Spore - Who is getting it?

[KarlXII]

I don't get it. What's wrong with SecuROM?

[naut]

I don't get it. What's wrong with SecuROM?

It's basically an over glorified virus.

• SecuROM can cause some CD burners to fail to work.
• It shuts off your firewall without notification.
• It can wipe the previous saved system restores.
• It can interfere with your registry and/or updates, specifically for drivers.
• Updating video cards can become an issue.
• Buying games online (from STEAM or GamersGate, etc) can be an issue.
• SecuROM can make your PC run harder, and overheat.

I LOVE SECUROM!

[pevergreen]

Played about 20 hours so far.

Its not easy to pick it all up. The earlier stages are definately more fun, but space...man that is just crazy.

Feel pity for me, i payed $120. Special Edition though.

Depending on how you feel, you should probably wait for the price to drop down a bit.

The only online stuff I've noticed is that if you choose to link your account with that game, the stuff you make transfers between computers. Im on 64 kb/ps and its playing fine.

Each of the 5 stages is like an entirely new game, its quite good.

[Mikeus Caesar]

I'll probably get it when i have the money to buy it...after i buy a new PSU and fix my computer...after i raise the money to buy aforementioned PSU...which will happen sometime in between next year and before the Sun dies...

[rajpoot]

What's extra in the Special Edition?

[naut]

What's extra in the Special Edition?

The Special Edition contains a Making of Spore DVD, How to Make a Better Being DVD, The Art of Spore mini-book, a poster and a 100-page "Galactic" handbook.

Wow, the views here make me think I won't get it then. Three install limit!? Holy crap that's a deal breaker, plus SecuROM, and phone-home system. Nu-uh, not my money they'll be getting.

[Caius]

What's extra in the Special Edition?

More price I'd say.

Not getting it, because I won't be able to get it thanks to the money... and it doesn't interests me.

[The_Doctor]

Something else I've wondered about... given the HUGE scope of the game, they haven't exactly left themselves much room for an expansion pack

The Sims 2 has 18 expansion packs/add-ons, imagine what they could do with Spore.

A sandbox game can't be very successful if the beginning is fun, and the end-game isn't.

Its not a sand box game, its a very thin line of sand game.

[Navaros]

I've been reading a lot of end-user impressions of Spore and the consensus seems to be that it's an incredibly simplistic, repetitive, bare-boned game that can be blown through in a few hours easily. And also one that is marginally entertaining for a few hours, and that's about it. Many end users seem to have said it is suitable for ages 10 and under only.

IMO the 3 install limit is a total scam and should be - and possibly already is (needs to be court challenged) - illegal. That alone is a deal-breaker IMO.

The professional reviews giving it ridiculously high acclaim are IMO bought and paid for just like all other alleged AAA titles which always receive ridiculously high scores no matter how crap of a game they actually are. It infuriates me to see the 'professionals' in the game industry continue to perpetuate this shady trend and thus mislead innocent consumers.

[The_Doctor]

I have just started the Civ stage, and I agree with everything Navaros' post. The Cell stage is fun, but very short, The Creature stage is very repetitive, The Tribal Stage is the most shallow RTS every created. Right now I don't have the will to continue playing the game.

[CountArach]

I have just started the Civ stage, and I agree with everything Navaros' post. The Cell stage is fun, but very short, The Creature stage is very repetitive, The Tribal Stage is the most shallow RTS every created. Right now I don't have the will to continue playing the game.

I agree with your assessment of those three. What is urging me on is wanting to see space...

[The_Doctor]

What is urging me on is wanting to see space...

Same here.

[Veho Nex]

I agree with your assessment of those three. What is urging me on is wanting to see space...

It seems like they put more time into the space stage as it is like its own unique space RPG. I've been playing the space age for a couple hours and I still can't get around at how unique everything is...

But in one of the gameplay videos i saw, you could be a fish and your guy was capable of biting an animal and then dragging it.

