Et tu EA?

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Oh my god. I think some people on this thread are being paid by EA. OH MY GOD! And the original poster is suspended! Guys, their gonna shut me down next! AUGH there's someone at my door! HE'S GOTTA GUN! HELP! I'M AT 523888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

He's dead. And we will find you too if you speak of this.

ALL HAIL EA

You know, I didn't notice he had been suspended until you mentioned it, but upon looking at the post he was suspended for, he earned it. It started out with an uncensored "FU" and got worse from there. It's a pity, since he and I were actually arguing the same side.

 

[Dupeo]

I didn't see that but some of these other guys sound suspicious. Its kinda strange to use words like "The rights of a corporation." That doesn't sound like a normal consumer, that sounds like a brainwashed consumer or someone on EA's payroll.

 

[Dupeo]

Oh my god. I think some people on this thread are being paid by EA. OH MY GOD! And the original poster is suspended! Guys, their gonna shut me down next! AUGH there's someone at my door! HE'S GOTTA GUN! HELP! I'M AT 523888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

He's dead. And we will find you too if you speak of this.

ALL HAIL EA

You know, I didn't notice he had been suspended until you mentioned it, but upon looking at the post he was suspended for, he earned it. It started out with an uncensored "FU" and got worse from there. It's a pity, since he and I were actually arguing the same side.

I didn't see that but some of these other guys sound suspicious. Its kinda strange to use words like "The rights of a corporation." That doesn't sound like a normal consumer, that sounds like a brainwashed consumer or someone on EA's payroll.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Oh my god. I think some people on this thread are being paid by EA. OH MY GOD! And the original poster is suspended! Guys, their gonna shut me down next! AUGH there's someone at my door! HE'S GOTTA GUN! HELP! I'M AT 523888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

He's dead. And we will find you too if you speak of this.

ALL HAIL EA

You know, I didn't notice he had been suspended until you mentioned it, but upon looking at the post he was suspended for, he earned it. It started out with an uncensored "FU" and got worse from there. It's a pity, since he and I were actually arguing the same side.

I didn't see that but some of these other guys sound suspicious. Its kinda strange to use words like "The rights of a corporation." That doesn't sound like a normal consumer, that sounds like a brainwashed consumer or someone on EA's payroll.

I think brainwashed consumer is closer to the truth than someone on EA's payroll, if only because the attitude prevalent in this thread is so common on the site as a whole. While I wouldn't consider it beneath EA to plant employees on popular message boards, I wouldn't expect more than one or two per site. It's more likely that these guys watched some video made by someone on EA's (or Activision's) payroll, and were brought over to the dark side. I'm pretty sure the "used games are equivalent to piracy" argument came straight from the mouth of Bobby Kotick.

Edit: Excuse me, it came from Penny Arcade, which stopped being the voice of the players and became the voice of the publishers several years ago. Seriously, those guys are two of the biggest industry cheerleaders I've ever seen. Child's Play is admirable, but their actual views on the industry do not impress me.

 

[squid5580]

First off, no I would not.

Secondly, wow. It's been so long since I've bought a new game I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to how they are trying to nickle and dime us out of money.

Wow, someone else on this forum who doesn't blindly cheer on the game companies as they try to separate us from our money. You are a minority on this site my friend. Be proud.


OT: Yep, that's what EA does. Game companies are unique in the way they rip off their customers, and then use their PR arm to somehow make them think they're getting a good deal. I mean, there's plenty of scams that work on that principle, but the difference is with most scams, the victims don't suffer from Stockholm syndrome.

I really hate to be the one to say this but if you need to spend that 10 bucks, the moment you pay you become their customer. You are Gamestop's or the pawn shops or ebays customer before then. How do you be a customer of some company you aren't buying something from? Just because you own a EA product does not make you their customer. Just like owning a GMC car you bought used does not make you a GMC customer.

 

[GotMalkAvian]

Companies are within their rights to try and encourage consumers to buy new products. You're saving a decent amount of money by buying a used product, so it's fair that you may lose some functionality. Be wiser with your money and decide whether you'd rather have fewer multiplayer games or more single-player games.

