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EA sucks

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EA sucks.

You may be thinking, URNT THEY A BUSINESS? THERE SUPPOSED TO MAKE MUNNY. You are right, but I am neither an EA employee or shareholder, I'm a gamer. And this is a thread about how much they suck and why.


EA happen to publish a lot of games I like, and that's the problem. This could be a thread about Activision, but really, I stopped letting them sucker me into buying Call of Duty games a few years ago. When it comes to my gaming interests, they are practically irrelevant, but this is not the case with EA. Their involvement in the games I like is similar to finding a pubey looking hair in a delicious sandwich. I can still enjoy it, but it's just not the same. There is no avoiding them as well, they are one of the biggest megapublishers in the business, no matter your taste your are likely to have an interest in some of their products.

They somehow managed to earn some goodwill back in '08 after publishing Mirror's Edge and Dead Space, but it was short lived. Maybe people were just eager to cling to someone nicer than Activision, who was just a bit too eager to fuck them in the ass. However, we were quickly reminded of why they may be one of the greediest and most anti-consumer publishers in the biz.


But why do they suck? Let's take a look.




[Preorder Bullshit]

preorderpreasemakeitstl70r.png


Preorder bullshit is all the rage these days, and EA does it like no one else. Despite the image, it goes beyond simple, petty trinkets and outfits. Legitimate consumers who buy their games new have to deal with redeeming online pass codes, or signing up for EA accounts then linking them to Bioware social accounts then linking their gamertag/ID to those accounts in order to redeem the content that comes with the product they paid for. Jumping through hoops has never been so shitty. Loyal customers who don't buy used are rewarded by junkmail newsletters and needless headaches.




[Marketing]

actualfocusgroupwowdzko.png


If EA's perception of you is correct, you are a sex-deprived, gore-obessed, sad manchild who is only impressed by the most XTREME of extremes. Let's enjoy a few trailers:

Dragon Age: Origins - This is the New Shit
Mass Effect 2 - Subject Zero
Dead Space 2 - Ur Mom Hates Dead Space

As a moderately intelligent adult, I can't help but feel like they want me to hate these games.




[The murder of one of the greatest sports series in gaming]

KQQGR.jpg


Some of us may remember a certain series titled NFL2K, or ESPN NFL2K. Many other NFL series like Quarterback Club or Gameday may have deserved their fate, but 2K did not. Throughout the five years they existed, they consistently delivered a solid product that rivaled Madden. 2K decided that they would take an unconventional approach with ESPN NFL2K5. Instead of charging full price for a glorified roster update, they decided to charge $20 at launch while delivering a strong product with a unique, but failed feature (first person football). What's not to love about that?

Rather than matching that price point, creating innovative features or creating a superior product, EA did what they know best: they threw money at it. EA purchased exclusive rights to the NFL license, crushing NFL2K to death under massive mounds of money and subjecting NFL fans to nothing but years and years of guaranteed mediocre and unambitious iterations. Rather than convincing games to chose their games, they took away the choice altogether. Lovely, isn't it?




[Online Passes]

IRheM.jpg

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=454078
- One of the pioneers and most active perpetrators of Online Passes...and guess what? They expire a year after the game comes out! Take that, suckers.



[EA forum ban -> no EA games for you lol]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=454264
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451978&highlight=ea+forum+ban

But they're cleaning up the internet, right?




[BYE BYE SERVERS]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=387806
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=418543
http://1uponu.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/psa-ea-server-shutdown-august-11-2011/

Which will go first, the servers or your Online Pass?


- EA Origin app, inferior to the competition in every way, so why does it exist?
- $60 PC games with no DLC support
- EA ACCOUNTS, a nuisance at best
- Tiger Woods 12 PC port lol: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444387
- a subscription fee...for Tetris? http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=454062
- blatantly obvious cut content DLC:

h2xKG.jpg


- always finding new and innovative ways to part a fool from his money:

EA Sports Season Ticket! said:
With an annual fee of $24.99 or 2000 Microsoft Points, subscribers will receive four all-new program benefits: access to play all participating EA SPORTS games via a full-game digital download three days before consumers have the option to purchase a disc at retail launch; a 20-percent discount on downloadable game content; free premium web content; and membership recognition. GameStop will introduce EA SPORTS Season Ticket in North America with an innovative multichannel marketing campaign, including its PowerUp Rewards™ program of more than 11 million members.
...
Early Full-Game Digital Access: Three days before a game’s scheduled release, fans will be able to download and play the full version of all five participating titles on Xbox 360 and PS3™**. The digitally downloaded game will time out when the game is available at retail and consumers have the option to purchase the same full game on disc at retail. EA SPORTS Season Ticket subscribers can transfer all achievements earned during the three-day download period to the purchased disc, resulting in an early edge over the competition.
Discounted Downloadable Content: Subscribers will get a 20-percent discount on all available downloadable content for participating EA SPORTS titles. Downloadable content, which enhances and refreshes the core game experience, includes such items as Ultimate Team packs, accelerator packs and gear upgrades.
Click to expand...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=439389

____





There, I said it. EA sucks...but this is just the tip of the iceberg.


Feel free to:

1. Agree with my facts
2. Add your own reasons
3. Tell me what an asshole I am


share
 
EA could not greenlight Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Shadows of the Damned and dozen other games GAF drooled over.

But they did and that's why EA don't suck.
 
EA has it's issues but they are not as bad as activision and are not the only developers doing pre order bonuses and the such.

I don't have an issue with EA for the most part and think they do good for the industry.
 
To be fair, from what I remember the NFL went out looking to sell exclusive rights and EA had the highest bid. It wasn't as though EA petitioned the NFL for exclusivity.

