EA Boycott?

[dubious_wolf]

I love the Mass Effect series, Saint's Row and I have fond memories of the Sims 2 & 3 from my childhood.

Um, I'm looking at my copy of Saints Row 3 right now and it says that THQ is the publisher... I think it's great that you actually write a company and voice your concerns, but this is a major blunder and, honestly, one you shouldn't have made. Otherwise, I support you, but EA might not take you seriously after this.

Yeah you're right the main page was featuring it on Origin and I goofed.
But if you support what I'm saying, then send a message yourself. Don't sit back and knit pick.

 

[tippy2k2]

Incidents such as prohibiting people from playing their LEGALLY bought games if they misbehave on their forums...

Like a friend of mine said, "Act like a *****, prepare to get hit".

Your friend has just became my favorite person ever. If you could give them a congratulatory high five from me, that would be appreciated.

I have absolutely no problem with EA and how they go about business. Online passes are something I actually support (Sterling's argument against them I feel is terribly flawed). Some jackasses act like jackasses get banned is not going to be a reason for me to stop purchasing their products.

The SOPA thing is the only thing that makes me a little iffy about their products but any company that can take advantage of SOPA is going to be on board with it (just not all of them publicly).

 

[FFHAuthor]

Oh look, this thread, again.

 

[The Random One]

Not as long as Activision draws breath.

 

[Vault101]

ME3 already preordered

damn mega corporations MAKING me buy their products!!

 

[Bad Jim]

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?

In truth, you would get either a minute or so to drink your beer or your money back. Because you are entitled to at least one of those. The consequence of misbehaving is getting thrown out, barred, maybe having the police called. But that doesn't change the fact that you paid for a beer.

I've seen a few people get thrown out of pubs and that's what happens.

 

[Vigormortis]

Also... who seriously goes to forums for FPS's? I'm a forum whore myself but that just seems a little unnecessary.

People do. And people get banned for it.

And where's the discussion value there? "Aw dude, I totally got this sweet headshot awhile back!"

"SCAR or gtfo!"

that's about it.
Anyone going to those forums for any other reason is likely just going there to stir up shit. And EA ain't having none of that. Much like the mods here if you ask me.

You are so right! It's just like all those RPG forums. All the RPG fans talk about are things like, "Aw dude, I totally got this sweet headshot with my bow awhile back!" or "Eldrich sword or GTFO!"

That's about it. I mean, who seriously goes to forums for RPGs? It's just so unnecessary for RPG fans to bother going to forums to talk about those games. Where's the discussion value, you know?



Or maybe, if you bothered to not insultingly generalize FPS games and those that play them, you might realize there is just as much variety, depth, and quality narratives in the FPS genre as there are in the RPG genre. But no. That would require someone to look beyond their own opinions and bias. It would require them to own up to the fact that some people like things different from what they like.

O.T. - I think everyone is losing sight of the event that sparked this whole thing. A man was banned from his account (forum AND origin) and permanently locked out from all of his legally purchased games because someone else cursed in a forum post wherein the man was quoted. His name was simply mentioned, yet EA's content filtering system didn't distinguish between him and the person who actually broke the rules. It simply blanket banned anyone mentioned in the post. Last I had heard, the guy was still fighting his way through EA tech support to get the whole debacle cleared up. To no success.

The worst part is, considering this is an issue caused by the system (Origin), it could very likely be a systemic-wide issue. I.E. Others may have had this same thing occur to them. Frankly, if there were ever a valid reason to boycott a game company, this is one of them. While it's unlikely this little boycott will actually form and adhere to it's tenements, if it does, count me among it's members.

 

[BRex21]

At no point do you own the game like a toaster, or whatever product you care to mention but merely the right to use it them. If you violate the terms of use, by example by insulting someone, that's it game over. Just like any other service.

Technically its not a service, its a licence, and may be subject to First-Sale doctrine, its a contentious issue. Better still since EULA is technically a shrinkwrap contract it already violates fair trade laws in most countries and many US states and is difficult to enforce. Your average EULA simply sums up copyright law so you still cant break it but EULA is not free licence to do whatever you want.
Secondly EA AGREES that they don't have the right to shut down your single player access, they have said long ago that they wont do this, yet they still do. Since its not in any of the terms of service, they have no legal ability to do it.
Besides, despite the fact that its blatantly illegal in most of the world, including Canada where I live, Origin still tried to access the encrypted files on my phone when i tried to get some photos off of it. We know they have little regard for the law when it does not suit them.

Actually it would be more like going to a bar, ordering a beer with the consequence of giving the barman the keys to your apartment and allowing him to rifle through your stuff. Just to get kicked out of the bar if some other guy insults the barman while yelling your name.

You must hang around in posher bars than I did in my youth. Many a time I've been searched on the way into bars and clubs as a precondition of entry. I have even been thrown out of few and you know what, it was NEVER my fault. No one is ever the villain their own story.

Now first off, it would appear that the offence is in fact being cursed at. so as per your analogy: you walk into a bar, some guy insults your sexuality and because of that you are banned from the bar. I have now read the chat logs listened to the phone call and the offending post DOES seem to be directed at the person who received the ban and the phone calls seem to follow the same template as my own conversations with EA. There are legitimate times when people AREN'T the villain.

