How EA Can Regain Trust on the PC

[Shamus Young]

How EA Can Regain Trust on the PC

I'm going to take EA's announcement at face value and assume it's a genuine expression of intent and not empty PR, and then offer my advice.

Read Full Article

 

[ArdoNorrin]

If EA wants to get gamer's trust back, I think the thing they need to do first is to go back to their roots, and try to be the company they were founded to be, as seen in the old "can a computer make you cry" ad.

[http://www.filfre.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Anzeige_Can_a_computer_make_you_cry.jpg]

 

[Saulkar]

Spoiler: I am so cynical that I believe if someone from the upper management of E.A. saw this article they would immediately rewrite the intent of the piece in their head to mean a pat on the back for their efforts

 

[Jadedvet]

Its too late EA - way too late. I don't want to trust you anymore. I want to watch you die and make way for better, newer studios.

 

[The_Darkness]

You wanted more people playing multiplayer, but rather than making great multiplayer and allowing people to choose to play it, you made it so that single-player fans would need to play Mass Effect 3 multiplayer to get the "best" ending of their single player game.

I can't source this - because the quote is somewhere in the Bioware Forums and I have no idea which thread I saw it in - but a developer said the multiplayer requirement for ME3's 'best' (if you want to call it that) ending was an accident. They'd intended for it to be available to all players, but messed up the maths on the War Assets. Hence why it got fixed in the free Extended Cut.

There's no justification for SimCity's online fiasco though.

 

[VladG]

I'm pretty sure I can remember a very similar statement from EA last year and a very similar article following.

That's why I'd rather be snarky than optimistic. It makes more sense. At this point the only hope I see for the IP being held hostage (and man, they have some really good IP) is for EA to go out of business.

 

[Kingjackl]

I will give the devil it's due by saying Origin's had some pretty good deals in the past. It was their On the House thing that made me get an account to begin with. Mind you, it should be sad that they had to give me The Sims 2 and Dragon Age: Origins for free just to get me to use their service, but that's what it's been brought to. I have taken to buying EA games on Origin even when they are available on Steam, just because it feels like I should. I do the same with GOG; call it a token resistance against Steam's benevolent monopoly.

The last point Shamus made was interesting, since I feel like the reverse could apply to Valve and Steam. Over the past couple of years, Valve has been going from mistake to mistake; between paid mods, increasing shovelware, the decline of Greenlight and Early Access and the big security upset on Christmas, they've been making mistakes that rank right up there with several of the big fuck ups by the more "hate-able" companies like EA, Ubisoft, Konami, etc. But because they're so in tune with PC gaming, and responsible for several of the platform's biggest classics, people are willing to let them get away with an awful lot.

 

[Darkness665]

Well put,Shamus. I will refrain from guessing the outcome but EA has shown zero understanding of the gaming community, its actual business or the possibility that they might ever make a mistake. I do not buy EA products anymore. While that might not be too huge a loss for them it also means none of my children or grandchildren have gotten an EA product for years. Nor will they.

EA might turn on a dime and listen to your advice. But, I am comfortable saying I'll believe it when I see it. I have little faith that EA can do anything besides screw something else up. Maybe a new motto is due. EA, we can make you cry about our wasted potential.

 

[Trunkage]

I know I was forced into ME multiplayer, but it was the best multiplayer out til Payday 2 (until they wrecked that)

 

[SecondPrize]

Nobody ever mentions Kesmai when describing EA's body count. Well I miss Kesmai. I don't think an updated Air Warrior would do too poorly against modern WWII dogfighters either. I mean, they had 300 people in large persistent maps and multiple player positions in bombers 30 years ago vs. today's lobby based F2P point grinders.

 

[Foolery]

Can't say I really give a damn. I'd probably care if they had any IPs that I badly want to play. But they don't. Mass Effect? Yeah, it's alright. Bioware kinda went to shit. Dragon Age? Meh. Loved Origins, 2 had good combat, couldn't be bothered to buy 3. I can get my fantasy fix from The Witcher series. So what's left? Battlefield? Meh. Battlefront? Well, yeah, maybe if they hadn't fucked it up with the pricing and season pass. There's better and far more reasonably-priced multiplayer experiences easily found elsewhere on PC.

