Origin Cheapens IP With Deep-Cutting Sales

[samaugsch]

Uh. What? That... that makes no sense at all. Why does putting something on sale on occasion "cheapen" it? I mean, yes, it literally cheapens it in the sense that it is cheaper, but why would it metaphorically cheapen it? I mean, Valve puts the entire Half-Life series on sale on Steam for like twenty bucks every once in a while. (and regular price is still just $40!) Yet people still think it's a really good series.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting his use of the word "cheapen", but it seems to me that price has precious little to do with what people think of a game. If a brand-new AAA title came out for ten bucks, I might be a little surprised and maybe even concerned, but if it's a special sale, I wouldn't go "ugh, horrible game", I'd go "cool, is cheap this weekend! I'd better snap it up!"

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm really, really missing something here. Can somebody else explain this to me? Do you get what they're trying to say, because the only thing I can see is "we want more money and are trying to pretend we're good people for wanting all of your money."

I mean, sheesh. At least be honest about wanting all of our money...

EA came out and said they wouldn't have any of their games on steep discounts on Origin akin to Steam because such a large discount "cheapens" an IP, in that it's cheapens the customers perceived value/view of that product. They said that a 25%/33%/50% sale is fine but the typical Steam sale of 75% was too much, and basically they have done what they said they wouldn't.

Doesn't look like it. Which games exactly did they mark down by 75%?

 

[MonkeyPunch]

I don't care if they come out with a game that was photorealistic sensoround holodeck solid gold blowjob generator there is no game that is worth installing the crapulance that is Origin.

Erm... drop me a line if you do know where to get that game. Ahem, for research reasons.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

That's nice that Origin is doing sales, but I think I'll just wait a couple weeks and see what Steam does for their summer sale.

 

[Fireprufe15]

I don't care if they come out with a game that was photorealistic sensoround holodeck solid gold blowjob generator there is no game that is worth installing the crapulance that is Origin.

I'm no fan of EA, but I was surprised to find that Origin wasn't half bad. The downloads are faster than Steam and they let you play games without forcing updates first, that's really helpful when someones cap is nearly used up. Now I won't ever buy games on it, but for retail games that require it's really not that bad.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Looks like EA just got caught Chasing Two Rabbits.

EA goes on record claiming that price cuts cheapens the long-term value of IP.
This is an appeal specifically to developers and other publishers to use Origin over Steam (newcomers and established businesses alike).

However, since EA is still in a tailspin, they have to do SOMETHING to drive sales, generate revenue to appease shareholders, and employ the most immediate solution: Price Cuts.

They are Chasing Supply to increase the value of their service by increasing their total offerings, and/or exclusivity of said offerings.
They are Chasing Demand to increase revenue in a time they desperately need it.

And now they're caught looking really stupid.

I wasn't kidding when I previously commented that EA's attitude is that of a company who acts like they already have a monopoly, indicating that they're either evil or stupid. At least we now know that they're just stupid.

 

[llamastorm.games]

Uh. What? That... that makes no sense at all. Why does putting something on sale on occasion "cheapen" it? I mean, yes, it literally cheapens it in the sense that it is cheaper, but why would it metaphorically cheapen it? I mean, Valve puts the entire Half-Life series on sale on Steam for like twenty bucks every once in a while. (and regular price is still just $40!) Yet people still think it's a really good series.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting his use of the word "cheapen", but it seems to me that price has precious little to do with what people think of a game. If a brand-new AAA title came out for ten bucks, I might be a little surprised and maybe even concerned, but if it's a special sale, I wouldn't go "ugh, horrible game", I'd go "cool, is cheap this weekend! I'd better snap it up!"

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm really, really missing something here. Can somebody else explain this to me? Do you get what they're trying to say, because the only thing I can see is "we want more money and are trying to pretend we're good people for wanting all of your money."

I mean, sheesh. At least be honest about wanting all of our money...

EA came out and said they wouldn't have any of their games on steep discounts on Origin akin to Steam because such a large discount "cheapens" an IP, in that it's cheapens the customers perceived value/view of that product. They said that a 25%/33%/50% sale is fine but the typical Steam sale of 75% was too much, and basically they have done what they said they wouldn't.

Doesn't look like it. Which games exactly did they mark down by 75%?

Our friends across the pond have an even better sale going on, with a whole mess of popular titles available for just £5 across the board. For the formerly £40 Dragon Age: Origins, that's an IP devaluation of 87.5%. Other titles, like Mirror's Edge, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Darksiders aren't quite as devalued from their Origin prices - but let's not forget, said Origin prices are cheaper than their original launch prices.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Know what else devalues Intellectual Property?

Flooding the market with constant releases so that we lose the ability to discern between entries, and stop wanting to pay more and more for the same thing. There's a reason no one plays Rock Band anymore, EA.

That's a poor example, when you consider Rock Band hasn't been leeched as much as Guitar Hero was. Probably a good reason people don't play Rock Band is because it wasn't all that good to begin with.

Guitar Hero's flood pretty much killed that whole genre.

