Ascus wrote:Its definately not taking of like EA thought it would. I have bought it, enjoy it, but when my three installations are up, it deinstalled and trashed. I will not be calling EA to re-activate it, not worth my time. That and many other reasons is why I will not be buying a parts pack that likely will also have the install limits.

You should call them up for reinstation, and when it does give them hell for the inconvenience. I mean really lash out against them. If they don't resolve your need immediately, ask for a manager and rip into THEM!

Honesly, if I have to call a company to install a game I legitimately paid for it will bring out a monster in me.

Worldbreaker276 wrote:The only hope for spore is for EA to have just one spark of intelligence and have Maxis make science Spore...Otherwise spore is going to stay shelfed.

Hear, hear!

Well....I'm not ashamed to admit that I have followed Spore everywhere I could since it was announced.
Oh yea, I was really into it.

...

If I knew how the game had turned out, I wouldn't have bought it.

Ditto. QFT

Apparently I didn't keep enough of an eye out to notice what they were doing over the last few years...but I guess that's my fault?

No...even if you'd have been paying attention, Maxis/EA did their level best to gloss over the fact that Spore has been essentially reamed, with all the science ripped out, turned into little more than one of those Japanese dress-up-doll games (anyone ever play Dead of Alive: Beach Volleyball? Kinna like that). Anybody who saw and loved the 2005 demo and was inspired by its premise can be excused for seeing what they wanted to see; Maxis didn't ever explicitly detail the changes that had come about due to the CTC (Cute Team Coup).
Don't blame yourself, this is Maxis/EA's fault.

...which makes me wonder about the resounding silence; no reaction from Maxis or EA about the reception of Spore. SALES of Spore, maybe, and how many creations have been uploaded, but nothing about the critical reaction, nothing about the community reaction.
That alone should tell you something; even they know that Spore will not be the franchise they'd hoped, not like TheSims.

rupertlittlebear wrote:just wonderin how many people have noticed this too . . .

Between the overactive events box in the "My Spore Page" and the "New users in last 24 hours" from that same box

Its becoming obvious that this game is "Dying on the Vine"


Yes Spore activity is fading away.

New users in last 24 hours: 5874

I haven't read the whole thread, so I apologize if this has been mentioned already. The "common wisdom" in the gaming industry is that 80% of a game's sales will be had in the first two weeks, and that the remaining 20% is over the rest of it's commercial availability, which may be years.

So the fact that there's a huge fall-off more than a month after release is not at all surprising.

NecroBones wrote:

rupertlittlebear wrote:just wonderin how many people have noticed this too . . .

Between the overactive events box in the "My Spore Page" and the "New users in last 24 hours" from that same box

Its becoming obvious that this game is "Dying on the Vine"


Yes Spore activity is fading away.

New users in last 24 hours: 5874

I haven't read the whole thread, so I apologize if this has been mentioned already. The "common wisdom" in the gaming industry is that 80% of a game's sales will be had in the first two weeks, and that the remaining 20% is over the rest of it's commercial availability, which may be years.

So the fact that there's a huge fall-off more than a month after release is not at all surprising.

That falloff IMHO you talk about is usually not accompanied by a large section of the fanbase boycotting, posting their dislike, leaving on account of the bull and just plain fed up, as I am.

RedLightning777 wrote:
That falloff IMHO you talk about is usually not accompanied by a large section of the fanbase boycotting, posting their dislike, leaving on account of the bull and just plain fed up, as I am.

As many of us are. This is not merely a post-opening weekend drop-off, this is all but rebellion.

There's a difference.

The first parts pack will define the success of spore.

When only 250,000 people buy it, EA is going to panic.

So the fact that there's a huge fall-off more than a month after release is not at all surprising.

Incorrect. The falloff of Spore players on Xfire is far worse than other high-budget titles. Go look at the graph there, it's quite sobering.

By rank, Spore has gone from #20 to #30 in the last week. There are bargain bin titles that more people are playing.

The number of players per day has dropped in half recently.

The Metacritic userscore stabilized a month ago. AT 4.5 OUT OF TEN.

