UPDATE: EA/Bioware changes Mass Effect DRM Thanks To Customer Complaints

In an update to my previous post, Mass Effect For PC Treats Legitimate Customers Like Thieves , EA recently made an announcement on its forums: they have reworked the anti-piracy detection for Mass Effect, and will no longer require online re-authorization every 10 days.

From the Mass Effect forum:

There has been a lot of discussion in the past few days on how the security requirements for Mass Effect for PC will work. BioWare, a division of EA, wants to let fans know that Mass Effect will not require 10- day periodic re-authentication.

BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.

The solution being implemented for Mass Effect for the PC changes copy protection from being key disc based, which requires authentication every time you play the game by requiring a disc in the drive, to a one time online authentication.

What seemed to be the tipping point were those customers that were either in the armed forces, or international customers that may not have reliable online access:

Q: Did BioWare and EA change their mind on requiring that the game be re-authorized every 10 days?

A: BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.

This is a much more reasonable measure-- requiring an authorization every 10 days was not only a rather ornerous requirement for those without an internet connection or regular connection-- MAss Effect is a single player only game that does not have an online play component.

Requests to clarify whether this means that a similar protection scheme that was announced as being under consideration for Will Wrights Spore received no comment.