PSA: Origin Game Sale! 75% Off! (Discussion, your opinion on Origin?)

[DudeistBelieve]

So picked up Mass Effect trillogy for $15 and $5 Battlefield: Hardline (that frankly, I just wanted to play the campaign since it came out)

Question of the day, what do you feel about Origin?

I think I've become like most PC users, I think Steam has the best interface. I understand Ubisoft, EA, Blizzard all wanting to do their own thing to get a piece of the pie but it really is a pain in the ass having my game library spread out over several applications. I tend to avoid buying anything not on Steam for this reason.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I don't really hate Origin. It just doesn't have a lot to offer that I'm interested in. I really only care about it because of Dragon Age and the occasional free game. Other than that, I already have all the games I want on another platform (Xbox, Steam, GOG).

But in terms of actual functionality, I don't notice anything worse about it than Steam. Then again, I don't really use the in-game overlays for either, so maybe there's something there I'm supposed to hate.

Edit: I guess I have more customization with Steam, being able to apply various skins to it (don't think Origin has that). I quite like the Metro theme I'm running on Steam.

Edit 2: That's Metro as-in Windows. Not Metro as-in the games.

 

[aozgolo]

I think EA's exclusivity is the only real thing Origin has going for it, I mean the free games is nice, but because EA holds their products hostage to their own platform, they kinda force people to have to have it if they want those games, instead of really being competitive and offering a better platform.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Origin as a platform that I have noticed, but it offers nothing feature-wise that I see as at all competitive towards other platforms like GOG or Steam.

 

[Maximum Bert]

I dont use it and never will so I have no real opinion on the service its just I despise EA and so 99% of the time refuse to have anything to do with them.

If it is anything like Steam I will likely not be a fan. I would prefer if my games were not tied to a client it just makes thing much more of a pain than it needs to be.

 

[Kingjackl]

I don't really dislike Origin these days, it's had some ok deals and I like that it's at least becoming some kind of countermeasure to the Steam monopoly.That said, the smallness of the library and lack of features means it's never going to be anything beyond an EA games marketplace for me.

 

[DoPo]

Question of the day, what do you feel about Origin?

I was never really negative towards it. On the other hand, I never got any games on it. Reason being that EA never seemed to figure out how to actually sell their games. They didn't have sales for quite a while at first. Even then, the game selection was rather limited. At some point, EA finally realised that, hey, they also have older games they can offer and they added some good games like Dungeon Keeper. Only for some insane reason, the old games they added were more expensive than on GOG. This went hand in hand with a bunch of their other games being more expensive than on Steam.

So, I never really had the incentive to get anything from there. I mentioned the small selection but that also played a large part - the games on there that I either already had on Steam/GOG or I had no interest in. The only game that I was willing to get was Mass Effect 3. You know what I like about the other digital distributions? Convenience. I was and am still unable to get the game with all DLC in about 2-3 clicks. Hence why I never got it.

The only game on Origin that I want now is Mirror's Edge Catalyst. It looks like like it is going to be the first game I get there. Only, the price EA is asking, is a tad too high, so I'll wait until it drops.

In summary, Origin wasn't really a bad system per se but it's EA's way of using it to sell games managed to...do the opposite of selling games to me.

 

[Bilious Green_v1legacy]

I only use it for Bioware games. It works okay, but it's not a patch on Steam or GOG.

 

[baddude1337]

I don't mind Origin, but outside of sales their prices are far from competitive, and there isn't really any modern EA games I want to play, and most of their older classics I have on CD anyway. Not to mention most of their stuff is on GOG, which is usually not only cheaper with more regular sales but DRM free.

At least they don't forcefully plug their DRM and loader into their games on different platforms, like Ubisoft do with Uplay on Steam. Just seems unnecessary.

 

[Fhqwhgod]

I don't use Origin. Still waiting for the release of Mass Effect 3 on Steam. If it doesn't get one I wouldn't mind either though.
Mass Effect 3 would honestly be the only game on there I'd want to play at all so "eh".

 

[Dizchu]

I only used Origin to get Mass Effect 3. Doesn't seem like too bad a platform but it really can't compete with Steam, GOG and Humble Bundle. It was more an inconvenience than anything else.

 

[Gone Rampant]

It's honestly alright as a service. I'd happily say that Origin's customer assistance department is lightyears ahead of Steam.

