EA May Terminate Your Origins Account After Two Years

[Kurt Cristal]

I believe it's not using the content per se, but using the Origins service as a whole. Let's imagine that you don't log onto Origin for 2 years. That's pretty safe to say the whole account is considerably inactive. If you don't like it, buy physical copies of your content.

 

[Internet Kraken]

Using the service is essentially the same as playing a game though, since the only reason you'd ever log into Origin is to play/buy a game.

 

[silent_noir_67]

A bit of a dick move but on the other hand cheques expire after 6 months and gift cards everywhere expire after a year so this isn't the first of this to happen :/

 

[mad825]

Who not going to access an account for 2 years anyhow?

I don't touch every game in my collection every two years. Doesn't stop me from going back and playing them sometimes, but this will.

Just create a task which will execute Origin and login...or you could at least login once a year? IS that too much to ask?

Yes, because I shouldn't have to bother with that just to keep my games from being destroyed. Besides, there's no guarantee most people will even remember that especially if they haven't touched their account recently. I didn't even know about this until today.

Like I said, if there was a reasonable explanation for this I could tolerate it. However, from what I've found there is no explanation and EA's Origin is the only major digilital distribution system that does this. I don't see any excuse.

Whenever has there been "guarantees" in digital distribution? Any digital distribution systems can delete your account at their whim without a reason.

Stop whining, two years or more is adequate for anyone who has some limited internet connection.

 

[GroundWalker]

Jeez, what's with the extreme EA hate? :/
Really, nowhere there does it say that they'll immedeately remove your account on the day, it's more that they give themselves the right to do so.
They might do it with servers in mind, all your account info has to be stored somewhere doesn't it?

Also, because people allways bring up Steam in this kind of discussion:

Spoiler

B. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

NEITHER VALVE, ITS LICENSORS, NOR THEIR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STEAM, YOUR ACCOUNT, YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND THE SOFTWARE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. IN NO EVENT WILL VALVE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, MERCHANDISE THAT YOU ACQUIRE VIA STEAM, ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, OR THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE MERCHANDISE OR ANY INFORMATION, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF FAULT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR BREACH OF VALVE'S WARRANTY AND EVEN IF VALVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS REGARDING DAMAGES APPLY EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS.

IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF A EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRY, THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

C. NO GUARANTEES.

VALVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR SECURE OPERATION AND ACCESS TO STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND/OR YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS(S).

Source

 

[viranimus]

This simply means that if your account is not been active for over 24 months EA will assume it is no longer in use and will delete it. Why are people so pissed off about this, to me it just sound like a company that's covering all it's bases.

Because its impractical, illogical and counterintutive to industry standards.

Example... I stopped playing everquest in 2003. I returned in 2007 and played till almost 2009. Now flash forward I have preordered ToR. If I follow a similar pattern, max out level in 6 months and get bored, I would likely quit. However under Origin, the potential is there that after 2 years the account goes kaput. If any company did that to me, I guarantee you they would NOT get another 2 years of service out of me.

Thats why people are getting mad and quite frankly people SHOULD get mad. If you paid for something, you expect to be able to use it when you wish to use it, not within a predetermined time frame the manufacturer thinks is sufficient. So if you buy a EA game, then buy expansions/DLC for it and for whatever reason have a massively life changing two years you prolly wont get to play it, but given that youve purchased a product from EA you would at least logically expect to still have access to the products you buy.

This is why Digital distribution is a horrific idea in its current structure. Someone referenced Need for speed in this thread. If you buy a disc of NFS you simply will never have this problem, however modern digital distributors feel compelled to magically transform games from being a product into being a service so that they can do things like this and its all nice and legal.
EDIT:

If something like this is hidden in Origin it makes me wonder what other nasty surprises it has. If anyone else has any more information about this absurd policy than please share it. It is seriously making me reconsider using Origin.

Another nasty surprise is that Origin has stated an intention of "retiring" games. So say you bought a game like Madden 06 and its attached to your Origin account... Hypothetically you could log onto origin one day and see it premoved from your games list with no compensation for what was lost.

 

[Extravagance]

They're going to close accounts that havn't been used for over 2 years? Sounds fair enough. If you've not used it for 2 years, you're not exactly likely to go back to it.

 

[DaysBefore]

So?

Just log in, not play it, once in a while. Mine just starts when I turn on my computer, that's all you need. It's not about if you play every game you own every two years, though if you own a game and haven't played it for two years it's fair to assume you don't plan on playing that game right?

 

[Internet Kraken]

Jeez, what's with the extreme EA hate? :/
Really, nowhere there does it say that they'll immedeately remove your account on the day, it's more that they give themselves the right to do so.
They might do it with servers in mind, all your account info has to be stored somewhere doesn't it?

Also, because people allways bring up Steam in this kind of discussion:

Spoiler

B. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

NEITHER VALVE, ITS LICENSORS, NOR THEIR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STEAM, YOUR ACCOUNT, YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND THE SOFTWARE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. IN NO EVENT WILL VALVE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, MERCHANDISE THAT YOU ACQUIRE VIA STEAM, ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, OR THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE MERCHANDISE OR ANY INFORMATION, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF FAULT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR BREACH OF VALVE'S WARRANTY AND EVEN IF VALVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS REGARDING DAMAGES APPLY EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS.

IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF A EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRY, THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

C. NO GUARANTEES.

VALVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR SECURE OPERATION AND ACCESS TO STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND/OR YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS(S).