Fine by me, I never liked any of those music games. Push the button when it lights up on the screen RIVETING!!!! Seriously, why not just go learn to play an actual instrument?

 

[samaugsch]

Uh. What? That... that makes no sense at all. Why does putting something on sale on occasion "cheapen" it? I mean, yes, it literally cheapens it in the sense that it is cheaper, but why would it metaphorically cheapen it? I mean, Valve puts the entire Half-Life series on sale on Steam for like twenty bucks every once in a while. (and regular price is still just $40!) Yet people still think it's a really good series.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting his use of the word "cheapen", but it seems to me that price has precious little to do with what people think of a game. If a brand-new AAA title came out for ten bucks, I might be a little surprised and maybe even concerned, but if it's a special sale, I wouldn't go "ugh, horrible game", I'd go "cool, is cheap this weekend! I'd better snap it up!"

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm really, really missing something here. Can somebody else explain this to me? Do you get what they're trying to say, because the only thing I can see is "we want more money and are trying to pretend we're good people for wanting all of your money."

I mean, sheesh. At least be honest about wanting all of our money...

EA came out and said they wouldn't have any of their games on steep discounts on Origin akin to Steam because such a large discount "cheapens" an IP, in that it's cheapens the customers perceived value/view of that product. They said that a 25%/33%/50% sale is fine but the typical Steam sale of 75% was too much, and basically they have done what they said they wouldn't.

Doesn't look like it. Which games exactly did they mark down by 75%?

Our friends across the pond have an even better sale going on, with a whole mess of popular titles available for just £5 across the board. For the formerly £40 Dragon Age: Origins, that's an IP devaluation of 87.5%. Other titles, like Mirror's Edge, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Darksiders aren't quite as devalued from their Origin prices - but let's not forget, said Origin prices are cheaper than their original launch prices.

Oh. You'd think that would've been mentioned in the article. :/

 

[llamastorm.games]

Uh. What? That... that makes no sense at all. Why does putting something on sale on occasion "cheapen" it? I mean, yes, it literally cheapens it in the sense that it is cheaper, but why would it metaphorically cheapen it? I mean, Valve puts the entire Half-Life series on sale on Steam for like twenty bucks every once in a while. (and regular price is still just $40!) Yet people still think it's a really good series.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting his use of the word "cheapen", but it seems to me that price has precious little to do with what people think of a game. If a brand-new AAA title came out for ten bucks, I might be a little surprised and maybe even concerned, but if it's a special sale, I wouldn't go "ugh, horrible game", I'd go "cool, is cheap this weekend! I'd better snap it up!"

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm really, really missing something here. Can somebody else explain this to me? Do you get what they're trying to say, because the only thing I can see is "we want more money and are trying to pretend we're good people for wanting all of your money."

I mean, sheesh. At least be honest about wanting all of our money...

EA came out and said they wouldn't have any of their games on steep discounts on Origin akin to Steam because such a large discount "cheapens" an IP, in that it's cheapens the customers perceived value/view of that product. They said that a 25%/33%/50% sale is fine but the typical Steam sale of 75% was too much, and basically they have done what they said they wouldn't.

Doesn't look like it. Which games exactly did they mark down by 75%?

Our friends across the pond have an even better sale going on, with a whole mess of popular titles available for just £5 across the board. For the formerly £40 Dragon Age: Origins, that's an IP devaluation of 87.5%. Other titles, like Mirror's Edge, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Darksiders aren't quite as devalued from their Origin prices - but let's not forget, said Origin prices are cheaper than their original launch prices.

Oh. You'd think that would've been mentioned in the article. :/

It was
That paragraph was quoted from the article, you silly moo!

 

[samsonguy920]

and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 2142 can be had for $29.99 and $8.99 respectively (instead of $49.99 and $14.99).

I had to do a double-take there, considering I bought B:BC2 for less on Steam. Just checked the store page on Steam and yep: $19.99, not on sale. One reason why you always shop around.
Here's the webpage link: http://store.steampowered.com/app/24960/

Origin: cheapening their IP by still overpricing their IP, even by doing a sale.

Sorry, it should have been more clear in that paragraph that this is the special/deluxe editions of the games, not the basic versions. Updated for clarity.

Thanks for the update. Although, even for special/deluxe editions, $50 is way too much for a game as old as BF:BC2 is now. Have to wonder if EA is trying to convince people that Origin is the only digital place to find the game.

 

[samaugsch]

Uh. What? That... that makes no sense at all. Why does putting something on sale on occasion "cheapen" it? I mean, yes, it literally cheapens it in the sense that it is cheaper, but why would it metaphorically cheapen it? I mean, Valve puts the entire Half-Life series on sale on Steam for like twenty bucks every once in a while. (and regular price is still just $40!) Yet people still think it's a really good series.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting his use of the word "cheapen", but it seems to me that price has precious little to do with what people think of a game. If a brand-new AAA title came out for ten bucks, I might be a little surprised and maybe even concerned, but if it's a special sale, I wouldn't go "ugh, horrible game", I'd go "cool, is cheap this weekend! I'd better snap it up!"

