One less game to play then.DustyDrB said:Mass Effect 3 on PC] is going to require Origin.
No big deal, i'll watch it on YT.
One less game to play then.DustyDrB said:Mass Effect 3 on PC] is going to require Origin.
What about GamersGate,Greenmangaming,Direct2Drive and so on? I think it would be much better if they made a service like that instead of doing what steam does.Tayh said:Sweet, a competitor to steam's monopoly appears.
Imo a company can decide where to sell their products and where not. They are not obliged to have any sales if they don't feel like it. It is a luxury product after all and if you don't like what they have to offer you can purchase many similar products (games) on the market. Ultimately it is the consumer who holds the power and votes with their wallet. You must remember they have to compete with piracy as well. If they make a sucky platform for games that will hurt their sales in the long run.Bradeck said:No. A monopoly is never good for the consumer. Unless their is a fair market standard, then it is horribly unfair. For instance, EA does not have to lessen the price of it's games, because the only place you can get it is through EA. They don't have "weekend sales" or "Holiday deals" like steam does. They don't have to release their product to anyone, or bend in any way for the consumer. This type of totalitarian practice hurts the consumer, destroys the market, and makes tons of money for the producers. Thats why they are doing it.
Not much has changed but I'm not going to remain like Richard Nixon.mad825 said:Like any policy, it's fairly obscure and never really says what kind of information and when it's collected is never mentioned in a specified manner."Aggregate information" is information that describes the habits, usage patterns, and demographics of users as a group but does not describe or reveal the identity of any particular user.
"Individual information" is information about a user that is presented in a form distinguishable from information relating to other users but not in a form that personally identifies any user or enables the recipient to communicate directly with any user unless agreed to by the user in advance of such communication. This information may be used to improve Valve's products and online sites, for internal marketing studies, or simply to collect demographic information about Valve's users.
Valve may use customer contact information provided by users to send information about Valve, including news about product updates, contests, events, and other promotional materials, but only if the users agree to receive such communications. Except in the cases described below, Valve will not share personally identifiable information with any third party unless the user agrees to such disclosure in advance. "Personally identifiable information" consists of a user's name, email address, physical address, or other data about the user that enables the recipient to personally identify the user. While Valve collects personally identifiable information on a voluntary basis, for certain products and online sites, Valve's collection of personally identifiable information may be a requirement for access to the product or site. Personally identifiable information will be processed and stored by Valve in databases situated in the United States. Valve may allow third parties performing services under contract with Valve to access stored information but such access shall only be to the extent necessary to provide those services. In those instances, the third party will be bound by the terms of this privacy policy. In some situations, personally identifiable information you input in connection with Steam may be made available to other users of Steam. For example, during registration of Steam, Valve collects a user's email address and nickname, and at the user's option, first and last name. Some of this information is searchable and available to other users within Steam. Valve has no obligation to keep the privacy of personally identifiable information that a user makes available to other users via Steam or other Valve software, such as in multiplayer or other public functions.
Personally identifiable information protected under this privacy policy and collected from users may be done in conjunction with associates under agreement with Valve. If an associate of Valve is collecting such personally identifiable information within one of our products or online sites, Valve will make users aware of this at the time the information is gathered. For example, product registration data for Half-Life is collected by Sierra Entertainment. If a user does not want to provide this information, the user may choose to opt out of providing this information. Additionally, if providing the information is a requirement of usage, the user may decline to use that particular service or product. When possible, Valve will make a reasonable effort to direct users to the privacy polices of these associates. Valve's privacy policy does not extend to associates of Valve.
Furthermore, external websites and companies with links to and from Valve's online sites and products may collect personal information about users. Valve's privacy policy does not extend to these external websites and companies. Please refer directly to these companies and websites regarding their privacy policies.
Really, if you are so much as scared as information being gathered from you which may or may not be indefinable and in a unsecured or secure manner then the internet (World Wide Web) is not for you. Many if not all companies do this including the likes of Microsoft or Apple collecting data off people using their OS. Get this, they can break the rules without you knowing.
