What companies do you actually refuse to buy from?

I.N.producer

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If I don't buy something, it's usually because of the product, but there are a few companies.

Apple - I prefer not paying over a thousand for a computer that will be outdated soon. Especially when I can build a $500 computer that has almost twice as much power, and has games.
I don't hate iPods and iPhones though, I just think they're more expensive than they're worth.

Sony - This is mostly from looking at their laptops and a few other products from them. Their prices are way higher than the competition in almost every area. I'd rather buy from a slightly less-known company that costs $200 less for the same product.

I don't outright hate either of these, but I look at the products, look at the competition, and I half-wonder how they stay in business.
 

xXGeckoXx

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I refuse to buy from activision now. Fuck them, their stupid cod games that are mass produced. I want quality and Battlefield has always given it to me. Also no lan on SC2, screw you that's the only reason I wanted SC2, so I could play with friends without the crappy internet crashing.
 

JKain

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Mar 15, 2011
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EA!
in particular EA-Sports

because they just tried to kill superior rival-franchises by the power of laywers,
without even trying to be competitive by trying to make a simliar good...or hell, even halfway decent game.

the 2 main verdicts for me:
1) NFL2K vs Madden
when nfl2k4 came out for ps2 (Sega started the 2k-series on the dreamcast mainly because EA didn't publish their sports-franchises on the system)
I was really amazed just how damn good that game was...and just how much better than madden
(EA just making full-priced roster-updates every year was well known buisness practice...
but for the lack of competition it really was just pointed out for me back then just how they managed to stagnate the "genre")
and then 2k5 came out...at half the price of madden on release-date...
2k announced they would do this, because gamers shouldn't have to pay full-price for a comparatively minor Gameplay and roster-update!!!
I...was...knocked over in amazement
i mean it's somehow just fair...and a complain that still is extremely valid with sport-franchises,
but there was really no hope a publisher actually DOING this (hooray competition!!!)

and guess what...the game had more tweaks to gameplay than madden ever had in a year...
thus being the best football game i've ever played.

EA of course unable to compete with the quality...and certainly unwilling to compete with the price-tag as well...
"..signed an exclusive agreement with the NFL for an undisclosed amount of money, making Madden NFL the only series allowed to use NFL team and player names."
therfore NFL2k was f***ed.
Now despite being mad about that...it's just buisness after all and would be more reasonable to get pissed over the NFL for even signing such a deal.
BUT...then i played madden06 which a friend had...
and it was beyond pathetic...let's just say my criticism came down to it being inferior to madden95!!!!!!
well, no competition anymore...now we can really jam shit down their throats.
that was the end of me playing nfl-games and even following the nfl altogether.
(in retrospect- maybe the only good thing that came out of this)

2) PES vs Fifa (the last straw and the only boycott i ever participated in- and i really try to wrap it up a lil more here):

bought pro evolution soccer1 for ps2 - up to that point a soccer-game never felt and played that much....well, like soccer
fifa of course being the license-mothership...PES always just used fake-team and player-names.
(so you had the teams and the real players...just with altered names like FC london for chelsea etc.)
PES4 then had all the big leagues....with the german bundesliga and premier league still using fake names.
Then EA (every year loosing more ground in sales - gameplay-wise PES was superior from the start) made a new deal with the german bundesliga and PES was prohibited to even use fake-names...so they needed to cut the bundesliga.
not too much of a problem because of internet-communities editing patches and option-files with the real names.
But since then those editors where hunt down and many sites where shut down.
And of course some were sued (people who sacrifised their free time to countless hours of editing for the PES-community)

Don't get me wrong...i get that EA is trying to pursue their exclusive license which they paid for-
and again i more blame the bundesliga for even signing that deal (british premier league is still in the game with fake-names)
but again they tried to kill a franchise because they just couldn't compete with their quality.
(although fifa still sold a little better because of the license and popularity)
So EA sports to me was more like a corporate evil laywer-summoning than a game-developer...
trying to keep games from becoming better and punishing the likes who dare to make a better game by crushing them by LAAAW

of course with PES that ultimately didn't really work out like with NFL2k
and the last 2 years it seems they actually made real improvements to Fifa-gameplay (not that i couldn't care less by now)
..so thats what they'd rather try first before actually improving a game...just if all else fails.

oooh daaamn....i'm sorry!- if you really read all this...im just really sorry

but there are more various reasons to why i boycott EA...that just being the 2 main ones for me
(and yes....it kinda helps that EA didnt release anything of real interest for me)

so i reaaaally tried to wrap this up....which is just sad
 

Lous1210

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As many others in the thread stated, refusing to buy a game based on the developer or the label behind it is just childish. If you have a reason to justify your dislike of a game in and of itself, or were not entirely impressed with the previous developments by any given company, that's perfectly reasonable. However, be real; boycotting a game, and perhaps even a game you may like, isn't hurting anyone but yourself. The reason that I don't buy madden is because I don't think updated team stats and roster is worth $60 dollars every year. Do I think it was sleazy of EA to make the deal with the NFL that they did, 'buying out' in a sense, the rights to the sports rosters? Yes. I agree with JKain 100% in that respect. However, if EA's next release is something that seems like an interesting concept, or even just a solid game to me, I'm going to buy it. Boycotting a game, or an entire developer because you have some sort of personal grudge against said developer is the equivalent of throwing a hissy fit because you weren't given your way, and moreover comes across as extremely self-entitled.
 

