Modding single player Mass Effect 3 bans you from Origin

[ResonanceSD]

And yet every time I say "origin is a smelly pile of poo, which no one in their right mind should use, the same for EA", I get shouted down.

EA: Public company, answers to shareholders. History of being idiots.

Valve: Private Company, does what it wants. History of being awesome.

 

[Alex Tom]

Dis anyone else read the thread? i mean one Bioware guy said no and one said yes so....jumping to conclusions is fun right?

 

[SajuukKhar]

You're acting as if Bioware are still a separate entity from EA, and this was their own decision.

It's not. Bioware is now a subsidy of EA. EA bought them, EA controls them, Bioware is essentially just another in-house EA studio which happens to have its own name.

This decision wasn't Bioware's. This is clearly an EA decision.

Lastly, there is a difference between not releasing mod tools for a game, and actively banning people from using mods in said game. I don't believe Valve released modding tools for the original Half-Life, but they still supported people who came up with great mods for the game. Half-Life 2 even moreso. If you can explain to me how Counterstrike is a bad thing for the industry, I'd be very amused.

Actually no I'm not, despite Bioware being owned by EA they COULD tell EA to fuck off.

This "the second a dev is bought by a publisher everyone in the studio becomes mind slaves to every whim of the publisher" thinking is BS, and not how reality works.

Its the result of old-school Bioware fans desperately trying to put the blame solely on another company in a very vain and transparent attempt to save their nostalgic image of how Bioware was when faced with the reality of how Bioware really is. EA is part of it yes, but the decision is NOT EA's alone, bioware and thier staff is just as much to blame as the EA heads.
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Also I never once stated or implied mods are bad for the industry. All I have ever stated is that a company has the right to dictate how something they own is used by someone else.

Would it be cool if Bioware allowed mods? yes.
Could people possibly make better things using said mods? yes.
Do I think Bioware should allow mods? yes.
Is Bioware's saying "we don't want mods" and banning people over it some violation of consumer rights? no, because the game belongs to them and they can do with it as they please.
Is this Origin's fault? no

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Uhh were is the problem in this?

-The game belongs to EA/Bioware
-They have the right to say no modding SP


Again, where is the problem?

When most people buy a game on PC they assume that they would be able to install things texture packs, new player made content, bug fixes, ect. Banning someone from their entire Origin library is completely ridiculous.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Does this include save game edits? I didn't want to play the multiplayer so I changed the value of some of my war assets so I could get EMS to 5000.

I doubt they could ever track save-game edits, but they might count.

When most people buy a game on PC they assume that they would be able to install things texture packs, new player made content, bug fixes, ect. Banning someone from their entire Origin library is completely ridiculous.

I practically live on Steam and most of the people I know on there don't expect a game to be moddable or have mods at all unless it is a game like the ES series that prides itself on modding.

I dont know anyone who expected Bioshock or Prey or most games to be moddable.

 

[370999]

Seems a bit weird to ban these guys. I know they can but why? Like what does EA gain from it?

 

[Atmos Duality]

Are EULA's even legally binding in theory?

They are in theory since they are legal contracts.
However, the order in which they are presented matters. If the user had no alternative but to sign AFTER the purchase (implying no incentive for negotiation) they are Contracts of Adhesion and might not be upheld if challenged.

If presented as a Service (like Origin) pre-purchase, they are most likely going to be held up, barring unconscionable/illegal terms or unless EA terminates their agreement in a manner that violates the contract.

However, even if some the terms of an EULA are thrown out, neither party can break any terms that are enforced/required by other laws. In this case, Modding and Copyright Law (since modding utilizes existing coding; there is precedent for this).

 

[FallenTraveler]

Uhh were is the problem in this?

-The game belongs to EA/Bioware
-They have the right to say no modding SP


Again, where is the problem?

I agree here, it is something that they should come out and say up front. Otherwise, some unaware person will get banned for something they had no way of knowing.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I agree here, it is something that they should come out and say up front. Otherwise, some unaware person will get banned for something they had no way of knowing.

I do agree they should make such information more obvious.

But then again the steam icon on the front of the box of steam games, and the warning label on the back that says "THIS GAME REQUIRES A INTERNET CONNECTION AND TO SIGN UP FOR THE STEAM SERVICE" still eludes people.

God I can't count the n umber of times I saw a "SKYRIM/NEW VEGAS REQUIRES STEAM? WHA?" threads when those games first came out.

 

[cookyy2k]

Seems a bit weird to ban these guys. I know they can but why? Like what does EA gain from it?

They get to sell DLC that took absolutely no work and that a competent modder could shit out in an hour thus making their DLC worthless?

It's absolutely ridiculous that they ban you from playing your games just because you *gasp* tryed to improve the function for yourself. I have modded several games, some against EULA, at the time nothing could be done about it because it was pre-origin/steam. Because of modders for one game its playability was stretched far beyond what it would have been. Constant graphics updates and new units (twas an RTS) to name 2. When I lost my disc I bought it again to download the mods and have a new experience. If there was no modding I wouldn't have bought it again.

The has to be very few people (outside EA drones/plants) who think a company saying this and the entire licence/own shift are actually good things.

