"One Account Per Copy" Leads To More Spore Rage

The furor over Spore continues, fueled by a report that despite the manual stating otherwise, gamers are limited to one user account per game copy.

Page 52 of the Spore manual says the game will allow "multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game," to accommodate, for instance, a family with kids, each of whom wants to play their own separate game. However, users are discovering that this is not actually the case: That instead, the first user to log in and register an account on a Spore installation is the only user who will be able to do so.

A message posted in the official Spore help forum by EA_Violet claims the promise of multiple accounts in the manual is a "misprint" that will be changed in future printings. "There is one Spore registration/account per game/serial code so you are correct in that you cannot make multiple accounts at this time," she wrote. "I have sent your guys' feedback to the game team though since I can understand the desire to share a game on a system that your entire family uses."

Predictably, the user response to this post was somewhat less than understanding, leading to a follow-up by MaxisLucky, a member of the development team, who attempted to explain the matter in greater detail. "There were many reasons why we chose to have one account per copy of the game - some had to do with how saved games work and some had to do with limiting the online feature only to the one person who bought the game," he wrote. "We aren't charging a subscription fee for the online features and given the load to our servers we were very interested in making the experience for paying customers not be slow and laggy because of many multiple accounts per copy of the game. 2x to 1000x the number of people with accounts per game equals 2x to 1000x the number of creations on the server."

He also pointed out that "Each and every box (both of the Core Game and the Galactic Edition) states 'Only one registration available per game' on the back," although this did little to quell the uproar: As one user noted, even user favorites like Windows Vista, Microsoft Office and Quicken allow for multiple accounts on single registrations. Despite continued complaints from users, however, EA apparently considers the matter closed; the company has gone completely silent on the issue since the response from MaxisLucky.

The sad part is that in all this anger over EA's mismanagement of the game, one of the most anticipated releases in recent years has been almost forgotten. Caught in the shadow of everything from early review scores that were less glowing than expected to the Amazon bombing and forum rage over various aspects of the game's DRM, Spore itself has become almost an afterthought, less important for its gameplay than for the divide it represents between game publishers and game players. The game will no doubt still sell a zillion copies and become another Sims-like franchise steamroller, but very real damage is being done to EA's reputation - particularly bad news for a company that's supposedly cleaning up its act after a decade or so of bad behavior.

Source: The Consumerist

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May 11th, 2008.

I know he will never comment, but I would love to hear what the man himself thinks of all of this. Will Wright is a smart man, and he has to know there is an ugly storm brewing because of his baby.

That does seem a bit over the top. >_>

Man am I glad I returned Spore for a full refund. It's just problem after problem, lie after lie.

Enough!! I really hope EA reads this post, because what they've done here is atrocious. An atrocity. A word usually reserved for things like heinous, inhuman crimes.

MaxisLucky:
There were many reasons why we chose to have one account per copy of the game - some had to do with how saved games work [...]

Other games easily deal with multiple accounts. I fail to see how it could possibly be more difficult for Spore to have multiple directories full of savegames compared to any other game.

MaxisLucky:
[...] and some had to do with limiting the online feature only to the one person who bought the game.

And why is this a good idea? I thought the idea of the limited installs and other restrictions was to prevent piracy, not punish people. If I buy a copy of some software, I expect it to run on one PC at any given time, regardless of who plays it. Note that I demand allowing unlimited installs from one disk, but set it up so that you can't have 2 of the same CD key play online at once. That's what the whole point of CD verification is, right? Alas, it seems that EA really, really DON'T want us to play their games. Anyone object to me sending a cheque to Will Wright as a gift and then pirating the game?

MaxisLucky:
We aren't charging a subscription fee for the online features and given the load to our servers we were very interested in making the experience for paying customers not be slow and laggy because of many multiple accounts per copy of the game. 2x to 1000x the number of people with accounts per game equals 2x to 1000x the number of creations on the server.

First of all, you're not charging a subscription fee because you want your game to succeed, not because you like us. If you said "$10Au/month" (which is half of WoW's price), you'd have failed hideously at retail. Don't patronise us by telling us that you love us. And what's this "slow and laggy" nonsense? Guys, come on. All we're doing is signing in, viewing what amounts to a barebones webpage, and downloading teensey tiny PNG files. It's not going to be slow and laggy unless you're on dialup.

And honestly, you've set a really, really poor example of the future of Spore's support by pushing this shit on us. We who WANT to play this game, but are evidently being met at every attempt by snarling wolves set to guard what was cut apart anyway so they could Expand it later.

