3659 réponses à ce sujet

[craigdolphin]

Stanley, I think you present a false dichotomy. There is also the desire to change the requirement that Origin be a madatory install with ME3. That is an entirely rational and perfectly possible desire: it only requires that EA change its mind about not making it optional.

That said, I am in the camp that is willing to let Origin be on my system but not until the data mining opt-out is provided, and the EULA/TOS is reworded to ensure that my access to paid-for content cannot be removed for arbitrary reasons like forums bans and not agreeing with future updates to the EULA.

And if that doesn't happen then that's fine. I can always buy secondhand for console to 'vote with my wallet'. But if EA wants to make their 'offer' more appealing, then that's what needs to happen for me to take the bait. The ball is in your court.

[LittleDiegito]

dmex wrote...

3) Online is only mandatory for the initital activation of the game on your Origin account, your account is also not deleted and you don't lose your games after a period of time (current expiration of games on Origin is 2999-01-01 12:00:00 GMT)

But having the service running on my machine wasting space even if Im not online is mandatory

[themastakillah]

the answer that ''bioware/ea employees'' give will be always the same; nobody imposes u to buy mass effect 3 if u dont like origin, its our product and your money. But i say: nobody told me when i BOUGHT ME1 and ME2, that ME3 will be requiring ORIGIN. Now i have a broken/incomplete product because i will not install origin on my pc.

Question: What should i do? is ea gonna refund my money because they can sell me a complete product?; probably not; is ea gonna release a version origin free? i doubt that.
[inappropriate comments removed]

Modifié par Stanley Woo, 27 janvier 2012 - 03:26 .

[wolfsite]

themastakillah wrote...

the answer that ''bioware/ea employees'' give will be always the same; nobody imposes u to buy mass effect 3 if u dont like origin, its our product and your money. But i say: nobody told me when i BOUGHT ME1 and ME2, that ME3 will be requiring ORIGIN. Now i have a broken/incomplete product because i will not install origin on my pc.

Question: What should i do? is ea gonna refund my money because they can sell me a complete product?; probably not; is ea gonna release a version origin free? i doubt that.
[inappropriate comments removed]

No you don't, ME1, ME2, and ME3 are each it's own product.  It has an arching story yes but there is nothing forcing you starting at the beginning or stopping at any time during each product.

Also Origin didn't even exist when ME1 came out and probablt was barely Alpha (Of course certain people will say I'm wrong but unless they can show proof Origin was in development for the past some odd years it's a non issue, unless they claim the EA DL manager but again, whaty proof do we have that they intended to turn that into Origin).

This is just like when Half-Life 2 came out.  Lot of people were upset with Valve since many did not want Steam but to continue the story you needed Steam..... look were Steam is now and the majority have accepted it.


I'll just sit back now and let people gut me for having an opinion that isn't the same as there's.

Modifié par Stanley Woo, 27 janvier 2012 - 03:26 .

[Dragoonlordz]

craigdolphin wrote...

Stanley, I think you present a false dichotomy. There is also the desire to change the requirement that Origin be a madatory install with ME3. That is an entirely rational and perfectly possible desire: it only requires that EA change its mind about not making it optional.

That said, I am in the camp that is willing to let Origin be on my system but not until the data mining opt-out is provided, and the EULA/TOS is reworded to ensure that my access to paid-for content cannot be removed for arbitrary reasons like forums bans and not agreeing with future updates to the EULA.

And if that doesn't happen then that's fine. I can always buy secondhand for console to 'vote with my wallet'. But if EA wants to make their 'offer' more appealing, then that's what needs to happen for me to take the bait. The ball is in your court.

This is how that scenario will end.

[Dragoonlordz]

themastakillah wrote...

the answer that ''bioware/ea employees'' give will be always the same; nobody imposes u to buy mass effect 3 if u dont like origin, its our product and your money. But i say: nobody told me when i BOUGHT ME1 and ME2, that ME3 will be requiring ORIGIN. Now i have a broken/incomplete product because i will not install origin on my pc.

Question: What should i do? is ea gonna refund my money because they can sell me a complete product?; probably not; is ea gonna release a version origin free? i doubt that.
So we gotta find an agreement because i will finish my shepards story in a way or another and without origin on my way.

Why should they refund you anything, you bought and enjoyed the previous two games. Thats what you paid for and thats what you got. If you wish to buy ME3 you have that option, if your preference or principles are higher priority then that good for you but the game will still be there waiting on shelves if you ever change you mind.

