Spore?

[Dem]

And the natural order of the universe is once again brought to balance.

Huza.

[revlazaro]

My fiancee got her copy yesterday of the Galactic Edition, and she's having a ball. I finally got to sit down to it at the end of the day yesterday for a test drive, and I have to say it's been pretty fun. Definitely not a game for people who want set goals in terms of "beating" it; more of a creative sandbox.

It's definitely a Will Right game....some peeps will pick it up for a little bit and get bored, and others will spend hours upon days upon weeks filling up their little universes and exploring other players content and experimenting.

[Mia]

I'm the kind of person who will play it in spurts, and now I am concerned about the earlier post stating that the game will lock you out, make you reinstall, and after 3 installs the game is useless till you buy another copy.

[Armaya]

yeah me too...can anyone with the game in hand comment on the validity of this? There's NO way I'd be playing every 10 days...

[Hagan]

Originally Posted by Armaya

yeah me too...can anyone with the game in hand comment on the validity of this? There's NO way I'd be playing every 10 days...

*Thinks for a moment* I'm pretty sure they have tried this before a few years ago (or another company did). I'll have to have a look through my collection for it, but i'm certain there was a lock out on another EA game not too long ago, which was removed in an official patch.

If they've done it again, then this is prob what will happen in 6 months anyway (after the 'cool down' period). I'll look into it though.

[revlazaro]

I'm trying to find the official information out myself, just so it's clear and understood. I can't find anywhere that says anything about the 10-day activations on the Spore sites, but on the other hand I never read anything that officially said Spore would not have SecuROM at all, but that it was just going to be toned back:

Originally Posted by EA back in May

We wanted to let you know that we've been hearing your concerns about the online authentication mentioned earlier this week. I didn't want to head into the weekend without getting back to you with some information about how Spore is planning on using this new system.

A few things we wanted you to know:

• We authenticate your game online when you install and launch it the first time.
• We'll re-authenticate when a player uses online features, downloads new content or a patch for their game.
• The new system means you don't have to play with the disc in your computer. And if you are like me, always losing discs, this will be a huge benefit.
• You'll still be able to install and play on multiple computers.
• You can play offline.

We do hope that players will play online - sharing creatures, buildings and vehicles with other players is something that is unique to Spore and one of the coolest features of the game. Every day, when I play the Creature Stage, I get to see wacky and awesome new creatures from my Buddies on the team coming over the hill at me and I can't wait to see what happens when our creative, passionate community starts sharing their creations.

I've heard from many that the 3 installations is essentially 3 computers; the conflict can come from if you do drastic changes to your computer after an Uninstall (new hardware etc) and that after "3 configurations" (or 3 computer installs) you have to call EA. But if you're reinstalling on your same setup, nothing to worry about.

TheSims2 had this stuff and we haven't had any problems with it in these cases, but hey, this is all just an optimistic guess. I'm still digging for some official statements, instead I'm getting a lot of screaming OMG forums and "NOT BUYING!" but no official links pointing how SPORE'S DRM actually works.

EDIT:
And from what I can read, the above seems to be the official stance, I can't find ANYTHING that Spore requires 10-day, except for people quoting what happened with Bioshock. I would appreciate if anyone could post an OFFICIAL link stating Spore has a 10-day authentication BS. From what I've seen on official sites, the only thing it has is the 3-installs situation.

[Mia]

Thanks you guys - I appreciate you looking into this you rock!

[EvilAerosolCan]

What's in the Galactic Handbook that comes with the Galactic Edition? Anything good?

[Bishop]

Meh. I had fun with Spore for about an evening.

Then it dawned on me that once the creature-building fun expires, you're left with a pretty damn repetitive RTS.

It's not that it isn't neat, because it is, but it gets old a lot faster than I would really have expected it to.

[revlazaro]

EAC:
The handbook is pretty much just a well-done instruction manual, but it comes with a hardcover artbook with concept art that's pretty cool (my fiancee is an art major, so it's up her alley).

It also has a making of Spore documentary and a National Geographic special over Evolution and includes segments with Will Right discussing Spore.