[Mailman653]

Too bad you can't rent PC games

[Zenicetus]

I have just started the Civ stage, and I agree with everything Navaros' post. The Cell stage is fun, but very short, The Creature stage is very repetitive, The Tribal Stage is the most shallow RTS every created. Right now I don't have the will to continue playing the game.

That's the takeaway I got from the review in the New York Times (which is interesting because it's not your typical game review site... seems a bit more independent to me):

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/ar...pagewanted=all

The writer basically said that a ton of effort was put into the creature stage, which is fun. But past that stage it's not very well-developed. And of course we can't help but compare those later stages with the best strategy games, where it's bound to fall short. I'll play GalCivII if I want a space conquest game, unless something else is actually better at it. So far, other than the "cute" factor, and the unique aliens, I'm not hearing big enthusiasm for the later game stages. A sandbox game can't be very successful if the beginning is fun, and the end-game isn't.

Something else I've wondered about... given the HUGE scope of the game, they haven't exactly left themselves much room for an expansion pack, or a Spore II. Would people buy this again as a Spore II product, if they just improved the end-game?

Anyway, I'm waiting for more user reviews before thinking about buying it (especially with the DRM issues).

[JR-]

Game is good fun, thoroughly enjoying it, but i panned it with a one-star review on amazon.

There is a price to be paid for using Securom.

[rajpoot]

I could not resist it, so I went over to a freinds house, who had the game, and tried it out.
To me, it seemed like a flashy and colourful toy for a kid, that is very expensive, but remians, still, a kid's toy.
Anyway, it's something you can play on a rainy day when all your other games have dissapeared under mysterious circumstances.

[Crandaeolon]

I wonder if people saw these yet:

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/...ews/#more-8789

When I talked to Wright, I had played deep into the Space Stage, which I was enjoying. But I had seen complaints from hardcore game reviewers and message board posters that all of the stages have less complex gameplay than many gamers had hoped. As wonderful as the content creation and sharing options are, the one consistent complaint I’ve seen is that the gameplay seems to have been “dumbed down” for the sake of appealing to a more casual audience. Was it?

“I’d say that’s quite accurate,” Wright told me. “We were very focused, if anything, on making a game for more casual players. “Spore” has more depth than, let’s say, “The Sims” did. But we looked at the Metacritic scores for “Sims 2″, which was around 90, and something like “Half-Life“, which was 97, and we decided — quite a while back — that we would rather have the Metacritic and sales of “Sims 2″ than the Metacritic and sales of “Half-Life.”

And one way of getting there is to present a narrower range of options than a hardcore player might be expecting?

“Yes,” he said. “Part of this, in some sense was: can we teach a “Sims” player to play an RTS [or Real Time Strategy game]? … I think the complexity we ended up with was toward that group.”

So, basically, Wright is admitting that the game is "dumbed down" to attain better sales.

And here's EA CEO on future plans for Spore:

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53925

"We've got a clear, obvious and very compelling post-launch monetization opportunity," Ricitello explained during a conference call. "This is a game where basically, the parts are what make the sum of the product work."

"Monetization opportunity." Nice, eh?

[doc_bean]

So, basically, Wright is admitting that the game is "dumbed down" to attain better sales.

Honestly, that's just good marketing strategy (look at the Sims !). Wright can't be blamed for that. not every game has to go for the critical acclaim or the hearts of the so-called hardcore gamers

[Crandaeolon]

I'm not arguing that Wright doesn't know how to sell games, or even that games should appeal to the "hardcore" or critics. Hardcore players are, after all, a minority in a hobby that has only recently become mainstream and critics, well... let's just say they aren't worth much anymore.

The relevant bit here is that Spore is neither a good game nor a good "storytelling device" (which Wright envisioned it to be) in its current state. The charm and depth are superficial. Gamers are noticing it too, I'd wager that even the draconian DRM notwithstanding, public opinion of the game will steadily decline for a while. (Metacritic user score 5.5 out of 10 at the time of writing this.)