Topic: SecuROM

[Gauphastus]

Hey, Maxis.
Or EA, or whoever the hell. I don't really care anymore.
You read these forums, eh? I've been here... what? Almost the whole run? Since GDC '05 anyway.

I told my friends about this one. And no, I didn't misrepresent the issue. They're not dumbasses.
I informed them of this rumor I'd heard. Being intelligent people, they did a bit of research themselves, or what little they could. Pretty much all there is is some tech guy from Bioware stating something along the lines of sales suicide.

So we all came very easily to an agreement: none of us will purchase the game whatsoever if this phone home BS is in there at all.
And hey, get this. We all have Steam. We all have cable internet, and we all have jobs. There really is no problem with maintaining a connection or making the purchase, at least none that we could foresee.
It's the principle of the matter really. You can't stop pirates, and this dicking around gives you enough bad press that they'll certainly want to try to crack it even more; they'll be famous after this fiasco, you idiots.
Then we consider all the folks who are going to go right ahead and pirate the game now out of spite. Well..


So go right ahead and treat the entire consumer base like potential criminals.
I think I speak for a lot of folks lately when I say, "Yo ho ho!"

TIME TRAVELLER EDIT: Jesus Christ. I honestly don't remember being such a little prick.

[Jennifer Reitz]

I'm really hoping we get a clear message from on high that Spore will not be using this particular flavor (10-day forever verification) of SecuRom soon. This matter is really catching steam in the media, and is going to blow up big in EA's... and Will Wright's... faces. This could be very bad for Spore.

They have got to be having meetings about this. The only way to stop this, to nip this anger in the bud, would be to make an official statement that a non-invasive form of protection will be used. There are other flavors of SecuRom they could use.

It would be so easy to regain everyone's good will. It would score points for EA. Even their marketing department would score points. Heck, they could even make a statement about how 'EA stands committed to their loyal customers, and opposes intrusive and privacy violating copy protection". Instant marketing win. Everyone saves face, and this turmoil just fades away. Spore is guaranteed a vast customer base. Just like that.

I wonder just how big this will get? So far, it's looking like it could be as big as the Sony debacle.

Come on, Spore team, Will, somebody... cut this rising problem off at the knees by reassuring the base with good news.

[Gorman Conall]

You guys are great..but in my opinion you guys really go overboard sometimes........

[Gauphastus]

Nah, bitching on a forum ain't overboard.
Now if a crowd of us were to find out where Will Wright lived and went there to throw bricks at his house, that might be considered overboard.

Besides, when would be a better time to express our discontent towards this stuff? After?
No no.
Nonono.


But really, don't think I'm sitting here all red-faced fuming mad or anything.
Just bein' vocal is all.
Don't think I'm not serious though, folks.

Hey, here's an idea I'm reading from another thread out there on Internet.
Mail Will Wright a check with a letter saying you pirated it.
Hyuk. 

[DarkDragon]

I emailed MaxisCactus when this started and didn't get an answer, rob emailed him and Cactus said that he/she couldn't comment on SecuROM at this moment, but that they are aware of our concern.

[Werechicken]

There's probably a big divide between the people who actually made the game, who want it to do well and make a name for itself, and the faceless soulless blood sucking marketing and sales people who want to squeeze as much cash out of this as they can in one fell swoop, and then leave it to rot and if they can get a load of consumer browsing and game info while they're at it (because I'm damn sure it's not just going to be rechecking the security code every 5-10 days) then all the better.

[CosmicD]

yay, I'll be in the news as I'm the only person in the world who will buy spore ^^

[Gauphastus]

Hey, it could happen.

So, CosmicD. Mind if I come over on September 15th to play Spore on your computer? That'll give you some time to play it yourself.
This way, I'll be the first to book some time on there.
I can't pay you anything, but I could probably... striptease or something. Whatever that means.



EDIT: But really, no matter how challenging, all crackers will see this as a challenge.
And when they do crack it, it'll be everywhere. They'll be famous like I said, even for a short time.
Each patch they put out that fixes one bug and attempts to stop cracks will be cracked.
You cannot stop piracy by making everybody jump through these incredibly f-tarded hoops.

You know what? If Wright ever leaves EA to strike off on his own again, I personally pledge to his new game company $1000.
What the hell.

[Spore-addict]

It really sucks that securom..

I think it is confirmed we get it. Multiple sites do mention it used on spore and mass effect. We will for sure see how it goes by following mass effect.

