EA vs. Activision

[Emiscary]

This is the image that pops into my head whenever the two companies start arguing/throwing accusations at one another. They both seem to wanna be the publisher everyone likes- but neither seems to get that they're equally hated.

Know how Activision's been getting all kinds of shit over their retarded always-online DRM thing?

Why the last time I saw a game publisher get this much shit was when EA decided to not include an ending with ME3.

Mr. Kotick/Riccitiello? You'll always both be viewed as incompetent caricatures of greedy businessmen to gamers. Largely because neither of you knows what it is you're selling, or who you're selling to.

I'm being sincere when I say you'd probably be better off managing fast food franchises. You'd get to apply the exact same kind of thinking in that line of work, and nobody would hate you for it! Wouldn't that just be keen?

 

[Hazy992]

I get the feeling this thread won't end well. And what's the discussion value here, exactly? EA and Activision are dicks, we know.

 

[Iwata]

This again? People, play games! They're fun! Why do we need to aggravate ourselves over the damn publishers? So they suck, hurrah, move on and just play the damn games that you like and enjoy yourself! That's what games are for! You're not making a political statement, and you're not inciting a rebellion that will save the world of gaming from the Evil Empire. Companies like EA and Activision have always existed, and will always exist, and stressing over it, bitching about it and depriving yourself of games you like won't change a damn thing.

Games are exactly that: games. They're for fun, for you to enjoy yourself, to have a good time, and if that ceases to be the case to the point where you're more concerned about the inner politics of the hobby than the hobby itself, then you're at the same mental stage as those companies are, and might I humbly suggest taking up water-skying as a hobby instead.

Seriously, it's getting annoying, the ammount of bitching going on about EA and Activision and how they "RUINED GAMING FOREVAH"!

 

[dyre]

EA is way worse than Activision, imo. Activision has some shitty DRM, sure, but most of the time they don't seem to go around actively purchasing and ruining developers. Treyarch and Radical Entertainment have continued to be good studios. Blizzard seems to have gotten a little less consumer-friendly, but I'm not sure if that can be pinned on Activision. EA, on the other hand, have eaten Westwood Studios, Pandemic, Bullfrog, etc, and Bioware is having its own share of problems under EA. And they have the conventional problems (DRM, loads of DLC, etc) too. Plus, they seem to think smack talk is a legitimate form of marketing. I'm not sure why people think the two publishers are comparable in their shitty business tactics.

 

[Emiscary]

I get the feeling this thread won't end well. And what's the discussion value here, exactly? EA and Activision are dicks, we know.

And yet everyone puts up with it, and sometimes they actually get mad if you point it out. That makes very little sense to me...

Also Activision may not be responsible for ruining as many devs, but they're doing their damnedest to tank old & beloved franchises. Splitting SC2 into 3 games for example? Less than classy. Making Diablo PG-13? Not doing them any favors in my eyes.

(Diablo 1 ended with our hero stabbing himself in the forehead with a sharp stone after witnessing naked women being crucified. Diablo III ended with a black man ascending a staircase of light while monologuing about cooperation. See the difference?)

 

[Hazy992]

I get the feeling this thread won't end well. And what's the discussion value here, exactly? EA and Activision are dicks, we know.

And yet everyone puts up with it, and sometimes they actually get mad if you point it out. That makes very little sense to me...

Also Activision may not be responsible for ruining as many devs, but they're doing their damnedest to tank old & beloved franchises. Splitting SC2 into 3 games for example? Less than classy. Making Diablo PG-13? Not doing them any favors in my eyes.

(Diablo 1 ended with our hero stabbing himself in the forehead with a sharp stone after witnessing naked women being crucified. Diablo III ended with a black man ascending a staircase of light while monologuing about cooperation. See the difference?)

I never disputed any of this, I just pointed out that there's no discussion value in your post.

 

[Emiscary]

I get the feeling this thread won't end well. And what's the discussion value here, exactly? EA and Activision are dicks, we know.

And yet everyone puts up with it, and sometimes they actually get mad if you point it out. That makes very little sense to me...

Also Activision may not be responsible for ruining as many devs, but they're doing their damnedest to tank old & beloved franchises. Splitting SC2 into 3 games for example? Less than classy. Making Diablo PG-13? Not doing them any favors in my eyes.

