Jimquisition: EA & Ubisoft: A Cycle of Perpetration and Apology


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Here's me thinking you'd given up on posting these :p

 

As for the video, I know it's "cool" to hate on EA but I honestly think the BF4 fiasco is a little overblown. Fair enough when it comes to DK/TSTO and any game they've implemented the pay to wait nonsense, but BF4 was released on 2 new consoles simultaneously with another 3 versions to boot. The trouble with it IMO is the same story with Square and how they've spread themselves too thin. DICE have 3 more games in the works which were obviously ongoing at the same time BF4 was being developed, not to mention BF3 and all the DLC. They need to reel it in and focus on bringing back the quality to where it was before it kills the games.

 

Similarly with Blizzard and Diablo 3, they tried to fix an issue the older games were riddled with and it didn't work. They made money on it which is wrong and I'm sure what the real issue people have with, rather than the interface or procedures itself. It didn't work and I doubt they'll try it again, unlike EA etc who constantly "reoffend".

 

As for the others i.e Ubi, MS etc, they clearly had/are having PR meltdowns and just need to learn when to shut up. IIRC Ubi removed all their DRM anyway when a few of their games couldn't launch upon release. Has it wormed its way back into Watch_Dogs etc?

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It's not cool to hate EA, it's easy. Because they make it easy. Sterling is right, it''s a cycle of: do cynical, greedy, underhanded thing to sell something. Ignore criticism for as long as possible. Offer empty apology just before you need to sell your next thing.

 

The real confusing thing to me is not so much what they are doing, but why they are doing it. The obvious answer is profit, but providing high quality games that people enjoy, in a way that doesn't inconvenience the consumer (i.e. DRM that doesn't work anyway) also creates profit, and perhaps more importantly, loyalty.

 

Personally, I have a very, very small list of games that I buy on release to support devs that I like. Most other ones I wait until they are cheap on Steam or I get for free on PS+. I don't feel as ripped off as I used to using this method.

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Honestly, both ubi and Activision/blizzard are worse than EA, not counting many of the smaller studios/publishers.

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EA are making a right hash of The Sims 4 just now as well, as expected removing pretty basic stuff to load it into paid DLC.

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19 euro hero costumes in Heroes of the Storm. Ubi's raving hate for their own customers. 

 

Yeah but not only is the game free, to start, but it's a costume. A cosmetic that is purely optional. I don't see how that is worse than anything EA or Ubi are doing. Not only that but the game isn't even close to being done yet. Refining prices might happen in the future when the game is actually done.

 

And this is what I've found on the pricing for the US 

 

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/blizzard-s-heroes-of-the-storm-alpha-characters-cost-between-3-99-and-9-99/1100-6418324/

 

That indicates the pricing will be competitive with similar games like LoL. Not seeing an issue.

 

Of course,  if you're looking at the bundle packs, those are naturally more expensive than buying them individually:

 

http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/13789935/bundle-packs-now-available-in-heroes-of-the-storm

 

And the last thing, you can unlock all the heroes just by playing the game. No need to spend real money.

 

I agree with the Ubi part though. Never really did care for how they treated their customers like they are idiots.

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Honestly, both ubi and Activision/blizzard are worse than EA, not counting many of the smaller studios/publishers.

I disagree. Ubisoft has made some serious mistakes, including the limited activation DRM, but it has generally tried to do the right thing. Uplay is relatively harmless, as it coexists alongside other platforms like Steam. EA on the otherhand has boycotted Steam and charges utterly ridiculous prices for games on Origin. Activision is also bad, with Call Of Duty games being sold at a very high price and maintained at that level for an unreasonable level of time. Blizzard is a decent company and learns from its mistakes - Diablo III now is a very different game from what was initially released and it has improved for the better. The company responded to criticisms from players.

 

EA is the lowest of the low, followed by Microsoft and Activision. Take-Two ranges from utterly appalling (GTA) to superb (Civilization), so is a bit hard to pin down. Ubisoft and Blizzard are generally decent companies that make mistakes but try to learn from them. Valve is the pinnacle of companies, providing great value, support and excellent games.

 

I refuse to buy EA games as long as it continues to boycott Steam, charge ridiculous prices and destroy treasured franchises (Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, etc). Its business model is anti-consumer.

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I wouldn't say Valve/steam have good support. In fact I would say they have the absolute worst support I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Took them 7 days to respond to my ticket and even then it was no help in solving anything.

 

EAs support on the other hand was quite good. Quick response time and they gave me a coupon for $20 off any game for my hassle.

 

Those are the results the last time I had to use support from either company.

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EAs support on the other hand was quite good. Quick response time and they gave me a coupon for $20 off any game for my hassle.

I got locked out of one of my legally purchased games by EA's DRM and my support was handled by a non-native English speaker who was responding with unhelpful canned responses. Needless to say I was extremely unimpressed by the whole situation.

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I got locked out of one of my legally purchased games by EA's DRM and my support was handled by a non-native English speaker who was responding with unhelpful canned responses. Needless to say I was extremely unimpressed by the whole situation.

 

I guess maybe the difference was that I used their live chat. Valve does not offer anything like it. They go out of their way to make it hard to get into contact with their support.

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I disagree. Ubisoft has made some serious mistakes, including the limited activation DRM, but it has generally tried to do the right thing. Uplay is relatively harmless, as it coexists alongside other platforms like Steam. EA on the otherhand has boycotted Steam and charges utterly ridiculous prices for games on Origin. Activision is also bad, with Call Of Duty games being sold at a very high price and maintained at that level for an unreasonable level of time. Blizzard is a decent company and learns from its mistakes - Diablo III now is a very different game from what was initially released and it has improved for the better. The company responded to criticisms from players.

EA is the lowest of the low, followed by Microsoft and Activision. Take-Two ranges from utterly appalling (GTA) to superb (Civilization), so is a bit hard to pin down. Ubisoft and Blizzard are generally decent companies that make mistakes but try to learn from them. Valve is the pinnacle of companies, providing great value, support and excellent games.

I refuse to buy EA games as long as it continues to boycott Steam, charge ridiculous prices and destroy treasured franchises (Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, etc). Its business model is anti-consumer.

I think by "tried to do the right thing" you mean "where forced by consumer backlash to reduce their consumer, fraudulent at worst and unfriendly at best, tactics"

;)

Btw it's blizzard/activision as in one company ;)

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