I wanted really to buy spore and do it the legal way but one thing only pisses me off.

Can anyone confirm this?

I have heard that we can not install the game on two different computers or else our key gets banned.

First of I dont know if this means anytime or sametime.

Both is giving me trouble since I spend the weekend at another place and workdays at my big comp. So I wont be able to play spore the weekends or the workdays...

That is utter bull****. Do it the steam way. So we cant login and play at the same time but we can use it on different computers..much better.

further more a max of 3 installs. I am a teacher in computers so I often install xp or vista depending on what type of classes I get. Therefore my limit of 3 installs will be used VERY quickly. Heck, most of us can have computer trouble and installing OS serveral times...has done that to make Sli work.

Now I also has to fear my hardearned paid game wont work? WTF.

And to make matters worse that 5-10 days verification, then 10 day extended. Means that we could lose the key after 15 days...if matters is worst. Like a small holyday trip or christmas...where you are busy and have not been online.

What if your internet connection drops out due to issues with the internet provider or repairs...then your game is worthless too. Or you could use one of the installs, install on another pc..then strike 2.

Buying the game, I would do it anyday but If I need to buy the game, then get a hack to remove serucom and fear that Anyday it will be discovered and my game removed, key stopped is just as bad.

I wont support EA , this is the only way we show them how we feel about serurom. I am just sad if a great game like Spore will be hit!.

By the way does EA plan on using this on all their games...?
I think many of us is looking forward to hear how the mass effect game goes with this securom.

[SpaceOddity]

The take of PennyArcade:

[Flak]

And to make matters worse that 5-10 days verification, then 10 day extended. Means that we could lose the key after 15 days...if matters is worst. Like a small holyday trip or christmas...where you are busy and have not been online.

Of all of the crap I've read this is the one that makes the least sense. If it's true I wouldn't even think of touching spore.

I got very sick last year and was in the hospital for 2 weeks and had a 3 week period where I couldn't get out of bed. No PC for all that time. If I came home after nearly dying and couldn't play my favorite game I'd be damn pissed.

I don't see how they could do that though. It's completely outrageous.

[SpaceOddity]

You can play the game again as soon as you've connected to the 'net.

[xirtap]

microsoft has this as well with thei WGA thing, should everyone stop using windows as well? If you pay and you're not online , you can call a 0800 number to acvtivate stuff,

guess what ?

if needed you can activate securom via a phone call too ^^

You don't seem to grasp the problem. Windows require you to activate it ONCE. This requires you to activate it ONCE every TENTH DAY for the rest of your life.

To the people who thinks pirates will spend longer time cracking this for Spore they won't. Why? Because Mass Effect is released months in advanced with the same protection scheme. Once a protection scheme is broken it's broken. As simple as that. I wouldn't be surprised if they spend at most a week cracking Mass Effect, but this won't be the same for Spore.

Just to repeat it to the people who don't seem to get it, this is not a cat and mouse game.

[DarkDragon]

yay, I'll be in the news as I'm the only person in the world who will buy spore ^^

You're also the only one who seems to be in favour of SecuROM... I personally don't care since I got an internet connection, but I'd still like to play the game after 10 days with no connection, after all it's both a singleplayer and multiplayer game and I PAID for it, why should it work offline and after 10 days not work at all until I connect again?

When I buy a game like TF2 for example, I know what I'm paying for and I know I won't be able to play it offline because there are no bots and the game is made for online play. But I buy it knowing what I'm buying, but allowing someone to play a game they bought offline for only 10 days after you were last connected to the internet is just damn straight stupid.

Oh, btw, I don't think you'd have much fun being the only one playing Spore, you'd have nobody to share your creations with and all the creatures, etc you'd encounter would be the ones that came with the DVD and your own... That would get pretty boring really fast ^^

[Spore-addict]

Spaceoddity:

how do you explain this then. If we can just reconnect and play on.


"This new version is causing controversy due to an online verification system connected to its CD key. The system requires a connection to the internet during installation… After this the game will try to re-check the CD key every 5-10 days… If the game can’t verify the key… it will continue to try for a further 10 days, after which it will stop working… The protection will also only allow the game to be installed three times.

Taken from here:
http://gamepolitics.com/2008/05/08/pc-gamers-angered-by-eas-new-copy-protection-system/

I must say I am worried that stop working means your key is gone. If disabled then it could mean you have 2 installs left...the counter is ticking.