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!

[Neverwonagame3]

It's an outrage!

[Genv [FP]]

No. Whining about the DRM is stupid. It isn't an issue anymore. Give me one reason why it is if you're the average gamer

[Dale]

Originally Posted by Genv [FP]

No. Whining about the DRM is stupid. It isn't an issue anymore. Give me one reason why it is if you're the average gamer

It's an issue because they haven't resolved the problems. Only lessened the effect of the minor problems. They haven't even addressed the major problems.

A LOT of gamers will trade in old games for credits on new ones. You can't do that with Spore.

SecureROM is still being forced onto your computer which acts exactly like MalWare. It's funny how SecureROM and BackOrafice work exactly the same, but we're told to trust SecureROM.

Online authentication required to play an offline single-player game. I'd rather disk-based thankyou. Also, because of the online authentication they control when you can play the game. Proof: two days before US release (Australia and some parts of EU had it) the servers were stopped. You couldn't use online content, and people installing the game couldn't play it. Yes, EA "says" they'll issue a patch to eliminate the DRM if they turn the servers off, but when have you trusted EA? They also have a disclaimer in the T&C's stating they can turn the authentication servers off whenever they want.

And finally the big one! DRM and SecureROM COMPLETELY FAILED to stop piracy. So why does EA adamantly continue claiming that it will stop piracy? When will they admit to what it is REALLY retained for. There is zero point to retain SecureROM and DRM when the game has been so completely and fully pirated to the extent it has. DRM and SecureROM do not stop piracy. They only inhibit honest paying customers.

[SimonL]

This is pathetic.

Also, by now you should have learned to read Genv's posts as the reverse of what the words are actually saying. At least I hope that's the case.

[Dom Pedro II]

Well, I think EA/Maxis absolutely have the right to remove any commentary they don't want on their site, but taking action that would effectively make a person unable to continue playing the game at all not only clearly goes above and beyond the moral threshold, they're opening themselves up to potential litigation if they were to actually follow through on these threats.

I hope this was one moderator shooting his mouth off hoping to scare those raising complaints into line and not something that came from higher up the corporate food chain.

I won't flat out reject buying another EA product, but I'll be watching them very closely in the future.

[Genv [FP]]

Originally Posted by Dale

It's an issue because they haven't resolved the problems. Only lessened the effect of the minor problems. They haven't even addressed the major problems.

A LOT of gamers will trade in old games for credits on new ones. You can't do that with Spore.

SecureROM is still being forced onto your computer which acts exactly like MalWare. It's funny how SecureROM and BackOrafice work exactly the same, but we're told to trust SecureROM.

Online authentication required to play an offline single-player game. I'd rather disk-based thankyou. Also, because of the online authentication they control when you can play the game. Proof: two days before US release (Australia and some parts of EU had it) the servers were stopped. You couldn't use online content, and people installing the game couldn't play it. Yes, EA "says" they'll issue a patch to eliminate the DRM if they turn the servers off, but when have you trusted EA? They also have a disclaimer in the T&C's stating they can turn the authentication servers off whenever they want.

And finally the big one! DRM and SecureROM COMPLETELY FAILED to stop piracy. So why does EA adamantly continue claiming that it will stop piracy? When will they admit to what it is REALLY retained for. There is zero point to retain SecureROM and DRM when the game has been so completely and fully pirated to the extent it has. DRM and SecureROM do not stop piracy. They only inhibit honest paying customers.

1: If you're trading in games, you have bigger problems on your hands than looking at the trade ratio

2: EA is a retarded company

3: Securom is not malware

4: DRM isn't that bothersome.

5: It confuses me why EA is so absolutely STUPID to use this shitty system? You know WHAT?


SPORE WAS PIRATED 2 DAYS BEFORE IT'S RELEASE IN NORTH AMERICA



Either there's something I'm missing, but it appears the only game company that isn't retarded about copy protection is Valve.


6:

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.

Finally, somebody had the sense to shut all the people up. Talk about the game. Go express your anger on the Amazon.com review bandwagons.



7:

By releasing the game early in some countries, you are encouraging mass piracy.

Originally Posted by SimonL

This is pathetic.

Also, by now you should have learned to read Genv's posts as the reverse of what the words are actually saying. At least I hope that's the case.

You missed the point. There's a difference between censoring people's comments, or hordes of people clogging up a forum with their whining

[SimonL]

It's a form of protestation like any other.

