181 réponses à ce sujet

[ObserverStatus]

CrustyBot wrote...
EA seems to make a lot of business decisions that look good on paper, but the way they pursue such practices belies a lack of understanding of the IPs and developers they own; as well as a level of contempt or lack of respect they have for the consumer. There is the underlying assumption that gamers are almost privileged to purchase their products and should put up with whatever EA decides to do in order to gain more money.
.

Yeah, their percentage of the industry's marketshare just isn't big enough for them to get away with saying that their customers DON'T deserve the best.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

CrustyBot wrote...

EA seems to make a lot of business decisions that look good on paper, but the way they pursue such practices belies a lack of understanding of the IPs and developers they own; as well as a level of contempt or lack of respect they have for the consumer. There is the underlying assumption that gamers are almost privileged to purchase their products and should put up with whatever EA decides to do in order to gain more money.

I dont care, if their games are good I will purchase them, if they arent I will still purchase them because EA so generously allows us to give them money so who am I to deny this precious gift that they offer us? Would be rude and ungreatful not to, all hail EA.

But my dear CrustyBot is that not how it works? While I wouldnt go as far to say that gamers should feel priveleged for the right to be able to play EA's games there does seem to be the common misconception that gamers are entitled to be able to play EA's games without first agreeing to the developer's terms which is false. EA makes the games and it is the players job to decide whether or not the right to play the game is worth the terms that they must agree to in order to play it. Sure EA does play the gamer for a chump and does try to milk him for as much they can however while this is partially EA being a dick we also have to take into consideration the gamers who allow them to get away with such practices.

But honestly If I find a game worth the price of admission then I will buy it, if not then I will pass it by, such is the covenant between gamer and developer.

As for my feelings on companies like EA and Activision it does saden me that these companies are the major players in the video game industry as they seem to be more focused on the money side of things rather than the art side, it would be nicer to see more video game developers cut their ties with these companies for more creative freedom however unfortunately without the budgets these companies provide it is not such an easy thing to do. Perhaps with this new Kickstarter trend game developers will be able to create freely and independant of such companies but even so it seems there will always be someone treating gamers as suckers.

[Mystic dream]

Honestly if criticizing a developer or company comes with losing a community made title like "true fan", then honestly, so what? Titles like those really have no power, and just makes ones who use them look foolish.

I've been playing bioware games since 2003, and have been moderately satisfied with their products,but lately their games have not been interesting me at all. If that makes me lose my true fan title, so be it. I never really considered myself one in the first place. Just a person who picked and choosed games, which I think were interesting. Bioware games just happened to be in the list pretty often back then.

For any "true fans" out there, just a quick, question, what are the benefits of holding this title, and how do I get to prove myself worthy?

[bleetman]

My overall perception is that, as a company (so as not to suggest everyone who works there thinks as such), they stopped putting 'making a good product and offering a good service' ahead of 'making tons of money' a long, long time ago.

It's also not a situation entirely of their own making. There was a brief time a while back when they started actively backing ambitious, unique games, around about the time Mirrors Edge came out. And what happened? Hardly anyone bought them, and they started leaking money like a seive.

Either way as it stands, I don't much care for them. It's not quite the active, pure blooded contempt I reserve for Activision and Ubisoft just yet, but I can't really remember the last thing they did I was actively enthusiastic about. I was prepared to put up with their crap for a while, because I enjoyed Bioware games more than EA's practices frustrated and angered me. That bubble's burst now, sadly.

bobobo878 wrote...

like banning people from ToR for making money without questing

Uhm. What.

Modifié par bleetman, 03 juin 2012 - 11:35 .

[Tirigon]

Posting my honest opinion on EA would probably get me banned.

The only companies I still trust on name alone are Blizzard and RIOT Games.

And of course CD Project Red, however I am not too happy with the direction they took in TW2.

[Elhanan]

Rockworm503 wrote...

