Comments on: Not too early to label SPORE the most disappointing game of 2008 http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/ VTOR - Virtual TO Reality, featuring Second Life Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:04:16 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Tim http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11722 Tim Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:02:54 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11722 Guy above is completely correct......it's better to do one thing awsomely than say 10 things sub-standard. I feel like such a mug for sucking up all the media hype. The creature creator was the best bit and had obviously taken up most of the time, all the other sections were unpropionate to each other, cell phase you could complete with your eyes closed and space stage was so long and in some respects impossible. Yes the possibilities were endless, but not necessarily in a good way. Bring on spore 2, throw all those shocking expansion packs in the bin and start over, theres still an awsome idea in there somewhere it just needs to be online multiplayer interactive, the space stage can be infinately big to support it. Guy above is completely correct……it’s better to do one thing awsomely than say 10 things sub-standard. I feel like such a mug for sucking up all the media hype. The creature creator was the best bit and had obviously taken up most of the time, all the other sections were unpropionate to each other, cell phase you could complete with your eyes closed and space stage was so long and in some respects impossible. Yes the possibilities were endless, but not necessarily in a good way. Bring on spore 2, throw all those shocking expansion packs in the bin and start over, theres still an awsome idea in there somewhere it just needs to be online multiplayer interactive, the space stage can be infinately big to support it.

]]> By: alexandru http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11350 alexandru Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:10:32 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11350 I couldnt agree more with the pyotr and TD goodliffe, i personally wasnt extremely excited like those obsessors on forums posting comments only consisting of the word "spore" but my brother was and i was pretty excited about it. so my brother studied the creation of the game and watched videos, documentaries, ect for months before the game came out. when he got it (special edition) he did all the extra stuff (the DVDs and bonuses) then played the game for about 1 week and stopped playing. he would go on every month or so for about an hour but now hes stopped playing all together. i myself before the game came out said to myself "with all this hype, its destined to be either the greatest game ever, or the most dissapointing piece of crud on the planet and biggest waste of money" so bottom line is there was more excitment during the creation of spore and about the creation of spore than when it actually came out and people just went "meh". i personally got bored quicker than my brother though. whats wrong with the game? id say: -gameplay wasnt worked on enough by EA, they focused too much energy on the creatures concept and creators, so it was utterly boring and almost a chore, which is why most disgruntled gamers stopped playing -the graphics albeit were made to be "family friendly" and such but i think that EA was also just very lazy, it could have been so much more but the graphics were no better than say, an older game like ray-man 2, which i would rather play than spore. -EA i think gave themselves a little too much credit for their game and patted themselves on the back even before it was finished, lauding it with all kinds of interviews. but they spent more time on media hype than on the game... -EA bit themselves a bit more than they could chew. what they were claiming was a "sim everything" which, just the concept, sounds insane. so the basic point, listen carefully: SPORE MADE A BUNCH OF GAMING FEATURES AND CONCEPTS AND MADE THEM INTO ONE HUGE SIM EVERYTHING SO YOU COULD HAVE IT IN 1 GAME, BUT WHILE THEY TRIED TO FIT EVERYTHING IN THERE THEY DID A SH**TY JOB ON EACH FEATURE TO COMPACT MORE IN THERE, MORE QUICKLY. SO WHILE YOU CAN PLAY SPORE WITH ALL THE FEATURES OF OTHER GAMES IN 1 GAME BUT ALL OF THEM REALLY F***ING SH**Y, YOU COULD GET 5 OTHER GAMES FOR THE SAME PRICE AND THE SAME FEATURES THAT ARE ALL MUCH BETTER IN THAT ASPECT FOR ABOUT THE SAME PRICE AS SPORE. *phew*! honestly i could go on for days, maybe weeks about why the game was horrible but ill leave saying, some people liked it, loved it, but mostly hated it. but for what the game itself was, it shouldve just been a free online game like runescape or something... it was much more money than it was worth. spore: 0/10 0/5 stars 0/100 billion I couldnt agree more with the pyotr and TD goodliffe, i personally wasnt extremely excited like those obsessors on forums posting comments only consisting of the word “spore” but my brother was and i was pretty excited about it. so my brother studied the creation of the game and watched videos, documentaries, ect for months before the game came out. when he got it (special edition) he did all the extra stuff (the DVDs and bonuses) then played the game for about 1 week and stopped playing. he would go on every month or so for about an hour but now hes stopped playing all together. i myself before the game came out said to myself “with all this hype, its destined to be either the greatest game ever, or the most dissapointing piece of crud on the planet and biggest waste of money” so bottom line is there was more excitment during the creation of spore and about the creation of spore than when it actually came out and people just went “meh”.

