The most frightening thing about it is that people voted for a video game publisher over other companies that actually did real damage to the global economy, ecology, etc. I guess we know why they keep getting away with it: nobody is paying attention.

I think most people are aware that the banks have almost caused the downfall of civilisation: it's been rather hard to get away from in recent years. It's been in the news so much that banks being a major problem has almost become accepted as just being "the way things are". My guess is that this poll turned the focus on the other businesses who were perhaps getting away with it under the shadow of the financial institutions' misdemeanours. I think that's my interpretation, anyway: of course what the banks are doing is absolutely outrageous, but perhaps people are thinking that other miscreants out there should be called to account as well.

On a purely ethical level maybe EA really does out-do greedy wankers like BoA. I dunno, but as a gamer, I think EA is about the worst thing to persist in the gaming industry. I'd like nothing more than Bioware's dissolution and to see all that remarkable talent migrate to better companies.

I suppose. There are still a slew of non-banking companies that have done real damage to the world over the past year. A video game publisher just seems like pretty small-potatoes in the grand scheme of "worst" companies. To me it speaks to misplaced priorities by the general public, but maybe that's just me.

In part it's that the major league stuff isn't really news; I also made the point a while back that recreation is important to people, more so in difficult times, so they're not going to appreciate being stitched up by companies like EA. Of course I may be giving the complainants far too much credit and perhaps I'm just giving them excuses, I just thought it was perhaps better to find a more positive explanation than some of the "not living in the real world" comments we've seen.

That's fair, and I'm not putting the people down. From a purely pragmatic perspective, though, if people aren't informed about what's happening in their world and their governments then how will unscrupulous persons in power be held responsible for the damage they've done? If the people don't hold them responsible then who will?

I wasn't suggesting that you were, just to be clear! As for the rest of it, I sometimes worry that people are aware of it, but they've come to accept it as normal.

My sentiments exactly, bet the fuss and demands of criminal prosecution would have been much less had ExxonMobil or ConnocoPhillips been the guilty party; thank God there was a predominatly British/European company to take the financial flak for this one!

OT: I'm not a big follower of gaming news, what's EA done now?

I only buy DLCs that are worth it.

Obsidian's DLCs for FONV are a good example of a decent deal in my opinion.

Meh, of course EA is just going to shrug it off, but eventually they'll reach a point where no one will buy their over priced stuffv and you must join the EA server to play online. etc.

The latest rage is about Mass Effect 3's ending and it's day one DLC that is partially contained in the disc. And as BioWare is owned by EA, they are of course responsible for the ending

Ah, intenet. I came for the information, i stayed for the drama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR6-u8OIJTE&feature=share of John Riccitiello talking of one way they're planning on springing micro-transactions on players, namely waiting until they have enough of an emotional investment in the game to just swallow it. There seems to be something really quite seedy about that sort of orchestrated gouging; that's the sort of thing that tends to really get up people's noses. Although he may not be as bad as banksters like, say, Sir Fred Goodwin, I can't help feeling that executives like Riccitiello are killing the games industry.

Huh EA has never wronged me but I guess I'm the minority

Granted EA did state that if they did release the DLC? they said they would have to lay off some people at Bioware as if they wouldn't make enough money..

But even then EA is just taken pointers from Activision DLC?was actually part of Modern Warfare 2 as well and was on the disk founded by PC players prior to "release" of the DLC 6 or so month after release.

EA=hostile takeovers trying to get a monoply on the market,rushed deadlines,microtransactions,poor DLC policies.All in all they have singled handed pretty much destroyed 2 of my favourite series Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

I also strongly detest EA. After Dragon Age 2 Bioware started going downhill. This is right after EA bought them out as well. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Microtransactions? In EA games? Where?

I guess you say that GASH505 because video games in general are entertaining and stimulating. At heart, I feel that way for all video games except horror games because I'm scared of them. I hope I'm right that you're a simple video game lover because if I'm not, I am insulting you kind of saying that you don't know about video games saying in another sense that you're a simple guy that doesn't even care about a how game goes in the gaming industry. But you gotta admit, things like some of the Lord of the Rings games that were made by EA sort of felt crappy. At least Return of the King was like that for me and I know that one was made EA.....hmmm...uh oh maybe it wasn't. Well another example to get my point across is Sims....(Sims series=kind of feels crappy, entertaining though, but still...). I don't know...I'm just guessing GASH505.