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Gamasutra-EA downplays Dungeon Keeper free-to-play criticism/rate it 1-4 stars?
- Thread starter ekim
- Start date
RedNumberFive
Banned
I wish more GAFfers would put their money where their mouth is, but I have a feeling that there will be some memory loss once Titanfall is released.
08-09 was, by a wide margin, the period of largest losses for EA. In the last couple of years, you'd more likely describe them as "treading water."
This doesn't mean that these losses and more gamer-centric focus are causally related, however.
Was planning on getting it for PC. Has EA locked down future releases of Titanfall?
There will be plenty of folks who will state that they are "supporting Respawn, but not EA" with their purchase or only "care about the games" and not the buisnesses behind them.
Tangled webs and all that.
midasmulligan
Member
Got damn, my thoughts exactly...still blinking/rubbing my eyes thinking it'll disappear lol
Neuromancer
Member
SimCity Deluxe, a game that came out in 2010 on iOS, to this day has a water table bug making playing the game past a certain point impossible.
Maybe if people hadn't given the game an average of 3 stars we could have gotten that free update fixing it. =(
I'm honestly not as disgusted by this as I could be?
I mean, they're asking you to rate their game, and they're trying to intercept people who are potentially going to give the game less than 5 stars so that they can hear their feedback.. it's a little underhanded to slightly obfuscate the access to ratings, but it's not like anyone who was able to find the game on the store and download couldn't go do the same thing and give it a 1 star rating. The fact that they're actually giving you an avenue for feedback if you don't like the game honestly seems pretty positive to me. it's unfortunate that it's tied to a ratings beg, but honestly I hate it when any game does that.
I mean, they're asking you to rate their game, and they're trying to intercept people who are potentially going to give the game less than 5 stars so that they can hear their feedback.. it's a little underhanded to slightly obfuscate the access to ratings, but it's not like anyone who was able to find the game on the store and download couldn't go do the same thing and give it a 1 star rating. The fact that they're actually giving you an avenue for feedback if you don't like the game honestly seems pretty positive to me. it's unfortunate that it's tied to a ratings beg, but honestly I hate it when any game does that.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Could not agree more, he had vision and built the foundations for a healthy future. A shame everybody hated him back then
That was definitely the best EA since probably the mid or early '90s. I'm sure the new CEO needs to return them to profitability ASAP, but they're unleashing some fucking gross and exploitative business models at the moment. I smell a third year running for the' Worst Company in America' award, and while there are worse out there EA definitely deserve it in their own way.
Uncle Rupee
Banned
Doesn't EA have like 6000 employees?
I wouldn't be surprised if the company asks its legion to go rate their mobile apps 5 stars upon release (or could easily pay a third party company in China to do so), which would explain the unreasonably high ratings the game has by "users".
I wouldn't be surprised if the company asks its legion to go rate their mobile apps 5 stars upon release (or could easily pay a third party company in China to do so), which would explain the unreasonably high ratings the game has by "users".
fargofallout
Member
This point of view is really, REALLY old, and also quite naive.
This was my first thought when I saw that EA Mythic did this game - Paul seems like such a realistic and frank guy, I'd love to know his honest thoughts on it.
Unfortunately, this business model is sort of par for the course on mobile platforms. I'm glad this game is getting the publicity it is, because I think more people need to know about the awful practices going on in there.
I'm tempted to say it doesn't really matter because the only people actually "playing" games like this are suckers with too much money, but if these games are lucrative, it's more than likely pulling developer time away from making legitimate games and into shit like this. And normally I wouldn't try to classify games as legitimate or not, but I downloaded this just to see what the fuss was about (and to give it a one star review), and this isn't a game. It's a waiting/paying simulator (maybe there's a game in there somewhere, but they sure do their best to hide it). I truly don't understand why anyone would get any enjoyment out of it, and it bums me out because the mobile platform is capable of having some truly cool games. I just downloaded Threes on the iPhone, for instance, and it's simple, fun, and it only cost $2.
Solid Samus
Banned
I'd imagine that most people don't go out of their way to rate the games that they use unless they really like them or they really hate them. Most who really hate the game aren't even going to touch the 'five star' button that actually brings them to the rating page - and aren't going to care enough to pull it up themselves. It certainly has the capacity to skew the ratings and probably is
Boogalogist
Member
Oh man. i thought they can't get any lower.... Apparently, they can really set the bar even lower.
This is some disgusting shit.
This is some disgusting shit.
Are you implying "modern thinking" doesn't consider the possibility of 'journalists' being paid off by corporations? That is absolutely ludicrous.
I don't think that is happening here, but it's a really odd (perhaps naive) perspective on things.
dugdug
Banned
If I get it at all, it'll be a used copy. I haven't bought a new EA game since Mass Effect 3, planning to keep it that way.
It really is a shame. That's why companies like EA don't do different cool things like that. Different cool things like new IPs are risky. They need those risky IPs to become big franchises for them to make back the money they spend making and promoting these new IPs.
Let's be realistic here, EA haven't committed some sort of hideous criminal offense. They have however released an offensive game. I'm not sure what boycotting EA in general would achieve that simply boycotting this Crap when it's released wouldn't
EA is a good old fashioned capitalist business like any other. If they find products like these aren't selling, they won't make them. Boycott the game, sure, but boycotting good, traditional titles out of nothing but spite isn't going to do much.
