Negative Spore Reviews Disappear From Amazon & Then Re-appear
Negative Spore Reviews Disappear From Amazon & Then Re-appear
September 12, 2008
Conspiracy theorists and grassy knoll types had a field day this afternoon as a couple of thousand customer reviews of Spore, mostly of the negative variety, suddenly disappeared from Amazon.com.
Some were quick to see EA's heavy hand in the missing reviews, but that was apparently not the case.
Earlier this week it was widely reported that angry gamers were slamming Spore with 1-star reviews due to the game's draconian copy protection scheme. Ironically, the game was cracked and posted online several days before its official release, meaning that legit buyers were the ones who suffered from the game's frustrating DRM.
Ars Technica, however, reports Amazon's explanation that the reviews were lost to a glitch of some sort and would be coming back online. Indeed, as this is being written, they appear to be back in place.
Comments
Ah wow, I just posted in the shoutbox about this
You can compare timestamps if you want.
I still wonder why news outlets (such as this one) are so down on the DRM in Spore. I mean, honestly - are you planning on installing on more than 5 machines at once? Do you even own 5 machines that can play Spore? I know I don't. And I've had no trouble with the DRM slapping me in the face or anything. The game has crashed, but that was the game, not the DRM...
Don't get me wrong. I wish the DRM wasn't there, but for other reasons. As things stand, though, it hasn't hurt me in the least.
I know many people who do a clean system instal every few months, meaning that in a few months, spore would be an expensive tea coaster.
I believe the limit is 3(correct if i'm wrong). I'm change my mobo, buy a new grahpics card, and install Vista in the next few months. that's my 3 installs gone in 3 months. after that i'll have to call EA and go through their bad customer service.
And yeah, it's a 3 install limit.
I used one up so i only have 2.
By the way how hard is it get extra install limits?
You have to beg EA, and hope they sympathize with your situation.
The number of installs thing isn't the biggest issue with the DRM.
It's that every copy of the game binds to ONE Spore Account. This effectively means no one else in my household can play it, unless they play on my account. If someone else wants to play on their own account, they need another $50 copy of the game, and another computer. Absurd requirements for what is usually deemed 'fair use'.
The Creature Creator didn't do this, it allowed anyone to login and switch logins to personalize their own SPORE creatures. Now the actual game comes out, and the first person who logs in locks the game to their account permanently. It's a load of crap.
People on the SPORE forums are pissed off that EA used their customers to create all the content in the game with the Creature Creator prior to release, then ship a game that only one person in the household can play with any personalized experience.
Actually, unless I did something wrong, I had my creature creator tied to my account. I downloaded it from EA, and my husband ended up buying another copy of the creature creator so that he could also create an account.
Overall, the Spore experience has been horrible for us. I purchased the Creature Creator online, their servers crashed, and I didn't get the download link for over 8 hours after it became available for people who DIDN'T pre-order, so it felt like they were punishing me for guaranteeing my sale. Then my husband wanted to play with his own account, so we went to Target and purchased another copy of the Creature Creator. Then, we bought Spore at midnight and I put it on my computer, he put it on his, and we put it on our laptop. Now, the next time we have a virus or want to reformat, we are already going to have to call EA.
If Will Wright doesn't leave EA, I will not buy another game from this amazing guy.
A lot of people aren't too keen on the whole 'installing spyware' aspect of it.
There is also the whole "does not actually work" issue, what with the game hitting the torrent sites before it could even be released.
5 machines is the new Red Alert.
Spore is 3 installs. Since I re-install my system every few months to keep it fast, I will have a pretty coaster in a few months...
But you gotta give EA props for having fans make most of the content for the game and then screwing them over...
BY the way the drm changes some system premissions which keeps some programs from updating leaving you open to a virus... Well that actually makes the DRM the virus... Since it takes over your computer and sends unkon data back to EA games...
Also because sooner or later EA will close or be bought or will run out of spore fans, the activation server for Spore will be shut down so even if you still have installls, in about 5 years the game will only be available in the pirated version... which by the way doesn't crash...
My friend has a pirated copy on a computer which is worse than my computer and his game plays faster and has never crashed, unlike my legaly purchased version... so the carshing is the DRM, not the game...
So the next time I re-install my PC(in about a month) I will be installing my friends version and putting the virus filled legally purchased version away somewhere...
Consequently I wont be playing any more EA games until they stop messing with their customers...
By the way I am not supporting piracy, as a programmer I hate piracy. I just see the anti-piracy measures as the reason why piracy is becoming more and more popular...
And you sir, are right on the money for what it does.
I am against piracy as well, but only when people are not already screwing over their consumers. The best measures to prevent piracy:
1. Release across the world all at the same time
2. Treat your customers well, and even go as far as saying, if we get a %1 piracy rate (or whatever half of normal piracy rate is), we will release the next expansion pack online for free.
Then you will be golden. Treating your consumers well is #1 though. If they didnt lie to the consumers then that would help a lot, but they lie just like Microsoft, GameSpot, and our government lies... (Are you craping me, gas was $3.75 yesterday and $4.55 today... I love the country, hate the dumbasses that run it, rather line their pockets instead of protect the people...)
The reason gas is so high is because the hurricane is shutting down production. If Houston closes (they have an emerency, mandatory evacuation right now) then production of gasoline stops.
First it's three activations and you forget something, if you update your drivers then that uses up an activation. So basically make sure your windows update is not on unless you pirated the game. The Pirated version is the only clean version.
Not just that if you updated your graphics drivers as recommended, another one. If you buy or add anything to your system or merely updating something on the system, thats another point
Not exactly true.
