Origin Sale Takes a Jab at Steam

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

The irony to this of course is all the games I want to own via Origin, I already have. And I got Kingdoms of Amalur with all it's DLC for the same price on Steam as the base game on Origin.

Start selling some GOTY editions EA, then you'll really start sticking it to Valve.

 

[Vivi22]

- they got Visceral - a studio famous for its singleplayer campaigns - to work on the singleplayer campaign.

That's a bit of a stretch. They're known for making one good game basically (Dead Space), some so-so sequels, and the rest of their work has been anywhere from mediocre to complete shit. And since the guys who spear headed Dead Space left after they made it, it makes sense that quality dipped. And I wouldn't say they're famous for their single player campaigns. They're famous for a series that happened to be single player, but that's not really the same thing (what you're saying would imply that their other single player games are famous too, but most are barely remembered and when they are, it's because they sucked).

- I'm sorry, I still can't get over how positive a step involving Visceral was. Do you remember that one stealth section in Battlefield 3? When you were supposed to sneak up on a guy and knife him in the throat? When a prompt would appear and ignoring it or moving any further would kill you instantly, even though the guy, or indeed anyone around had no chance of seeing you? Now there are detection meters. And semi-open maps. And freedom of approach. And responsive enemy AI. All those concessions of modern shooters that have actually added something to player enjoyment as opposed to uniformity and frustration.

I'm not sure I'd credit that to putting Visceral on the job. And I'm not sure I'd say it's all going to be some wonderful successful thing just because they're trying to do better. Any studio they put on it would have to be complete and utter morons to not try and change at least some of the things that everyone hated about the more recent Battlefields and the last Medal of Honor. The things that have literally killed the latter franchise. And I still wouldn't be holding my breath on Visceral pulling it all off. There's a rather large gap between knowing what didn't work and managing to effectively fix it.

- they did not pull the leaked trailer immediately, attempting to pretend the game didn't exist and suing everyone involved, like it seems to be a trend in the industry today. that's something I would expect EA to do just a couple years ago. But they seem to be just going with it.

I can't think of any company that tries to sue people involved in leaking trailers. The worst that usually happens is the person who leaked gets fired, which EA probably did here as well if they were able to identify the culprit.

But even still, not pulling a trailer and denying a game exists isn't exactly a 180 degree turn from all of the shit they've pulled in recent years: killing studios, firing boat loads of people, implementing unnecessary always online bullshit. All of it being stuff they still do to this day.

Let's not confuse EA managing to make a few decisions that aren't shoot yourself in the foot stupid with them actually turning anything around and making actual good decisions.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

Argh, and BioWare DLC is still not discounted because it uses their shitty points system. WHY.

Because Bioware has only contempt for us now I guess they taken the reaction to Dragon age 2 very hard because we haven't seen a GOTY edition of any of their games since :/

 

[Slash2x]

I kinda still wanna play Dead Space 3. but not enough to warrant installing Origin. Did they ever remove the part that scans your browser history?

NOPE the did hide it though. That is just the tip though. They still have it in the end user agreement that they can look through your entire system at any point to just make sure you "are better serviced"

Spoiler: LOTS of Legal crap

The funny thing is they have a spot in the EULA (section 2 )that says they are not spyware and do not collect your data.....


"EA knows that you care how information about you is collected, used and
shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly.
Information about our customers is an important part of our business, and EA
would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it
ever use spyware or install spyware on users? machines."

But there is this little note after that in the EULA

"The responsible body for all information collected via Origin is Electronic Arts Inc.
This and all other data provided to EA and/or collected by EA in connection with
your installation and use of this Application is collected, used, stored and
transmitted in accordance with EA?s Privacy Policy located at www.ea.com. To
the extent that anything in this section conflicts or is inconsistent with the terms of
EA?s Privacy Policy, the terms of the Privacy Policy shall control.
"

But in the privacy policy they say btw we are totally collecting your data and selling it to our advertisers. Section III


"Personal information is information that identifies you and that can be used alone, to contact you on-line or off-line. EA may collect personal information from our online visitors during:

- Contest registration and prize acceptance;
- Warranty registration and requests;
- Customer support and/or technical service requests;
- Player match up and other head-to-head online competitions;
- Registration for games and/or special game-specific events;
- Newsletter subscriptions, referral services, and other marketing surveys and email campaigns;
- Registration for Origin and/or other service accounts;
- Creation of a personal profile;
- Product, service and/or subscription orders;
- Service requests from third party service providers on our site;
- Access to our products and/or services on social networks or other third party services; and
- Otherwise through use of our software, mobile or online services where personal information is required for use and/or participation.

Information collected will vary depending upon the activity and may include your name, email address, phone number, home address, birth date, mobile phone number and credit card information."


