EA: Get Banned From Forums, Lose Your Games

[Anton P. Nym]

Am I the only one who thinks this is sheer awesomeness? People will soon learn to play nicely if it means they would actually lose access to something outside of the internets.

As I posted earlier, I can very much understand why forum moderators would want a "GTFO my internets" button with super-atomic-throat-punch action... some denizens of the 'Tubes are truly wastes of precious electrons, and maybe even oxygen. But I wouldn't like having one, because the temptation to go nuclear would be too damned great given the mass quantities of idiocy out there.

In the end, it's a bad idea to leave a commercial decision like that to a caffeine-deprived and over-burdened guy sitting at a desk. Too much risk of accidental (or deliberate) overuse.

-- Steve

 

[KSarty]

Read the whole thread before posting guys. TOGSolid already posted the link to APOC clarifying that this isn't true. They will not ban you from the game for being banned on the forum.

 

[Dahemo]

Can i just ask, as I am unsure, there is clearly a code of conduct policy in most online games, but let us say for example I was on "World of Warcraft" discussing the finer points of german pornography with a colleague, when my actions were noticed by an administrator. I assume I would first be warned, but what follows should I continue, as I am a roguish scamp of the highest order, and do not comply.

I don't play WoW but I see a similar thing there, if I behave badly then I deserve to be banned but on the flip-side a regular player feeds Blizzard hard earned dollar to feed their social retardation habit, so can I be denied access to that which I have payed for?

For me, any kind of serious, concerted attempt to disrupt the game in general or for other players is ban worthy ( e.g. viruses, hacking, theft of genuine consequence) but youthful exuberance is another matter entirely (swearing, impoliteness, trolling) yet while clearly deserving of a ban on a free forum such as this, if I payed Escapist a portion of my wages to write here I would be somewhat peeved when I lost access for questioning the parentage of a fellow scribe.

It seems to me that a very clear line has to be drawn, a helpful start would be clear tolerance guidelines, players being re-issued with the conduct rules as the ban system comes into effect, and a time limitation on almost all bans. Who knows, a young gentleman put on a month ban may find new and more rewarding diversions, breaking the vicious cycle he has been trapped in.

But more than likely he'll have been trolling livejournal solid for the whole time...

 

[Volucer]

Well I'm never going to their forums, doubt many others will if this is legit. Losing access to a forum is one thing but all your games is another thing entirely. I know it may just be the online aspect you'll lose, but I play 2142 and that's made for online, and then with pretty much half of what games come out are distributed by EA, I just don't think the risk is justified.

 

[AceDiamond]

Read the whole thread before posting guys. TOGSolid already posted the link to APOC clarifying that this isn't true. They will not ban you from the game for being banned on the forum.

YET

 

[Jharry5]

That seems a bit unfair...
I might just boycott EA for this. It looks like they don't want people buying their games anymore.

 

[Link Kadeshi]

BOOBIES!
Crap... Now I can't play any EA games. Amazing that this is somehow a fair move. So, if one of the EA execs swears, he's not allowed to go home? Can we do that?

Did you even read my update?

Actually, that is odd, the comment link from the news article doesn't have page links, and I didn't see an update on the main news page. But yes, I read your update when it hit the article. Though it does still worry me that they can stop my ability to play a game period. I'm betting they don't give me my money back. Interesting question for you: Would it be piracy to circumvent an EA game ban? I would think not.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

if they start banning you from your games, they will have a whole big huge legal battle on their hands and their eula's will be put to the test. most lawyers do NOT want this and will tell corps to smarten up

the strange thing about eula's is even if you don't read them, which most ppl don't, they still apply and all they have to do is contain reasonable stuff and they are enforcable

if they start adding things like "you get banned from the forums and your games too" that's a bit too far and out of the norm and will be possibly not enforceable, tho they could say "banned from ea online servers" and that might work

 

[MrPete]

So, wait. Does this not go against freedom of speech laws which exist in pretty much every western country?

It's just... Gah!

 

[Cid Silverwing]

I KNEW IT!!! There was more than just the moneymilker virus behind that piece of shit game they dare call RA3! They lock down the singleplayer campaigns for those who get banned from their forums!

This is more than proof enough that EA is abusing their powers and seriously need a cease & desist order up their ass and their wealth redistributed to all the poor gamers.

