EA Wins Title of "Worst Company in America"

[Sartan0]

Seriously. If someone has not said it before in this thread the simple way to force EA to change or die is to not buy anything they make. Vote with your dollar. I am tempted to put them on my list with Ubi-soft. That is to say: see their name don't buy. I have plenty of other games to play thanks to GoG's and the like.

 

[mysecondlife]

According to voters EA is the worst company in America??

I envy their innocence.

 

[SomeBrianDude]

Somewhere out there, Kotick is slaughtering a lamb and besieging his dark masters for the sheer force of will to topple EA.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

Bankrupt a nation and help start a global recession, or sell allegedly shitty products with an allegedly shitty pricing scheme that no one is required to buy, yet for some reason everybody does?

Yeah... way to go, internet.

I'm not saying that their pricing scheme or products aren't shit, it just seems that if they really were that bad, no one would buy from them. Yet they do.

They make a fair point; "if we suck so hard, why do you still pay us to do what we do?"

I'm just saying: crash an entire economy, pull houses, jobs, savings, and retirement out from under hard-working "honest" families vs shitty customer service/marketing/PR.

#firstworldproblems (all of it)

 

[A Satanic Panda]

I'm just saying: crash an entire economy, pull houses, jobs, savings, and retirement out from under hard-working "honest" families vs shitty customer service/marketing/PR.

#firstworldproblems (all of it)

Don't forget day 1 DLC, clearly that is a crime worse than say... Causing the economy to dive-bomb so people don't have money to buy the DLC they're protesting in the first place.

Just saying...

*Joins ZeroMachine behind flame shield*

[sub]Why is Walmart even near the list?[/sub]

 

[Kargathia]

Here's a simple rule: If your company hasn't killed anybody, it's not the worst company in America.

EA is to corporations what Justin Bieber is to singing - likely not the worst, but certainly the most popular to hate.

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

Preface: I'm not a fan of EA and I do not defend their shady business practices.

Now, with that out of the way, I'd like to give my own (by no means exhaustive) summary of this thread.

I'll start with the "no"s...

While I hate EA and it would be a much better world if EA was the worst company in America, sadly it isnt.

No. To you and anyone who thinks (without sarcasm) that EA is actually the worst company in America. (If you were being sarcastic then feel free to ignore me.)

The reasons I think that EA won, while companies that make much bigger problems for people, is that while BP's rig blew up, they didn't MEAN for it to blow up, and while Bank of America helped crash the world economy, they didn't MEAN to crash the world economy. Ea on the other hand, seems to know exactly what they're doing, and proceed to sit there cackling like Mr. Burns counting his millions. Hence the comments from EA at the end.
From my opinion of course.

While you are entitled to your opinion, the answer is still "no" for the following reason:

While EA deserves to burn in the deepest pit of gaming hell....they dont deserve this.
They make bad products but BA screws an entire country out of house and home.

In other words, grossly destructive negligence (and whether this was actually negligence or an intentional ass-f---ing of the American economy is debatable in regards to BoA or Goldman Sachs) is far worse than the dickish business practices of an entertainment company. Entertainment companies are not in a position like banks or oil companies where they could potentially destroy the environment or the economy. The entertainment industry is ultimately subject to the demands of the consumer, the only thing at stake is their profits and the satisfaction of the consumer. Thus they don't really have any stringent responsibilities. If you don't agree with their business practices then don't buy their products.

A) The ONLY reason they won is because of the ME3 ending debacle, and that's pathetic.

B) Their response was well said, as there is no other way to respond to something like that, and it's true (whether or not that's unfortunate is up to people to decide for themselves)

Yes on both accounts.

Not many people like EA. That much I'll admit. But worst company in America? God no.

Yes again.

the only word i can say now is , Art thou shitting me?(No Pun intended) Don't know how they get number one place over B o A who pretty much is to blame for economic downfall (they don't take all the blame but yeah whatever)Guess Mass Effect 3 caused a lot of butt hurt

YES.

Ok so *hides behind flame shield* I find this to be an utterly stupid result, there is no way any sane person could say that DLC is somehow worse then significant contributions to ruining the economy, but we are talking about gamers who have been known to lose any and all sanity at the mention of big name publishers and fly into a frothing incoherent rage. And now in case that didn't make absolutely everyone hate me I can follow it up by saying that I honestly loved EA's response, as it was funny and I think showed they were well aware how absurd the result was.