-- Fenixius

Note: I do in fact have an account on your servers, EA. That's 'cause I bought this game legally, over the counter.

Jhereg42:
I know he will never comment, but I would love to hear what the man himself thinks of all of this. Will Wright is a smart man, and he has to know there is an ugly storm brewing because of his baby.

The man is a genius. I'm sure he cares. But I seriously doubt he CAN say anything. He will have been gagged by EA. I really hope it breaks his heart that this absurdly authoritarian system has imprinted itself on his masterpiece, and will be there for the rest of time.

I told my friends I wouldn't trust even Spore if it had EA's title on the box. They laughed.

Who's laughing now?

Rooster Cogburn:
I told my friends I wouldn't trust even Spore if it had EA's title on the box. They laughed.

Who's laughing now?

You are!!, Take that all of Roosters friends!

This is just madness. The DRM is bad enough, but 1 account per copy? I can't understand the logic behind this. It won't lessen the number of creatures put out online, no matter what EA may say. Instead of having 3 accounts with 33 creatures each on a machine, you'll just have 1 account with 99 creatures. Still the same number of creatures. And where does this bullshit about subscription fees and server lag come into it? Seriously. Someone please tell me how this all works. I feel like EA are speaking some kind of language which happens to resemble English, and I'm trying to make sense of the garbled nonsense.

This is great. Everyone is laughing and smiling and making jokes, but what we're seeing is the future of mass produced gaming. Spore is THE precedent. We're not going to get another chance to shape the standard like this. If people don't complain now, they will when every game is like this.

Oh, Rooster, you think it's funny that you evaded EA's bullshit this time? You know what's going to be really funny, though? When I tell you, in 5 or 10 years, that I told you this would happen, and told people to stop it and they didn't listen.

I'm not some raving lunatic going on about the end of the world. Games'll exist forever, and they'll probably get better and better. But people'd better get used to being screwed over by the companies that publish them.

Tell people you know, Digg articles, spread the word on Facebook. Just do something to let people know about this.

Sod this.

The world's in recession, and now I can't get a pre-owned copy of Spore!?

Pissin' 'ell.

Fenixius:
This is great. Everyone is laughing and smiling and making jokes, but what we're seeing is the future of mass produced gaming. Spore is THE precedent. We're not going to get another chance to shape the standard like this. If people don't complain now, they will when every game is like this.

Oh, Rooster, you think it's funny that you evaded EA's bullshit this time? You know what's going to be really funny, though? When I tell you, in 5 or 10 years, that I told you this would happen, and told people to stop it and they didn't listen.

I'm not some raving lunatic going on about the end of the world. Games'll exist forever, and they'll probably get better and better. But people'd better get used to being screwed over by the companies that publish them.

Tell people you know, Digg articles, spread the word on Facebook. Just do something to let people know about this.

What's with the hissy fit? What do you think people are doing? In the end, if EA doesn't choose to listen to the angered masses, there's nothing we can do about it aside from just plain refusing to buy any game they publish, and just ignore them like the playground bully.

TheNecroswanson:

Fenixius:
Enough!! I really hope EA reads this post, because what they've done here is atrocious. An atrocity.

An atrocious atrocity!

Anyway. A game that is what, 8 years in development, is one of the most hyped games to date besides Halo 3, AND it's made by EA.... And someone people are surprised at how shitty it is? Interesting.

The game itself really is fun, people are mad about the DRM and such, but the game itself is still good. Just because EA is retarded and hates it's customers doesn't mean the game is bad.

People need to learn to seperate the two. EA is bad, Maxis is good. Unfortunately EA is the one distributing the game and being a huge asshole about it.

I was actually going to buy Spore, it looks very cool and i'm sure the game itself is pretty top-notch (if a little child-like). But now I simply refuse to hand over any money. It is quite simply, punishment for legitimate buyers.

I'm pretty sure the game said it allowed 3 installations on 3 different computers. Not accounts.

I'm usually not the kind of person that has a strong hate towards EA...
Then I bought Spore.

From now on, I am taking the EA hate seriously.

EA just lost 30 quid :D
I'm sad that RA3 will also have DRM too, but for 5 installs

Oh no! What a terrible problem! It seems people have totally forgotten that you can have multiple planets on one account which can be used by different players.

Aardvark Soup:
Oh no! What a terrible problem! It seems people have totally forgotten that you can have multiple planets on one account which can be used by different players.

