Well EA MIGHT have been a little shadier than previously known.(emphasis on might is necessary)

[80Maxwell08]

Ok I'm redoing this whole OP so if you arrive afterward then don't worry it's basically the same post just more rationality. First off I was watching a guy on youtube who covers gaming news and I saw this in the description (also yes it does get different from the original post just give me a moment).
http://gotgame.com/2011/10/25/former-ea-support-rep-ousts-companys-service-policies/#.TqupwJwUv5c.
After reading the whole thing it does mention to take this with a grain of salt (which I totally didn't I admit). So what do you all think of this? Could you believe this is true?

EDIT: Ok I've seen this pop up a few times (once here and a few times on reddit) and a few people are saying they know that the Bioware programmer one isn't true. Figure it should be mentioned.

 

[kortin]

Er. You expect us to take that ONE GUY's word for it? I dunno. Thats a bit of a stretch. If it was a bunch of people, however, I would put more thought into it.

My view on EA remains unchanged. They make games and publish them. I don't have any bones to pick with any devs or publishers because they give me games that I enjoy. I'm not going to limit myself from a certain dev because one guy says that the company is shit.

 

[violinist1129]

I'm guessing this was a shock piece for traffic...the dude just doesn't at all seem legit.

My view on EA remains unchanged. They make games and publish them. I don't have any bones to pick with any devs or publishers because they give me games that I enjoy. I'm not going to limit myself from a certain dev because one guy says that the company is shit.

Also, this.

 

[Rawne1980]

Even if it is a real ex employee of EA the only comment that comes to my mind is...

"Oh no, employee of a company got sacked and wants to make them look bad, that almost never happens" (and that was sarcasm, it happens a lot).

Can't say EA's practices or the accusations levelled at them in that post will make any difference at all to whether I buy games from them or not.

I buy games I will enjoy I don't care who makes them or publishes them.

I just find it hard to take a disgruntled ex employee's comments seriously.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Er. You expect us to take that ONE GUY's word for it? I dunno. Thats a bit of a stretch. If it was a bunch of people, however, I would put more thought into it.

My view on EA remains unchanged. They make games and publish them. I don't have any bones to pick with any devs or publishers because they give me games that I enjoy. I'm not going to limit myself from a certain dev because one guy says that the company is shit.

Ignoring him because he is one guy is totally pointless since we are all one person. I will say I can accept if this was a lie since it's someone's username anyway with no real proof and after checking apparently the user no longer exists....why do I even post anything anymore. Well now to go edit that in at least.

 

[drosalion]

My view on EA remains unchanged. They make games and publish them. I don't have any bones to pick with any devs or publishers because they give me games that I enjoy. I'm not going to limit myself from a certain dev because one guy says that the company is shit.

^ Also this for me too.

 

[ShadowsofHope]

Er. You expect us to take that ONE GUY's word for it? I dunno. Thats a bit of a stretch. If it was a bunch of people, however, I would put more thought into it.

My view on EA remains unchanged. They make games and publish them. I don't have any bones to pick with any devs or publishers because they give me games that I enjoy. I'm not going to limit myself from a certain dev because one guy says that the company is shit.

I would most definitely agree with the above post. If that article is to be taken with any grain of salt, it is going to have to be compared and scrutinized across various skeptical sources and examiners for any inconsistencies or previous histories of "shock jock" articles from the author. Articles like these tend to pop up all the time, and more often than not, they are people using the internet's anonymity to spread libel by assuming another's identity for a time, and then going dark once it's been spread to enough sites and forums until the next "big scoop" makes itself available.

Honestly, the only portion of EA I like is Bioware, and the rest of it can go to hell. I'm not overtly concerned about EA as long as I am continuing to receive quality Bioware games that have yet to fully disappoint me over these long years. Until that ends, EA has my cautious support. But only just so.

 

[Gennadios]

This is pretty much another EA spouse post, can't comment this one's legitimacy. Only moral I'm seeing is to not buy multiplayer, especially subscription games at launch, but it should be obvious to anyone at this point.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Ok should I just delete this? Granted I know I tend to have some faith in people (don't know why though) it seems like for everyone else the logical thing to do is not believe it one bit so should I just ask for the thread to be deleted?

