Poll: Worst publisher based on Principles.

Ed130 The Vanguard

(Insert witty quote here)
Sep 10, 2008
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Dusty Pancakes said:
Ed130 said:
Valve: Is in the position to deal immense amount of damage to the PC platform.
How does that make you hate them? I'm in the position to go and buy a weapon and kill 6 people, but you don't prematurely hate me for having the ability to do it. Unless you mean without significant consequences, which based on how angry a lot of gamers are already, they'll make their own significant consequences out of whatever they can get their hands on.
I listed down the worst aspects of each company.

Valve's domination of the PC market is a worry point for me but it's a minor one, especially with articles like this showing us that Valve won't be dying/being bought out any time soon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/technology/valve-a-video-game-maker-with-few-rules.html?_r=1

I stuck in the potential damage thing to be a little more objective to the various groups.

Edit: added a bit explaining everything on my first post.
 

Random Argument Man

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May 21, 2008
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Let's see....


-EA tend to be stupid evil. They keep doing things that pisses off gamers and then wonder why people do a shitstorm after.
-Activision is smart evil. Ever since they kept Bobby Kotick somewhere not near video game journalists, there's not much to be angry about. Plus, they nailed the yearly release that gamers hate with a passion.
-Ubisoft finally decided to remove the always online DRM for pc gamers. Besides, they make the games that I love.
-Valve's alright as long they keep to their principles.
-Microsoft and Sony are Microsoft and Sony.
- I haven't played a lot of games from 2k and THQ, but they are not that bad.


The true winners!

- Capcom treats its employees like shit and uses shaddy old business pratices and new ones to piss off everybody.
-Square Enix plugged its ears with their fingers screaming " LALALALALALALA I'M ONLY MAKING THE GAMES THAT I WANT AND NOT WHAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING LALALLALALALALALAL".
-Konami also wins since they can't do anyhing great other than Metal Gear now....Also, no new Goemon games in the state since the 5th generation.
 

Athinira

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Jan 25, 2010
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Activision.

Bobby Kotick can go to hell.

Ubisoft was also a strong contender. And then there is EA, who i consider more stupid than evil (although definitely also evil).
 

Durgiun

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Dec 25, 2008
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EA.

Absolutely no contest. That company is the gangrenous appendage of the video game industry and needs amputation right the fuck now.
 

Sixcess

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Feb 27, 2010
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Other - NCsoft, not only for shutting down City of Heroes, but for doing so in a way that shows that they really didn't give a damn about it.

This is only the latest in a long line of MMOs they have killed, but is by far the most unexpected, and the vague explanation they've given - "a realignment of company focus" - is not a fitting epitaph for such a long running game.
 

SL33TBL1ND

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Nov 9, 2008
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Look, before we get anywhere, I want to know why you're capitalising the first and last words of your title only.

As for your question? EA shut down Bullfrog. Never forgive, never forget.
 

FEichinger

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Aug 7, 2011
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Voted Ubisoft for always-on, uPlay bullshittery and constant piracy accusations.

EA, Microsoft and Activisions are equal runners-up, though. Pretty much all the large publishing juggernauts have to die. (No, not Valve. Valve listens to us and makes money. That's how to do it!)
 

Bvenged

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Sep 4, 2009
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I picked Activision but only because I knew EA would be leagues ahead, and I wanted Activision to enforce their position as second-worst on the poll. I personally hate them more but I agree when someone says EA are worse.

Reality is, Activision conducts only a handful of the shitty things EA does (and EA does pretty much all of them), but Activision does those few shitty things in the absolute shittiest ways possible (I wonder how many current employees at Infinity Ward have been there since CoD4?).

Anyone up for a game of Xbox Angry Birds when it's out? Anyone?
I hear it's £30 better than the free Android, and 60p IOS, versions you can play wherever and whenever you want, which in plain English accounts for at least £30's worth additional content (I'm guessing).
 

vxicepickxv

Slayer of Bothan Spies
Sep 28, 2008
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SL33TBL1ND said:
Look, before we get anywhere, I want to know why you're capitalising the first and last words of your title only.

As for your question? EA shut down Bullfrog. Never forgive, never forget.
Funny, I was going to say Origin instead of Bullfrog, after all, they didn't attempt to mimic Steam by calling their exclusive online service Bullfrog.
 

TheEvilCheese

Cheesey.
Dec 16, 2008
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Metalhandkerchief said:
disgruntledgamer said:
Fappy said:
Fuck! My distaste for EA made me auto-click them! I meant to vote LucasArts! Those guys are even bigger jerks!
Remember this isn't based on crappy story telling.

Also who voted for Valve? I'm curious of the reason.....
Maybe it's someone with unreliable internet connection having to put up with Steam's non-functional offline mode. That shit is evil.

Anyway, for me it's a complete toss-up between EA, Activision and Ubisoft. So I voted Ubisoft, because they're the only company that hasn't released a single good game in 10 years on top of their shitty business moral.
I don't get the hate for offline mode myself, had to use it many times and never had any trouble playing... well anything single player (3rd party DRM aside). A lot of people who hate valve seem to be those with bad experiences in their customer service department. Which thankfully I haven't had to deal with.


As for myself, EA 'wins' with LucasArts a close second. Acti-Blizz doesn't bother me nearly as much as they used to and Ubisoft seems to be starting to understand what people actually want.
 

SL33TBL1ND

Elite Member
Nov 9, 2008
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vxicepickxv said:
SL33TBL1ND said:
Look, before we get anywhere, I want to know why you're capitalising the first and last words of your title only.