And section IV, B 5

"The advertising companies who deliver ads for us may combine the information collected or obtained from EA with other information they have independently collected from other websites and/or other online or mobile products and services relating to your web browser's activities across their network of websites. Many of these companies collect and use information under their own privacy policies."

Section VI

"Otherwise, EA uses personal and non-personal information, both individually and combined together, to better enhance your user experience, improve our products and services, understand the behavior and preferences of our customers, to troubleshoot technical problems, to serve advertising, for authentication purposes, to enforce our Terms of Service, to ensure proper functioning of our products and services as well as to help improve them. In addition, we combine non-personal information with personal information, such as an email address, for purposes including providing excellent customer service, administering loyalty programs and tailoring our communications, offerings, web pages or game play experience to you."

;:TLDR EA is still shady with their business practices and your data, they have just got better about hiding it.

Sources
http://eacom.s3.amazonaws.com/EULA_Origin_PC_ROW.final.5.24.13.pdf
http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBPRIVACY/US/en/PC/#section3

:Edited to hide wall of text

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

snippity

don't get me wrong, I'm just trying to stay positive. I'm not delusional, I have not forgotten how EA has been acting. And I am not pretending that the improvement is some kind of a massive turnaround, nor do I think they are now the good guys or whatnot. I qualified all of my statements in my previous post, I shouldn't even be writing this.

The thing is... the fact that the improvement might not be a massive turnaround and EA hasn't turned into this fluffy bunny rabbit made of cotton candy and liquidised dreams of little girls, that does not mean there has been no improvement at all and you should not be so quick to discard it. By all means, be cautious and suspicious. EA fully deserves that. But to not admit there has been an improvement in the face of it goes beyond healthy skepticism and into irrational hatred. You know, the kind that got them the 'worst company in america' thing two years in a row even though the competition included Blackwater and the Bank of America.

See, with EA's track record of making every single decision with no regard for the consequences, going against the most basic of logic and generally neglecting PR, seeing them actually recognise the issues and work toward a solution seems like a major step forward for the company. So yes, by their standards (and honestly? looking at the likes of ubisoft, activision and square enix, those are the shared standards of the entire industry), as ridiculously low as those are, EA have been making good decisions. See, PR has always been their single greatest issue so at this point, even getting better at hiding the corpses is, to me, an improvement.

All I did was notice deliberate improvement and acknowledge it. By all means be cautious, I know I am, but for god's sake, drop the incessant cynicism. This industry is unpleasant enough without it.

 

[Alterego-X]

Steam Summer Sales are basically one of the representations of gaming turning into a post-transactional part of culture, along with Crowdfunding, Humble Bundles, Early Access, etc, and not unrelated to the popularity of piracy either.

People feel more and more like their moral imperative is to just throw money in the general direction of the industry, rather than treating every specific piece of access as a purchase of goods.

Of course as an incorporated business, EA would rather oppose this, and remind everyone of how video games are exactly like apples in that you go to the store, and buy them for a fixed price per unit, and consume them. For them, predictability and control is the best. And of course as a private corporation, Valve is more intersted in fulfilling Gaben's personal wishes about being on top of gaming culture, whatever form it may take.

 

[Auberon]

I might actually pick up Mirror's Edge over there, if the PC controls hold up. Anyone to chime up with first-hand experience?

 

[Ticklefist]

I might actually pick up Mirror's Edge over there, if the PC controls hold up. Anyone to chime up with first-hand experience?

PC version is the only version I've ever played. I had fun with it. Tried it again this week with a gamepad and immediately went back to keyboard because I found it more comfortable.

Here's a link to an even better deal on it, 3 bucks:
http://www.gamestop.com/pc/games/mirrors-edge/71401

OT: Considering my primary goal in gaming for the past year or so has been to either whittle down my Steam backlog or completely abandon it, yeah, I find this funny.

 

[Something Amyss]

So EA's answer to the dire problem of:

"Our consumers are buying so much stuff that they want that they can't possibly play them all.. we have to do something about this"

Is "we're going to sell you games you want instead of impulse buys you'll never play."

I'm not seeing where this is a bad statement.

"I know, we'll sell less stuff and higher prices on a more restrictive DRM platform. That way they won't want as much stuff and won't buy as much"

Well, no. The prices here are comparable to a Steam sale. And what do you mean by "more restrictive?" People on here indicate you can uninstall Origin once you've downloaded the games. How is that more restrictive than the Steam client?

Seriously. What next. McDonald's cashiers saying. Oh I'm sorry we no longer sell Big Macs. Too many people couldn't finish them.

A more apt comparison would be Burger King coming up with a burger "you'll actually want to finish."

This is EA taking the classic PR strategy of making their weakness *sound* like a strength.

