EA's at it again.

[Twilight Hue]

Ea makes a number of very good games with some exceptions. However, that said, their up to their usual old tricks by requiring you to sign up and join Origin if you want to play multi-player for Mass Effect 3 on the PC. I'm getting tired of EA forcing you to join or sign up for things you don't want especially when you pay full price for the title. I'm staying with 360 as far as any EA titles goes. I'm done with their shenanigans in that respect.

 

[Quintessence]

EA is sleazy just in general. Manipulative marketing and consumer exploitation at its worst. Their antics with DLC beginning in ME2 got me to raise an eyebrow, and since then it's just gotten worse. They're ruining Bioware, and their questionable antics is what is keeping me from pre-ordering ME3. I'm just glad Bethesda isn't falling into the same cesspool as Bioware has. I won't be getting ME3 until all the DLC are out and I can pick up the game used for maybe twenty bucks.

 

[Mister_T]

EA is pretty bad, but I think Capcom is also one of the worst, if not the worst. It was discovered that there were a ton of characters that were reported to be DLC were already on the disc on Street Fighter vs Tekken. Intead of unlocking those characters like you would normally, you have to pay for them as "DLC" even though they're not in order to gain access to them. They did the same thing with Dead Rising 2, all of these fun an extra things you would normally get by unlocking them in game are DLC even though they are on the disc already.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

Im getting sick and tired of these sort of tactics, even simple requiring online activation annoys me (my home PC has no internet, I only use that when roaming with my laptop)... each little gimmick like this instantly reduces the $$$ I am willing to spend on their stuff, and only after trying it.

Online activation (reduces the price I am willing to pay by $20-30) and I have to see VERY GOOD reviews
Steam or similar service (reduces the price I am willing to pay by $30-50) and I have to see EXCELLENT reviews
'Premium' DLC (reduces the price I am willing to pay by $30-50) and I have to have had a LOT of fun without the DLC and have seen GOOD reviews for the DLC

Oh and as for anything that charges an ongoing fee (e.g many mmorpgs)? I refuse to buy the games, perhaps I would be willing to pay on ongoing fee, but only if the game itself is free.

 

[Mister_T]

Im getting sick and tired of these sort of tactics, even simple requiring online activation annoys me (my home PC has no internet, I only use that when roaming with my laptop)... each little gimmick like this instantly reduces the $$$ I am willing to spend on their stuff, and only after trying it.

Online activation (reduces the price I am willing to pay by $20-30) and I have to see VERY GOOD reviews
Steam or similar service (reduces the price I am willing to pay by $30-50) and I have to see EXCELLENT reviews
'Premium' DLC (reduces the price I am willing to pay by $30-50) and I have to have had a LOT of fun without the DLC and have seen GOOD reviews for the DLC

Oh and as for anything that charges an ongoing fee (e.g many mmorpgs)? I refuse to buy the games, perhaps I would be willing to pay on ongoing fee, but only if the game itself is free.

They're doing this thing in the U.S. where bonus content for games gets divided up between retailers as "exclusives, where as places like Europe get it all in one. There's no guarantee that any of that content will ever become downloadable either. There's also talk that the next generation X-Box isn't going to allow you to play used games on it, meaning that you'll likely have to go online and redeem some confirmation code like you do with PC games...all because game companies here are insisting that they're losing money off of the used game market and they are entitled to see profits from used games, even though no other second-hand system that works like that. Toyota doesn't come knocking at your door asking you for a cut everytime you sell your used car to someone else.

It's just getting really bad.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

And they wonder why so many embrace piracy.... heck even -I- have the skills to take an already downloaded game (such as from steam or most DLC games I have seen) and copy them in such a way as to allow them to be played on other computers - I dont do that sort of thing because it is both too troublesome and goes against my ethical code. The more ridiculous they are with their pricing the more people are willing to steal from them.

 

[Twilight Hue]

They're doing this thing in the U.S. where bonus content for games gets divided up between retailers as "exclusives, where as places like Europe get it all in one. There's no guarantee that any of that content will ever become downloadable either. There's also talk that the next generation X-Box isn't going to allow you to play used games on it, meaning that you'll likely have to go online and redeem some confirmation code like you do with PC games...all because game companies here are insisting that they're losing money off of the used game market and they are entitled to see profits from used games, even though no other second-hand system that works like that. Toyota doesn't come knocking at your door asking you for a cut everytime you sell your used car to someone else.

It's just getting really bad.

Boy. That's not good news. That alone has the potential to put game stores right out of business. Maybe I'll wait on my next gen purchases and see how it goes from there. I want bang for my buck. Not the other way around.

 

[Quintessence]

The irony is there are plenty of people willing to buy games new anyway. I don't understand that sentiment, personally, but a couple of my gaming friends apparently are incapable of buying anything used. The amount they spend on video games is ridiculous. Of course, they also still live in their parent's basements and don't have any living expenses to speak of.

I'd have definitely pre-ordered ME3 if it weren't for EA's sleaze factor. I love the ME series. DLC is the only reason I'm waiting. Don't want to bother even playing it until everything they're going to add to the game is out and I can decide what is worth it and what isn't.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Looks like 360 and Ps3 too. *sigh*

 

[Mister_T]

Looks like 360 and Ps3 too. *sigh*

Really? I bought my Collector's for the 360 yesterday.....

 

[Panda]

I don't think you can have origin on PS3 and Xbox can you?

