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[Ozymandias]

Time and time again people claimed they were happy to buy good games, at sensible prices.

I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. The vast vast majority of pirates are just entitled tits, who philosophize why they steal things but wouldn't change their ways until the industry just decides to give the games for free.

[Surgoshan]

I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. The vast vast majority of pirates are just entitled tits

Actually, it's about 5%.  Most people are actually exactly what he said.  He found that 5% are entitled tits.  Unfortunately, his full response isn't in that article. 

Here's the man himself talking about it.  You may find it enlightening.

His experience (a poll of self-selected responses) is echoed in earlier real-life economic tests.  Someone decided to start a business wherein baskets of muffins were left at business places with a sign asking people to leave money to pay for the muffins.  The result?  People paid for the muffins and the business was profitable.

When given the opportunity, people will pay for what they value.

It should come as no surprise that anonymity decreases the incidence of payment, of course*, but even so, the vast majority of people still pay.

Still.  The muffin business was self-supporting.

Most pirates are, in fact, people who can't afford it or who have a serious moral issue with something.  The incidence of simple dickery is actually a minority.

*  Employees at larger businesses were less willing to pay, which reflects many studies that show that people in larger groups feel a greater sense of alienation and are far ... meaner.  Employees at smaller businesses paid more, despite (often) lower pay.

[KvP]

That seems a tad optimistic. I don't know anyone who pirates games solely because of some moral objection to DRM, myself included.  I pirate games because I don't have the money to spend on them and I don't want to take the risk of buying a game only to find I don't like it. But that's really not an excuse. If a publisher charges too much or institutes some cumbersome DRM scheme with a game, I would pirate it not because I'm entitled to it or even because I have some high-minded point to make, but because I'm a slave to my impulses. I admit to pilfering games because they make me happy and I can get away with it.

When I was a kid I wanted a weekly allowance but my dad insisted I work for the money. Being lazy, I didn't do the work, and instead I snuck into my dad's room at night and stole the money from his wallet, and told myself that it was fair because my dad was being "disrespectful" by asking me to work. That's akin to what this piracy is at its heart. Even though my dad futilely attempted to hide the money from me I was determined to get it. More than that, because my dad even attempted to keep the money from me justified that I take it, because really, who did he think he was? He had gone too far and I found myself fighting against a system that was designed to keep me at a disadvantage. But the fact that I kept stealing the money didn't mean that my dad wasn't completely justified in trying to keep it from me, nor did it mean I deserved the money or had any place having it. The internet is amusing to me because it takes that same childish entitlement I had and adds thick layers of polemical slop onto it to make it seem legitimate (in essence, it's a giant teenager).

If we wanted to be ethical we wouldn't buy, nor would we pirate offending games. But it's not about what's fair or right to the consumer or anyone else, it's about instant gratification.

Anyway, in contrast to devs who sympathize with pirates, here's a forum post made by a dev from Iron Lore, the studio that made the pretty good hack'n'slash Titan Quest, after the studio got shut down. It talks about piracy, amongst many other things. Honestly I can't blame Microsoft from canning so many PC developers, it has to be so, so much better to develop for consoles.

So anyway, does anybody want to swap usernames or something? Maybe I don't have something toggled, but I've only got Maxis creations so far. I'm seeing repetitions. That shouldn't happen.

[Boro_Bandito]

My name on it is Philboro, though I'm not sure if it'll dl some of my previous stuff from the creature creator for you or not, seems to have some issues with that.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

name's CaptainDino, i think.

[Melodic]

Melodic. Make sure you're logged into EADM (ugh), or there could be issues with downloading.

[Alex C]

This kinda stuff is really depressing for me. I don't pirate games at all, but I do wait to buy them out of bargain bins. That's getting harder and harder to do though now that developers are leaving the pc in droves. Fucking pirates.

[Dimmukane]

I did end up pirating it, but I definitely am going to buy it when I get the money.  I can see myself playing this 5 years from now.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

yeah, espescially considering the modding possibilities* and the future expansions that we know Mr. Wright won't be able to resist putting out.


*is it possible to mod this game? i don't know much about PC gaming but it seems to me that if EA doesn't want it's paying customers to be able to play this game as they choose, then they wouldn't them to mod it either.

[Melodic]

All the data is stored in .package files. Until someone finds a way to manipulate that sort of data file, we're SOL.