YES. Both in regard to the mental retardation of the result and to the awesomeness of EA's response.

And finally, to sum things up...

It's completely retarded that EA won over Bank of America and AT&T, but it seems this competition was just for fun, so I guess it doesn't matter. Plus, maybe EA is slightly more likely to change its ways than BofA or AT&T?

At first glance, yes... it would seem that it doesn't matter. In fact, the competition doesn't matter. But what does matter is that there are so many people that have such fucked up value systems that they think EA is worse than BP; Bank of America; Goldman Sachs; the Pharmaceutical companies; Apple, Walmart and other corporations that essentially use slave labor in other countries; or even Google for collecting personal information or Sony for saying that we don't own the hardware that we have fairly purchased (both of which are not only dickish business practices but actually pose a threat to consumer rights).

edit: heh, I see some people on the Consumerist complaining that the vote should have been for Consumerist members only, as to avoid votes from the ignorant masses who would claim that DLC are worse than foreclosures.

Now if these people were being sarcastic, this would be hilarious. But I'm fairly certain that this isn't the case. Perhaps they were being ironic and were merely trying to troll EA, but in that case I'd say that EA was clearly the winner considering that their response was absolutely boss...

"We're sure that British Petroleum, AIG, Philip Morris, and Halliburton are all relieved they weren't nominated this year. We're going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide."

I'll leave on that note.

 

[CleverCover]

I have to admit...I can't see how they won. I mean, yeah they're a bunch of horrible douchebags, but B of A is way worse. Hell, there are a lot of companies that are way worse than EA. They just hide it better until something explodes.

If we're comparing nickle and diming customers then Capcom should take the prize. Does no one remember the insanity that was MvC3 or even Street Fighter vs Tekken?

 

[DJjaffacake]

I know this is missing the point entirely, but it is not 'British Petroleum' it is 'BP'. They stopped calling themselves British Petroleum when they realised thet most of the shareholders were American. Although it is EA so I shouldn't be surprised that they know nothing about anything that wont make them money.

 

[Korzack]

I can't honestly vouch for EA's performance relative to other US companies, but personally speaking, there's not been a single EA decision I can think of in 2011 that didn't make me think "Well screw you too" in response, to a point where I refuse to use Origin or buy any EA console or Pre origin PC titles. If their opinion of gamers is that low, then fine, screw you too, end of.

 

[Pb Zeppelin]

None of the companies in the running are any better or any worse than each other. They're all bad in different ways. In past years, this competition has already highlighted the despicable practices of bank and oil companies, who, yes, have a broader impact than EA. But I do think its high time that a big game company is called out for "nickel and diming" its consumers by the "mainstream media." (Too bad Capcom wasn't eligible...) I think EA publishes great games, but if they want me to continue to buy their games, then I hope they take this outcome to heart and try to fix some fundamentally broken business practices.

Their response to the whole matter isn't helping their case, either.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

Consumerist.com cites the reasons for EA's victory as being its attempts to "to nickel and dime consumers to death" and "deliberately hold back game content with the sole intent of charging a fee for it at a later date." With that in mind, it's hard to decide whether the outcome of the poll says more about internet users or EA itself. Would the publisher have fared better if the poll had been conducted six months ago? Is its inclusion a statement on the growing importance of the games industry in America? Is EA really worse than Bank of America and WalMart? I'm beseiged by questions, Escapists. Help a sister out.

This is just opinion. It may be true in a small degree or it may be completely wrong. You have been warned.

People don't go to Wall Mart to be directly cheered up after a long day. They go to buy stuff that they think will cheer them up. That's not to say that some people aren't made happier by looking for a particular thing, finding the last one on the shelf, then waiting in a slow-moving line to use a few coupons just days before they expire. People don't expect a spectacular experience, so they're not surprised when they don't get it.

I will say that BoA should have had more votes because of how their shoddy business practices ruined hundreds of thousands of lives that we know of, but I imagine people were thinking more about how they were treated while at the bank. Were they greeted with a smiling face and cheerful voice? Were answers easy to understand? Did the customer service person on the phone sound like they're sorry you're being evicted and sincere when they say there's nothing they can do? Sometimes the personal human treatment matters more to people than the actual screwing done by the company at large.

