Humble Bundle Teams Up With Origin

[Jateca]

Well, this is a charm offensive done right!

Still very sceptical about EA in general but credit where it's due. Giving out steam codes as well as ones for origin elevates this from being a very effective double whammy of Origin promotion & brand-image improval.

Good for them!

 

[Easton Dark]

Did not expect EA to be a company to do this kind of thing.

Not even Valve has done this. If Activision puts its games up for charity before Valve, the world will implode.

They've got good games on there so I contributed. Now I have a lot of stuff to give for origin and steam that you can find on the unofficial friendly steam trading thread if you want any of it.

 

[Charli]

Still boycotting EA games. Stance has not shifted nor will it anytime soon. (8 years and going strong baby)

YES EVEN FOR $1.

Actually I'd encourage everyone who buys it to put it all up on the charity/HB Team bar.

All the money is already going to the charities and HB team; EA isn't taking a cent from the sales. Read the article.

A deal somewhere was made behind closed doors no matter what is 'being said'.

And good, it should all go to charity. But what I mean is the damage was probably already done. I don't go to read something I know I'm not participating or pandering to.

I can give charity money through other avenues.

My god, you're right. Humble Bundle and EA deviously conspired to give away a bunch of EA's games in order to raise charity. How could I have missed such a despicable plot?

Origin traffic. It's a paper thin customer drum up. Think of it as 'free' (this is where I doubt it) advertising using games they're no longer seeing large amounts of revenue from in the initial sales. The dlc's and little increments they see from pawning these games off for nothing now will make them a tidy little sum for those weak-kneed about such games.

Notice only a liiiittle bit of the Sims 3 DLC is given when you pay X amount. The rest? All in that wonderful little online shop of theirs.

Now if you need to go further yes I am speculating, I am basing this on previous malpractices and ill customer support and interests from years past, I gave them a chance when they last pulled this 'oh but we've changed we swear' rubbish and my convictions are not easily swayed. So your words and insistence are mostly lost on me.

 

[karma9308]

As I said on another thread, this is the smartest thing I've seen EA do in a long time. I don't think there's anyone in this equation that doesn't benefit. EA gets publicity and more people using Origin, Customers get some cheap games and never have to use Origin if they don't want to (Spend a dollar and don't redeem the DS3 code), and charities get money to help people. Seriously, was Riccotoni (I know it's not his name but I like it) truly the worst businessman alive, or is EA holding back their normal incompetence and stupidity for another day?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Wow. John Riccitiello wouldn't have allowed this!

Let's be honest, the real reason that EA is doing this is to get more people onto Origin and more people invested in their franchises. But, eh, what's the point in being cynical when you can get this many games for so cheap?

As TotalBiscuit just said on Twitter:

If Valve did it people would be nominating them for a Nobel Peace Prize

I know exactly what you mean. I'm usually the first on the EA hate wagon (actually, I'm probably the driver of the EA hate wagon) but I have to admit that this is a really nice move by EA, almost all these games are still new enough to be relevant, and crucially they are releasing Steam keys for some of the games for people that don't want Origin. That's pretty much as selfless as they could get considering they are in direct competition with Steam.

You know what, I'm actually going to buy this, for that value why not?

 

[Scars Unseen]

Still boycotting EA games. Stance has not shifted nor will it anytime soon. (8 years and going strong baby)

YES EVEN FOR $1.

Actually I'd encourage everyone who buys it to put it all up on the charity/HB Team bar.

All the money is already going to the charities and HB team; EA isn't taking a cent from the sales. Read the article.

A deal somewhere was made behind closed doors no matter what is 'being said'.

And good, it should all go to charity. But what I mean is the damage was probably already done. I don't go to read something I know I'm not participating or pandering to.

I can give charity money through other avenues.

My god, you're right. Humble Bundle and EA deviously conspired to give away a bunch of EA's games in order to raise charity. How could I have missed such a despicable plot?

Origin traffic. It's a paper thin customer drum up. Think of it as 'free' (this is where I doubt it) advertising using games they're no longer seeing large amounts of revenue from in the initial sales. The dlc's and little increments they see from pawning these games off for nothing now will make them a tidy little sum for those weak-kneed about such games.

Notice only a liiiittle bit of the Sims 3 DLC is given when you pay X amount. The rest? All in that wonderful little online shop of theirs.

Now if you need to go further yes I am speculating, I am basing this on previous malpractices and ill customer support and interests from years past, I gave them a chance when they last pulled this 'oh but we've changed we swear' rubbish and my convictions are not easily swayed. So your words and insistence are mostly lost on me.

Congratulations. You've just explained why every high profile company ever gives to charity or runs promotions. Good PR and marketing(well that and tax breaks). This is not some nefarious plot, and your implication to the contrary is laughable. Does this mean that EA has turned over a new leaf? No, of course not. But just as the good doesn't cancel out the bad, the reverse is also true. On its own merits, this promotion is a good thing. Period.

Next thing you know, people will be trashing Steam Sales on the basis that Valve actually increases overall profits from them.