And what if you don't like sharing your personal account with others? This is bullshit DRM that does nothing to stop piracy and only manages to attack honest consumers.

WEll they just lost my purchase.

Thats made not want to buy it even more

Digikid:
WEll they just lost my purchase.

They lost my purchase a long, long time ago.

I hope they realize that absurd behavior like this doesn't stop pirates, it only encourages more people to pirate it. Pirate it not only to get it DRM free, but to spite EA.

I feel bad for Will Wright. He really got screwed on this one.

Fenixius:
Oh, Rooster, you think it's funny that you evaded EA's bullshit this time? You know what's going to be really funny, though? When I tell you, in 5 or 10 years, that I told you this would happen, and told people to stop it and they didn't listen.

Are you accusing me of something? What would you have me do, then? I didn't buy the game, nor will I, and I'm telling everyone not to buy it. I said I was laughing.

I do think it's funny; what of it? What are you accusing me of?

Gah, damn DRM... seriously though, why aren't there laws against this? If this done to any other medium, it would be flashing all across the news, but because it's a video game, they seem to turn a blind eye towards it.

The gaming community have been screwed from day one, with boxes that feature graphics from another more hi tech system, terms and conditions you can only read after you have bought the product and cant return it because you have broken the seal.

The entire industry is so fearful of pirates that it pushed the honest consumer into their hands with increasingly Draconian methods of copy protection. It also of course removes the pesky thorn of people selling their games second hand. Which is perfectly legal, but in the eyes of EA needs to be stopped as it eats into their profits.

Malygris:
but very real damage is being done to EA's reputation - particularly bad news for a company that's supposedly cleaning up its act after a decade or so of bad behavior.

I had hopes that EA was indeed taking a new path, a better path. Sadly, I've been proven wrong. EA once again is about hand over the money for faulty products.

While the DRM doesn't really affect me (yet), I do agree on it being annoying, unneeded and plain hurtful to the legit buyer. You'd think EA realized this when they messed up oh so many times before, but no.

Legit consumers are nearly being forced into piracy, where they can get the better product.

You guys do realize that most other games that you (probably) love also only allow one account per purchase right? MMOs, any games you buy on Steam can only be tied to one account (non-transferable at that). Xbox Live Gold accounts also only give you one screen name per purchase. I know some games allow multiple profiles but a lot don't.

I understand the frustrations as this game is supposedly a family-oriented game, and multiple family members would probably want to play this game. Given the fact that user accounts are more personal for this game as you share your content, I understand why people don't like sharing their accounts, but just wanted to point out that one account per game purchase is nothing new.

ycc:
You guys do realize that most other games that you (probably) love also only allow one account per purchase right? MMOs, any games you buy on Steam can only be tied to one account (non-transferable at that). Xbox Live Gold accounts also only give you one screen name per purchase. I know some games allow multiple profiles but a lot don't.

I understand the frustrations as this game is supposedly a family-oriented game, and multiple family members would probably want to play this game. Given the fact that user accounts are more personal for this game as you share your content, I understand why people don't like sharing their accounts, but just wanted to point out that one account per game purchase is nothing new.

A steam account can play against itself in LAN and the x360 has or atleast should have split screen coop. Spore gives you 3 chances to get it working on a pc and after that both the disk and the account break.

and why cant I morph my creature creator trial account into the game? EA is evil and must be purged WITH FIRE!

meatloaf231:

Digikid:
WEll they just lost my purchase.

They lost my purchase a long, long time ago.

I hope they realize that absurd behavior like this doesn't stop pirates, it only encourages more people to pirate it. Pirate it not only to get it DRM free, but to spite EA.

I feel bad for Will Wright. He really got screwed on this one.

I'm kinda torn...
On one hand, Maxis deserves to be compensated for pouring so much time and energy into what is arguably the most anticipated game since Halo, and something I've been looking forward to for a very, very long time, and something I want REALLY REALLY badly.
On the other, EA deserves shit.

Hey guess what EA!

I stole my copy of SPORE, and donated the $50 to UNICEF instead.

Suckit.

I don't see what all the ire is about. The measure seems pretty reasonable.

Imitation Saccharin :
I don't see what all the ire is about. The measure seems pretty reasonable.

It's all the various measures taken as a whole that are just too much.

eggdog14:
Hey guess what EA!

I stole my copy of SPORE, and donated the $50 to UNICEF instead.

Suckit.

Somehow we need to get this message to EA in massive quantity. Don't people realize that more DRM only leads to more people wanting to pirate the game?