Is EA no longer the worst company in America?

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

They do promote Toxic gaming practices which only hurt the game industry as a whole. Introducing things that only hinder, not help the consumer and destroying the gaming community as a whole. Back in the day we had game mods and cheat codes, now? Cheat Codes are all held by one gaming trainer site and mods are almost non existent because of DLC.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

There are games that glorify racism and teach people how to be racists,there are games that glorify rape and anytime a rape victim sees that they relive their own assault.These games are out there and incite or encourage people to commit these acts.

Incite or encourage? You're doing it again, stating without backing it up. I don't recall any games where rape or racist isn't done by the bad guy or buy a good guy that doesn't learn or realize it's bad and shouldn't be done. That could very well just be me, but I can't recall any games of your description(games that have those, sure, but not games that incite or encourage such behavior).

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

There are games that glorify racism and teach people how to be racists,there are games that glorify rape and anytime a rape victim sees that they relive their own assault.These games are out there and incite or encourage people to commit these acts.

Incite or encourage? You're doing it again, stating without backing it up. I don't recall any games where rape or racist isn't done by the bad guy or buy a good guy that doesn't learn or realize it's bad and shouldn't be done. That could very well just be me, but I can't recall any games of your description(games that have those, sure, but not games that incite or encourage such behavior).

The only one I can think of outside of hentai games (because, let's face it, those games all contain rape) is "Custer's Revenge", and even then I think it's a stretch to say it glorifies anything.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

They never were to begin with, because seriously even people who actually voted for them agree that they aren't *really* the worst company in America.

That being said, they're really trying to boost their PR and while I sympathize with their efforts and I think offering sales is a good start, they only will start getting my money once the game publisher starts releasing good games.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

Just look up racist games and you will see it,those types of games encourage people to commit violence and incite racist behavour.Most people especially young kids who had racist families are taught that things like that are okay and are more likely to act out the things they see in racist games.Japan has many games where girls are raped by the good guy and even here there are some underground rape simulators that people play.

Why do I have to research your point? Annnnnd...most people? I don't know where you're from, but where I'm from, most people are taught that racism is not okay.

The only one I can think of outside of hentai games (because, let's face it, those games all contain rape) is "Custer's Revenge", and even then I think it's a stretch to say it glorifies anything.

Interesting. I don't know of any games that glorify rape or racism, though. Games that have them, sure, but not glorifies or incites/encourages it. Aside from possible games that were made for that purpose, obviously. But that's probably because I avoid such games.

 

[SecondPrize]

That poll was sponsored by a website called consumerist. It was always intended to find the worst company from the standpoint of consumers of that companies products or services. So you can toss out any arguments about how they're not nearly the worst company out there, including those from EA itself that brought up how they couldn't possibly be worse then BP after the oil spill, because worst-as-in-evil was never the point. BP, by the way, wasn't included in the competition that year, because again, worse company to consumers, which is something EAs PR people forgot to mention.
It looks like they have taken their repeat victory to heart and are now approaching the consumer in a slightly less adversarial manner. Hopefully they can keep it up because they have a ways to go.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

EA's biggest issue was always with PR and publicity. The way the cluelessly went about their business, making one dreadful decision after another, thinking people would actually like that, disregarding PR and underestimating just how vocal their customers could get if mistreated.

A cynic may view this surge of good news surrounding EA as nothing but publicity stunts, just telling us shit that we want to hear. But honestly? The very fact that EA now seems to know what we want to hear, and that they go out of their way to tell us just that; and the fact that they are actually working to get their PR in order is a huge sign of improvement.

EA never really was the worst company in america. They are not even the worst game publisher, in my opinion. I am not going to try and defend them; they have made their share of ridiculously stupid decisions and are neck-deep in issues. However, the fact that they were able to recognise and are attempting to tackle the greatest and by far the worst of these issues - their image and PR - is I think a good sign.

A few months ago I wrote a short article on the state of EA's PR and tried to outline the most logical steps they should take to get things in order. I sincerely doubt they actually read the thing but weirdly enough, in these last few months, they went on and did most of the things I listed. So yes. In my eyes, EA are showing huge signs of improvement.

Your turn Ubisoft.

 

[Warachia]

It's not about not being able to do fucked up shit, it's about the impact the company as on life. No matter how bad EA gets, it's never going to impact life significantly. All people have to do is not buy their games if they get too bad.

Tell that to the people who film people getting tortured or raped as entertainment,tell that to the child pornographers who ruin thousands of children's lives with their videos.Just because you think entertainment isn't capable of ruining lives does'nt mean it's true.

Also most of the things I've mentioned are commited by companies that are underground and in other countries.

And all this is related to what EA does... how?


If you genuinely believe that EA has "some of the worst [imaginable] consumer practices", you have no idea of the business world. So they're forcing you to use Origin and want to milk their customers a bit more by implementing micro transactions in all their games. But, yea, that's totally on the same level as insurance companies not wanting to pay you damages after life-changing accidents or banks granting you loans you won't be able to repay... to name just two examples.

I was just giving examples of entertainment ruining lives when someone said they did'nt,I don't believe EA is on the levels of companies like Haliburton,Monsanto and others but they are up there in terms of treating customers like shit.

But how is that related to anything EA does or is currently doing? Are they filming people getting tortured or raped for somebodies entertainment? No, are they putting out child pornography? No. Don't throw in something unrelated then try to justify it when they aren't connected to it to begin with.