i personally got bored quicker than my brother though.
whats wrong with the game? id say:
-gameplay wasnt worked on enough by EA, they focused too much energy on the creatures concept and creators, so it was utterly boring and almost a chore, which is why most disgruntled gamers stopped playing
-the graphics albeit were made to be “family friendly” and such but i think that EA was also just very lazy, it could have been so much more but the graphics were no better than say, an older game like ray-man 2, which i would rather play than spore.
-EA i think gave themselves a little too much credit for their game and patted themselves on the back even before it was finished, lauding it with all kinds of interviews. but they spent more time on media hype than on the game…
-EA bit themselves a bit more than they could chew. what they were claiming was a “sim everything” which, just the concept, sounds insane. so the basic point, listen carefully: SPORE MADE A BUNCH OF GAMING FEATURES AND CONCEPTS AND MADE THEM INTO ONE HUGE SIM EVERYTHING SO YOU COULD HAVE IT IN 1 GAME, BUT WHILE THEY TRIED TO FIT EVERYTHING IN THERE THEY DID A SH**TY JOB ON EACH FEATURE TO COMPACT MORE IN THERE, MORE QUICKLY. SO WHILE YOU CAN PLAY SPORE WITH ALL THE FEATURES OF OTHER GAMES IN 1 GAME BUT ALL OF THEM REALLY F***ING SH**Y, YOU COULD GET 5 OTHER GAMES FOR THE SAME PRICE AND THE SAME FEATURES THAT ARE ALL MUCH BETTER IN THAT ASPECT FOR ABOUT THE SAME PRICE AS SPORE.
*phew*!
honestly i could go on for days, maybe weeks about why the game was horrible but ill leave saying, some people liked it, loved it, but mostly hated it. but for what the game itself was, it shouldve just been a free online game like runescape or something… it was much more money than it was worth.
spore:
0/10
0/5 stars
0/100 billion

]]> By: Pyrobn http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11149 Pyrobn Wed, 22 Oct 2008 07:36:12 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11149 Oh please, grow a pair of balls guys. Please is being so conservative rating Spore. Yes, we all know it was a great effort, and that there is an incredible work behind this game. STILL, it is an huge dissapointment, and in the words of IGN (which btw, may be one of the most interesting things they've said in the last few years): Spore is a great accomplishment, unfortunately, not a really great game. Oh please, grow a pair of balls guys. Please is being so conservative rating Spore. Yes, we all know it was a great effort, and that there is an incredible work behind this game. STILL, it is an huge dissapointment, and in the words of IGN (which btw, may be one of the most interesting things they’ve said in the last few years): Spore is a great accomplishment, unfortunately, not a really great game.

]]> By: Celeste http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11112 Celeste Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:26:01 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11112 The creature creator became less powerful in the game, the transitions between the game stages were jarring and incomplete, and the gameplay became boring after mere minutes. The creature creator became less powerful in the game, the transitions between the game stages were jarring and incomplete, and the gameplay became boring after mere minutes.

]]> By: TD Goodliffe http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11104 TD Goodliffe Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:43:56 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11104 Pyotr - I hear your pain. The game could be so much more .. instead it's mostly window dressing. Nacon wrote: "You didn’t say “Spore sucks” because it was too cute or wasn’t clean enough… not enough action…. the voices were squeaky… english wasn’t english…. or anything about its gaming value itself." Wrong again. Did you bother to follow the link I gave you and watch the two videos where I spent over an hour going through my first experience with the game? I wasn't talking about DRM there, I was talking gameplay, installation, the whole first time gamer experience. I didn't restate all my opinions on the gameplay here in this post -- and didn't have to -- because I've already been there and done that. As for someone not liking DRM means that person supports piracy? You seriously believe that? Pyotr – I hear your pain. The game could be so much more .. instead it’s mostly window dressing.

Nacon wrote: “You didn’t say “Spore sucks” because it was too cute or wasn’t clean enough… not enough action…. the voices were squeaky… english wasn’t english…. or anything about its gaming value itself.”

Wrong again.

Did you bother to follow the link I gave you and watch the two videos where I spent over an hour going through my first experience with the game? I wasn’t talking about DRM there, I was talking gameplay, installation, the whole first time gamer experience. I didn’t restate all my opinions on the gameplay here in this post — and didn’t have to — because I’ve already been there and done that.

As for someone not liking DRM means that person supports piracy? You seriously believe that?

