EA Wins Title of "Worst Company in America"

[The Critic]

Clearly, since this was an online poll, we should expect to see the results skewed. Perhaps if the Poll were named "Most Hated Company in America", it would make more sense. Besides, "Most Hated" would be a far more honest title, and the competition would be far more fun!

All things taken into consideration, EA's not the worst company on that list. Bank of America has done horrible financial damage to the economy, Apple's overseas labor practices are certainly nothing to applaud, and various other companies have done worse than EA. The poll doesn't even list things like "Private Contractors", Weapons Companies, Energy Companies, or various other "behind-the-scenes" types. EA is by no means the worst of the bunch.

All that said, EA is by no means without guilt here. They've certainly worked hard to earn all this hatred....

My point is, let's just view this poll as "The Most Hated Company" as opposed to "The Worst Company". Given that kind of title, I could definitely see EA winning, and I would have no problems with it.

 

[Stu35]

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

Oh and screw EA for their brush off of the fact that they just got voted the WORST and will just continue doing the exact same thing, seriously... screw those d-bags.

Why wouldn't they? They're still making money.

Companies like that are profit driven - the only way to get them to change is to take away their profits. We do this by not buying their products.

 

[Dogstile]

Sometimes I wonder why the gaming audience is seen as immature spiteful loudmouthed children. Then I quickly remember that it is.

Get the fuck over it people. I've bought every project 10$ thing for every game I've bought and encourage others to do the same to support the publishers and developers that incorporated it. U mad?

The quote was entirely right btw. Band of America and BP deserve it more. Oh they've won it before? Lol Valve's won the Escapist's march madness before and that sure doesn't seem to stop them.

Valve are nominated every year, the other companies weren't. Big difference.

What I can't understand is how people are assuming this is all based on ME3 and not from 10 years of EA hate.

 

[Limecake]

Bank of America deserved it hands down, the fact that people are still feeling the after-effects of the 'recession', the fact that they were 'bailed out' by the government (and American Taxpayers) and then refused to let the government regulate how that money (theirs and yours) is spent.

The recession crippled the worlds economy, now I'm not going to pretend that Bank of America is solely responsible for the recession but it was a major player. EA 'Nickel and Dime(ing)' Customers is not evil because at no point has anyone ever been forcefully sold an EA game/DLC/Online Pass.

The fact that Bank of America contributed to one of the most damaging and wide-spreading economic problems in the last couple decades should automatically put them above a entertainment company, no matter how silly some of their profit-making practices are.

Priorities people.

 

[luckycharms8282]

To be fair everyone has hated EA for years now. If ME3's ending wasn't the current issue I am sure something else EA-related would be. We'd probably still be arguing about the Prothean DLC right now if the ending didn't suck.

'Tis true. Ive refused to buy EA products for a few years now. Bad business pracices, putting out shitty sequels to my favorite titles (Mercenaries) and shutting down the servers to my favorite rts game (Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II)has led to me bocotting their games.

If other people would do the same maybe EA would finally change its tune.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

'People on the internet'<-everything wrong with this poll.

 

[Phuctifyno]

"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."

That's EA all over. PR bullshit.

When's the last time a soldier gave his life for shitty propaganda, or an oil spill endangered thousands of lives, or a kid stepped on a land mine because of a video game company?

I'm gonna side with EA on this one...

Everyone, myself included, is wrong for even paying attention to this.

 

[Kinguendo]

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.)

If you read my comment you will see that I never said EA was the worst... I said if it were the worst, then the world would be a better place but it isnt and there are other companies doing worse things that just screwing over their customers.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

"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."

That's EA all over. PR bullshit.

And, yet, in this case, it's a very accurate statement.

Still, it's nice to have something to point to and say "Yeah, this is pretty much indicative of the priorities that people in first world countries have."

 

[Kinguendo]

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

Oh and screw EA for their brush off of the fact that they just got voted the WORST and will just continue doing the exact same thing, seriously... screw those d-bags.

Why wouldn't they? They're still making money.

Companies like that are profit driven - the only way to get them to change is to take away their profits. We do this by not buying their products.

Because people who crave money are disgusting? That rampant consumerism is making very real peoples lives complete misery? That "Being fair" is a thing that exists and people can do?