Modifié par Dragoonlordz, 26 janvier 2012 - 11:41 .

[SpringMan]

This is just like when Half-Life 2 came out.

If Bioware continues the story of its predecessors the way Valve did with Half-Life, i won't bee too sad missing part 3.
Of either.

[Gatt9]

dmex wrote...

Zargon VII wrote...
Stanley, the problem is that EA has earned a very bad reputation over the last couple of years for actions such as:

1. Deactivating multiplayer servers for games within 2 years of the title's release.  For instance, EA deactivated the servers for their entire '10 series of sports games shortly after the '12 series came out.  In contrast, 2ksports still has servers running for their '10 games which were markedly less popular than EA's.  You can still play the original Starcraft on Blizzard's battle.net and that game has been out since 1998 and had a new sequel last year as well.
2. Online pass for consoles - This has rubbed lots of people the wrong way including myself.  Somehow EA survived for 30 years without this assault on used game purchasers and hearing them try to justify this is just sad.  It's a shameless ripoff, pure and simple.  It's especially galling that they would charge people for online play considering how fast they turn the servers off. 
3. Online mandatory for everything - Some games don't need multiplayer, in fact many people feel this way about ME3.  EA is doing this combined with their above actions in their seemingly constant push to turn games into a monthly service rather than something you own.  See also losing Origin account deletion and losing all your games if you don't play them for two years.
3. Origin launch - Obviously a lot of people are unhappy about this.  In my mind, there were two ways EA could have gone about creating a competitor to Steam.
a. Have it open to all publishers and compete with Steam based on the tried and true capitalistic principles of price and service.  EA should at least be able to sell their own games cheaper on Origin than on Steam since they are eliminating a middleman.
b. Force it on people hoping they won't notice or care by making it mandatory for new releases and charging full retail prices.  This shows they have no intent of truly competing with Steam.  Then steal people's data on their computers and keep it/sell it just because you can.

To sum up my diatribe, EA has a huge image problem.  I would welcome Origin if I could opt out of its data collection, it minded its own business and it tried to compete with Steam honestly based on prices and service. A world where both Origin and Steam occassionally had great sales would be great.  Since there seems to be no sign of this, I hate it and will never install it.  If that means I never play another EA/Bioware game, life will go on and I have loved Bioware games since Baldur's Gate but there are plenty of other game companies out there. 

Just recapping two things I mentioned about Origin earlier in the thread:

1) Origin solves the issue of servers being shutdown at EOL (End-of-Life) as newer games will all use the one  Origin server.

3) Online is only mandatory for the initital activation of the game on your Origin account, your account is also not deleted and you don't lose your games after a period of time (current expiration of games on Origin is 2999-01-01 12:00:00 GMT)

You misunderstood his point 3.  He was refering to the mandatory inclusion of Multiplayer in ME3 and reportedly DA3,  despite the fact that it makes no sense to add Multiplayer to a Single Player narrative driven game.

Especially since increasingly the evidence points to the multiplayer being implemented in such a way as to be nigh-unavoidable.

Hence,  his point is that this is a major problem for a sizeable number of people,  and Origin is a key component of this strategy.  It's not a digital delivery service so much as it being a multi-faceted DRM effort,  so pervasive that it's affecting the design of games where it shouldn't.

Contrast this to Steam.  Multiplayer is not a mandatory feature for Steam's games,  but EA games it apparently is.

[dmex]

[quote]Zargon VII wrote...
[quote]dmex wrote...

Just recapping two things I mentioned about Origin earlier in the thread:

1) Origin solves the issue of servers being shutdown at EOL (End-of-Life) as newer games will all use the one  Origin server.
[/quote]

So are you saying I could play FIFA 12 or Battlefield 3 online multiplayer in 10 years?  This would be a marked and welcome change from EA's actions lately.  
[/quote] 

Yes.

[quote]Zargon VII wrote... 
[quote]dmex wrote...
3) Online is only mandatory for the initital activation of the game on your Origin account, your account is also not deleted and you don't lose your games after a period of time (current expiration of games on Origin is 2999-01-01 12:00:00 GMT)
[/quote]

Is this a new policy, I saw on several news websites that an Origin account would be deleted and all games forfeited if you account was inactive for 24 months.  If that is not true, that is a welcome change as well.  All that's needed is a permanent opt out for data collection and I would consider living with this as I believe that would make it equivalent to the annoyance of Steam.  The post about not sharing information with third parties is not good enough for me, as far as I am concerned the only thing EA needs to know is my credit card number at the time I buy something and my email address to register the account and send me a receipt.  Will they publicly commit to this?
[/quote]
[/quote] 

It's not a new policy, the media assumed this was the case and created stories to bring hits to their sites.

