Sound advice but I doubt they will follow this model. Mainly because most companies know they can't be steam and wont try to copy their greatness. And as you said who would part with there 100+ Steam library for an impulse to start over.
Dear Origin, You Stink
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Did you actually send this to EA? If not, then you should.
Anyways, great article as always. I'm not afraid to admit that the main reason that I haven't gotten into Origin is because of how much I'm attached to my Steam account (to the point of preferring to buy on Steam than a stand-alone copy of the game) but even if I wasn't Origin still is good enough for me to invest in.
Anyways, great article as always. I'm not afraid to admit that the main reason that I haven't gotten into Origin is because of how much I'm attached to my Steam account (to the point of preferring to buy on Steam than a stand-alone copy of the game) but even if I wasn't Origin still is good enough for me to invest in.
I find it unfathomable that a company such as this got so many things wrong. Customer feedback is important and it seems they aren't listening and have never listened. Again, the information is out there, and fairly easy to collect. Why haven't they acted upon it? From the analysis from this site, profit before customers.
You know, a while ago I was having problems with my EA Account for Battlefield Bad Company 2. After relentless back and forth between customer services, they eventually gave me a 20% off code for their online store, which apparently lasts forever. That store is now Origin. I don't think I'll be using it any time soon...
I was looking for Crysis the other day and it's £5 more than on Steam. You're not gonna get my custom EA.
Brilliant article.
I was looking for Crysis the other day and it's £5 more than on Steam. You're not gonna get my custom EA.
Brilliant article.
2 weeks in a row!?
<spoiler=cue celebration music><youtube=8m48WECogb0>
Anyway, solid points all around.
<spoiler=cue celebration music><youtube=8m48WECogb0>
Anyway, solid points all around.
Don't get me wrong: I agree with the majority of what you wrote in the article - but that's a pretty fresh link about the data collection you have there. Really, Shamus - really? Origin has alot to improve on sure, but the current games I own that run on Origin have had ZERO issues since I got them. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, who knows. Heck, I bought a DVD-copy of Bad Company 2 from a retailer, and it was -automatically- turned into an Origin copy from the CD-Key on my EA Account. So now if the disc is ever busted up or lost, I can download my game from Origin. Meanwhile I have a copy of Rainbow Six: Vegas, Fallout 2 (and numerous others) - games that are available on Steam. Can I put my CD Key in there and make them digital? No.
Origin gets things wrong, but it gets some things right.
And I've said this numerous times on the Escapist, but time and time again it seems I'm conveniently missed. A little roleplaying, if you will:
"Oh no, Origin collects information off my computer"
"I better log on Facebook and tell my friends about this horrible personal detail theft. At least those Facebook folks stay out of my information like, say... My name, adress, phone number, family, friends, workplace, hobbies, relationships, shopping habits, etc..."
Seriously now. If you're going to complain about being mined for marketing info - you're about ONE HUMANITY'S HISTORY late to the game. It's how marketing has always been done, and will always be done. The people who sell crap find out what you like, and then try to sell it to you. Game companies find out what kind of rigs the majority of players are running, and design their games in a way so people can run them. This maximizes the playerbase, and thus the profit. Steam does this aswell - Origin just originally worded it differently and it became a massive shitstorm of knee-jerk "I HATE EA" reactions.
My little Facebook-roleplaying-scenario is a great example of the attitude here on the Escapist, too. I'm not sure if it's hypocrisy or just plain ignorance, at times. In order to escape data mining, you pretty much should be so LITERALLY disconnected from the world that you shouldn't even be reading this post.
My two cents. Flame on!
Origin gets things wrong, but it gets some things right.
And I've said this numerous times on the Escapist, but time and time again it seems I'm conveniently missed. A little roleplaying, if you will:
"Oh no, Origin collects information off my computer"
"I better log on Facebook and tell my friends about this horrible personal detail theft. At least those Facebook folks stay out of my information like, say... My name, adress, phone number, family, friends, workplace, hobbies, relationships, shopping habits, etc..."
