Hi There Destructoid, I have come across something I think your readers should be aware of.
I recently bought Spore, for both me and my wife, as both of us have Spore accounts and installed on both our machines. After setup, I logged in fine to the on-line features, then I tried it on my wife's machine.
We were greeted by a message that told us she was not able to have on-line privileges.
I contacted EA Support thinking the reason was due to the server troubles they have been having and got this reply:-
"Hello Ste,
Thank you for contacting us here at Electronic Arts Technical Support. I understand that your wife wishes to use a different account for SPORE™.
Unfortunately, code registration is restricted to 1 legitimate entitlement creation per code only. We apologise for any disappointment or inconvenience that this causes you.
Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts games in the future, please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help knowledgebase (http://electronicarts.co.uk/support).
Thanks!
Anne
EA Support Centre, UK and Ireland
http://electronicarts.co.uk
http://electronicarts.ie"
Now this wound me up as it was, the fact they had changed this from the Creature Creator which allows multiple accounts.
I then saw this on page 62 of the EU standard retail manual:-
"You may have multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game"
Which according to EA support is a bare faced lie. I just thought others should be aware of what EA is pulling here, and this won't be the last they hear from me on the matter either.
You should yell at them angrily. I want to have a world full of horrible abominations that roam around the universe being assholes. My girlfriend said "Not on my account you can't.
Its as if as all fifteen gamers with girlfriends/wives were suddenly silenced. And nothing of value was lost.
Sounds like what Valve does in which they lock everything to one account.
And why are you 2 being sucks dicks? I mean Reaprar I get, he has no other joys in life, but random? Its a legitimate complaint, if I buy a PC game I expect to be able to install it on as many machines as I want.
My girlfriend's already given me a firm warning not to mess up her world on spore. I've already spoken at length about my plans for being as big an asshole in Spore as possible. Same with The Sims and Sim City, I want a world with nothing but chaos and insanity.
If it seriously says you're allowed multiples (or heck even implies) on the same thing I highly suggest following this up on some consumer sites as Azeil has mentioned. I'm seeing this should be like Xbox Live titles - where they're tied to one system but can be used by all who access it.
I've sent an e-mail saying pretty much the same here to Consumerist.com, as well as a couple of other gaming sites.
I also got this back from EA support after I informed them of the quote in the manual and thretening them with trading standards:-
"Hello Ste,
Thank you for contacting us here at Electronic Arts Technical Support. Due to the nature of your issue, I will be escalating this to our Senior Support Staff. I apologise for any prolonged delays this might cause, but please rest assured that we are trying to handle your issue in a timely manner. During this time, you may still update your incident with additional information that might help us resolve your issue without causing any additional delay. To update your incident click the link above that says, to view or update your question from our support site, click here.
Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts games in the future, please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help knowledgebase (http://electronicarts.co.uk/support).
Thanks!
Anne
EA Support Centre, UK and Ireland"
Looks like the right hand doesn't know the left ones scratching it's arse.
"I recently bought Spore, for both me and my wife, as both of us have Spore accounts and installed on both our machines"
When you buy a computer game your purchasing the license for it to be installed on one PC only.
Know your gaming copyright Laws.
If they do let you have multiple accounts it'll only be on the same computer only. Otherwise they'll just frigging sue you for copyright piracy.
Thats kind've like me installing windows XP on several different pc's with the same serial then ringing microsoft with the expression of 'WTF is going on??'
If that's the case, she still cannot log onto my PC with her account, which is the one I log onto, not only that, they allow you to install the software on 3 PC legally, and the manual states you can have multiple accounts per installation, which should mean for all 3 PC's if their wording is to be taken as it is printed.
So it's nothing like your example when they give you control of 3 different PC installs and state that you can multiple accounts per installation.
I got another e-mail from the support staff, in which they admit the information in the manual is misleading:-
Quote:
Hello Ste,
This is Canon from Electronic Arts Customer Support. I understand that you are encountering issues with the Spore game.
I deeply apologise for the inconvenience; contrary to the information displayed on the manual, it is indeed not possible to entitle your Spore registration code to more than one account. Therefore, at the moment, only your account would have the necessary entitlement to be able to access the game's online features.
However, as a special consideration to your case, if you have a second e-mail address that you would also like to use for creatures, kindly provide this to me in your next response. I will continue looking into your case from there.
Best Regards,
Canon D.
Electronic Arts™ Customer Support
Support Centre
This is my reply back.
Quote:
Thankyou for your reply on this subject and your efforts to find a resolution, the other e-mail address I would like to use is:- xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com
I am still very disappointed that this is not a feature as advertised and I think a lot of other users will be too and I have to say, is the first time
I have ever had any dissatisfaction from an EA product.
I hope you can find some way to possibly enable this feature for other users too in the future.