 

[Zipa]

For a start they can stop charging as much or in some cases more for the digital version of games on Origin than the physical copy or a copy from someone like say Amazon. That and cut out all this season pass nickel and diming shit they are so fond of now.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Sometimes I wonder if some poor intern or lowly coffee fetcher at EA reads these articles and just shakes their head. They try to bring it up with management, but management just tells them, "Get back to work!" and thus they are left staring at something like this, thinking, 'He's so right...'

 

[JSRevenge]

Shamus,

You listed number 5 twice. Not a big deal, but it kicked me in the O.C.D. when I saw it.

Thanks,

 

[fix-the-spade]

Can't say I really give a damn. I'd probably care if they had any IPs that I badly want to play.

To me the IP is less the problem than what EA would likely do with it.

EA owns (amongst other things), Crysis, Battlefield (and Bad Company), Dead Space, Sim City, Command and Conquer (+C&C Generals and Renegade), Burnout, Medal of Honor, Dungeon Keeper, The Syndicate, Titanfall and so on.

Any one of those could be used to make a great game. I would sincerely love a sequel to Crysis. The trouble is this EA we're dealing with, so it'll be rubbish.

If they'd like to make a sequel to Crysis, that picks up where Crysis (not 2 or 3) left off and actually continues that story then I'm in, I'd probably buy it twice (I did with Crysis after all). But of course that won't happen, because it's EA and they'll go off on some tangent that they think sounds good, then dream up ways to charge the absolute maximum possible, like they do with every game they release.

 

[Foolery]

Can't say I really give a damn. I'd probably care if they had any IPs that I badly want to play.

To me the IP is less the problem than what EA would likely do with it.

EA owns (amongst other things), Crysis, Battleifled (and Bad Company), Dead Space, Sim City, Command and Conquer (+C&C Generals and Renegade), Burnout, Medal of Honor, Dungeon Keeper, The Syndicate, Titanfall and so on.

Any one of those could be used to make a great game. I would sincerely love a sequel to Crysis. The trouble is this EA we're dealing with, so it'll be rubbish.

If they'd like to make a sequel to Crysis, that picks up where Crysis (not 2 or 3) left off and actually continues that story then I'm in, I'd probably buy it twice (I did with Crysis after all). But of course that won't happen, because it's EA and they'll go off on some tangent that they think sounds good, then dream up ways to charge the absolute maximum possible, like they do with every game they release.

That's a fair statement. The mishandling of the IPs is definitely the issue. I just got tired of their shenanigans quite some time ago, and I don't really see them changing.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

What I wouldn't give for another (good) Mercenaries game, Or even just a HD remaster of the first one. Not the second one though that was a piece of shit.

 

[Kajin]

As I've said before, I'll give a damn if they ever give us a GOOD Dungeon Keeper game. Until then it's only so many empty promises and shattered dreams.

Fuck you, EA. Fuck you very very much.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

You wanted more people playing multiplayer, but rather than making great multiplayer and allowing people to choose to play it, you made it so that single-player fans would need to play Mass Effect 3 multiplayer to get the "best" ending of their single player game.

I can't source this - because the quote is somewhere in the Bioware Forums and I have no idea which thread I saw it in - but a developer said the multiplayer requirement for ME3's 'best' (if you want to call it that) ending was an accident. They'd intended for it to be available to all players, but messed up the maths on the War Assets. Hence why it got fixed in the free Extended Cut.

There's no justification for SimCity's online fiasco though.

There was no reason at all for your ending to be influenced by multiplayer. The only reason they added that system was to force people who didn't want to touch MP to play MP.

I think anything EA tries to win PC customers is just going to be crippled right out the gate by origin. They can release the best game at the best price, but I don't have origin installed, do you, dose anyone? Odds are I won't notice most games EA puts out on PC because I'm not looking at origin.

 

[Janichsan]

I can't source this - because the quote is somewhere in the Bioware Forums and I have no idea which thread I saw it in - but a developer said the multiplayer requirement for ME3's 'best' (if you want to call it that) ending was an accident. They'd intended for it to be available to all players, but messed up the maths on the War Assets.

Even if true, that doesn't make it any better. Quite contrary, it's a sign that EA pushes their games on the market without proper quality control.