Why Do People Hate Ea?

[Galileo]

I really really wanted to say "because you shut down MCO and EnB just so that you could make a new UO and a silly Sims game" .. but still , an interesting article. [i][b]GALI[/b][/i]

[url="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/14/why-do-people-hate-ea?utm_source=Monday%20newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6.19%20Dynamic%20Newsletter_5186_242511_242549&utm_content=16397796"]http://www.ign.com/a...ontent=16397796[/url]

[Ryle [N7R]]

Jesus read the comments.

Sounds like a bunch of ex ENB players doesnt it

[Dragonsmurf]

EA is like microsoft and apple, all they want is money they don't care they get it just as long as they make it. EA also is one of the companies behind the prohibition of used game sales, there is just so much that EA is doing it isn't even funny most of it is bad.

[wootage]

For a counterpoint in a less serious vein, [url="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/5946-Why-Do-People-Hate-EA"]try this guy.[/url] It is NSFW for music type and some on-topic swearing tho.

[Mauiman]

For me personally I was trying to get a Hot key for some Night vision to Command and Conquer Renegade and they told me to "Figure it out ye dummy!" <- Cleaned up version right there. And hung up on me. And that is just one of the mishaps that I had aside from EA Closing EnB.

[Reon]

yeah...really...EA is not some monster out to ruin your day, they are like any other corporation worried about profit, they just have lousy public relations. Some corporations like Apple and Sony will go out of their way to produce a public identity and brand that is pleasing to everyone while trying to make it at least appear like they care for their customers. EA? They aren't quite as worried about that.

With that being said, at the end of the day, these aren't like some demon spawn here to destroy everything you love...but they are worried about money...but so is every corporation out there. So, buy small...buy private...support free speech.

[Thrangar]

You guys dont know the half of it...I dont like em because of the way they mistreated/maybe still do their employes Edited June 20, 2012 by Thrangar

[Dragonsmurf]

When it pertains to customer service, EA has been really good to me.

[Riz]

[quote name='Dragonfury' timestamp='1340221136' post='59257']
When it pertains to customer service, EA has been really good to me.
[/quote]

Man I remember when E&B switched from open beta to live. Took forever to get someone in India to actually help me get my beta account changed over so I could play.

[Yuritau]

Personally I hate EA because they purchase, exploit, and disband otherwise great game companies just to turn a buck, instead of trying to just make better games.

[Kyp [LDEV]]

The only reason they do this is players buy from them, plain and to the point. If players would collectively withhold their money, you can bet their bottom dollar they would change their stance after sufficiently starving for cash for a bit.

[Klyde]

EA's moto "If ya can't beat em... buy em, close em, destroy em, absorb em, etc" lol. ;P

paraphrasing of course, all the usual disclamers etc.

[Yuritau]

[quote name='Kyp' timestamp='1340327982' post='59363']
The only reason they do this is players buy from them, plain and to the point. If players would collectively withhold their money, you can bet their bottom dollar they would change their stance after sufficiently starving for cash for a bit.
[/quote]

This is why I make a concerted effort to not buy any EA games (even if I REALLY want to play them, like Mass Effect 3, which I'm still holding out on) until the second price drop. They usually go $60, then drop to $40, then drop to either $30 or $20. I figure by the time the second price drop hits, they've already done their "We made X monies" calculation.

[Tienbau]

got nothing against them at all - if they do a good game (hello Mass Effect!) I'll buy it.

They could treat their in-house coders a bit better but I acknowledge I know nothing about the pressures of running large companies, where share price, dividends and the CEO's yacht and Ferrari collection are the prime directives.

[Searing]

[quote name='Klyde' timestamp='1340329002' post='59364']
EA's moto "If ya can't beat em... buy em, close em, destroy em, absorb em, etc" lol. ;P

paraphrasing of course, all the usual disclamers etc.
[/quote]


south park has an episode on EA that is right on target ......they nailed it imho

Searing

[jrichards]

Here is the sad thing. If you have the money, hire the right talent, and give that talent the time and resources it needs it will result in profits. If you do a good job with advertising and PR those profits can be huge. If you continue to do this your company can make billions of dollars. This happens in all entertainment industries. Now every company makes mistakes, and tries to correct them.....but, and I have worked with and for people that work/worked at EA, the company just does not ever focus on correcting its long standing failures....and even when it does it usually overshadows that by generating another huge problem that people blast them for. It is the most derivitive game publisher by far and even though they have paid to have very big name dev teams/companies come work for them/with them its the distance between the few big devs and all the other generic devs that really irks me. Even worse EA will hire a dev team, make a lot of money on a game/IP that it owns, and then not renew that dev team's contract. This is standard operating practice for them.

Now people can argue that corporations are all about making money and providing stock returns.....but etertainment companies have it a bit tougher don't they. Their products are really not needed. Its just very, very easy to say, "screw that company and screw that game" and not buy it.....for whatever reason. I think game publishers are going to be in for a rude awakening in the coming years, what with kickstarter games in development, and the ability/conflagration of so many devs being able to sell right to their customers via steam or other software distribution. Is EA going to fail? Probably not.....but its stuck with the image that it has created and continues to cultivate/enforce through its actions.