That's a failing grade.

ghadis wrote:The Metacritic userscore stabilized a month ago. AT 4.5 OUT OF TEN.

That's a failing grade.

Will Wright said he'd rather have the Metacritic of the Sims 2 than the Metacritic of Half-Life.

Just as long as he also got the sales of Sims 2, rather than the sales of Half-Life.

Standing at 2 million copies sold, with a bleak forecast on expansions; I highly doubt Will Wright will get either.

I for one fear EA pulling the plug, and leaving all of us with bricked copies because we can't access the DRM license servers; just like the spore-holes at Yahoo! Music and Walmart Music did to their legitimate MP3 customers.

Dairuka wrote:
Will Wright said he'd rather have the Metacritic of the Sims 2 than the Metacritic of Half-Life.

Just as long as he also got the sales of Sims 2, rather than the sales of Half-Life.

Standing at 2 million copies sold, with a bleak forecast on expansions; I highly doubt Will Wright will get either.

Yes, agreed. I think Maxis may well be over-estimating their potential audience for Spore expansions; the base Spore sales might be high, but many of us have decided that we won't get fooled again; I think Spore peripheral sales will be anemic at best, and I hope Maxis/EA take it to heart WHY.

I suspect, as some do, that they'll take it as a failure of Spore as an idea, rather than a result of the Cute Team Coup (CTC) buggering up the game. And they'll use that suspicion to deem Spore a failure and never revisit it.
I'm trying to do my part to dispel this mind-set; Spore has failed BECAUSE of the CTC, because the science--and hence, the fun--was leeched out of Spore. Please join me in trying to send that message to Maxis and EA; if they hear it, maybe we'll prevail in the end and get the real Spore we all want someday.

RocketGirl wrote:I suspect, as some do, that they'll take it as a failure of Spore as an idea, rather than a result of the Cute Team Coup (CTC) buggering up the game. And they'll use that suspicion to deem Spore a failure and never revisit it.

I'm trying to do my part to dispel this mind-set; Spore has failed BECAUSE of the CTC, because the science--and hence, the fun--was leeched out of Spore. Please join me in trying to send that message to Maxis and EA; if they hear it, maybe we'll prevail in the end and get the real Spore we all want someday.

I personally fear what'll happen when they shut down the DRM licensing key server.

That means we'll all be left with bricked versions of the game. We won't be able to play the game thanks to their failed experiment of a DRM.

Think that won't ever happen? Tell that to Yahoo! Music users what happened to their MP3's when Yahoo! Music shut down it's DRM licensing server.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#Obsolescence

The parts pack is going to be a very big indication on which camp is correct. If it sells well then all of us on the boards will never see the game we want because high sales would justify the Cuteness. So yes if you care about the "game" part of Spore, don't buy the parts pack.

Anyone else find it interesting that most everyone here on the boards (and I'm assuming) playing the game, is against the parts pack.

yurusei wrote:Sigh. I still wish SPORE would have it's glory parade. So far it's been a journey downhill.

This game could have been something, sadly corporate greed got in the way.

Dang, another life lost to corporations...

Ickabod wrote:The parts pack is going to be a very big indication on which camp is correct.

That's the main reason I'm hanging around still.

If the C&CPP tanks, then I can at least feel vindicated.

I'd eat the $50 price of Spore to feel vindicated at this point.

And if it tanks, I'd expect big things in the Spring. I have faith, but then all my creatures end up as Zealots so you might not want to trust my opinion.

Ickabod wrote:The parts pack is going to be a very big indication on which camp is correct. If it sells well then all of us on the boards will never see the game we want because high sales would justify the Cuteness. So yes if you care about the "game" part of Spore, don't buy the parts pack.

Anyone else find it interesting that most everyone here on the boards (and I'm assuming) playing the game, is against the parts pack.

There are two scenarios that could happen if nobody buys the part pack: 1) EA could realize that Cute dosen't sell and listen to the people and let Maxis do what was originally planned. 2) EA after looking at the poor sales and the SPORE-load of negative feedback from the community, could declare Spore an utter failure on their part. Give up on it and move on to the next hit game.


So really the only way to know the future of Spore is to wait and see...