Mass Effect 3 Gives Steam a Miss at Launch

[4RM3D]

Dear EA,

It is NOT valve that is being restrictive. NO, in truth it is you, EA, that is being restrictive.

Fail better next time.

Not that it matters to me. Mass Effect 3 was already blacklisted. But now I might as well add the whole of EA to the mix.

 

[Pingieking]

It comes with mandatory Origin? I do feel this is a publisher mandate, not a BW decision, but...

Couldn't you at least make your game release just as good as the cracked ones, and not worse?

A lot of this.

I'm considering two options:
1) Buy the game, then pirate a cracked version and play that.
2) Pirate the game.

Option 1 makes me feel better because Bioware gets well deserved money, but then Ican't protest against the use of Origin. Options 2 allows me to protest against Origin, but then I can't give Bioware money that they deserve. Maybe I should go with option 2, then mail $50 to Bioware with a letter explaining my decision.

 

[dave1004]

I really hate to say this, but I'm probably going to end up pirating it. I know, I know, I feel like a dirty bag of skunks doing so, but dude I want ME3. I have a horrible, half-dead internet connection that's slower than a box of honeyed molasses (0.30 Mbps download/0.11 upload/900 ping), which means "Always-on" connections murder me. Plus, I don't want some piece of spyware on my computer.

I'll just wait for a nice cracked version to come out, and if they switch to steam, hey! They made a sale. It's just not worth it otherwise.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Here comes the ONLY game i'll use origin for then *sighs*

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

So only 5% of the gameplaying world has constant connections that don't drop all the time? I ask sir where you get your information... for if that were true, wouldn't it be impossible to play online multiplayer games since as you say only 5% of gamers have that "superfast broadband that never cuts out"? Maybe you should learn that fake statistics do not back up an argument about "always online" DRM.

And the honourable gentlemen himself should learn that condemning one part of an argument, without providing backup on why it is wrong, is a tactic used only by the desperate Mass debaters.

If you have a better statistic on the worldwide broadband speed great enough to carry the entire Mass Effect signal that never suffers brownouts, then I would be glad to hear it.

Until then, given a rough check of my area - including those people without connections or still on dial-up - I'm gonna stick with the 'approximation' of 5%.

Merely reverse exaggerating ("never drops" to "drops all the time") is a poor argument.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

So only 5% of the gameplaying world has constant connections that don't drop all the time? I ask sir where you get your information... for if that were true, wouldn't it be impossible to play online multiplayer games since as you say only 5% of gamers have that "superfast broadband that never cuts out"? Maybe you should learn that fake statistics do not back up an argument about "always online" DRM.

And the honourable gentlemen himself should learn that condemning one part of an argument, without providing backup on why it is wrong, is a tactic used only by the desperate Mass debaters.

If you have a better statistic on the worldwide broadband speed great enough to carry the entire Mass Effect signal that never suffers brownouts, then I would be glad to hear it.

Until then, given a rough check of my area - including those people without connections or still on dial-up - I'm gonna stick with the 'approximation' of 5%.

Merely reverse exaggerating ("never drops" to "drops all the time") is a poor argument.

I think it might be more like 10% but your general idea is indeed correct, few have steady always on connections even here in the US.

 

[Reliq]

i heard that the restrictions they talk about is buying DLC from within the game to avoid paying to Valve a little percentage, but im not sure thats the case, so can someone please confirm this? i remember reading it somewhere, but cant really remember where

From what I hear through the grape vine, Valve changed their DLC policy so any DLC going forward had to be offered on Steam, and they increase how much of a cut they got when the DLC was sold through them. As some people noticed, Crysis 2 and DA2 were both on Steam and then removed, not coincidentally the same day their first packs of DLC were released (or I think a week before, in the case of Crysis 2)

And from what I understand now the disagreement is more over the percentage EA has to give up and not the fact they can't sell it themselves, and since EA is the only one bitching about this we can safely assume they're being their usual greedy selves.

But Origin is constant authorisation connection. So Single/Multi Player is constant connection, I think? Which is fine for all of us that have superfast broadband that never cuts out - which, at last count, was maybe 5% of us?

So if you don't need a constant connection for single player but you do need Origin does that mean Origin pretty much acts as the game launcher like the uplay "front-end" for ac: revelations?

Now does that mean I can run the game without starting Origin after the first time? If so, who cares if I have Origin? I'd never need to run it again.

To answer you three at once:

While I obviously can't tell you if ME3 will be different, I own 3 games on Origin (Dead Space 2, Alice 2 and Bulletstorm), and for each one Origin doesn't have to be running in the background at all when the game starts, let alone be connected to the internet. Origin only needs to run to install the game, after that you can leave it off if you please.

