Dear Origin, You Stink

[ninja51]

A very good read.

Thing that gets me though is everyone is going apeshit over games requireing Origin, but at the same time, many games require Steam. Now I dont like either service much, I dont work with funds over the internet, currently, much, and I hate having memory used for a background service that only stands to suck up ram for me.

When I go out and pick up a hard copy of Shogun 2, I dont want to be forced to install ANYTHING besides Shogun 2, regardless of what service it is.

Now dont get me wrong, I respect Steam much more than Origin, and I completely agree the ladder is a shit service, but it seems hypocritical to me that the arguement has been made on this forum many times that Origin is overstepping its bounds by forcing itself to be used with EA games. This seems to me to be one of the few cases where it's either all wrong, or none of it is.

 

[rapidoud]

I just bought BF3 yesterday. $20 for a Russian key almost everywhere.

Or over $80 on Origin. Seems like Blizzard lines of thinking to me, which is why I hate both countries.

 

[Marudas]

Anyone else think that EA is working some sort of secret scam where they get massive tax breaks by making irrefutably stupid decisions?

Or am I just reaching for a sensible reason for all this nonsense where none exists.

 

[luckshot]

A very good read.

Thing that gets me though is everyone is going apeshit over games requireing Origin, but at the same time, many games require Steam. Now I dont like either service much, I dont work with funds over the internet, currently, much, and I hate having memory used for a background service that only stands to suck up ram for me.

When I go out and pick up a hard copy of Shogun 2, I dont want to be forced to install ANYTHING besides Shogun 2, regardless of what service it is.

Now dont get me wrong, I respect Steam much more than Origin, and I completely agree the ladder is a shit service, but it seems hypocritical to me that the arguement has been made on this forum many times that Origin is overstepping its bounds by forcing itself to be used with EA games. This seems to me to be one of the few cases where it's either all wrong, or none of it is.

i think the biggest issue is with EA's attitude about dealing with customers and the changing nature of the user agreement on the system

others have said its a drm that keeps track of what you do (to varying degrees on how they word the EULA that day) with games to lure you in

I also dislike the idea of making a game exclusive to any digital distributor, there will always be someone upset with whatever option you choose so why limit the options

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

Origin hasn't factored into any of my spending; if there's a game I want, I buy it, wherever it is. I've never had to go out of my way to launch it and it's never been a hassle, so I really don't care that it exists--and that is perhaps a larger failure than anything else.

That being said, my money has twice gone straight to EA. Not all a loss for them then. Sneaky bastards

Now dont get me wrong, I respect Steam much more than Origin, and I completely agree the ladder is a shit service

Just for future reference, it's "latter". Not picking on you or trying to be some English elitist. Just pointing that out for you.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

For some reason I get the feeling that even if those air-heads in EA read this article, they will invest a lot of their money and time in finding a excuse for things being as they are instead of investing the same things in fixing that stuff.

But yeah, EA.

It's pretty simple to understand. WB, THQ, Activision, Nintendo, and Ubisoft don't want their games on Origin because it helps a direct competitor.

Seriously? Out of the bazillion of publisher, you write Nintendo?!?
The company that publishes only on their own consoles and has no connection to the PC market at all?

I... I don't even...
facepalm.jpg

 

[mjc0961]

All these posts from people saying they're going to miss Mass Effect 3 because they played the first two on PC and don't want Origin... Let's just say I'm really glad all my Mass Effect saves are on 360 right now. Not gaming on PC when I started playing that franchise is now paying off.

Anyway, great points in the article. Too bad EA thinks too highly of themselves to change anything.

WB, THQ, Activision, Nintendo, and Ubisoft don't want their games on Origin because it helps a direct competitor.

Did you seriously just say Nintendo? NINTENDO?! Nintendo doesn't want their games on anything but their own hardware. Why don't you please explain why Sony also doesn't want their games on Origin while you're on such a great roll here.

 

[Shamus Young]

Used Origin once. From a technical and user-friendly standpoint, their entire purchase process was painfully opaque and ultimately frustrating. At no point during the initial purchase process, made through their site, was confirmation given of such, and when I finally found the support pages, was handed back and forth between separate Origin and EA sites which required me to log in each time. My support options were on-line chat or phone, neither of which were available; the latter due to the time of day, and the former for an unreported reason. If there was some sort of ticket queue for assistance, it's well hidden.

40 minutes later I re-attempted the purchase through the Origin program itself, which processed and spat out a product key. Not the exact product available online, but I was unable to find that one within Origin. Immediately afterwards, I checked my account on the Origin (or EA - I no longer remember which site I was eventually handed off to) webpage and there was no record of the transaction.