Epona

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Well, it's pretty obvious why the industry treats it's customers like criminals, people think it's stupid to boycott them over it.
 

Shoggoth2588

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I don't buy Apple but it's mainly because of cost. Their stuff is just really overpriced but it's understandable: most of the price goes into the apple name and logo.

Otherwise I don't care. I buy things I like and, avoid things I dislike. I hate Lucasarts for making a second Force Unleashed 2 but I still plan on buying other Lucasarts products.
 

JKain

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Mar 15, 2011
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Lous1210 said:
As many others in the thread stated, refusing to buy a game based on the developer or the label behind it is just childish. If you have a reason to justify your dislike of a game in and of itself, or were not entirely impressed with the previous developments by any given company, that's perfectly reasonable.
However, be real; boycotting a game, and perhaps even a game you may like, isn't hurting anyone but yourself.
Depends. In my case it would hurt me more if a company that i felt repeatedly raped me with the worlds biggest dildo still gets sort of paid by me despite doing so.
In EA sports-case i even felt they actually try to hold the development of an industry i loved since commodore-era down...literally stagnating progress and crushing people who gave the consumers what they asked for (like 2k releasing nfl with a bargain-price)
there are more examples to this than the 2 I mentioned...but in the end that's just me sticking to a principle i made (despite the extremely minor impact a boycott may have....if any at all - like EA-Germany really sort of acknowledged all the hate through that boycott...but that still obviously doesn't do much)
in the end I'm just doing it for me...because I would feel reaaally filthy to encourage such behaviour EA has repeatedly shown by still buying their products.

I don't tell others they absolutely need to boycott them however.
If it comes up I eventually tell them briefly why i boycott EA (not usually with wayy to long posts- actually thats the first time i wrote this off my chest in a forum)
But I do feel they hold the industry down way more than they evolve it...
and that i also just can't support - so i vote with my wallet
If that's childish...then I really feel the strong need to be childish.
 

emeraldrafael

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I refuse to by from Apple. Just cause I wont pay that kinda money for a "supposedly" unhackable or whatever word they want to use Laptop/PC/etc.

and I will NOT go conned into that iTunes crap.
 

blindthrall

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Blizzard. Starcraft 2's lack of single player zerg and Diablo 3's always on DRM were merely turd icing on the shit cake. After they used Warcraft 3 as a long commercial for WoW, I didn't buy any of their games.

id's been inching closer to the boundary lately.

I really like how Bethesda operates, even if I'm not a huge fan of their games.
 

Lous1210

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JKain said:
Lous1210 said:
As many others in the thread stated, refusing to buy a game based on the developer or the label behind it is just childish. If you have a reason to justify your dislike of a game in and of itself, or were not entirely impressed with the previous developments by any given company, that's perfectly reasonable.
However, be real; boycotting a game, and perhaps even a game you may like, isn't hurting anyone but yourself.
Depends. In my case it would hurt me more if a company that i felt repeatedly raped me with the worlds biggest dildo still gets sort of paid by me despite doing so.
In EA sports-case i even felt they actually try to hold the development of an industry i loved since commodore-era down...literally stagnating progress and crushing people who gave the consumers what they asked for (like 2k releasing nfl with a bargain-price)
there are more examples to this than the 2 I mentioned...but in the end that's just me sticking to a principle i made (despite the extremely minor impact a boycott may have....if any at all - like EA-Germany really sort of acknowledged all the hate through that boycott...but that still obviously doesn't do much)
in the end I'm just doing it for me...because I would feel reaaally filthy to encourage such behaviour EA has repeatedly shown by still buying their products.

I don't tell others they absolutely need to boycott them however.
If it comes up I eventually tell them briefly why i boycott EA (not usually with wayy to long posts- actually thats the first time i wrote this off my chest in a forum)
But I do feel they hold the industry down way more than they evolve it...
and that i also just can't support - so i vote with my wallet
If that's childish...then I really feel the strong need to be childish.
I understand what you're saying entirely, however the company isn't going to lose any sleep over 1 purchase, or even just a few. As I said, it's perfectly reasonable to not purchase a game due to a lacking in the merit of the game itself, but viewing the business dealings of any number of companies, regardless of how scummy they may be, as a personal attack of some sort, is something I would take with a few grains of salt. EA's monopoly on their various sports licenses, while it clearly pissed off more than a few people (you and I just to name two) must have proven to be more lucrative than harmful to the company in the long run, otherwise they would've stopped doing it. The point i'm trying to make is that boycotts don't hurt the Triple-A industries, and you may very well be missing out on a game you could have thoroughly enjoyed due to a grudge you held against a given company. I can understand the need to protest against something you view as unjust, but in the long run you may only be hurting yourself.
 