]]> By: Nacon http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11101 Nacon Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:07:27 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11101 Yes, of course Amazon is a "popular" site but that proves a problem in public relation to "web" users than Walmart or GameStop customers. There are ton of pirates willing to prove DRM are unfair by rating the MOST pirated game to date... a one star. I don't support pirate because it's illegal... but what bothered me that people are willing to pirate Spore without paying a damn cent. I know I paid 50$ for my copy of Spore, but after playing it, I think company (yeah ok... maybe not EA) Maxis deserve more than 50$. I know you didn't say Amazon's rating system is a proof of concept level every gamers.... but how would you know if those "web" customer's opinion would matter at all? You haven't paid enough attention to DRM and Pirate related news. Too many people are upset about one-account per CD because they don't realizes how many games being pirated in the past. They have been hurting by loss of value long before DRM came to action. On that day and a day after Spore came out, few of my (idiot) friends mentioned to me that they saw so many copies of Spores on The Pirate Bay site and few other Bit Torrent sites. Numbers of download had passed more than 500,000. about 12,500 or so in each file/cd. That's insane. 500,000 x 50$ = 25,000,000$. 25 Millions dollar loss-damage, is that an excuse for not putting up an DRM protection? Without DRM, the loss-damage could have been much higher by 75% to 90%. Don't get me wrong.... I don't like one-account per CD deal. I purely blame that on pirates taking away what was once a great "shopping`n gaming" value. And here you are... claiming Spore might be most disappointing game in 2008 because of DRM, which has nothing to do with gaming value itself. You didn't say "Spore sucks" because it was too cute or wasn't clean enough... not enough action.... the voices were squeaky... english wasn't english.... or anything about its gaming value itself. You went ahead based it off on EA's DRM legal term instead of Maxis' hard efforts. In this post, you are supporting pirates by saying their DRM is unfair. But I know you don't really intended that way, did you? http://www.forbes.com/intelligentinfrastructure/2008/09/12/spore-drm-piracy-tech-security-cx_ag_mji_0912spore.html As I said before... best to assume everyone is an idiot... Yes, of course Amazon is a “popular” site but that proves a problem in public relation to “web” users than Walmart or GameStop customers.

There are ton of pirates willing to prove DRM are unfair by rating the MOST pirated game to date… a one star. I don’t support pirate because it’s illegal… but what bothered me that people are willing to pirate Spore without paying a damn cent. I know I paid 50$ for my copy of Spore, but after playing it, I think company (yeah ok… maybe not EA) Maxis deserve more than 50$.

I know you didn’t say Amazon’s rating system is a proof of concept level every gamers…. but how would you know if those “web” customer’s opinion would matter at all? You haven’t paid enough attention to DRM and Pirate related news. Too many people are upset about one-account per CD because they don’t realizes how many games being pirated in the past. They have been hurting by loss of value long before DRM came to action.

On that day and a day after Spore came out, few of my (idiot) friends mentioned to me that they saw so many copies of Spores on The Pirate Bay site and few other Bit Torrent sites. Numbers of download had passed more than 500,000. about 12,500 or so in each file/cd. That’s insane. 500,000 x 50$ = 25,000,000$. 25 Millions dollar loss-damage, is that an excuse for not putting up an DRM protection? Without DRM, the loss-damage could have been much higher by 75% to 90%.

Don’t get me wrong…. I don’t like one-account per CD deal. I purely blame that on pirates taking away what was once a great “shopping`n gaming” value. And here you are… claiming Spore might be most disappointing game in 2008 because of DRM, which has nothing to do with gaming value itself. You didn’t say “Spore sucks” because it was too cute or wasn’t clean enough… not enough action…. the voices were squeaky… english wasn’t english…. or anything about its gaming value itself. You went ahead based it off on EA’s DRM legal term instead of Maxis’ hard efforts.

In this post, you are supporting pirates by saying their DRM is unfair. But I know you don’t really intended that way, did you?

http://www.forbes.com/intelligentinfrastructure/2008/09/12/spore-drm-piracy-tech-security-cx_ag_mji_0912spore.html

As I said before… best to assume everyone is an idiot…

]]> By: Pyotr http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11100 Pyotr Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:42:30 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11100 Spore actually was horribly disappointing. The creature creator became less powerful in the game, the transitions between the game stages were jarring and incomplete, and the gameplay became boring after mere minutes. For a game with a supposed infinite amount of content, this game somehow made everything feel the same. The terrain hardly changes on planets, the creatures don't even look that different after a while, and the mini-games are shallow. I have honestly never played a strategy game as horrible as the civilization stage of Spore. Having to choose between two paths the entire time was lame too. Do I want to play musical instruments and dance for other creatures or murder them? I must want to do both because I'm an omnivore. You mean I get to make 3 units for the strategy game? I can be religious OR war faring? My cities have 4 different types of buildings? My spaceship can visit endless amounts of planets that look almost identical? What a limitless world I've paid for! Spore actually was horribly disappointing. The creature creator became less powerful in the game, the transitions between the game stages were jarring and incomplete, and the gameplay became boring after mere minutes. For a game with a supposed infinite amount of content, this game somehow made everything feel the same. The terrain hardly changes on planets, the creatures don’t even look that different after a while, and the mini-games are shallow. I have honestly never played a strategy game as horrible as the civilization stage of Spore. Having to choose between two paths the entire time was lame too. Do I want to play musical instruments and dance for other creatures or murder them? I must want to do both because I’m an omnivore. You mean I get to make 3 units for the strategy game? I can be religious OR war faring? My cities have 4 different types of buildings? My spaceship can visit endless amounts of planets that look almost identical? What a limitless world I’ve paid for!

