Poll: Who is in the right here?

[Jitters Caffeine]

I was skulking around the Battlefield 3 forums today and found an interesting little story on there. Basically this guy was surprised when he was unable to play BF3 one day and called customer support only to find out his EA account was banned for "multiple harassment complaints" from a rather heated discussion about MW3 and BF3 on the EA forums, and since his EA account was connected to his Xbox Live gamertag, he is now not only unable to play Battlefield 3, but also other EA and Bioware games that have online components or require you to be online to play.

Now this obviously turned into a VERY hot button issue there from people defending the customer's right to use the product he purchased and EA's right to moderate and respond to issues from their community services. I can honestly say I haven't been able to form an opinion over who's wrong in this instance and was wondering what others thought.

Here's the synopsis of the customer video chatting with an EA customer service employee

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/621026-battlefield-3/60892092

 

[lRookiel]

I was thinking the customer might be right at one point but if EA banned him from playing their products because he was harassing people again and again, I just really can't say at this point. Ill have to think about it for a while. I will edit my post later...

 

[distortedreality]

That's ridiculous.

Forums =/= Purchased product.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

That's ridiculous.

Forums =/= Purchased product.

What it kind of turned into was whether or not purchasing the game means you OWN that "slot" on the servers your game takes up or you're purchasing the right to USE the servers. Most people who defended EA said he should have read the ToU before agreeing to them. People who defended the customer basically said EA are totalitarian tyrants who want to have a vicegrip on their products. Although they latter sounds extreme, you DO have to feel bad for the guy for paying full price for a game he can no longer play because of a tertiary aspect.

 

[Freakzooi]

EA was right to ban this person from Battlefield, banning him from all the other games seems a bit harsh tho

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Eh. It will have been in any ToS he had to sign before he used the account, so he should have known about it, and if he didn't then it's his fault. Also, repeated harassment of other people makes this sound very six of one, half a dozen of the other, and it's not like he can't play single player (I think, that wasn't very clear)

All in all I'm coming down mainly on the side of EA, but it does seem a little excessive on their part. I'll say that this is pretty evens all for bad decisions, but I'm leaning to EA.

 

[projectX42]

why not if they decide have breached your user agreement they have every right to ban you from their services

 

[Zantos]

As much as I hate to say it, the forum rules and EA ToS do make it quite clear that this is what will happen. It's pretty bad that he lost the games he paid for, but it isn't like they've pulled this out of nowhere.

 

[Mikaze]

Much as most people seem to be saying, EA is well within their legal rights to pull this, I would say locking him out of the online content of all his other purchases is a bit over the top but then, this is one of the reasons I avoid official forums for games.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

Much as most people seem to be saying, EA is well within their legal rights to pull this, I would say locking him out of the online content of all his other purchases is a bit over the top but then, this is one of the reasons I avoid official forums for games.

Someone said in the forum post that they had an issue where they got their EA account banned for criticizing EA's business practices on the Bioware forums as well. They didn't have any kind of citation but it's certainly scary if it's true.

 

[Freakzooi]

EA was right to ban this person from Battlefield, banning him from all the other games seems a bit harsh tho

How were they right to ban him from a game if he only "harassed" people in the forum?

As he has been violating the forum rules on multiple occasions I think EA is in it's right to ban him from the game associated with the forum. Being a dick on the forum usually means he's a dick in the game as well. The less dicks in game the better tbh

 

[StrixMaxima]

That's what you get for being an EA customer, these days. Even though he was wrong to troll forums, his game account should be protected. He should have lost just his forums rights.

But, I'm EA free for 4 years now. One day at a time.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Should of read the EULA, gosh people are retarded. You pay for the privilege to be provided the service of playing the game, under the agreed conditions. You never own a game.

 

[RicoADF]

EA was right to ban this person from Battlefield, banning him from all the other games seems a bit harsh tho

How were they right to ban him from a game if he only "harassed" people in the forum?

Basically this, they just needed to block his forum privliges, they have no right to steal his games.

Should of read the EULA, gosh people are retarded. You pay for the privilege to be provided the service of playing the game, under the agreed conditions. You never own a game.

You dont own the game but you do own the right to PLAY said game unless its a subscription game that you haven't paid the months bill for, EULA also is only as legally binding as the laws in your country allow (so here in Australia EA would have their ass handed to them for theft as they'd have taken away a product he'd paid for)

 

[AndyFromMonday]

I bet this is just another glitch in the system.

 

[Zaik]

I bet this is just another glitch in the system.

Not yet, but if people complain loud enough it will be.

 

[fenrizz]

Should of read the EULA, gosh people are retarded. You pay for the privilege to be provided the service of playing the game, under the agreed conditions. You never own a game.

Yes, because EULA's are legally binding.

Oh wait, they're not legally binding at all.
How about that.

OT:
I think EA is in the wrong here.
Taking away all of his games for a forum violation is harsh, and EA should not be allowed to do so.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

*reads the overview of the conversation and sighs* Seriously? Banned from playing any games because of some taunting? What forums DON'T have people acting tough? General e-peening is a weak excuse to effectively take all their money for supporting you and not giving them the courtesy of some 5% refund so it's not a complete loss.

Maybe there was more to the story than the grand standing. Maybe he did something that deserved a full ban but it was left out. Either way, I can understand the customer's rage at how the customer service person blew him off without copy/pasting why to show that they really can't do anything about it.

 

[agentorange98]

this is bullshit we are completely entitled to our opinions however negative they may be, it's EAs job to prove us wrong by making great games not bull this taking my ball and going home shit