Are you boycotting any companies?
- Thread starter MammothBlade
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I was going to say "not a lot" and then I started to enumerate the companies that just downright piss me off and I want to avoid giving money to. I'm going to sound like a pissed off bastard.
Activision: Awful CEO and general policies. Caters to CoD crowd and screws employees (Infinity Ward comes to mind)
EA: Nuff said, but I don't hate them enough to avoid buying something published by them such as the Orange Box.
Apple: Awful price-gouging company and abusive in things like the recent Samsung case
Facebook: I'm trying to stay private on the internet, and they are working against that. I may have to break down in the future and get a profile, but I'm not going to share much
Lucas Arts: I forgot how bad they were until someone mentioned them on the first page. That story did cause some lasting resentment, because I know their name is as good as mud with me now.
Ubisoft: I'm not clear anymore what their DRM policy is now, because I stopped paying attention after Assassin's Creed 2 launched. I think it's still around so they won't be seeing my money.
Blizzard: They hardly count on this list because they are part of Activision, but for the same reasons I hate Acti, I'm getting pissed at Blizz.
Bethesda: I'm not sure they deserve my ire, but I haven't like anything I've seen from them since Morrowind. They found a more profitable audience, and I'm not part of it. I'm more sad than angry at them.
Sony: Overpriced electronics. The Playstation hasn't been my favorite system much because of how they handled it.
Nintendo: I'm willing to forgive them once I see something good come from them, but the last 4 years of the Wii has been worse than abysmal. I fucking hated Skyward Sword, and the 3DS is just an excuse to sell me another system that I don't think I will like as much as the DS. Like Bethesda, they just don't have me in mind anymore.
Microsoft: Anything Xbox related. It's a cashgrab for them and I won't be a part of it. I don't mind supporting good OSs like Windows 7.
Theater Tickets: I'm not spending half the cost of a DVD for a single viewing of a movie for a single person, no matter what it is. I'll just buy the DVD if it's a good movie because I can wait. Movies are shit these days anyway unless they are based off of a comic book
Music: Sorry artists, music just doesn't have much value to me. The RIAA has made it harder to even want to support the truly talented ones. Including music on this list is like including gardening tools; I'm just not a music customer. I'm still mentioning it because I got games and movies in there.
Comcast: Cable is overpriced and their internet service has shitty limitations around here. I'm glad there is another option for internet, because I don't want them to have my money.
Walmart: I don't mind using their internet ordering site, but I'm never going to walk into one if I have the option.
That's all for now. I've hated enough.
Activision: Awful CEO and general policies. Caters to CoD crowd and screws employees (Infinity Ward comes to mind)
EA: Nuff said, but I don't hate them enough to avoid buying something published by them such as the Orange Box.
Apple: Awful price-gouging company and abusive in things like the recent Samsung case
Facebook: I'm trying to stay private on the internet, and they are working against that. I may have to break down in the future and get a profile, but I'm not going to share much
Lucas Arts: I forgot how bad they were until someone mentioned them on the first page. That story did cause some lasting resentment, because I know their name is as good as mud with me now.
Ubisoft: I'm not clear anymore what their DRM policy is now, because I stopped paying attention after Assassin's Creed 2 launched. I think it's still around so they won't be seeing my money.
Blizzard: They hardly count on this list because they are part of Activision, but for the same reasons I hate Acti, I'm getting pissed at Blizz.
Bethesda: I'm not sure they deserve my ire, but I haven't like anything I've seen from them since Morrowind. They found a more profitable audience, and I'm not part of it. I'm more sad than angry at them.
Sony: Overpriced electronics. The Playstation hasn't been my favorite system much because of how they handled it.
Nintendo: I'm willing to forgive them once I see something good come from them, but the last 4 years of the Wii has been worse than abysmal. I fucking hated Skyward Sword, and the 3DS is just an excuse to sell me another system that I don't think I will like as much as the DS. Like Bethesda, they just don't have me in mind anymore.
Microsoft: Anything Xbox related. It's a cashgrab for them and I won't be a part of it. I don't mind supporting good OSs like Windows 7.
Theater Tickets: I'm not spending half the cost of a DVD for a single viewing of a movie for a single person, no matter what it is. I'll just buy the DVD if it's a good movie because I can wait. Movies are shit these days anyway unless they are based off of a comic book
Music: Sorry artists, music just doesn't have much value to me. The RIAA has made it harder to even want to support the truly talented ones. Including music on this list is like including gardening tools; I'm just not a music customer. I'm still mentioning it because I got games and movies in there.