I agree with tall the other stuff though.
 
I think this just shows how messed up things got this generation for consoles.

Also those EA IPs were a trick and GAF was fooled, at least until ME2 releases.
 
Marketing and prerelease material aside I don't think EA is different from any other publisher these days.

I'll never forget about Westwood though.

Edit: I guess I do hate the EA account stuff though...
 
I have not rented or purchased an EA developed or published game since they got NFL exclusivity. I refuse to buy even used. Yeah yeah I know 2K had it offered to them too and blah blah blah.
 
They have some of the worst DLC policies this generation second only to Bandai namco.

Held back content as DLC check
Buying online cheats and boosts to use in online multiplayer games check.
Selling game modes as DLC check.
Selling slight variations of content already in the game as DLC check.
Selling content that was in previous games as DLC in new iterations check (Golf games).
Holding back and slowly releasing content you payed for over a year ago to make it seem like your getting free updates check (BFBC2 vip code map variations).
 
Yeef said:
To be fair, from what I remember the NFL went out looking to sell exclusive rights and EA had the highest bid. It wasn't as though EA petitioned the NFL for exclusivity.

I agree with tall the other stuff though.
Click to expand...

Yep, the NFL didn't want the brand to be cheapened by games that hit the market at $20 and were received better critically than the $50 competition, so they offered up rights to the series, and EA were more than happy to take them.
 
Despite EA funding games like Dead Space and Mirror's Edge in the recent past, their other activities make me agree.

Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2, to name a couple, carry the 'EA tax' on pc - $59.99, and a certain other publisher, often reviled on this forum, was the one that started that trend.

The biggest issue I have with EA is them selling the story of story-heavy rpgs in a piecemeal way, with DAO, ME1 & 2. The fact that some of the DLC was entertaining is irrespective of the fact that the core game of ME3 will probably leave a lot of loose-ends to be tied up as DLC.
 
The EA account link stuff is literally broken.

Seriously that shit is broken and they need to fix it to where a person can change an email associated with an account and have it actually work.
 
Project 10 Dollar is the real plague.

That signature edition with Dragon Age II is bullshit too. Why punish people who bought the game new, but didn't preorder the game a certain amount of time before. That is a horrible precedent.
 
I agree EA sucks.

In recent years they've done much much more to hurt me as a consumer than Activision has. They deserve more hate than Activision to be honest.
 
Another point that should be mentioned is how their online forums are linked directly to the actual EA gaming accounts, which locks you out of shit if you get banned on their forums for whatever reason. All the more reason not to support their stupid "community" push if there's a danger that shit can happen to you.
 
This thread sucks.

EA can do whatever the fuck they want if they keep releasing awesome shit like Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, Mass Effect, etc etc etc etc
 
Persona7 said:
The EA account link stuff is literally broken.

Seriously that shit is broken and they need to fix it to where a person can change an email associated with an account and have it actually work.
Click to expand...

I was very aggravated when trying to redeem my Dragon Age: Origins content because I had accidentally made a new EA account for it (forgot I made one for Burnout) and because of that, I was unable to link it with my PSN ID. Eventually, I had to create an entire new PSN ID and Bioware/EA account and link it to that, then share it to my real account through that.

The shitty thing about it is that Steam/360/PS3 all have easy to access menus for activating codes. The inconvenience of jumping through those hoops was entirely unnecessary and only existed so that we'd sign up for all that shit that most of us don't have the slightest interest in.

Just to point it out again, I love a lot of the games they publish, and that only makes their bullshit that much harder to deal with.
 
No mention of 60 dollar pc games? Activision does it as well, hell they started it, but atleast they know 'hey this will only work for HUGE games like Starcraft and COD"

Activision wants 60 for Dragon Age 2, Bulletstorm, Crysis 2, etc. Can't wait for them to release TOR for 60 AND a monthly fee on top of that. they've got some great devs working for them, but this just gives me an excuse to avoid their games and save my money until they're 20 bucks
 
Last EA game I bought was Dead Space last year. That was the first EA game I had bought for this generation (including both Left 4 Dead games on 360 if we want to count those).

Next will be Shadows of the Damned.

Other than that, I don't like them as a company very much. They don't get my support. HOWEVER, with Shadows of the Damned, I'm only buying it because of Suda. I love that man.
 
duckroll said:
Another point that should be mentioned is how their online forums are linked directly to the actual EA gaming accounts, which locks you out of shit if you get banned on their forums for whatever reason. All the more reason not to support their stupid "community" push if there's a danger that shit can happen to you.
Click to expand...

The only alternative is to avoid their forums. Which may be a shame because it is a place to get relevant questions answered, and support directly from them.

Oh and don't say anything that might get you banned because you are against their policies.
 
vertopci said:
This thread sucks.

EA can do whatever the fuck they want if they keep releasing awesome shit like Dead Space, Mirrors Edge, Mass Effect, etc etc etc etc
Click to expand...
Not really, you see there are still devs/publishers out there that actually care and think in their consumers first and put ethics first, and there's consumers out there that actually care to get what they're paying and get what's right.

Dead Space 2 on PC is an example of how dirty EA is with that DLC shit.
 
jett said:
Nothing about all the studios they bought and promptly destroyed?
Click to expand...

Like I said, I would have to pull an all-nighter to cover everything. If anyone would like to add a few points, I'd appreciate it.
 
The only thing that would bother me is the fear of Steam. I don't play too many EA games anyways, so Day 1 DLC, would-be forum bans, etc don't matter to me as much. Hell, I don't even play online that much. I just buy a few of their games every year, and I'm mostly content.
 
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