That will work now, but what about in 2-3 years time? 5? 10?
Seems to me that if you're going to go down the buy and pirate route it's best to do it when the game comes out and there are lots of copies around rather than trying to hunt it down in 5 years time.
And if you think that's an unlikely prospect think about how often we get posts from people having problems trying to install retail FS1.
It's a fair point, but I'd expect when sales aren't really an issue any more in a year or two's time, the install limit will be removed entirely. That's what happened with Bioshock, the
other game with install limits that people shat a brick about.
I don't have a problem with people buying then pirating it when it's released. I'm just trying to clear up misconceptions about the system EA has in place. It really bothers me when people get all high and mighty and decide to boycott a game, especially a relatively experimental one like this, because of copy-protection. Except in extreme cases like StarForce, it only compounds the problem.
Regarding your last point, I don't think the situations are comparable. Volition has never been all that major a developer, and FS1 was released before the advent of digital paid downloads. Hunting Spore down won't really be an issue, assuming EA doesn't go belly-up any time soon, and since in all likelyhood we'll be seeing expansion packs down the line it's in EA's interest to maintain support for the game.