How is Origin a Form of Competition?

[kilenem]

Well they give away a free game a month and you can get a refund if you don't like the game. While valve lets you share your game Library with "family", so you can demo games and they give free stuff every now and then. Although EA's DRM sucks but its better then Uplay.

 

[Pseudonym]

If they wanted it to be competitive, wouldn't it make more sense to allow the games to be sold and without using Origin, then try to convince people Origin is the better platform? I know that's not possible given it's EA (mandatory EA bash) but isn't this more like withholding and monopolising?

Isn't monopolising and witholding a form of competition? Or is competition now defined as good for everyone from the word go

 

[votemarvel]

If they wanted it to be competitive, wouldn't it make more sense to allow the games to be sold and without using Origin, then try to convince people Origin is the better platform? I know that's not possible given it's EA (mandatory EA bash) but isn't this more like withholding and monopolising?

Let me run Valve games without Steam at the same time and I'd be happy. I wonder how many people would run the Steam client if they didn't have to have it running in order to play their games?

So why should EA sell their games with Origin optional, if Valve don't have to do the same with Steam.

Honestly, sales aside, I can't see what Valve have done to engender themselves so tightly into gamers minds that anything else simply wont do.

Edit: Oddly if I install Dragon Age: Origins from Steam I need the Steam client running. Install it from Origin though and I can run the game without it.

 

[zumbledum]

And a question for you OP. Why won't you put Origin on your PC? Is it a moral choice, like you don't want to support EA? Or one based on the rumors that floated around in its early days?

i wont speak for the op but i to wont install origin and so dont buy any EA games, i simply do not want to have every single publisher set up their own storefront on my PC. so when a publisher gives its own digital store a monopoly on digital sales , i stop buying their products.


edit - steam gets away with it because they sell everything , if origin did the same thing as steam and did it better i would then use that.

 

[Aesir23]

I wouldn't say it's really competition since Origin doesn't host any non-EA games. That said, I still prefer Origin to Steam because I've experienced much better customer service with Origin and I don't need to have Origin running to play my installed games.

 

[Signa]

I think a big part of Origin not becoming competition is that people wont use it simply because it is not Steam. Hand on heart, how many times have you heard someone say "I wont buy that game because it isn't on Steam."

Hell, I've said that, and it's not specifically because I'm opposed to non-steam games. The fact is, if it's not in my Steam library, I forget that I own it. Hell, I bought Guild Wars 2 last month, and I'm yet to install it.

 

[DoPo]

I wouldn't say it's really competition since Origin doesn't host any non-EA games.

Actually, it does - not a lot but it does. I know I've seen Saints Row 3 was there for sure. And after a thorough research[footnote]I went to their store page and looked at the categories for each publisher which wasn't either EA or EA sports and tallying up the numbers for each of them[/footnote] there seem to 47 non-EA games on Origin. I don't know if that number includes DLC or something similar, but I don't expect the actual number of games to be lower than 30, seeing as most publishers only have a game or two on there (in fact, they all have single digit numbers of games listed).

 

[Bat Vader]

Origin has sales, just not as often as Steam. Just a few weeks ago they had a massive sale on the Sims Series. Previous to that I remember Titanfall being half-off multiple times.

Origin is still relatively new. It hasn't even been out four years yet. Remember how long Steam took to get where it is now? Yes, the service is still rather basic, browsing it can be a pain, and their library is limited. But compared to Steam, they've given me excellent customer support and a free game every month. I've even gotten discounts for no reason what-so-ever. Origin is not able to compete with Steam yet, but I imagine sometime in the future they will be able to.

And a question for you OP. Why won't you put Origin on your PC? Is it a moral choice, like you don't want to support EA? Or one based on the rumors that floated around in its early days?

The difference between Origin and Steam is that Steam has all the games (mostly) while Origin only has EA's games. This, to me, comes across as an attempt by EA to cut Valve completely out of their sales, which I think is incredibly petty.

Technical issues aside, it will only ever be viewed as an annoyance to people who use Steam. Hence why people like me refuse to have it on their computer any longer than necessary. Bioware is the only EA development house I support, so Origin goes up for Bioware's games, and is then promptly uninstalled when I'm done with them.

The rest of their recent library doesn't justify keeping this abomination on my laptop for any longer than necessary.

I use Steam and I don't view Origin as an annoyance. In fact I actually like it. Steam has it now too but Origin let me play a game while downloading one without having to alt tab and restart the download before Steam did. That is an option Steam should have within the first couple of years of it being launched. Don't get me wrong, I like Steam but I feel that Valve is sometimes a bit slow on innovating it. I love the community market and how I can sell or buy items.