Mass Effect PC has the exact same SecuROM security core and since that has been out a good deal longer I suggest you go and take a look at their support forums.
People have updated drivers, even replaced entire videocards without triggering activations, so it is not that agressive.
A reformat and subsequent reinstall of Windows however WILL cost you an activation.
Note that I hate this DRM as much as the next guy, but do please investigate before stating something as fact.
Reinstalls on the same computer (but not after a reformat) shouldn't cost you an activation either, but no idea how that meshes with driver and hardware changes. Haven't seen many of those on the ME forums.
Another huge problem is SecuROM actually can break your hardrive and also when SecuROM is installed it can take over your computer and give you access to only what it wants. And thats not a joke
Do you have a source to back up your ridiculous claims?
Everything you need to know about why DRM is bad
Contains swearing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-uulRB1OmY
I have only limited hard drive space, and the way my interest in games waxes and wanes I'll be installing a game I like at least three times and usually more. Plus, if I buy a new computer - or if I want to install it on my laptop, or if my computer crashes, or needs new hardware...
In short, am I planning on needing more than three installs (we only get three)? YOU BETCHYA!
Now why on Earth should any rational person spend $50 for what is, for all intents and purposes, merely a long-term rental? Explain that to me please.
MR.AnonyTroll
Its rather simple DRM used in a online only and install liming way with no return of installs on uninstall is highly anti consumer. All it dose is give the user grief over hardwre installs or fixing windose by reinstalling it it forces people to get cracks to fix their game and this creates a situation of people skipping the buying process altogether because the DRM is to pants on the head fcktarted.
This kind of DRM should never be used.
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
The reviews should return, probably unlike the one's on that book (even though she deserved it too), because the reviews were put on because of a more than valid complaint, because the Spore DRM sucks. Spore is a pretty decent game, but DRM is retarded in its very concept. I don't mind game with simple DRM like you have to put on the code from the game box, and that will work on many intalls, because it's really simple and isn't gonna hurt anyone but DRM like this is pointless, because it prevents nothing. This game was cracked before it was even released! People who want to steal the game did so before people could get it legitimately. This means the people that cared enough to fund their business, even though they could have gotten the game early, are the only people who lose from this DRM. I know I wipe and restarts my computer every few months because it makes it run faster and smoother. The idea that doing this could make a copy of Spore useless bothers me. My PC probably wouldn't be good enough for Spore anyways, but unless they have a fix for this before the wii or 360 version comes out, I will refuse to support the game on principle because PC gamers deserve the ease of use that console gamers get. They already get a bit screwed over because of they need to install and make sure everything runs right (which sometimes is a task in and of itself), they don't need crappy DRM to make things even more difficult.
i smell conspiracy...
call me a whack job, but i think amazon would sell their souls to the devil to get an edge (yes that was a whack job statement)
Jesus Jack Jones Thompson told me to do it!
I think the whole DRM fiasco is bullshit on EA's part. Im almost ready to Boycott all of EA's PC games. I hope the EA is listening to the customers. I know this is single handedly preventing me from buying it. Im even more mad that they are trying to pull the same shit for Red Alert 3, which I was looking forward to.
Dear EA,
SecuROM doesnt work. Your game was cracked 24 hours after it hit the streets, even before the offical US release of the game. All your doing is upsetting the paying customers by treating them like criminals. You cant beat piracy. Falling sales may have something to do with you including DRM.
Sincerely,
Your pissed off fans
don't just boycott their PC games, or that'll just hurt PC gaming, boycott their ENTIRE line of games, from PC to console and back.
if you still "must have" that Madden 09 when its out, simplest thing is to wait a month and buy it used (i've seen copies of 08 hit the used shelf within DAYS of release, so its no hard. E-bay makes it even faster)
that way EA doesn't see any more money from the sale, but you still get the game to enjoy it.
Should I not have been reporting the 90% of 5-star reviews that were fake?
Why are they fake? DRM is a game-breaking issue for a lot of people. Just because you like your games to install glorified viruses on your computer doesn't mean everyone else does.
How are they fake? Those reviews are from customers who wanted the game, learned that it includes SecuROM, and decided it was bad enough not to make a purchase. It's a perfectly legitimate complaint, and is based on fact. I don't know how much more real you can get than that.
When I posted my negative review, I am pretty sure that there where a lot more negative reviews than there are right now...
My review which was rather detailed and had issues with the game itself not just the drm, is still missing.
So this story should be renamed to 'some reviews re-appear not all".
Why Legal Action hasn't been taking I don't know, Sony was sued by almost every major state and city for its crap. Also remember a Secrum Warning is not even listed on the box or the activation limit or what it means
I wonder if Amazon has a system that takes down reviews when the product is getting excessive amounts of one star reviews? Maybe and anti-trolling measure?
That's the most common sense thing I've read about this so far.
Maxis has already seen this, and tried to do the PR spin (which I made a blog specifically to call them out for already), I'm hoping EA tries to do the same and sets off a firestorm. It's gonna hit a breaking point soon, if not now.
When will companies learn that the only way to minimize piracy is to not have any DRM of any kind? CD-Key at the most, and no install limits. That's the way to go. There will always be those who pirate to "stick it to The Man" but they were never customers to begin with.
It's like if someone at Wal-Mart put an ankle bracelet on every paying customer after they paid because someone had shoplifted TVs the week before. And no, this analogy isn't supposed to make sense.
Well at least nearly all of them are back on-line. I think it was a real technical issue to be honest. The last time checked (when I posted my review) there was about 2,500 one star reviews for the main product and several hundred for the other flavors. There should be lots more however. I would love to see it hit 10k or more to be honest.