Poll: Really though... EA? Why?

[Canebrake]

I don't like them because of the DRM. Now i understand the need to stop pirates but as The Frank said. "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."

If i pay $50 then that had darn well better be a game i get to keep for life.
Unfortunately,EA doesn't realize sometimes OSes die,and you need to reinstall,or maybe you upgrade your rig.

I am really really sorry,but i fail to see how DRM helps piracy when the game is LEAKED before it even is released in stores,and the leak has no DRM. It's kind of like the French Building the Maginot Line. (In WW2 the French built an incredible defensive fortress line across the border between France and Germany.)

It's an awesome defense,it really is. But in WW2 the Germans simply walked around it.
Rendering it useless.

Games are cracked Within 24 hours of release generally. Why And how do DRMs stop that when all you need to do is search it and click download?

I understand piracy is a problem,and it needs to be stopped.
But it's been a problem for a very long time,and i still see gaming companies.

Don't forget the kind of people who will not pay for a game,if they can't torrent it they won't get it,and they will continue searching till they find what they want.
Your not really losing real money on those people,only theoretical money. And though i understand they are linked somewhat,It's kind of like apples and oranges. They are both fruit but you can't always trade them 1 for 1.

And since it is illegal do you really expect the statistics to be accurate? I can see how a major event like the number of banks robbed would be known,but piracy is a bunch of very small events. Generally unless there is clear evidence,when it's an underground type thing the statistics aren't right.
IPs change and some people will download it more than once,and sometimes on different rigs.

"There are three kinds of lies. Lies,Damned Lies,and statistics."

Don't forget how they are often altered to some degree for the benefit of one group or another.
I remember one report on someone looking up on a Statistic on accidents relating to firearms.
One account was a lady that had fallen and hurt her leg outside a wall-mart. It was related to firearms because wall-mart sold guns.
Take everything with a grain of salt.

------
Truthfully yours.
Cane

 

[Gamer137]

Because they are the biggest third-party video game group (or Activision-Blizzard, I forgot) and yet most of what they release is crap(list the many movie games they released), DRM (Spore), and selling content that should be free (Battlefield: BC). They rarly make any good games, which for the size of the company, is a terrible record. Mirror's Edge was the only game they made that I liked in the past two years. I don't hate them, but they are a stain on the industry. To me, they are the company that made the industry, as a whole, mainstream, and about nothing but money.

 

[ike_luv]

... I can't think of another developer who has made or been part of the same number of successful games released ever (naturally the figures would be relative) and can honestly say that EVERY game they have ever made is good, original, well planned and complete.

Blizzard. That is all

Sorry, I can't count that, because in comparison to EA's game list. Blizzard have made close to nothing. And are we suggesting then that Blizzard have had nothing but success over their developing years? I bet there's ONE game they have made that wasn't good.

 

[geldonyetich]

... I can't think of another developer who has made or been part of the same number of successful games released ever (naturally the figures would be relative) and can honestly say that EVERY game they have ever made is good, original, well planned and complete.

Blizzard. That is all

Sorry, I can't count that, because in comparison to EA's game list. Blizzard have made close to nothing. And are we suggesting then that Blizzard have had nothing but success over their developing years? I bet there's ONE game they have made that wasn't good.

Personally, I'd have the hardest time swallowing Blizzard because of the "original" qualification. They basically built their house on ripping off Prince of Persia (the original side scroller) to make Blackthorn, and Dune 2 from Westwood to make the Warcraft series.

Although Diablo was fairly original, unless perhaps you count the Rogueike influence as being that pivotal, and Starcraft did introduce the concept of 3 factions that play completely differently.

Ah well. Nobody who made those games even still works for Blizzard anymore.

 

[DragunovHUN]

I hate them because they have like 5 games that they update and re-release every single year, they've made about 700 Sims 2 expansion packs and they've destroyed Maxis and Westwood among others. Apparently though EA claims that all this is going to change so... bring it on

 

[ike_luv]

I didn't need to play spore at all, fuck I avoided it like the plague, it was always going to be a failure...

I am not accusing you of doing this, I am literally quoting you for the sake of the argument... but this is another of the issues I wanted to make clear in my head. From my knowledge, a lot of people had no intention of playing the game. The game was pirated SO much, that there were speculations that people had either downloaded it TWICE for no reason, or pirated the game just to spite EA.

At any point shouldn't the gaming community feel a tad ashamed for reacting the way we did? It was blown so far out of proportion that I almost didn't want to be involved in the industry if I knew that THIS is the kind of mentally men and women of all ages were to act.

 

[barryween]

Some good games, some bad ones. I dont care about publishers or anything like that as long as the game is good.

 

[ike_luv]

... I can't think of another developer who has made or been part of the same number of successful games released ever (naturally the figures would be relative) and can honestly say that EVERY game they have ever made is good, original, well planned and complete.

