Spore's DRM Inspires Protest Creatures

Don't expect this issue to go away anytime soon. We know many are (understandably) upset over the DRM used on the critically-acclaimed game Spore, not just because of SecuROM but also because of the "three activations limitation" and one account per CD key (which was not noted in the manual; in fact the opposite was said in the manual!).

And hey, if the game allows you to create the creatures you want, why not create a protest creature, eh?


A look at Sporepedia (Spore's official encyclopedia of creatures) shows that users aren't shy about expressing their displeasure. A search for DRM, for example, leads to a ton of creatures, one shown above. A typical "Description" is given above --- "Get rid of it."

We particularly like the Donald Ronald Sop creature (below), which is an "incredibly stupid creature that should be wiped from the face of the earth."

Unfortunately, it (DRM) probably isn't going to be wiped off the face of the earth. On the other hand, reports are that the DRM is so draconian that people are downloading the game, not in unprecedented numbers, but at unprecedented speed.

Backfire?  At the very least it's caused a great deal of criticism of EA.  Eventually, most games come out with a late patch that removes the DRM, but that will be a long time coming.