EA: Some Gamers Just Don't Like Change

[Durgiun]

Never buy any new game published by a public corporation. Borrow it, rent it, get it used. Remember for every EA game you buy new the vast majority of the money you spend is going toward financing this guy, and the other executives and board members' lavish lifestyles. And another large part is going toward major stockholders many of which are hedge funds which are also mostly owned by other super rich dudes.

Then a tiny insignificant portion of that money goes toward actually paying the creative people who worked on the game, and the reality is the SOP for most publishers is to gut non "celebrity" studios after a game is released and also try to weasel out of contractually obligated bonuses and residuals.

Better spend your money on independent games, contribute to kickstarters, or add an extra couple of dollars to the humble bundle, or buy some friend's kid a copy of minecraft.

EA, Activision and corporate gaming can't crash and burn fast enough.

Pretty much the logic I used for when I decided to never buy an EA product ever again.

 

[NiPah]

Dear EA,
My major grievances with your company is not change, I may disagree with where you stand on necessity of multiplayer and the dumbing down of core gameplay, but this is not why I'm angry with you. My major grievance is your online service and the seemingly ease at which people can be permanently banned from their game library, and I'm also not happy with several of my favorite studios folding while under your wing. My issues with you have not kept me from enjoying your fine games, but it has kept me from purchasing them over PC on your Origin service.

Sincerely a random gamer you'll never hear

PS. stop with this "we know why you hate us" nonsense, you've gotten it wrong every time in the past and the future does not look bright.

how easily it is to be banned? It was a one time incident that someone got very, very loud about, and now you parade it as the norm.

And really, you should know that the exact same thing happens even with Steam. You can google a few stories if you want.

No, it was multiple incidents that I've read about from various sources, and no they weren't all about the "single instance" but a myriad of instances, each followed by poor automated customer service. Thank you for bringing Steam into the picture, since you mentioned it no I haven't read a single story of them banning every user associated with the computer of a banned user, nor have I heard them perma banning a player for quoting offensive words on a blog.

I stated originally that it was seemingly easy to be permanently banned from their game library, I did not as you say "parade it as the norm", all EA has to do is show me that steps have been taken to make sure another user won't be banned in the same way and I'd be happy. Instead I get EA being rather presumptuous stating that I'm afraid of change, all the while sounding very much like a prick.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

"It's cool to rag on EA"

Is it? Really?

Well no one told me, but I guess nothing will change anyway.

Also, I fear change sure, but if you just released a fucking demo for your games I'd be more willing to give them a try rather than spending £40-£45 on it. I fear wasting money more than anything, and seeing as EA is the best at taking money, I fear them the most.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

You know what given EA's stock values lately, if was a EA investor I'd be dragging Peter Moore into the office to tell him to keep his bloody mouth shut.

Gamers do like change, Activision would still make Guitar Hero games if didn't. What we don't like is being ripped off with "services" provided when we want to buy products.

EDIT

Wait I got one! Well looking at EA's yearly release schedule, they don't like change either

 

[Avalanche91]

you know EA, releasing a statement every week saying that it's not your fault but that we simply don't understand will not make us suddenly join hands and realize what fools we've been for not giving you our every penny.

Edit: Also; it's cool to hate EA? Well I've been hating EA before it was cool.

 

[Thammuz]

Oh, no. We like change. We like what Valve is doing, frequent high value sales, integrated support, major updated free-to-play games with a hat-based economy, indie

EA, we just don't like you! The "it's cool to hate EA" just shows how out of touch they are, like some old jerk thinking they don't have any genuine concerns but are just "trying to be cool".

The problem is EA did not see online as an opportunity to bring something better to your customers, but saw online as a chance to fuck over their customers to impress the stockholders.

Valve saw the internet as a chance to roll out a constant stream of updates making a 2007 game feel fresher than ever, new maps and weapons for Left 4 Dead, integrate user made mods into the game client.

EA saw the internet as a chance to shill the player constantly, nickle and diming them all along the way by chopping up a story and selling it to you piece by piece. To lock everything down and spy on their customers. A browser launch does NOTHING but serve to control, it doesn't GIVE anything. Look at Steam's community update, they are convincing and persuading you to STAY with Steam because it is a BENEFIT.

The investors in Valve are the players.

The investors in EA are greedy bankers.

THIS. SO. MUCH. THIS.

 

[Griffolion]

I love change, but I never get any out of your products because your prices are so damn high.

 

[BrotherRool]

It is cool to rag on EA but saying that when you're EA is just going to make people go on the defensive and solidfy their position and bring up the arguments. This has already happened in this thread

 

[Metalrocks]

thats all i have to say about it. way to go ?A. you never disappoint.