 

[MagmaMan]

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

That's exactly the problem. People keep buying their products and their over-priced dlc. Why change when no one else is going to change? A couple of us can boycott them but there are far too many fanboys out there who will stop at nothing to get the new Battlefield/Medal of Honor. game along with any and all dlc that is released every year, (Which really makes them just as bad as the Call of Duty fanboys they hate)

 

[geizr]

This is all meaningless if gamers continue buying record numbers of copies of games from the company. And, looking through the Facebook comments, I have to agree that there are, in reality, many much worse companies than EA that have done far more damage, overall, to the economy, to society, and to the environment. This is more a demonstration of the skewed, insular perspective of the more vocal Internet crowd. Coupled with the fact the company keeps selling games hand-over-fist to some of the same people complaining, it all just sounds like petulant tantrums from a bunch of addicts with the mind of a 5-year-old.

ADDENDUM: and people wonder why gamers aren't taken seriously.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

This is probably due to fact that while EA may not be as harmfull as say an oil rig industry or a national bank...they have probably the WORST p.r that I've ever seen.

BP might be bad, but they at least pretend to care about their clients. EA on the other hand pretty much says "fuck you, we both know you're gonna pay us" (paraphrasing only slightly of course)

 

[vxicepickxv]

Don't blame me, I voted for BoA, 4 times.

To offset the people I know personally who were kicked out of houses they ended up with loans that were owned by BoA. It seems in some states a notice of eviction for not having homeowner's insurance on file with a notice date before the postmarked date on the letter is more evidence to the sheriff than actual receipts and statements of homeowner's insurance.

I think the article I read on Forbes said it best. If it weren't for this debate of Mass Effect 3, EA probably would have lost to Comcast, and Comcast would have lost to BoA.

 

[tehweave]

Really? The worst? Worse than Zynga?

I beg of you, internet. Think about this choice:

Zynga VS EA.

Take a moment and REALLY think who is worse.

 

[godofallu]

EA then releases a response which you can download for 2.99.

Oh and the reason EA loses money most years is because they refuse to learn from their mistakes, and hire competent people.

PR- Garbage
Marketing- Garbage
Managing which games get funding- Garbage

 

[thepyrethatburns]

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

Oh and screw EA for their brush off of the fact that they just got voted the WORST and will just continue doing the exact same thing, seriously... screw those d-bags.

Why wouldn't they? They're still making money.

Companies like that are profit driven - the only way to get them to change is to take away their profits. We do this by not buying their products.

Because people who crave money are disgusting? That rampant consumerism is making very real peoples lives complete misery? That "Being fair" is a thing that exists and people can do?

I don't want to get snarky here but you are saying this on the forum of a site that would not exist without rampant consumerism.

 

[Awexsome]

Sometimes I wonder why the gaming audience is seen as immature spiteful loudmouthed children. Then I quickly remember that it is.

Get the fuck over it people. I've bought every project 10$ thing for every game I've bought and encourage others to do the same to support the publishers and developers that incorporated it. U mad?

The quote was entirely right btw. Band of America and BP deserve it more. Oh they've won it before? Lol Valve's won the Escapist's march madness before and that sure doesn't seem to stop them.

Valve are nominated every year, the other companies weren't. Big difference.

What I can't understand is how people are assuming this is all based on ME3 and not from 10 years of EA hate.

We're assuming that because it's true.

The EA hate at it's natural levels wouldn't be enough on its own for people to vote on this to spite them. Hence why in those 10 years they haven't gotten it. The ME3 rage is the catalyst (lol) that makes people raging obsession with spiting them give them less quarter than those who crashed the world economy. Seriously.

 

[McGuinty1]

I think BP should get a Lifetime Achievement Poo based solely on the fact that they played a major role, along with the British and U.S. governments, in the decades of bullshit that resulted in Iran being taken over by the draconian, vehemently anti-West theocracy that rules to this day. If World War III ever breaks out, you can bet that it will be a direct result of the U.S., Russia and our respective allies reaping what we sowed before, during and since the Cold War. Each successive generation pays for the actions of their forebears.

 

[Stu35]

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

Oh and screw EA for their brush off of the fact that they just got voted the WORST and will just continue doing the exact same thing, seriously... screw those d-bags.

Why wouldn't they? They're still making money.

Companies like that are profit driven - the only way to get them to change is to take away their profits. We do this by not buying their products.

Because people who crave money are disgusting? That rampant consumerism is making very real peoples lives complete misery? That "Being fair" is a thing that exists and people can do?

Sure... thats, kinda an answer to a rhetorical question, although it's more a rant about your own beef with the ins and outs of capitalism, but sure...