EA May Terminate Your Origins Account After Two Years

[GroundWalker]

Jeez, what's with the extreme EA hate? :/
Really, nowhere there does it say that they'll immedeately remove your account on the day, it's more that they give themselves the right to do so.
They might do it with servers in mind, all your account info has to be stored somewhere doesn't it?

Also, because people allways bring up Steam in this kind of discussion:

Spoiler

B. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

NEITHER VALVE, ITS LICENSORS, NOR THEIR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STEAM, YOUR ACCOUNT, YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND THE SOFTWARE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. IN NO EVENT WILL VALVE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, MERCHANDISE THAT YOU ACQUIRE VIA STEAM, ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, OR THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE MERCHANDISE OR ANY INFORMATION, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF FAULT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR BREACH OF VALVE'S WARRANTY AND EVEN IF VALVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS REGARDING DAMAGES APPLY EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS.

IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF A EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRY, THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

C. NO GUARANTEES.

VALVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR SECURE OPERATION AND ACCESS TO STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND/OR YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS(S).

Source

Yeah, that's not exactly the same as "we will terminate your account if you don't use it for two years".

This has nothing to do with being "hip for hating on EA", as some people have said. This is the first legitimate problem I've had with Origins outside of it being superfluous. I do not play every game I own every two years. Hell, I don't think I necessarily use every console I own every two years. That does not mean I will never use them again.

And again, I see no explanation for this. Obviously managing all the account information puts a strain on their serves, but when you're running a digital distribution service that's to be expected.

Ehm..neither is Origin. They simply tell you how long you can EXPECT your account to be left after being inactive.
Also, don't you think that they're kind of just preparing for what'll happen for when it launches? With all the hate towards them atm? What'll people who hate them do with Origin?
Will they simply touch it, or will they make loads of scrap accounts? Will it even out?
If I said you might go blind after 5 minutes without using your eyes, would that be like me saying you will go blind after 5 minutes? No?

Also, I wasn't exactly referring to you with my opening on the last post.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Because you have PAID for games. you've Bought games from a company. They become yours. Just because you haven't logged in doesn't mean you don't still own them.

Spoiler alert: you don't own games you buy on Steam.

Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a limited, terminable, non-exclusive license and right to use the Software for your personal use in accordance with this Agreement and the Subscription Terms. The Software is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Software.

This is the case for a lot of software actually. You don't own it: they just license it to you, and make it a point that this license confers absolutely no ownership over the hardware. So no, even though you did pay for it, you don't technically own it... it isn't technically yours under the law. This isn't from Origins... this is from fucking Steam. You know... the one DD service everyone is eager to white knight. All those games on your Steam list, yeah, they aren't yours. You are basically just paying Valve to let you use them.

Ah well, perhaps fewer people would support valve if you know, they'd made a breathtaking run of stupid decisions over the years. you know, just like EA. Going off the gaming timeline, valve have done very well in all of their decisions. EA's one redeeming feature right now is Mass Effect 3. And that's it. Are you surprised at all the vitriol they get? They're run by morons. Watch the EC episode "open letter to EA marketing".

Compared to the moronic decisions that EA has made, and how they've systematically alienated a ton of people. Yes, Valve's every action will look like they poop gold and bring starving orphans back to life.

 

[Stall]

Ah well, perhaps fewer people would support valve if you know, they'd made a breathtaking run of stupid decisions over the years. you know, just like EA. Going off the gaming timeline, valve have done very well in all of their decisions. EA's one redeeming feature right now is Mass Effect 3. And that's it. Are you surprised at all the vitriol they get? They're run by morons. Watch the EC episode "open letter to EA marketing".

Compared to the moronic decisions that EA has made, and how they've systematically alienated a ton of people. Yes, Valve's every action will look like they poop gold and bring starving orphans back to life.

Good sir, I please ask that should you wish to argue or debate, that you instead argue against my proposition instead of attacking a superficially related, yet nonequivalent, point as you just did. Your point on EA being run by dicks is superficially related to the overall topic and hand (though not untrue), yet you do not directly refute or contribute at all to the ongoing argument I presented. You instead assume that presenting the evidence that EA is a company full of large dicks is enough to say that I am wrong.

Though I am not one to argue about arguing, your flawed logic is frightening, and such a post is the only way I could properly reply. Please refute or attack the point I presented in my post (i.e. you often do not legally own most software) instead of a tangentially related one. Thank you.

 

[Bostur]

The thing about covering bases in this way means that consumers are left with bases that are wide open. It's a pretty one-sided arrangement. We simply don't have the opportunity to cover our bases.