[reddragonflame]

I won't read the other posts on this game until I've posted my say lest I be swayed by other opinions.

I loved the customisation, I hated the game.

The opening level is a souped up version of a simple Flash based game which has a name that escapes me right now. It's fun for a while, adding bits to your creature, but gets old pretty damn fast. Never the less I soldiered on.

The next stage is awful, incredibly boring and very repetitive. I got to a point where moving any direction meant being mauled by a mob of enemies and turned it off. Simply awful. So glad I didn't pay for the game.

I'll probably play more when I'm at my mates, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone based on what I've seen.

[3Z3VH]

The flash game you are thinking of is "fl0w."

[Ozymandias]

Actually, it's about 5%.  Most people are actually exactly what he said.  He found that 5% are entitled tits.  Unfortunately, his full response isn't in that article. 

You misunderstood, I was calling bullshit on the pirates who philosophized their piracy away to make themselves seem like crusaders for better quality or cheaper games. The 5% who just admitted to being dicks were at least honest.

The cost of a game is representative of how much it costs to make a game. If you don't feel like you should support the people who actually worked long fucking hours to make the game, I don't feel like you should enjoy their work. How is that fair? How is that in any way morally defensible to take the fruits of someone's labor and say "fuck you' to them if they want you to pay for it?

But, no. These people are entitled tits because they feel it's their right to still play the game even if they feel morally justified in not paying. It doesn't work like that. Voting with your dollar means you also have to not play the game.

[JediBendu]

I played it and enjoyed it on a friend's computer. But have decided that I don't want to buy the game for myself cause I probably won't play it much ever again.

What really did it for me was realizing that the creature customization is actually pretty highly limited. Having a creature be aesthetically what you want and statistically what you want is impossible. Unless you want a creature with bad stats. Pretty unfortunate.

[KvP]

Body part stats only come into play during the creature stage. You play for max stats during that stage, then once you're ready to advance you change your creature to look however you want it to. Same with vehicles (and the ship, for that matter) in the Space stage.

[Dimmukane]

Besides, there has to be SOME balance so that casual players aren't dominated by supermutants bent on destruction.

[Boro_Bandito]

yeah, if all the extra body parts stacked on all of those creatures people made with the creature creator would be able to tear through them like paper. Of course, the main problem I have is that I can't seem to get exactly what body parts I want or enough DNA points to make the desired creature that I want at the end of Creature stage. So right now I'm omnipotent with my race of hyper-intelligent dinosaurs and I'm starting on Space stage with a race of highly evolved giant mushrooms so I could get the Wanderer and Master Wanderer badge.

[JediBendu]

I do realize that you can change your creatures at the end of creature stage. But it's not entirely true that body stats and abilities only have an effect in creature, as they also affect things in tribal. (As far as I can tell, this is only true for combat stats and jump/glide)

And the inability to stack was not what annoyed me at all either. I'm perfectly fine with that. What I really wished was possible was a variety of different looks for body parts that achieve the same purpose. The only way for me to have level 5 pose for my social, mammal-like creature was to have amphibious graspers. Other graspers that may be more what I want aesthetically, would never get as high in terms of stats as I might wish. Even if they could logically be specialized for posing.

Pretty much all of the body parts boil down to being perfect for one stat. Or slightly less so in two or more stats. This wouldn't be so bad to me if they didn't all look so wildly different. If there was one set of mammalian graspers specialized for posing, that would be great. If there was one set of specialized striking graspers that weren't talon-like, that would be great.

There's so many different styles of arms and legs with no statistical difference, and to me the available styles of graspers, feet, and mouths are dissapointing.

[And I know this is pretty much just nitpicking. But I suppose I was just expecting more. At first play I loved the creature stage more than any of the others. Now after my third creature it seems more mechanical than organic. And I was under the impression that Spore was supposed to seem organic and imaginative.]

[Boro_Bandito]

Well, also keep in mind that there will almost certainly be expansion packs that come out with a ton of extra parts, colors, etc. And in tribal stage the main thing directing stats beyond jump/fly is the clothing options, which come with their own stats and with which you can easily max out your creature with in mostly everything.

[satsugaikaze]

While I haven't played the actual game just yet, I've been keeping a close eye on it via vids, articles and mags. It looks promising.

I'd get it if my computer could support it =(

But I think Spore would be like the Sims series: the second one (if there were to be a second one) would vastly improve the mechanics of the previous one.

