quanta
Premium
join:2002-05-07
Toronto, ON
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to Airwolf
Re: Spore to require online validation...every 10 days
said by Airwolf  :said by quanta :It's a slippery slope, Nightfall. This DRM treats legitimate customers like criminals, which is unfair. So I suppose metal detectors are insulting as well? Yes, I do, in cases that don't involve national or personal security. Let me ask the question in a different context: Do you suppose having someone frisk you every time you walk out of a store is insulting? Because that's what DRM is increasingly like.
In an age where we're forced to keep CDs in drives, have rootkits, corporate engineered trojans and stealth drivers, I'm surprised you guys think it's perfectly fine for a game to demand you be on a constant Internet connection.
Heaven forbid you're on the plane, or your cable modem goes down, or you live in a place with no broadband.
And one of these days that game's authentication server is going to go down for whatever reason, and you're screwed. Sounds improbable? It happened to Microsoft with people registering their new installs of WinXP. It happened when Xbox Live went down for two weeks last year, preventing people from watching their DRM'd Video Marketplace movies. You trust a game developer to keep a server up 24/7?
Even if you believe they'll have that down pat, you think they'll still have it running for years to come? Heaven forbid that five years later, you decide to play that game again for old time's sake, and you're locked out because the game developer shut down their authentication server years ago to save money.
The question really is, is the game you bought yours or not? |
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Hardcore
The Cow Says
Premium
join:2002-08-23
Albany, GA
 ·Mediacom
| reply to pp03
The games haven't been ours for a long time, quanta. Ever since SecuROM and other DRM started pumping their mess.
Lord forbid someone who doesn't have broadband tries to buy one of these games.
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Jesus Saves! Ask me how!
Only Team Starfire spams more than me! |
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ablack6596
join:2005-01-28
Scarsdale, NY
1 edit | reply to Nightfall
All you have to do is flash the DVD drive of the Xbox 360 with new firmware. If you've ever installed or taken out a HD or CD/DVD/etc drive in a computer, it's extremely easy to hack a Xbox 360.You can play online, you can play copies of games online. CD keys have worked very well in the PC world, you can't play pirated PC games online.
Personally, I was planning on buying Spore and I wouldn't be if this affected me. But hopefully the Mac version won't have this. |
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salzan
Experienced Optimist
Premium
join:2004-01-08
WA State
| reply to Nightfall
said by Nightfall :You and others on this site, on the other hand, choose to see a nightmare in the making. Some people even choosing to see the "Chicken Little" aspect of things by crying out "The sky is falling!" Nah, the sky fell on Spore (for me) when EA got involved in the game. They have a terrible habit of dropping support right after release (NFSMW and Carbon) and ignoring customer complaints. When the next version comes out, the forums are even deleted. Check out the EA forums for older games like the Sims2... »forums.ea.com/mboards/index.jspa
IMO, EA's support will depend entirely upon how succesful Spore is. If it doesn't make enough money quickly enough, they'll walk away. If it's incredibly buggy they'll release a do-nothing patch or two and walk away. If they release Spore2, they'll forget Spore ever existed.
As someone mentioned previously, what happens if they take the validation servers down? Do you really think EA will release a patch to cover the validation issue first? |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
·AT&T Midwest
·Comcast
| said by salzan :said by Nightfall :You and others on this site, on the other hand, choose to see a nightmare in the making. Some people even choosing to see the "Chicken Little" aspect of things by crying out "The sky is falling!" Nah, the sky fell on Spore (for me) when EA got involved in the game. They have a terrible habit of dropping support right after release (NFSMW and Carbon) and ignoring customer complaints. When the next version comes out, the forums are even deleted. Check out the EA forums for older games like the Sims2... » forums.ea.com/mboards/index.jspaIMO, EA's support will depend entirely upon how succesful Spore is. If it doesn't make enough money quickly enough, they'll walk away. If it's incredibly buggy they'll release a do-nothing patch or two and walk away. If they release Spore2, they'll forget Spore ever existed. As someone mentioned previously, what happens if they take the validation servers down? Do you really think EA will release a patch to cover the validation issue first? The support from any of these gaming companies has been lackluster at best. The customer service aspect is the last thing considered by these companies. I am surprised that people like pulling the "lack of support" card on EA when it could easily be pulled against any of these companies that put games out.
I have been on the phone with numerous companies because of problems with their games. Most recently, I had a friend trying to get a hold of Rockstar games for the GTAIV problem that was causing his system to lock up. After waiting on hold for 45 minutes, he was disconnected. His emails are going unreplied to. He is finding more help on various forums.
Oh, and that was on a console game. I had an issue with GTA San Andreas for the PC and never got a response back from emailing them about it. I won't go into all the other companies that have crap support, but I will go into the ones that are actually good. Blizzard and Valve are probably the best I have seen as of recent. Valve was on my crap list until about a year ago when I had a Steam issue and they helped me fix it right away. Before Steam though, I had an issue with HL2 and they didn't lift a finger for me. |
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JIGA
Its A Bird, Its A Plane, Its..