However you can't uninstall it, otherwise the games won't run. Which is strange, considering when I boot up the game EXEs no other programs start, but it knows that Origin isn't there. I suppose Origin makes the game exe itself check to see if Origin is still installed..

Not sure if this is relevant, though from how you phrased your post it sounds as if you are only checking if the origin "application" starts when you start the game. Not checking if the origin "process" is running in the background.

My guess is, it's there and running constantly when ever you log into windows. Datamining you privates

/Rel

 

[JasonKaotic]

I'm going to laugh so heartily when EA realizes how poorly ME3 is going to sell. Compared to how well it could. EA's just damned childish.
I'm buying a preowned Xbox copy, and EA is getting no money from me.

 

[Syntax Man]

"Playing Mass Effect 3 multiplayer will require a constant connection."

Well there's plenty of other games to play anyway, looks like ME3 can wait.

Uh...It's multiplayer, you need a constant connection anyways >_>

 

[Genericjim101]

So then don't be a dick and enjoy Mass Effect 3's singleplayer? Many a year ago Steam was considered a cancer upon gaming, things change. But really you're screwing over yourself by not enjoying the end of a trilogy.

 

[Double A]

It's a good thing that my Shepard is on my 360 then, because I won't install Origin on my computer.

It's even better when it's on a 360 because you can buy it used, which gives EA nothing.

 

[Omnific One]

Well, can I just shutdown the Origin startup processes using CCleaner, deactivate my network card whenever I want to play to go offline, then play? Afterward I would manually go and shutdown Origin processes (including shared ones) before reactivating my network card. That way, Origin would never be able to send my information to EA.

 

[Bradeck]

Well, can I just shutdown the Origin startup processes using CCleaner, deactivate my network card whenever I want to play to go offline, then play? Afterward I would manually go and shutdown Origin processes (including shared ones) before reactivating my network card. That way, Origin would never be able to send my information to EA.

Upon installation Origin does a cursory scan of your system. It also checks your registry for conflicting programs, or blocked areas. Same with most virus scanners, or updaters. Steam does it too, but it asks you if it can the first time you install it, and if you say no, it doesn't.

 

[ph0b0s123]

@ph0b0s123

thankfully ME3 is not Uncharted 3 or Gears of war 3 so you won't need fast reactions to shoot anybody. I was able to play ME1 and ME2 on my 360 never had any troble aiming and shooting

There's a reason for you did not have too many problems aiming, it's called 'auto aim', it does half the work for you.

 

[Denamic]

Yeah, the restrictive policies that let people download shit for free with no string attached.
Can't have that.

 

[JSDodd]

Ah, EA saying more things that noone believes. We all know it's because you don't want to share your monies with anyone.

 

[JamesStone]

*Very slow and ironic clap*

Hello, EA it's good to see you still have that gun pointed at your feet. Oh, now you have another gun pointed at Bioware. Nice.

Seriously, what are they trying to do here? Because every time they talk, the number of people who wants to buy Mass Effect 3 for the PC diminishes. Worst, doesn't matter how good ME3 is, some people won't buy it thanks to EA's stupid policies. All because they don't want to share their profits with Valve. The irony here is, that if this anouncements continue, they will probably lose more money than if they just allowed the game on Steam without Origin.

EA, I know you are trying to slowly kill yourselves, and possibly the future of the videogames industry, but could you please stop trying to sink Bioware too?

 

[isometry]

I'm happy that EA is making it so easy for me to dump them completely.

I enjoyed Mass Effect 2, but IMO it bungled the over-arching story about the reapers. In going from an RPG to an action game, they also went from a cool story to a generic Sci Fi action plot, so I don't really care about the ending (if I had to guess I'd say Shepard defeats the reapers and saves the galaxy, yawn).

So I was already on the fence about buying Mass Effect 3, then they make it easy for me by requiring origin and not allowing steam. I hope they do this with all their future releases as well, that way I'll never feel half-tempted to buy their games again.

 

[SteewpidZombie]

Thus ME3 will suffer a loss of Digital Sales untill it's release on Steam, by which point everyone has already gone out and gotten it on console. Moral of the story: Origin sucks ass!

 

[Dr. Aggravation]

Origin has nothing on Steam. EA's attempt to compete with steam and to force consumers to buy on Origin is only going to end in a decrease in sales for their games. Origin kept me from buying Battlefield 3, it will keep me from buying Mass Effect 3.