The protocal has used these dates for expiration since way before most even knew of Origin, the original issue the media based their assumptions on was that after 24 months your account would become inactive but they didn't mention you would need to just contact support to reactivate/revalidate your account (email etc...).

[TheRealJayDee]

Tony_Knightcrawler wrote...

That is their current EULA. It has changed and it will change again and you have to agree to all changes. Oh and any changes to EULA are on their website, which it is assumed you are keeping up with. Yeah, it's expected that you read that 40 page document every week.

Ah well, sometimes I feel we're moving a little towards this. I just wanna play Mass Effect 3.

Also, sticky this thread.

Modifié par TheRealJayDee, 26 janvier 2012 - 11:54 .

[YohkoOhno]

I don't see a need for them to sticky the thread. Half the active participants are just using it to both vent complaints or get into debates about things being in the cloud, EULAs, morality, etc.

Personally, I think they should have just add the relevant details about Origin being required to one of the other FAQs, and just make it read only. I've got no problem with debating, but after a certain point it get hijacked by the extremist viewpoints and any legit questions are getting buried in the noise.

[chance52]

Tony_Knightcrawler wrote...

wolfsite wrote...
EA will never share your personally identifiable information with third  parties without your consent.

That sorta contradicts what you are saying.   Plus any information that is shared is anonymous info (Tech specs, types of games played) which can in no way link to the player.  All this is pretty much standard with any company these days.

That is their current EULA. It has changed and it will change again and you have to agree to all changes. Oh and any changes to EULA are on their website, which it is assumed you are keeping up with. Yeah, it's expected that you read that 40 page document every week.

Here is an example of their recent EULA...

2. Consent to Collection and Use of Data.



You agree that EA may
collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that
identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address),
operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to
successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and
peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the
provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product
support and other services to you, including online services. EA may
also use this information combined with personal information for
marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also
share that data with our third party service providers in a form that
does not personally identify you. IF YOU DO NOT WANT EA TO COLLECT, USE,
STORE, TRANSMIT OR DISPLAY THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, PLEASE
DO NOT INSTALL OR USE THE APPLICATION. This and all other data provided
to EA and/or collected by EA in connection with your installation and
use of this Application is collected, used, stored and transmitted in
accordance with EA’s Privacy Policy located at www.ea.com. To the extent
that anything in this section conflicts with the terms of EA’s Privacy
Policy, the terms of the Privacy Policy shall control.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So 'yes' EA will not hand out information without customer consent....consent that EA can and has made mandatory before.

Or do you expect consent will be a box you have the option to check 'yes' or 'no'?

Also if it was and actual option that would sort of appease both sides.

[Dragoonlordz]

YohkoOhno wrote...

I don't see a need for them to sticky the thread. Half the active participants are just using it to both vent complaints or get into debates about things being in the cloud, EULAs, morality, etc.

Personally, I think they should have just add the relevant details about Origin being required to one of the other FAQs, and just make it read only. I've got no problem with debating, but after a certain point it get hijacked by the extremist viewpoints and any legit questions are getting buried in the noise.

True, I mentioned as much while back. 

[Forbidden]

dmex wrote...
1) Origin solves the issue of servers being shutdown at EOL (End-of-Life) as newer games will all use the one  Origin server.

Origin is much more efficient, it lets them EoL at the press of a button.  When the new yearly version comes out, they can just tell Origin to revoke access to the old one for bother single and multiplayer.

3) Online is only mandatory for the initital activation of the game on your Origin account, your account is also not deleted and you don't lose your games after a period of time (current expiration of games on Origin is 2999-01-01 12:00:00 GMT)

Until you get a new game and you need to let Origin out of it's box again and it will update.  During this update, it can do anything it could do if you had left it online the whole time.  This includes the ability to revoke your old games.

Consider: The EULA only stipulates that the games you purchase will be available for download for a year.  Now why do you think EA put that in there?

[spylord20000]

Has the question about uninstalling Origin after authentication been answered?

And does anyone know if ME3 uses a system similar to ME2 for DLC, like login into the BW social network to authentical all your DLC.

