Skops said:
they're still selling on Origin for $19.99. You would think they wouldn't still sell a game that no longer works...
My local Wal*Mart has been selling Tabula Rasa since it's release, long after the game bombed and died. I occasionally walk by and see the collectors editions languishing on the shelves. (Waterford Connecticut if anyone wants to gawk, still probably there).
In short, nothing surprises me when it comes to video game sales.
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As far as the issue itself goes, I was not impressed with "Darkspore" it wasn't what I expected and had far too limited content. As awesome as the "Spore" idea was, it seems they were never able to implement it or it's technology well, even in this spin off.
When it comes to servers and always-on DRM, this does show the problem with the current trend. It's going to become an even bigger issue in the future when games people actually like wind up going down, especially those that are at their core a single player experience and something someone might want to boot up in 15-20 years (basically this Generations equivalent to "Planescape Torment" and other classics....)
EA relented apparently, but I suspect it was done due to complaints/concerns and fear over legal action. Truthfully I've been waiting to see how things play out over the next decade or so. Right now the idea of a EULA is becoming increasingly debatable, since you don't generally agree to it before paying money. With digital services you typically agree to the terms of that service, but the documentation for the game isn't even available when you buy it even if it's referenced (which can be an issue in Contract law, one of the reasons people use Notaries for contracts is to act as a witness that everything was above board and all referenced documents were present and understood). For the most part computer game companies have been trying via EULAs and such to require legal disputes be handled in California which is very friendly to them and has tons of precedents to this kind of thing. Something which has come under fire from other states in particular, in Connecticut Blumenthal has had some serious problems with E-businesses for example during his time. If enough complaints happen I think it's inevitable companies like EA are going to get forced into the more general legal shark tank and be ripped to shreds, I could be wrong but I'm guessing that even if it was fairly unpopular they aren't ready to try and pull that trigger yet even for the limited audience of something like "Darkspore". The cost of the servers being less than the cost to fight legally if enough people were to complain.
That said I've been of the opinion for a while that with games costing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars anyway that we should have laws in place requiring that any game that requires online support or a server, for DRM or otherwise, should be required to be backed by a trust fund set up to keep the game operating in perpetuity. A trust fund more or less being a giant pile of money that only lets someone draw on part of the interest and continues to grow. Oftentimes set up by rich folks to provide for their stupid children so they will always have money. In this case a trust large enough to support the continued function of the servers and needed updates and fixes for the game
(ie enough money for servers and keeping a couple of people on staff). If this was ever to be adopted it would be interesting, and it would of course raise the question as to whether game companies think they could sell their
product for higher prices to cover this aspect of development, or if they would abandon things like always-online DRM.... it also creates some interesting visions of hundreds of scattered micro-trusts paying people to watch over and maintain games that nobody plays far into the future.