What makes any kind of data mining/gathering software malicious is entirely subjective and what's it's programmed to do. Some people don't mind having their lives being recorded (Take Facebook and Google/Youtube for instance).
For starters, I have yet to hear people's Origin accounts from being banned because they've pirated/cracked it. Same goes with Steam and GFWL.
Hey you, Escapist. Stop collecting information off me...And my posts. Just because I accepted the Terms & agreements and it's your database doesn't mean you can gather data off me.
That is perfectly fair. I'm just pointing out that the information is non-identifiable information about your pc. Actual identifiable information can be (and is) taken from anywhere. That kind of information is usually given to companies anyway, whether it be your ISP, your phone company, or any other place of business where personal information is required. Im starting to think its a lesser evil in fact. Although if an individual takes a stance against a specific act, that's perfectly reasonable.ph0b0s123 said:I think the word boycot is wrong to as it may not make any difference. I am just taking a personal stand that EA will get none of my hardware and software data without asking for it. The only way I can do that is by not having Origin. Which means no BF3 or ME3...
I do think the sypware claim while hyperbolic, is still fair. Spyware takes without your permission. All the other software you listed takes with you permission. That make Origin closer to spyware than anything else you mentioned.
Yeah, I find it extremely odd how no one seems to remember how Steam was back when it began. And, if I remember correctly, many people were having similar knee-jerk reactions to it, declaring it spyware (which many people still do), dirty DRM, etc. (By the way, have any of you actually tried to see what Origin "takes" from your computer? These guys did. [http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/7804065.page?ClickID=annw0wzlw5znaz5wv0ot5pa59s0550yvksrn&ClickID=dz0zrcwxthnkhbtx2corbbxstrmssrc0tyxk])Tayh said:Sweet, a competitor to steam's monopoly appears.
Oh, you mean just like Valve offers alternative non-steam releases for their Source games?Adam Jensen said:EA is shooting itself in the foot by not releasing it via Steamworks. -snip- If they had any faith in their Origin, they wouldn't make it mandatory to play their games, and they wouldn't exclude Steam. Fuckin' imbeciles. Instead of not releasing their games on Steam they should draw people towards Origin by offering exclusive bonuses for Origin version.
Yeah, that's so awesome, I love being able to choos... Oh wait.
I think it's funny how many people hate Origin, and then turn around and praise steam for being exactly the same.
I guess people forgot how buggy and hideous steam was in the beginning.
I think you mean privacy. People have rights to that, but nobody has the right to piracy, and they never should.ph0b0s123 said:Every time peoples rights to piracy is degraded it is always by a small amount, so it is death by a thousand cuts.
Truly, you'll only pass on the Grand Finale and Showdown of a, so far, epic game series.SmashLovesTitanQuest said:OT: Welp, there goes my purchase. I read the leaks anyway. Without spoiling too much for you guys... If you pass on ME3, you wont be missing much.
I appreciate your opinion on this issue, but I cannot allow you to say the "consumer" has the power here. In my day, if I wanted to play battletoads, I would head to the nearest store, buy a copy of battletoads, and I could play that game as long as I wanted, whenever I wanted, so long as I had the actual physical paid for copy of the game.Poomermon said:Imo a company can decide where to sell their products and where not. They are not obliged to have any sales if they don't feel like it. It is a luxury product after all and if you don't like what they have to offer you can purchase many similar products (games) on the market. Ultimately it is the consumer who holds the power and votes with their wallet. You must remember they have to compete with piracy as well. If they make a sucky platform for games that will hurt their sales in the long run.Bradeck said:No. A monopoly is never good for the consumer. Unless their is a fair market standard, then it is horribly unfair. For instance, EA does not have to lessen the price of it's games, because the only place you can get it is through EA. They don't have "weekend sales" or "Holiday deals" like steam does. They don't have to release their product to anyone, or bend in any way for the consumer. This type of totalitarian practice hurts the consumer, destroys the market, and makes tons of money for the producers. Thats why they are doing it.