Electronic Arts: "We're On Our Way Back"

[Darkauthor81]

Oh please, I am pretty sure it isn't a coincidence that all the game series they have began being publishers for suddenly start having day one DLC, and cliff hanger endings in order to "justify" it.

Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Dead Space are all "good" examples.

Dragon Age didn't have a cliff-hanger ending. It ended.

Hmm, I appeared to miss out a part that I thought I posted. I was meant to add about DLC in general as DA:O has about 6 DLC packs.

Yes, so do many other games. I'm still not clear on why it's more evil of EA to have them and less evil for other companies.

Hmmm... I wonder if this has anything at all to do with Extra Credit's EA Marketing episode.

No it has nothing to do with that. They don't mention the seething cess pit that they call a marketing department or their pay to play marketing plan that will squeeze you for 10 bucks if you buy their games used or if your console breaks and needs replaced.

All they're saying here is "We're making money and we have plans to make even more money."

Don't get your hopes up. It's the same EA.

You don't have to pay that 10 dollars at all if you don't want to and from their point of view you're not actually paying at all for their work. I'm not saying it's ok but there are two sides.

Well yeah you don't HAVE to pay the 10 bucks but from what I've heard all you're getting is a glorified demo if you don't. And if your console needs to be replaced then you need to pay that 10 bucks over again to activate the game on your new system.

 

[Canid117]

A simple "I'm sorry guys" would be nice EA.

 

[Legion]

Oh please, I am pretty sure it isn't a coincidence that all the game series they have began being publishers for suddenly start having day one DLC, and cliff hanger endings in order to "justify" it.

Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Dead Space are all "good" examples.

Dragon Age didn't have a cliff-hanger ending. It ended.

Hmm, I appeared to miss out a part that I thought I posted. I was meant to add about DLC in general as DA:O has about 6 DLC packs.

Yes, so do many other games. I'm still not clear on why it's more evil of EA to have them and less evil for other companies.

I didn't say it was more evil for them.

Ubisoft are just as bad with Assassins Creed and Splinter Cell with their tacked on multiplayer and map packs, Bungie with their ridiculously low amount of multiplayer maps so they can give us a few map packs for the low price of 800MS apiece, whoever made Alan Wake with three cliff hanger endings (main game and both released DLC).

I mentioned EA because that is what this thread is about. They also are the ones who keep trying to sell to us that they have "changed" and are "better" now.

 

[joshthor]

sweet. all you need to do is get rid of the damn online passes and ill be happy (im fine with project 10 dollar as long as its dlc, not online access... i already play xbox live)

 

[Darkauthor81]

A simple "I'm sorry guys" would be nice EA.

That's exactly what I was hoping to hear.

Instead we get "Everyone can relax, we're still making money."

 

[manythings]

Oh please, I am pretty sure it isn't a coincidence that all the game series they have began being publishers for suddenly start having day one DLC, and cliff hanger endings in order to "justify" it.

Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Dead Space are all "good" examples.

Dragon Age didn't have a cliff-hanger ending. It ended.

Hmm, I appeared to miss out a part that I thought I posted. I was meant to add about DLC in general as DA:O has about 6 DLC packs.

Yes, so do many other games. I'm still not clear on why it's more evil of EA to have them and less evil for other companies.

Hmmm... I wonder if this has anything at all to do with Extra Credit's EA Marketing episode.

No it has nothing to do with that. They don't mention the seething cess pit that they call a marketing department or their pay to play marketing plan that will squeeze you for 10 bucks if you buy their games used or if your console breaks and needs replaced.

All they're saying here is "We're making money and we have plans to make even more money."

Don't get your hopes up. It's the same EA.

You don't have to pay that 10 dollars at all if you don't want to and from their point of view you're not actually paying at all for their work. I'm not saying it's ok but there are two sides.

Well yeah you don't HAVE to pay the 10 bucks but from what I've heard all you're getting is a glorified demo if you don't. And if your console needs to be replaced then you need to pay that 10 bucks over again to activate the game on your new system.

No and no. If you don't pay the ten dollars you miss out on the Day One DLC and nothing else, it's extra content that isn't integral to the story. You never have to reactivate it, it's linked to you BioWare/EA account and automatically held so, should you need to replace your gaming equipment, you can log in and redownload all the stuff. Without a charge, whoever said otherwise knows jack shit.

 

[Woodsey]

Not sure that you are EA. You've driven several companies into the ground including Pandemenic (You gits) and your keeping up the good work with Dice.

I'm pretty sure Pandemic did that by developing sub-par games, and DICE are showing no signs of being run into the ground because they're not making sub-par games.

OT: I like them most of the time. They ditched the whole "mean bastards" thing like 3 years ago.

 

[jamesworkshop]

EA's library has been really impressing me lately with future and recent titles

Dead space 2
Crysis 2
Dragon age 2
Bad company 2 and battlefield 3
Portal 2 (console retail publisher)
Alice: Madness Returns
Mass effect 3
Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Secret World

 

[Admiral Stukov]

I believe it when I see it. They have a lot of shite to clean up before they're "back on track".

