Let these devs and publishers use outlandish means for preventing piracy so they can't hide behind the piracy excuse no more for why their games don't sell.

tazz77

Thank eff. That previous announcement completely deflated any interest I had in the game. I mean, this still will introduce problems for legitimate customers, but not to the point where it breaks the game completely. I hope.

planetidiot

Spore went from a definite buy (before the DRM crap was announced), to an absolute WON'T buy (after the DRM was announced), to a might buy (now) for me. I still think the DRM is crap that punishes the legitimate user and not the pirate, but I'll wait and see how intrusive this is before i make my judgment.

krizoitz

sorry, what I meant was, what happens if you want to reinstall the game later and the servers are not there? tough luck huh?

Azriel77

I really do not trust EA in the long term, I wouldn't doubt for a moment that if the company(EA) goes under for any reason, or that they just decide to shut down the game servers for any reason, everyone will be just flat out of luck. I would not have a problem is this was on steam, which is VASTLY superior to this draconian measure.

Azriel77

The cynic in me wonders if the whole "ten day" thing was nothing more than a smoke screen, a cleverly crafted pile of bullshit that was intended to get potential customers all riled up, so that when they announced the "real" DRM Scheme, it would give people a sense of winning against EA, and also make the currently adopted scheme seem far better in comparison to what might have been.

Perhaps I need to adjust the foil in my hat, but were I an executive who wanted to keep these kind of locks on my game - but also wanted to keep people buying it - this is exactly what I would do.

Dunny0

now all they need to do is add downloadable user-made missions to mass-effect to replace the bollox they had prior

DaoKaioshin

@duckmouth: Maybe he's referring to something me and my friends call the the "stugan"(cabin) phenomena. Named after a place we used as a main location when we had LAN parties at.
We lost a whooping 4(!) Warcraft 3 discs in a single 5 day LAN session. We still dont know where they went though we have our suspicions.

Jindujun

Better than the draconian junk. It is a less restrictive means of protection.
I like the idea of not needing the disk inside.

超外人

@TheManator: The thing is someone will ALWAYS crack/bypass the DRM. Leaving only the paying costumers with the "hassle".

The_nub_next_door

While i hate the take that Mass Effect have on the authentication this one actually makes sense. As Spore is a game where new content is shared over the net between players it makes sense to have it auth you when you do stuff with the content.

As long as they dont limit the amount of installs I can have they still have this buyer.

Jindujun

Executives get fed stats, statistics, charts and carefully composed bullit lists from SecuROM telling them just how many millions of dollars they're loosing to piracy every year, and how SecuROM will help them get quite a lot of that back.

So it seems like a no-brainer to the execs, they sign on inspite of what some of their own people are telling them and SecuROM has them do a press release to help sell their service to more companies (See, Mass Effect is going to use it...).

But then the public freaks out because the SecurROM system is, in effect, punishing people who BUY the software for the people who don't. In fact the only way to NOT get punished by the timed on-line re-registration is to PIRATE the game.

Yes, SecurROM can be used as a valid reason FOR pirating. Have you ever pirated a game you BOUGHT just so you don't have to put up with the copy protection? I have.

So then the execs see the other side of the story they wisely back down. No-brainer decisions are often call such for a very good reason.

Zazu_Yen

@gameware: I recently lost my San Andreas disc :(
But thats the only one i can think of.

The_nub_next_door

Isn't spore meant to be a predominately connected game anyway? Sharing all that user created content back and force to populate the galaxy?

Anyway, I can kind of live with a single install authentication but I'm a little cautious over how they plan to manage offline and multiple installs.

Question. If piracy is such an issue why can't the software publishers and MS/Linux/Apple get together and form an organisation that can develop a secure, multiplatform gaming OS. Pipedream maybe but it beats all the pissy hand wringing they do about piracy.

Jelster

Not requiring the CD/DVD in the drive to play the game, means there aren't going to be any of the groups working on No-CD cracks, which means no easy access to the cracks for the latest blind patches via in-game update features, and which means the volume of piracy for the affected games are going to be far lower than otherwise.

If you don't use a horribly inconvenient copy protection scheme, such as requiring the game disk in the tray, which causes drives to spin so very loudly and be a bother, then people won't need to crack them. gamecopyworld and the like won't host cracks for games that get around authentication measures unless it includes a no-CD. Some games that use online-only methods of authentication never see a white-hat crack, and thus don't see nearly as much piracy as other games.

SilverStar95

My concern is that this will be cracked by online pirates in no time - and seriously taking away from those who put down their money for this fantasic game...sigh. I was a little upset by the 10 day authentication method, but hopefully this new one won't be bad.

TheManator

We've won the battle but not the war...

