EA May Terminate Your Origins Account After Two Years

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

this is why I am not fan digital games/online games, I don't mind the luxury but what would happen if steam if ever went down or itunes?

 

[Aprilgold]

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.

Yet you give them your credit details to buy the game, your name, home and IP along with your time to get, download and buy along with register for their service, they could turn their head and give your details to everyone, its basically your details for their internet, explain how EXACTLY its fair to destroy your game even though you payed and gave them your details?

 

[Aprilgold]

this is why I am not fan digital games/online games, I don't mind the luxury but what would happen if steam if ever went down or itunes?

Steam is good, trust me, their great, and you can STILL access your games offline.

 

[Naeo]

A lot of existing things already use this sort of setup. And without further information I assume that, like most other things under this model, logging in and/or playing a game via your account would consist of "using" it.

So I'm interpreting this as "if you don't log in at all in two years, we can delete your account". And really, if you haven't logged in--or playing a game, if that's their criteria for "using" the account--for two whole years, I don't see why you'd be upset with the account being deleted.

And also without further information I can't speak for whether you'd lose your games or not. But it seems to me like there would be some way to recover purchases, I would hope (maybe some sort of code or whatnot that's unique toy our account, or identifying a past credit card used on the account). But I have no idea, and I don't bother to assume.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

this is why I am not fan digital games/online games, I don't mind the luxury but what would happen if steam if ever went down or itunes?

Steam is good, trust me, their great, and you can STILL access your games offline.

hmm yeah your right.. but I only have some steam games due in part of their sales, if not for those I wouldn't have any...but this is way of subject

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

*shrug*

So what? They don't even need a reason to delete an account and people are complaining about this!? Whos not going to access an account for 2 years anyhow?

For something like this, yes they do. Why? Because all of your purchased games are on that account, and if they cancel the account, they have stolen from you.

 

[elvor0]

Seriously, I can't believe almost half the people in this thread have said "So what?" as if this is something we should be prepared to take. I payed for a game, I expect to be able to keep it, I put £30 down for it and and should be MINE, I'm not fucking renting it.

I haven't logged into my EA marketplace in over two years until yesterday when I felt like a romp on Battlefield 2142 and that was only because my mate got into the BF3 alpha and its the ONLY game I have on EA marketplace because it was so cumbersome. I like coming back to games I haven't played in years, I shouldn't have to log into my account if I remember to do so just so I don't lose my games. I uninstalled EA marketplace from my pc when I stopped playing 2142, because I didn't want it running because I wasn't using it. I shouldn't have to have a useless piece of software running just so I don't lose the games I payed for.

Just because you're some sort of complete fucking moron that can't see why this is bad, doesn't mean you should expect everyone else to roll over and take it. There is a very legitimate reason to be annoyed at this and we shouldn't put up with it. I bought a guitar a good few years ago, I haven't played it in two years, but I intend to fix it up when I have the money but I don't have fender coming round and repossessing my guitar, and I shouldn't have EA doing it either.

I guarantee each and every one of you "So what-ers" have come back to a game a couple of years after you originally shelved it, and I'd be willing to put money on the fact that if you decided to play it and it said "Fuck off, you didn't give me attention in the last couple of years so I'm not playing" you'd be pissed off.

 

[Dragon_Nexus]

You people realise it's talking about Origin, right? Not the game?

So just sign into Origin once every 24 months and all of your content associated with your account is safe.
Better yet, just have the dmn thing set to load with Windows then you don't even need to think about it.

 

[Sud0_x]

Seriously, I can't believe almost half the people in this thread have said "So what?" as if this is something we should be prepared to take. I payed for a game, I expect to be able to keep it, I put £30 down for it and and should be MINE, I'm not fucking renting it.

I haven't logged into my EA marketplace in over two years until yesterday when I felt like a romp on Battlefield 2142 and that was only because my mate got into the BF3 alpha and its the ONLY game I have on EA marketplace because it was so cumbersome. I like coming back to games I haven't played in years, I shouldn't have to log into my account if I remember to do so just so I don't lose my games. I uninstalled EA marketplace from my pc when I stopped playing 2142, because I didn't want it running because I wasn't using it. I shouldn't have to have a useless piece of software running just so I don't lose the games I payed for.

Just because you're some sort of complete fucking moron that can't see why this is bad, doesn't mean you should expect everyone else to roll over and take it. There is a very legitimate reason to be annoyed at this and we shouldn't put up with it. I bought a guitar a good few years ago, I haven't played it in two years, but I intend to fix it up when I have the money but I don't have fender coming round and repossessing my guitar, and I shouldn't have EA doing it either.

I guarantee each and every one of you "So what-ers" have come back to a game a couple of years after you originally shelved it, and I'd be willing to put money on the fact that if you decided to play it and it said "Fuck off, you didn't give me attention in the last couple of years so I'm not playing" you'd be pissed off.

