SWEET! I’m downloading it right now!

[Edited to remove torrent link]

Yep, I would say that you’ve been bound in the darkness, Moloch.  But you’re young yet…

I was wondering how long it would take someone to figure out their meaning.

Well, Moloch, I read The Lord of the Rings before you were born.  And I also know some real Nazi’s, and know more about where that leads than you do.  But as I say, you’re still young…

Now the million dollar question: Would so many people download Spore if it wouldn’t have such restrictive DRM in the first place?

Considering how hotly anticipated this game is I’d hazard the answer to that question is a resounding “yes.“ People have been wanting to play it for a couple of years now and it has a lot of hype to live up to.

That said, I do think that there’s quite a few of those 10,000 who will probably go on to buy the game once it’s released, but I’m also sure that the number of potential sales to those 10,000 will be lower due to the DRM than might have otherwise been.

That’s all pure speculation on my part though.

Oh, and I edited your comment to remove the torrent link Moloch. I’m sure anyone else who wants to find the torrent is capable of doing so without using SEB as a source. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from posting links like that again.

Would so many people download Spore if it wouldn’t have such restrictive DRM in the first place?

Simple question, no simple answers.

I don’t have any evidence to back it up, but I would guess that DRM is not a major factor. having said that, if I were interested in the game and had hardware to actually run it, I would seriously consider buying it, but installing and running a pirated version.

The deeper issues are probably that games have gotten a lot more expensive over the years, their target audience has a relaxed ethical stance with regards to piracy, and that there’s little added benefit to being a paying customer. People generally don’t mind paying more for application software, because they (expect to) get long-term support for the product and in the case of closed-source products, there’s usually limited community support as an alternative to vendor support.

The long and short of it is that DRM does not deter pirates, but paying customers get it up the ass.

There is some incentive, I think, in purchasing a game like Spore from the social networking aspect of the game. I would be surprised if the pirated copy will be able to connect to the EA servers for uploading and downloading critters, which is a major part of the draw of this game. So long as you don’t mind playing it with the couple thousand or so critters it ships with then that’s not a problem, but if you want to be able to download your friend’s critters then you’ll probably want to buy the game.

I can see how that social thing’s a draw for some, but it doesn’t do anything for me. It’s of course an easy thing for me to say since Spore doesn’t interest me.

Going back to the original question, there’s undoubtedly a try before you buy issue at play. Or is it pirate before you buy?

Would so many people download Spore if it wouldn’t have such restrictive DRM in the first place?

I will buy the game, but I’m going to use the most stable version I can get my hands on.  If that means downloading a torrent that has the DRM disabled, then that’s what I’ll do.  Buying the software should be an endorsement to the company that they made a good game, not simply authorization to use their software.  If they make crappy software, then I don’t give them any money, even if I do end up getting a pirated version to play.

Spore is good enough (at least it looks good enough) to warrant giving them my money for it, but we’ll see.

I pre-ordered this game a while back. It should arrive sometime next week from Amazon.com. It is pretty tempting to download it though. I really hate the DRM slowing down my computer and causing other issues. Honestly, when a game has DRM, especially one of the more restrictive ones, I’m more likely to avoid buying that game.

I prefer to purchase all my games/software since I make an ok amount of money. Even if I torrent a game/application, if I like it and plan on playing/using it a decent amount, I prefer to purchase it.

On a different note, many of the reviews for Spore have been pretty good. I was surprised to see that Gamespot only gave it an 8.0. Strangely, I think I trust Gamespot’s review of the game more than I would the other’s. Also, I thought Gamespot was supposed to be a shill for EA. Shouldn’t they have rated it much higher if that was true? :p

Spore merges multiple run-of-the-mill building blocks into a big, entertaining game.

The Good
Intuitive and comprehensive customization tools   Oozes charm at every turn   Impressively broad scope   Great audio and art design.

The Bad
Individual gameplay elements are extremely simple   Early stages aren’t very engaging.

there’s little added benefit to being a paying customer.

Remember back in the day, you would get a 50lb 500 page well written BOOK with a game that told you everything about it? Little things like that are what really made it worth buying a game instead of copying the floppy from your friend! There are still a lot of good games being made today, but none have a level of developer dedication like that anymore.

I don’t know if I should cheer or not. In Argentina, you will not find an original copy of a game on retail. Big gaming corporations stopped giving a shit of what’s going down here at the third world.