Well yeah you wouldn't be a fan if you didn't like them....
I don't tend to stay fans of things that make feel stupid for being a fan of them.
I wish I could be unrated here as I feel very strongly about this.
I play games for a lot of different reasons.  To help me deal with my pretty lame life.  Help me cope with depression.  An escape from life (something we all need from time to time)  but overall I play because I love them.  I am so passionate because nothing grabs like games do.  Sure I'll rave about a movie or a tv show but when all is said done I would get rid of all of that if I had to to keep gaming.
Sometimes in my excitement i forget that a game company is just that a company with a bottom line and people who need money to live.  But that does not give any of them permission to walk all over me like gaming is something dirty that i should stop doing it because its wrong.
NO thats my dad talking I'm not going to feel dirty for doing what I love but some of these companies give me that feeling.
Capcom is the worst but we're not talking about that.
When I hear the CEO of EA talk about microtransactions and selling ammo for your gun in Battlefield 3 it just made me feel so wrong.  I'm not claiming their evil  lets not be so melodromadic but lets look at the past.
Westwood Studios and many other beloved companies became part of EA and are now gone.  People complain about the Command and Conquer series being ruined and now I'm seeing it happen with Bioware.  Lets not kid ourselves here Bioware is gone they are just EA now.  EA will keep the name Bioware around if they think it will turn a profit.  I truly think Bioware is on its last legs here and its just another trophy on the dead companies EA have taken from us.

Haven't even talked about the first day DLC business and well I don't even want to.  Someone is going to defend it saying "get a job and it wont be an issue"  So missing the point every time.  Its not about money its about how much your willing to take before your just bending over and paying them to screw you over.

TL:DR? I think EA and companies like the EA are the worst thing happening to the game industry and I wont be buying anything from them until I see evidence they've changed.  If Valve with Steam has taught us anything is that you don't have to treat your costumers like crap to make a profit.

So personal, yet what was done against gamers? Charging for DLC, and for some losing their jobs while in their stable of titles. That about it?

A company has the right to charge for their products. If one does not want to do so, simply do not get them, or pick and choose which they want. And all business have turnover; nature of the beast. But unless one has direct knowledge of violations in such dismissals (eg; letting someone go a year before retirement), basing opinions on internet gossip seems unwise at best; bigoted at worst.

Personally, I get the notion of being nickeled to death, esp being out of work now. And I get the whole depression and wanting to escape things, too.; likely a reason I dislike so many so-called fans. But the reality of it all is that we are simply customers, and the company provide a service. If one does not want it; don't get it, or support it.

FWIW; a day and rock at a time....

Modifié par Elhanan, 03 juin 2012 - 11:45 .

[Elhanan]

Persephone wrote...

They made some of my fave games, so I'm fine with them.

I do wish they'd give Bioware a bit more time to develop their games into the jewels they can be. DAII was a diamond in the rough, so much potential lost. ME3 is the best game I have played in years and I love Sims Medieval. So yeah. Far from perfect, but hardly the big bad EVIL many make it out to be.

And this....

[CrazyRah]

Meh, that's how i feel about them. They put out decent games but it was a loooong time since they actually released something that made me excited... eh what the heck

What Crustybot said!

[Persephone]

Tirigon wrote...

Posting my honest opinion on EA would probably get me banned.

The only companies I still trust on name alone are Blizzard and RIOT Games.

And of course CD Project Red, however I am not too happy with the direction they took in TW2.

After the complete and utter mess they made of Diablo 3, Blizzard has neither my trust nor will it get any more of my money. Ever.

[RedArmyShogun]

Unlike some of the above I'll keep it short.

A Company that cares just enough about its fans to milk a franchise, but cares more for its bottomline, and so long as its sales are high will remain billigerant towards its...customers that protest. And why shouldn't they? RPG and PC sales where most of the protest as of late are coming from, and not a big part of the borrom line for them. So long as NFL, NBA, and its other shooter and sports titles remain at large, they will act so as they have toward its even smaller RTS market.

[Apfelweinbrauer]

Sajji wrote...
Electronic Arts? How do you view them?