I'm not happy about this licensing decision, but I understand that the used game trend is hurting sales for publishers and they need to bring in money somehow.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

First off, no I would not.

Secondly, wow. It's been so long since I've bought a new game I'm completely out of the loop when it comes to how they are trying to nickle and dime us out of money.

Wow, someone else on this forum who doesn't blindly cheer on the game companies as they try to separate us from our money. You are a minority on this site my friend. Be proud.


OT: Yep, that's what EA does. Game companies are unique in the way they rip off their customers, and then use their PR arm to somehow make them think they're getting a good deal. I mean, there's plenty of scams that work on that principle, but the difference is with most scams, the victims don't suffer from Stockholm syndrome.

I really hate to be the one to say this but if you need to spend that 10 bucks, the moment you pay you become their customer. You are Gamestop's or the pawn shops or ebays customer before then. How do you be a customer of some company you aren't buying something from? Just because you own a EA product does not make you their customer. Just like owning a GMC car you bought used does not make you a GMC customer.

It hurts the person who bought the original game by lowering the resale value. Further, just because you buy one game used does not mean you buy everything used -- my fairly respectable Steam collection is evidence in that direction. Finally, all the little bits of nickel and diming they do -- if you can call, say, charging a quarter of the cost of the game for four new multiplayer maps "nickel and diming" -- ultimately hurts the consumer. Basically, whether or not I am a customer of a given publisher on one specific purchase, I either have or will most likely pay for a new game from them at some point. When they screw me over, no matter what the context, it doesn't make me look favorably upon them. This is without getting into DRM at all.

Edit: to be clear, that "screwing over their customers" line was in reference to their overall business plan, not exclusively to this particular practice. We take it up the wrong end from these guys on a daily basis, and there is a disturbing percentage of gamers who bend over and say "thank you sir, can I have another?"

 

[Karthek]

EA hates people who sell used games, and the people who buy them. However, some games(Dragon Age 2, Dead Space 2, Bulletstorm) are good enough to buy as soon as they come out!

 

[Snotnarok]

Think of it as buying a used gameboy, you saved a few bucks but you're missing the battery cover for it.

Heh, best metaphor ever.

Ehh, I thought it made sense ya know? You pay less but you don't get the whole package that nintendo sold, because you bought it from a friend.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Think of it as buying a used gameboy, you saved a few bucks but you're missing the battery cover for it.

Heh, best metaphor ever.

Ehh, I thought it made sense ya know? You pay less but you don't get the whole package that nintendo sold, because you bought it from a friend.

I thought it was an apt metaphor, because it's funny and true.

I was reading the thread trying to put my own metaphor in, I was going to say "It's like using a friends WoW account, but bitching about paying subscription fees," but it didn't make much sense.

I agree with you, if you're going to buy something without contributing to the developer, you can't be surprised or outraged when you don't have access to all the features, that's just how things work. Even if the original buyer paid for those features, that's the original buyers purchase, you are the current buyer, and you have not contributed to said company.

Sense good yeah make do huh?

Not really. As I said earlier, if you get a used gameboy in good condition (not hard, as they were built like tanks and there actually are people out there who know how to take care of their stuff) it's going to have everything with the possible exception of the original packaging -- and that was meant to be thrown out. A better metaphor is that you bought a used gameboy, but nintendo has a deal with the seller to rip out the speaker, the headphone jack, and the battery cover, and then only give it back to you if you pay a "small" fee to Nintendo for each of these parts. It's not like you actually need any of those parts to play the games...

 

[Sovvolf]

I think brainwashed consumer is closer to the truth than someone on EA's payroll, if only because the attitude prevalent in this thread is so common on the site as a whole. While I wouldn't consider it beneath EA to plant employees on popular message boards, I wouldn't expect more than one or two per site. It's more likely that these guys watched some video made by someone on EA's (or Activision's) payroll, and were brought over to the dark side. I'm pretty sure the "used games are equivalent to piracy" argument came straight from the mouth of Bobby Kotick.