OT: EA is not, and has never been the worst company in America, there are far worse like Monsanto, but because people don't hear about them as often, they don't think of them as often, and that poll was flawed to begin with because companies like Monsanto, Bank of America, and Ticketmaster weren't on it.

 

[Warachia]

There are games that glorify racism and teach people how to be racists,there are games that glorify rape and anytime a rape victim sees that they relive their own assault.These games are out there and incite or encourage people to commit these acts.

Incite or encourage? You're doing it again, stating without backing it up. I don't recall any games where rape or racist isn't done by the bad guy or buy a good guy that doesn't learn or realize it's bad and shouldn't be done. That could very well just be me, but I can't recall any games of your description(games that have those, sure, but not games that incite or encourage such behavior).

Just look up racist games and you will see it,those types of games encourage people to commit violence and incite racist behavour.Most people especially young kids who had racist families are taught that things like that are okay and are more likely to act out the things they see in racist games.Japan has many games where girls are raped by the good guy and even here there are some underground rape simulators that people play.

If you want to make an argument, you need sources and examples, you can't just say that something exists, then when somebody calls you out on it you can't tell them to do the research for you.

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

The Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" award is based upon individual consumer votes.

Yes, there are "worse" companies than EA. But unless you live in the Gulf, BP did not directly affect you. While the big-name banks did ruin the economy, they did not directly empty out people's bank accounts. And Wal-Mart treats their employees like shit, consumers over look their practices because of the low prices.

IMO, EA was voted "worst" because they directly mistreat millions of customers. I, personally, was called "stupid at best, and a thief at worst" by the CEO of EA because SecuROM prevented me from playing the copy of Spore that I had purchased.

So, from the POV of a consumer, EA is the worst company in America because of how they directly treat millions of customers (who, for the most part, also happen to be online, where the polling took place).

Regardless, the company has been slapped with the label "Worst Company in America" two years in a row. And while it seems the company is making changes to try and address the image they have with consumers, I wouldn't hold out too much hope. Any real, positive changes would adversely affect their short-term bottom-line too much.

Also, BP is still to date helping out in the Gulf for the stuff they had done. From direct compensation annually to making sure the cleanup is going along swimmingly.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

If EA keeps doing the good things and doesn't come out with any more of the crap that has made them infamous then I'd say they could recover from their bad reputation. They clearly have some good ideas, and they know they need to get some good press after the Sim City issues and other similar problems.

This. EA have made some great moves in giving back to their customers and improving their business activities, and if it keeps up and they don't relapse into crapping over consumers again then I would be glad to purchase their games.

Just look up racist games and you will see it,those types of games encourage people to commit violence and incite racist behavour.Most people especially young kids who had racist families are taught that things like that are okay and are more likely to act out the things they see in racist games.Japan has many games where girls are raped by the good guy and even here there are some underground rape simulators that people play.

But EA haven't made any of those games. You can't blame EA for negative influences that gaming has on American culture if EA have nothing to do with those games and haven't actually contributed in any way to those negative influences.

The past few years they have been dicks. From the lying inherent in the marketing of Mass Effect 3, to the SimCity always Online fiasco they have produced products that lack greatly in quality control. The older issues of them killing studios and treating their workforce like crap are also factors, but they have improved their working conditions and Studio buyouts and closures are rarer now.

As far as I know EA have never bankrupted a customer, or foreclosed their house, or promoted racist ideals or rape culture. They have never killed their workforce through negligence or caused deliberate excessive environmental damage.

There are other companies that have done these things, I shouldn't have to give examples, but as much as you hate EA for their selfish and corporate interests, they haven't had anywhere near the negative effect on people's lives that others like Bank of America, BP, Mosanto etc. etc. etc. have had.

 

[Bruce]

EA, has improved a lot to be honest. They aren't making the same bone-headed statements about their consumers, they've stopped pushing a lot of the stuff that was getting them a bad rep, and they've started doing some good.

A lot of the stuff that won them those awards, was basically pointlessly bad business. Now though? They're pretty much the same as all the other big publishers.

 

[Gameguy20100]

The Consumerist's "Worst Company in America" award is based upon individual consumer votes.

Yes, there are "worse" companies than EA. But unless you live in the Gulf, BP did not directly affect you. While the big-name banks did ruin the economy, they did not directly empty out people's bank accounts. And Wal-Mart treats their employees like shit, consumers over look their practices because of the low prices.

IMO, EA was voted "worst" because they directly mistreat millions of customers. I, personally, was called "stupid at best, and a thief at worst" by the CEO of EA because SecuROM prevented me from playing the copy of Spore that I had purchased.

So, from the POV of a consumer, EA is the worst company in America because of how they directly treat millions of customers (who, for the most part, also happen to be online, where the polling took place).

Regardless, the company has been slapped with the label "Worst Company in America" two years in a row. And while it seems the company is making changes to try and address the image they have with consumers, I wouldn't hold out too much hope. Any real, positive changes would adversely affect their short-term bottom-line too much.

Isn't that a little pessimistic?

OT: EA was never bad in my eyes but I don't believe in loyalty to company's I like EA as long as they make games I like once they stop,I will drop them like a 10 pound porcupine.

 

[TehCookie]

I have the almighty power of not caring. EA may be evil, but I've never support their evil practices. If they do something good I will buy from them. Seeing how I bought an EA game (well bundle of games) since the Sims 2 they've improved. Whether or not they keep improving is questionable. If they do improve I get more games, yay. If they don't I'll go back to ignoring them and wishing the people who complain about them stop buying their games like a drug addict. There's still plenty of other games out there.