EA has been SUED 5 TIMES MERRY CHRISTMAS EA MUHAHA ARR!

[RayvLil]

You know what would be completely AWESOME? If the judge or members of the jury were active in the sims community. Like, they know all the dirt going on with Eaxis, TSR, paysites, etc.

EA would probably have lawyers smart enough to ask during jury selection, if any possibly jurist have any knowledge of The Sims, EA, the Drama and so on.

Would a case like this have a jury? I didn't pay attention in business law 

[Paleoanth]

Unfortunately, it looks like sales are swarming.  But I guess that means that pirating hasn't cost them too much:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/151615/spore_hits_1_million_mark_despite_drm.html

[SoggyFox]

I don't know that business/civil suits have juries, since severe punishment like imprisonment or death isn't a option.

i could be wrong though, so don't quote me on that.

[Missbonbon]

Unfortunately, it looks like sales are swarming.  But I guess that means that pirating hasn't cost them too much:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/151615/spore_hits_1_million_mark_despite_drm.html

The way I see it, yes it sucks that they made so much money off of a piece of software that can ruin your computer. At the same time, that increases the chances of said software ruining peoples computers. Which in turn would add more people to the class action lawsuit.

[SnarkyShark]

Unfortunately, it looks like sales are swarming.  But I guess that means that pirating hasn't cost them too much:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/151615/spore_hits_1_million_mark_despite_drm.html

That article reeks of damage control. GamePro acknowledges the disgruntled fans and then sticks their tongue out at them by essentially saying "nothing you're doing is making any difference - ha". Also, referring to the Amazon reviews as a "hijacking" was a pretty cheap shot (hijackers=terrorists).

I wonder how much ad revenue EA generates for them.

[Sherry]

"Given the sales numbers today, we at GamePro can understand why Gibeau was not fully committed to an apology, and why Spore forum moderators were so quick to silence further criticism regarding the DRM key, called SecuROM. "If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum," said one moderator, before threatening that a ban from playing the game was possible if criticisms persisted.

When one takes into account these sales numbers, as well as the 85 aggregate review score the title has received, it would appear as though a majority of Spore owners are pretty satisfied with their new creature-building experience."

What?  Just because EA made money means that people who are having issues with the product have no rights to complain or vent on the companies website, or warn others!  So basically F*CK the little guy huh?  Yeah that's a message I would totally be proud to stand for.   

[SoggyFox]

I'll still stick by the Forbes article that said that EA's current business model was a bad idea.

[Paden]

Thing is, if you buy a product that is defective/fucked up, you have the right to complain and make your grievance known to other potential customers. What they are doing is censorship and tons of bullshit, all to protect their bottom line, which is their profit margin. They also fail to see that it's OUR money keeping their bloated asses afloat, so if they don't wanna sink, they'd better be kissing our asses fairly soon or we're gonna gut the fuckers by refusing to open our wallets for their shit. Stuff THAT in your pipe and smoke it, JR, ya stupid bastard...

[SoggyFox]

What's so funny, is that with the stock market threatening to tailspin, and the banks in trouble, EA is in more danger than say, General Mills.  People need food, they don't need computer games.

And an idea of how badly the banks are doing here in the states, my sister and future bro-in-law were told last minute that they needed to pay for something else, one of those hidden charges.  My FBIL looked at them and said, 'Fine, we'll go find another house - the bank paid the cost instead, just to sell the house.

So, if the banks are willing to kiss ass to keep afloat, you'd think a luxury company would be smart enough to.

[neriana]

What they are doing is censorship and tons of bullshit

Aren't they disabling peoples' keys for "causing trouble" on the Spore forums? That's not just censorship, that's theft.

Also, they are morons who have no idea how to run a company. This is a really good article by one of Stardock's developers on the fact that most people running PC game companies don't know how to do it.

[Paden]

Yeah, they've told people on the Sporum if they continue with the SecuROM talk, they could be banned, which would mean the loss of their account and they'd have to buy another copy of the game. Talk about shady. Stealing any amount over $1.50 is a felony charge, I believe, so I wonder what they'd think of fifty bucks getting ripped off by a game company?

[Saraswati]

Hey Neriana.. They backed down from that.. They now want to keep it in one or two threads

I wouldn't be too worried about the pc world article.. one million is not that great news when they expected to sell two..  

[neriana]

I wouldn't be too worried about the pc world article.. one million is not that great news when they expected to sell two..  

Does anyone know what the cost of development was? It had to be huge, Spore's been in development since the Cambrian period .

[Saraswati]

I don't know if this is reliable but.. *laughes her arse off* http://microscopiq.com/2007/06/spore-cost-what/

and here's another article..  http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/12/technology/copeland_spore.fortune/index.htm

I think at best estimate, they need to sell at least four or five million copies, and the way things are going, that ain't happening *roars with laughter*

[Quinctia]

EA would probably have lawyers smart enough to ask during jury selection, if any possibly jurist have any knowledge of The Sims, EA, the Drama and so on.

Would a case like this have a jury? I didn't pay attention in business law 

I served on a jury for a criminal case last year.  Rather local level (county).  However, some people from the larger pool of people got randomly drawn to be part of a pool for a civil trial.  Locally, our civil trials have a jury, but with less members.  I can't remember the exact number.

Of course, I don't know what determines the circumstances of a civil hearing, I know they don't all necessarily go to a jury.