A company that should stick with its' only strength, sports games (and maybe shooters). Yes, I will admit it, EA sports games are pretty good (for the most time), they also published some decent shooters, but besides that, everything else they are trying almost always fails and ends up ruining a formerly well known and respected  game developer (*cough* Maxis, Origin, WestWood and maybe soon(?) BioWare *cough*)

Seriously, EA is some kind of twisted king Midas, everything they touch immediately turns into garbage...

Why? A simple answer to a simple question: soul! EA has none.
Of course they aren't devil incarnate or something like that, they just don't have even the slightest clue how to make a video game that's even slightly emotionally compelling.
For example, try playing Crysis 2, technically it's a good game, decent graphics, good gameplay everything seems to be alright, but this game is just so plain boring and devoid of any fun, it's barely tolerable.
Or take a look at Mass Effect 3, painfully oversexualized characters, a huge shift in gameplay from RPG-elements to action, "so-cool-it's-embarassing" art design, DLC-ripoffs, this game has EA's fingerprints all over it. The "magic" from ME1 and 2? Gone...

If I think about how EA makes "creative decisions", I always get the same picture: Several MBAs, lawyers and Phil from the marketing department sit around in a conference room, look at Power Point presentations and say stuff like "Based on several recent studies, we calculated that increasing the breast size of every female character by 10% will boost overall sales numbers between 0,003 and 0,005%, so we should order developer X to apply the appropriate changes immediately!"

Modifié par Apfelweinbrauer, 03 juin 2012 - 07:10 .

[Volus Warlord]

EA is a bunch of snakes. Might do something good once in a while, but never to be trusted.

[goofyomnivore]

I haven't thought highly at all of EA since they bought college sports exclusive rights thus ending College Hoops 2k series. Not to mention outside of FIFA and NHL their sports games have been terrible this console generation.

Basically EA's strategy in the sports market is to out bid other companies for exclusive rights and then half ass a game with no features or innovations every year. It has pretty much backfired on all fronts (except Madden). So hopefully they will go back to spending their money on dev time rather than exclusive deals, because last gen consoles had some good sports games (even from EA).

Mass Effect is the only non sports EA game I've ever really liked. It has gotten progressively worse for me with each installment though. Battlefield series is alright too I guess, but I play them for a few months then get bored. Although I'm really burnt out on modern-ish shooters from Call of Duty/Battlefield.

[slimgrin]

EA and Activision are ruining the industry. They have the worst business model if you take a broad view of how they approach DRM, sequels, and catering to the largest possible audience. I mean it takes a lot to dumb down a Diablo game but they managed to do it. As far as ME3 goes, it's a mixed bag, a fairly solid game with a few really bad design decisions. Whether that should be chalked up to being rushed or poor judgement, I'm not sure.

Modifié par slimgrin, 03 juin 2012 - 04:31 .

[whiteraider]

EA a company that has a reverse midas touch, everything it touches turns to ashes!

[BatmanPWNS]

I truly hate their servers and online passes.

[Blacklash93]

Like others have said, they're a business trying to make money and on paper there's nothing wrong with that.

But what makes them money isn't always thinking about established fanbases and what got them sales in the first place. Dead Space 3, for a recent example, seems to be turning into a co-op action game pretty much betraying what the original fanbase values in the series they love. This is only one case of unique, beloved series falling prey to the "action-packed co-op/MP fest with tig 'ol bitties" trapping under bigwigs like EA (they're not the only one). There's also some scam-ish business practices they employ and some ridiculous things their PR people and heads have said.

Of course I can't say the blame at least soley on EA for these things. Maybe developers would have done this anyway. I have no way of knowing for sure. EA has actually backed a few somewhat innovative and ambitious games that I've noticed in the past few years (that never worked out, sadly) so it's not like they're all bad.

But come to think of it, Activision and Ubi are worse like others here have said. Though Ubisoft has gotten a few points lately for backing things like Rayman Origins and the BG&E sequel.

Modifié par Blacklash93, 03 juin 2012 - 08:16 .

[Rockworm503]

Mystic dream wrote...