Now they need to let players either trade games for other games or let them sell games they don't play anymore on the community market. I know the whole it's hard to do a used price on digital content argument and all applies but this is Valve we are talking about. They are considered the pioneers of innovation in the gaming industry. If they did it first most publishers and developers would embrace it.

 

[BarryMcCociner]

I'll tell you the one thing Origin has over Steam.

Game purchased on Origin won't run? EA customer service will help you out.

Game purchased on Steam won't run? Until the Dev's get their shit together and fix it you've got broken shit in your Library, and that is an if/when they decide to get their shit together situation.

 

[Morgoth780]

Origin has sales, just not as often as Steam. Just a few weeks ago they had a massive sale on the Sims Series. Previous to that I remember Titanfall being half-off multiple times.

Origin is still relatively new. It hasn't even been out four years yet. Remember how long Steam took to get where it is now? Yes, the service is still rather basic, browsing it can be a pain, and their library is limited. But compared to Steam, they've given me excellent customer support and a free game every month. I've even gotten discounts for no reason what-so-ever. Origin is not able to compete with Steam yet, but I imagine sometime in the future they will be able to.

And a question for you OP. Why won't you put Origin on your PC? Is it a moral choice, like you don't want to support EA? Or one based on the rumors that floated around in its early days?

The difference between Origin and Steam is that Steam has all the games (mostly) while Origin only has EA's games. This, to me, comes across as an attempt by EA to cut Valve completely out of their sales, which I think is incredibly petty.

Technical issues aside, it will only ever be viewed as an annoyance to people who use Steam. Hence why people like me refuse to have it on their computer any longer than necessary. Bioware is the only EA development house I support, so Origin goes up for Bioware's games, and is then promptly uninstalled when I'm done with them.

The rest of their recent library doesn't justify keeping this abomination on my laptop for any longer than necessary.

I use Steam and I don't view Origin as an annoyance. In fact I actually like it. Steam has it now too but Origin let me play a game while downloading one without having to alt tab and restart the download before Steam did. That is an option Steam should have within the first couple of years of it being launched. Don't get me wrong, I like Steam but I feel that Valve is sometimes a bit slow on innovating it. I love the community market and how I can sell or buy items.

Now they need to let players either trade games for other games or let them sell games they don't play anymore on the community market. I know the whole it's hard to do a used price on digital content argument and all applies but this is Valve we are talking about. They are considered the pioneers of innovation in the gaming industry. If they did it first most publishers and developers would embrace it.

If you go to the properties of a game in your steam library, you can change whether steam is allowed to download while you play it.

I'd also assume there's some form of setting that applies to all games, as one of the options is "follow global setting" or something like that.

 

[DoPo]

I'd also assume there's some form of setting that applies to all games, as one of the options is "follow global setting" or something like that.

Settings -> Downloads -> Allow downloads during gameplay

But I don't think Bat Vader didn't know that - his point was that Origin was the first to actually implement it.

 

[Morgoth780]

I'd also assume there's some form of setting that applies to all games, as one of the options is "follow global setting" or something like that.

Settings -> Downloads -> Allow downloads during gameplay

But I don't think Bat Vader didn't know that - his point was that Origin was the first to actually implement it.

Wow, I read right through "steam has it now too." thanks.

Anyway, I figure I might as well reply to the op now. Um... Well... That's the thing. All of the online stores on pc right now (excluding uplay) have generally very different games for sale.

Gog is probably the closest to a steam competitor at the moment since it offers a lot of different games. Origin has primarily ea games, but Gog has some bigger budget titles (Witcher, for example) and a good amount of indies as well. Plus, of course, a lot of good, old games.

 

[Bat Vader]

Origin has sales, just not as often as Steam. Just a few weeks ago they had a massive sale on the Sims Series. Previous to that I remember Titanfall being half-off multiple times.

Origin is still relatively new. It hasn't even been out four years yet. Remember how long Steam took to get where it is now? Yes, the service is still rather basic, browsing it can be a pain, and their library is limited. But compared to Steam, they've given me excellent customer support and a free game every month. I've even gotten discounts for no reason what-so-ever. Origin is not able to compete with Steam yet, but I imagine sometime in the future they will be able to.

And a question for you OP. Why won't you put Origin on your PC? Is it a moral choice, like you don't want to support EA? Or one based on the rumors that floated around in its early days?

The difference between Origin and Steam is that Steam has all the games (mostly) while Origin only has EA's games. This, to me, comes across as an attempt by EA to cut Valve completely out of their sales, which I think is incredibly petty.

Technical issues aside, it will only ever be viewed as an annoyance to people who use Steam. Hence why people like me refuse to have it on their computer any longer than necessary. Bioware is the only EA development house I support, so Origin goes up for Bioware's games, and is then promptly uninstalled when I'm done with them.

The rest of their recent library doesn't justify keeping this abomination on my laptop for any longer than necessary.

