Poll: How do you feel about the denial of EA being the Worst Company in America?

[Erttheking]

Oh boy, this isn't going to end well.

I don't like the company, that's all I have to say.

 

[Frission]

How deluded are you?! You know that there are way more companies with worse business practices, right? EA just makes some stupid video games, so get over it.

There are companies that are polluting the world, exploiting the poor, uses dangerous practices and flouting regulations, abusing lawyers and loop holes. There are companies with important jobs to do and they don#t do them. Nursing companies who don't even clean up the elderlies messes.


It's a game company. The worst they can do are make some games that aren't very good.

Thank you so much.

 

[Auron]

How does the Escapist feel about how there are people who willingly embraces EA's horrible practices and not take a chance in bringing down low hanging fruit when one can see it.

I don't care and I don't know why this thread was necessary. I don't like EA - I don't hate it either, I'm at most mildly irritated. I don't feel invested enough for more. I'm actually more annoyed by people taking every opportunity to shout EA IS TEH EVILZ!

What discussion did you hope to get out of this thread? I can say right now, you'll get people shouting EA IS TEH EVILZ, few that go NUH-HUH, and some explaining why other companies need to get the "award", because EA may not actually be the bastard spawn of Satan and Cthulhu. Oh, and some would question the reason for the thread - I'm one of those.

Pretty much yeah, I'd like to add that I feel activision has done more or at the very least equal amounts of harm to the industry. 60 price tags for pc, annual sequels that are actually reskins, expensive dlc passes with a cool nam to disguise it. EA is sadlt just mimicking them. It surprises and annoys me that Kotick can do it and rarely get due complaints. To top ot off, despite publisher meddling and a disgraceful out of touch management I actually enjoy a considerable portion of EA's IPs.

 

[Little Gray]

Dam it all.

I misread the title and thought it was going to be about how out of touch with reality the people who think EA is the worse company in America are.

 

[waj9876]

OP is totally not biased. Not at aaaaall.

IS EA the worst company in America? Because there are companies that are just as bad who have a lasting damaging effect on things other than entertainment.

I'm not saying they aren't bad, but worst company in America? No.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I wouldn't say that EA is the worst company in America, but it certainly is one of the worst in this industry. It certainly isn't a company that I'd want representing our industry in anything, except maybe as an example of how NOT to do things.

 

[CyanideSandwich]

I don't like a lot of the things they've been doing of late, but they are far from the worst company in America. From health insurance companies screwing people over with loopholes that were overlooked due to legal jargon, to confectioneries producers who exploit third-world labour, EA isn't even a stone's throw from the worst.

Just to clarify, I stopped buying anything with "EA" on it unless it was pre-owned a while ago, so I'm far from a sympathiser.

 

[Phlakes]

Take a second to remember that games are entertainment. Behind DRM and DLC and marketing and studio closures and all that are things that you just fucking play to fucking enjoy yourself. That's what EA publishes.

And you call them the worst company in America because they're not selling you games exactly how you want.

EDIT: Although it's good to see that people are starting to recognize how ridiculous the idea is. Good job turning a terrible thread into a small, dim ray of hope in the world of unbridled cynicism.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I hate EA as a game company, but worst in the country? Have you done any research on Monsanto Corporation? EA is a small fry. All they've done is ruin some games. That's irritating, but it doesn't destroy lives.

 

[synobal]

Eh, EA is just a game publisher. How about the megabanks, or oil companies? BP wrecked the gulf and has paid pretty much nothing. Exxon isn't paying for their spill in Arkansas and they still haven't paid for the Valdeez spill and likely never will. People need to wake up and realize that EA is just a shitty publisher not Satan.

 

[lunavixen]

In terms of gaming companies, EA has done some really stupid things and deserve a portion of the hate they get (size is up to you).

Though in terms of all types of companies in America, they are not the worst, and those that say they are need some serious perspective, I'm not American and even I can see this, EA is a comparitive minor irritation when compared to some of the companies out there; especially those who are not doing the jobs they are meant to be doing, or causing actual harms to people and the environment around them; such as major polluters, companies that exploit the poor and put them at an even larger socioeconomic disadvantage, and those abusing their power or using loopholes and lawyers to screw the average person.

Yes, EA is not a good company, but there are so many out there that are so much worse than EA.

 

[Windcaler]

Im not so sure EA deserves it this year. There are many worse companies that have done more shady stuff then them. If we are talking just game companies then IMO Activisions higher up on the rung then EA this time. Should EA be a runner up? Absolutely. However Im not so sure they're the top dog this time

 

[Andy Shandy]

Personally, I think it's stupid and childish that they're in contention. Even without living in the US, I've been made well aware that there are much worse companies some of which have already been named by others here.

And while I'm no EA sympathizer, I can see why people do sympathize with them. The amount of hate they get for doing absolutely anything is ridiculous. Even when it's potentially good things it becomes "Oh, they're only doing it to trick people into liking them"

 

[BrotherRool]

The last time this guy posted in a 'Does anyone still defend EA thread' he said

Outside of this forum, yes there are people defending EA and they have received flak for it.

Which seems a far cry from the absurdness of this thread, so I'm going to assume that most of this was probably an attempt at humour/hyperbolicness/trolling or something.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Your poll is terrible, as all options are some form of "are you with me or against me?" crap and is clearly biased as all fuck. There are more than two sides to this, contrary to what your poll and OP would have us believe.

As far as gaming companies go, EA is the worst. But even they are fluffy newborn puppies compared to some of these companies. EA has never singlehandedly been a major cause of a global economic recession, nor do they make products that literally kill its customers. That alone makes them far from the worst company in America, no matter how you look at it. One simply cannot argue that gouging people with overpriced, unfinished, not-really-sold pieces of entertainment software is somehow worse than screwing over the entire U.S. economy or getting thousands of people put into a casket.

 

[Something Amyss]

They're a shitty company but nowhere near the worst. Stuff like this along with metacritic bombing are some of the many reasons why gamers still have the reputation of being immature idiots.

Stuff like this is how you get a response in the real world. It seems hypocritical to hate on gamers for acting immaturely when the rest of the country does it.

Those that say EA is the worst company in the US need to get some fucking perspective. You have companies like Bank of America, BP, Dow-chemicals, Union Carbide, that still exist, yeah. Those that say EA is the worst need to get out of their precious little bubble and realize that in the grand scheme of things EA is IRRELEVANT.

Of course, so are most of these "worst of" awards in the first place. The last one was a vote on the internet. The one before that was a vote on the internet. The one before...You get the picture.

These shine a little attention on the problem, and that's all they really need or deserve most of the time. But in the end, it all amounts to about as much significance as pictures of kittens.

"I demand closure for ME3!"

I'm assuming this thread is about the Consumer's WCIA award, which is a poll done by a blog. High School Yearbook superlatives are about as meaningful; it's not as though the winner of the Consumerist's award sees legal action, or gets shut down or something.

The real problem when it comes to BP or Monsanto or Citibank isn't that they're not getting enough attention on a blog's poll. The problem is, we've got a bigger set of socially maladjusted manchildren who are reciting Hitler memes and throwing tantrums about insignificant things. They're called legislators.

 

[lacktheknack]

They beat out the Bank of America.

They beat out a company that actively assisted in crashing an economy, despite knowing better. It is the worst of the worst as far as corporate evil goes.

So no, EA did not deserve it, and I actively lose respect for those who defend the decision.