I don't see this as something unique for digital distribution. The exact same arrangement can be made with physical copies through online activated DRM, and probably does sometimes. In the end as consumers we are only left with two choices: Bend over or give up gaming altogether.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

I can't believe how many people in this thread are willing to roll over and take this kind of crap from EA. I have a bunch of games that I only just played for the first time in 2-3 years recently. That's what happens when you finish a game, get bored of it, uninstall it to free up HD space, get sidetracked playing Xbox, have to take a break from gaming to finish your thesis, then find yourself with nothing to do one day and decide to dig it out once again. If I got Origins purely to play an upcoming title like BF3 or whatever, I could definitely see myself playing it to death and then getting so tired of it that I'd not play it for a long time, maybe a couple of years.

Sure, most TOS are probably worded so vaguely as to allow for a company to terminate your account at its discretion. But the lack of any specificities is more to do with the fact that such clauses are designed to be trapdoors to allow the company to counter forms of abuse that they can't predict in advance. This is a case of them telling you specifically that your continued membership on Origins, and the access to any games you have paid for, is tied to your logging in within a certain timeframe. Now honestly, why would they even bother with a clause like this? Origins is a start-up service, it needs all the perks it can get to entice people to use it. Restrictions like this not only make it less enticing, it makes it appear that EA's heads are so collectively swollen that they expect within a couple of years after launch, they'll have so many accounts they'll need to get rid of some. And actually, on that note - why would you ever WANT to get rid of someone's account? That represents a potential customer you may alienate when they try to log back in and find their account has been deleted.

 

[Vigormortis]

Jeez, what's with the extreme EA hate? :/
Really, nowhere there does it say that they'll immedeately remove your account on the day, it's more that they give themselves the right to do so.
They might do it with servers in mind, all your account info has to be stored somewhere doesn't it?

Also, because people allways bring up Steam in this kind of discussion:

Spoiler

B. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

NEITHER VALVE, ITS LICENSORS, NOR THEIR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STEAM, YOUR ACCOUNT, YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND THE SOFTWARE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. IN NO EVENT WILL VALVE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, MERCHANDISE THAT YOU ACQUIRE VIA STEAM, ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, OR THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE MERCHANDISE OR ANY INFORMATION, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF FAULT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR BREACH OF VALVE'S WARRANTY AND EVEN IF VALVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS REGARDING DAMAGES APPLY EVEN IF ANY REMEDY FAILS.

IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF A EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRY, THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

C. NO GUARANTEES.

VALVE DOES NOT GUARANTEE CONTINUOUS, ERROR-FREE, VIRUS-FREE OR SECURE OPERATION AND ACCESS TO STEAM, THE SOFTWARE, YOUR ACCOUNT AND/OR YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS(S).

Source

Uh...there's a fairly significant difference between a "limited liability" clause and a company placing fairly restrictive rules on how, when, and where you play your games and creating a slew of unnecessary rules that give them the right to cancel your account for almost any reason at all. Reasons that make it impossible for you to refute the cancellation.

 

[GroundWalker]

"your Entitlements WILL expire". It says will, not they may be cancelled. Will.

Yes, you ENTITLEMENT expires...that doesn't mean that they WILL cancel the service.

 

[The Random One]

I... wow. Is this a bad thing?

Wait, no, it is a bad thing. I meant to say, is this a bad thing that is not par for the course as far as digital distribution goes?

 

[Gitty101]

This is silly - something you pay for should be yours forever. But I guess it really isn't that difficult to login once every 2 years

 

[ShindoL Shill]

its not they dont play one game for two years, its they dont play ANY games for two years, or even go on the program to browse. i think its fair to deactivate an account, but deleting it with paid content is a dick move.

 

[Internet Kraken]

I... wow. Is this a bad thing?

Wait, no, it is a bad thing. I meant to say, is this a bad thing that is not par for the course as far as digital distribution goes?

People have posted snippets of the Steam terms of service that show how they reserve the right to terminate your account, but there's nothing in there that seems to be on the same level as this. I've contacted the Steam support to see if they have a similar policy and hope I will get a response.

 

[xXCrocmonXx]

Now don't kill me if I'm too radical, but don't all EULAs have things like this? Like if your account is inactive for [x] amount of time they basically have a right to shut your stuff down. They generally won't for no reason, but they reserve the right in case their servers hit the popularity that requires it. FFXI had this in the EULA, as does EVE Online, WoW, and even Phantasy Star Universe had it. =/

But if you all want to flip the Hell out over something rather run-of-the-mill these days then by all means don't listen to me.

EDIT: I understand they'll cut your DLC or whatever, but honestly if you don't touch a game for however long then it's honestly on you if they think it's necessary to cut your stuff. I mean, why hold up a chunk of their servers for someone who doesn't even play when you could make room for people who want to but can't due to server restrictions?

 

[Skops]

You're overreacting. It's not if you don't play a certain game for two years, it's if your ACCOUNT is inactive for two years. And honestly, if you don't use your account for two years, you're likely not going to come back to it.