 

[BBboy20]

Change that turns our favorite games into shells of their former selves? Seriously, stop spinning your BS.

 

[rockoffanddie]

To throw my 2 cents into this ring, I agree to a point that people are resistant to change, but all the hate towards EA and other companies spawns from companies ripping people off. Now online passes dont really bother me because I buy almost all my games new anyway and I rarely play games online. Day one DLC does't bother me usually because it is often crap like extra weapons or skins that I dont care about even if it is clearly already on the disk. On the other hand "extra content" DLC which is available at the time of purchase which is extra story content pisses me off because it was clearly held back to squeeze more money from gamers, forcing us to pay 120% to actually get 100% of the main game experience. As far as I am concerned it is in those instances, which are actually thankfully quite rare, that I think EA and other big publishers can fuck themselves with a rusty chainsaw.

 

[PingoBlack]

Change that turns our favorite games into shells of their former selves? Seriously, stop spinning your BS.

That's impossible for them ...

After all this time I cannot believe anything else but the fact they also created a reality distortion field. Or bought the one ol' Steve used.

I also firmly believe if they once realize they are living in a fantasy world of spin, most of EA PR and management employees' heads would explode from reality shock.

 

[Lilani]

I think some gamers are resistant to certain types of change, the most obvious examples being the move to casual gaming, gaming and nerd culture becoming "mainstream," and more women being involved in the gaming community.

But none of those have anything to do with why people dislike EA. Honestly, they know what we don't like about them, we've told them a million times over. Never in my life have I ever seen such straight-up denial from a company regarding its problems in the face of such undeniable criticism--and all over stuff that is easily fixed. Seriously, EA, if you want people to like you again, here's what you need to do:

1. Make Origin and its EULA less obnoxious and more like Steam

2. Have sales and quit publicly going on about how much you dislike them (seriously, what the fuck? do you not like money or something?)

3. If you are looking into buying up a smaller studio, either make plans on using it or leave it the fuck alone. This isn't the Industrial Revolution and you aren't J.D. Rockefeller, so stop acting like you have to crush everybody within a ten mile radius to secure your income.

4. Cut it out with the obnoxious DRM and limited downloads and installations for games. Let me tell you a little story about the current state of PC gaming for me: I have a mac, and on it I have Windows dual-booted on a part of the drive I specifically set aside for Windows. But...that side for Windows is only 100 gigs. When you're like me and enjoy games like Mass Effect, Skyrim, and Saints Row the Third that 100 gigs doesn't go very far. So in order to play these games, I have to uninstall them to play new ones, and then reinstall them when I want to play them again (and conveniently enough, the Steam Cloud also aids this process by preserving my saves as well).

And this is really true of every PC gamer, because nobody's hard-drive is infinite. Everybody is going to have to clean house at some point. So if you want any long-term customers on the PC gaming market, then you're going to have to cut out this limited installation nonsense. As I saw one person on the Ubisoft forums put it: If you're going to treat us like pirates, we might just start acting like them.

5. Take the shit out of your development process. There isn't a need for game budgets the size that you make them, and you certainly shouldn't be needing to ship 5 million units at $60 apiece in order to just get your original investment back. It's clear this isn't helping your game's quality or their marketability, so there is no point in you keeping this process around.

6. Learn these words "You are right, we are wrong." The customer is always right, even if they are wrong. Games aren't just a product anymore, they're a service. What the customer thinks of you matters in the long run, and directly affects how much business you do with them in the future. So ignoring criticisms or outright telling the customers they are wrong is certainly not going to secure you anymore sales in the near future.

7. Stop making stupid public announcements about how you want to be 90+ on Metacritic all the time or whatever. If that's what you want, great. But those words mean nothing and earn you no admiration until you actually step up and accomplish that.

Yes, it is sort of popular to rag on EA, but never think for a moment the criticism is undeserved. Further denial will only lose you more customers.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

...Is there anything this company does or says that DOESN'T make me hate them with every fiber of my being?!

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

*Sees the title of the thread*

NIGGA DID NOT!!

 

[Bloodstain]

By that logic, you should hate Steam, because you don't own your Steam games. Which is why Steam can take your games away if you don't agree to the new TOS. The games are not your property.
And I don't think this is a bad thing. This is the future.

You don't own the game even if you have a physical copy. Unless its from like the 80s or very early 90s, most TOSes say that while you own the physical disc, you do not actually own the game but are merely leasing it from the company for a one time payment. This is mainly to protect them legally from your tinkering with and reverse engineering code.

True. So we should hate all companies because we don't own our games legally! Onward with the pitchforks!
Or we could all be content with playing the games without demanding to legally own them...

Captcha: You first
I am content with that, captcha. Stop looking at me.