I use Steam and I don't view Origin as an annoyance. In fact I actually like it. Steam has it now too but Origin let me play a game while downloading one without having to alt tab and restart the download before Steam did. That is an option Steam should have within the first couple of years of it being launched. Don't get me wrong, I like Steam but I feel that Valve is sometimes a bit slow on innovating it. I love the community market and how I can sell or buy items.

Now they need to let players either trade games for other games or let them sell games they don't play anymore on the community market. I know the whole it's hard to do a used price on digital content argument and all applies but this is Valve we are talking about. They are considered the pioneers of innovation in the gaming industry. If they did it first most publishers and developers would embrace it.

If you go to the properties of a game in your steam library, you can change whether steam is allowed to download while you play it.

I'd also assume there's some form of setting that applies to all games, as one of the options is "follow global setting" or something like that.

I know I have it so that it downloads while I play a game. I was just saying that they should have had it first before Origin did.

 

[votemarvel]

I think a big part of Origin not becoming competition is that people wont use it simply because it is not Steam. Hand on heart, how many times have you heard someone say "I wont buy that game because it isn't on Steam."

Hell, I've said that, and it's not specifically because I'm opposed to non-steam games. The fact is, if it's not in my Steam library, I forget that I own it. Hell, I bought Guild Wars 2 last month, and I'm yet to install it.

It's one of those things I just don't understand. Once installed you can add a game to your Steam Library, so it'll be listed alongside all your other titles. (Games. Add a Non-Steam game to my Library.)

Something else I've noticed in this thread is people complaining about EA having a monopoly on their own titles. Yet they seem to have no problem with Valve having a monopoly on all titles, in fact it seems they'd be happy about that.

Yes it would be great if Origin had a greater wealth of titles available on it. However I do wonder how much of that is EA not wanting to put them on there against companies not wanting to alienate those "Steam or nothing" fans.

 

[DoPo]

Something else I've noticed in this thread is people complaining about EA having a monopoly on their own titles. Yet they seem to have no problem with Valve having a monopoly on all titles

Possibly related to the fact that the two are not comparable - in Valve's case, it's games made by Valve, in EA's case, it's games made or published by EA. Significant difference. Also significant difference in number of games, too.

 

[Laughing Man]

The difference between Origin and Steam is that Steam has all the games (mostly) while Origin only has EA's games. This, to me, comes across as an attempt by EA to cut Valve completely out of their sales, which I think is incredibly petty.

Sorry how exactly is that 'petty' EA are there to make money.

Option A

Develop our own in house DD platform for our games and then keep 100% of the profit from the sales

Option B

Let someone else sell our games on what has rapidly become the utter cease pit of gaming distribution and then pay them a portion of the profit for doing that.

If Origin was crap, unreliable, buggy, horrible to use, slow, full to the brim with utter shite that pass as games, jam packed full of useless features and was the primary source of income because the developer had lost interest in actually making games... oh hold on I am describing Steam here... anyway yeah if Origin was THOSE things and EA insisted on continuing to use the platform THEN it would be petty as it is Origin is perfectly fine to use.

 

[Dragonbums]

Origin, along with GoG, and other similar storefronts are competition to Steam in the most basic sense. They provide a similar service to Steam and give consumers the option to choose between different companies. How good they are at being competition is another story, but after their major fuck ups with DRM, invasive bots, etc. They have a lot of PR to build back up. I suspect in a few years time it will get substantially better like Steam did.

But for now it's not going anywhere.

 

[Charli]

EA want all the money or none of the money. Just like every other corporation making tripleA titles nowadays. There is no compromise, no long term sight, no letting the small fish swim free to catch the bigger fish.

They want 100% of the money.

Without realizing that there would be more money to take from larger amounts of customers shockingly. 2risky4dem I imagine.


I'm not adverse to Origin being a competitor. But as you implied by this thread. It has to actually compete. And it seems utterly unwilling to ever do that. So fine, it can stay the mediocre service and intrusive thing in the way of EA's few playable game library.
I don't care.

 

[Strelok]

Erm, it has and it's been 6 years at most from memory...My first game, My first free game was in 2010 on "Origin" was burnout: paradise as a christmas gift. Before, it was called EA download manger which also used to be a small update service but then got upgraded into a Steam clone. Origin is a mere rebranding or gold version as such of the same service .

I agree, Steam had some serious technical and anti-competitive issues when it was first launched. Some of which still exists to this day such as the offline feature.

Origin launched June 2011, it hasn't even been 4 years yet.

On Topic, Origin has some good sales, and a few titles that can only be bought from Origin now, like Mercenaries 2 and The Saboteur both I bought on sale, I also bought Tomb Raider on sale with Origin, but it activated on Steam.