Checking email, I had received a receipt. For my first purchase attempt from 45 minutes prior. Neither transaction is on my account page, nor did they appear for the next 3 days; I've long since stopped checking. Only one of them shows in the Origin program; I have since uninstalled it, so I can't tell if the 2nd ever appeared there. I did, however, have both charges on my card.

Waited for on-line chat support to show up as available for half the next day, and made some additional fruitless attempts to find relevant support information from their site. After briefly staring at my phone and wondering if their phone support was as limited and labyrinthine as their website(s), I decided instead, in the spirit of the holiday season, to just give the extra code away.

Was looking forward to Mass Effect 3, but if it really is only available on the PC via Origin, I will never play it. You got your extra money out of me by making your support system more difficult than it was worth the time and effort to fix, so congratulations on that. You will never get another penny out of me.

I'd send this to EA/Origin as feedback, but I'm tired of trying to find useful links on their site. They can come here and figure it out.

 

[Still Life]

But it's possinle I may never play mass effect three. Origin is, as far as I can tell and by all accounts of those who have used it, utterly horrible. Their "privacy" policy (which is essentially how much they loathe the idea that I have a right to any) is an abomination. Their pricing is absurd.

Did you miss the thread where users on the Escapist found that the privacy policy as it currently stands is essentially the same as Steam's?

You don't represent me. I'll get my copy of ME3, complete the single online activation through Origin and have very little to do with the service thereafter.

I agree with the overall sentiment that Origin is gasping for air as it tries to compete with Steam.

 

[Metalrocks]

so true, but ?A will not change their minds since they are too greedy and selfish. they want to spy on people to make sure they can make more money.
really a sad moment for people like me, who like to buy ME3 but dont want to due spyware origin.
i just hope that this open origin will happen. really dont want this crap on my pc.

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

To counter one thing you said here... "If you were actually thinking of your customers (and if you were smart like Valve) then you would give free copies of Mass Effect 1 & 2 on Origin to people who already have copies through Steam."

I've actually put my steam keys (and D2D cd keys) for quite a few EA titles and instantly got access to them on my origin account free of charge (in Origin its under redeem cd key or something like that in the gear menu). I can only think of one title where I wasn't able to do this and it was my D2D copy of the Red Alert 3 expansion thingy, which is old at this point anyhow.

Otherwise, yeah, Origin is fairly stinky, and I agree with all your other points.

If this is true (I don't have Origin to verify) they need to ADVERTISE.

Goes back to the main points of the article, Origin PR is crap. Their games are cheaper when sold by the competition (both steam and used physical copies) their EULA was originally the most draconian in the market, and they're acting like a-holes, and their not advertising what could be a HUUUGE selling point for their system. If every ME owner could pick up Origin copies free of charge, it would boost ME3 sales massively.

I'd like for Origin to succeed. I'd like for their to be honest and genuine competition in the market... but right now, it seems that EA doesn't want these things, and their ass-backwards marketing only furthers the problem.

 

[Callate]

5) EA's Privacy Policy and End User License Agreement is Terrible

I would suggest that everyone who actually got up in arms about this go read Steam's Terms of Service (ToS) and End User License Agreement (EULA). What you find may really surprise you. You'll find the exact same language saying the exact same thing.

That simply isn't true. Honestly, it's so untrue that I have to wonder if either you haven't done this yourself or if you're simply counting on others not doing so and taking you at your word.

Putting aside that agreeing to Origin's user agreement explicitly forbids you from engaging in a jury or class-action lawsuit against the parent company and Steam's does not, EA reserves the right to make a record of non-Origin-related software and peripheral hardware at any time (That's under "2. Consent to Collection and Use of Data"); Valve's policy states that it only collects information about hardware and software in the event of a bug report or system crash. EA also openly states "we and other third parties use cookies and other technologies to passively collect non-personal demographic information, personalize your experience on our sites and monitor advertisements and other activities as described below" (Privacy Policy, IVB,) a notable contrast to Steam's Subscriber Agreement, which states "Valve does use cookies on their websites." And while EA claims not to collect "personally identifiable information", their privacy policy includes under "non personal information" such things as "gender, age, zip code... Internet Protocol (IP) address, network Media Access Control (MAC) address... username, user ID or persona..." Which, if stored together, begins to sound a lot like personal information.

It's been argued that new installers of the "Orange Box" didn't fully understand what they were signing on to, and in many cases, that's probably true. But this "Origin's and Steam's user agreements and privacy policies are exactly alike" line is not, and it needs to stop. I'm getting really tired of this kind of obfuscation of the issue.

 

[Legion]

You know what the sad thing is? Even if this piece somehow got to the deciderers at EA's HQ I'd bet their reaction would be to start doing some mental gymnastics to justify their 'strategies'.