I don't use it much, but the On The House scheme has given me a fairly healthy backlog.

 

[Saelune]

I hate EA, and I hate what is basically EA being a dick with their games. What few EA games I care to get I will get on console, but unlike other games, wont end up archived for me on things like Steam, so I guess I wont be playing them 5 years after the fact.

I also just prefer to keep my games in one place, which is why I stick with Steam. Though now that GoG has Galaxy, my library there is growing slowly, but mostly games Steam doesn't have, such as Arena, Daggerfall, Redguard, Battlespire, Neverwinter Nights, and Planescape: Torment.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I have question regarding Dragon Age Inquisition.

I don't own Dragon Age II and do not want to but I like to try out Inquisition.

One thing I am worried about is the whole save transfer of this game.

Since I don't have DA: II how will get the events I want to happen happen?

Also since I have Dragon Age Origins will those events of the game I have beaten transfer well without Dragon Age 2?

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I hate EA, and I hate what is basically EA being a dick with their games. What few EA games I care to get I will get on console, but unlike other games, wont end up archived for me on things like Steam, so I guess I wont be playing them 5 years after the fact.

I also just prefer to keep my games in one place, which is why I stick with Steam. Though now that GoG has Galaxy, my library there is growing slowly, but mostly games Steam doesn't have, such as Arena, Daggerfall, Redguard, Battlespire, Neverwinter Nights, and Planescape: Torment.

There are still games on Steam I wish were on GOG like the older Total War games, Brothers in Arms, Doom 3, heck even Half-Life 1 at least, etc.

 

[Saelune]

I hate EA, and I hate what is basically EA being a dick with their games. What few EA games I care to get I will get on console, but unlike other games, wont end up archived for me on things like Steam, so I guess I wont be playing them 5 years after the fact.

I also just prefer to keep my games in one place, which is why I stick with Steam. Though now that GoG has Galaxy, my library there is growing slowly, but mostly games Steam doesn't have, such as Arena, Daggerfall, Redguard, Battlespire, Neverwinter Nights, and Planescape: Torment.

There are still games on Steam I wish were on GOG like the older Total War games, Brothers in Arms, Doom 3, heck even Half-Life 1 at least, etc.

Well, to be fair, Valve is going to be like EA in not letting their stuff appear elsewhere. I do kind of wish GoG beat Steam as the lead for this cause they do seem to care more about people, and don't even limit their titles (The Witcher series mainly) to GoG. Hell, if I could have CD Projekt take over running Steam, I would.

 

[Sassafrass]

Origin is OK. I mean, it doesn't annoy me, nor does it make me go "Oh shit this is amazing."

I am a fan of the EA Access service though. ?4 a month for some games I want to play but I'm not willing to drop spend full price on? I can dig it.

 

[Sassafrass]

I have question regarding Dragon Age Inquisition.

I don't own Dragon Age II and do not want to but I like to try out Inquisition.

One thing I am worried about is the whole save transfer of this game.

Since I don't have DA: II how will get the events I want to happen happen?

Also since I have Dragon Age Origins will those events of the game I have beaten transfer well without Dragon Age 2?

https://dragonagekeep.com/en_US/

You can use this to make a "save world" for DA:I. What it is is basically a world editor of sorts, giving you all the key choices from DA:O and DA2 and allowing you to pick the ones you made/would make.

 

[flying_whimsy]

I tried Origin lately when I got into the Mirror's Edge beta, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the service. I just don't see why it's necessary when steam is a thing. It doesn't feel like EA's built the service to really give steam competition, but rather as a way to control the pricing and distribution of their own games. IF EA was still releasing things on steam, I doubt origin would last a day.

Full disclosure: I'm actually boycotting EA products. I tried origin because it's been a few years since I started and wanted to see if it was worth giving them money again (plus they got the exclusive license for star wars games). I was not impressed enough to open up my wallet, so as soon as the beta was over I simply uninstalled it and will go back to not bothering with EA's products.

To the average end user, it really doesn't make a difference if they use origin or not. The whole point of having competition for steam is so that steam isn't the only service that gets your money. It's just one more thing running in the background on a computer and one more place where you can get games super cheap. So, yay for more options. I mean, gog is the best option, but too many publishers are terrified of putting a game out without some kind of drm.