The_nub_next_door

"If you are like me, always losing discs"

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of playing without the disc, but what kind of idiot has a reoccurring problem of losing discs? Even when I was 10 years old I didn't misplace my windows 3.1 disc based programs.

gameware

@duckmouth: Putting them in wrong boxes, leaving them in other people's computers etc. That's how I always lose them.

I didn't really care about Mass Erect but I'm glad they decided to ditch it on Spore.

hamandcheeseUK

Cue angelic choir in three, two...

Asper

Some good news, now it will all depend if Securom won't screw my computer up, and if it can run the game I will now likely buy it.

Anto103

Nice!!

Actually, this sounds like quite a sound form of copy protection for most PC games, authentically only when going online, downloading new content and patches.

I guess the only issue that its has to be authenticated online, but this could a be a nice step in the right direction.

exkon

PC gamers rejoice!

The fall of SecuROM.

And Console gamers, continue playing without having to worry about this kinda stuff.

All is good.

karasu is my homeboy

"If you are like me, always losing discs"... Eh? How?

duckmouth

great news. Looks like publishers learned after seeing how many people refused Bioshock on PC because of the bogus copy protection.

Lot Krotan

More great news for the PC. SecuROM is the worst type of DRM there is (if there can be such a thing) and I couldn't be happier that some publishers are coming to their senses.

homernoy

here i am hoping that my old p4 and X800 will be enough to play this gamem because I refuse to buy a dumbed down version for the Wii.

But seriously, I lost most my interest in this game years ago. I am now just an on looker, glancing at the news going, "we'll that will be nice whenever it actually comes out."

Narynan

@Zazu_Yen:
Is it actually still considered piracy if you download the game after you already own it? Don't consumers have the right to acquire backup copies of their own software for personal use?

Grimhound

@Zazu_Yen: In fact, I will say that I've mostly stopped buying PC games *because* of crap like SecureROM. The more draconian DRM gets, the less interest I have in the products that contain it.

Piracy isn't the problem. DRM is the problem.

And yes, I've also "pirated" a game I bought to get around the DRM. (I'm not sure that's the correct term to use; if you own the game, then you own the game, whether you then *also* download it or not.) It started with downloading a NoCD patch for basically every game I bought. Eventually that often didn't work anymore, so I'd have to just get the whole game. All so I could play without having the stupid CD in the computer.

Now I've pretty much just given up on PC games altogether.

badasscat

Assuming this wasn't all some sort of "New Coke" style bait-and-switch type gambit in the first place, I would like to say to those involved "Thank you for listening to your customers." It does make a difference.

w1nters

I don't really see this as a success, it is the same system just a modification of it. It is just trading one dracoian system for another.

NullsRevenge

@Zazu_Yen: Yes, SecurROM can be used as a valid reason FOR pirating. Have you ever pirated a game you BOUGHT just so you don't have to put up with the copy protection? I have.

In a similar vein I've also bought games I already own for a second time via Steam because its nice to have them in one downloadable pack rather than spread over many discs in the attic.

Jelster

Put it on steam and I wont give two shits. I love steam, so great to purchase a game and download/install it on any of my home PC's. The games run great and when I have to purge my rig once in a whileI dont have to go searching for disks. Please put this on steam!

ichiban1081

"You'll still be able to install and play on multiple computers."

Translation: same limited number of installs BS as MEPC.

durrem

I can't believe EA listen to us and in the space of a day or so are going to change it. Good job EA. I'm totally for online authentication, much like how STEAM handles it.

Tiberian

I'm a 360 gamer, so I can't call myself a member of PC Gaming Master Race.

However, seeing these companies listen to the community and removing these moronic validations every 10 days is very good news.

Even I can agree with the one-time check on install to play. I can't believe I'm about to type this, but good for EA.

endlessoul

No CD check + playable offline = Win. I don't play many PC games on my home PC, consoles pretty much own that niche for me. The most annoying thing is seeing a cool, low-sys-req game that would be great on my laptop and finding out I'm expected to pack the CD with me, or worse, check with the server before playing. Wi-fi's reach is strong, but it doesn't cover the whole world yet.

Moonshadow101

This is definitely a step in the right direction, the only thing I'm still wary against is the limited number of authentications. While this obviously isn't a problem in the short run, it's down the road that I'm worried about. I've been playing Diablo II off and on for years now, and if EA ever does go out of business it really leaves people a bit screwed to play the game.

Athest

Heres hoping for Spore on Steam.

shadydentist

@TheManator: Of course it will, and it would be no matter what EA did.

Bootes

@Grimhound: "Is it actually still considered piracy if you download the game after you already own it?"

That's pretty much something the lawyers can argue about. I'm pretty sure a copy of the game with the protection removed is illegal, so you're playing an illegal version of a game you own. I don't have a problem with it but copyright lawyers are a breed apart, who knows what they'd do.