[JD]

see i dont worry about look during the main game. if i wanna fuck around with the creators, then i have more freedom.


The space  section of the game is a lot like the civilization section, only on a larger scale.

[Chesire Cat]

Penny Arcade just did a nice little 3 part special of industry types thoughts and opinions on Piracy and DRM that was pretty enlightening.  Tycho went on to explain today, that out of many many requests for insider input very few responses were to be had unfortunately.  Also check out this little linky at the bottom of part 2.

Now of course I will admit, small computer companies and casual games devs dont exactly compare to the people spending millions on developing and publishing A-quality games who of course are the ones on the stick end of our pinata existence.  It does at least tell you your plights dont go entirely unheeded.

[Boro_Bandito]

You should link to that in the DRM thread.

[Spluff]

$20 USD for a parts expansion.

I thought you'd changed, EA.

[Melodic]

I'm glad I didn't like Spore, now.

[KvP]

Tweren't meant for us, but for that certain section of the population that doesn't care about such things.

[Boro_Bandito]

I like how the gamestop website has absolutely no information as to what the pack will include, but they've definitely decided on 20 bucks, bitch. Of course, this is nothing new, Sims 2 has been releasing in addition to their "expansions" these little clothing and furniture packs ever since the game came out. Of course, if I get a list of the stuff in there (and I bet it'll be vehicle and building parts too) I might actually get it because I'm still building in Spore. My buildings aren't as good as my creatures but it might warrant a look anyway...

[Roivas]

Why the hell damn fuck would anyone pay money for something they could mod into a game? How much work could it be to hack a poorly programmed life simulator?

[Dimmukane]

Until we can get into the .package files, some time.  Keep in mind that you'd also have to know a lot of math to make something that would fit in their procedural animation system.

[Boro_Bandito]

Yeah, I do not have any idea how to hack, anything.

[Dimmukane]

In addition, I think you should retract that 'poorly programmed' bit.  It's definitely not.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

so Maxis released some sort of press release on the new parts pack, and an upcoming expansion.

Cute & Creepy Parts Pack comes out in November, i think. ...hurray? 

however, the real good news is that in Spring '09 they will release a proper expansion that includes:
-the ability to beam down, out of your spaceship onto the surface of planets for extra exploring
-creation and sharing of custom, player-created missions for space stage

Gamers will experience deeper Space stage gameplay with an expansion pack scheduled for release in spring 2009. For the first time, players' space faring creatures will be able to beam down from their spaceships to explore new planets and earn rewards for completing challenging missions. A new Adventure Creator will allow players to build and share online their own custom missions, providing almost endless gameplay possibilities.

[Orbert]

Okay, I'm apparently late to the party already, but I played Spore last night for the first time and thought it was pretty fun.  For a while.  Then I got to the Creature stage and got hurt really badly trying to eat something that try to eat me back, now I starving and losing life points, and going back to my nest doesn't heal me.  I thought I'd heal up enough to go kill something and eat it, but I'm so weak that anything I attack will kill me.  I suck.

I have no idea what to do so I saved.  Next time I play, I'll probably finish dying.  Yay, fun game.

[tuna ketchup x]

Has anyone played the DS version of this? I'm gonna ask my beau for a handheld for Xmas and am looking at which system has the games I'd most want to play. I'm not a huge Sims fan, but I am a huge colonization/trading games fan, and the space phase seems like something I'd really enjoy. I never play PC games though, they just sit in my drawer.

Melodic, there are 2650 one star reviews on Amazon. Maybe 2% of those reviews are even about the game. Maybe.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

Orbert, there's no penalty for dying so i wouldn't worry too much about it.

[Boro_Bandito]

Yeah, just die, spawn at your nest again, and go into the creature creator and try to make your creature better for what you're doing, and also, especially if you're fresh out of the water, there will be at least a couple creatures near you that should be easy pickins for points. Make sure you grab any parts you find on the ground to help you out, and try and pick on babies or members away from the main herd so that you don't get gang-raped. don't worry about the alphas unles your sure you can take them by themselves and your creature is pretty tough, invest in the health boost parts. Otherwise don't worry about those until you have a pack.

[Orbert]

Whoa, it's that simple?  I've been avoiding death like... well, like death.  Something to be avoided at all costs.

