I've never understood the dislike for Origin

[RedDeadFred]

It's not that I dislike it, it's that it's inconvenient for me not to run all my games out of one platform. Battlenet gets a pass because I've had that since Frozen Throne.

On the other hand, I WANT Origin and others like it to do well so that Valve has some competition. They've really gone down hill in the past few years, so I'm hoping they start to feel the push from platforms so that they might introduce some quality control over Greenlight and Early Access.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

EA is responsible for the deaths of trusted studios and whatever the fuck that thing that used to be BioWare is. That's enough for me to be nervous about touching their shit, even with a pole so long it has to be designed to compensate for the curvature of the earth.

That being said, from my experience Origin customer service is ACTUALLY fucking helpful when you need them, so there's that.

 

[votemarvel]

What I don't understand is why so many PC gamers still worship Valve and Steam. PC has always been an open platform, but it seems that many would like to give up this and give all control over to Valve. I want Origin, GOG, Uplay and all the other DD stores to succeed so that Valve won't get full monopoly and control of PC gaming. That would be the death of PC gaming truly.

You have my full agreement.

What I find so odd is that people complain about Microsoft wanting to control PC gaming and remove the openness of the platform but are willing to hand that same level of control over to Valve.

Valve aren't the consumer champions that people imagine them to be. They are a company out to bilk our wallets just like everyone else.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

The big problem with origin. It's got no games. Only EA puts there games on it.

 

[votemarvel]

Only EA puts their games on it.

And Ubisoft, Capcom, Deep Silver, CD Projekt etc.

Origin isn't just limited to EA games.

I wonder why no-one is asking why Valve don't put their games on Origin?

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

Only EA puts their games on it.

And Ubisoft, Capcom, Deep Silver, CD Projekt etc.

Origin isn't just limited to EA games.

I wonder why no-one is asking why Valve don't put their games on Origin?

Oh I never noticed more games being put there. I tend not to look at it often because I am not expecting to see new games there. Just browsing through now and and the front page it all EA though. I don't think it's a neutral platform. It's also really hard to browse and find something new. Steam shows me tons of games it things I will like (It tends to be right a lot too.) Origin shows me EA games. (I also hate the lack of good bundles. Let me buy all the sims3 EP in one reasonable priced bundle and I will start using origin if just for that.)

 

[Kingjackl]

I don't mind it. Obviously there aren't a lot of games on it I care for outside of Bioware games, but I like the free game deals, and I li8ke that it isn't as cluttered as Steam.

 

[Tayh]

People didn't start liking Steam for "some unknown reason". The reasons are pretty clear. They gave us cheap games, made PC gaming a bit more convenient, and just constantly threw good shit at us.

Except not really.
Retail has always been cheaper, and has had better sales, at least where I live. Take the launch day of most any game, and it would be 30DKK to 50DKK(4? to 6.7?) cheaper.
In recent years, however, retail stocking/sales of PC games has all but died out here, due to, in my opinion, the popularity/enforcement of steam.
Don't know what's so convenient about having to ask permission from a "service" every time you want to install or play your games, as opposed to just popping a DVD in the drive or clicking the game icon on the desktop.
Never cared about the rest of the shit they offered. There's always been better alternatives elsewhere, for those who are aware of the world outside of steam.

 

[ryan_cs]

I mean, it's not exactly digital syphyllis, but no-one asked for it, no-one wanted it, and no-one likes being made to use it.

Could say the same for steam, except that's widely loved because of... Reasons.

As for the hate on Origin, I think most of it stems from not being steam/valve, which is like the biggest DRM offense you can commit in the game publishing sphere.

And yet less people hate blizzard's battle.net. In all discussions of diablo 3 and starcraft 2 i've never seen people say they hate it.So I guess you're wrong and guided more on feelings on this one.

 

[Rangaman]

What I don't understand is why so many PC gamers still worship Valve and Steam. PC has always been an open platform, but it seems that many would like to give up this and give all control over to Valve. I want Origin, GOG, Uplay and all the other DD stores to succeed so that Valve won't get full monopoly and control of PC gaming. That would be the death of PC gaming truly.

People love Valve because they made really good games, like Half-Life and Portal. Made is the key word. Modern Valve is shitty, lazy and money-grabbing. They're arguably even worse than EA because at least EA still publish games that people want, like Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

Origin is actually pretty good, aside from the lack of games and user reviews for said games. It must be said that I've had far less drama with Origin than with Steam, though that may be because I've been forced into using the latter more.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Not using steam, that's actually one of my biggest beefs with steam at the moment.
Not only do valve want monopoly on games, now they're trying to encroach on modding territory as well.
At least nexusmods.com still exists and provides free, unrestricted mods, but let's see how long that continues if valve keeps gating mods behind their drm-wall.