Seriously now. If you're going to complain about being mined for marketing info - you're about ONE HUMANITY'S HISTORY late to the game. It's how marketing has always been done, and will always be done. The people who sell crap find out what you like, and then try to sell it to you. Game companies find out what kind of rigs the majority of players are running, and design their games in a way so people can run them. This maximizes the playerbase, and thus the profit. Steam does this aswell - Origin just originally worded it differently and it became a massive shitstorm of knee-jerk "I HATE EA" reactions.
My little Facebook-roleplaying-scenario is a great example of the attitude here on the Escapist, too. I'm not sure if it's hypocrisy or just plain ignorance, at times. In order to escape data mining, you pretty much should be so LITERALLY disconnected from the world that you shouldn't even be reading this post.
My two cents. Flame on!
Shamus - Go to EA, burst into the office of every person there, tie them to their chairs with duct tape and give a copy of this article to every last fucking one of them. Narrate it to them as well while they're reading it and make sure the message sinks in. If you need a hand I'm sure you'll find many here willing to smash into EA headquarters and help.
It boggles the mind to think that these guys are the top-payed managers of the game industry and they have absolutely no fucking clue about their own market.
It boggles the mind to think that these guys are the top-payed managers of the game industry and they have absolutely no fucking clue about their own market.
Pick it up on xbox and play through it before the release of the next one. I originally did that with it on PC because I wanted to experience the epicness that hopefully will be ME3 on my desktop. Ill just be getting it on xbox now instead.elvis-66 said:
Ha! I don't feel the same bile as you towards EA - more a sort of head-shaking pity really - but this was very witty and so well written I had to give you a thumbs up sir!Callate said:
EA is doing me a favor, I spend too much time playing games as it is. Any game developer that uses them as a publisher returns a portion of my life back to other pursuits, given that I'll never buy a game published by EA again.
And let's be honest with ourselves here for just a sec shall we, there really are a number of great things in life you could be doing rather than sitting in front of that screen for hours on end.
And let's be honest with ourselves here for just a sec shall we, there really are a number of great things in life you could be doing rather than sitting in front of that screen for hours on end.
Just so you know, Shamus: you can redeem a retail CD key for an Origin copy of the same game. I did it for Dragon Age (both Origins and II), Mass Effect 2 and SWtOR. Unfortunately, it's only for games released 2009 or later for some reason, so that means I can't redeem my copy of Mass Effect 1, which is frustrating because I have the Pinnacle Station DLC on Origin already...
Origin irks me for pretty much all of the reasons highlighted in the article. It's clunky, has one of the most atrocious privacy policies ever crafted, it's absurdly expensive and has a horrible selection. I've been using Steam since I bought Half-Life 2 and was forced to install it to play the game (Something painful at the time.) Since then, I've built a considerable library of games, almost all bought while on sale. EA, you are going to have to convince me if you want me to start up a second library on your service.
I think it really boils down to the choice I made when Old Republic was released. When I was looking to buy it, I first checked on Origin (Because the website was kind enough to throw a whole bunch of links to their store to buy it.) I saw the price on Origin, and then I went to check the price at the various stores in my area. It was the exact same price. So instead of buying the game from EA directly, I decided to buy the game at my local Best Buy for the exact same price, only I got a couple extra pieces of paper they laughably called a manual and a disc in addition to my activation key.
EA, you need to either become more like Steam or surrender to the Valve Juggernaut. You've done nothing to make me want to buy digitally from you. I'm not adverse to buying new games digitally when given a good reason to. These days, I'm not missing much by not having a disc. But you have to meet me half way and reward me for cutting out the middle man.
I think it really boils down to the choice I made when Old Republic was released. When I was looking to buy it, I first checked on Origin (Because the website was kind enough to throw a whole bunch of links to their store to buy it.) I saw the price on Origin, and then I went to check the price at the various stores in my area. It was the exact same price. So instead of buying the game from EA directly, I decided to buy the game at my local Best Buy for the exact same price, only I got a couple extra pieces of paper they laughably called a manual and a disc in addition to my activation key.
EA, you need to either become more like Steam or surrender to the Valve Juggernaut. You've done nothing to make me want to buy digitally from you. I'm not adverse to buying new games digitally when given a good reason to. These days, I'm not missing much by not having a disc. But you have to meet me half way and reward me for cutting out the middle man.
