EA may charge for Spore Access

[ManagerJosh]

Our friends at Sporeum found this tidbit in a Gamespot article.

In addition to dropping hints about new platforms, Gibeau also hinted that Spore might not be entirely free of charge. He told analysts that the online mode of the game could be an "opportunity" for an "expanded digital revenue stream." He did not elaborate if said stream entailed microtransactions, in-game advertising, subscription fees, or any combination of the three.

How would the Spore community reaction react to this? Could this be the Achilles' heel for Spore?

[Mirelly]

Would be for me. Pity cos I was starting to get almost excited again. How many subscriptions do these bozos imagine that ordinary people can afford? (After they've bought Spore for PC, Wii, PSP, DS, Xbox, Abacus ) I expect some cynical accounts manager has just discovered that the Expansion Pack end of the Spore franchise is looking decidedly weak and has suggested floating the idea of charging for access to the Sporepedia as a way of keeping revenues buoyant while Spore 2 is in development ...

[ManagerJosh]

Would be for me. Pity cos I was starting to get almost excited again. How many subscriptions do these bozos imagine that ordinary people can afford? (After they've bought Spore for PC, Wii, PSP, DS, Xbox, Abacus ) I expect some cynical accounts manager has just discovered that the Expansion Pack end of the Spore franchise is looking decidedly weak and has suggested floating the idea of charging for access to the Sporepedia as a way of keeping revenues buoyant while Spore 2 is in development ...

At least they made TSO for free now . Perhaps you could teach an old dog new tricks...hehehehehe

[swmeek]

If that be the case then I surely won't have to worry about being online when I get the game. If I have to pay anything other than the intial cost of the game in order to play it then I won't get it at all.

[Ferret99]

Well hopefully there will be a retail no "extra" cost singleplayer mode and then the multiplayer if they are going to do this ,so people can play by themselves if they want to

[ManagerJosh]

I'm sure if EA charges people for accessing the Sporepedia people will find a way of exchanging characters by some other means, even if means downloading and installing them manually.

[Ferret99]

Well, If that is the case I know we will see many mods and downloads for Spore.

[swmeek]

I'm sure there will be a number of sites promoting people's personal stuff because some people won't want to sort through the millions of possibilities out on the web.

[Mirelly]

At least they made TSO for free now . Perhaps you could teach an old dog new tricks...hehehehehe

LOL I am playing EA-Land and being amused by the all the old simlish ... which I still prefer to the new-fangled stuff. Some of the old simlish actually sounds like conversations, instead of the TS2 strangulated phrases.

As I see the Sporepedia aspect, the player's game will be able to trawl the web to download the most suitable "competition" for their particular creature's ecology. If we're reduced to operating outside the "Official Exchange" because of petty profit whoring then that will devalue the game's playability.

[ManagerJosh]

Nothing is official yet too Mirelly. Let's not jump to conclusions till more facts are out.

[Mirelly]

Doh! But I like jumping to conclusions. It's the only exercise I get.

[ManagerJosh]

*hands Mirelly a conclusions hoop*

[Mirelly]

/me"jumps through Josh's hoop and then marvels at our illustrious leader's powers of persuasion

[FireMaker]

Well hopefully there will be a retail no "extra" cost singleplayer mode and then the multiplayer if they are going to do this ,so people can play by themselves if they want to

There is no multiplayer.

[cringe]

Expect a monthly subscription, considering they are providing you with a pipeline to new content from other users. Expansion packs are also inevitable, which they will also charge for. As a rule of thumb, "if its in any way considered new content, expect to pay for it".

No doubt there are exceptions to that rule, however, they are few and far between. Just go in with mindset that you will be paying out the wazoo (remember what they'll need to make up in R&D - 10 years of dev now?). So, if we end up not having to pay a monthly fee, you'll be even happier.