@Jelster: I have also bought games I want to support, and then played them on Gametap because I didn't need the disc (Psychonauts). Although it's not perfect, you still have to be online to start the game.

@badasscat: "Now I've pretty much just given up on PC games altogether."

That's a shame, Bioshock is AWESOME at 1440 x 900 on a 40' LCD. But I too am gaming more and more on consoles now that I can just download the games overnight and the visuals are getting as good or better then the average PC can manage. (Uber PC gamer with dual water cooled GPU cards are welcome to froth at the mouth, but I'm going to ignore you).

Zazu_Yen

I always lose my game disks d(._.)b! Im so glad I wont always need it to play <3 this makes me want to play it even more!!!

hrabbit

Okay, for all the crying about DRM, these aren't music files we're talking about. Copy Protection has been an integral part of gaming from the start. This is nothing new and the notion that Spore wouldn't have some form of Copy Protection/Authentication is frankly silly.

And honestly, this is a pretty sensible execution of copy protection in the online age. I much prefer it over a clunky codebook ala Zak McCracken, et al. As long as it doesn't force you to be online all of the time and has no penalties if you opt not to use the online features, this strikes me as a reasonable way to try to use the internet to help stop software piracy. I actually think back in the day, piracy helped the industry, but its fully come into its own now and its benefits are far outweighed by its harm. This method sounds entirely unobtrusive and doesn't limit the consumer's ability to fully enjoy their product. Sounds fine to me.

The hang-up is as @Athest notes what happens if EA stops supporting the Authentication. That's been the rub with these kinds of online authentication systems in the past. But I'm willing to give software developers some latitude given that they should be aware of the flack directed at folks like Microsoft who forced DRM on people and they decided to stop supporting it. Surely, they can issue a patch in the future that shuts down the DRM in the software. (though, if the online content isn't being supported anymore, it might not be an issue anyway).

BStu

eh, privacy, who needs it?

This is more marketing garbage. This is not designed to stop piracy but to gather information about customers habits.

lame, lame, lame.

Anaxymander

@BStu: The focus of copy protection is, and has been for decades, not the elimination of piracy but the slowing it down. There are some statistics, that I'm too lazy to look up right now, that show if you can keep a pirated version of your game from coming out at least two to four weeks after launch you will sell a notably larger number of games. If people want the game and they can get it for free, they will pirate it. But if they want it and will have to wait weeks to get it free, they'll buy it.

"what happens if EA stops supporting the Authentication" That is a valid question and I think executives answer it to themselves (but not publicly) that by the time the authentication servers would go off line for a game:

A) There will be cheap shovelware versions of the game out with hardly any copy protection at all for $9.95.

B) Cracked versions of the game will have been available without any copy protection for at least a year or more.

So they aren't staying awake at night worried about it.

Zazu_Yen

I'm sorry, but anybody who claims they pirate because of DRM is lying. You're not sacrificing anything by not paying money for it, so why act like you're some high and mighty crusader for stealing the game?

Rebochan

Don't need a Disc to play?

That's great news. Personally I'm all for online activation If I'm allowed to stop swapping the discs in my drives.

I_fit_in

This'll be great until you get a new computer... or have to reinstall...

Spiderbait

Not having to put in the disc, Mac version at release... It's like the Maxis team is reading my mind.

Sooku

I dont want to have to authenticate anything online,why should i, the pirates sure as hell wont be ? i think its taking the piss, but i will see how it goes for users before i put down my money on it.Mass effect that is, im not interested in spore but a demo could change my mind on that too.
I understand they have to protect there products as best they can and i sympathise with them on that but it really pisses me off when we have to go through this crap.An alternative? i dont know but the pirates will not be getting this hassle.I give it 2 days!

UFO

While it's not Stardock level, it's a good step in the right direction- and they get a cookie. A ten-day old Oreo with dog slobber, but still a cookie.

arstal

I'm not sure whether to cheer for EA or lament that "smaller" publishers will now say they can't afford to be as "lenient" with their intellectual properties.

Ah well, today VICTORY!

Brackynews

this is stupid. do wut steam does and bind the game's cd key to an account. that way one can redownload the game and auto verify in order to play without this stupid crap.

maraxusofk

@SeedyROM: They have kept SecuROM. They just removed the online check every 10 days.

MattB

This is still not much different from the original copy protection they were talking of using. It seemed everybody hated that before, and now they give back the ability to play the game offline and many now sing their praises?

Hasn't changed my mind at all. I'm still not buying the game.

MattB

Aaaaaaand right back into my "To Purchase" file. I wasn't going to give them a dime if they kept SecuROM, as bad as I wanted to play it.

SeedyROM

Yes, I know it's almost unheard of, but there ARE still some people who (by choice or by geological circumstance) do not have Internet connections. Will these people be unable to play these games due to being unable to authenticate online, despite them having offlines modes of play?