Premium
join:2002-02-02
Azle, TX
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to pp03
said by pp03 :All the more reason to get a console, Hardly... 
The day I buy a console is the day PC's are illegal... well, maybe I'll still have a PC even after that  |
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Somnambul33t
L33t.
Premium
join:2002-12-05
Mullica Hill, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
| said by JIGA :said by pp03 :All the more reason to get a console, Hardly... The day I buy a console is the day PC's are illegal... well, maybe I'll still have a PC even after that the day i buy another EA game is the day every single other publisher is illegal... |
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Rogue Wolf
Is Kind Of A Big Deal In Yemen
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to pp03
Y'know, this particular method of validation opens up another problematic scenario. What happens if a key generator happens to come up with your particular key, and it ends up being distributed? Your key ends up on the list, EA decides you're a naughty naughty pirate, and you're out $50 with a game you can no longer play and no way to prove your innocence.
The chances may be slim, but they're there, and attempting to keep me from stealing from them does not give a company the right to steal from ME.
I guess Spore is off my must-have list. 
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I have learned to ignore such naysayers, when... quelling... them... hm?... was out of the question. |
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MrMaster
What If
Premium
join:2000-12-16
Austin, TX
clubs: | reply to pp03
They just reversed their decision. It will only validate on downloads of updates and new contents.
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One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done. -Marie Curie |
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JIGA
Its A Bird, Its A Plane, Its..
Premium
join:2002-02-02
Azle, TX
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to Rogue Wolf
said by Rogue Wolf :Y'know, this particular method of validation opens up another problematic scenario. What happens if a key generator happens to come up with your particular key, and it ends up being distributed? Your key ends up on the list, EA decides you're a naughty naughty pirate, and you're out $50 with a game you can no longer play and no way to prove your innocence. The chances may be slim, but they're there, and attempting to keep me from stealing from them does not give a company the right to steal from ME. I guess Spore is off my must-have list. Well, in that instance I always keep the UPC code and receipt of a game that requires such. Then you have absolute proof of purchase. |
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Dandy
join:2001-12-30
Brooklyn, NY
clubs:
| reply to MrMaster
said by MrMaster :They just reversed their decision. It will only validate on downloads of updates and new contents. yup, atleast we know people actually still a voice in this. |
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Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
| reply to JIGA
said by JIGA :said by pp03 :All the more reason to get a console, Hardly... The day I buy a console is the day PC's are illegal... well, maybe I'll still have a PC even after that dont give the RIAA/MPAA/Electronic Arts any ideas, their dream world is one where PCs are illegal and we all suffer under fully locked down boxes that are fully patchable to the latest policeware DRM.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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LaZ3R
Premium
join:2003-01-17
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to pp03
EA Backs Down From 10-Day Authentication
»www.rockpapershotgun.com/?p=1726
Good news, loud, complaining denizens of the internet! Bioware have backed down on their draconian copy protection for Mass Effect.
And EA say the same goes for Spore.
Wow thank god, I was beginning to think EA really had no brains at all.
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Life is a game of blackjack. You keep playing until you bust. |
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TigerLord
Resident Pentaxian
Premium,Mod
join:2002-06-09
Montreal
·Videotron
Host:
International Broa..
Videotron
| said by LaZ3R :And EA say the same goes for Spore. Wow thank god, I was beginning to think EA really had no brains at all. Monkey see, monkey do.
No brains required |
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quanta
Premium
join:2002-05-07
Toronto, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| reply to pp03
Re: Spore to require online validation...every 10 days
This is good news, but not much better. Only 3 activations? Even BioShock was less draconian with 5 activations.
The issue also remains as to what happens in the future when EA decides to shut down their authentication servers.
--
Happy customer of TOROON08CGO | Silentblue.net
Canadian DSL Troubleshooting and Why Can't I Get It? FAQs |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
·Site5.com
·AT&T Midwest
·Comcast
| reply to pp03
I went back and reread the article. I wonder if Spore really had that kind of validation system. Mr. French says it does, so obviously it must. :P
Either EA relented to the pressure, or they were just called out for something they had no plans to do in the first place.
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My domain - Nightfall.net |
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IamGimli
join:2004-02-28
Canada
 ·Primus Talkbroadband
·B2B2C High-Speed I..
| reply to pp03
Good old bait-and-switch. Create an uproar with something outrageous (like 10-day validation) while you slip in a limit of three activations and hope nobody notices when you proudly announce that you won't be doing the outrageous thing anymore.
Sad thing is, there's still consumers who will advocate in favour of the greedy publishers because they don't feel there's any chance they'll ever be affected.
Here's a news flash: no DRM has ever kept someone who didn't want to pay for a game from playing it. They all have kept legitimate owners from being able to play though. |
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EUS
Kill cancer
Premium
join:2002-09-10
Montreal, QC
clubs: | Agreed. Good catch. |
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