EA: We Never Want to Be Named Worst U.S. Company Again

[Riddle78]

Talk is cheap,Electronic Arts. Actually make it happen,or it'll happen again,and again,and AGAIN.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

Origins idea of full retail price for a new game is £10 more than Steams idea.... so yeah... doing great EA.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Don't tell me about it, SHOW me. The first step would be to stop showing open contempt for your consumers. The next step would be to stop releasing sequels that have less content than their predecessors (at launch). The third step would be to stop putting microtransactions in $60 games or designing games using the "Free to Wait" model.

 

[truckspond]

Once they make a game with a single payment for everything, no microtransactions or DLC and more content in the base game than the last installment of the series had in it's base game then they can stop being called the worst company.

 

[Kevlar Eater]

I don't expect a thing to change, except its position in the bracket (primarily because Comcast are even bigger dicks that don't give a fraction of a damn).

 

[ffs-dontcare]

Given how John Riccitiello said pretty much the exact same thing years ago, I'm almost convinced that there are other factors in that company (as in, other people) who successfully pigeonholed him into falling in line with their selfish vision and who will do the same to Andrew Wilson.

Admittedly it is a bit of a wild conspiracy theory, but it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case. Besides, we all know big business has its own brand of corruption in some places. It's not exactly impossible. I've got to assume that being a CEO doesn't mean you can just enact the changes you want without something, whether it be policies or people, getting in the way.

CEO: "Gamers, this is what I want to do to start earning your trust."
Others: "Nuh-uh. Send him a memo: the board orders him to cease what he's doing and fall back in line immediately."

But maybe I'm just being naive in thinking John and Andrew weren't lying when they said they wanted to do the right thing.

Or maybe John did want to do the right thing at first but sadly fell into temptation. That's believable, and it's equally believable that Andrew may currently want to lead the company in doing the right thing now but could let himself fall to the temptation to do bad things for higher projected profits later.

But then, they've been pulling a lot of crap for a long time now, and the longer a habit has lasted, the harder it is to break.

 

[Neverhoodian]

You know, in a way I actually agree. I'm no fan of EA by any stretch of the imagination, but they aren't nearly as repulsive as some other companies out there. Also, there were those free giveaways of The Sims 2 and Wing Commander III on Origin recently. That's a far cry from their "no Steam sale equivalents here!" stance just a year or two ago.

Having said that, I'm not willing to give them the benefit of the doubt just yet. We heard this kind of rhetoric the last time EA got a new boss and things didn't change. No, they're going to have to earn my trust, and a few good deeds in the last year aren't enough to make up for decades of bullshit.

 

[Omnicrom]

He also addresses another black eye for EA, the launch of the "free-to-play" Dungeon Keeper earlier this year. "As you push the boundaries, things are not always going to go how you like," Wilson said

They'll still going with the 'Dungeon Keeper was just too innovative' bollocks are they? How sad.

That's what jumped out at me also, and why these apologies continue to ring hollow. EA still hasn't owned up to the unrelenting awfulness of Dungeon Keeper, they're still trying to shovel the blame on the consumers for not liking what was basically a medium to sell micro-transactions. Origin has gotten better yes, but EA has not.

 

[TippiestRook]

EAs reaction after making this statement.
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view/796467/dr-evil-laugh-o.gif
(No idea how to post a gif here)

 

[mechalynx]

Yeah, and my Sim would really like to go swimming. We'd all like a lot of things, EA.

I came to this thread for a good laugh and you delivered. Thank you XD

OT: It's really easy, EA, honestly. Just don't be shit to your customers. It's actually amazingly hard to piss people off to this degree. So much so that I'm surprised Disney gave them so many titles when they had a perfectly good dev sudio themselves.

 

[Something Amyss]

What do you think of Wilson's words on the new EA? Its comforting to hear EA talking about learning from their mistakes, but are you willing to believe them on face value? Let us know in the comments.

I don't normally quote the news article and poster, but since it's relevant to that question:

Talk is nice. Action is better. Last year, Peter Moore said "we can do better." Then EA released a bunch of stuff that set people off again. And yeah, he addressed those, but that doesn't mean there's been any change in their business strategy.

I'm hoping it's the truth, but I'm not taking it on faith. Neither should anyone else. Trust should be earned.

And on that note, I dislike the way they handled SimCity. Specifically, how they pulled the same thing Microsoft did with the Xbone. "guys, we can't change this, it's integral." That sort of crap doesn't sound very player first. Unless they're the players and we're just getting played.

Yeah, but then again they did just release Sims 4, a game with significantly less content than it's predecessor(at launch! let's not even talk about the expansions) and a game which promises 20 more expansions for a total price of 500$... hey I could buy a console for that.. so, no, pass, more action and less words, Andrew. We've all heard this same nonsense a hundred times before.

It always amazes me how they can hit the reset button and people will find sufficient value.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

Yeah, talk is cheap, I'm not taking that at face value, not when you're STILL trying to say DK was 'too innovative'. Someone who doesn't understand what's wrong with their behaviour isn't about to change.

 

[Covarr]

For what it's worth, I don't think they have much of a shot this year anyway. Comcast seems pretty dead set on matching EA's two years in a row, and have pretty much bragged about being scum this year.

P.S. Thanks

 

[gigastar]

"This whole concept of the industry hiding everything until the very last moment is an outdated way to make games. Invite people in as early as you can, deal with the feedback and build that back into the game. What you get two or three years down the track are amazing games built with the help of the community."

That is an absolutely hilarious thing to hear when the one time they did exactly that the game was scrapped less than a month into alpha testing.

Yes, im still mad about Command and Conquer. And in the name of Kane i will be forever more.

 

[FalloutJack]

This is what I get from EA:


They say that the proof is in the pudding.

...I don't even like pudding. Bribe me with a pizza and try actually doing what other people want, otherwise you have basically NO CHANCE of getting them to listen to your whiney complaints.

 

[Flammablezeus]

EA, you keep saying this. You've said this so many times and done nothing more than continue down the road that's been putting you on that list. Do you even logic?

 

[Saltyk]

So they plan to change their name, do they? I wonder what the new company name will be... FU?

In all seriousness, I doubt they have much choice in that. Unless they actually change the way they make games and sell them, I doubt many people will be donning "I <3 EA" shirts anytime soon.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

So we're back onto the drunken promise stage of this abusive relationship again? Fanfuckintastic! Though please stop with the shareholders...always with the damned shareholders! No other company salutes them so much and...

*looks at the steaming pile of sims 4 reviews*
...
*looks back at EA*

...You done it AGAIN EA! Christ, you had one. Fuckin. Job. One.