 

[Cyclomega]

You are misinformed. Especially about Steam, which is moderated fairly and only sure-fine hackers get banned. Besides, people agree to signing up to these terms when installing these games, so they can whine all they want but they're still in a contract with the publisher.

My point was that they CAN do such things with Steam, not that they do. Today only hackers get banned, tomorrow who knows. Maybe tomorrow is the same as today, but the ability for them to do what EA is doing will always be there. And what's the next step? If they can turn off your game access for forum behavior, it's not a stretch to think EA may disable a game after a year's worth of use, forcing you to buy it again and again.

As to the contract... Have you ever read a full EULA? Yes, everyone clicks the I Agree, but it's much like a forced confession. There are parts in the user agreement to protect developers from any responsibility whatsoever, they even usually state that if the game doesn't work, too fucking bad, no refunds. So what can we do, not click "I Agree"? We would not have any games left to play, because they're ALL covered with EULAs, and ALL those EULAs demand you agree to things beyond what is reasonable. That's why I said, the government needs to step in, because the user agreements to software exceed what is reasonable or legal to ask a customer.

I did read full EULAs for a while, and when I came to the conclusion that it's mainly saying "all your savegames/work file/computer are belong to us, yet it's all your fault if we abuse it or if it crashes", I decided to click away, and pay much less money for the right to click it... nudge-nudge...

 

[Sigenrecht]

Strongest incentive I've ever had to not be an asshole. Props to EA for taking a stand, albeit a bit harsh a leap.

Moral: Don't fuck with the man holding the gun.

 

[AlphaWolf13]

So completely restricting them from using what they legally bought is their idea of justice?
It's like a fuck-fuck situation.

EA = Devil

 

[Daymo]

Update the main article with TOGSolid's link so people will stop bashing EA for no reason. Most people in this thread will just read the main post and bash EA.

 

[AceDiamond]

Update the main article with TOGSolid's link so people will stop bashing EA for no reason. Most people in this thread will just read the main post and bash EA.

Please explain to me how somebody in their company could misinterpret what they meant that badly. Because the difference between what we were told first and what we were told now is about as vast as the Grand Canyon.

 

[Doug]

Seems a bit cruel, But if EA's forums are rampant with misbehaving idiots (I can't tell since I've never been to the forums.), then it seems like a.... reasonable tactic to get the forum behavior under control.

Just one Question, though: Does this include restriction from 360/PS3 games as well as PC, or just PC games?

Well, no, not really. You join the forums for free and for abit of community - but then they say the products you legally purchased with actual money are not longer allowed to exist. Seriously, this has to be illegal, if true...

I suspect the mod was talking out of his arse alot then.

 

[The Lyre]

Hmm...so my choice is, spend good money on a single player game, and have my ownership of that game hang by a thread...or pirate the damn thing, play it through once, and delete it?

Is EA's management utterly retarded, or are they secretely trying to promote piracy?

Why should I buy a copy of Mirror's Edge for PC, for example, if I'm not going to actually have secure ownership of that game?

Edit; Read update - still going to pirate the crap out of it.

I'm not sure what worries me more, that they'd actually be prepared to pull this crap, or that the mods will spout what appears to be completely made up rubbish...they're either borderline criminals, or downright incompetent.

Update the main article with TOGSolid's link so people will stop bashing EA for no reason. Most people in this thread will just read the main post and bash EA.

EA needs to be bashed. Daily. Until they produce more games like Mirror's Edge.

Wait, sorry, I forgot about Mirror's Edge 2...and 3...and 4...and the MMO. I guess there will be plenty more games exactly like Mirror's Edge.

Bashing EA is fun and helpful!

 

[blackwell225]

Most of the time people would wonder. Why do i have to buy a CD/DVD of this game if I have a large library of CD/DVD games that will only last for 3yrs, after that the copy of the software is damaged even if not used. While a software copy from a computer will last forever regardless of a Computer virus that comes from the downloads. There are many new games that EA had created and some of that requires a buyer of the original game to be registered on the EA server. Now the problem is that the hackers today are very smart and can even surpassed EA's Anti-identity Guard. Also, US government can hacked the account and view the user's private data. Now if YOU don't know this. You'll already have been stolen.

 

[Antari]

Not that I've been buying alot of EA games lately, this certainly won't cause me to anytime ever in the future.