[dmex]

Forbidden wrote...
Consider: The EULA only stipulates that the games you purchase will be available for download for a year.  Now why do you think EA put that in there?

The EULA doesn't contain the words 'months', 'year' or '12' so I don't know why you're thinking downloads are limited to one year.

[OperativeX]

The main handful of things making hate and boycott Origin is that it doesn't offer a method for truly backing up your games. If you backup your downloaded game you can only re-install it 10 times (for older games) or 5 times (for newer games). This may sound silly because who would want to install a game more than 5 or 10 times right?
It is NOT silly at all because PC enthusiasts (myself included) often upgrade parts. From HDD's to SSD's, new CPU, new GPU's and re-installing operating systems. All those things take away one of your activations. You soon run out.
Ubisoft have similar activation limits. Just recently Guru3D.com were considering never using a Ubisoft game again because of that very reason. They actually ran out of activations during benchmarks tests coz each time they swapped a graphics card out an activation was lost. Origin did the same to me.
Technical support took days to get me up and running again with one more activation for all my games. The next time i upgraded my machine and lost my final activation again i didn't even bother contacting EA. Why because the service stinks and really, i shouldn't have to go through this as a paying customer. I actually rebought all my Origin games on Steam and have had no trouble re-installing those games multiple times.
The other thing that puts me off Origin is the grotesque obsurdity where a forum ban = you are banned from your Origin games library. 'Disgusted' does not quite cover it.
I don't expect EA to change their ways because they are pig-headed and arrogant. So i simply refuse to spend money on them. Until they stop treating us like thieves and insulting our intelligence, EA won't see a penny out of my pocket.

[Stanley Woo]

Killjoy Cutter wrote...

We keep seeing these "But it doesn't do that anymore!" posts as if that just fixes everything nice and dandy. 

But it doesn't. 

The only thing that will actually address the issue at hand is dumping the mandate for Origin on physical copies, because the history of Origin's behavior and EULA, because of the one-sided changeablility of the EULA, because of the long period of evasiveness regarding Origin and ME3, and because of EA's general history of acting like they don't give a (darn) as long as they manage to get the customers' money. 

So yes, the original intent will always matter -- we have absolutely no reason to trust EA to not keep attempting to do the same thing over and over. 

See also, Facebook. 

Then we have no argument, Killjoy Cutter. You're arguing for "no Origin" and we have already said ME3 will have Origin. If you're that paranoid about a company potentially changing their terms because it's stated in the "contract" that they can, you had better read the contracts for your credit cards, insurance policies, health plan, cell phone, and any other software you use.

Yes, sure, a changeable contract means that the risk of something bad happening is not zero. But remember that possibility and probability (or likelihood) are two very different things. It is possible for any person of a given nation to become that nation's rules, but how probable (or likely) is that to happen. And should you live your life banking on that possibility?

If you have that little trust in the comapny, Killjoy Cutter, then be done with it. Refuse to buy Mass Effect 3 due to Origin being required and that will be that. You will need fear a changing ME3 EULA no more. But if, on the other hand, you still really really want to play ME3 and hope to persuade EA to maybe change some of their policies (to the good, of course) in the future, the possibility, I imagine, is greater than zero. Maybe not much greater, but I imagine it's greater.

[Wittand25]

OperativeX wrote...

The main handful of things making hate and boycott Origin is that it doesn't offer a method for truly backing up your games. If you backup your downloaded game you can only re-install it 10 times (for older games) or 5 times (for newer games). This may sound silly because who would want to install a game more than 5 or 10 times right?
It is NOT silly at all because PC enthusiasts (myself included) often upgrade parts. From HDD's to SSD's, new CPU, new GPU's and re-installing operating systems. All those things take away one of your activations. You soon run out.
Ubisoft have similar activation limits. Just recently Guru3D.com were considering never using a Ubisoft game again because of that very reason. They actually ran out of activations during benchmarks tests coz each time they swapped a graphics card out an activation was lost. Origin did the same to me.
Technical support took days to get me up and running again with one more activation for all my games. The next time i upgraded my machine and lost my final activation again i didn't even bother contacting EA. Why because the service stinks and really, i shouldn't have to go through this as a paying customer. I actually rebought all my Origin games on Steam and have had no trouble re-installing those games multiple times.
The other thing that puts me off Origin is the grotesque obsurdity where a forum ban = you are banned from your Origin games library. 'Disgusted' does not quite cover it.
I don't expect EA to change their ways because they are pig-headed and arrogant. So i simply refuse to spend money on them. Until they stop treating us like thieves and insulting our intelligence, EA won't see a penny out of my pocket.