Source

Yeah, that's not exactly the same as "we will terminate your account if you don't use it for two years".

This has nothing to do with being "hip for hating on EA", as some people have said. This is the first legitimate problem I've had with Origins outside of it being superfluous. I do not play every game I own every two years. Hell, I don't think I necessarily use every console I own every two years. That does not mean I will never use them again.

And again, I see no explanation for this. Obviously managing all the account information puts a strain on their serves, but when you're running a digital distribution service that's to be expected.

though if you own a game and haven't played it for two years it's fair to assume you don't plan on playing that game right?

They're going to close accounts that havn't been used for over 2 years? Sounds fair enough. If you've not used it for 2 years, you're not exactly likely to go back to it.

No, and I have no idea why people say this. There are plenty of games I haven't played for two years but then gone back and played later.

 

[Simeon Ivanov]

They're competing with Steam? Trolololol

 

[ResonanceSD]

This simply means that if your account is not been active for over 24 months EA will assume it is no longer in use and will delete it. Why are people so pissed off about this, to me it just sound like a company that's covering all it's bases.

Because you have PAID for games. you've Bought games from a company. They become yours. Just because you haven't logged in doesn't mean you don't still own them.

 

[Aragatory]

I really don't see what the big deal is. All you have to do is log in to Origin atleast once every two years. They arn't going to delete a game if you don't play it for two years. Makes sense to delete dead/inactive accounts to free up space and whatnot for actual active customers.

 

[OreoDoublestuff]

Sounds like base covering to me. Actually, the TOS for most software and services are written something like this. Take the beloved Valve's Steam subscriber agreement:

"In the case of a one-time purchase of a product license (e.g., purchase of a single game) from Valve, Valve may choose to terminate or cancel your Subscription in its entirety or may terminate or cancel only a portion of the Subscription (e.g., access to the software via Steam) and Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide access (for a limited period of time) to the download of a stand-alone version of the software and content associated with such one-time purchase."

In other words, if for whatever reason (doesn't matter what) Valve terminates your account, you might, solely at Valve's discretion, get to access your account to download your games one last time. If they don't feel like it, and if you don't happen to have a game downloaded at the time, then you lose what you paid for.

Would Valve do it? Probably not; but they retain the right to do so.

These agreements are all about liability, and the companies that write them choose whether or not to exercise their rights.

 

[Internet Kraken]

Sounds like base covering to me. Actually, the TOS for most software and services are written something like this. Take the beloved Valve's Steam subscriber agreement:

"In the case of a one-time purchase of a product license (e.g., purchase of a single game) from Valve, Valve may choose to terminate or cancel your Subscription in its entirety or may terminate or cancel only a portion of the Subscription (e.g., access to the software via Steam) and Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide access (for a limited period of time) to the download of a stand-alone version of the software and content associated with such one-time purchase."

In other words, if for whatever reason (doesn't matter what) Valve terminates your account, you might, solely at Valve's discretion, get to access your account to download your games one last time. If they don't feel like it, and if you don't happen to have a game downloaded at the time, then you lose what you paid for.

Would Valve do it? Probably not; but they retain the right to do so.

These agreements are all about liability, and the companies that write them choose whether or not to exercise their rights.

I understand the concept of legal base covering. However, the fact that they explicitly mention terminating "inactive" accounts after two years makes me suspicious. The Steam terms and services agreement mentions they withhold the right to terminate accounts, but there's nothing so specific in it.

 

[pspman45]

They're going to close accounts that havn't been used for over 2 years? Sounds fair enough. If you've not used it for 2 years, you're not exactly likely to go back to it.

what If you get sent to prison or something?
imagine coming back to realize that not only was your account deleted but that you'll have to spend your money again?

 

[Stall]

Because you have PAID for games. you've Bought games from a company. They become yours. Just because you haven't logged in doesn't mean you don't still own them.

Spoiler alert: you don't own games you buy on Steam.

Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a limited, terminable, non-exclusive license and right to use the Software for your personal use in accordance with this Agreement and the Subscription Terms. The Software is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Software.

This is the case for a lot of software actually. You don't own it: they just license it to you, and make it a point that this license confers absolutely no ownership over the hardware. So no, even though you did pay for it, you don't technically own it... it isn't technically yours under the law. This isn't from Origins... this is from fucking Steam. You know... the one DD service everyone is eager to white knight. All those games on your Steam list, yeah, they aren't yours. You are basically just paying Valve to let you use them.

 

[Extravagance]

They're going to close accounts that havn't been used for over 2 years? Sounds fair enough. If you've not used it for 2 years, you're not exactly likely to go back to it.

what If you get sent to prison or something?
imagine coming back to realize that not only was your account deleted but that you'll have to spend your money again?

If you've been in prison for 2 years, it's likely to be pretty far down on your list of "stuff to do now I'm out". In the majority of cases, an account abandoned for 2 years is going to keep on being ignored, hence the EA clause. It's fairly standard practice, and it frees up space on servers/other techy things for new players. It probably will effect a minority, but then everything does.

 

[Aragatory]

Sounds like base covering to me...snip

Exactly. This is just good business practice to cover legal bases. People need to learn that every company does this in some way, shape or form. It doesn't mean they enforce it.
I also have the feeling that most people are going on about it just because it's EA.
And well it's cool to hate EA.

Edit: I'd also like to make another point.
"your Account MAY be cancelled for non-use." It's says may, not it will be cancelled. May.