They're going to close accounts that havn't been used for over 2 years? Sounds fair enough. If you've not used it for 2 years, you're not exactly likely to go back to it.

what If you get sent to prison or something?
imagine coming back to realize that not only was your account deleted but that you'll have to spend your money again?

Quite honestly, are we really bringing up the thought of whose fault it is if YOU go to prison for two years?

 

[Irridium]

Because you have PAID for games. you've Bought games from a company. They become yours. Just because you haven't logged in doesn't mean you don't still own them.

Spoiler alert: you don't own games you buy on Steam.

Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a limited, terminable, non-exclusive license and right to use the Software for your personal use in accordance with this Agreement and the Subscription Terms. The Software is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Software.

This is the case for a lot of software actually. You don't own it: they just license it to you, and make it a point that this license confers absolutely no ownership over the hardware. So no, even though you did pay for it, you don't technically own it... it isn't technically yours under the law. This isn't from Origins... this is from fucking Steam. You know... the one DD service everyone is eager to white knight. All those games on your Steam list, yeah, they aren't yours. You are basically just paying Valve to let you use them.

It's also in just about every EULA for every game. Physical and digital. And if you buy physical, you can't read them before you buy, but still apparently agree to them automatically when you buy them. Which is one main reason why I hate the things so much. It's also why EULA's are void in a few European countries.

 

[Lunar Templar]

and? i got an email from blizzard saying 'if you not gonna play WoW, we're gonna delete your account and free the names up' mind you it was a trail account, and i've really no issue with it, i assume by now my blizz account is no more, which is fine by me, could be something simaler here

 

[Fleischer]

EA has just convinced me that if I do buy Mass Effect 3, I will be buying a hard copy, avoiding Origins like the plague. EA makes me respect Value, and be thankful for Steam.

 

[pspman45]

They're going to close accounts that havn't been used for over 2 years? Sounds fair enough. If you've not used it for 2 years, you're not exactly likely to go back to it.

what If you get sent to prison or something?
imagine coming back to realize that not only was your account deleted but that you'll have to spend your money again?

If you've been in prison for 2 years, it's likely to be pretty far down on your list of "stuff to do now I'm out". In the majority of cases, an account abandoned for 2 years is going to keep on being ignored, hence the EA clause. It's fairly standard practice, and it frees up space on servers/other techy things for new players. It probably will effect a minority, but then everything does.

Steam doesn't do that....
and EA has enough money to maintain the servers, that is no excuse

 

[Internet Kraken]

I mean, why hold up a chunk of their servers for someone who doesn't even play when you could make room for people who want to but can't due to server restrictions?

Do you honestly think that this scenario would ever occur? Also I don't know how many times we have to go over why the "you don't use the account anymore" argument is wrong. Plenty of people play games after not playing them for 2 years.

 

[SyphonX]

I doubt this is true, as to what's being exaggerated here. Perhaps its stated for liability reasons. Maybe they store your data elsewhere and you may recover it as such. It's simply taken off of the main servers to save bandwidth/space (though a corporation of the magnitude of EA doesn't need to do that, frankly).

All that said, if the speculation is true, and they just start canning accounts after 24 months, then they can forget being a competitor.

I've played so many games and MMOs in my lifetime. Sometimes I really do go back to the same accounts after several years. If a company just decided to can my account, then how am I supposed to give a shit about buying any of their games, honestly ? If you don't give a shit about me as a customer, then I don't give a shit about your products. It's that simple.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Ah well, perhaps fewer people would support valve if you know, they'd made a breathtaking run of stupid decisions over the years. you know, just like EA. Going off the gaming timeline, valve have done very well in all of their decisions. EA's one redeeming feature right now is Mass Effect 3. And that's it. Are you surprised at all the vitriol they get? They're run by morons. Watch the EC episode "open letter to EA marketing".

Compared to the moronic decisions that EA has made, and how they've systematically alienated a ton of people. Yes, Valve's every action will look like they poop gold and bring starving orphans back to life.

Good sir, I please ask that should you wish to argue or debate, that you instead argue against my proposition instead of attacking a superficially related, yet nonequivalent, point as you just did. Your point on EA being run by dicks is superficially related to the overall topic and hand (though not untrue), yet you do not directly refute or contribute at all to the ongoing argument I presented. You instead assume that presenting the evidence that EA is a company full of large dicks is enough to say that I am wrong.

Though I am not one to argue about arguing, your flawed logic is frightening, and such a post is the only way I could properly reply. Please refute or attack the point I presented in my post (i.e. you often do not legally own most software) instead of a tangentially related one. Thank you.

Alright then. People are better prepared to tolerate valve's conditions because they aren't a bunch of Tosspots.

People are less inclined to take the EXACT SAME CONDITIONS from EA. Because, here's the kicker, they treat their market like suckers all the time.


How's that "good sir"?


EDIT: and please tell us where it says in the valve eula that they will terminate your account after 2 years.