You know there was this whining about how you can only have one account with the game right? So they decided to try to work on that, and they created a thread about this and redirected everyone to it, asking not to start new thread on the subject since there was a new thread about the issue where they wanted to canalize all input.

If they wanted to prevent clogging the forum with the DRM issue, they might as well do a thread about it and ask people to limit their posts about the subject to that one thread. But nope. Not going to happen. They will just shove things under the rug here. shhhh. Sounds more like censorship.

Plus, they threaten to ban people, rendering their game unplayable? What the hell? That can't be real. Insane.

[Dale]

Originally Posted by Genv [FP]

1: If you're trading in games, you have bigger problems on your hands than looking at the trade ratio

Trading in your games is a fully legitimate method (at least over here in Australia, and I know a lot of other countries).

EB Games is the biggest company to deal with this, and it provides a fantastic second hand game medium. Any old games you don't play, trade in on the value of a new game. 4-5 games can add up to 50% in some cases. Plus, if you're chasing an old game sometimes the only way to get it is second hand from places like EB.

So call it what you will, at least over here game trading is HUGE and very legitimate.

[SpurnSpore]

Originally Posted by Dale

Trading in your games is a fully legitimate method (at least over here in Australia, and I know a lot of other countries).

EB Games is the biggest company to deal with this, and it provides a fantastic second hand game medium.

Don't EB games only trade play station/xbox games not PC?
Although within 7 days EB will usually take back PC games.
I still like spore for all its faults and lack of hype.
guess I will be an expansion junkie to add to my 7 Sims 2 expansions....
but I will wait to see each user review of Spore expansions...

[Ball Lightning]

Originally Posted by SpurnSpore

Don't EB games only trade play station/xbox games not PC?
Although within 7 days EB will usually take back PC games.
I still like spore for all its faults and lack of hype.
guess I will be an expansion junkie to add to my 7 Sims 2 expansions....
but I will wait to see each user review of Spore expansions...

They only do PS3,PS2, Xbox and Nintendo DS's at my EB at Southland. Different each store.

[Dale]

They do PC games and PSP as well at Frankston. Also, Game currently has a deal of something like $200 + 10 old PC games (< 3 years old) == a new Wii.

Hey Ball Lightning, you in Chelt?

[Genv [FP]]

The problem I have with trading is that the ratio is way out of whack.

[cephalo]

And this company wants to buy 2k? As an institution they have completely forgotten why people play games, or even what fun is all about. This ship has no captain and it's only future lies at the bottom of the sea. Keep this up and 2k will be buying EA in a couple of years. These are the kind of missteps that will threaten their existence.

[SimonL]

Our EB Games and Gamestop even trade in old console games and consoles from the 80s.

PC games are usually not taken in unless they know for sure there is no limits to installation or that online play isn't limited by the CD-Key or something like that. So most of the time they don't take them. Every time I buy a PC game at one of these stores they ask me if I'm sure my computer will run it, and tell me that I can't bring it back if it's opened.

[Macha]

All the game stores in Ireland take trade ins (excluding Ps1, Xbox, GBC/GB or PC games).

[Greybriar]

Gamers on other online forums have stated that the reason EA has the number of installations limited by Spore's DRM is solely to prevent the resale of the game. It does look that way.

And let's hope EA never gains control of 2K. EA has already swallowed up more good PC gaming companies than it should have.

[King of Town]

I'm sure the forum got really annoying. I remember when bts was supposed to get patched at one point. There was so much arguing about it and pointless threads that they started locking down threads about it here too. The making you buy a new copy of spore is weak though.

[Dom Pedro II]

Originally Posted by King of Town

I'm sure the forum got really annoying. I remember when bts was supposed to get patched at one point. There was so much arguing about it and pointless threads that they started locking down threads about it here too. The making you buy a new copy of spore is weak though.

It's not just weak, it's moronic. If they actually went ahead and did it, you can be sure that somebody would sue... there are organizations out there lining up to establish new case law on intellectual property rights and more specifically the limitations thereof. So in addition to bad press, EA would be looking at potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and possibly settlements... and all of that because they took the most draconian measure possible to solve a relatively simple problem. Locking/deleting threads and restricting forum access to certain users (while leaving their other account priveleges untouched) would've quietly and easily kept a lid on the complaints.

[a space oddity]

Guys, hold your horses, the threat you're talking about was not made by Maxis or EA at all. It's a very sad mistake by one of the volunteer SporeMasters.