As for your question? EA shut down Bullfrog. Never forgive, never forget.
Funny, I was going to say Origin instead of Bullfrog, after all, they didn't attempt to mimic Steam by calling their exclusive online service Bullfrog.
I have literally no clue what you're trying to say in that comment.
 

SL33TBL1ND

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Nov 9, 2008
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Odgical said:
SL33TBL1ND said:
vxicepickxv said:
SL33TBL1ND said:
Look, before we get anywhere, I want to know why you're capitalising the first and last words of your title only.

As for your question? EA shut down Bullfrog. Never forgive, never forget.
Funny, I was going to say Origin instead of Bullfrog, after all, they didn't attempt to mimic Steam by calling their exclusive online service Bullfrog.
I have literally no clue what you're trying to say in that comment.
He's talking about Origin Systems.[footnote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_Systems[/footnote]

Bought 'em up, killed 'em off (much like they did to Bullfrog) and then named their Steam-rival Origin.

But I am more upset about Bullfrog, I liked Theme Hospital...
This makes far more sense.
 

disgruntledgamer

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Mar 6, 2012
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Random Argument Man said:
Let's see....



-Microsoft and Sony are Microsoft and Sony.
Yeah I know I debated even putting them there but Microsofts treatment of RARE pushed me over. Sony hasn't done anything like that to my knowledge but I have to be fair.
Metalhandkerchief said:
disgruntledgamer said:
Fappy said:
Fuck! My distaste for EA made me auto-click them! I meant to vote LucasArts! Those guys are even bigger jerks!
Remember this isn't based on crappy story telling.

Also who voted for Valve? I'm curious of the reason.....
Maybe it's someone with unreliable internet connection having to put up with Steam's non-functional offline mode. That shit is evil.
Touche
 

Judgment90

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Sep 4, 2012
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I went with Capcom.

Mainly because even though EA is worse, Capcom pisses me off more.

Mainly due to their On-Disc DLC that they release weeks after the initial release (I know EA does the same thing, but Capcom is the one who did this more often, correct me if I'm wrong).

The COMPLETE milking of SF2.

The release of an "Ultimate" version of MvC3 8 months after the original's release.

Not to mention cancelling game production due to "not enough fan involvement", despite plenty of fan responses.
 

Vivi22

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Aug 22, 2010
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CannibalCorpses said:
My heart says EA but my head says Valve because at some point they are going to turn and it will totally destroy everything the PC market has to offer.
Pure speculation based on nothing but a gut feeling? Yeah, that totally makes Valve evil.

Their cheap offers on games are generating a lot of cash but almost everyone i know who uses Steam has a large collection of games they will never play.
So let me get this straight; you know people buying more games than they can play and this means Valve is evil? Sounds more like friends with no self control, not to mention being completely anecdotal and having no relevance to the question asked by the OP.

I would also say that they are detracting from the creation of new games since they promote (through offers) much older games and probably make much better profit as a result.
This statement doesn't even make sense. First off, they don't just promote old games. They also frequently promote games which are releasing soon and pre-orders with things like pre-order discounts and bonuses.

Second, most games make the majority of their profit in the first 3 months. If you release a retail title, odds are your sales are negligible after that point as stores aren't really promoting those titles anymore, and prices rarely fall much after such a short time period. Valve promoting these older titles and giving them massive boosts in revenue which continue even after the promotion ends is giving those developers and publishers more money from older titles than they would otherwise get from any other distribution channel.

But these bumps in revenue from older titles are absolutely not going to allow you make more profit in that short sale period than you would from actually releasing a new title. You can't ride a wave of success on one game for a decade and make enough money from it to run a company without making more games. Even suggesting that helping companies squeeze a bit more profit out of older titles removes incentive to make new games might just be the most ludicrous thing I've heard on these forums recently, and demonstrates that you don't seem to understand even the basics of economics or running a business, and just kind of highlights how silly your entire post was.

They are an accident waiting to happen and as such much more damaging in my eyes than EA.
So an accident waiting to happen, based on perceived dangers which don't actually exist, is worse than a company which is, at this very moment, an accident in progress? Excuse me while I try to stop laughing long enough to fill out this capthca and hit post.

As to the topic question, a few years ago I honestly didn't think EA could take Activision's place at the top of the pile of anti-competitive, anti-consumer, idiotic douchebaggery, but I think they've managed it. Though I think I should be forgiven for not seeing it coming when just four years ago they were investing heavily in new IP's and seemed to be actively trying to not suck. Since then they've pretty much stopped that while Activision at least seems to have kept a muzzle on Bobby Kotick.
 

The White Hunter

Basment Abomination
Oct 19, 2011
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Andy Shandy said:
Sega. Because goddamnit I want Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure 2 on XBLA now!

But leaving silly, petty reasons out of it, as much as I try not to give them as much stick as most others here, they are probably still the worst of the bunch.
I shall forgive Sega all transgression because they finally got around to making good Sonic games again. Also idc about SA2 on XBLA/PSN because I have it on Dreamcast :3 I wubs my Dreamcast.

OT: I'm gonna vote Microsoft because windows pisses me off and they sold millions of people defective hardware then wouldnt replace it because of the warranty a few years back. Bastards.

EA get a lot of hate and scorn but I think a great deal of it comes from the PR and the fact people at EA with brain cells let stupid people talk to the public.

Activision are probably more evil imo. They all suck though lately.

Except Sega. The aforementioned Sonic resurrection has won back my favour.
 

MeChaNiZ3D

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Aug 30, 2011
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I didn't vote, because I'm not that familiar with most of the companies' policies. But I can say that EA is very transparent with how much it wants to screw people over, and the fact that it has made a philosophy out of it. It would probably get my vote, maybe Activision, unless there is something hideous going on in one of the others.