Origin vs Steam...what do you think?

[Riza]

I bough battlefield 2: bad company and it ended up being a EADM copy, this was a week before Origin was launched.

I have played the game twice before the namechange, and once afterward. I can no longer log into the damned service as it fails to recognize my account, and doesn't send anything to my email when i asked for a password change (i know all the info, it just doesn't accept it).

The only way of origin growing stronger is the fact that (to my knowledge) SW: The Old Republic will require Origin, and won't be available otherwise. I am reluctant to buy it after seeing how my account apparently vanished, with no reason or answer.

 

[Jay D Gee]

Origin looks like its bringing a knife to a gun fight. Steam huge summer sale with free dlc on offer Origin, the same shit the had the week before.

EA could become a major competitor for steam, but they're doing it wrong.

 

[Vibhor]

The only reason I have steam installed are indie games and the games which force you to use it as a DRM. In case you didn't know, people still like to buy retail.

 

[TheRyry]

I think that EA are going to fail with Origin, there's no doubt they are trying to fight the giant that is Steam but I am going to give it a try when battlefield 3 is out...So I'm reserving judgement for now.

 

[Aprilgold]

Ok, lets start placing bets on how fast Origin will fail, then on the degree that it will CRASH AND BURN, I'm betting within about 2 months after release, it will probably fuck up one of their games SO BAD that it will kill off the service [hackers, games being broken, ETC.] followed by a partner of EA leaving, then EA having to do the whole PS3 apology speech.

 

[BlastedTheWorm]

EA are just being stupid.

 

[Arafiro]

Origin is still in beta.

It would be unfair to compare an finished product (steam) to an unfinished one.

Heck, I'll compare a finished product to a theoretical one and still have an opinion in this case. There is nothing wrong with Steam at all, and a lot of people absolutely love it - for a multitude of good reasons.
To make things worse for Origin, it sounds like they're intentionally designing it with stupid problems and also there's the fact that EA generally has a history of screwing things up.

It's the same reason I don't think Facebook will die to Google+, minus the very last point.

 

[Joey245]

The only reason I actually downloaded Origin was to get Pinnacle Station DLC for Mass Effect.

Beyond that, it doesn't stand a chance.

For comparison:

Steam sells pretty much everything, Origin only sells EA games.

Steam has a crapload of crazy deals almost every day, Origin is trying to get as much money from customers as possible (This is EA we're talking about).

Steam is easy to use and has solid support, Origin is new so it's still learning the ropes.

If there ever will be a fight between them, I believe that it will be what TV Tropes calls a "Curb Stomp Battle."

 

[Pinkamena]

Steam has loads of games, and a userbase that probably won't leave it. Origins will fail.

 

[shrekfan246]

The number of truly uninformed people in this thread astounds me...

I'm going to establish two things now:
1. A monopoly means that a business/person/monkey has exclusive rights to the sale/distribution of games/resources/bananas. By definition, Steam can not have a monopoly over the digital distribution market. It can hold the majority, but it can not have a monopoly until all other digital distributors disappear.

2. EA is not really planning on "competing" with Steam. In order to compete with Steam, they would need to offer the same content for a competitive price, and they know that they would never win against Steam in a head-on battle. So they're going to low-ball their way into the game. Or have you not realized how many things are going to be exclusive to Origin? Deluxe Edition of Mass Effect 3? Only available on Origin. And it costs $10 more for 3 pieces of cosmetic gear. And I think the only reason that Mass Effect 3 is still rumored to be on Steam at all is because someone at EA realized that not releasing it on Steam would take away a lot of their sales on release.

Everything comes down to money. If Origin stays afloat, and it probably will because of how much money EA is willing to sink into stupid projects, then it will get more and more EA exclusives as time goes on and they will nickle-and-dime every last customer and get away with it because they will be the only provider of the game. And that, my good fellows, is a monopoly.

Also, if Origin actually does start to make a return for EA, then it might cause other publishers to start up their own exclusive Digital Distribution consoles as well which essentially means two things - Steam will shrink more and more, and the customers are going to need to remember more and more username + password combinations for more and more random accounts.

 

[mad825]

Origin is still in beta.