]]> By: TD Goodliffe http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11096 TD Goodliffe Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:46:23 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11096 Brume - good to hear you had a positive experience. Nacon - "Do you really think Amazon’s rating system is a proof of concept level for every gamers? …wow." Uh, no. Where did I say that? I love it when people try to put words into other people's mouth to reinforce their position in a disagreement -- not. Nacon, suggest you stick to the facts and not trying to put words into my mouth. I gave you *one* example of what 1,000+ reviewers at one of the most popular online shopping sites thought of the game, quoted no less by many, many other publications, far more esteemed than this one ;) But hey, I could have also pointed out that <a href="http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/spore-getting-5-star-rating-love-only-19-days-left/2096/" rel="nofollow">Penthouse gave Spore 5 out of 5 stars</a> -- wait, if you read any of my past posts on Spore here you'd already know that. Hey, maybe you're that Penthouse reviewer who dug Spore in disguise? (I'm joking in that last part) Brume – good to hear you had a positive experience.

Nacon –

“Do you really think Amazon’s rating system is a proof of concept level for every gamers? …wow.”

Uh, no. Where did I say that? I love it when people try to put words into other people’s mouth to reinforce their position in a disagreement — not.

Nacon, suggest you stick to the facts and not trying to put words into my mouth. I gave you *one* example of what 1,000+ reviewers at one of the most popular online shopping sites thought of the game, quoted no less by many, many other publications, far more esteemed than this one ;)

But hey, I could have also pointed out that Penthouse gave Spore 5 out of 5 stars — wait, if you read any of my past posts on Spore here you’d already know that. Hey, maybe you’re that Penthouse reviewer who dug Spore in disguise?

(I’m joking in that last part)

]]> By: Nacon http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11095 Nacon Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:29:24 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11095 "But hey don’t take my opinion only, go check out Amazon where 1,000+ other people have given the game 1 star" ....Amazon. Do you really think Amazon's rating system is a proof of concept level for every gamers? ...wow. As for DRM... It's a bit retarded since too many kids burn copies of games and coded rips. I think it's no doubt that the "sheer" number of complaints about DRM PROVES that people are still doing it illegally. That's no brainer. It's best to assume idiots are everywhere.... and they are. “But hey don’t take my opinion only, go check out Amazon where 1,000+ other people have given the game 1 star”

….Amazon. Do you really think Amazon’s rating system is a proof of concept level for every gamers? …wow.

As for DRM… It’s a bit retarded since too many kids burn copies of games and coded rips. I think it’s no doubt that the “sheer” number of complaints about DRM PROVES that people are still doing it illegally. That’s no brainer.

It’s best to assume idiots are everywhere…. and they are.

]]> By: Brume http://www.vtoreality.com/2008/not-too-early-to-label-spore-the-most-disappointing-game-of-2008/2299/comment-page-1/#comment-11092 Brume Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:28:07 +0000 http://www.vtoreality.com/?p=2299#comment-11092 I agree that Spore isn't perfect and that expectation level was very high. But, still, given the game's ambition, the effort is worth to praise... As for the Sims, Spore will certainly evolve and get richer and richer. In the meantime, it's the first time I see my kids master advanced camera controls and modelization tools so fast. We experiment, we explore and share our findings. All these feedbacks remind me when the Sims were released. Not a game, boring, etc... But it managed to appeal a significant number of loyal users... Who don't have the same expectations, standards and gaming culture as you and lot of people who bash Spore... I had no DRM issues (didn't even notice ther was one) , didn't try to install it on a dozen of machines, played it seamlessly, shared my account with the whole household without feeling distressed. Do I have a problem ? Did I miss something ? I agree that Spore isn’t perfect and that expectation level was very high. But, still, given the game’s ambition, the effort is worth to praise…
As for the Sims, Spore will certainly evolve and get richer and richer. In the meantime, it’s the first time I see my kids master advanced camera controls and modelization tools so fast. We experiment, we explore and share our findings.
All these feedbacks remind me when the Sims were released. Not a game, boring, etc… But it managed to appeal a significant number of loyal users… Who don’t have the same expectations, standards and gaming culture as you and lot of people who bash Spore…

I had no DRM issues (didn’t even notice ther was one) , didn’t try to install it on a dozen of machines, played it seamlessly, shared my account with the whole household without feeling distressed.

Do I have a problem ? Did I miss something ?

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