Honestly if criticizing a developer or company comes with losing a community made title like "true fan", then honestly, so what? Titles like those really have no power, and just makes ones who use them look foolish.

I've been playing bioware games since 2003, and have been moderately satisfied with their products,but lately their games have not been interesting me at all. If that makes me lose my true fan title, so be it. I never really considered myself one in the first place. Just a person who picked and choosed games, which I think were interesting. Bioware games just happened to be in the list pretty often back then.

For any "true fans" out there, just a quick, question, what are the benefits of holding this title, and how do I get to prove myself worthy?

It seems the benefits are to be put on this pedestal where you can be on a high horse for the non true fans.  And the way to make yourself worthy is to blindly swallow every piece of turd that company shoves out.

Honestly I would be ashamed to call myself a true fan.  I hope I never get stuck with that title.

[Rockworm503]

Elhanan wrote...

Rockworm503 wrote...

Well yeah you wouldn't be a fan if you didn't like them....
I don't tend to stay fans of things that make feel stupid for being a fan of them.
I wish I could be unrated here as I feel very strongly about this.
I play games for a lot of different reasons.  To help me deal with my pretty lame life.  Help me cope with depression.  An escape from life (something we all need from time to time)  but overall I play because I love them.  I am so passionate because nothing grabs like games do.  Sure I'll rave about a movie or a tv show but when all is said done I would get rid of all of that if I had to to keep gaming.
Sometimes in my excitement i forget that a game company is just that a company with a bottom line and people who need money to live.  But that does not give any of them permission to walk all over me like gaming is something dirty that i should stop doing it because its wrong.
NO thats my dad talking I'm not going to feel dirty for doing what I love but some of these companies give me that feeling.
Capcom is the worst but we're not talking about that.
When I hear the CEO of EA talk about microtransactions and selling ammo for your gun in Battlefield 3 it just made me feel so wrong.  I'm not claiming their evil  lets not be so melodromadic but lets look at the past.
Westwood Studios and many other beloved companies became part of EA and are now gone.  People complain about the Command and Conquer series being ruined and now I'm seeing it happen with Bioware.  Lets not kid ourselves here Bioware is gone they are just EA now.  EA will keep the name Bioware around if they think it will turn a profit.  I truly think Bioware is on its last legs here and its just another trophy on the dead companies EA have taken from us.

Haven't even talked about the first day DLC business and well I don't even want to.  Someone is going to defend it saying "get a job and it wont be an issue"  So missing the point every time.  Its not about money its about how much your willing to take before your just bending over and paying them to screw you over.

TL:DR? I think EA and companies like the EA are the worst thing happening to the game industry and I wont be buying anything from them until I see evidence they've changed.  If Valve with Steam has taught us anything is that you don't have to treat your costumers like crap to make a profit.

So personal, yet what was done against gamers? Charging for DLC, and for some losing their jobs while in their stable of titles. That about it?

A company has the right to charge for their products. If one does not want to do so, simply do not get them, or pick and choose which they want. And all business have turnover; nature of the beast. But unless one has direct knowledge of violations in such dismissals (eg; letting someone go a year before retirement), basing opinions on internet gossip seems unwise at best; bigoted at worst.

Personally, I get the notion of being nickeled to death, esp being out of work now. And I get the whole depression and wanting to escape things, too.; likely a reason I dislike so many so-called fans. But the reality of it all is that we are simply customers, and the company provide a service. If one does not want it; don't get it, or support it.

FWIW; a day and rock at a time....

You sound like a parrot just saying the same thing everyone else says.
Nothing you have said is new to me.  Furthermore I didn't say anything to the contrary.

And is insulting to suggest EA doesn't get rid of their companies.  Its happening now they get rid of the entire ToR team?  What you think their gonna hire them back?  You can kid yourself all you want but Bioware is on borrowed time I'm honestly surprised they've lasted this long after the ME3 debacle.

I understand your a "true fan" so I'm not even gonna waste my time with the rest of it.

[Elhanan]

Like EA a whole lot more than Atari; tried to ruin the NWN experience, and did damage what could have been.