 

[SajuukKhar]

The has to be very few people (outside EA drones/plants) who think a company saying this and the entire licence/own shift are actually good things.

I haven't seen anyone ever saying that this is a good thing, only that they legally can.

If you buy a lawnmower and add better blades to it, do the people who made the lawnmower have a right to take that lawnmower away from you?

The difference is you own the lawnmower, while you don't own games.

You own a license to play the games.

 

[tacotrainwreck]

I'm sure what it really comes down to is you're getting access to new content that you didn't pay EA money for. They'd rather just ban it, observe it, and then sell DLC with similar content.

 

[Joshimodo]

I didn't buy the game on Origin (360 version here) but unless they made you sign a EULA BEFORE you purchased the product they have no right to do this, but then again there is some shady legal stuff behind Origin anyway. Its best to avoid it all together if you want to buy video games as actual products instead of renting them for an undisclosed amount of time.

Still counts, and still exists. You own the method of transport, not the content. There's also a secondary EULA to accept when you go on ME3 when connected to LIVE.

 

[cookyy2k]

I wonder how long (I say this as if it hasn't probably already happened) it'll be before someone, somewhere comes up with an origin-emulator or a no-origin "patch".

I'm seriously thinking this generation of games will be my last. I don't want origin or steem keeping an eye over my shoulder, I ain't touching always on DRM and the consoles seem to be moving towards digital distribution/no used. It's going to be retro and indie for me before long.

 

[Versuvius]

I believe that by paying for a game i can do whatever the fuck i like with it. As such anything that decides to tell me otherwise will not be getting my money. People less scrupulous than me will just pirate it, mod it, have fun and no one gets the money. And it is all their own fucking fault. Ban from all games if i mod one game? Trolololol. I think not EA. Keep your games.

 

[SajuukKhar]

I believe that by paying for a game i can do whatever the fuck i like with it. As such anything that decides to tell me otherwise will not be getting my money. People less scrupulous than me will just pirate it, mod it, have fun and no one gets the money. And it is all their own fucking fault. Ban from all games if i mod one game? Trolololol. I think not EA. Keep your games.

the thing is you didn't pay for the game you payed for a license.

 

[Versuvius]

I believe that by paying for a game i can do whatever the fuck i like with it. As such anything that decides to tell me otherwise will not be getting my money. People less scrupulous than me will just pirate it, mod it, have fun and no one gets the money. And it is all their own fucking fault. Ban from all games if i mod one game? Trolololol. I think not EA. Keep your games.

the thing is you didn't pay for the game you payed for a license.

I disagree with this practice. And if i do buy ME3 i Will strip out Origin, it will be cracked and i will do what i damn please with it. That game goes on the shelf, or i download it, and i pay for it, i will do what the fuck i like. EA can come stop me if they like.

Also i should note in the EU i believe EULA unless they are given to you by a guy for you to read and a pen to sign you need not do anything but follow the law and ignore the extras within the TOS because things being amoral matter here.

Edit: Perhaps this is relevent to the lega weight of EULAS
"The enforceability of an EULA depends on several factors, one of them being the court in which the case is heard. Some courts that have addressed the validity of the shrinkwrap license agreements have found some EULAs to be invalid, characterizing them as contracts of adhesion, unconscionable, and/or unacceptable pursuant to the U.C.C. see, for instance, Step-Saver Data Systems, Inc. v. Wyse Technology, Vault Corp. v. Quaid Software Ltd."

 

[SajuukKhar]

Don't believe for one minute that EULAs are legally enforceable, especially if you don't live in the US

I wont comment on places outside the US but there have been several court rulings in the US that say they are enforceable, and until the supreme court makes a decision one way or they other it is solely on a case by case basis if they are not.
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Secondly the way EULAs are worded right now do not take away all your rights, that is hyperbole, very transparent hyperbole.

I don't agree with the EULA system as is, but blatantly lying is not the way to get things changed.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

So let me just process this for a bit. Modding Mass Effect 3 in any way, no matter how small like making the textures better can get you banned from your ENTIRE Origin account. So say someone has 100 games on Origin (including ME3) then they mod the textures in Mass Effect 3 they can be banned access from not only Mass Effect 3 but the other 99 games that they bought on Origin.

I'm sure that's not going to cause problems for EA and BioWare.

 

[Eamar]

None of you read the thread did you?

The problem they're having is that people screwing with the coalesced file impacts multiplayer as well as single player, giving them an unfair advantage (whether or not that was actually the user's intention is a different issue). Also for the record, many, many people on the forums have been altering their coalesced.ini files to give themselves extra war assets, so yes they are cheating, not "modding" in the traditional sense. I've not actually seen anyone talking about "real" modding yet.

Bioware are not saying modding is evil. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be allowed to cheat in SP if they really want to, but I can see where Bioware are coming from with the multiplayer issue. I really wish people wouldn't jump to conclusions based on the title of a thread.

EDIT: inb4 "Biodrone"- I've had plenty to say against Bioware and especially EA recently (not necessarily on the internet though). It's just funny how worked up people are prepared to get over something they haven't even read.