Comcast: Cable is overpriced and their internet service has shitty limitations around here. I'm glad there is another option for internet, because I don't want them to have my money.
Walmart: I don't mind using their internet ordering site, but I'm never going to walk into one if I have the option.
That's all for now. I've hated enough.
Sort of.
I'm not buying any Activision or EA games.
It's not that I'm boycotting them, I dislike their practices sure, but, more so, I dislike their games.
I'm not buying any Activision or EA games.
It's not that I'm boycotting them, I dislike their practices sure, but, more so, I dislike their games.
As a general rule, I refuse to buy from Apple out of principle. iTunes is the only product of theirs that is an exception, as it's actually well implemented and actually lives up to all of the (usually, with other products, outlandish) claims Apple gives it. Even then, I tend to find better deals on Amazon MP3, and find their downloads easier to do, easier to work with regarding transferring to my phone via the typical USB mass storage protocol, and easier to play (since they are MP3's, the codec is with all players, .m4a's typically need Quicktime to be installed for them to play on any player that isn't iTunes or WMP).MammothBlade said:
What's the principle I'm adhering to? I don't like Apple's model of closed software/hardware. I don't like their arrogance of claiming to "invent" things that were around years before, or "create" brand new markets that were already there. I don't like their litigious attitude towards competitors, rather than innovating over them and beating them in the market. Instead, they just take it to the courtroom over stupid, overly vague patents that shouldn't have been granted in the first place. I didn't like Jobs as the boss man, he was arrogant and short-sighted (most recent example, his comments a few years ago about 7" tablets being "DOA", bet he's turning in his grave when you look at the Nexus 7 selling out worldwide on day 1). I don't like Cook, their boss man now, he's an arrogant, back-room bean counter that's taken to the courtroom quicker than a duck to water. Macs are infuriating to use, have uselessly profuse eye-candy, and have major backwards compatibility & basic OS security issues. iDevices in general are locked down children's toys with their app store as the only factor anywhere near the moniker of "redeeming".
I could go on, but I've a feeling you've gotten the point by now.
DRM is deeply part of a console's OS, try copying a disk or cracking the software and loading it to the hard drive. Trust me, consoles are controlling users in DRM like fashion more than the DRM you find on PC's.kommando367 said:
Hey everybody,
I've been gaming ever since the original Ultima II was out and Swashbuckler was the forefront of game graphics once upon a time. I've gone through every major FPS and RTS since then, and I also only do PC games now.
That's just to give people an idea of my age and experience with games.
As far as companies I boycott... Ubishaft out of all the publishers, has got to be the worst. Ever since Ubishaft announced OSP and implemented uPlay, I've not purchased ANY title from them. I loved Assassin's Creed, I loved Ghost Recon, I loved Silent Hunter... three major titles and I'm sure there's a few others I'm missing. But, OSP/SolidShield/uPlay are drawing the line for me. So, no Ubishaft for me. Ubishaft is plain arrogant and state that PC gaming is dying and are labeling PC gamers as pirates when clearly console games are pirated as easily as pc games. Ubishaft has done NOTHING innovative in their games line-up.
Ubishaft releases games and pretty much drops support right after. Look at Silent Hunter V. Broken on release (March 2010), broken to this day and no more patches, support was dropped a month after release. Subsim's modding community pretty much put the game into a usable state. And there's other games they've done the same to.
Pretty much, Ubishaft is the ONLY company that publicly defames its consumer, straight out of Yves Guillemot's mouth. Ubishaft is the most "entitled" software publisher out there. I can't say the same for EA. They at least try to be somewhat humble publicy. Note, I'm not saying EA is perfect...
Soooo, it is interesting to see people jumping so hard on EA. One person even said "I guess EA because everyone hates EA" (awesome reasoning guy). That's pretty much the ignorance that's putting gamers in the position they're in now and pretty much explains how EA got the WCIA2012 award.
http://consumerist.com/2012/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012.html
However, no one pays attention to things like this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57476326-93/electronic-arts-comes-out-against-defense-of-marriage-act/
Or, that fact that out of all the big game publishers, EA at least tries to stay on the forefront of development technology. EA actually made a commitment to produce more innovative games (this was around the Mirror's Edge and Dead Space release time). EA "tries" makes it easier, than MOST publishers, to get a hold of technical support. At least they're TRYING to be more consumer oriented.
