Spore is out, and cracked, on the internets.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

As I said last night, Spore has been "Cracked And Torrented."

 

Guess what, Spore is, from what I hear, out on the internet a full FIVE DAYS before the retail date - it's DRM must not have worked too well after all. Anyways, if you want more information Google for it - as I cannot tell you where to look or how to find the game.

 

Spore Cracked And Torrented, Already

 

Well, it had to happen - Spore has hit the intertorrents. Pirates are downloading spores through the intricate series of tubes we call the internet.

 

It seems as though some stores in Australia have been selling advance copies of the game a few days before the official release date.

 

Over the weekend, a Warez group called “RELOADED” has managed to crack the copy protection on the game and now it is being downloaded by hundreds of cheapskates over bittorrent.

http://kotaku.com/5045120/spore-cracked-an...rrented-already

 

Spore Cracked by “RELOADED” Group

 

After news of Spore breaking the street date in Australia, we hear that Spore has already been cracked by a group called “RELOADED” despite it’s use of SecuROM, the anti-pirating software. (the same one used in BioShock) There are currently over 10,000 people downloading the game on just one public torrent tracker. All this 4 5 days before the game even comes out in North America.

http://gameviper.com/pc/spore-cracked-by-reloaded-group

 

Now, I'm not going to try it as I'm not going to buy the game - but I did look into the matter last night and the release seems to be real...

[Llyranor]

I have a better idea, let's make a new thread whenever a game gets pirated before it's officially released. It'll probably be more populated than that PS3 thread, at least.

[tripleRRR]

I don't know why this is surprising. Groups like RELOADED go through copy protection schemes like a chainsaw through butter.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Groups like RELOADED go through copy protection schemes like a chainsaw through butter.

 

And yet groups like EA seem to think that stricter scams will solve everything...

[SteveThaiBinh]

Topic somewhat pruned. I don't really see where this topic could go that wouldn't involve it getting locked, but we don't do precrime here, so come on guys, surprise me.

[Kaftan Barlast]

You cant beat the hackers, its just the way it it. The way EA and other publishers try to deal with this is proof that they dont have a clue about how piracy works.

 

 

The only way you can keep a game from getting pirated today is to only release it for the PS3, for which there is no commonly used working hack yet. Yet, if you would do that, your sales would plummit because 1) the PS3 has a smaller userbase than PC or 360 2) ps3 games are extremely expensive and most people cant afford to buy more than one PS3 game every other month or so, so the competition would be murderous 3) SOny are very picky about who gets to make games for their console 4) ...I have to go now

Edited September 5, 2008 by Kaftan Barlast

[Hurlshort]

Hey, maybe if it didn't have DRM, it would have been available 10 days before release. Seriously though, this stuff is the reason DRM exists. I sure hope no one here is glorifying it.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I sure hope no one here is glorifying it.

I absolutely confident that they're not.

 

I still prefer the Stardock no-DRM approach to anti-piracy.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

I sure hope no one here is glorifying it.

 

Nope, I think that piracy hurts the industry and player-base as a whole - although I think that DRM is not an effective or preferable way to combat it. But anyways, the real reason I started this thread was to show that the draconian DRM used by Spore is really only going to impact those who acquire legal copies.

[newc0253]

the draconian DRM used by Spore

what's draconian about it exactly? other than that it's DRM i mean.

 

i'm not saying it isn't draconian, i'm just wondering what makes it more draconian than usual.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

It limits the number of installations to three, just like Mass Effect, and has some other features that are more invasive and restrictive then the normal disc-check, serial code, or registration.

[mkreku]

Hey, maybe if it didn't have DRM, it would have been available 10 days before release. Seriously though, this stuff is the reason DRM exists. I sure hope no one here is glorifying it.

And you, like the publishers, are thinking about this whole thing the wrong way around. Spore is an excellent example of a game that would need NO copy protection whatsoever. Just make it obligatory to logon to some sort of server when you play the game and let people download other people's creations (**** monsters), tribes and worlds. Offer an incentive instead of a punishment for the paying customer! I'm pretty sure the crackers wouldn't be able to touch EA's servers too?

 

I wish EA would have tried that approach for this game, since it seems ideal for such an experiment.

[Blarghagh]

My brother's been playing the Galaxy Edition for over a week - his pre-order arrived nearly a week before release.

[Kaftan Barlast]

I didnt try it, but I believe there IS a function in Spore that lets you download creatures and sh*t from other players online.

[Gorgon]

Sounds like the game is so piss poor the greatest worry is that people will have a chance to play it before they buy it. Remember back when every self respecting game had a demo.

[Dark_Raven]

LOLZ! Protection is useless. Spend all of that money to "protect" the game from being copied and annoy the legit buying consumer and the pirates still beat them every chance they get.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

LOLZ! Protection is useless. Spend all of that money to "protect" the game from being copied and annoy the legit buying consumer and the pirates still beat them every chance they get.

 

Exactly!

[Killian Kalthorne]

LOLZ! Protection is useless. Spend all of that money to "protect" the game from being copied and annoy the legit buying consumer and the pirates still beat them every chance they get.

If they spent money n making a game worth buying instead of using a worthless copy protection scheme maybe people would put forth the effort of buying the game instead of pirating it.

[Hell Kitty]

If they spent money n making a game worth buying instead of using a worthless copy protection scheme maybe people would put forth the effort of buying the game instead of pirating it.

 

This is nonsense. If the publisher doesn't spend money on copy protection, would that money instead go into the development of the game, and how would that extra money make for a better game?

 

Do people wait to see that a game isn't worth buying before they pirate it?

 

If going to a store (even an online store) and spending money takes effort, isn't the real issue that people are lazy and cheap?

[Moatilliatta]

More a lack or morals.

 

If publishers didn't spend the money on DRM then they would probably spend them on advertising, which in some cases would probably help more e.g. Unreal Tournament 3

[Killian Kalthorne]

Well, I buy only games I like and the only way I know I will like them or not is to try them out first or buy from only trusted developers who I know makes games I like. If there is no demo, then guess the alternative. However, if the developers and publishers consistently makes games I like to play and I trust them to make games I want to play then I wouldn't need to "try" before I buy. It has nothing to do about being cheap or lazy. Its about being frugal and making an informed purchase.

[Hurlshort]

Well, I buy only games I like and the only way I know I will like them or not is to try them out first or buy from only trusted developers who I know makes games I like. If there is no demo, then guess the alternative. However, if the developers and publishers consistently makes games I like to play and I trust them to make games I want to play then I wouldn't need to "try" before I buy. It has nothing to do about being cheap or lazy. Its about being frugal and making an informed purchase.

 

No, that's you wanting something for free. It's a lame justification for pirating. A bunch of people spent years of their lives creating the game and you are going to steal it because you are "frugal".

[Moatilliatta]

I don't know for sure if I'm going to like a new pair of pants unless I try it out in many different circumstances but that doesn't give me a right to steal them.

 

Pirating is always wrong no matter which way you turn it.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Yes, it is.

 

That said, I think it's good for everyone involved if game-makers produce demo versions of their games. Why don't they always do this? Is it technically difficult, or time-consuming, or is there another reason?

[Moatilliatta]

Sometimes it can be too hard (according to the devlopers) to find a way to show of the game without giving away too much.

 

That seems to be at least one reason for the no demo approach.

 

I always thought that the way Mount & Blade shows itself off (sandbox with 6 ingame days or 6 character levels) was a very good demo.