You change your hardware more than 5 times a day ?
The number of activations on Origin resets every 24 hours.

[CSunkyst]

It's not just about privacy, I simply REFUSE to pay full price to lease a game. I resent having the first two parts of an epic game dangled in my face only to have the finale yanked out from under me. And Steam isn't exempt from this, I'm no fan of DD in general. If the publisher still has complete control over content that I bought, then I don't really "own" it now, do I? Origin can yank away ME3 any time they like.

I'm the kind of guy who frequently plays the games he loves YEARS after the fact. I still regulaly fire up Thief, Doom, Master of Orion, and a ton of older games. Thanks to this DD DRM nonsense, I feel it's very likely that I WON'T be able to reinstall ME3 10 or maybe even just 5 years down the road (maybe even much sooner than that if the much despised Origin service flops). I will have payed for it, but it will never be mine in any meaningful way. It's better not to play ME3 at all than "buy" it, become attached, and then inevitably have something that might be special to me ripped away for all time.

I'm a 35 year old adult, and I resent Origin (AND Steam) treating me like a child. I should NOT have to have some constantly running monitoring software's "permission" to play a game I legally purchased. That's all Steam and Origin are, software "services" designed to monitor you, and treat you like a potential criminal. (meanwhile the "Jack Sparrows" of the world will be able to play these games hassle free from now untill the day they die, with out big brother keeping an antagonistic watchful eye on them)

PC gaming is already a lost cause, if big brother is the only way to save it, I'm not interested. If the freaking consoles would only support a keyboard and mouse I'd never game via PC at all anymore, the DRM has gotten completely out of hand. And I'll bet you next gen it'll be all this same nonsense on the consoles.

My gaming days will probably be ending quite soon. Time to find a new hobby.

Modifié par CSunkyst, 27 janvier 2012 - 04:17 .

[devSin]

dmex wrote...

3) Online is only mandatory for the initital activation of the game on your Origin account, your account is also not deleted and you don't lose your games after a period of time (current expiration of games on Origin is 2999-01-01 12:00:00 GMT)

Doesn't this just say that Origin doesn't actually solve anything?

Unless I keep Mass Effect 3 installed on the same disk in the same computer for the next ten years, I'm still SOL when I want to play it because I have to install it but can then no longer activate it.

So if nothing changes in the next 10 years, sure, you can run Origin in offline mode to play!

In the real world, you no longer have the ability to use your purchased product.

Or are you simply saying that the Origin server A) is used for both activation and login and has relatively less chance of going offline in 2020 than whatever other server is used to activate any current EA game?

Modifié par devSin, 27 janvier 2012 - 04:31 .

[Pupuppu]

Stanley Woo wrote...

Yes, sure, a changeable contract means that the risk of something bad happening is not zero. But remember that possibility and probability (or likelihood) are two very different things. It is possible for any person of a given nation to become that nation's rules, but how probable (or likely) is that to happen. And should you live your life banking on that possibility?

The likelihood of this to happen with Electronic Arts in the last 6 months was 100%. I bought my games from 2007 at the EA store. The EULA was fine and "customer friendly". Then I got taste what can happen to your purchases.
I was presented with the "you give up all your rights and we sell your data to whomever we want, because we will build facebook2" EULA.
So i choose not to accept it. The support now told me, that I can't access my games anymore. They didn't offer an alternate route to download or provide the games and told me I'm out of luck.
It's not a possibility but reality.
After beeing caught and incoming legal trouble EA backs down, they now even have different EULAs for differnt countries (still fail to present the correct one though on installation). I still don't know which one applies to me.

[Luvinn]

I just still can't understand the reason for this garbage platform being forced. A few reasons pop to mind too.

1) The vast majority of people will rather use steam over origin for games that are offered on both.

2) I'm pretty confident no one wants this. Maybe some people don't mind, but I highly doubt anyone is doing jumping jacks in their room because they are forcing origin.

3) Origin is still a bug filled mess that offers a mere fraction of games compare to steam. Lack of Indy games in particular. Maybe they will get them later, but the damage is done when I have 100+ of them already.

4) A reason that really irks me. I do NOT want my games turning into social media. If I wanted to play with friends, I'd get an MMO. Stop advertising this, "play games with and keep in touch with all your friends" as a selling point for origin.