I'm with you buddy but you see it everywhere, some people just refuse to listen to reason.
You'll always get the "Hey why don't we just give the guys with all the money and power more money and power? Can't we all get along?"
Maybe some of them will remember us whiners and haters after it's too late.

This is just an extension of the license premise, albeit more of an ominous deathgrip approach, it's dead wrong.

Not surprised at all. EA has proved multiple times that they don't care about you, and they have the right and ability to lock you out of your games if you piss them off.

To me this seems like more of the same. Sad thing is people will *****, then promptly forget and keep using it. Happened with all other ridiculous crap, and will continue to happen until people finally get some damn backbone and actually stop paying to be treated like criminals.

Irridium knows what's up, EA have actually already been doing this for years.

My frustration encompasses much more than just this issue, it's small potatoes, but I'll continue to shout "REVOLUTION'S COMIN' MAN!" and people will walk right by.

 

[elvor0]

You people realise it's talking about Origin, right? Not the game?

So just sign into Origin once every 24 months and all of your content associated with your account is safe.
Better yet, just have the dmn thing set to load with Windows then you don't even need to think about it.

I haven't signed into EA Marketplace for 2 years, and I didn't have Marketplace installed in that time because I WASN'T USING IT. I shouldn't have to have something installed and running and taking up memory just because I don't fancy using it, I should be allowed to play a game I bought and fucking payed £30 for any time I want. You don't see Blizzard deleting inactive accounts for WoW, because there would be a fucking shitstorm, why do you think this is okay in the slightest?

This "oh just sign into origin derp" argument is bollocks. I shouldn't have to announce to EA that I may want to play that game in a few years out of nostalgia to stop them taking away something I bought and payed for with MY money, I'm not fucking renting it, I BOUGHT it. Nothing else in the world does that. I still have all my old ps1/ps2 games at home because I know that I'll go back and play them one day, but I don't have to plug in my ps2 just to make them work when I come back to them do I? I've still got old records that I will use once I've got my record player set up, but I didn't have EMI come round and say "Naaah we're taking this away because you havent listened to it in four years, it fucking ours now." NO ONE here should be acting as if this is okay.

And don't give me that "Well buy a hard copy" bollocks either. That just ignores the issue, rather than confronting it.

 

[mike1921]

Here's the question,is account information take that much space and if it does is there anyway to just compress it after two years and make it so you have to reactivate it?

You people realise it's talking about Origin, right? Not the game?

So just sign into Origin once every 24 months and all of your content associated with your account is safe.
Better yet, just have the dmn thing set to load with Windows then you don't even need to think about it.

Do you have any idea how digital distribution services like steam work? No Origin, you lose all games you bought through origin. So no, it's not the game, fuck it would be so much better if it was about the GAME (singular) because then you'll lose only one game because then you wouldn't have the potential of me losing all 49 of the games I have on steam.

Why should I have to do something extra , be it remembering something or using computer resources, just to keep the games I spent money for?

 

[bob1052]

The issue here is not how easy or difficult it is to sign in every 24 months. Anyone who thinks the issue here is anything related to signing in to Origin every 24 months should just shut up and leave now for being so stupid.

The fact that they will deny you access to all of your games because you haven't played any games via their system for 2 years is a huge problem.

If I told you that if you don't play a game for the next two years or I will break into your house and smash your console/PC you wouldn't say "Oh, I'll just play a game", you would say "Fuck off, you're not doing that".

 

[Pandabearparade]

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?

Deleting property someone paid full price for after an expiration date -is- too much to ask, yes.

 

[Gindil]

*shrug*

So what? They don't even need a reason to delete an account and people are complaining about this!? Whos not going to access an account for 2 years anyhow?

*raises hand*

I have some old games I haven't touched in years. But then I come back to them after all my school, recent gaming, and I have an entirely new perspective. Old games are awesome.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

If you have not used your Entitlements or Account for twenty four (24) months or more and your Account has associated Entitlements, your Entitlements will expire and your Account may be cancelled for non-use. Once you have redeemed your Entitlements, that content is not returnable, exchangeable, or refundable for other Entitlements or for cash, or other goods or services.

So if I am reading this right, and hopefully I am not, EA intends to shut down any accounts that have not been used for 2 years. Presumably, this will result in you having to make a new account/repurchase anything associated with the expired account.[/quote]

Well, correct me if I'm wrong (I may be, I don't use Origins) but, if it's like Steam, then my computer automatically logs on every time I start it. I don't have to play or load a game - Steam just starts up and runs in the background. If my computer is running slow, I might turn it off while doing something non-Steam related, but it turns back on whenever I boot up.

So I might not play a game, but as long as Steam is installed and boots up in the background, then Steam knows I'm still around. Thus, even if Steam had a similar policy, I'd be fine even if I didn't play a Steam game for more than two years.

If Origins is the same, then simply having it start with boot up is enough to stave off being deleted - if they work the same, and if I'm reading that correctly. Just bolded that to make sure that everyone understands that I'm not sure about that point.

