Spore has been sent back to the stone age with countless 1-star reviews on Amazon.com. Gamers have been reacting to the "draconian" DRM measures EA has taken.
Will Wright's Spore is receiving mostly positive reviews from critics (it has a GameRankings score of 85.9% currently), but a number of users are furious with publisher Electronic Arts for the company's insistence on using DRM technology SecuROM. The DRM solution has been blamed for utilizing too much RAM, leading to slowdown in the game at times (depending on your PC's configuration of course), and owners don't like the fact that they can only install Spore a maximum of three times – some have said this makes the game more akin to a "rental."
Users on leading online retailer Amazon.com have lashed out, producing over 1,400 1-star reviews as of this writing.
"...the game incorporates a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 3 activations. If you reach that limit, then you'll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That's not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief," complained one user from Arkansas. "You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because 'it's not financially feasible' to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing."
GameDaily BIZ has contacted EA for comment on the situation and we have yet to hear back. That said, it doesn't look like the publisher has any plans to abandon SecuROM anytime soon. In fact, the upcoming RTS Red Alert 3 will be using the DRM solution as well, but Executive Producer Chris Corry explained on EA's forums that "the copy protection will be configured to be more lenient than we've supported in the past."
Thanks to Destructoid for the tip.
via GameDaily
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