A very sad truth indeed, but that's EA through and through. It's never their fault, for anything they do. It's always somebody elses, or they have "valid reasons" for it which we cannot understand.

The wording used towards critics of Dragon Age 2 were more or less the same on the Bioware forums. "Oh, well we won't take your criticism's seriously as the game is just out, we will wait for a few months down the line when people have calmed down" is more or less what one of the people who worked on it said.

EA are, and always have been, in denial.

 

[Telperion]

I installed Origin, so I could play BF3. I played the game for a while, and then something happened. I think Origin got patched, or something else. Anyway, I was no longer able to run Origin, and therefore no longer able to play BF3. I dutifully contacted tech support, and they flat-out told me to turn off all firewalls, run Origin with Admin privileges and have a nice day. After that I uninstalled Origin, BF3 and swore never to touch this steaming pile of excrement ever again.

Dear EA: I no longer wish to purchase games that require Origin. Have a nice day.

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

It feels like EA CEO and people running the company in general just don't get how digital service is supposed to work.
But they will learn in time. Remember how they gave a free Mass Effect 2 copy to everyone who got Dragon Age 2? It's not like they never run any promotions. They simply failing at Origins, for now.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

It's so tremendously odd that I've had such a polar opposite experience of digital download platforms than most other people on this website seem to have.

I've never once had a problem with Origin, I run two games through it (three if you count the now shutdown Battlefield Alpha) and I find it runs them smoothly, doesn't really get in the way and I quite enjoy using the service. I haven't tried downloading any DLC so maybe that'll screw up for me if I ever decide to buy some Sims 3 expansion packs online.

For that matter, GFWL has always worked perfectly for me as well... considering I have around 6 games that require it I really haven't experienced any noticeable trouble.

But Steam has given the most hassle out of any platform, to the point where I avoid Steam at all costs, if I see a game I want I go to GamersGate long before I'll try Steam.

Ah well, to each their own and whatnot.

I hope EA and Microsoft one day do fix up and improve their platforms, I enjoy using them and it'd be nice to see them become more popular and not suffer from the many bugs people seem to encounter.

 

[Duskflamer]

I mean no serious disrespect, but if you can't forgive a new system of digital distribution it's early mistakes and trials, then you can't be an objective writer that deserves any acknowledgement. If you can't get past your seven year old monopoly, then all your doing is preaching to the fanboys. Sure, you'll get a response similar to your own, but what's the point? Do you really think ORIGIN is going out of it's way to piss you off? Really? Sigh...

You expect everything, for less, from a new online system that has had nothing but petty rage sent against it for the last 6 months or so.

I think you're overlooking something with that "7 year monopoly," namely, that it's set the standard for judging things by.

It's the same reason why no MMO can hold a candle to WoW, it's because WoW set the industry standard by being the first truly popular MMO, anything that tries to compete with it directly will never get near the same level of success if it's in any way a worse game, or even an equal game when you take player inertia into account ("I keep playing WoW because it's the game my friends play.")

In the exact same way, for anything to hold a candle to Steam, it needs to be not close to, not even comparable to, it needs to be in all possible ways BETTER than Steam. Steam has been around for 7 years, and for a large portion of that time it was the only online retailer in the game.

Mistakes are easy to forgive and work past when there isn't an alternative around, and when Steam was getting its legs there really wasn't any other option for people who wanted to try out digital distribution. But in those 7 years, Steam has made itself into something very reliable, very trusted, and very big.

Origin is a newbie to the field that seems to think it can overcome it's competitor by starting where the competition did 7 years ago, instead of modeling off of where it is now. The mistakes that we forgave Steam because we didn't have an alternative? For Origin, Steam is that alternative. If we don't like how glitchy the client is, if we don't like what they tried to pull with the ToS, if we aren't content with the small number of games for high prices, we can just ditch Origin and go right back to Steam.

As it stands right now, Origin has no ability to compete with Steam. It has the potential to do so however, and that's what this article is about. This article is not saying "Origin sucks and it should feel bad about itself," it's saying "Origin sucks, here's why it sucks and what it could change to become a real competitor."

In a free market environment, there would be as much logical reason to use Origin over Steam as there would be to buy a Model-T over a Ford Fusion. The only reason anyone is using Origin right now is because of the games that require Origin to use. EA's counting on that even, but their mistaken if they think luring people in with BF3 and ME3 will keep them around while they get their act together.

The only way Origin could be considered a success right now is if you think of it as a DRM platform for EA games that happens to sell games, as opposed to Steam being an Online Store that happens to have some DRM integrated.

 

[Darks63]

Damn fine article sir usually i skim most of the news articles on this site but i read yours completely full of damn good points as well it would be nice if steam did get a proper competitor so then the steam sales like the christmas one would become the norm.