 

[elvor0]

Yeah, I've always been worried about this. Valve might go bust in my lifetime - and what'll happen to our games then?

I really don't like online DRM. Steam's OK, but it has MASSIVE underlying issues.

To be fair, the same applies to virtually all types of games in all types of mediums, be it physical or digital. You don't buy video games, you buy a license which grants you the right to play the game. It's the same with all types of software, you're primarily buying the right to use the software so long as you agree to the stipulations in that software's Terms of Use. It's a legally binding contract of sorts that grants the video game company the right to deny service to you for any reason they see fit.

Suddenly, being a gamer seems like a dismal way to live, eh? But it's just how it is, and how it's always been. Video games were always treated as just a special type of software, something you buy the RIGHT to use. The rules never really evolved when gaming became as big as it has, so game companies still treat games as their legal property. And until some laws come along to move the industry forward, expect to see a lot more of this policy.

Right, and Naughty Dog are going to to deny me the right to play my copy of Crash Bandicoot on my PS1....how exactly? Having a physical copy of a game from the PS1/N64 era and even an Xbox 360 game(I say Even because there are actually online components but offline mode goes on and boomp, I can play my game even if EA says I can't) is in NO WAY renting a license, there is no way in hell they can prevent you from playing their game if you violate their terms of use. I could come back in 2 decades and probably still play the damn thing, providing the disc still works, which it should. EA origin....not so much.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Source [http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section5]

5. Content and Entitlement Availability

Entitlements may only be held in Accounts belonging to legal residents of countries where access to and use of Content and Entitlements is permitted. Entitlements may be purchased or acquired only from EA or an authorized retailer. EA reserves the right to refuse your request(s) to acquire Entitlements, and EA reserves the right to limit or block any request to acquire Entitlements for any reason.

We do not guarantee that any Content or Entitlement will be available at all times or at any given time or that we will continue to offer particular Content or Entitlements for any particular length of time. We reserve the right to change and update Content and Entitlements without notice to you. If you have not used your Entitlements or Account for twenty four (24) months or more and your Account has associated Entitlements, your Entitlements will expire and your Account may be cancelled for non-use. Once you have redeemed your Entitlements, that content is not returnable, exchangeable, or refundable for other Entitlements or for cash, or other goods or services.

So if I am reading this right, and hopefully I am not, EA intends to shut down any accounts that have not been used for 2 years. Presumably, this will result in you having to make a new account/repurchase anything associated with the expired account. Now I really can't see what purpose this serves other than making EA seem like a bunch of assholes, so I want to think I'm missing something here. However I've tried searching for any statement from EA explaining this and found nothing.

For the sake of discussion, let's assume this is exactly how I am reading it. Does this not strike anyone else as being incredibly unfair to the consumer? People complain a lot when DRM or company policies prevent them from truly owning a game. With the way Origins is set up it will take away your games if you don't log in once every two years. Now perhaps you're not worried about this becuase two years is quite a long time. Indeed it is, but do you really touch most of the games you own every two years? I certainly don't. Since I want to keep my Origin purchases as low as possible, I could easily see myself not using it for two years. Now I have to or I risk losing those games.

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.

EDIT: Now I'm wondering if this is actually standard policy for digital distribution services and I simply haven't heard about it before. In which case my reaction would be quite unjustified.

EDIT 2: Before you say "well an account not used for 2 years is inactive", consider that many people do play games after not touching them for 2 years. If someone only has one or two games on their Origin account what reason would they have to log into it on a regular basis?

(1) Yes, this sort of thing is standard.
(2) More likely than not, they're covering their asses in case they need/want to do a database purge, which they could want to do for a variety of reasons (freeing up parts of the username namespace occupied by inactive accounts for instance).
(3) All of this insanity resulting from people actually reading the EULA for Origin is starting to become obnoxious. This sort of thing is in every EULA, people just never actually look at them.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

*shrug*

So what? They don't even need a reason to delete an account and people are complaining about this!? Whos not going to access an account for 2 years anyhow?

*raises hand*

I have some old games I haven't touched in years. But then I come back to them after all my school, recent gaming, and I have an entirely new perspective. Old games are awesome.

Yes, but you've accessed your account... you've booted Origins up at all (let it run in the background, browsed for new games, etc) at some point in the last two years, right?

This isn't about playing a particular game - it's about playing ANY game, or thinking about playing a game, or shopping for games, or anything.

 

[LiftYourSkinnyFists]

Fact is, it's all data in a database for EA, they can't hold on to everything forever and in my opinion it wouldn't be play it even if they did delete it I mean come on... I bought doom over 10 years ago I don't actually use any part of the stuff I bought years ago.

Also, if you've not used your account in 2 years I mean seriously there's more than one game on there if you buy them and don't use them for that long or even just log in once you probably don't care about it much at all.