Blizzard. That is all

Sorry, I can't count that, because in comparison to EA's game list. Blizzard have made close to nothing. And are we suggesting then that Blizzard have had nothing but success over their developing years? I bet there's ONE game they have made that wasn't good.

Since Blizzard actually makes games (unlike EA) and since Blizzard revolutionized not only the MMO world but the RTS world as well, I'd say they have more achievement than EA even though they chose to only release good games. Oh and FYI, Activision is part of Blizzard so you have to take their games into consideration.

EA have been around years longer than Blizzard. And they do still make games! They revolutionised sports games, which on the whole, hold a MUCH greater market than that of MMOs, and mainstream games; which by the way everyone, help bring more budget, more attention, more skills, wider understanding, and better resources to the gaming industry. If games were still "underground" then either some other company would have come out and done the same OR we wouldn't have the gorgeous experiences we have with games today. Not without the attention of real music producers, real film directors, real talents coming from outside the industry to help gaming flourish into what it is today. EA's "mainstream" approach, has done us more favours than people might think.

 

[bmf185]

EA made Skate and Dead Space. I think the control concept for Skate is rather innovative and will swallow the genre of skateboarding games whole, so I can't be mad at them.

 

[ChaosTheory3133]

More or less its a giant that can only stifle creativity by having games meet its generic criteria. People apply the logic of a monopoly in which EA is not good for competition, creation, or innovation.
As for my opinion I am indifferent, but EA wins points in my book for picking up Brutal Legend when I thought it was going to be lost to the cutting room floor

 

[sheic99]

I can't think of any good games.

Mass Effect?

No I meant good!

Are you looking for something that came out in '08 or can I go to when they had good games.

 

[sheic99]

I completely agree with you, sure they have some bad games, but doesn't every developer?

They are actually a publisher.

The hate manly comes from their ungodly number of releases for sport franchises sucking people's money away from better titles.

That would be merely opinion of course I'm quite happy to have my money sucked away by the NHL series.

But couldn't you be happier with an '09 DLC for $15 as opposed to purchasing it for $60usd. Then use the money you save for tickets and other stuff.

 

[Zac_Dai]

Most of the people on this thread have no clue what EA did, it seems. Sad. Let me clue you newbies in.

EA corporate policy was largely responsible for the destruction of Origin Systems [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_Systems]. Westwood Studios and Bullfrogs demise was a result of similar EA mismanagement. Basically, EA was buying the best names in the business and running them into the ground with sheer heavy-handed idiocy, just as they did with Origin.

Origin Systems used to turn out Ultima, Wing Commander, the original System Shock, ect. They were the "we create worlds" team that really meant something. They were perhaps the foremost North American game development studio on the planet, bigger than Blizzard and making far better games - no exaggeration.

However, after Ultima Online started churning in subscription money, EA's brass had big dollar signs pop up in their eyes, and told Origin's many-faceted talent, "Origin is the Ultima company now." A lot of the big name developers got pissed off and left, including the Ultima guy himself (Richard Garriott), starting their own game companies (Destination Games, Digital Anvil, ect). Now, all that's left of Origin is a basically a small development team that strings Ultima Online along on life support with expansions.

It gets better. Ultima Online had a sequel [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultima_Online_2] in the works, and it was looking fairly awesome (at least by 2001 standards).


I was involved with providing feedback on the developer's forums over on the vault network, and I know what they were working on was some pretty pure gaming magic. However, the game was canceled, perhaps setting back MMORPGs to be nothing more than EverQuest clones forever. Why? No official explanation, but the developers were apparently so pissed off they trashed the studio they were working in, and a rumor surfaced that apparently EA was afraid of developing a game that would compete with themselves. Incredibly, they repeated this process again in 2004 with Ultima X.

(Most of the development team for Ultima Online 2 moved on to Star Wars Galaxies and Shadowbane, neither of which worked out real well - in Shadowbane's case it was on account of joining halfway through and getting behind a boneheaded single-computer server architecture, in SWG's case it was because pleasing the Star Wars License with Ultima Online 2 innovations turned out to capture too small of the target audience.)

There was also a major stink risen from EA Spouse [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_Spouse], who was pissed off about EA essentially working her husband to death with a massive amount of unpaid overtime. The courts agreed: she was able to successfully sue EA [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6148369.html] for $14.9M in damages to be distributed among EA employees. This lends more credibility to a belief that EA was basically taking gaming's development's best and brightest and crushing the soul of out of them.

So, do I and the rest of gamerkind have good reason to hate the name of EA? Yes.

However, I put down "indifferent" because the backlash from their actions had become so pronounced that they began major reforms. Today, it's hard to say just how bad they remain, but their treatment of Mythic in developing Warhammer Online was encouraging. Well, there were the recent layoffs [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88816-Warhammer-Online-Dev-Responds-to-Layoff-Rumors], but who isn't? I know Mark Jacobs well enough to say that if EA was mistreating his baby, he'd be the first to say it.

So, despite the downright evil shit EA was up to around the turn of the century, much of which set back the gaming artform untold years of progress, there's hope yet.