(Diablo 1 ended with our hero stabbing himself in the forehead with a sharp stone after witnessing naked women being crucified. Diablo III ended with a black man ascending a staircase of light while monologuing about cooperation. See the difference?)

I never disputed any of this, I just pointed out that there's no discussion value in your post.

Clearly there is, since you're discussing it

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Clearly there is, since you're discussing it

He's discussing the lack of discussion value in it. I don't think that qualifies.

You're usually pretty good at pegging controversial topics with your threads, Emiscary, but this one brings to mind the worn old idiom regarding the thrashing of cadaverous equines.

 

[Hazy992]

I get the feeling this thread won't end well. And what's the discussion value here, exactly? EA and Activision are dicks, we know.

And yet everyone puts up with it, and sometimes they actually get mad if you point it out. That makes very little sense to me...

Also Activision may not be responsible for ruining as many devs, but they're doing their damnedest to tank old & beloved franchises. Splitting SC2 into 3 games for example? Less than classy. Making Diablo PG-13? Not doing them any favors in my eyes.

(Diablo 1 ended with our hero stabbing himself in the forehead with a sharp stone after witnessing naked women being crucified. Diablo III ended with a black man ascending a staircase of light while monologuing about cooperation. See the difference?)

I never disputed any of this, I just pointed out that there's no discussion value in your post.

Clearly there is, since you're discussing it

No there isn't, as evidenced by the fact it's been derailed six replies in. What do you actually want us to talk about? All you've done is gone 'here are reasons why EA and Activision are assholes' so I really don't what the point of this thread is.

 

[Emiscary]

Clearly there is, since you're discussing it

He's discussing the lack of discussion value in it. I don't think that qualifies.

You're usually pretty good at pegging controversial topics with your threads, Emiscary, but this one brings to mind the worn old idiom regarding the thrashing of cadaverous equines.

I'm a dreamer, so sue me.

Besides, saying "I've already had this conversation" doesn't make it a conversation not worth having. It just means you shouldn't feel pressured to participate.

All I wanna illustrate is that regardless of what either company claims- they're both equally bad for gamers/gaming. The fact that they like to shift blame on whoever's fucked up most recently changes nothing.

(Oh, and the fact that someone's already posted his feelings on which is the worse company & why proves there's something to be discussed.)

 

[dyre]

Also Activision may not be responsible for ruining as many devs, but they're doing their damnedest to tank old & beloved franchises. Splitting SC2 into 3 games for example? Less than classy. Making Diablo PG-13? Not doing them any favors in my eyes.

(Diablo 1 ended with our hero stabbing himself in the forehead with a sharp stone after witnessing naked women being crucified. Diablo III ended with a black man ascending a staircase of light while monologuing about cooperation. See the difference?)

I feel like this was a response to my post about EA being worse because it destroys good devs.

I dunno, the Blizzard stuff certainly is disappointing, but Activision doesn't seem to have a track record of doing that sort of thing, so I'm more inclined to blame the Blizzard guys for that sort of thing. I don't know how much autonomy the two groups have from each other though.

Also, hadn't Blizzard been working on SC2 a long time before the merger?

 

[Emiscary]

Also Activision may not be responsible for ruining as many devs, but they're doing their damnedest to tank old & beloved franchises. Splitting SC2 into 3 games for example? Less than classy. Making Diablo PG-13? Not doing them any favors in my eyes.

(Diablo 1 ended with our hero stabbing himself in the forehead with a sharp stone after witnessing naked women being crucified. Diablo III ended with a black man ascending a staircase of light while monologuing about cooperation. See the difference?)

I feel like this was a response to my post about EA being worse because it destroys good devs.

I dunno, the Blizzard stuff certainly is disappointing, but Activision doesn't seem to have a track record of doing that sort of thing, so I'm more inclined to blame the Blizzard guys for that sort of thing. I don't know how much autonomy the two groups have from each other though.

Also, hadn't Blizzard been working on SC2 a long time before the merger?

Good instincts.

And I have no idea exactly how much Blizzard's been scrambled internally since Activision bought them up, but I know that they haven't been the company that made D2 for quite some time. (Prettysure most of the people responsible for what I liked about Blizzard all found their way to Arenanet a while ago...)

And SC2's production was such a clusterfuck. Between "Starcraft: Ghost" the delays and the splitting of the campaign- I kinda lost track of things. You'd need to ask someone more into strategy games for details.