Did you go to the link and watch the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR6-u8OIJTE&context=C4a9a144ADvjVQa1PpcFOaqw6WDbujOFEmchB_dPBkPpFTZ_-KhPQ=?

They ruin studios they take over, they're trying to get the gaming industry to give crappy value while gouging players, and shoving their invasive DRM on people by making the games exclusive to Origin. Some companies make money by earning a good reputation with their customers and giving value for the dollar. Then there's EA.

So basically Valve then, considering all Valve games require Steam at this point. Not to mention they're 100x worse when it comes to micro transactions. Especially since they charge upwards of $7.99 for cosmetic-only hats. They also let you purchase weapons rather than taking the time to unlock them.

And yet EA is clearly evil.

What's wrong with games only being in Origin? That's like complaining Mario is only available through Nintendo. It's theirs and they can do what they want with it. Crappy value? Like what? They make some of the best games in the business, if they didn't they wouldn't sell, plain and simple. If a game svcks people don't buy it, EA doesn't have that problem, people are just jealous of their success.

Microtransactions? So what, you don't want it, don't buy it. If I want it and I buy it and EA makes money on that, who's losing out there? No one.

Charging lots of money for cosmetic stuff is not a problem at all, in my opinion. In real life, there are people spend loads of money to get a particular brand, mostly to say they have it. That doesn't mean the companies setting their prices high are in the wrong, they're simply taking advantage of the demand. When an item as absolutely no effect on the game, it makes no real difference what it costs.

Charging for important, game-changing stuff -and that being the only way to get it- however, is not a nice tactic at all. Especially if they start doing it on the release day.

EDIT: A lot of the problems people have with Origin is not so much having to use it as it being a pain in the [censored] to use (as well as some privacy concerns and other stuff).

Success isn't the best measure of quality. Plenty of mediocre games sell incredibly well, while just as many good games are unprofitable.

Well maybe the people buying these mediocre games think they're awesome games, while what you might call a quality game they might think is mediocre. I've never played an EA game I didn't like. Ever.

95% of items in the TF2 MannCo Store can be found in game either through dropping (may take a while) or trading with other players (can get you what you want fairly quickly. All weapons are cheap, and most hats are relatively cheap.) Nobody is being forced to buy from the MannCo store.

Although, that's slightly less true with the advent of Free to Play. Although, all upgrading to "premium" does is let you get cosmetics through drops, and trade. And you can pay $1 and call it a day.

EAs transactions are more "Sorry, if you want to play with this, or continue to play, you have to give us your money. Lol."

They have all the right in the world to run their business as they see fit, and we as consumers have all the right in the world to tell them they svck and they can shove their crappy games somewhere warm.

I don't buy from EA, Activision or Ubisoft. They're bad for gaming and need to be purged.

Obviously you never played Dragon Age 2. lol

For me it's a close choice between Facebook and Paypal. I really hope Paypal takes the crown for this one though.

Why everyone hates Facebook? The only thing I'd complain about is the unnecessary tide of unnecessary upgrades, but that's the norm with webpages these days (like this forum). Many are concerned about Timeline, but I don't think anyone is so important they would be spied on and if you are concerned about your past screw-ups being visible again, you are the one to blame.

This is a quote:

Spoiler

3#. "You're Just Jealous Because I Made It and You Didn't!"

Batman.

[censored] Batman. Pop culture's greatest hero. Our culture loves him, and he 1) is rich as hell and 2) can only do what he does because he's rich.
Hell, let's look at the annual poll of the most admired people in America for 2011. There are 20 people on that list, and all 20 are rich enough to be in the "hated" 1 percent.

Now go into the bedroom of any child in America. Even before the parents have the chance to call the cops, you'll see posters of pro athletes and pop stars and famous actors dressed as action heroes. Millionaires, all.
That's because all of our [censored] heroes are millionaires.
Hell, every Christmas we celebrate the tale of the wealthy Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. We hate him in the first part of the story, and then we love him by the end. Not because he gave away all of his wealth and became poor (he didn't), but because he stopped acting like a [censored]head. Do you get the incredibly subtle and nuanced message of that story?
You might be tempted to say, "What business is it of yours what I do with my money! Whether I use my cash to give to the poor or for gold paint to spread on naked women like goddamned Goldfinger, it's none of your business!"
Oh, dude, wouldn't life be easier if that were true? If we didn't have to answer to anybody, or feel social pressure based on the choices we make?
But, sadly, all civilization and morality rests on the fact that we have to answer to each other -- the only reason I haven't murdered a dozen people in traffic is because society will bring consequences if I do. And when you're powerful (due to being a politician, or a rich man, or having a position of authority like a priest or police officer), we turn up the heat even more. See, your power eliminates many of society's checks on your [censored]headery (i.e., you can afford better lawyers), and so we have to make up for it in other ways. It's how we keep you in line. The fact that you don't like it only proves that you need it.
And when we hate people, it's always for the same reason: They refuse to acknowledge that their power brings with it any responsibility. It's why we hate bullies and dictators and supervillains. It's why we hate people who benefit hugely from society and then pretend like they're living on an island with a population of only them.