WraithSama

This is quite a bit more reasonable copy protection. Sure online authentication is a hassle, but at least you don't have to do that every 10 days! I travel a lot and I want Spore on my laptop. And in China there are no wi-fi hotspots (other than in airports maybe).

And with Spore (for those that like chiming in but not actually knowing anything) you would want to connect online at least sometimes in order to download user content anyways. It's one of the major draws to the game.

Impurethinker

@maraxusofk: I'm sure its easier to install a game using a disc, especially one as big as Spore. And if you have Steam to download games, you have the internet to verify the cd key.
And there is no "u" in "what".

Ra is still on the A-Team!

idk if your completely off line your screwed then. I understand the copy right protection.

slyzxx786

"Every day, when I play the Creature Stage, I get to see wacky and awesome new creatures from my Buddies on the team coming over the hill at me and I can't wait to see what happens when our creative, passionate community starts sharing their creations."

Should I be worried that this worries me the most? Something about raising my creature, only to have it get mobbed by an army of walking penises with butts for eyes? At least I can now suffer this indignity without SecuROM bothering me...

Pezdispenser

- We authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.
- You will not be able to install the game, if the servers are down, or overflowed. Like the release day
- You will not be able to install the game, once the company discontinue the autentication servers.

- We'll re-authenticate when a player uses online features, downloads new content or a patch for their game.
- You will be unable to patch your game after a patch release, if the servers are down or overflowed, or discontinued (from now, in 5 years)

- The new system means you don't have to play with the disc in your computer. And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit.
- Yea, is called digital download.

- You'll still be able to install and play on multiple computers.
- For a limited period of time. From now, to the serverd final shutdown.

- You can play offline.
- Oh thanks, that has to be a new feature no one has think about!

Horrible decisions, that will not stop piracy, but that will disable your game the key days (the release days) and in the near future, as soon the auth servers are removed.

Tei

"And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit."

So all this fuss is because a bunch of senile people cant keep track of a dvd? Does anybody even care about having the dvd in the drive?

Oasx

@NullsRevenge: Unfortunately, most people don't realize that.

As I said in the Mass Effect comments: People, they have just pulled your leg. "We are going to ask all your family to sign a paper everytime you play stating its authenticity, and you will be allowed to play for 4 hours before another authentication check is required". And two days later: "Oh, if you didn't like that, well, we will just do like bioshock did. 'Cause that was all perfectly right, wasn't it?"
I can't believe you are falling for it.

EloraHRanma

Eventually companies will learn that these schemes only punish their legitimate users. At least I hope they do.

What they need to do is make it more accessible and convenient for buyers as an incentive. Not having to have the disc in the drive is along the right line of thought, but it's hardly enough.

As someone who does pirate games (I simply can't afford to take a $60 gamble every time something comes out that looks half decent), I can tell you Steam has caused me to buy a lot more games than I probably would have otherwise through sheer convenience.

weables

Bleh, if it has DRM then I'm not buying it. Why do I the consumer have to be punished for what those NOT the consumer are doing. Who are going unpunished because they have the "clan" version that can send out the proper authentication.
I wonder how many people are going to have problems authenticating because some pirate already used their CD key or such.

It's starting to look better to grab a cutlass and sail the seven seas!

Maverynthia

Yay? I'm not sure how this is going to work with the whole "multiple PC's" thing though. Note that I could be in one town one day and another town the next. What if I updated spore and accessed through different computers each time? I'd imagine problems like this might occur...

Lyner

@maraxusofk:
The only problem I have with that is the same problem I have with all digital distribution. Resale. I recently sold Oblivion since I'd finished virtually everything on it, but I'm stuck with all the add- ons because it's tied to my account and non-transferrable.

VirginiaWopster

How about this: These anti-piracy measures only serve to offset pirates by a few days anyways. What if EA came out and said:

"You'll have to authenticate the game during the first two months of its existence, and after that we'll release an update which will allow you to play the game without authenticating. Additionally, if you own the game, you can send in your DVD and we'll send you one without the DRM on it for 10 bucks."

You know what? I'd buy the game. EA could still protect its important first week of sales, and legitimate, paying customers could buy the game without being afraid that they won't be able to play it a few years down the road.

Or do what Bungie did with Marathon: Pledge to release the game and its assets as open source in five years or so.

Just give me some kind of assurance that I won't be paying good money for a game I won't actually be able to play in a few years. Or if my Internet connection goes down. Or for a number of other reasons.

L_K_M

Microsoft just nuked their DRM servers, actually stealing legally bought music from their own customers. I will not pay full price for a game which requires online authentication, because a game which requires online authentication can't be bought, it can only be rented for a limited amount of time. It will eventually expire; in a few years at most.

L_K_M