page

SecuROM as been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads. If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum. If there is any change you will be able to read it on the official Spore site.

Please do not continue to post theses thread 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.

So it would appear EA/Maxis's OFFICIAL stance is that if you question them, they will lock your account and force you to purchase another copy.

I will NEVER EVER support EA/Maxis again!

[Wiglaf]

Snore. So they made it hard for you to steal their work. Boo hoo. Justin Timberlake sang a song about this, he named it Cry Me a River, I am not gay, but SEXY.

[snoopy369]

Meh, I don't have a problem with that... there's reasonable discussion, and there's the overboard that I'm sure the site went to before they posted that. I don't follow the Spore boards of course, but on the BioWare boards they were entirely reasonable - they permitted it occasionally but when it went overboard shut it down, as they should.

They could've been nicer about it, but frankly I think that is a perfectly reasonable post. I don't like the 'have to buy another copy' part but I also don't think it's accurate.

[Dale]

Yeah it's very accurate actually. Since your forum account is your Spore game account.

EDIT:
Also, there were 4-8 DRM/SecureROM discussion threads going on, out of the hundreds that have been active over the last few days. I don't consider that "over and over".

I just see it as a way that EA can try to silence the issue. And another way to strongarm the public.

[Dale]

Originally posted by Wiglaf
Snore. So they made it hard for you to steal their work. Boo hoo. Justin Timberlake sang a song about this, he named it Cry Me a River, I am not gay, but SEXY.

Get a clue mate. Their game is the easiest to steal. Been on torrent even before US release date.

[MarkG]

me buying spore just got postponed for a few months, if ever...

[Asmodean]

Not only will I not buy Spore (that was actually already decided before I read this thread) but I now intend to cancel my plans to buy Warhammer Online.

Something I do with a heavy heart, because I was really looking forward to that game (was in the open beta). I feel though, that EA has to be shown that they are heading in the wrong direction here, and me keeping my wallet safely in my pocket is the strongest way I can do that.

Asmodean

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Dale
I will NEVER EVER support EA/Maxis again!

It's a shame, I really want to support Maxis, but as long as EA keeps doing what they do, EA/Maxis is not going to see my money

[LDiCesare]

Please do not continue to post theses thread 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.

Freedom of expression? So they're tying a license to use the game to 'not saying bad things on the forum'? Does the license specify that? I think it would probably be illegal.

Not that I care that much. I just walked past the nice Spore boxes last week in a shop because it has SecuROM, so it doesn't change my opinion, but EA should really understand that their DRM policy is actually harmful to them. I mean, I'm probably going to pirate the game instead of buying it just because it has DRM, when I sent money to some people who developped their games for free!

[Solver]

Hope that bites them back in the ass. Given how much pirated Spore is and, of course, the pirates once again offer a better product. Interestingly, they even came up with convenient ways to get player-created creatures in pirated games so pirates are no longer limited to content that's on the CD as it was the case initially.

[FrostyBoy]

It's all too true.

If EA would just ****ing compromise with its customers, we would all win in the end.

I was at a gaming conference recently, and in one talk, a guy was saying that people need to treat this business LIKE A BUSINESS. At the end of his talk, I stood up and told him (it's meant to be a questionnaire ) that treating the gaming industry like a business is EXACTLY WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT. The gamer loses, and if the gamer loses, the publishers lose, if the publisher loses, the developers lose.

But him, being all talk, and no play, in his fancy suit, could not fathom that and doesn't agree with it. I told him that if this trend keeps up, the industry will be desaturated to a point where gamers just give up trying to hope for a decent release.

They think it's all about cutting costs, protecting themselves and taking control.

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by FrostyBoy
I was at a gaming conference recently, and in one talk, a guy was saying that people need to treat this business LIKE A BUSINESS. At the end of his talk, I stood up and told him (it's meant to be a questionnaire ) that treating the gaming industry like a business is EXACTLY WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT. The gamer loses, and if the gamer loses, the publishers lose, if the publisher loses, the developers lose.

But him, being all talk, and no play, in his fancy suit, could not fathom that and doesn't agree with it. I told him that if this trend keeps up, the industry will be desaturated to a point where gamers just give up trying to hope for a decent release.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and throw some thoughts and observations out, as follows:

1) The TV Industry had its Golden Years in the 50's and 60's, and since then it has steadily declined in content value as it was continually gutted by suits who were looking after the bottom line, until you have the meaningless drivel that passes for TV today. And yet a majority of homes in the US (and a lot of other developed countries) still pay premium money for CATV, regardless of the crap content they are receiving!

2) The Movie Industry has steadily gone downhill since the '90s, and yet the price of tickets and condiments still continues to stay the same, if not increase. Why? Because people are continueing to pay these exhorbitant prices, even for less content. The Movie Industry is a business, and a revenue stream, and it is being squeezed for every last penny.

3) The Gaming Industry had its heyday in the '90s and early 2000's, however now this entertainment venue is simply entering the pantheon of other entertainment venues (as listed above), and so is no longer unique or cutting edge. Following the formula of those before it, the suits will come in and gut it, squeezing for every last penny.

Another thought, still playing devil's advocate here, is "how are Spore's sales doing these first few weeks from its release?". Is the game selling well to the average masses? The reason I ask this is that truth speaks in numbers: is the average person, who probably pays for CATV and goes to movie theatres, not concerned enough about the DRM and SecureRom to stop them from buying the game?

D

[FrostyBoy]

They capitalize on boredom. I hate them for it. Makes me want to return to nature.

[EternalSpark]

Good on EA / Maxis. All the DRM / Securom crap is Nerd Rage, and I'd rather not see it online, even.

is the average person, who probably pays for CATV and goes to movie theatres, not concerned enough about the DRM and SecureRom to stop them from buying the game?

I remember reading that it's doing really well, but can't remember the link...

And once again - it's the pirates (even the righteously indignant ones) that are to blame for DRM, not the publishers. If y'all just decided to pay the 50-or-so bucks for your games instead of rushing to TPB to grab it, we wouldn't have to deal with Securom. Spore being pirated doesn't show the insignificance of DRM, it shows that it doesn't go far enough, sadly.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by EternalSpark

And once again - it's the pirates (even the righteously indignant ones) that are to blame for DRM, not the publishers. If y'all just decided to pay the 50-or-so bucks for your games instead of rushing to TPB to grab it, we wouldn't have to deal with Securom. Spore being pirated doesn't show the insignificance of DRM, it shows that it doesn't go far enough, sadly.

I think you are to blame.