Wow, with such a compelling argument you gave, I just can't believe I have the same opinion that I started with. I don't like them, and I don't buy them at full price. I think they are a rip-off and they short-change the expansion packs.

It is only a matter of time before EA, Ubisoft, and other publishers find another draconion DRM software thing.  For now let us enjoy a securom free Sims 3.

There is a  small risk that Valve could become a monoply.  Since Gamersgate, Impluse, and Steam works better (in the long run) of reducing the effects of piracy, but people are too willing to put all of their eggs in one basket (Steam being the one basket).

I love steam, I love impulse, but I don't want either of them to become monoplies over digital distribution.

So we both have the same opinion we started with...which is actually a very similar opinion anyway.  What ar we arguing about again? 

Ubisoft is way too dense.  They keep trying something different, horribly screwing it up, then fixing their mistake later after nobody cares anymore and saying 'look at how bad our PC sales are'.....duh.

Something like GOO could minimize that, though the competing factor and novelty of digital distribution might make it impractical at the moment.

I want to be proven wrong on this one though. GOO would be a step in the right direction for the need of a centralized system that protects the customer from distributor bankrupcy, but still allowing competition to thrive. Also, a GOO-like mechanism would be better accepted by other distributors if it could be regulated by a neutral entity.

Sorry for getting way off topic here. 

I highly doubt this will happen.  One of the recent  post`s in Etrius`s thread made mention of the demographic diffrence`s between game`s.  The Sim`s series are always high on PC sale`s chart`s.  This is a blanket statement I`m about to make.  The Sim`s is a far more "casual" series then Bioware product`s.  I don`t think Sim`s customer`s care to much about DRM or really even know what it really is.  I could be very wrong, Spore received a very rough welcome.

I Think Dragon Age will ship in the same condition as Mass Effect.  Install limit`s are the absolute worst of the worst.  After a few month`s, Crytek finally released a deactivation tool for Warhead.  If a game is released with install limit`s, A deactivation tool should be availible at LAUNCH!

And you would be wrong. The Sims 2 forum has several threads full of people who not only know what DRM schemes are but care that they are used.

And what percentage of the millions of copies Spore sold do those posters represent? An extremely vocal minority only *looks* bigger, it's still a relative handful of users.

Try again. If people are unhappy with the DRM, then its not the percentage of the players/buyers of spore that matter but those who didn't buy it. And as usual, the most vocal is usually the minority, including you.

I think it's too early to draw any sort of conclusion about what this means or why they're doing it. If it becomes a trend with EA-published games, then we can analyze which game types don't have it as opposed to which do, and all the other goodies of that nature.

Until then, it's just one title that doesn't have DRM.

My personal opinion on why? Money.

Even though EA has games that sell very well, EA is not known for their ROI. They are huge, and even though you hear things like CoD selling 10 million copies, Sims 2 selling 10 million, they are still losing money and still laying people off. At the same time, copy protections cost money to use and you don't have to be a genius to realize that Sims 3 is going to sell by truckloads. It would follow that the amount of money they can save by using cheap, light protection would far outweigh any guessable loss to piracy.

Actually, it will have DRM. It just won't be Securom, won't have limited installs or online activation. It is supposed to be serial code and a disc check, according to employees on the official Sims 2 forum. Whether some players like it or not, Sims 2 is their biggest franchise on the PC (including the expansions and stuff packs), but that doesn't tell us anything as to why they are choosing to step back on this upcominng game and not on the their recent releases or whether or not they will follow suit with releases to come. I 100% agree, this is all about money, and despite popular belief, the Sims 2 consumer is not just soccer moms, and they must have concerns about selling the game to their base, and heaven forbid, the idea that they might want to bring more into the series too.

My apologies, I make the distinction between copy protection (physical, disk-based like Sims 3) and DRM (online activation, etc).

Most usually take them to be the same thing, but it's not really. Red Alert 3 had DRM with activations and such (but no disk check, if I remember correctly). Fallout 3 didn't have DRM, but had copy protection (disk check).

Not even close. I'm in the biggest majority of all, those who didn't buy the game due to a complete lack of interest in it. That's the vast majority of the human race.

Touchy.

I suppose the definitions are blurred during discussion. Considering your definition of DRM, then you are correct, it doesn't have it. Personally I bundle them all under the same term and label the online activations and install limits as just bad forms of DRM.

I will always prefer online activation to CD checks, personally.  Since I buy most of my games digitally though, never have to worry bout CD checks.