Glad to see someone remembers the real reason behind EA hatred. I'm quoting the whole thing again for emphasis.

It still bugs me to think of what some of the studios that EA destroyed could of accomplished if they were still around today. I know some of the original staff of those games formed new companies but I don't think any of them could recreate the magic.

 

[NickCaligo42]

Ok, I have clearly been kept out of the loop for a looong time. As a Game Designer hopeful, I need to understand what it is that makes everyone turn on EA. The more detail the better.

As a fellow game designer hopeful I'd say the hate comes from knowing all too much about their business practices.

EA has its advantages in that it's been able to adapt well over time, constantly mindful about current market and technological changes. As their creative director Richard Hilleman said at the Meaningful Play conference last year, something would change and they had to re-define the scoreboard and re-define their game. Side note: you REALLY get a feel for how reverent EA and its founding members especially are for football whenever this guy talks.

They also have a strong respect for the fact that so many people have so many different tastes and are trying to embrace as many different design philosophies as possible, which is admirable, and therefore trying to make as many new teams as they possibly can, which makes jobs, which insures guys like you and me can, you know, eat. Meanwhile the company has grown more enlightened about allowing teams some space to work, not trying to cram everyone into one business model, and the market's genuine appreciation for new IPs.

Unfortunately EA's evil side hasn't faded away by any means. It's not a group of artists trying to make quality products, it's a corporate giant trying to turn as large a profit as humanly possible. The expansion and constant acquisitions aren't coming from a desire for more diverse products but from greed. If you find yourself working for them you'll understand this the moment you pitch your dream game. "Have it on my desk in a year" is the mantra. Two years I'd understand, but one is really pushing it. That's one of the reasons Dead Space and Mirror's Edge may have turned out disappointingly for some; the really strict time constraint limited to what level ideas could be fleshed out.

The corporate guys in charge of EA are less the problem, though, than their board of directors--wealthy stock holders who just plain don't understand the gaming community or games themselves but run things anyway and want to see money. The buzz is that they blame EA's improving attitude towards developers and teams and its new IPs for a less-than-stellar economic year and are pushing to axe these efforts or else axe the company's heads and bring in some bulldogs who'll get things "back on track."

Any company's goal is to make money--no one should kid themselves into thinking otherwise--but EA's too extreme, too sterile and regimented, and has a hard time fostering real creativity outside a couple of acquired lapdog companies like Maxis and Lionhead (debatable--I think I'm giving both of them too much credit) as a result. It's like making games on a robotic assembly line.

Want to know the irony? Their original slogan was "Artists make games, not businesspeople."

 

[asinann]

I completely agree with you, sure they have some bad games, but doesn't every developer?

It's not that they make bad games, it's that they make the same 8 bad games every year.

They also seem to be immune to the ESRB ratings changes for their dirty little sims games.
Someone mods any game other than the sims and makes it so you can see a boobie and the game gets slapped with an M AFTER the games release.

The sims probably has 10 different mods for nudity and it's still T. It also has depictions of sex and hasn't been hit by the "protect the kids" groups.

 

[Combined]

I don't hate EA, but I don't like them either.

 

[blinkgun96]

Not many companies have made me curse their very existence. Electronic Arts is one of those companies.

Just curious- how have they wronged you?

I was going to say something about this, but instead i'll just say that i dont have an opinion of EA games, because i dont really own any.

 

[asinann]

I am not accusing you of doing this, I am literally quoting you for the sake of the argument... but this is another of the issues I wanted to make clear in my head. From my knowledge, a lot of people had no intention of playing the game. The game was pirated SO much, that there were speculations that people had either downloaded it TWICE for no reason, or pirated the game just to spite EA.

I did, but I only downloaded it once, then deleted it because I didn't want that crap on my machine.

 

[blinkgun96]

Sorry my last comment was at...

I'll give you a hint, Madden. It's not just madden but games like it, EA has the habit of re-releasing the same game for another $60, something they could easily do with DLC. It's not that EA makes no good games but people don't appreciate them releasing the same game 5 years in a row and forcing you to pay full price for a roster update.

Yeah... Half-Life?

Half-Life doesn't cost $60, that's what separates it from other games.

and in Madden's defense, the games do change every time, to update teams and stuff, since teams keep changing IRL.

a few games that have this syndrome are
Halo
World of Warcraft
Street Fighter
Mortal Kombat
Soul Calibur

Wait, what syndrome is this?

The "Release the Same Game with Slightly Better Graphics and a Few New Things" Syndrome

First, world of warcraft has expansion packs not sequels, so why does this have this "syndrome" you speak of. 2nd Ninja Gaiden Black is an example of said "syndrome". None of the above released the same game more than once you are speaking out of your ass, because by your defense of "Madden" games you have shown youself excellent of disproving your own point.

 

[RebelRising]

I can't think of any good games.

Mass Effect?

And Mirror's Edge.