Rant
I realize that EA/DRM anger is so last month, but I recently came across an interesting case that makes me question the honesty of EA's promises to the Spore community.
In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, an EA representative promised that:
If we were to ever turn off the servers on the game, we would put through a patch before that to basically make the DRM null and void. We’re never walking away from the game and making it into a situation where people aren’t going to be able to play it.
This is a decent way to pacify a very real concern amongst gamers, that the products they buy might be remotely deactivated at some arbitrary time in the future. This will surely happen eventually, and nothing is ever lost on the internet, so the remaining Spore players will hold EA to this. Whether EA keeps their word (or are even around anymore, or can find developers to make the patch, etc.) remains to be seen. But there's a way EA can really secure the faith of gamers, today.
Patch your games from ten years ago.
Show your concern by fixing the DRM-related problems that plague older games. Off the top of my head, I can name two EA-published games from several years ago that no longer run properly because of the existing copy protection: System Shock 2 and Clive Barker's Undying. I know, because I've recently tried to play both and been thwarted by SafeDisc protection that won't validate on my newer machine even though I own a legitimately-purchased copy.
Of course, there are illegal ways to circumvent the problem. There are several SafeDisc cracker programs that will get me playing my old games in no time. But that's not the point. The point is that, right now, there are games published by EA that I purchased but cannot legally play because of DRM measure. If EA wants anyone to take their new promises seriously, they need to first fix the problems from years ago.
In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, an EA representative promised that:
If we were to ever turn off the servers on the game, we would put through a patch before that to basically make the DRM null and void. We’re never walking away from the game and making it into a situation where people aren’t going to be able to play it.
This is a decent way to pacify a very real concern amongst gamers, that the products they buy might be remotely deactivated at some arbitrary time in the future. This will surely happen eventually, and nothing is ever lost on the internet, so the remaining Spore players will hold EA to this. Whether EA keeps their word (or are even around anymore, or can find developers to make the patch, etc.) remains to be seen. But there's a way EA can really secure the faith of gamers, today.
Patch your games from ten years ago.
Show your concern by fixing the DRM-related problems that plague older games. Off the top of my head, I can name two EA-published games from several years ago that no longer run properly because of the existing copy protection: System Shock 2 and Clive Barker's Undying. I know, because I've recently tried to play both and been thwarted by SafeDisc protection that won't validate on my newer machine even though I own a legitimately-purchased copy.
Of course, there are illegal ways to circumvent the problem. There are several SafeDisc cracker programs that will get me playing my old games in no time. But that's not the point. The point is that, right now, there are games published by EA that I purchased but cannot legally play because of DRM measure. If EA wants anyone to take their new promises seriously, they need to first fix the problems from years ago.
posted by David at
4:43 PM
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