If this is the future of BiowareEA games, then a certain movie scene from "A Bronx Tale" comes to mind. The part where he says for 20 bucks, you never have to see him again. Well, if these shady practices continue, then I'll pay 60 bucks, buy the game,  then I'm done. Not like there is anything coming out I want from either company anyway. DA3 is bargin bin buy at best.

Modifié par Luvinn, 27 janvier 2012 - 04:55 .

[tishyw]

Luvinn wrote...

I just still can't understand the reason for this garbage platform being forced. A few reasons pop to mind too.

1) The vast majority of people will rather use steam over origin for games that are offered on both.

2) I'm pretty confident no one wants this. Maybe some people don't mind, but I highly doubt anyone is doing jumping jacks in their room because they are forcing origin.

3) Origin is still a bug filled mess that offers a mere fraction of games compare to steam. Lack of Indy games in particular. Maybe they will get them later, but the damage is done when I have 100+ of them already.

4) A reason that really irks me. I do NOT want my games turning into social media. If I wanted to play with friends, I'd get an MMO. Stop advertising this, "play games with and keep in touch with all your friends" as a selling point for origin.

If this is the future of BiowareEA games, then a certain movie scene from "A Bronx Tale" comes to mind. The part where he says for 20 bucks, you never have to see him again. Well, if these shady practices continue, then I'll pay 60 bucks, buy the game,  then I'm done. Not like there is anything coming out I want from either company anyway. DA3 is bargin bin buy at best.

Point 4 above, EA are very focused on integrating social media into their games, they're doing the same sort of thing with the new expansion pack for Sims 3.  I think they've seen the success of Facebook and Farmville and want in.
Personally I play computer games to avoid other people, so this type of advertising is just going to put me off.  I'm obviously not their target market

[Gatt9]

Stanley Woo wrote...

Killjoy Cutter wrote...

We keep seeing these "But it doesn't do that anymore!" posts as if that just fixes everything nice and dandy. 

But it doesn't. 

The only thing that will actually address the issue at hand is dumping the mandate for Origin on physical copies, because the history of Origin's behavior and EULA, because of the one-sided changeablility of the EULA, because of the long period of evasiveness regarding Origin and ME3, and because of EA's general history of acting like they don't give a (darn) as long as they manage to get the customers' money. 

So yes, the original intent will always matter -- we have absolutely no reason to trust EA to not keep attempting to do the same thing over and over. 

See also, Facebook. 

Then we have no argument, Killjoy Cutter. You're arguing for "no Origin" and we have already said ME3 will have Origin. If you're that paranoid about a company potentially changing their terms because it's stated in the "contract" that they can, you had better read the contracts for your credit cards, insurance policies, health plan, cell phone, and any other software you use.

Yes, sure, a changeable contract means that the risk of something bad happening is not zero. But remember that possibility and probability (or likelihood) are two very different things. It is possible for any person of a given nation to become that nation's rules, but how probable (or likely) is that to happen. And should you live your life banking on that possibility?

If you have that little trust in the comapny, Killjoy Cutter, then be done with it. Refuse to buy Mass Effect 3 due to Origin being required and that will be that. You will need fear a changing ME3 EULA no more. But if, on the other hand, you still really really want to play ME3 and hope to persuade EA to maybe change some of their policies (to the good, of course) in the future, the possibility, I imagine, is greater than zero. Maybe not much greater, but I imagine it's greater.

I believe the major problem here is this...

Could the credit card company change my interest rate to 50%?  Sure.  But they didn't try and start me at 50%,  and I have no reason to expect them to.

Did EA try to start out by scanning every bit on my computer?  Yes.  Then they backpedaled on it later.  But someone,  somewhere,  at EA feels that it's a great idea to scan every bit on my computer.

Further,  what was the purpose of that?  The credit card company's purpose is obvious,  it's immediate financial gain.  EA's purpose is not obvious,  someone at EA had a plan on what they wanted to do with that information,  and it's obvious that the majority of that information is completely useless to EA.  Even the hardware data is useless,  Steam offers it for free and has 40 million data points,  more than 7x what EA claims and that number is likely counting forum accounts.

That's what the problem here is.  We don't know why EA wanted to do that,  or why EA backpedaled on it,  so it is in our best interests to assume that it is not benign.

If EA ever wants me to install Origin,  it would require full disclosure.  Until then,  I'll treat them the same way I treat Ubisoft,  boycott EA's PC products (Although TBH,  ME3's my last game until EA gets over this Online Pass and overboard DLC thing they have going too).