Thanks for the advice.  It really is pretty fun and interesting to play; it's just a bummer to know you're gonna die and there's apparently nothing you can do about it.  Turning it into a learning experience is not something you'd get to do in real life, for obvious reasons.

[Boro_Bandito]

Well, it is a game aimed towards all ages, though there's probably an achievement for making it through creature or cell stage without a death. I mean, it would be really hard, but I might work on it later tonight and see.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

yeah, i'm pretty sure there's achievments for finishing certain stages without dying.

i haven't gotten them but i'm pretty sure they're there.

[Tarlonis]

Showing up late to this party...but here I go.

I Pirate games, I buy Games. My Pirated games are usually uninstalled forever within a month, or are replaced with a purchased copy.
You must mustsupport creativity, innovation, and just plain ole' something you LIKE!
Now to the game.

I've enjoyed the crap outta this game and I haven't even touched the Space mode. I've spent hours, plural, on the creature stage. I take alot of joy having my creature slowly evolve, becoming a quadriped or biped, fins become wings, leg/feet become hands/arms, etc etc etc... My wife's the same way only has more talent for perfecting her creature's looks, so when my game is seeded by her content (because of the Buddy system) I'll pause the game and say, "Look honey, it's your Wiccadcute's!" or "Make them stop, make them stop! Your Sea-serpents are being d***'s! *laugh*" and she'll look over and watch the going's on. 

Sure she's not actually in control of any of them, it's not that kind of game. It's...an excercise in creativity, take JOY in your absurdity, don't Min/Max your creature to the point of not liking what you see, find the compromise! Heck, want to glide but don't want a winged creature? Shrink the wings down all the way and then invert them so that they're Inside your creature and only a bump is visible.... Right now there's 37, 000, 000 + creations out there, some of them are FAN-TAS-TIC to look at, I'm in awe of my co-creators...

Speaking of which, Jeph? You stated today that you'd been Sporing it up....what's your Spore name so that we can look and buddy you? =-)

T.

[tuna ketchup x]

Okay, I looked up some vids on Youtube last night, and I totally think this is something I need to invest in. I could see playing this a lot, even with my semi-dislike of playing games on a computer. Question about the DRM: does it really "infect" your computer, like make other apps run slower or make your computer more likely to crash? I'm not worried about the three installs, since I'm sure I can get more if my machine does crash (and with how unpopular it is they'll probably lift that anyway), but I don't want a game dicking up my system. Also, what video card is optimal? Not what it will run on, but what it will run on and look good on and not slow down. Help!

(I will probably download the pirated version first just to see if I like the controls before dropping fifty.)

[Orbert]

Yay for learning experiences.  I returned to the game I'd started, and watched my creature slowly starve to death.  It was sad.  Then I got this wonderful helpful message that said "You have starved to death.  In the future, remember to eat regularly." or some shit.  Gee, thanks!  But it was so absurd that I actually laugh-out-louded, thus lightening the mood and enabling me to continue.

Which I did, quite successfully it would seem.  I finished the Creature stage, but only like five minutes after I'd become cool enough to have three others in my Pack.  We were having a good time jumping unsuspecting herbivores and chowing them, so I elected not to advance to the Tribal Stage yet.  Plus, I heard that there are some things you really should do before you advance because it will affect everything from that point on, but I don't know what they are yet.

My home planet is Cruton, and we are the Crutonians.  Fear us!

[Boro_Bandito]

basically what you can do by not electing to advance yet is find more parts and get more dna points, thus enabling you to make your creature look way cooler.

[Orbert]

Yeah, that was interesting.  We cruised around eating things for a while, then it got kinda boring, so I went ahead and advanced to Tribal.

What I didn't realize is that all those wacky horns and plates and things I've tacked on for attack and defense were pretty much passe, and I couldn't remove them, either.  Since Tribal seems to emphasize Combat and other, different attributes, and I couldn't wear a helmet or much else without looking kinda stupid (big horn on my head, etc.), I exited without saving, then restarted.  I removed a bunch of stuff we wouldn't need in Tribal, and also swapped for better-looking mouth and hands, then advanced.  Much better.

Took me a while to figure out the new camera mechanics.  Yes, I know there's a tutorial forced upon you, but I figured I knew how the camera worked, so I skipped it.  Bad move, since they've changed everything.  Obviously the different stages of the game were developed by different teams at Maxis, and they didn't bother making things consistent.  I think that's poor design, but they didn't ask me.  They should've.