Can You Download Spore Using a Serial Number if You Only Have a CD Drive?

[DaveC426913]

I just bought Spore, only to find out that it's on DVD and I only have a CD-RW.

I'm sure it's possible to download it using the Serial # from the disc, but I can't find where on their site, I've looked all over.

Tried asking on the forum but the forum won't let me post (yet).

Anyone play?

 

[Denton]

I could suggest you *torrent*. You've bought the game, so are you not legally entitled to have (3?) copies of the game?

 

[bassplayer142]

Yea, just download it in an illegal sense but considering that you own it it really isn't illegal.

 

[maze]

I would also like to add that if you install from the DVD, it will secretly install a nasty bit of DRM software called SecuROM. There are currently multiple class action lawsuits against EA over SecuROM. The safest thing for your computer is to install a pirated copy. Buy the game legally of course (as you have), but just don't use the disk you bought to install.

 

[Santa1]

Download it "illegally" and use your serial number. Thats technically not illegal (uhm, I think .)

 

[LowlyPion]

I just bought Spore, only to find out that it's on DVD and I only have a CD-RW.

I'm sure it's possible to download it using the Serial # from the disc, but I can't find where on their site, I've looked all over.

Tried asking on the forum but the forum won't let me post (yet).

Anyone play?

You will want to be careful too of the minimum system requirements. Not just the DVD required to read it, but also the graphics card required and the minimum amount of memory. I was quite surprised by what the minimums turned out to be.

http://www.spore.com/what/specs_spore

 

[Evo]

Any talk of downloading illegal or pirated versions of software will result in an infraction.

 

[Oerg]

well, you can actually pay and download games online or through steam for example, there are actually legal avenues of downloading games. Spore is available as a direct download on the official site. But since you already bought the game physically, i think it is high time for an upgrade to a dvd player imo.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yah. I just went out and bought a DVD-ROM. The external costs $71. That way I can use it with all 'puters in the house.

You will want to be careful too of the minimum system requirements. Not just the DVD required to read it, but also the graphics card required and the minimum amount of memory. I was quite surprised by what the minimums turned out to be.

http://www.spore.com/what/specs_spore

As was/am I.

A trip to Tiger Direct and 2 hours of install later, I find that my video card is not supported. At all. Period. And my laptop has no upgrade options.

I wonder how much a never-used copy of Spore goes for on the open market...

 

[LowlyPion]

I was surprised at the hardware overhead required for the game.

I think that while there are a lot of systems that it will work on, there are lots that it won't. I consider it bordering on misrepresentation the way they have made no allowance of even operating in a scaled down way, not to mention the limited number of installs that you get - some of which get expired if you make the mistake of installing it on a system that is inadequate.

Poor software design. Poor marketing decision.

 

[DaveC426913]

FutureShop was obliging enough to issue me a store credit.

Spore: in and out of my life in less than 24 hours.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Download it "illegally" and use your serial number. Thats technically not illegal (uhm, I think .)

Any talk of downloading illegal or pirated versions of software will result in an infraction.

I thought it was legal too but just looked it up. According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act it is illegal to circumvent any security measures that are intended to prevent piracy even if you are not violating copyright. As far as a 'backup' is concerned apparently you are only allowed temporary backup for the purpose of computer repair or maintenance. It seems you are not allowed to rip, or possesses a ripped copy, of any software except under certain circumstances. So far as I can tell the only way you can have a ripped copy of a game is if the original intended hardware for using it is 'obsolete' such as old NES games and the like.

Just so all of you that were mistaken like me are aware.

However there is a proposed Media Consumer's Rights Act[/url].

 

[tribdog]

FutureShop was obliging enough to issue me a store credit.

Spore: in and out of my life in less than 24 hours.

You aren't missing a thing. It is ridiculous to even claim there is any sort of 'evolution' going on. In this game you can have 9 legs and 2 heads one day, wings and 1 leg the next day, evolve into something with 8 legs and 14 arms the next. and you only get better and stronger the more arms legs and things you add, there isn't any evolutionary disadvantage to idiotic design. I just hated this game.

 

[maze]

I thought it was legal too but just looked it up. According to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act it is illegal to circumvent any security measures that are intended to prevent piracy even if you are not violating copyright. As far as a 'backup' is concerned apparently you are only allowed temporary backup for the purpose of computer repair or maintenance. It seems you are not allowed to rip, or possesses a ripped copy, of any software except under certain circumstances. So far as I can tell the only way you can have a ripped copy of a game is if the original intended hardware for using it is 'obsolete' such as old NES games and the like.

Just so all of you that were mistaken like me are aware.

However there is a proposed Media Consumer's Rights Act[/url].

That is a highly debatable interpretation of the law that probably would not stand up in a court.

First of all, the courts have upheld circumvention where the purpose is to use the media on a device that wouldn't otherwise allow it. For example, reverse-engineering copy-protection to play media on linux, or removing copy-protection to let an itunes song play on a non-apple mp3 player. Now here we have someone who wants to use the content (game) on a device (non-dvd computer) that wouldn't otherwise allow it.

Second, and more importantly, the copy-prevention circumvention is not done by the downloader! It is done by the original person who bypasses the protection, so the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions don't apply. Whether other portions of the DMCA or copyright law apply is not clear at this time. I'm sure a good lawyer could make a solid argument either way.

 

[DaveC426913]

You aren't missing a thing. It is ridiculous to even claim there is any sort of 'evolution' going on. In this game you can have 9 legs and 2 heads one day, wings and 1 leg the next day, evolve into something with 8 legs and 14 arms the next. and you only get better and stronger the more arms legs and things you add, there isn't any evolutionary disadvantage to idiotic design. I just hated this game.

