Anyway, the Federal Trade Commission is now going to scrutinize DRM:
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F07%2F0641254&from=rss

I’d say the internet sheep who complained about Spore had a hand in the sentiment bringing this about, though the 2 lawsuits against the SecuRom ‘rootkit DRM’ are the specific events that brought this about.

“”The inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed constitutes a major violation of computer owners’ absolute right to control what does and what does not get loaded onto their computers, and how their computers shall be used … [SecuROM] cannot be completely uninstalled. Once installed it becomes a permanent part of the consumer’s software portfolio … EA’s EULA for Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition makes utterly no mention of any Technical Protection Measures, DRM technology, or SecuROM whatsoever.”

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/09/172219&from=rss

and, not really related, but — you haven’t lived until you’ve surfed for a welsh language website and tried to read it aloud in english phonetics. But I digress.

So the $10 I spent on a steam account that only has Audiosurf could probably get me $8 on Ebay? Sweet.

One thing that does bother me about those one-install-per-game tho, especially — is that couples need to get 2 — and 3, if you want a guest to be able to join in — copies of a game. So I rather like as many installs as possible for 1 purchase. We had to buy Quake3 3 times, and we’ve lost the 3rd key since! Sucks, but I have Jon B’s key too.

Still, it bugs me that, if you’re married, you both have to get a copy, even though financially you are one entity. Sure, you buy twice as many clothes and eat twice as much food, but to pay twice for the ability to play simultaneously (when both of us could already take turns playing the first copy) is less of a value for the dollar than the first purchase, and essentially means that we have to pay double if we both like something (not everything is like that — the tv doesn’t cost double just because we both watch it). So it ends up making the 2nd copy, and sometimes the 1st copy of something not worth it. It kind of turned me off to buying Quake 4.

As for the one-time authentication, it’s all ready one-time authentication. The only time it needs to authenticate after you’ve installed it is if you choose to download all the bonus stuff that will be coming out… just like Windows.

I would have preferred EA go to an one-license online-authentication method. When I sold my deathmatch business a couple of years ago, the games that required CDs to play were too scratched up for people to touch, and the free-to-copy games people didn’t care about because they had all ready bootlegged them from my lab. But I was able to sell all my Steam-authentication accounts (just a username and password each, no CD) for 80 percent of what I paid for them.

It’s a win-win strategy. The game company gets to make sure there’s only one copy out there, and the customer gets an assurance of the resale value of their game.

I don’t think anyone can sit here and tell me that is worse. That is better.

And that is likely a direct result from the Spore backlash.

So while you and Chriggy is complaining about the complainers — they did us a favor and did a positive thing for the pro-gaming and anti-DRM community.

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/14/1510217

Another small point: Multiplayer simultaneous online games need central authority to prevent cheating; so a comparison of WoW or even Quake3 to Spore is not QUITE an exact comparison. Though I do understand Spore has a shared universe, but 2 do not play on the same planet simultaneously (correct me if I’m wrong).

So, when given no choice, people might not complain as much as in situations where they have more choice — there’s plenty of games out there to buy.

However, I think the points you brought up are excellent points. Rather than being another sheep in a flock, people should wake up to the technological reality in front of them: It sux0rs.