It would be unfair to compare an finished product (steam) to an unfinished one.

Heck, I'll compare a finished product to a theoretical one and still have an opinion in this case. There is nothing wrong with Steam at all, and a lot of people absolutely love it - for a multitude of good reasons.
To make things worse for Origin, it sounds like they're intentionally designing it with stupid problems and also there's the fact that EA generally has a history of screwing things up.

It's the same reason I don't think Facebook will die to Google+, minus the very last point.

One reason why I'm not going to take your comment seriously.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Origin is still in beta.

It would be unfair to compare an finished product (steam) to an unfinished one.

Being in beta wouldn't dictate the prices, which seem pretty shitty.

Prices aren't competing with Steam...and neither are competing with Amazon.

 

[linwolf]

Fun fact about Origin: Your digital download rights are only guarenteed available for 1 year after purchase.

Fun fact about Steam: Your digital download rights aren't even guarenteed the day after purchase.

 

[Zhukov]

I'm not giving Origin a single cent if I can avoid it.

Call me a fanboy, but if I'm choosing whether to give my money to Valve or EA... a beloved developer and creator of classics verses a money-grubbing publisher... yeah, not exactly a hard choice. Fuck EA.

Now don't get me wrong, Steam has its issues. Bugs, slowdowns, bad tech support, and I've heard horror stories about lost accounts. But I'm yet to have any serious problems and, well... have you seen those deals they offer? I just got Splinter Cell: Conviction for $7.00.

Origin is going to have its work cut out competing with that. And even if they were offering lower prices I still wouldn't buy from them because, once again, fuck EA. The only way situation in which I can see myself installing Origin is if they make it mandatory in order to run Mass Effect 3. Which they probably will. And I will resent them for it and make a point of not using it whenever I can avoid it.

Why? Because fuck EA, that's why.

 

[Slippers]

But there is never a time when more competition between big businesses is a bad thing. Not in a capitalist market. But I disagree that they're ultimate goal is to make good games, and not to make money--they just realize the two go best hand-in-hand.

Once you start making things origin or steam exclusive, there is. At the end of the day, it's more likely than not just going to end up being a nuisance, nothing else.

 

[mad825]

Origin is still in beta.

It would be unfair to compare an finished product (steam) to an unfinished one.

Being in beta wouldn't dictate the prices, which seem pretty shitty.

Prices aren't competing with Steam...and neither are competing with Amazon.

True enough but then again, if you had money smarts you'd go for the physical copies for the majority of the time.

The sales are a nice treat and I don't have only Steam for that.

 

[poppabaggins]

Steam doesn't have any competition? Remember Impulse guys? ...No? Oh yeah, terrible selection/now owned by gamestop. At least I could buy Galactic Civilizations II (really want to play that now).

 

[KingWeasel]

Fun fact about Origin: Your digital download rights are only guarenteed available for 1 year after purchase.

I was on the EA forums to get some facts, and one post mentioned this as part of a list of things to stop doing if they want to compeat with Steam.

An EA rep commented on part of the post, but convinently did not comment on the 1 year game access part. Think about it, how many other game publishers raised their PC games to $60 bucks before EA did.

We all know it is petty greed to charge the same price for PC games as for Xbox and PS games since they dont send a portion of that game sell off to Microsoft or Sony it is simple greed.

Now they are limiting the time you have access to a product you purchased to 1 year. Better hope your hard drive doesnt crash 380 days after you buy Mass Effect 3, and you wanted to paly it again after you buy a new hd and reinstall it!

The business practices of EA are pure corperate greed, which is normal for any corperation, but EA and Bobby Kotick are in a compotion to see who can seem like the greediest fuckers alive.

 

[masher]

Unless EA has a weekly sale of, "EVERYTHING IS FREE," They'll never get as popular as Steam is and if they can't get as popular as Steam is, well, they can't compete.

Also, I friggin' hate EA servers with a passion. That simple fact alone means I won't even be interested.

 

[Yeager942]

I must admit I am a hypocrite. I personally boycott Gamestop because I detest their monopoly on retail, yet I fully support Steam in all its endeavors. Valve built up a lot of goodwill, and they have my trust. Shocking I know.