How are they monopolising mods? Anyone can mod a game. The workshop just makes it easier.

Except not really.
Retail has always been cheaper, and has had better sales, at least where I live. Take the launch day of most any game, and it would be 30DKK to 50DKK(4? to 6.7?) cheaper.
In recent years, however, retail stocking/sales of PC games has all but died out here, due to, in my opinion, the popularity/enforcement of steam.
Don't know what's so convenient about having to ask permission from a "service" every time you want to install or play your games, as opposed to just popping a DVD in the drive or clicking the game icon on the desktop.
Never cared about the rest of the shit they offered. There's always been better alternatives elsewhere, for those who are aware of the world outside of steam.

Steam edged out the retail market the same way every other digital distribution client has - by providing a better, cheaper, and more convenient way to buy games. You can't tell me the retail situation [https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/30] was any more ethical. And as for the price, I live in Australia, so... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Tax]

And why are you putting service in scare quotes? Do you just disagree with digital distribution in general? Because...that's freaking crazy talk, man. The only situation where having a physical copy of a game makes more sense than digital is if you live somewhere with no internet.

 

[hermes]

What I don't understand is why so many PC gamers still worship Valve and Steam. PC has always been an open platform, but it seems that many would like to give up this and give all control over to Valve. I want Origin, GOG, Uplay and all the other DD stores to succeed so that Valve won't get full monopoly and control of PC gaming. That would be the death of PC gaming truly.

Because, for all that "master race" talk, gamers love the commodities that come with a unified front. PC gaming grew back the moment it took notes from the console world. 99% of gamers don't want to care about different clients, keeping up to date with drivers, juggling graphic settings, keeping different programs around for stuff like voice chat, or making sure they have the right controller to make their weird joystick work acceptably. Once you enable big picture, their PC could be simply an upgradable console for all they care about...

People worship Valve because they provided a unified front for gaming, either by being the first or the de facto standard. A single store that includes almost everything, a single friend list, a single launcher for the installed games, a single entry point for downloading updates, patches or even mods (people here praise Steam Workshop, even when it includes a fraction of the mods up there, for a fraction of the games and with a fraction of the features; but it is a way to get mods for people that don't want to deal with hassles like even reading the game actual files). People hate other services because they force them to run "yet another thing".

 

[CaitSeith]

I mean, I get people were wary of it being from EA...but after all these years, I don't see why it has stuck around.

It started the whole "Super nice demos and refunds" trends among the big distribution platforms. It gives monthly free game time and demos for games, and now just gives out games for free frequently. It's chat interface is just as good as it's competitor's, and the UI, market and layout is just fine and works just as well as Steam's.

It doesn't cause any performance issues, and as far as download service goes I've actually found Origin to be the superior service, often downloading a game of equal size 2x-3x faster than Steam will.

The only things Steam has is the larger library (because it has been around longer and doesn't exclusively serve one company) and things like Voice Chat/Streaming...which as EA has pointed out make little sense for them to include in Origin because by far and wide PC users prefer to use outside sources for those things.

But mention Origin and people still look and act like you just shat on their desk.

Origin launched with a clause that basically said "by installing Origin, you give EA permission to read, modify and delete anything they want in your PC". I think it's easy to understand why people weren't too happy about it.

 

[Czann]

Anything from EA is evil and must be treated like it transmits the pox.

 

[Recusant]

I guess I'll be the one to point out the elephant in the room: they chose to call it "Origin". If you don't understand why this is a problem, don a helmet and ask a Wing Commander fan. If that doesn't clear it up, don some battle armor and ask an Ultima fan.

 

[Tayh]

How are they monopolising mods? Anyone can mod a game. The workshop just makes it easier.

For now...

Steam edged out the retail market the same way every other digital distribution client has - by providing a better, cheaper, and more convenient way to buy games. You can't tell me the retail situation [https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/03/30] was any more ethical. And as for the price, I live in Australia, so... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Tax]

Of course they edged out the retail market. Who wants to buy a physical game when all you get is a CD that only has a game-key and a link to install steam on it.
I acknowledge that Australia had unfair prices, but that is a bit of a special case, isn't it? steam certainly wasn't price competitive in Denmark.
It still isn't... It's being beaten by gog.com who will give you vouchers, out of their own pockets, for what you pay extra according to your country and exchange rate.
Funnily enough, gamestop still flourishes, while all the good, independent game stores have all disappeared. Not that I blame that on steam, just a side note.

