Writin_Reg

EA Displeases Customers with Poor DRM Disclosure

OK, let me set you a bit straighter on a few facts - 1- Yes Securom has been around for some years, but not the version of Securom 7 that EA is using. Unlike the Securom 4 found in games like Diablo II, Securom 7 resides in the main kernal of computer systems where the operating systems and pc security systems reside.

EA incorporated Securom & in use in Early summer of 2007, sending shock waves through the Sims 2 Community in EA's The Sims Division with their Bon Voyage Sims 2 Expansion pack. They had also used Securom on two Sims 2 Stuff packs, but because stuff packs do not require their disks to play the game, Securom was not activated. Expansion packs on the other hand DO require the activation of Securom, and in activating the game, a lot of Sims players immediately noticed pc problems - and almost always it was on brand new computers. Getting a 150 dollar bill at the pc shop on your brand new computer tends to make Gamers angry. Finding out that your disabled equipment, including firewalls, antivirus protection, other software, and components like dvd-roms and printers failing to function all because of a thirty dollar expansion pack that installed this third party software on your pc and caused this damage makes people furious. Go to the website reclaimyourgame.com and you can see first hand some of the many gamers stories with this horrible DRM. It makes the Sony BMG music debacle look like a walk in the park in comparison.
Spore on the other hand and also Mass Effect also owned by EA, has Securom 7 with the addition of online activation and limited installations. Believe me with EA games reputation for buggy games, limiting the activations is outright thief, as it is a known factor that any changes a user makes in the Operating System or pc components, kills your activation on that pc. In other words Securom tells the user they are using a different PC when they are not just because they upgraded a video card or their anti-virus. Many new players exhausted the 3 activations before they even got to play Spore. EA's help line also charges the customer absurd cost, and unlike EA told you, they do not easily give out new activations. If you do get one, your phone bill will tell you how that activation just cost you an additional ten dollars. EA thinks nothing of denying your request and tells owners they wiill have to buy another copy to play the game.

The Spore site had so many Securom complaints from disabled pc parts, that the moderators started warning people they would be banned if they posted any more Securom problems on the help boards. This is how EA treats their customers. You make it sound like a walk in the park, you really need to be educated. This DRM is outright dangerous to PC gaming and does not stop pirates at all. All it does stop is gamers playing that game or any other and from reselling the game because EA will not activate a game not bought from them even though they state otherwise in the Eula. EA has not even seen the lawsuite from the Sim 2 players and we are not settling for anything less than the end of Securom's use in our games.