 

[BENZOOKA]

These news about EA wanting to make money, came out of the blue.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

I could give a flying dwarf's explosive bowel movement about which corporation is "on top" and which are "On our way back". When I get a game that's more substance than it is sensationalism, THEN I might show some sympathy. As it is, all of these game companies and their advertisers, their marketers, their CEOs, their bankers, their bakers and their candlestick makers can all drink the well water from Hinkley, California.
(/rant)

God, how I miss gaming in the 90s...

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Actions are greater than words.

Agreed. Show us something of the old EA, and then you'll have our support.

 

[shadowform]

So, lets look at what EA has published in 2011 and 2010 to see why they're doing so poorly! (taken from Moby Games)

Bulletstorm
Duty Calls
Dead Space 2
Bad Company 2 - Vietnam ($50 non-downloadable DLC)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Dragon Age: Origins: Ultimate Edition (+ 7 DLC)
Medal of Honor (the beard guy one)
NBA Jam
The Sims 3 Deluxe
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
Mass Effect 2 (6 DLC)
Shank
Need for Speed: World
DeathSpank
NCAA Football 11
Risk: Factions
Hasbro Family Games Night (3 DLC minigames)
The Sims 3: Ambitions ($30 DLC)
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
Bad Company 2
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun +Firestorm (again!)
Dante's Inferno (+2 DLC)
Army of 2: 40th Day

Well, Dante's Inferno bombed hard, so lets take that off the list. Medal of Honor fell onto its face too, and with Starcraft 2 out the new C&C game is pretty much irrelevant. Hell, with the original Starcraft out it wouldn't look good. Army of Two was apparently pretty good, but buzz about it flat out died as soon as it was released. Lets take all the re-releases and DLC off the list too, while we're at it.

Bulletstorm
Duty Calls
Dead Space 2
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
NBA Jam
The Sims 3 Deluxe
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
Shank
Need for Speed: World
DeathSpank
NCAA Football 11
Risk: Factions
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online
Bad Company 2

There we go! Thats.. wait, whats NBA Jam still doing there? Well, it's an actual new build, not just a port. Come to think of it, The Sims 3 is exactly the same as Sims 2 but with fancier graphics. The sports games are the same as their predecessors too, actually. Lets trim all of the palette swap clones out.

Bulletstorm
Duty Calls
Dead Space 2
Shank
Need for Speed: World
DeathSpank
Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online
Bad Company 2

Alright! Now.. wait, why did Risk disappear? Well, it's a board game. You can actually buy it in lots of variants, like Halo, Star Wars, and so on. And you can play it for free online if you do a little searching. And... well, I suppose the sequel to DeathSpank WOULD kind of be in that category too. Wait, why didn't Need for Speed: World disappear? Oh right, that's the online one. Microtransaction funded, though. And... PGA Tour Online is a browser game? Wow. Lets get rid of those.

Bulletstorm
Duty Calls
Dead Space 2
Shank
DeathSpank
Bad Company 2

Alright! Now... wait, isn't Call of Duty from Activision? That's... OH! That's the parody of standard, boring FPS games that they put out to try and promote Bulletstorm. Lets get rid of parodies now.

Bullet
Dead Space 2
Bad Company 2

WHOAH! Where did DeathSpank and Shank go!? They.. ok, they were parodies/homages to the old retro games genre. That's fair, I guess. So we h-

WAIT! Half of Bulletstorm is gone now too! What the heck!? Get that back here, even if it an over-the-top self aware parody it's strong enough to stand on it's own! But anyway, these are the three games EA released from 2010 to now, so...

...what? Oh, right. The advertising. Well, I suppose we have to mark off Dead Space 2. Mind you, I really don't want to: it's a fun game. But the bad taste that this leaves in my mouth is really just another mark on EA's permanent record. There are only so many of those a company can get before people just stop buying their products simply on principle.

Bulletstorm
Bad Company 2

Right, so... what? Massive server issues at launch? Sales around a third of similar games released that year? $50 map packs? Huh. I guess I have to take that off the list too.

Bulletstorm

So we have... one game that's at least partially relies on being a parody to be successful. Well, I suppose it's better than nothing.

...oh, right, the rape thing. Well Fox news certainly didn't kill the game, and I REALLY think most people are smart enough to realize that this is a parody, I mean, "Black Dynamite" was... well, it had a $130,000 opening weekend on a $3million budget... *sigh* trim the list again I guess.



Huh? Put the list up.



...short list. I guess that would kind of explain things.
(note: this post is not a flame. it is not entirely serious. yes, Bad Company 2 deserved more props than it got. Yes, Dead Space 2 and Bulletstorm are good games. This post was made entirely to illustrate why EA may be doing poorly, not to attack any specific games.)

 

[Kal'Shen Ra]

So, I haven't played Dead Space 2 yet because "PC retail may be a big problem" for EA?! Maybe one that they created. I want my games on my shelf, not on a server from where they could vanish at any time.

 

[Antari]

Denial always makes for great comedy. The only reason EA is still in business is because people have kids, and those kids don't know any better until they've bought their first EA game.

 

[BabyRaptor]

Does this mean they will unfuck Dragon Age in the third game? That's all I really want to know.

Quoting for truth. Also, I'm giving everyone who reads this a hug, so my post won't be short enough to get me moderated.