And why are you putting service in scare quotes? Do you just disagree with digital distribution in general? Because...that's freaking crazy talk, man. The only situation where having a physical copy of a game makes more sense than digital is if you live somewhere with no internet.

Because, in a scenario of "the carrot and the stick", I consider steam less of a carrot(service) and more of a stick(enforced drm client).
I'm not against digital distribution. I'm against DRM.

 

[Tayh]

I'm detecting that you don't actually have real reasons here. It's just a case of "I hate the product so there's NO possible way it could have EVER had anything good about it at any point in time!"

Nah. It's more that I find it incredibly hypocritical for people to hate origin and then turn right around and continue worshipping steam and valve.

Frankly, I don't feel you even had any reason to quote my message. You just wanted to try and invalidate my message to try and shut down any possible reason that Steam may have been a good service at any time in the past.

Dude, you quoted me first.
I would have no beef with steam if it wasn't because they got a stranglehold on gaming distribution. These days, it's incredibly hard to find any modern game that doesn't require steam, or some other form of ineffective drm - which I think is rather sad, especially since pirates get to enjoy the hassle-free, drm-free experience.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

How are they monopolising mods? Anyone can mod a game. The workshop just makes it easier.

For now...

You're just sounding like a conspiracy theorist, now. How would Valve go about monopolising mods? How would they do it, in practice, when all a mod is is a modification of the game files? And what makes Nexus Mods any different?

Because, in a scenario of "the carrot and the stick", I consider steam less of a carrot(service) and more of a stick(enforced drm client).
I'm not against digital distribution. I'm against DRM.

To continue your metaphor, Steam only gained any traction through being a carrot. People started using it because it was easier and cheaper, not because Gabe Newell came to their house and pressed a gun to their head.

And as DRM goes, Steam is a lot easier to deal with than some other [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uplay] assholes [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows_%E2%80%93_Live]. I haven't got a problem with DRM so long as it's unobtrusive and doesn't interfere with me playing the game. Lots of DRM does; Steam, so far, has never done that to me, so I'm all for it. And I've been using it for, what - eight or nine years now?

 

[Laughing Man]

I mean, I get people were wary of it being from EA...but after all these years, I don't see why it has stuck around.

It is even more confusing given that Steam has become a waste ground of sewage outflow. By that I mean since Origin launched that service has only gotten better as it has gone on, and let's not forget that it came in to being for the exact same reasons that Steam did, DRM to protect developers software attached to a location that can sell you shit. In the time since it's launch Steam's sales have gone to the dogs, generic and boring does not even described them, you have had the whole debacle with paid for mods with Valve gouging a health little profit on the side for doing nothing and you have the utter toxic waste ground that is Steam Greenlight. These last two practices are the sort of thing you would expect from someone like EA but nope Origin still gets hated while people still think Steam is great.

Oh my god why can't EA just use Steam now I have to have two DD programs to manage my games, not withstanding the whole get a fucking grip you fucking child, boo hoo you have to open two programs instead of one I am sure that must be a real struggle the fact that Steam has a competitor is a good thing, EA's returns policy on e Origin and customer service is the reason why we got refunds on Steam having a competitor is a good thing and it helps keep the likes of Valve in check and given how fucking stupid some of the features of Steam have been; paid mods I am looking at you here, Valve need to be kept in check.

 

[Ryan Minns]

Eh, Steam was the one that risked pushing it when internet was a dream for many people but in the end they managed to be the go to distributor for many. They allowed people who look at console boasters about how quick and easy it is to play their games since many peoples entire gaming library was a click away.

Being a huge Blizzard fan I'd really like it if they put their games on Steam, though honestly I wouldn't rebuy them through it. I love heroes of might and magic games which are often on steam but load Ubisofts attempt. I am unsure why people think it's just Origin that still annoys people given origin seems to catch no extra hate than Uplay and Steam seems to. At least that's what I notice.

I mean, I get people were wary of it being from EA...but after all these years, I don't see why it has stuck around.

EA's returns policy on e Origin and customer service is the reason why we got refunds on Steam

Wait, didn't that come into play due to numerous lawsuits like one here in Australia that told them it's illegal to distribute in Australia without such a policy? The fact they were centered in America was thrown out and they were told they MUST offer a refund policy? I doubt EA had anything to do with it.