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I really don't have any beef with EA beside the fact they are forcing me to split my games between Steam and Origin. This annoys me because none of my friends use Origin and I like chatting via the steam overlay.
If they sort their shit out with steam then I am fine with it. I just don't like being strongarmed into using Origins.

 

[Gennadios]

Ok should I just delete this? Granted I know I tend to have some faith in people (don't know why though) it seems like for everyone else the logical thing to do is not believe it one bit so should I just ask for the thread to be deleted?

It's not that "nobody believes it one bit", this is anonymous post agnosticism. You were pretty much rageing in the OP, and it's entirely unwarranted. There are some dedicated fact checkers on Reddit, given a few days to a week, the given info, particularly the death will either be verified or disproven. Until then, innocent until proven guilty, esse.

 

[80Maxwell08]

Ok should I just delete this? Granted I know I tend to have some faith in people (don't know why though) it seems like for everyone else the logical thing to do is not believe it one bit so should I just ask for the thread to be deleted?

It's not that "nobody believes it one bit", this is anonymous post agnosticism. You were pretty much rageing in the OP, and it's entirely unwarranted. There are some dedicated fact checkers on Reddit, given a few days to a week given info, particularly the death will either be verified or disproven. Until then, innocent until proven guilty, esse.

Well apparently this was reported on the 25th on the website I listed and in the reddit post where people are discussing it. Hey I found a post that might be him but the username is deleted. I'm guessing by the response but I think at this point I'm just wishing it were true since I'm getting so tired of being wrong every time I try to report on something I think no one has heard. Well I'm going to rethink the title for a bit and redo that at least. I'll try to edit the whole post to be more rational.

 

[efAston]

I contacted EA support about the final boss not rendering properly in Crysis (my character kept falling through the floor as soon as I walked out of the boat, or the boss would go up into the sky, either way I couldn't shoot it). After a very long delay they told me that Windows 7 wasn't supported. I looked on the box, and technically they're right, it only specifies XP and Vista.

I used Origin to buy Mirror's Edge (half price for $4) and never had a problem with it.

Their secuROM stuff is a pain in the arse in Linux, but other than that I haven't had big problems with their DRM.

 

[80Maxwell08]

I contacted EA support about the final boss not rendering properly in Crysis (my character kept falling through the floor as soon as I walked out of the boat, or the boss would go up into the sky, either way I couldn't shoot it). After a very long delay they told me that Windows 7 wasn't supported. I looked on the box, and technically they're right, it only specifies XP and Vista.

I used Origin to buy Mirror's Edge (half price for $4) and never had a problem with it.

Their secuROM stuff is a pain in the arse in Linux, but other than that I haven't had big problems with their DRM.

Truth be told I don't exactly know what the problem with DRM is save for Ubisoft's famous always on DRM. I never notice it but I never know what I'm supposed to notice so I have no idea if it gets in the way or not. Though I do not think I'll ever use linux. I tried looking up a tutorial and I think I would be much better off just sticking to Windows.

 

[The Woolly One]

I call BS on this. Someone was fired and wants to try and spread false rumours about EA, nothing more. All those points were so ridiculously over-the-top.

I know EA isn't exactly a patron saint, but they've better than Activision - they give developers room to breathe rather than forcing them into yearly or two-yearly development cycles (I appreciate that sports games like Madden and Fifa are annual, but the gameplay for both has been pretty much perfected so the pressure on the developers isn't as high as it would be to make a whole new game in a year), they take more chances on new IPs (Dead Space for instance, or Crysis) and rather than milk all their franchises they let them grow at their own pace (Command and Conquer or Rock Band for instance, two franchises that they could've forced to be milked for all their worth but didn't, although they have kinda done this with Need for Speed).

I appreciate that EA isn't the best publisher, but I think they're at least better than Activision (raising the price of MW2 and the DLC was, although good business sense, a bit of a dick move) or Nintendo (come on, which of their franchises HAVEN'T been milked to death?).

Some of it is justified, but the EA hate has reached disgraceful levels now. People just seem to hate them purely because they are a rich company and therefore must be bad. Its as biased as a Michael Moore film here sometimes. The only real argument I see is the ToS of Origin, but they were changed in August to remove most of the offending parts. People just hate it because its not as good as Steam, forgetting that Steam has been around for a lot longer.

