Curse

pumpkin pie · May 08, 2008, 05:05 AM // 05:05

I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spore to "come to a shelf near you", I even put aside money for this game. and today I found this absurd news from EAGames, that make me goes like

first then

then

hahahaha die laughing. Why are they punishing the "true paying customers"?

source links
google news search
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52547
http://www.simprograms.com/?p=528This

just outrageous.

wetsparks · May 08, 2008, 08:17 PM // 20:17

And they wonder why people pirate games, if they are going to treat their customers like crooks, we might as well play the part and play the games for free.

Earth · May 08, 2008, 08:28 PM // 20:28

So like, what happens if you go on vacation for like 4 weeks? You come back, and find out your game has stopped working.

That's a really good way to treat your customers.

big papi · May 08, 2008, 08:32 PM // 20:32

this is horrible

Sleeper Service · May 08, 2008, 09:43 PM // 21:43

obviously because the hacked version would require online verification (duuuh).

how can they be so retarded??? wow.

Zahr Dalsk · May 08, 2008, 10:08 PM // 22:08

I was going to pay for Mass Effect PC because I like BioWare, but I don't want to deal with that every 10 days.

Cracked version that doesn't require validation, please.

I'm estimating the time for the hacking community to get it done as... 1 day after getting their hands on a copy.

Giga Strike · May 08, 2008, 11:16 PM // 23:16

o wait. nvm. RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOers...

Mortal Amongst Mere Gods · May 09, 2008, 12:05 AM // 00:05

Approaching zone of failure. At this point, all passengers are to put on their fail-retardant suits. In case of emergency, there is a bottle of cyanide under the seat of every passenger. You may find it to be much less painful then the upcoming shtload.

On topic: Fail.

Winterclaw · May 09, 2008, 01:07 AM // 01:07

I figured something was up when they started charging people $10 for that creature creator.

wetsparks · May 09, 2008, 04:37 AM // 04:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earth

So like, what happens if you go on vacation for like 4 weeks? You come back, and find out your game has stopped working.

That's a really good way to treat your customers.

it will just be reverified and away you go. it is though, what if you go on vacation for 4 weeks and the hotel you are at doesn't have wifi, now 10 days into your vacation you can no longer play the game.

RPGmaniac · May 09, 2008, 04:55 AM // 04:55

Wow, and I was just thinking 5 minutes ago how much I wanted to play Spore... now I'm not quite as sure.

The only way I could see this being remotely acceptable is if the verification process is almost unnoticeable. Even then that's still pretty stupid.

Aera · May 09, 2008, 05:50 AM // 05:50

There will definitely be an offline 'fix'. Not made by EA of course.

blurmedia · May 09, 2008, 08:09 AM // 08:09

pumpkin pie · May 09, 2008, 10:32 AM // 10:32

If consumers let this, "If you buy my game, I am going to plant a tracker in your computer system" trend go into effect, all other game will follow suits. There are words that all future EA games are going to be using this system.

!

zwei2stein · May 09, 2008, 11:30 AM // 11:30

I was gonna buy Spore. (Seriously, it looked cool enough to be worth purchase and support to developers).

Now if i ever get it it would be from torrent.

Shit ... and i was looking forward to this :-/

Rushin Roulette · May 09, 2008, 12:19 PM // 12:19

Looks like EAs version of wanting to copy the Steam/GW platform style of internet connection to play.

With a few really dumb (deffinition of EA currently) ideas added; such as if you want to install it more than 3 times you have to contact support.

With Steam or GW you can instll it on as many computers as you want... you just have to be carefull not to give away any information to others so they cant log in (which will kick you anyways I think).

From what I quickread through the first link it doesnt look like the 10 day validation thing is a problem, if you miss a validation check you just cant play untill you re-validate it which will be when you start up the game anyways, so your not goign to miss out if you go on holiday for a few months. It just means taht starting up the gaem every 10 days or after a longer break will take a few seconds longer.

zwei2stein · May 09, 2008, 12:54 PM // 12:54

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

-Loki- · May 09, 2008, 03:21 PM // 15:21

This kind of shit is why I have gone to console gaming.

Surena · May 09, 2008, 03:29 PM // 15:29

There's piracy too on consoles but the customer base is way way bigger than on the PC, not only due to the greater risk involved in playing copies (XBOX Live! Ban for instance).

Piracy on the PC occurs on way bigger dimensions, in fact most people pirate than buy. Every copy is only 2-3 klicks away and the time you need for the download to finish.

People like downplaying the problem but it exists and it's outrageous. Most people I know have enough money for their ultragear but don't buy their games. In school nobody used to buy games, everybody pirated. I could forgive (but not tolerate) children to play copies but not fully working adults.

You either buy the game you want to play as an exchange for the hard work/development or you GTFO and work for free. Let's see if you can.

Tatile · May 09, 2008, 03:42 PM // 15:42

That's nice, Surena, and I agree with some points, however that has little to do with the fact that EA seems to be punishing their customers for buying from them.

Honestly this is another bad PR move in a very competitive market, but too many people will be oblivious to the detrimental impact that this could have (spying on people's computers). Also, it could prove very bad for EA if people realise what it could mean.

By people, I mean the 'majority' (the herd, if you like).