However, I'm not saying EA is perfect... hell with Origin I've about given up on them too. But, I have to say that there are gamers out there, that put US, the gaming community, in the position we're in now.
I saw plenty of comments on this forum that pretty much sum up to say "Oh I don't like the company or the DRM, but I'll buy their games that I like."
This is pretty much an asinine response. If you do not agree with a company's business practices or the products they release, why continue to support them? We as gamers have ZERO legal recourse when a game is release in a poor state, support is dropped on a title, or what not. We have no ability to say "We want our money back." The only way we can make a difference is with our wallets.
If you don't like a publisher's products or you've been wronged. STOP BUYING THEIR GAMES. If you are a PC and Console guy, don't stop buying their PC games and then continue buying their console games. That's just a useless effort.
Think about this... The gaming industry made over $24.3 BILLION dollars in software, hardware and accessories in 2011. Entertainment Software alone gave the industry $7.4 BILLION in revenue... As long as you keep paying companies that you don't agree with, you're not just doing yourself a disfavor, but you're not helping make things better either.
If anyone is interested, follow these sites and make informed decisions:
http://www.reclaimyourgame.com -- great site with a lot of good info
http://gamersoptout.com/ -- DO THIS if you play Origin based games or are on PSN!!!
http://steamdrm.flibitijibibo.com/
http://www.drmdatabase.net/
http://pcgamingwiki.com
I've been gaming ever since the original Ultima II was out and Swashbuckler was the forefront of game graphics once upon a time. I've gone through every major FPS and RTS since then, and I also only do PC games now.
That's just to give people an idea of my age and experience with games.As far as companies I boycott... Ubishaft out of all the publishers, has got to be the worst. Ever since Ubishaft announced OSP and implemented uPlay, I've not purchased ANY title from them. I loved Assassin's Creed, I loved Ghost Recon, I loved Silent Hunter... three major titles and I'm sure there's a few others I'm missing. But, OSP/SolidShield/uPlay are drawing the line for me. So, no Ubishaft for me. Ubishaft is plain arrogant and state that PC gaming is dying and are labeling PC gamers as pirates when clearly console games are pirated as easily as pc games. Ubishaft has done NOTHING innovative in their games line-up.
Ubishaft releases games and pretty much drops support right after. Look at Silent Hunter V. Broken on release (March 2010), broken to this day and no more patches, support was dropped a month after release. Subsim's modding community pretty much put the game into a usable state. And there's other games they've done the same to.
Pretty much, Ubishaft is the ONLY company that publicly defames its consumer, straight out of Yves Guillemot's mouth. Ubishaft is the most "entitled" software publisher out there. I can't say the same for EA. They at least try to be somewhat humble publicy. Note, I'm not saying EA is perfect...
Soooo, it is interesting to see people jumping so hard on EA. One person even said "I guess EA because everyone hates EA" (awesome reasoning guy). That's pretty much the ignorance that's putting gamers in the position they're in now and pretty much explains how EA got the WCIA2012 award.
http://consumerist.com/2012/04/congratulations-ea-you-are-the-worst-company-in-america-for-2012.html
However, no one pays attention to things like this: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57476326-93/electronic-arts-comes-out-against-defense-of-marriage-act/
Or, that fact that out of all the big game publishers, EA at least tries to stay on the forefront of development technology. EA actually made a commitment to produce more innovative games (this was around the Mirror's Edge and Dead Space release time). EA "tries" makes it easier, than MOST publishers, to get a hold of technical support. At least they're TRYING to be more consumer oriented.
However, I'm not saying EA is perfect... hell with Origin I've about given up on them too. But, I have to say that there are gamers out there, that put US, the gaming community, in the position we're in now.
I saw plenty of comments on this forum that pretty much sum up to say "Oh I don't like the company or the DRM, but I'll buy their games that I like."
This is pretty much an asinine response. If you do not agree with a company's business practices or the products they release, why continue to support them? We as gamers have ZERO legal recourse when a game is release in a poor state, support is dropped on a title, or what not. We have no ability to say "We want our money back." The only way we can make a difference is with our wallets.
If you don't like a publisher's products or you've been wronged. STOP BUYING THEIR GAMES. If you are a PC and Console guy, don't stop buying their PC games and then continue buying their console games. That's just a useless effort.