DSQ

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Jun 30, 2009
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DJDarque said:
I don't refuse to buy anything based solely off of who makes it. That's just stupid.
Really? Even somthing like blood diamonds?

As for myself apart from things like blood diamonds (not that i buy alot of diamonds) I refuse to my Merdoch news papers because of his bussines practices. But if i'm honest while I don't have sky TV either I my dislike of him doesn't stop me from watching Fox films. I love me some xmen.
 

JKain

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Mar 15, 2011
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Lous1210 said:
I understand what you're saying entirely, however the company isn't going to lose any sleep over 1 purchase, or even just a few. As I said, it's perfectly reasonable to not purchase a game due to a lacking in the merit of the game itself, but viewing the business dealings of any number of companies, regardless of how scummy they may be, as a personal attack of some sort, is something I would take with a few grains of salt. EA's monopoly on their various sports licenses, while it clearly pissed off more than a few people (you and I just to name two) must have proven to be more lucrative than harmful to the company in the long run, otherwise they would've stopped doing it. The point i'm trying to make is that boycotts don't hurt the Triple-A industries, and you may very well be missing out on a game you could have thoroughly enjoyed due to a grudge you held against a given company. I can understand the need to protest against something you view as unjust, but in the long run you may only be hurting yourself.
I understand what you're saying as well, and i do appreciate your more reasoning approach opposed to comments just saying: That's just stupid.
However I took a lil offense on labeling boycott against developers/publishers as childish in general.
That's just counterproductive even if it does have very little to no impact at all on triple-A industries.
Because at least they're aware of it...even if they couldn't care less...
but EA did loose a chunk of their Sports-Game monopoly(nba entirely- fifa to some extend)
and if there was an uproar of some sort...maybe their taking some of these things into consideration.
Because if they felt like there wouldn't even be minor consequences from the consumer....
sky's the limit on screwing everbody (like project Ten dollar is NOTHING compared to what I could think of off the top of my head what they Could do if they felt like there are no consequences from the consumer-side whatsoever)

Or in the PES/german bundesliga example...The DFB(german soccer association) received quite a load of hate for their agreement with EA...not that it really matters now...
but maybe...just maybe they take that into account in some way as well before signing such deals in the future.

And if that just adds up to 0,000000000000001% a chance of changing at least the direction they're going...at least it's something
And in the case of FIFA they now at least really try to improve it gameplay-wise

I know i'm not making the best point with those examples but putting boycott in general as childish (even only within the gaming industry)...it's just not helping anybody

That being said...boycott is thrown out there way to easily-
If they can't take a single Game-Boycott seriously - how could they take a whole Label-boycott serious....
but that doesn't mean that the idea itself is entirely in vain in principle

as for me....it's EA...so i don't miss out on anything
(although i'm lucky they lost against 2k with NBA-games...not having those...would hurt yeah-
but EA still puts out mostly mediocre to ok-games....so i'm really not missing out on much)
 

Ender910_v1legacy

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Apple and Blizzard. I hate Apple products with a passion and have no need for them, there's plenty of viable and better alternatives. Blizzard on the other hand is solely because not a single game they've produced has interested me, save for Warcraft 2 back when it first came out.

Since then it's all looked like generic stuff I've seen in other settings from TV shows/movies or outdated and somewhat lackluster gameplay.
 

sansamour14

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Jul 16, 2010
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Apple. Ive never bought anything from them and i refuse
to ever do so in the future.
By extension i also refuse to buy anything that has a lowercase "i" in front of an upercase letter in its name.
 

Nouw

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GonzoGamer said:
Nouw said:
DJDarque said:
I don't refuse to buy anything based solely off of who makes it. That's just stupid.
This has to go down as one of the great Escapist quotes.
So I need to ask: what do you do when a company that you buy products from does something really abhorrent or that really insults your intelligence as a consumer?
Wait who are you quoting? Me or him?
 

GonzoGamer

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Nouw said:
GonzoGamer said:
Nouw said:
DJDarque said:
I don't refuse to buy anything based solely off of who makes it. That's just stupid.
This has to go down as one of the great Escapist quotes.
So I need to ask: what do you do when a company that you buy products from does something really abhorrent or that really insults your intelligence as a consumer?
Wait who are you quoting? Me or him?
Sorry, I thought I was quoting both of you but kcuFed it up.
 

ReservoirAngel

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I don't buy anything from Bethesda, but that's not because I hate their products, it's just because I have a fucking horrific track record with their games.
 

LookingGlass

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I honestly wonder if Square Enix was trying to make us hate them with their bullshit region-locking of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I'm a huge fan of Deus Ex but there's no way I can support that garbage. It's going to have to be really fucking good for me to buy it, and if I do I'll be waiting for a big-time Steam sale.