“What it takes is in each game trying to find ways to reward people for buying the product,” says Wardell. “In EA’s case, I think they could have beefed up the online component of the game further. They already have quite a bit of that in, but they could have taken it further so that more of the ‘good stuff’ is obtained online, and then they could have had the account validation occur then.”
So, is all of this drama — the din of a million nerds hyperventilating at their keyboard — justified? “I hate to say it but yes, to a large extent it is justified,” says Wardell. “EA has every right to protect their intellectual property. But what exactly is their objective? The super-casual pirate who gives the game to their neighbor or coworker isn’t affected because it allows five activations. The torrent pirates were probably never going to buy it anyway and had the game day one. So in this particular case, the DRM seems to be the worst of all possible worlds.”
Why can’t Brad Wardell be the head guy for EA? It seems as if everytime this man speaks, nothing but words of wisdom are said. EA thinks they are lightening the load for us gamers by giving us 5 activations, but in the end, we’re still getting screwed – just not as fast.
I suggest you to check out the following article to read more from Mr. Wardell:
1UP: Brad Wardell on Spore DRM and the Gamer’s Bill of Right
