Why does everybody hate EA?

[WhyWasThat]

I'm not being facetious - I really want to know. They publish some of the finest games in the industry (Dead Space, Crysis, Battlefield) and they've been around for almost as long as games themselves have.
Why is it that, seemingly only in this generation, they are receiving so much flak from the gaming community?

 

[wintercoat]

I will let my good friend Jimothy Sterling say it for me.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/5946-Why-Do-People-Hate-EA

Please, watch the video in the link and become informed. Read through the comments as well for a communities look at why people hate EA.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Their business model is basically:

1. Buy IP.
2. Pump digestive enzymes into IP, drink IP like smoothie. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider#Feeding.2C_digestion_and_excretion]
3. ???
4. Profit!

Taking a look at their stock prices, they're having a hard time with steps 3 & 4.

 

[everythingbeeps]

I really don't hate EA, not that much, because almost everything that EA's guilty of, Activision's even worse. Obviously not the best reason to defend a company, but EA's definitely the lesser of two evils, and they do put out much better games, even if they can only do so by buying developers.

 

[DoPo]

They publish some of the finest games in the industry (Dead Space, Crysis, Battlefield)

Funny how I like none of the games mentioned.

and they've been around for almost as long as games themselves have.

And that means what, exactly? Yes, i remember EA from way back, but they aren't the same EA today. Or does age mandatory give them respect? I'd like to point you towards Microsoft and Apple - two old companies, who also get their share of hate.

Why is it that, seemingly only in this generation, they are receiving so much flak from the gaming community?

Remember Westwood and Bullfrog? I do. Remember playing Dungeon Keeper 3 and having a blast? No, you don't, because of EA. And there are some other bad business practices as well as borderline insane attitude to games and gamers.

Come back after seeing Jim's episode to discuss it further.