Honest Gamers 2 – Spore’s DRM 0 (Updated)
Following the backlash against the DRM incorporated into Spore, it seems that EA have had to back down and will be issuing a patch to lessen one of the restrictions, namely the 3 install limit.
In a response to the 4 main DRM criticisms made about Spore, EA spokesperson Mariam Sughayer had this to say to MTV Multiplayer:-
Complaint: A legitimately bought copy of “Spore” can’t be activated on more than three different computers — ever.
EA Response: That will be changed, according to the EA spokesperson, who told Multiplayer that the current limit on the number of computers that can be associated with a single copy of “Spore” is “very similar to a solution that iTunes has. The difference is that with iTunes you can de-authorize a computer [that you no longer want associated with your iTunes content]. Right now, with our solution, you can’t. But there is a patch coming for that.” The official timeframe for that patch is “near future.”
Read the rest of the questions and answers over the other DRM related gripes about Spore over at MTV Multiplayer.
***UPDATE***
It seems that EA have cracked on another aspect of Spore’s DRM, this time the only one user account per copy of Spore problem. In Spore’s instruction manual it clearly states that the game allows more than one user account, but that turned out not to be the case, EA blamed a ‘misprint’ in the books and stood by the one game, one account theory.
But over on Sporum (Spore’s official forum), EA Producer Lucy Bradshaw revealed that an upcoming patch will allow each copy of the game to allow 5 user accounts, each with their own creatures and games saves. How very nice of them…
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So when you’re done using it on one computer, you can “de-authorize” it and activate it on another, without using up one of your activations? That’s definitely a step in the right direction.