Poll: [Origin] How many of us have folded?

[Lordmarkus]

I have never seen the issue with Origin. I had EA download manager lying dormant on my harddrive and when I heard of Origin back when E3 was kicking I just opened EADM and it suddenly turned into Origin, so basically I never installed Origin either. I have already linked most of my EA games to the account and I have yet to have a single problem with the service actually.

So roll on Battlefield 3 and Mass Effect 3.

 

[Owlslayer]

I've been thinking of getting it (only for the beta of BF3, ofc). But every time i go onto the main webpage, i dunno, i just look around a bit, think of making an account and then go watch some YouTube vids. Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm lazy. Either way, haven't made an account. Maybe I'll do so later, some day.

 

[Bat Vader]

I have Origin installed on my computer. Whenever I want to play Mass Effect or Mass Effect 2 I just launch Origin and then launch ME or ME2. It has worked well for me so far and as long as it keeps working well I will keep using it.

 

[mcattack92]

The one benefit of Origin is that it can maintain download speeds near my max net speed, unlike steam that stops and goes slow most of the time.

 

[El Luck]

All I have to say to this is, compare their system to GoG or Impulse some time; they have the most restrictive DRM out of any Digital Distribution platform on the market, with the possible exception of Origin.

Except that comparing GOG and Impulse to Steam is like comparing (to use the tried and true adage) apples to oranges. GoG and Impulse are basically just download managers. Steam is both that AND a support platform. It doesn't just offer you the games for download. It offers content, support, hosting, community features, etc, etc. So of course things like GoG and Impulse will seem less restrictive in that sense. (though I would argue that Impulse isn't quite so non-restrictive now that Gamestop owns it)

Fair enough about Impulse being more restrictive since Gamestop bought it; I haven't bought anything through it since then -- and technically I never did buy anything through it, I just had a couple of retail games that gave me the option (yes, option, imagine that) of using it instead of the discs. And it's not the community features (which are the only thing that Steam adds that Impulse lacks; GoG actually has everything on the list) that make it seem less restrictive; it's the DRM itself. Most of the games on Impulse are (or at least were) DRM free, and could be booted up without having to open Impulse itself as well; GoG is the same way. Steam, on the other hand? It has to be running at any time you want to play a game sold through it, it limits your number of installs (yes, just like Starforce), and in general is a horribly restrictive form of DRM. People just give it a pass because they love valve, and also because they get pulled in by the integrated Facebook clone.

Edit: And lets not forget, once you've bought a retail game through steam, your disc is a coaster, because only you can ever install it again. Starforce itself wasn't that bad. Impulse? Resell all you want, baby.

Steam limits installs? of what games?

 

[Akihiko]

I installed it when it first came out, and I've not removed it, no.

I haven't folded because I wasn't anal about installing it in the first place. If you start worrying about programs, sites, etc gathering data then you won't be installing many programs or going on many sites altogether.

 

[Mcupobob]

I wasn't going to in till my uncle gave me a free account loaded with some free games. He used to work for EA in QA. Don't think I'll be buying anything though.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

All I have to say to this is, compare their system to GoG or Impulse some time; they have the most restrictive DRM out of any Digital Distribution platform on the market, with the possible exception of Origin.

Except that comparing GOG and Impulse to Steam is like comparing (to use the tried and true adage) apples to oranges. GoG and Impulse are basically just download managers. Steam is both that AND a support platform. It doesn't just offer you the games for download. It offers content, support, hosting, community features, etc, etc. So of course things like GoG and Impulse will seem less restrictive in that sense. (though I would argue that Impulse isn't quite so non-restrictive now that Gamestop owns it)

Fair enough about Impulse being more restrictive since Gamestop bought it; I haven't bought anything through it since then -- and technically I never did buy anything through it, I just had a couple of retail games that gave me the option (yes, option, imagine that) of using it instead of the discs. And it's not the community features (which are the only thing that Steam adds that Impulse lacks; GoG actually has everything on the list) that make it seem less restrictive; it's the DRM itself. Most of the games on Impulse are (or at least were) DRM free, and could be booted up without having to open Impulse itself as well; GoG is the same way. Steam, on the other hand? It has to be running at any time you want to play a game sold through it, it limits your number of installs (yes, just like Starforce), and in general is a horribly restrictive form of DRM. People just give it a pass because they love valve, and also because they get pulled in by the integrated Facebook clone.

Edit: And lets not forget, once you've bought a retail game through steam, your disc is a coaster, because only you can ever install it again. Starforce itself wasn't that bad. Impulse? Resell all you want, baby.

Steam limits installs? of what games?

All of them. There's a limit to the number of computers you can have them installed on simultaneously.