 

[Mister_T]

I don't think you can have origin on PS3 and Xbox can you?

I thought it was just a PC thing, but I haven't played an EA game on console for such a long time, I really don't know.

 

[Quintessence]

Don't know what "origin" is, but they do ask you to sign up for their social network. I'm not sure if it is required or not. I signed up for it back in Dragon Age for... I can't even remember why anymore.

 

[freethinker44]

I don't really think they are forcing you to sign up for 3rd party sites, I think they just changed the system they use for online accounts. If you already had an EA account then you shouldn't have had to sign up for an origin account. They converted EA accounts into origin accounts. Origin isn't a separate 3rd party organization, origin is EA.

 

[Twilight Hue]

All I saw on the prompt screen was a requirement for a sign up for EA's online pass. Guess what? Without a code its not free, and on top of it this has a one time use per game title per purchase.

Customers who purchase the games new for the full retail price get access to online services and features, as well as bonus game content; other customers will have access to all the online services and content for $10. GameStop has also offered their support. Gamers will be able to purchase access to the Online Pass and additional DLC from EA at their stores and through their website. -EA-

Publishers hate sales of used games that retailers push so hard. The reason being they see no additional revenue from the re-sale of a game. The retailer keeps all the profit for themselves. In order to combat this EA introduced Online Pass, which involves forcing the owner of a used game to pay $10 to unlock access to certain features of the game e.g. multiplayer and DLC. -Matthew Humphries Geek.Com-

Matthew’s Opinion

This is one of the issues gamers face when relying on an online system in order to allow a piece of software to function. You are at the mercy of whatever the game publisher has decided to do, even if that decision makes very little sense.
It’s one of my major concerns about games I am activating and playing now continuing to be playable years from now. I can load up any game I own on the PSOne, PS2, even as far back as the NES and SNES, and they will just work. Will we be able to say that about a game released today on PS3, PC, or the Xbox 360 in a decade?
EA needs to explain this thinking. I can’t come up with a single reason why you would put a time limit on a new game. Can you? -Matthew Humphries Geek.Com-

Reference Sources: (EA) http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=ea%20online%20pass&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.easports.com%2Fonlinepass&ei=aiNYT63LDYfk0QG457nWDw&usg=AFQjCNFNlkQIJa1_3i_IIbTaZKxidDvWXw

(Geek.com) http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...57nWDw&usg=AFQjCNFbRxbl-U9yL0CaSP_7-hW-DXpcYw




I think your correct in that EA's Origin. Freethinker.

Origin BTW is similer in set up to Steam from what I understand from the cross talk. This is awful either way you shake it as It still dosent obscure the fact that you pay full price for the game. You pay full price for online services. Now with EA you pay full price again to even just play what you orginally payed for.

What's next with them? Charge by the Minutes?

The EA leadership really are becoming real ********'s. It's a shame because they used to be one of my alltime favorites as far as games go. Thats quickly dissappearing.

 

[Mister_T]

All I saw on the prompt screen was a requirement for a sign up for EA's online pass. Guess what? Without a code its not free, and on top of it this has a one time use per game title per purchase.

Sony has that too now with their games. I miss the good old days when I could just plop a game in my system or let one of my friends borrow a game with out all this BS. Remember the old Konami code you'd plug into your controller to get secrets in their games (u,u,d,d,l,r,l,r,b,a,start)...yeah, nowadays that would cost you 10 dollars.



The game industry is going to hell.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I miss the days when games came on a cartridge, or even it's entirety on a disc or two, or four, and instead of DLC we had expansion packs. I also miss just being able to install a game on a PC and play it without having to get online and register. I also hate it that developers rely on the fact they can fix a game later on after it has been launched, rather than launch a finished title on release date.
Granted the cost of making games is going up and the cost of games themselves haven't went up that much (I have an old EB add in a Nintendo Power magazine advertising Super Mario Brothers 3, new for the NES, for $49.99), but they are going about making up for lost profit in the wrong way. Expansion content is cool, but requiring you to buy things to unlock what is on the disc is absurd, and retailer-based exclusive content is just wrong. What I think is funny, is that for the impatient, Need For Speed Undercover has a feature in which you can pay to unlock certain features early, and on Dante's Inferno you can pay for souls that are used to upgrade your abilities.
But since used game stores even exist, game companies must be doing good in sales overall or people wouldn't have the games to trade-in at a used store.

 

[Heathen Hammer]

Very bad news

 

[Quintessence]

Here's a novel idea for them: spend less on marketing! I don't care how much a game is or isn't marketed. That's not how I decide what to buy. Excessive marketing tends to make me suspicious. For example, why the blazes did EA market ME3 so much? Seriously... anyone who has played the series and is any kind of gamer would know about the release of that game. They are throwing their money away with marketing this game so excessively!

 

[freethinker44]

Here's a novel idea for them: spend less on marketing! I don't care how much a game is or isn't marketed. That's not how I decide what to buy. Excessive marketing tends to make me suspicious. For example, why the blazes did EA market ME3 so much? Seriously... anyone who has played the series and is any kind of gamer would know about the release of that game. They are throwing their money away with marketing this game so excessively!

I agree, sometimes it is a waste of money. Like with modern warfare 3 commercials. How much did they spend to get Sam Worthington and Jonah Hill for that? And then the special effects on top of that? Modern warfare 3 was a guaranteed best seller, they didn't need to spend a dime on advertising.