Well, it seems EA and Maxis haven't quite finished milking Spore just yet.  They've just announced DarkSpore.  Think Diablo in the Spore Universe, where instead of new swords you get new arms and you'll have the basic understanding of the game.  During the course of the game you'll also unlock additional members to add your squad, and this aspect is being compared to Pokemon.  The game will ship with DRM that requires a constant internet connection to play, however it does feature some co-op online gameplay.

Considering the entirely too simple and childish focus of SPORE and it's single Expansion Pack, it seems attempting to create an Action RPG set in that same world is counter-productive to the series.  Action RPGs attempt to appeal to the reward addicts - and most of those gamers wouldn't have interested in SPORE in begin with, and would certainly not be interested in its art design and entirely too simplistic design.  Calling the game DarkSpore and lowering the in-game Contrast doesn't really do much to fix this, and adding the usual excesses of blood and gore to a childrens game doesn't really seem like a good idea, meaning DarkSpore, at this stage, kind of looks like 'My First Action RPG'.

I won't be buying it - it's from EA, it doesn't fix SPORE and it's DRM requires a constant internet connection - however it's at least something different.  Who knows, Maxis might be able to un-screw the franchise.