EA... Has fallen flat all around. They do make it more possible for game developers to get games on the shelves, even if they end up with bugs and feeling half-finished. Then you're only getting SOME of the product you paid for, and it turns out you don't even really own it. You merely own a rental contract to whatever hard copy (or download) product which can be revoked for any reason at all. The spyware scare, lack of concern for being seen as a shitty company, and who knows what else add to the melting pot of hate.

 

[Blind Sight]

"We're sure that British Petroleum, AIG, Philip Morris, and Halliburton are all relieved they weren't nominated this year. We're going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide."

Translation: Thanks internet for reinforcing your image of being filled with petty, oblivious people.

Seriously, I'm not fan of EA, but there's way more corporations that deserve this.

 

[Eric Morales]

In your face Goldman Sachs, Haliburton, Bank of America, Blackwater, Comcast, NewsCorp, Massey Energy, Monsanto, ADM, AT&T, Apple, Microsoft, Etna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Wal Mart, et al. Sure you may have destabilized the global financial system, defrauded your investors, contributed to the death or injury of your employees with utter disregard for health and safety standards or shirked the invisible hand of the market through a combination of monopolies and mutually beneficial agreements with your competitors, but none of you could HOPE to be as evil as the company that published a really good video game series with a bullshit ending. Better luck next time, losers!

Ordinarily, I'd be happy to see gaming as an industry getting attention of the wider world, but honestly this story might as well be retitled "We completely lack Perspective!" As much as Mass Effect's ending was complete nonsense, as annoying as DLC as a business model can be, and as RIDICULOUS as the EA Sports racket has become how can people really convince themselves that EA is the Worst Company in America?

 

[Agente L]

Prety much what was said.

I don't live in USA. I couldn't care less about Bank of America. My country was barely affected by the 2008 crisis. If all, I actually enjoyed the crisis, cause the dollar price plummeted and I bought a lot of steam games for a incredible low price.

So, considering how the poll is worldwide, I see no problem with EA ending. If there was a shit company from my country on the list, I would probably be upset it didn't won (cause damn, we got some pretty shitty companies over here). But as far as worldwide goes, EA has a much bigger reach than AoE, At&T, Comcast or even Walmart.

 

[Mechanix]

As awful as EA is, Bank of America should have won that tournament

Not to mention, EA and Activision are equally shit. But I'm still surprised they beat cockmonglers like AT&T.

 

[littlewisp]

It's an online popularity contest for first world problems users. Companies you love to hate sort of thing. What other ending could you possibly expect? Seriousness? No, that's not included. The end of the poll involves a poo award. Humor is the name of the game, not 'change the world one multiple choice option at a time.'

C'mon, lighten up. This survey is done for nothing more than entertainment's sake.

 

[emeraldrafael]

And of course, EA learns nothing from this, saying "Fuck you, we still make shitloads of cash off our vidya games."

its been working so far. dont fuck with what works as they say.

OT: I would have went with goldman sachs but thats just me. THough walmart is a close second/third in my mind after bank of america.

EDIT:

...

This is why America is as fucked up as it is. You, as a people, are actually retarded.

Hunh, didnt realize that only Americans inhabited the internet and only Americans votes on this and only americans voted for EA. You must have some rather impressive records that the rest of us dont.

 

[fozzy360]

It's an online popularity contest for first world problems users. Companies you love to hate sort of thing. What other ending could you possibly expect? Seriousness? No, that's not included. The end of the poll involves a poo award. Humor is the name of the game, not 'change the world one multiple choice option at a time.'

C'mon, lighten up. This survey is done for nothing more than entertainment's sake.

I was going to lament at the fact that 90% of everyone in this thread has either missed the point of the survey completely or taking it way too damn seriously, but you beat me to the punch.

Stop taking it so seriously. Of course, BofA is worse. Of course there are corporations that are doing worse things that are going unrecognized, but look at that survey. Look. They award a golden poo to the loser winner. It's a funny little event designed to help vent their frustrations with shitty companies. Stop treating this like some great injustice and revel in the hilarious aftermath of EA taking this just as seriously as some of you in here. Christ, man.