... but we can *also* lose access to the game we bought simply by mentioning the DRM word on this forum? Where exactly does it say? I've looked through my game manual, and nowhere does it say "If you complain about issues that make us look bad, we'll ban you from the game". (For that matter, how come it doesn't say anything about this on the box? Because according to EA there is nothing unfair about it at all. So why not inform customers of the terms of use *before* they fork out $? I believe that is common practice in most industries, and actually a legal requirement in quite a large number of countries.)

I'd just love to see how that holds up in court.

From http://forum.spore.com/jforum/posts/list/3869.page

SecuROM as been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads. If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum. If there is any change you will be able to read it on the official Spore site.

Please do not continue to post theses thread or you account may be at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore.

Right, Spore is officially the last EA game I buy.

You just insist on digging a deeper and deeper hole for yourselves, eh? First, you harrass and punish your legal users (without in any way inconveniencing those who pirated the game). Then you throw a tantrum when people bring up this problem on the forum (I guess we'll have to complain about it on Amazon then? ). And finally, you threaten to make our purchase invalid if we don't pretend to love everything about the game. I am so close to returning my copy of Spore. It was fun to play for a few days, but it's just not worth the hassle.

How a company can be so out of touch with its customers is beyond me. It'll surprise me if EA is still around in 5 years. I just hope they don't take too many others down with them.

It's like the are trying to drive away customers. Thank you, EA, for making my decision not to purchase Spore so easy.

Integrity at it's best. No wonder EA has such a stigma among gamers.

I'm shocked.

I knew and experienced the rather harsh and self mutilating consumer policy of EA but this is beyond all reason.

Well erm, not sure anymore if I want to expand my spore universe. perhaps i will thru alternative means, just to spite them.

I am aware of the debate that goes on about this topic, from the Sims 2. I can not begin to understand the banning such topics. But since they suggest an alternative forum to discuss such a topic, I will direct gamers to a forum JUST for this topic.
http://secusphere.com/smf/index.php

Hope this helps those who are finding it hard to discuss their frustration.

No, you can lose your account for posting the thousandth thread trolling about the same gorram topic yet again after the mods have told us to stop. There are a thousand other threads to safely discuss it in that already exist, we don't need new ones.

tyger42 wrote:No, you can lose your account for posting the thousandth thread trolling about the same gorram topic yet again after the mods have told us to stop. There are a thousand other threads to safely discuss it in that already exist, we don't need new ones.

The idea that activity on a forum could result in essentially a real-world fine is what I find shocking. Losing access to the forums, whatever. Banning a game account for repeatedly uploading offensive male members with malicious intent, fine. But forum questions == losing game account?? Not being able to play without paying $60 again?

Egregious. It implies a no-tolerance culture for dissent or criticism. It means I can't trust "positive" comments if I know "negative" comments are not only screened, their originators are banned as well.

Relax a bit. EA seems to be backing down as reported in another thread on this forum, and here: http://kotaku.com/5052473/ea-respond-to-drm-complaints

We're still stuck with SecuRom, but they are relaxing the ridiculous restrictions on install limits.

But really, go outside, take a few deep breaths of fresh air and relax. Hysteria, threats and ranting aren't going to help you. What EA seems to respond best to are relatively calm and well reasoned arguments, not emotional melodrama.

gritmonger wrote:

tyger42 wrote:No, you can lose your account for posting the thousandth thread trolling about the same gorram topic yet again after the mods have told us to stop. There are a thousand other threads to safely discuss it in that already exist, we don't need new ones.

The idea that activity on a forum could result in essentially a real-world fine is what I find shocking.

Why? There's the same issue with MMOs. Your forum account is attached to your game account. Don't want to lose your game account? Don't act like an idiot on the forums.

And we're not talking about just asking questions on the forum. We're talking about continuing to repost topics that have become spam now, and about 90% of the new posts on the DRM have been childish trolling anyway. The threads break down into flamewars, so the best way to deal with it is to ban the threads.

haha, you believe that? You think they're "backing down" now because you sent a prayer last night?

Or could it be because thousands of players have made it clear very loudly and very explicitly that they think this is unacceptable?