ScepticMatt
Member
RedNumberFive
Banned
After the nickel n diming' that went on with Mass Effect 3 and Dead Space 3, I'm not sure why anyone would expect anything else from them. Providing a horrible value has quickly become their MO and has burnt any goodwill they've earned over the years. They are a cancer on every franchise they consume.
How did ME3 nickel and dime consumers? ME3 was a great value. If a 20+ hour RPG isn't worth $60 then I don't know what is.
Everybody's just making this whole outrage up, nobody actually cares, have you seen how much EA loves gay people? You homophobes are always trying to ruin the good things in the world.
Shit. Already used that excuse? Um...EA is firmly anti Nazi. So clearly it's just racists and megalomaniacs who are campaigning against this title. Do you want to be a Nazi sympathizer? No? Then rate it 5 stars.
Shit. Already used that excuse? Um...EA is firmly anti Nazi. So clearly it's just racists and megalomaniacs who are campaigning against this title. Do you want to be a Nazi sympathizer? No? Then rate it 5 stars.
RedNumberFive
Banned
You mean the game that had the most important character of the series locked behind day-one DLC? Or am I remembering this incorrectly?
How is that nickel and diming? It was dumb and should have been included but that is not nickel and diming and ME3 is in no way a bad value.
RedNumberFive
Banned
The $10 I paid for it seemed like the appropriate price.
Green Yoshi
Member
That was due to the financial crisis and not the fault of Dead Space and Mirror's Edge.
By the way, they lost 308 million dollars in the last quarter:
http://news.ea.com/press-release/company-news/electronic-arts-reports-q3-fy14-financial-results
Assuming you've installed it on Android, you can leave a review via play.google's web version.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.game.dungeonkeeper_row
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ea.game.dungeonkeeper_row
DXB-KNIGHT
Member
EA became the Mr.Burns of Video Games!
Oblivionmancer
Member
Could be in reference to the multiplayer, which you could certainly dump silly amounts of money into. I still wouldn't agree as I maxed out every unlockable except for those in the final free expansion without ever spending a dime, but that's probably where the argument comes from.
A bit hyperbolic there, given that you play as Space-Jesus.
RedNumberFive
Banned
Ha, ha, ha. Fair enough. I retract that statement.
thelatestmodel
Junior, please.
Complete and utter bollocks.
Even if the paywalls were removed, it doesn't hold a candle to the original.
That depends on if you thought that they were being sincere after losing billions of dollars and trying to change their tune or not. If it takes billions to do anything, then folks would have to outright boycott everything they put forward. If you think decrying one specific title will do much, well, I could direct you to simcity...
MilesWebber
Member
The paid fake reviews are cracking me up.
I don't understand why people aren't flooding the iTunes store with 1 star reviews. Seems like the smart thing to do. You only have to download the game to rate it, not actually play it.
I don't see EA making any more always-on, "cloud" based versions of SimCity
EA isn't a kid that will change their tune if people stop playing with them. You better believe that they go after this FTP microtransaction hell because they see money in it. If this market doesn't earn them money, they won't stay in it
Boycotting Titanfall, Battlefield or whatever else EA is putting out won't help. I'm not defending them as I think they put out rubbish, but if they put out a decent title I'm not going to avoid purchasing it. My point was that unless your goal is to bankrupt EA no matter what, I don't see why purchasing some other title means that you support this garbage.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
It's not that easy. The loss was due to an accounting technicality in the way they have to amortize digital revenue; if you look at their non-GAAP figures, they made a significant profit. Basically, when you buy something from EA, they make money off you, but they aren't allowed to account for that money until years from now. I sort of feel like if you follow EA's stock you would know this, and if you didn't follow EA's stock there'd be no real reason to be responding to try to refute Opiate's assertion the company is doing well these days.
I don't see what the big deal is. If they are truly concerned about negative reviews and are actually going to listen to people's feedback and actually act on some of it, its fine, and actually should be commended that they'll actually listen to feedback.
My company employs a similar rating system in our apps. We direct to the app store if you like it so you can review it. If you don't like it we bring up our email template so that you can tell us what is wrong or offer up any feedback. We actually listen to feedback and have made changes and fixes based upon user feedback.
So if EA is sincere in wanting to solicit feedback and actually act on it, I see nothing wrong with this. Though this is EA, so the feedback will probably all go into the trash.
My company employs a similar rating system in our apps. We direct to the app store if you like it so you can review it. If you don't like it we bring up our email template so that you can tell us what is wrong or offer up any feedback. We actually listen to feedback and have made changes and fixes based upon user feedback.
So if EA is sincere in wanting to solicit feedback and actually act on it, I see nothing wrong with this. Though this is EA, so the feedback will probably all go into the trash.
JinjoUnchained
Member
Worst part is how the "5 Stars" button is green while the "1-4 Stars" button is blue. Green being the color of "go", trying to subconsciously manipulate players into choosing their preferred answer.
Might as well go all the way and do something like this: "Would you give this game 5 stars? Yes or No?" If you choose No, it keeps telling you "but thou must" until you choose Yes.
Might as well go all the way and do something like this: "Would you give this game 5 stars? Yes or No?" If you choose No, it keeps telling you "but thou must" until you choose Yes.
Mashin Haters
Member
no mobile gamer likes when a game tells you to wait 10 hours or pay 1 dollar to keep playing.
wtf EA just because mobile games are played for a couple minutes through out the day, doesnt give you the right to make players wait.
wtf EA just because mobile games are played for a couple minutes through out the day, doesnt give you the right to make players wait.
bigdaddygamebot
Member
You clearly don't know "what is".