Think about this... The gaming industry made over $24.3 BILLION dollars in software, hardware and accessories in 2011. Entertainment Software alone gave the industry $7.4 BILLION in revenue... As long as you keep paying companies that you don't agree with, you're not just doing yourself a disfavor, but you're not helping make things better either.
If anyone is interested, follow these sites and make informed decisions:
http://www.reclaimyourgame.com -- great site with a lot of good info
http://gamersoptout.com/ -- DO THIS if you play Origin based games or are on PSN!!!
http://steamdrm.flibitijibibo.com/
http://www.drmdatabase.net/
http://pcgamingwiki.com
I don't boycott any companies in regards to entertainment.
If Fox make a good film or good TV show - I will buy it. Sometimes I buy The Times newspaper if there is nothing in The Guardian.
I refuse to buy any products tested on animals however but that is more moral than "YOU RUINED MASS EFFECT 3! SCREW YOU BIOWARE AND EA!"
Recently I have campaigned companies such as Coca-Colas, Mcdonalds and VISA to pay their full tax because they have enough and do not need an exemption due to The Olympics but alas - it would not stop me from using Visa, drinking diet coke or eating a 99p burger.
If Fox make a good film or good TV show - I will buy it. Sometimes I buy The Times newspaper if there is nothing in The Guardian.
I refuse to buy any products tested on animals however but that is more moral than "YOU RUINED MASS EFFECT 3! SCREW YOU BIOWARE AND EA!"
Recently I have campaigned companies such as Coca-Colas, Mcdonalds and VISA to pay their full tax because they have enough and do not need an exemption due to The Olympics but alas - it would not stop me from using Visa, drinking diet coke or eating a 99p burger.
EA for their business practices and general asshattery.
Any company that uses restrictive DRM. This would include Valve (Steam), but Valve does so many things right that I must forgive them.
Apple. Because I don't like paying more for the same product. Nothing against Apple otherwise.
Any company that uses restrictive DRM. This would include Valve (Steam), but Valve does so many things right that I must forgive them.
Apple. Because I don't like paying more for the same product. Nothing against Apple otherwise.
Anything made or affilliated with PepsiCo, like 7up, Mountain Dew, Lay's crisps, Gatorade, Tropicana, Doritos, Lipton, Cheetos and, of course, Pepsi and it's variants. It's a shame because I used to quite like Doritos.
Any reason why?NightShade said:
I work next to their Head Office and you get so many bags of Walkers Crisps free.
I refuse to buy any Bioware products until Hepler is gone. Just knowing that a single cent of my money could go to her sickens me.
A few people have already said them and they're more in the category of "You couldn't pay me to use even one product they put out" but my top three consist of Facebook, Twitter and Apple. I try to avoid EA, partially for their horrible business models but also because they mostly put out sports games which I don't like. Otherwise I generally avoid large supermarket chains if I can help it and I go for the local grocers. I keep meaning to head down to the farm that's like 5 minutes away and see if they can deliver veggies straight to my place for cheaper than the supermarkets...
Anyway, I'm mostly a "find the brand I like and stick to it" kind of guy but what can really make me dislike a company is the ads they put out, which has a good deal to do with why I dislike Apple so much.
Also speaking of Apple, has anyone seen the new HTC phones? They're awesome! I say to every iPhone user, throw it away and get a HTC, they're a hell of a lot better and they don't make you look like as much of a hipster douche!
Anyway, I'm mostly a "find the brand I like and stick to it" kind of guy but what can really make me dislike a company is the ads they put out, which has a good deal to do with why I dislike Apple so much.
Also speaking of Apple, has anyone seen the new HTC phones? They're awesome! I say to every iPhone user, throw it away and get a HTC, they're a hell of a lot better and they don't make you look like as much of a hipster douche!
That's not really a boycott, then. Boycotting is when you flat-out refuse to buy from a company regardless of the quality of the product. If you just don't like the product, then you just aren't a customer. Your Activision example is a little more on key with a boycott. With EA is seems just that nothing with their name interests you; it's not that you're boycotting them, there's just no reason for you to buy their product. Where with Activision you were interested in a game up until you saw their name attached to it.DoPo said:
I try really hard not to buy Nestle products, it's obvious when something has "Nestle" written on it or if you know it's something part of Nestle under a different name. But damnit they have their greedy little claws in so many fucking things that I'd say I 90% boycott them.
Just Apple because it's horrendously overpriced crap. I'm not boycotting anything because of bad business practices. I could pretend to be all politically correct about it, but the truth is that I just don't care.