 

[boyvirgo666]

If EA games stop being bought, then they may have to reconsider.

If you absolutely must buy ME3, wait a few days for it to be pre-owned at gamestop. That way, EA receives none of the profits.

you would need thousands of people to agree with you and as much as i dont like EA i am already boycotting apple products, i only do 1 boycott at a time and this one has been going for years.

 

[HeOfMalice]

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.

Seems OP didn't even make it onto page 2 before realizing that their thread didn't start a revolution and giving up on the public. Makes you think about how dedicated they really are on getting the word out that EA's doing something wrong in their eyes. Seems to me like they wanted too have a public bitchfest but Mass Effect junkies put a knot in their panties.

 

[Foxbat Flyer]

I have been boycotting them since the whole origin debarcle... Their practices cannot go on like this without losing their customer base

 

[NotSoNimble]

Why would I boycott them? I already agreed to the ToS, so why complain after you break them? EA makes great games, I will continue to buy them. Also, Good job EA, people need to stop being trolls!

 

[TehCookie]

I'll treat them like any other business, if they want my money they have to provide a good product/service. Right now they are not doing that so I refuse to buy from them.

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

Incidents such as prohibiting people from playing their LEGALLY bought games if they misbehave on their forums...

Like a friend of mine said, "Act like a *****, prepare to get hit".

Is EA being a little bit on the idiotic side with Origin and how they are handling the separation of forum and game accounts? Yes. Are there any other developers with the same or better quality of games as EA with better ethics? Not really. Want to know how to circumvent that and play their games without fear of being banned? Play them on a console where MS/Sony control your account, only just view their forums or contribute actually useful posts that don't piss off everyone and their dog, and behave like a sensible human being.

I will not be boycotting EA. Why? I love essentially every BioWare release. The Battlefield series is excellent. Mirrors Edge was an interesting gamble that not many other developers would take, yet I enjoyed it. Dead Space has been a very fun series to play and, again, not many other developers would take a shot at a brand new IP like that, rather than renovate an existing one.

This guy... this guy has it right. Mirror's Edge was awesome, Dead Space is a well-built (though not especially scary) third person shooter, Mass Effect is one of the best RPG series I've ever played, and for all my whining and moaning about Battlefield 3's marketing and Origin exclusivity, I can't stop playing. It's amazing. It looks beautiful, and Battlelog is not annoying like I thought it would be.

Oh, and if you haven't played the beta for The Old Republic yet, here's a protip: It's like KotOR and Mass Effect crawled into bed with WoW. That's selling it way, way short. I haven't played past the early stages of any MMO before I quit, and I refuse to pay monthly for my MMOs. The Old Republic is so good, I'm willing to break out my wallet and shell out fifteen bucks a month for it. I can't describe what it is that makes it so great. As I said before, you're playing KotOR, with friends, and all the conversations are Mass Effect style, fully voiced, and filled with badass. There's a narrative to your questing, and even the small side missions feel like smaller story missions rather than "Go to these coordinates and kill X number of wolves". I found myself wanting to do EVERYTHING, even the side stuff, because it gave me a chance to talk to more people, make more choices, further establish my character's identity, and explore more of the world.

I could rant forever just about that game, but I have a final paper for my college classes due soon. EA can be a company of out-of-touch DRM-crazy jerkwads, but the games the publish can end up being really damn good. Come to think of it, most of my best gaming experiences in the last year or two have been almost exclusively EA or Ubisoft funded titles. The companies are jerks who are greedy as can be, but the games they churn out of their studios help to smooth their relations with me.

 

[HeatproofShAdOw]

Wait, wait, wait. So one of your problems with EA is it's $10 online passes, used to counter pre-used games, yet your willing to boycott and only buy pre-used from EA to hurt the company, justifying said passes?

And users getting temporarily locked out of their games because they act like jackasses on forums?

Just stop. Please. It's all well and good for you to not purchase anything from EA, but you aren't going to do anything. Not the tiniest thing to a corporation as big as EA.

 

[kaizen2468]

Refer to jim sterlings episode on boycotting please

 

[joshthor]

gamer boycotts are worthless. there is no point to them. next good game they release 3/4 of the boycotters will be first in line to get it. also, hardcore gamers (gamers that actually care about this shit) are a very small minority of gamers that dont really have much of a financial say.

 

[Stormz]

Don't forget the expiring DLC you get in NEW copies! They also punish you if you don't buy their games on day one. I'm trying to tone down my purchasing of EA games because of their obvious hatred of the very people that let them bathe in solid gold tubs filled with money. I'm not sure when I'll be able to fully stop. But ME3 is the only game by them that I'll be buying in the future.

It's a shame they've sucked up so many developers.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I'm not boycotting them, but I don't like the idea of installing spyware on my computer, so no Origin games for me. The way EA is going, that seems like a functional boycott haha.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

They haven't done a thing to me (unless I can blame that piece of shit game Dragon Age on them). So I'm not going to stop buying games from them just because you don't like what they do. Have fun continuing the boycott bandwagon.