While SimCity got all of the publicity and helped publisher EA win a major award, it’s certainly not the only single-player game out there that requires you to be connected to the publisher’s server all the time. For example, there’s Darkspore, another EA/Maxis title released in 2011 that some gamers still enjoy. Sometimes.

We say “sometimes” because server errors have plagued the game since the beginning. Like SimCity, EA insists that requiring players to be signed in and online the entire time they play has nothing whatsoever to do with digital rights management, or making sure that each copy of the game belongs to only one player.

Requiring players to be online all of the time in a multiplayer game is logical: that’s how the players communicate with each other. For a single-player game, it makes less sense.

Not long after the game launched, waaaaay back in 2011, the servers locked out new players. At the time, EA insisted that being online was important for storing your loot and playing in co-op mode, and an integral part of the game experience.

Unfortunately, an integral part of the experience of running a game that requires users to log in to a server to play is maintaining those servers, and getting those servers to work correctly in the first place. “[Darkspore] is for almost all intents & purposes an abandoned title,” mourns an announcement on the game’s official forum.

UPDATE: EA/Maxis contacted us to let us know that Darkspore hasn’t been abandoned, and that no one has pulled the plug on the servers. They sent us this statement:

Maxis continues to support Darkspore and its servers. We recently resolved a problem where players were having issues connecting to the game. The post in question came from a moderator who is not an employee of EA. That post has been updated to reflect accurate information. Players experiencing technical issues should contact help.ea.com for customer support.

Here, for posterity’s sake, is the announcement that the volunteer forum moderator put up as many players experienced errors.

Darkspore is no longer developed. It is for almost all intents & purposes an abandoned title. If you cannot play the game & have flicked through technical issues for any fixes, then contact EA Customer Support; especially if it regards CD-Keys or refunds.

Error 73003 has gone unfixed & remains an issue.

Error Code 3 has arisen for the majority/all & remains an issue.

I will however keep the forums here as clean & tidy as possible in my spare time. Why? Well why not. If it helps anyone with minor problems, or find their way somewhere, then that’s great.

Darkspore Delisted From Steam, Plagued With Game Breaking Issues [GameTrailers] (Thanks, James!)

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