 

[Icehearted]

This wasn't my experience, which occurred in Feburary and lasted until June of this year. Maybe my experience is atypical?

I'm going to go with that (non-provacatively). What exactly happened? Did it come up with a screen saying "You need to log in now"?

Your civility embiggens us both.

Mostly crashes to desktop. I got error messages (I don't remember what they were), and on a few occasions I was able to get a game running but it would give me a message saying it required validation. Oddly these problems went away once I had internet again, and they were non-existent prior, but at that time I was already always online. I took as much for granted, and now I appreciate offline-only or DRM free games.

I realize a lot of people love Steam, I realize a lot of people have minor or no complaints. I'm skittish about digital distribution because of a lack of end-user rights or control, which in my case prevented me from playing games I'd purchased because of my financial and geographical circumstances (I'd have remained locked out if not for someone else gifting me an internet connection), which where I live is not cheap.

I've since avoided Steam or anything else like it. I plan on relocating again soon, and if I find myself wanting to play a game at some point and I'm without internet I'm boned on Steam. Not a huge deal since My Steam Library isn't very large, but it keeps me from jumping in on deals like this one, and I'm generally a big fan of Humble Bundles.

edited: grammatical error

 

[Unsilenced]

Only EA could raise 2 million dollars for charity and have their motives questioned this much. For fucks sake people, I hate EA as much as the next guy, but they're not the fucking Joker. I'm almost certain that this money isn't actually going to canisters of lethal laughing gas or improbably expensive purple suits.


Almost.

 

[lacktheknack]

This wasn't my experience, which occurred in Feburary and lasted until June of this year. Maybe my experience is atypical?

I'm going to go with that (non-provacatively). What exactly happened? Did it come up with a screen saying "You need to log in now"?

Your civility embiggens us both.

Mostly crashes to desktop. I got error messages (I don't remember what they were), and on a few occasions I was able to get a game running but it would give me a message saying it required validation. Oddly these problems went away once I had internet again, and they were non-existent prior, but at that time I was already always online. I took as much for granted, and now I appreciate offline-only or DRM free games.

I realize a lot of people love Steam, I realize a lot of people have minor or no complaints. I'm skittish about digital distribution because of a lack of end-user rights or control, which in my case prevented me from playing games I'd purchased because of my financial and geographical circumstances (I'd have remained locked out if not for someone else gifting me an internet connection), which where I live is not cheap.

I've since avoided Steam or anything else like it. I plan on relocating again soon, and if I find myself wanting to play a game at some point and I'm without internet I'm boned on Steam. Not a huge deal since My Steam Library isn't very large, but it keeps me from jumping in on deals like this one, and I'm generally a big fan of Humble Bundles.

edited: grammatical error

Now that I'm not filled to the brim with rage, I'm recalling a couple updates that totally messed up the Steam offline mode, but they got fixed. Apparently, Steam now even tracks the previous login and automatically opens it in offline mode if it doesn't detect a connection.

Might be worth a second try.

 

[Grottnikk]

Yay! For just $1 you can get a shitty digital storefront installed on your computer! Woooo.

I'm sure they'll sell a bunch of those bundles, but I hope they separate the Steam bundles from the Origin ones in the future. Cross-pollinating the bundle is a bad idea, I think.

 

[lacktheknack]

Yay! For just $1 you can get a shitty digital storefront installed on your computer! Woooo.

I'm sure they'll sell a bunch of those bundles, but I hope they separate the Steam bundles from the Origin ones in the future. Cross-pollinating the bundle is a bad idea, I think.

But you can cherry-pick... getting five games on Steam for a dollar instead of five on Steam plus one on Origin isn't exactly worth being sad about...

 

[FPLOON]

Hmmm... Dead Space, Burnout Paradise, and Mirror's Edge seem to be the only games that peak my interest right now in this bundle... I not caring too much that there is no Steam key for Dead Space 3 and the rest of the other games in this bundle I could just give away to anyone of my choosing...

In other words, not only am I helping out some pretty good charities along the way... but, some "poor unfortunate souls" can get their hands on games they like more than I do... It's a win-win-win from my perspective...

*begins singing a Steam Train-esque theme song*

captcha: are you planning on shopping on cyber monday?
*shifty eyes* Maybe...

 

[bug_of_war]

Yet another reason for me to like EA. Now, if only I had a pay pal account, or a debit card...

 

[Charli]

Still boycotting EA games. Stance has not shifted nor will it anytime soon. (8 years and going strong baby)

YES EVEN FOR $1.

Actually I'd encourage everyone who buys it to put it all up on the charity/HB Team bar.

All the money is already going to the charities and HB team; EA isn't taking a cent from the sales. Read the article.

A deal somewhere was made behind closed doors no matter what is 'being said'.

And good, it should all go to charity. But what I mean is the damage was probably already done. I don't go to read something I know I'm not participating or pandering to.

I can give charity money through other avenues.

