EA Boycott?

[Right Hook]

I hate EA games, I think they represent a lot of what is wrong with the games industry, I do my best to speak ill of them any chance I get for their horrible treatment of their consumers. I don't buy games they make unless it is a game I absolutely must get, Mass Effect 3 is a game that I will buy regardless but most of the time I do avoid their products and I always point out why they are such a bunch of greedy bastards whenever I get the chance. I guess I could do more but I'm not going to sabotage my gaming enjoyment in the process, in the end I don't think enough people will work to stop them and they'll continue to get away with what they do, so I can't fully commit to a cause I believe will have no real effect or at least not a *puts on sunglasses* mass effect.

 

[-|-]

I'm not boycotting them as I like their products - this year I've enjoyed ME2, Dead Space 2, DA2, Crysis 2 etc. If you don't want to buy things from them then all power to you - it's your money, you can spend it how you like. Just don't ask me to care about your cause because I simply couldn't give a flying fuck.

 

[that Greene guy]

I'm very angry at the fact EA, Sony , Microsoft, and Apple signed onto SOPA than this. There's a bigger picture here so lets not focus this one little problem and focus on the fact that the gaming community is being threatened as a whole.

 

[Vuliev]

I suggest you go to a bar, buy a beer and insult the barman. Do you think you get to drink the beer or not? If people behaved badly in real life there are real consequences, why shouldn't there be ones online?

Because to reconcile your analogy with his...actually, no, your analogy is poor. A game is, and should always be, permanent merchandise, regardless of whether it's digital or not. You buy a game, a toaster, a TV, etc., you as a consumer should have a reasonable expectation of being able to keep that item until you can literally no longer use it. Now, when it comes to online gaming, things are considerably shadier. Personally, I have no problem if a person gets banned from a multiplayer game or its forums (so long as they actually deserved it), but when you are banned from using the single-player aspect of your property, that's taking it too far.

That's where we can reconcile your analogy: a bar is akin to the multiplayer aspect of a game, and likewise akin to online forums. If you misbehave and disturb the other patrons, you can be asked or forced to leave without recompense; you can not, however, lose your ability to consume alcohol in the comfort of your own home. And before you say "well probation yada yada yada," that requires a serious altercation in which you were arrested--the only possible online equivalent is actively hacking other forum/gamegoers, i.e. an act which is punished under Federal law. Going into a bar to drink is a privilege bestowed by the establishment (the multiplayer/forum aspet); the ability to drink in your home THAT YOU OWN is a right, along with owning the house (the right to own and use single-player games you've purchased.)

 

[GonzoGamer]

I've been boycotting EA ever since their last mudsliging campaign. However if certain Escapist members *glances meaningfully in SilverStrike's direction* who shall remain unnamed are any example, I'm guessing most gamers are too weak willed to follow through with this,

I've been boycotting Ea since they started doing the whole $10 Pass on everything. I don't buy any game with one of those stupid schemes.
No, Not even buying Mass Effect 3. If I get curious about it, I'll rent it.

But I think you're right. Gamers allow themselves to be bullied into paying whatever fee and accepting any weird policy that the few who refuse wont make much of a difference. It's actually pretty pathetic and it's only going to lead to higher prices and less value as publishers realize that they can lop off half the game and cut other corners, re-sell it, and the consumer will lick their boots for it anyway.

It's no wonder they have no respect for the consumer OP; you can't respect someone who kisses your ass regardless of what you do to them.

The only thing that's improved this gen are the retailers tactics in getting more money meant for the publisher and the publisher's tactics in getting more money out of the consumer. The consumer is not seeing any benefit to any of the shit they've been shoveling on us.

 

[blizzaradragon]

Yeah, as long as EA is the one publishing Bioware games then I'll hand over my money with a smile on my face. Hell, as long as the game EA is publishing is good I'm gonna hand over my money.

This is gonna sound really apathetic but I really don't care about some people losing access to their games. It's never gonna happen to me because I don't use their forums and I don't pirate, cheat, or abuse glitches/exploits. Just because Average Joe decided to piss off some forum user, get that user to swear at him, and got banned because of it doesn't mean I'm gonna start denying myself games that I want to play and plan on spending my hard earned money for.

If you guys want to boycott then that's fine with me, but I'm also gonna vote with my wallet and my vote goes for quality games that I enjoy.

 

[Freaky Lou]

If the world really thinks that when you legally purchase a game that if you misbehave slightly, you should have to lose all the money you spent, even if you didn't misbehave, then I'm just done.

I'm not buying EA games until this bullshit is fixed, but you guys can do whatever you want.

tbh.

I don't buy many games in general, but I'm pointedly avoiding EA's titles since joining these forums.

 

[Gitty101]

I'm not going to do anything until I get my copy of Mass Effect 3. Even then, it's just EA being EA, nothing particularly new if we're honest.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Eh, I don't really have a beef with EA.

It's not like I bought their games new anyway.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Meh, I'm only with EA because of Bioware. Without Bioware, I would have stopped giving them money long ago.

Once Bioware somehow gets away from EA, I'll have no reason left to give them my money. Simple as that.

 

[ConstantErasing]

I haven't bought an EA game since I was a kid so I guess I am participating. Yay me. Honestly though the amount of people you could actually get to boycott it is so small I think you would be better off getting those people to spam them with hate mail.