Christ, this is one of the main reason why I try to keep out of these arguments. Look, I'm not going to argue against your other points, I think you've done a bang up job defending them and I really do like to keep out on that shit and let people like you and your opposition argue it out and bring the points to the table.

However, this attitude that anyone who is on the opposition is either brainwashed or on the payroll is what gets me. Turns you from being a highly intelligent debater to another ignorant dogmatic clown that we get enough of here.

You think these people are wrong, fine, thats your opinion and its not something than I'm going to get into(though I'd say I'm leaning more to your side on some of the points you've made... Some, but not all), but please don't turn to using arguments like that, specially when you've been doing well holding your own and showing that your a clear minded poster.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Think of it as buying a used gameboy, you saved a few bucks but you're missing the battery cover for it.

Heh, best metaphor ever.

Ehh, I thought it made sense ya know? You pay less but you don't get the whole package that nintendo sold, because you bought it from a friend.

I thought it was an apt metaphor, because it's funny and true.

I was reading the thread trying to put my own metaphor in, I was going to say "It's like using a friends WoW account, but bitching about paying subscription fees," but it didn't make much sense.

I agree with you, if you're going to buy something without contributing to the developer, you can't be surprised or outraged when you don't have access to all the features, that's just how things work. Even if the original buyer paid for those features, that's the original buyers purchase, you are the current buyer, and you have not contributed to said company.

Sense good yeah make do huh?

Not really. As I said earlier, if you get a used gameboy in good condition (not hard, as they were built like tanks and there actually are people out there who know how to take care of their stuff) it's going to have everything with the possible exception of the original packaging -- and that was meant to be thrown out. A better metaphor is that you bought a used gameboy, but nintendo has a deal with the seller to rip out the speaker, the headphone jack, and the battery cover, and then only give it back to you if you pay a "small" fee to Nintendo for each of these parts. It's not like you actually need any of those parts to play the games...

Actually that's a really shit metaphor, which is why I didn't quote it.

How so? If you buy the game new, it comes with the DLC -- usually, it's even on the disc, and the only thing you're downloading is an authorization code to use it. When you buy used, the publisher has effectively ripped that content out of the game, and prevented you from using it until you pay them the fee. It's extortion.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I think brainwashed consumer is closer to the truth than someone on EA's payroll, if only because the attitude prevalent in this thread is so common on the site as a whole. While I wouldn't consider it beneath EA to plant employees on popular message boards, I wouldn't expect more than one or two per site. It's more likely that these guys watched some video made by someone on EA's (or Activision's) payroll, and were brought over to the dark side. I'm pretty sure the "used games are equivalent to piracy" argument came straight from the mouth of Bobby Kotick.

Christ, this is one of the main reason why I try to keep out of these arguments. Look, I'm not going to argue against your other points, I think you've done a bang up job defending them and I really do like to keep out on that shit and let people like you and your opposition argue it out and bring the points to the table.

However, this attitude that anyone who is on the opposition is either brainwashed or on the payroll is what gets me. Turns you from being a highly intelligent debater to another ignorant dogmatic clown that we get enough of here.

You think these people are wrong, fine, thats your opinion and its not something than I'm going to get into(though I'd say I'm leaning more to your side on some of the points you've made... Some, but not all), but please don't turn to using arguments like that, specially when you've been doing well holding your own and showing that your a clear minded poster.

I wasn't the one who brought it up, and I was actually pointing out there that the other side of the argument was almost definitely not a paid rep. However, we have a real problem on this site with people parroting points made by industry pundits, and then defending them to the metaphorical death. You see it any time either Yahtzee or the Extra Credits guys make a claim. In this case, the entire argument I'm working against is a case of industry PR that some gamers have taken to heart. It's not exactly brainwashing, but it's not a rational consumer's opinion, either. For example, I did a little research, and the quote I attributed to Bobby Kotick actually came from Penny Arcade -- a site that became a PR arm for publishers quite some time ago. The Penny Arcade that accuses people who buy used games of being no better than pirates is a far cry from the Penny Arcade that burned a PC to get rid of the evil from a terrible game.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Posting so the comment I'm about to reply to will actually show up (what is it with this post display glitch, anyway?