Now personally I have followed dev and production teams for going on 10 years....mostly after I started working for a game publisher and saw who really controlled what product reached players hands. These guys usually are able to control to a certain extent, unless the VP cut their funding or fire them, the fun factor of a game. I stopped likley Blizzard when they lost theie design teams/devs that developer WoW and D2. Thos guys are working at Runic games and Arena Net and you can see it in their work. Sure the budgets arent as big.....but damn their games are fun. Valve continues to be a strong supporter of game innovation and supporting independent development. They stuck to their guns and are one of the only independent devs, now publishers, that have not sold out......and you know that wasnt an easy decision when EA is offering hundred of millions of dollars when they only produced 1 game. My money is going to go to those artists, writers, director's, devs, and publishers that consistently make games that they actually want to play.....and almsot more importently.....do play.

BTW, ever wonder about EA, Activision/Blizzard, THQ, and Bethesda's devs/producers and how much time they spend playing the games that they develop? I will give you a hint, from personal experience and those of trusted friends, that only one of the listed 'large' game production companies have a majority of their work force (not just QA) playing their games months after release......any guess on which one it is (hint its the smallest one)? If you can't make a product that you want to watch, read, listen to, or play then your company, as an entertainment company, is failing to meet the most basic values of your company. I mean does anyone at Chevron not put chevron gas in their cars because they find it is not as good quality as other companies...or Nabisco, or Heinz, or Ford, or.....well any company that produces a product? But hey, so what, a paycheck is good and people shouldnt be upset that they game medicore games, with a few top noth ones, as long as they can pay for stuff like homes, ferrari's and vacations. Thats really why people make games right....for the paycheck. I mean god forbid their company was only slightly better than a 3rd world clothing manufacturers or mid-west fast food companies.......did EA's COO or the reporter say that in that article and actually think that was a compliment? Are they serious....thats why EA blows so much more than the other goofball publishers that just don't get the industry that they work in.

[Rossdie [BT]]

Hey Tienbau, I am wondering how you will feel about it when you and the other DEV's get this EMU done and EA decides to step in and say shut it down now or face a lawsuit and/or jail time. If they get this whole, can't sell used games thing to go through, that's most likely going to happen as this is technically piracy.

[Kyp [LDEV]]

We would comply with any legal restrictions assuming we had no alternative.

[Reon]

hrm...well, on consoles they are going to make people pay a fee to play a used game...I knew about that, but I had not seen anything about computer games being hit with that.

Should they try to do that, how exactly could they get around it? I mean, if the client is not modified by the devs, and no one is making money off of it, how is it that EA would be able to do anything to people like myself that still have their EA account information, their retail box, as well as game time cards? I did not buy the game second hand, and my EA accounts can prove that...so any laws passed regarding the sale of used games should still not affect anyone with the original game or had an account with EA. I am sure it would force the removal of the hosting of the free demo from net7 though.

Either way, hopefully EA does not get their way. Should they ever manage to, I hope that the community can adapt...if EA decides to once again screw us over that the community could work toward making a similar game using an already established game engine(like Crysis or Real,ect).

Let us not run around screaming yet, I am hopeful the sky is not falling

EDIT: should a former MMO become the target of a used game law, it may be a good thing...what if a court decided that EA would need to receive their fees for the distribution of a used game? The court could determine the original retail price or $9.00 per month would need to be paid to EA for the use of the title, but if that happened, it would force a usable service. I know some people would rather shoot themselves in the foot than pay EA anything, but if it worked out that way, EA would not be able to take legal action and we would not have this whole "Is EA going to shut the emu down" thing to worry about. Cause technically, if any laws passed concern the sale of used games, a ruling should only affect that portion of it...and if the services are not being provided by EA, and we aren't doing anything illegal like modifying the client, all of us would have paid for what we are using and we should be free to play as long as we want. Edited June 22, 2012 by Reon

[Statyomota]

I played Motor City Online as bester in uptown EA done a market sweep a few weeks befor release I liked the game but after release no more ads also was very hard for europeans to play as EA wanted gameplay paid in dollars. If this game was marketed better may have had a longer run than 2 years. Then went on to Earth and Beyond they done the same thing market sweep prior to release then nothing. They ruined POGO when they took it over charge a fee and make it a big deal if they give out a mug or a t-shirt. Removed the jackpots that would grow to 2900 bucks doubled for club members now if some one wins 200 bucks they think it is a big deal. I will never buy another online game from them.

[Terrell [BT]]

I never saw a single EnB ad on TV here in FL. Can't say for anyone else what they saw, but I do think that EnB should have been advertised at least a little. Saw plenty of Sims ads after EnB was closed.

[Klyde]

Same here Terrell, the marketing of the game was horrible. I can only assume it was due to EA wanting to kill it off quicker.

[Terrell [BT]]

[quote name='Klyde' timestamp='1340488012' post='59604']
Same here Terrell, the marketing of the game was horrible. I can only assume it was due to EA wanting to kill it off quicker.
[/quote]

You're probably right. I first heard of the game, when I saw it on a shelf at a circuit city in late Dec of 2003. My sister & I used to do a post-Christmas gift thing, where we'd pick a store and each buy the other the item of their choice. EnB was my choice. Haven't seen many good space games before or since.

I liked the old Wing Commander series of games, but I liked Star Control 2 more. Would love to see more games where a person can freely explore various areas of space, find things, combat, etc, but I think that one's brains should be at least as important as one's guns.

[Riz]

I saw an E&B ad ONCE, on a one of the big networks then never again.

[Gordo]

I too never once saw an ad here in the south. My son turned me on to the game.

Back to the original question....2 things. My dislike for EA is their Juggernaut attitude. Absorbing Westwood like the Borg collective, shutting down EnB and the fact they made The Sims. ( Bleccch!)


Ok, so that's 3 or 4. Hey, I'm an old guy and missed my siesta today Edited June 30, 2012 by Gordo