Their weakness is games people actually want? Because that's what they're advertising here.

Granted, Steam has this great setup going: people are more likely to impulse buy, especially with a ticking clock on a sale. They're also less likely to actually use these games because they probably wouldn't have bought them if they weren't an impulse buy.

Hell, Steam runs sales on games that aren't even complete or don't function.

Seriously though is it really a problem if I have games I haven't played...

Was anyone actually saying it is?

Of course, it can be, which I will say. There are people on here who ***** about slogging through their backlogue. And why are they doing that? Because your "joy of acquisition" has now become a "chore of justification." But it doesn't have to be. Still, EA is saying "We're going to offer you big titles you'll actually want to play, rather than leave sitting in your library forever."

I honestly do not get the histrionics that have arisen from such a statement. Are people latching on simply because EA is the antichrist? When one has to make up the reasons to attack an entity, one should reevalute one's position. Unless that one owns Fox News, because that one is making mad cash off it.

I mean you over look that a fundamental part of the consumer experience is just the joy of the purchase.

No need to misrepresent me because you're inferring incorrect information.

So yeah EA has found another solution to the scourge of consumer happiness.

I'm not sure how offering "games you'll actually play" has a negative impact on consumer happiness. Because everything else is at your inference.

 

[iniudan]

Origin making fun of Steam sounds like Pepsi making fun of Coke. It's cute and all...but everybody knows what everybody's preferred choice is.

Actually in the part of the world I live in, it's Pepsi. Not that I really care anyway, as I don't drink cola flavor soft drink.

I only come to care in the term that root beer is my second favorite flavor of soft drink, after grape (sadly not served in most place) and place that have deal with Coca-Cola serve freaking Barq, which is the only root beer I dislike.

But if I buy soft drink for home it usually mandarin Jarritos, these day, as it the only cheap soft drink made with cane sugar available at grocery around here. The local sausage maker got Boylan, if I want a wider variety of cane sugar based soft drink, but sadly they are expensive.

 

[whycantijustdeletemyaccount]

.

 

[misg]

I find it interesting that there is a DLC for ME3 that you could only get in the deluxe version and it's still full price, I was kind of interested in picking it up, but now nope.

 

[michael87cn]

Origin will always be very limited because they seem to only sell their own games. How good would Steam be if all they sold were half life, team fortress, left 4 dead and portal?

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I might actually pick up Mirror's Edge over there, if the PC controls hold up. Anyone to chime up with first-hand experience?

Played it on PC and 360, PC is definitely the way to go. The price mitigates the (relative) shortness of the campaign, and the game was one of the first big examples of PhysX technology and it still looks cool there. Love given to the PC port (may have even been lead platform), and controls excellently. Just make sure the idea of jumping from building to building with blur effects, rolling, and bobbing wont make you sick.

 

[happyninja42]

Eh, I don't have the issue of "buying stuff I don't want just 'cause it's on sale" with Steam. Perhaps I'm just not the kind of person who feels compelled to buy every little thing simply because it's on sale. *shrugs*

I bought a ton of stuff from them when it was on sale sure, some of which I didn't actually have a computer capable of running at the time. But you know what? It was all stuff I wanted to play, and I just got a computer upgrade a month ago. I've been systematically going through the library, and loading them up to play. So, yeah technically my library had a log of games I didn't play, but it was simply a temporary thing, that has now been resolved. And I still got to take advantage of them being on sale.

Patience is a wonderful thing xD

 

[AstaresPanda]

yeeeeaaaah, noooo. I got talked into buying BF3 awhile back and i installed Origin and was instantly WTF IS THIS SHIT. My Chrome starting up so i can search for a server ?! ontop of Origin taking its sweet time downloading, then stopping, then starting. Did not take me long to uninstall. Its just ive had steam since day one, all my games are on it i dnt wanna be forced to install ORIGIN, UPLAY to play ONE game of theirs that i like. Its funny EA has got some big head thinking ALL of EA games are worth much. Even with this 70% off there is nothing i want.

Ill wait till Steam summer sale and get to pick up games from loads of developers/studios etc then just EA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n5E7feJHw0&feature=kp

 

[Fdzzaigl]

I came to hate Origin when trying to mod Mass Effect 3. It's incessant syncing and whatever (which you can't turn off) started messing with all my attempts and even my gamefiles, ugh.

It also simply has a lot less than Steam. Every company seems to want some platform like Steam nowadays, forcing you to download their games through it. But they gotta realise that too late to the party means too late to the party.

 

[Sordin]

I think more competition in the market is going to be a good thing for consumers even if you don't like EA as a company giving people a choice to pick between services will always lead to new innovation and better experiences.

This is my thoughts in a nutshell. I'm not a fan of EA but more competition is never a bad thing.