 

[Michael Hirst]

I only have 2 boycotts on games.

1. No shit games, if I think a game is bad and I don't like it then I don't buy it simple enough it just so happens certain groups make LOTS of bad games.

2. Sneaky bastard devs/publishers, I can be turned away by a publishers business ethic of screwing the consumer over and reducing the amount of content in their games to nil and saving it all for overpriced DLC.

I will most likely get Mass Effect 3 when it comes out but there's not much else in EA's arsenal that interests me.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Im not ashamed to say im still getting Mass Effect 3, besides, whens the last time a boycott actually worked or even got the attention of people who matter? Unless you got more than half the people who were going to buy games from EA to stop then the people at EA probably wont care since they'll be too busy bathing in money.

 

[dubious_wolf]

I sent I long winded email specifically saying as much. I think we all should send emails out lining our concerns. Remember though, EMAILS SHOULD BE WELL WRITEN AND TACFUL. It's a professional business that will respond to professional and polished messages.

http://ea.gamespress.com/contacts.asp?c=1
UK contact info. Couldn't find the American contacts....

Just to show what I had to say...

Spoiler: Email copy. warning: very long

First I'd like to say I'm a fan of many of EA's games franchises. I love the Mass Effect series, Saint's Row and I have fond memories of the Sims 2 & 3 from my childhood. I'm very much looking forward to playing Portal, and the Crysis series, and the many other great games this company is sure to produce. Because I enjoy the games which are produced by EA Entertainment, I would like to bring your attention to what seems like a rapidly growing problem within the corporate culture of EA Entertainment. I feel that since the release of Mass Effect 2, (which I played quite a bit) EA's goal has not been towards it's customers. I have had several problems claiming the promotional codes that have been included in several of the games I have bought, including Mass Effect 2's "Cerberus Card" and Dragon Age: Origins' extended content (The first failed to activate, the second had expired long before the date I had purchased it.) I ended up purchasing the Cerberus Content via XBL and the other I gave to a friend.

This move towards claimed game content seems to be alarming when compounded with the "not-Spyware" Origin system. I completely understand EA's attempt to regain market share from used game sales and pirated content. If you didn't combat this it would mean that the great games you bring us would not materialize as the profit would be non-existant. It would seem though the honest consumer that buys new games still end up getting punished. The fact that I have to jump through the hoops of a needlessly complicated website in order to find any sort of contact information for Concerns does not give the impression that EA has an open relationship with it's customers. I am in a marketing class in which we just studied Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, so I completely understand the growing need to build useful databases of customer info. However the fact that I have to use an ultimately inefficient system to access game content I have payed for is not the foundation for positive future relationships. I play video games to relax, for enjoyment, and fun, I don't want to have a large up front time cost cutting into what little time I have to devote to these games.

I believe that in simplifying this system and eliminating needless intrusion would greatly improve the satisfaction I gain from the games I play which are produced by EA Entertainment.

Further I would like to bring attention to the various marketing blunders in recent memory. First the Dante's Inferno "Sin-to-Win" campaign, and the Dead Space 2 "Your Mom" campaign. In a political climate where the threat of censorship is ever present, EA (Which last I checked is the largest Western games publisher with 16% and a market cap of 7.5 billion as well as the second largest facebook distributer.) has quite a lot of clout when it comes to the face of video gaming. As a result of this status I believe it is EA's duty to uphold a good public image of video games and work to educate society of the huge potential video games have as a medium to do great things. There are many studies pointing out the positive effect video games have. For example University of Texas at Arlington's Mike Ward an economics professor has done a lot in showing the positive effects of video games. In his latest study he shows a correlation between violent video games sales and a DROP in the crime rate. Despite these studies society as a whole continues to be fearful of the effects of the medium. As one of the largest game publishers it reflects poorly on the medium as whole when games with a Mature rating are marketed directly to teens (Dead Space 2) or use fake extremists, and immorality to create controversy and gain attention (Dante's Inferno).

In summation I believe that at it's core Electronic Arts Entertainment is a good company, which produces great content. However lately there has been a disconnect with the company and it's customers. As unfortunate as it is I'll not be able to continue to purchasing video games produced and directly sold by Electronic Arts, until I see a concerted effort to repair the relationship with customers and society as a whole.

I really appreciate any time you dedicate towards this email Mr. Goldberger, and I would love to keep in contact with you about anything contained within this email.

Sincerely
Payden Bullis

 

[veloper]

Boycots never work sadly.

Most gamers are simply ignorant of the whole issue, because they don't follow the news.
Of the remainder, the majority don't mind what's going on, not until the ban happens to them (and then they'll post on boards like this to complain too late). Odds that it will be YOU, are very small afteral.

EA publish alot of games that cater to the sheep aswell and that makes them invincible. You can only get a game boycot off the ground if the intended audience cares about such things as fair business practices and EA games have a very different audience.
Let's also not forget there are bigger concearns out there (that most people still don't care about). Then again, NOT buying a game should be the easiest thing in the world, but too many gamers do feel very strongly about getting their ME3 fix indeed.

 

[Echo Delta]

Seeing as I've already been doing so, I join you in not buying ANYTHING from EA.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Well.
You have fun.

I'll just go and play some Battlefield or something.

 

[DRes82]

Have fun not playing ME3 or SWTOR =)

I, for one, am going to buy the shit out of both of them the day they are released.