My god, you're right. Humble Bundle and EA deviously conspired to give away a bunch of EA's games in order to raise charity. How could I have missed such a despicable plot?

Origin traffic. It's a paper thin customer drum up. Think of it as 'free' (this is where I doubt it) advertising using games they're no longer seeing large amounts of revenue from in the initial sales. The dlc's and little increments they see from pawning these games off for nothing now will make them a tidy little sum for those weak-kneed about such games.

Notice only a liiiittle bit of the Sims 3 DLC is given when you pay X amount. The rest? All in that wonderful little online shop of theirs.

Now if you need to go further yes I am speculating, I am basing this on previous malpractices and ill customer support and interests from years past, I gave them a chance when they last pulled this 'oh but we've changed we swear' rubbish and my convictions are not easily swayed. So your words and insistence are mostly lost on me.

Congratulations. You've just explained why every high profile company ever gives to charity or runs promotions. Good PR and marketing(well that and tax breaks). This is not some nefarious plot, and your implication to the contrary is laughable. Does this mean that EA has turned over a new leaf? No, of course not. But just as the good doesn't cancel out the bad, the reverse is also true. On its own merits, this promotion is a good thing. Period.

Next thing you know, people will be trashing Steam Sales on the basis that Valve actually increases overall profits from them.

I never implied anything to the contrary I merely announced my non participation in this farce and called for all the money to go to charity. Which it 'does'. Neat.

And people actually do trash the steam sales for that, they're a minority, but they do.

EA have done alot of bad, a bit of it to me on a more personal level and i'll take every chance to mostly piss on their parade. As I said ONCE AGAIN, this is a pointless leg-up-a-thon you're trying to play with me.

There was a time where this was done out the goodwill of small known indie developers and a benefit to all involved, but those were the first first humble indie bundles, now it's an attention grab, the charity is a mere side thought. I've paid my dues to those, Enjoy your cheap games folks, EA still are scuzzbags and I don't feel you should be playing any of their games or keeping their services running from any justification stand point.

 

[Grimh]

Would be more tempting if I didn't already own most of these games.

Besides, I don't know if I could live with the fact that I would own Medal of Honor.

 

[mad825]

Now that I'm not filled to the brim with rage, I'm recalling a couple updates that totally messed up the Steam offline mode, but they got fixed. Apparently, Steam now even tracks the previous login and automatically opens it in offline mode if it doesn't detect a connection.

Might be worth a second try.

Eh, it still has it's little niggles. For example; If you've already download the client update, you need to be online to install and it will force you to go online. Quite frankly, I'm still upset it took them several years just to get the off-line mode streamlined when users found a way just editing the Blob file.

 

[daibakuha]

wow, thats some amazing PR right there, thought Dead Space 3 was a typo when i saw the email.
i'm hoping the games with Steam keys don't need Origin. don't like to double DRM (and i've already redeemed the codes)

They don't. Games that require origin are only for Origin and don't come with Steam codes. So it's not double DRMing.

Also it's separate codes for all of the games on Origin and Steam, so it's technically like getting 2 copies of those games.

OT: Calling it now, Mass Effect 3 is gonna be in this bundle in a week or so.

so i could just give the Origin keys away (ecept Dead Space 3) away and it wont effect my Steam copy

also, if ME Trillogy goes on there, i might up my donation

Yep, when you buy the bundle there's two tabs with all the codes, one for Origin and one for Steam. So you get two separate copies of 5 of the games, with only the origin exclusives receiving 1 copy. Each game is an individually code too.

 

[BernardoOne]

If they'd wanted to win my money they could have made these DRM free.

Let me yet again reiterate that apparently EA doesn't get any of the money.

I know that, I read that, I wasn't specifically referring to EA.

You don't need an always-on connection for either service...

Also, they removed ALL of the layers of crap. I'm no longer mad at them. Not even for what they're doing to Mirror's Edge 2. As far as I'm concerned, they're once again tabula rasa.

Perhaps not always on, but you are required to check in periodically, monthly or something thereabout. When I moved to my current home I was without internet (except for my 1gb per month on a cell) for 5 months. That meant that any games I owned, fully paid for and all, I was unable to play because of that garbage. The games I could play were GOG and console only, of course the exception to that being that on my Xbox 360 I couldn't play my indies without online access.

So again, it's an internet based DRM, and for that they can suck it.

Edit: I don't know what happened to the quotes. Fixed.

You do not need any king of periodic checks. Steam offline mode WORKS FOREVER(though it might be bugged one or other time) My sister has been using offline mode for 1 year in row. There is no checks at all.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

They take origin off of these then I'll get it.

Most of them have Steam keys, Battlefield 3, Dead Space 3 and the Sims 3 are the only ones that don't I think.

 

[Worgen]

They take origin off of these then I'll get it.

Most of them have Steam keys, Battlefield 3, Dead Space 3 and the Sims 3 are the only ones that don't I think.

Those are the only ones I would want, well bf3 and dead space 3. Already have sims 3, wasn't as good as 2.