This is the first game I've been interested in since SimCity.
I normally do not play games (buirned that out before my 20th bd), but I like "software toys" like this.

The funny thing about Spore is that it promotes exactly the opposite of what it was intrended to promote - it promotes "intelligent design".

 

[LowlyPion]

The funny thing about Spore is that it promotes exactly the opposite of what it was intrended to promote - it promotes "intelligent design".

As the auteur of the creatures you are designing intelligently one supposes but you are also really just going with the flow and any unwise choices you make about extra legs or eyeballs or bulk that needs feeding or the like that doesn't efficiently forward your progress in you environment can result in extinction or limited expansion.

The best I can say is that intelligent design then is in the eye of the beholder as far as Spore goes.

Now if only to find a system that it works on.

In that sense the creators of the game have failed in their own attempt at intelligent design by limiting the universe of computers that it even works on. For instance for you the game has gone extinct.

 

[OrbitalPower]

My computer meets those system requirements and its several years old using outdated AMD socket 939 technology in it. I do use a dual-core processor though.

I've actually been wanting to try this "Spore" game. I like games that are fun and interesting and not overly complicated games that make me feel like I'm doing work in a graphic design or autocad program, or adventure games that take hours to complete where I never know where I'm going or what I'm supposed to do. However, I've heard Spore uses very restrictive DRM technology that makes it somewhat hard to run the game. Has anybody here experienced problems running the game on the OS side? My windows version is Vista.

 

[DaveC426913]

The best I can say is that intelligent design then is in the eye of the beholder as far as Spore goes.

I think 'in the eye of the beholder' is pretty much how Intelligent Design goes.



"Intelligent Design" doesn't mean intelligently designed; it simply means "designed by an intelligence".

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

That is a highly debatable interpretation of the law that probably would not stand up in a court.

First of all, the courts have upheld circumvention where the purpose is to use the media on a device that wouldn't otherwise allow it. For example, reverse-engineering copy-protection to play media on linux, or removing copy-protection to let an itunes song play on a non-apple mp3 player. Now here we have someone who wants to use the content (game) on a device (non-dvd computer) that wouldn't otherwise allow it.

Second, and more importantly, the copy-prevention circumvention is not done by the downloader! It is done by the original person who bypasses the protection, so the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions don't apply. Whether other portions of the DMCA or copyright law apply is not clear at this time. I'm sure a good lawyer could make a solid argument either way.

I've heard of these cases myself which is why I thought it was legal. The letter of the law though says otherwise. Illegalization of the circumvention of antipiracy software was one of the primary purposes of the DMCA and it specifically states that it does not matter whether or not you break copyright law aswell. This is one of the controversial aspects of the DMCA. And as far as possessing a 'backup' there is only one provision for this under 'fair use' and it is as I have noted in my original post, temporary backup for maintenance purposes. So regardless of whether someone else ripped and cracked the program you are not allowed possession of it even if you claim it as a 'backup'.

I'm sure that with a good lawyer and the right judge you could win the case. But everyone should know that according to the law it is illegal. Also, as Evo pointed out, giving such advice is then prohibited by PF guidelines.

 

[DaveC426913]

Just for the record, as the OP, this discussion about copyrighting is way off-base for me.

I don't feel so strongly about it as to request the thread be locked, but...


My kids snicker when I tell them that I haven't bought an iPod because songs cost a dollar each to download.

I tell em the price for my integrity is more than a dollar.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Just for the record, as the OP, this discussion about copyrighting is way off-base for me.

I don't feel so strongly about it as to request the thread be locked, but...

Sorry. I just felt people should know since copy making and such were brought up. I didn't know myself until I decided to look it up after reading those comments.




At any rate. Since you were interested in Spore, have you ever played Black&White? I thought it was a pretty neat game. The second didn't seem to me to be as good as the first though.

 

[DaveC426913]

This is the first game I've been interested in since SimCity.

I am such a liar! Of course I went nutso for Myst and its progeny.

At any rate. Since you were interested in Spore, have you ever played Black&White?

No, never heard of it.

 

[maze]

Sorry to derail your thread.

I agree with Ape about the game Black and White. Excellent stuff right there, and with similar ideas as Spore. Its a bit of an older game too (came out maybe 8 years ago?), so maybe that will help with the system requirements.

 

[Santa1]

I also have to apologize for derailing your thread.

Spore is a good concept, ruined by production imo. Could have been much better, (and of course much worse).

 

[DaveC426913]

Spore is a good concept, ruined by production imo. Could have been much better, (and of course much worse).

I wonder about this sometimes. I wonder how far into the design stage the designer (Will Wright) got before he realized the game would not be what he imagined it to be - that it would not mimic evolution. I wonder just when he sat up in bed one night saying "Oh my God, I'm building exactly the opposite of what I meant to build."

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I wonder about this sometimes. I wonder how far into the design stage the designer (Will Wright) got before he realized the game would not be what he imagined it to be - that it would not mimic evolution. I wonder just when he sat up in bed one night saying "Oh my God, I'm building exactly the opposite of what I meant to build."

It's possible that he was building it the way he wanted and someone above him decided that it didn't work. Not many people(gamers) would be happy with a lack of control.

 

[DaveC426913]

It's possible that he was building it the way he wanted and someone above him decided that it didn't work. Not many people(gamers) would be happy with a lack of control.

Possibly, but as an expert game designer, I would think he would have seen for himself as he was designing that he'd reached a fork in the road, where he had to choose between accuracy and playability.