Thanks
Ste.
I wasn't lying either, I have not previously had problems with an EA game I've store bought.
So this appears that the manual text does mean what we thought and is false info but if they do resolve this for me, then I can't really carry on fighting them, as they have resolved my problem for me.
i'm right there with you, wanted to use one of my "validations" to create an account for my husband so he didn't have to depend on me *not* playing to enjoy it (this was before i discovered Offline Mode), and as the manual suggests, i whould have been able to. alas, if only EA-US was as courteous i would try what you did. for now, i suppose time will tell.
My latest and final e-mail to EA Support after waiting over 24 hours for a reply.
"It seems like nobody now is willing to deal with this, so I'm giving it until the time I finish work today to recieve some sort of resolution that works, then not only will I get onto Trading Standards in the UK over this, I will be sending a letter to PCZone's watchdog column as well other games magazines.
The server issues alone have made this launch of Spore a farce, yet add in the change in way accounts work from The Creature Creator and the blatent lies in the manual, with absolutely no resolution from EA after 5 days since launch is just ridiculous.
Not even an explanation of the server problems from anyone at EA.
Sorry this e-mail couldn't be one of thanks instead, but I've had enough.
Yours angrily
Ste.
P.S. I will not be buying anymore EA games and certainly not another copy of Spore, I will also be cancelling my pre-order of Crysis Warhead as well. "
This is Canon again. I deeply apologise for the continued difficulties with the Spore game. There was a minor issue with the entitlement, which has now been fixed. You may now retry with logging in to your 'xxxx@xxxxx.com' account, you should now have the same privileges with the aforementioned account.
Regarding the screenshot you provided with the "conflicting" statement, this is not a mistaken statement as an account that already has Spore entitled to it should be able to make use of the said option. Since you now have two accounts with Spore entitlements, you may use the Logout feature as needed.
Best Regards,
Canon D.
Electronic Arts™ Customer Support
Indeed. I can now log on with two accounts as I needed in the first please.
I guess I should be happy, and I am, but I can't help feeling that if it can be done, why are they holding it back?
So if you do want multiple accounts, pester the **** out of EA and threaten them with Trading Standards etc, worked for me.
EDIT:- The funny thing is, I was getting on to Trading Standards this afternoon too, no reason too now.
you should email Kotaku (contacts are on left of webpage) w/ your story & how you managed to get 2 accounts. If they publish it it may push EA to allow it for everybody.
Kotaku is just now publishing a story almost identical to your original one.
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That's awfully underhanded, I'm sorry man.
You should yell at them angrily. I want to have a world full of horrible abominations that roam around the universe being assholes. My girlfriend said "Not on my account you can't.
Its as if as all fifteen gamers with girlfriends/wives were suddenly silenced. And nothing of value was lost.
Sounds like what Valve does in which they lock everything to one account.
And why are you 2 being sucks dicks? I mean Reaprar I get, he has no other joys in life, but random? Its a legitimate complaint, if I buy a PC game I expect to be able to install it on as many machines as I want.
@Kyousuke Nabu
I was agreeing with him!
My girlfriend's already given me a firm warning not to mess up her world on spore. I've already spoken at length about my plans for being as big an asshole in Spore as possible. Same with The Sims and Sim City, I want a world with nothing but chaos and insanity.
Is it possible to have multiple Spore accounts on the same machine?
Secret Cow - If you buy it twice looks like.
go after them email bombard them call them out on Consumerist.com
and I think you might see some result pretty quick
If it seriously says you're allowed multiples (or heck even implies) on the same thing I highly suggest following this up on some consumer sites as Azeil has mentioned. I'm seeing this should be like Xbox Live titles - where they're tied to one system but can be used by all who access it.
yeah man, fuck them in their big corporate asses with a shark
I've sent an e-mail saying pretty much the same here to Consumerist.com, as well as a couple of other gaming sites.
I also got this back from EA support after I informed them of the quote in the manual and thretening them with trading standards:-
"Hello Ste,
Thank you for contacting us here at Electronic Arts Technical Support. Due to the nature of your issue, I will be escalating this to our Senior Support Staff. I apologise for any prolonged delays this might cause, but please rest assured that we are trying to handle your issue in a timely manner. During this time, you may still update your incident with additional information that might help us resolve your issue without causing any additional delay. To update your incident click the link above that says, to view or update your question from our support site, click here.
Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts games in the future, please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help knowledgebase (http://electronicarts.co.uk/support).
Thanks!
Anne
EA Support Centre, UK and Ireland"
Looks like the right hand doesn't know the left ones scratching it's arse.
It's EA. You wouldn't recognise them if they weren't arseholes.
"I recently bought Spore, for both me and my wife, as both of us have Spore accounts and installed on both our machines"
When you buy a computer game your purchasing the license for it to be installed on one PC only.