Yeah... hard to tell...
No, EA responds best to things that make them look bad, and make them lose customers. And saying "oh, it's not so bad, go outside and get some fresh air" is not going to do that.
EA reacts best to hysterical melodrama, not to reasoned arguments. Because the melodrama scares away customers, while reasoned arguments don't.

No, they're hardly "backing down". They're increasing the limit from 3 to 5, but it's the limit itself that's unacceptable.
And that has nothing to do with this post.

I think it's completely unacceptable if our activity on this *forum* can get us locked out from the *game*.

One of the many reasons so many "gamers" feel there heart tear in two when they buy an EA games...

Its like when you go to the store, find a cool game. Then you notice is says.

"Warning, This is owned by EA. We will hassle you and make your gaming experince a living hell intell we controll every inch possible in every video game store possible."

tyger42 wrote:No, you can lose your account for posting the thousandth thread trolling about the same gorram topic yet again after the mods have told us to stop. There are a thousand other threads to safely discuss it in that already exist, we don't need new ones.

So they're allowed to withdraw the product I paid for because of that? I can understand why they'd want to ban people from posting on the forum, if they make EA look bad. But banning from the game? The game that we paid $50 for? Do we get our money back, then? Or does that just mean we've paid $50 for nothing?

jalf wrote:

tyger42 wrote:No, you can lose your account for posting the thousandth thread trolling about the same gorram topic yet again after the mods have told us to stop. There are a thousand other threads to safely discuss it in that already exist, we don't need new ones.

So they're allowed to withdraw the product I paid for because of that?

Yes. And it's perfectly legal. You might try reading contracts when you agree to them.

I dont mind the install restriction, as it doesnt count as long as you havent recently reformated your computer... As long as you havent made any huge hardware changes you can install as many times as you want and ti counts as 1 install... worst case scinario is you run out of installs, call ea tech support and they say "Fine" and grant you an extra install.

Note, that doesnt mean I believe it is morally right for them to do it, but that I dont care that much about them doing it. I do have other big beefs with EA and honestly... I bought spore and I'm like "It's EA but it was really made by Maxis, So I am alright" then a few weeks later I get Warhammer Online thinking oh a new Mythic MMO and suddenly I see EA branded on it... *sigh* oh my birthday comes along and my friend gets me Rock Band 2... hell yeah Harmonixes new game and EAs new money maker...

EA has alot of problems.. but their purshasing of megadevelopers means that they no longer hace to rely on the terrible titles they used to put out... instead they can just claim they mae other titles. Hell a friend of mine was like "I hate Rockband, its made by EA" and im like "No it isnt it is only published by EA"... hes not a game dev person, so he doesnt see the difference... much like most people wouldn't...

Its nice to see history repeating itself... anyone else remember the game crash... lots of terrible games, alot of them with advertisement for non game things all over them... customers getting fed up... overproduction of game systems that noone is buying...

jalf wrote:haha, you believe that? You think they're "backing down" now because you sent a prayer last night?

Or could it be because thousands of players have made it clear very loudly and very explicitly that they think this is unacceptable?

Yeah... hard to tell...
No, EA responds best to things that make them look bad, and make them lose customers. And saying "oh, it's not so bad, go outside and get some fresh air" is not going to do that.
EA reacts best to hysterical melodrama, not to reasoned arguments. Because the melodrama scares away customers, while reasoned arguments don't.

No, they're hardly "backing down". They're increasing the limit from 3 to 5, but it's the limit itself that's unacceptable.
And that has nothing to do with this post.

I think it's completely unacceptable if our activity on this *forum* can get us locked out from the *game*.

I sent no prayer, although I did make a relatively reasonable complaint to their customer service. My main point was that you are spending way too much time, energy and rage on a video game. You're going to give yourself a stroke if you don't learn to relax. Put down the cheetos, step away from the keyboard and go get some frsh air and sunshine. Don't post angry, and they won't have a reason to suspend/ban your account.

They are increasing the number of machines it can be installed on simultaneously from 3 to 5, and are adding a option to deauthorize computers- which essentially removes the install limits. Very few complained that they could only install it on 3 computers at once- what people were concerned about was that reinstalls, such as after a OS refresh or hardware upgrade, would be counted toward the 3-install limit.