As the largest publisher in the West, they have a responsibility not to be huge dikes about the way they run their business and the industry. Instead, they buy up studios and destroy them; they make Day-1 DLC; they put out poor quality games; they lie to their customers; they ignore their customers; they switch off servers for old games so that you'll buy their new games. Etc.

They have a responsibility to be, well, responsible, and they're not.

Probably because you avoided the ones that weren't up to your standards...

I didn't have anything against Origin initially. Then I tried making an account and it refused to accept my password. It even refused the code I got mailed from them for resetting my password. Haven't bothered with that "service" since.

I like Target.

Personally I don't like Steam either; I think EA takes bigger liberties, although that might only be because some of my (former) favourite franchises are under EA's umbrella whereas I've largely avoided Steam, and even when it's been forced on me e.g. thanks to Skyrim, it seems somehow less onerous. But "somehow less onerous" is still along the lines of "which dog turd would you prefer to tread in?"

Ladies and gentlemen, http://consumerist.com/2012/03/a-round-of-applause-please-for-your-worst-company-in-america-2012-semifinalists.html!

In 5 hours, voting will open for the first match, Bank of America v Walmart. I'll post the link then.

The EA v AT&T match starts tomorrow. I know who I'm voting for. Do you?

I do, thank you.

I'm playing Dragon Age II right now, one of my favorite games of all time so far...so...

I'm sorry, their games are not crappy....at all. Some of the best in the business, and they're not going anywhere. Neither is Activision (I'd say Activision is #1 with EA right behind at #2 in the business).

That's a subjective opinion, though: thing is, DA2 was widely panned. Whilst I personally think some of the criticism was over the top, I think that the game was obviously rushed and its quality suffered as a result. Same with ME3, which I enjoyed overall (ignoring the ending) but which left me with a lingering feeling that it could have been better; and indeed should have, given the cost. If you disagree, that's fine, but that doesn't influence my increasing hesitation to buy anything with the EA logo on it as it's not a mark of quality in my opinion.

Bank of America will win this round and so will AT&T


- What is AT&T?

That's pretty much standard operating procedure.

I put up with it for a while, but kept getting shut out of games that I'd paid for. That steaming pile Dragon Age 2 was the last EA game I'll buy until I see the company do a 180. I know... I'm not holding my breath, either.

Ha ha, oh my. That... never mind. If you enjoy it and are willing to put up with EA's bullpoo, that's all that matters. But for your own sanity's sake recognize that not many are going to share your opinion.

American Telephone and Telegraph. At one time had a monopoly on US telecommunications until the government broke them up. It was bad and went downhill from there.

It's a type of prawn.

EA support are useless.

I had a problem with PB kicking me from bf3 30 seconds into each round

support had me traceroute, release and renew my IP, had me forward ports, disable my antivirus and firewall, edit the loadup services, tinker with registry files, provide numerous screenshots and documentation, and after 7 hours with support they said they couldn't help me.

Guess what the solution was? I had to launch the single player component of the game(!) from a web browser(!) to configure multiplayer, because punkbuster is disabled by default(!) and support never bothered telling me this(!)

Yeah, I'd agree with that. Then I think Bank of America will win overall. I was really hoping Facebook would beat AT&T, because facebook had a chance at beating bank of america, because Facebook has one of the lowest customer satisfaction scores of all e-business.

Depending on how much word got out about EA, I can see them beating AT&T. I have much doubt about EA beating BoA (and I don't think they should, either; but it would be nice to see EA heralded as the second-worst company in America).

By the way, I think I missed the Bank of America v Walmart match by one day. Sorry. I could have sworn there weren't any updates on the polling until today. Not that it matters. BoA will have won that round.

You still get to vote in EA v AT&T today! As soon as I see a link for it...