Dead on correct on all fronts Shamus.Shamus Young said:
EA needs to entice people to use Origin not force people to use it. It needs to be attractive and unobtrusive enough that people don't spend to much time thinking about whether or not it's worth putting on their system. Third party software, no matter how good, still gives me pause (like Steam) because... well... it's third party software and it's feels like there is already to much of it trying to be installed on computers all over the place all the time. So the decision to install it comes down to need vs. hassle. Make it easy and hassle free and people are more likely to accept it. Better yet, as Shamus suggests, make it enticing and useful and people are more likely to keep it installed even when the game it came with has been uninstalled.
Even when I have had no Steam games on my computer I keep Steam installed just because when you go to the their store you never know what you may find. THAT's when I knew they had me. And for what I get out of it, I'm ok that they do.
Thats for me more definitive than any other talk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_%28computing%29
And you know what is funny, is that US gov does not allow Lenovo to compete at public governmental contracts but must not care about when they employees come to use EA's Origin at Pogo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_%28computing%29
And you know what is funny, is that US gov does not allow Lenovo to compete at public governmental contracts but must not care about when they employees come to use EA's Origin at Pogo.
Yeah, EA is pretty stupid for trying to force Origin on gamers. It takes a moron to try something like that, so please don't fall for it. Stop buying games that try to force Origin upon you simply because you want to play the game. As long as you buy those games, EA will continue with it's moronic Origin policy. Show them the error of their ways by hurting their profits. It's the only way.
PC gamers are gonna pirate the hell out of Mass Effect 3. Now I know that the inclusion of multiplayer is their idea. They think more people will buy their game regardless of Origin so they could play MP. No one gives a shit about Mass Effect MP. It sold well as a single player game. So that plan is going to fail. I can't wait to see the piracy numbers for ME3, because they will be fuckin' huge.
PC gamers are gonna pirate the hell out of Mass Effect 3. Now I know that the inclusion of multiplayer is their idea. They think more people will buy their game regardless of Origin so they could play MP. No one gives a shit about Mass Effect MP. It sold well as a single player game. So that plan is going to fail. I can't wait to see the piracy numbers for ME3, because they will be fuckin' huge.
Hit the nail on the head with this article.
I bought BF3 on release. Played it for about 10 hours and havn't touched it since. Origin just made it very finicky and difficult to casually play the game. (And dont get me started on the whole 'alt tab to your web browser to change server' bullshit)
I checked out origins store when I first got BF3 and was very unimpressed. A whole bunch of shitty games that I have either played already or wouldn't want to play at all. Most of them I had on Steam already so there was really no point. The prices were higher than steam (most of the time, I noticed Shift 2 was cheaper but I have heard that game is ass) and I missed having a community feature.
Origin does infact stink. Like something that is about to die...
I bought BF3 on release. Played it for about 10 hours and havn't touched it since. Origin just made it very finicky and difficult to casually play the game. (And dont get me started on the whole 'alt tab to your web browser to change server' bullshit)
I checked out origins store when I first got BF3 and was very unimpressed. A whole bunch of shitty games that I have either played already or wouldn't want to play at all. Most of them I had on Steam already so there was really no point. The prices were higher than steam (most of the time, I noticed Shift 2 was cheaper but I have heard that game is ass) and I missed having a community feature.
Origin does infact stink. Like something that is about to die...
I know it's a little bit cliche to bring out the "boycott yada yada," but on a personal level, I simply will not buy ME3 if it requires a download of Origin. Maybe one sale doesn't mean much to EA (heck, anything their customer's think doesn't mean much to EA), but I'm not amused to have to download a faulty, useless and invasive program just to play a game.
Theyve less failed..and more just slightly below expectations. BF3 had a very average Single Player campaign which made me a bit sad since I was actually rooting for it to do well, and TOR is well..in the same boat as Origin, competing against a well known rival that has been out for ages.Cowabungaa said:
I dunno, I can see Origin becoming a small time contender like Impulse, but then..if it does Im not sure if EA will bother keeping it online. Time will tell.