 

[Vigormortis]

Fair enough about Impulse being more restrictive since Gamestop bought it; I haven't bought anything through it since then -- and technically I never did buy anything through it, I just had a couple of retail games that gave me the option (yes, option, imagine that) of using it instead of the discs. And it's not the community features (which are the only thing that Steam adds that Impulse lacks; GoG actually has everything on the list) that make it seem less restrictive; it's the DRM itself. Most of the games on Impulse are (or at least were) DRM free, and could be booted up without having to open Impulse itself as well; GoG is the same way. Steam, on the other hand? It has to be running at any time you want to play a game sold through it, it limits your number of installs (yes, just like Starforce), and in general is a horribly restrictive form of DRM. People just give it a pass because they love valve, and also because they get pulled in by the integrated Facebook clone.

Edit: And lets not forget, once you've bought a retail game through steam, your disc is a coaster, because only you can ever install it again. Starforce itself wasn't that bad. Impulse? Resell all you want, baby.

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea Steam limits installs. I have Steam setup on three different machines and have a vast majority of my library of games from my account downloaded and installed on each of them. Granted, I can't log into my account (in online mode) at the same time, but I can play my games on all three machines at the same time. And, if I ever need to reinstall, I'll never have an issue.

As for the disc issue, I can't say that's entirely true. If you buy a retail disc and install the game after registering it with Steam, the disc isn't useless. At least, no less useless than it would be for Impulse. You can pass the disc around to as many people as you want, but just like if you had done it with Impulse, you'll need a new registration key for anyone who wants it on their own account. So in that sense, Steam and Impulse are the same.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Fair enough about Impulse being more restrictive since Gamestop bought it; I haven't bought anything through it since then -- and technically I never did buy anything through it, I just had a couple of retail games that gave me the option (yes, option, imagine that) of using it instead of the discs. And it's not the community features (which are the only thing that Steam adds that Impulse lacks; GoG actually has everything on the list) that make it seem less restrictive; it's the DRM itself. Most of the games on Impulse are (or at least were) DRM free, and could be booted up without having to open Impulse itself as well; GoG is the same way. Steam, on the other hand? It has to be running at any time you want to play a game sold through it, it limits your number of installs (yes, just like Starforce), and in general is a horribly restrictive form of DRM. People just give it a pass because they love valve, and also because they get pulled in by the integrated Facebook clone.

Edit: And lets not forget, once you've bought a retail game through steam, your disc is a coaster, because only you can ever install it again. Starforce itself wasn't that bad. Impulse? Resell all you want, baby.

I'm not sure where you're getting the idea Steam limits installs. I have Steam setup on three different machines and have a vast majority of my library of games from my account downloaded and installed on each of them. Granted, I can't log into my account (in online mode) at the same time, but I can play my games on all three machines at the same time. And, if I ever need to reinstall, I'll never have an issue.

As for the disc issue, I can't say that's entirely true. If you buy a retail disc and install the game after registering it with Steam, the disc isn't useless. At least, no less useless than it would be for Impulse. You can pass the disc around to as many people as you want, but just like if you had done it with Impulse, you'll need a new registration key for anyone who wants it on their own account. So in that sense, Steam and Impulse are the same.

Actually, that's the beauty of impulse; you don't need the code to install the game from the disc, only to get access to it through the store. With Steam, once you've used that code, that disc is useless except for you, and anyone who has a code but for some reason no disc.

As for steam, I looked it up, and you're right; I could have sworn it limited you to five computers at a time, but apparently it doesn't -- although some third party games have their own DRM (such as SecureRom) which does limit installs; these games have that no matter where you buy them, though.

Edit: In fact, that may be what I'm thinking of; I have Bioshock through steam. If that still has Securerom on it, it might have mentioned something about a 5 computer install limit, which would explain why I thought Steam had such a limit.

 

[LookingGlass]

I figured I'd give the BF3 beta a go... just to see how it looks on my PC on really. So I downloaded Origin for that just now. Apparently I already had an account... I'm guessing it used the one I had to create for Madden on my PS3. I currently have the beta downloading.

My first impressions are mixed.

Bad:
- The Dragon Age avatars were all related to DA2 as far as I could tell, and fuck that game.

Good:
- I'm getting a constant 1.5MB/s downloading the BF3 beta. Impressive... most impressive. (That may be common for Americans but for me (Australian) it isn't.)

 

[Freakzooi]

Not installed it, even cancelled my pre-order of SW:TOR on Origin when I found out about EA monitoring my computer use.

Even going to postpone playing BF3 untill they release a non-origin client for PC, sometimes you just got to stick to your principles.

Just go buy it from best buy, amazon, or gamestop. The game itself will not use Origin.

I know, pre-ordered a physical copy immediately after cancelling