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm really, really missing something here. Can somebody else explain this to me? Do you get what they're trying to say, because the only thing I can see is "we want more money and are trying to pretend we're good people for wanting all of your money."

I mean, sheesh. At least be honest about wanting all of our money...

EA came out and said they wouldn't have any of their games on steep discounts on Origin akin to Steam because such a large discount "cheapens" an IP, in that it's cheapens the customers perceived value/view of that product. They said that a 25%/33%/50% sale is fine but the typical Steam sale of 75% was too much, and basically they have done what they said they wouldn't.

Doesn't look like it. Which games exactly did they mark down by 75%?

Our friends across the pond have an even better sale going on, with a whole mess of popular titles available for just £5 across the board. For the formerly £40 Dragon Age: Origins, that's an IP devaluation of 87.5%. Other titles, like Mirror's Edge, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Darksiders aren't quite as devalued from their Origin prices - but let's not forget, said Origin prices are cheaper than their original launch prices.

Oh. You'd think that would've been mentioned in the article. :/

It was
That paragraph was quoted from the article, you silly moo!

Oh. Don't know how I missed that. >_>

 

[Mandalore_15]

Lol, I would HATE to be EA. If they're aggressive with consumers, everyone (rightly) pisses and moans about their business practices, but if they put a sale on, suddenly everyone's pissed about how they've "devalued their IP". Get a grip people. If they put a sale on, the consumer benefits. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[samaugsch]

Lol, I would HATE to be EA. If they're aggressive with consumers, everyone (rightly) pisses and moans about their business practices, but if they put a sale on, suddenly everyone's pissed about how they've "devalued their IP". Get a grip people. If they put a sale on, the consumer benefits. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I think people are just annoyed that EA already said that they wouldn't have any big sales and less than 2 weeks later, they have one. In other words, don't even bother relying on them for information on updates anymore. Personally, I think they like pissing people off.

 

[Deadyawn]

Wow. That's seriously impressive. Slow clap (I can't be bothered actually clapping so just do it yourselves).

It's funny because on the one hand this is a fairly hypocritical move but on the other hand the original statement (Sales devalue IP) was one of the stupidest things I'd heard in a while at the time. This is, like, multiple levels of failure here.
I mean, I don't hate EA (much) but this is just ridiculous. They can't really be this dumb, can they?

 

[Bigsmith]

Oh hey, moar EA hate.

But for people who are too busy pointing out the Vice president's hypocrisy, read what the article actually says.

Lowered prices, akin to steam.

This was probably someone in sales going "look mr vice president, that may be your stance on steam sales but it makes them money hand over fist."
"enough said, I'll put my foot in my mouth. make it happen."

Even if Origin turns into a carbon copy of steam some day, is that really a bad thing?

This is pretty much what I was going to say.

If Origin really start doing steak like sales that it'll give me even more reason to actually have it running, I don't have it running because it uses up %60 of my processor according to my computers resource manager. :/

(I can even provide pics if people are so inclined)

 

[zombiesinc]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was going for $49.99 and is now on sale for $39.99? What a rip off, even if it's for the special edition (it is the digital special edition, after all).

Also, I still can't quite get over the fact that sales "cheapen intellectual property" but only when it comes to other companies... amirite?

 

[loa]

Devaluation aside, why does something like a digital copy of a "collectors edition" exist?
Isn't the whole point of those the fancy case or the goodies that come with them?
I have yet to see a "collectors edition" of anything pop up in steam...

 

[Murmillos]

Devaluation aside, why does something like a digital copy of a "collectors edition" exist?
Isn't the whole point of those the fancy case or the goodies that come with them?
I have yet to see a "collectors edition" of anything pop up in steam...

digital copies of collectors editions normally include such things as digital artwork books, sound tracks, sometimes additional skins that may be DLC later on. Nothing fantastic but stuff that is easy whip up, cheap to sell for those who feel like getting some extra (non physical) swag while throwing extra money towards a developer they enjoy. Often its the bonus music that is really popular, doubly if its from a well known game composer, or they showcase their music before the launch of the game.

I'm not sure why any publisher/developer hasn't done any physical related to a digital copy. Give us your mailing address (typical country address restrictions of course) and you'll get some physical bonus in 2-5 weeks.

 

[Murmillos]

"stuff"

*blinks* I don't think you are quite all that sober at the momemt.
Valve has mostly turned from a developer to a publisher, anybody should have seen the writing on the wall since they had issues with the HL2 chapter issues and with Steam taking over as it has back in the day.

As I see it, as long as TF2 keeps the money flowing in, the urge to finish HL2:C3 won't happen any time soon.

captcha: don't sweat it.

 

[Alternative]

As I see it, as long as TF2 keeps the money flowing in, the urge to finish HL2:C3 won't happen any time soon.

You are most probably right, they are far too busy working on Hats for people to buy in Tf2 to worry about finishing the story of a much loved game series.