Know your gaming copyright Laws.
If they do let you have multiple accounts it'll only be on the same computer only. Otherwise they'll just frigging sue you for copyright piracy.
Thats kind've like me installing windows XP on several different pc's with the same serial then ringing microsoft with the expression of 'WTF is going on??'
If that's the case, she still cannot log onto my PC with her account, which is the one I log onto, not only that, they allow you to install the software on 3 PC legally, and the manual states you can have multiple accounts per installation, which should mean for all 3 PC's if their wording is to be taken as it is printed.
So it's nothing like your example when they give you control of 3 different PC installs and state that you can multiple accounts per installation.
If it really says that in the manual you should email them back & tell them it says that.
do it.
I got another e-mail from the support staff, in which they admit the information in the manual is misleading:-
Quote:
Hello Ste,
This is Canon from Electronic Arts Customer Support. I understand that you are encountering issues with the Spore game.
I deeply apologise for the inconvenience; contrary to the information displayed on the manual, it is indeed not possible to entitle your Spore registration code to more than one account. Therefore, at the moment, only your account would have the necessary entitlement to be able to access the game's online features.
However, as a special consideration to your case, if you have a second e-mail address that you would also like to use for creatures, kindly provide this to me in your next response. I will continue looking into your case from there.
Best Regards,
Canon D.
Electronic Arts™ Customer Support
Support Centre
This is my reply back.
Quote:
Thankyou for your reply on this subject and your efforts to find a resolution, the other e-mail address I would like to use is:- xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com
I am still very disappointed that this is not a feature as advertised and I think a lot of other users will be too and I have to say, is the first time
I have ever had any dissatisfaction from an EA product.
I hope you can find some way to possibly enable this feature for other users too in the future.
Thanks
Ste.
I wasn't lying either, I have not previously had problems with an EA game I've store bought.
So this appears that the manual text does mean what we thought and is false info but if they do resolve this for me, then I can't really carry on fighting them, as they have resolved my problem for me.
i'm right there with you, wanted to use one of my "validations" to create an account for my husband so he didn't have to depend on me *not* playing to enjoy it (this was before i discovered Offline Mode), and as the manual suggests, i whould have been able to. alas, if only EA-US was as courteous i would try what you did. for now, i suppose time will tell.
@stemot
I began disliking EA when they put in game ads in Battlefield 2142. I had planned on buying that game, but i refused to buy it because of that.
looks like you're not alone in being unsatisfied w/ EA's policies re: Spore.
http://www.destructoid.com/spore-customers-lash-out-at-drm-sabotage-amazon-score-102807.phtml
My latest and final e-mail to EA Support after waiting over 24 hours for a reply.
"It seems like nobody now is willing to deal with this, so I'm giving it until the time I finish work today to recieve some sort of resolution that works, then not only will I get onto Trading Standards in the UK over this, I will be sending a letter to PCZone's watchdog column as well other games magazines.
The server issues alone have made this launch of Spore a farce, yet add in the change in way accounts work from The Creature Creator and the blatent lies in the manual, with absolutely no resolution from EA after 5 days since launch is just ridiculous.
Not even an explanation of the server problems from anyone at EA.
Sorry this e-mail couldn't be one of thanks instead, but I've had enough.
Yours angrily
Ste.
P.S. I will not be buying anymore EA games and certainly not another copy of Spore, I will also be cancelling my pre-order of Crysis Warhead as well. "
I just received this e-mail from EA:-
Quote:
Hello Ste,
This is Canon again. I deeply apologise for the continued difficulties with the Spore game. There was a minor issue with the entitlement, which has now been fixed. You may now retry with logging in to your 'xxxx@xxxxx.com' account, you should now have the same privileges with the aforementioned account.
Regarding the screenshot you provided with the "conflicting" statement, this is not a mistaken statement as an account that already has Spore entitled to it should be able to make use of the said option. Since you now have two accounts with Spore entitlements, you may use the Logout feature as needed.
Best Regards,
Canon D.
Electronic Arts™ Customer Support
Indeed. I can now log on with two accounts as I needed in the first please.
I guess I should be happy, and I am, but I can't help feeling that if it can be done, why are they holding it back?
So if you do want multiple accounts, pester the **** out of EA and threaten them with Trading Standards etc, worked for me.
EDIT:- The funny thing is, I was getting on to Trading Standards this afternoon too, no reason too now.
@stemot
you should email Kotaku (contacts are on left of webpage) w/ your story & how you managed to get 2 accounts. If they publish it it may push EA to allow it for everybody.
Kotaku is just now publishing a story almost identical to your original one.
http://kotaku.com/5049765/spore-only-allows-one-account-even-if-youre-playing-with-family