Tl;dr - find something else to hate. Hating on EA or CoD isn't cool, it doesn't make you a hipster, its just tired and clichéd. EA isn't the best publisher, and they've done some shady stuff, but the amount of hate they get is entirely unjustified and is frankly disgraceful.

 

[ThriKreen]

I would call BS as well.

For instance, usually wouldn't an electric company contact you the moment they can't automatically bill your account? Most utilities have a grace period of like 1-3 months of failed payment before they shut the service off.

And I definitely know for a fact the bit about BW programmers is false.

 

[efAston]

Truth be told I don't exactly know what the problem with DRM is save for Ubisoft's famous always on DRM. I never notice it but I never know what I'm supposed to notice so I have no idea if it gets in the way or not. Though I do not think I'll ever use linux. I tried looking up a tutorial and I think I would be much better off just sticking to Windows.

Well if it's just a serial then that's non-invasive enough, but disc verification systems tend to rely on proprietary interfaces which close off the market, and internet verification isn't something I'll put up with on anything more than $5. Consoles, in effect, are a type of DRM.

I don't support it conceptually because it's all about cutting people off, and keeping the community out of the industry. Would you buy a CD that only plays on Sony CD players? If people behaved in the nineteenth century the way they do now, Gutenberg's company might be the only one allowed to bind paper together with a cover that hinges at the left, and Ford might be the only ones allowed to put a wheel on a dashboard for steering and pedals under it for accelerating and braking.

When research brings something useful, and that then means that nobody can benefit from it, except for one group of people, and only as long as they decide it's profitable to do anything with it, we're actually stopping people from advancing. The basis of modern arts in the west is probably Greek tragedy more than anything, and that's based on hundreds of years of people learning from one another, even carrying on to this day in the fine arts, which aren't supported by capitalism, and rely on public funding. The idea that without imprisoning teenagers for half an album's worth of MP3s, music will fall over, is the complete opposite of the reality.

It's something that we need to live with in general, in this time period, but software's in a bit of a blind spot for moderation at the moment, and they're getting away with ludicrous amounts of invasive and irresponsible profiteering. I do feel the need to draw the line somewhere.

 

[Versuvius]

I would call BS but i dispise EA and it's practices and i could see this happening. I'm going to take it as true. Anybody want to join me? I will be over here laughing at the flaming this post will get.

 

[80Maxwell08]

I call BS on this. Someone was fired and wants to try and spread false rumours about EA, nothing more. All those points were so ridiculously over-the-top.

I know EA isn't exactly a patron saint, but they've better than Activision - they give developers room to breathe rather than forcing them into yearly or two-yearly development cycles (I appreciate that sports games like Madden and Fifa are annual, but the gameplay for both has been pretty much perfected so the pressure on the developers isn't as high as it would be to make a whole new game in a year), they take more chances on new IPs (Dead Space for instance, or Crysis) and rather than milk all their franchises they let them grow at their own pace (Command and Conquer or Rock Band for instance, two franchises that they could've forced to be milked for all their worth but didn't, although they have kinda done this with Need for Speed).

I appreciate that EA isn't the best publisher, but I think they're at least better than Activision (raising the price of MW2 and the DLC was, although good business sense, a bit of a dick move) or Nintendo (come on, which of their franchises HAVEN'T been milked to death?).

Some of it is justified, but the EA hate has reached disgraceful levels now. People just seem to hate them purely because they are a rich company and therefore must be bad. Its as biased as a Michael Moore film here sometimes. The only real argument I see is the ToS of Origin, but they were changed in August to remove most of the offending parts. People just hate it because its not as good as Steam, forgetting that Steam has been around for a lot longer.

Tl;dr - find something else to hate. Hating on EA or CoD isn't cool, it doesn't make you a hipster, its just tired and clichéd. EA isn't the best publisher, and they've done some shady stuff, but the amount of hate they get is entirely unjustified and is frankly disgraceful.

Well I never thought it was cool to hate EA or COD but I've never really liked either so I just don't buy EA games or COD. Also I did buy MW1&2 for the PS3 and I didn't like them so I don't mean that blindly I have actually picked them up and beaten both single player campaigns. Though I've never heard someone who doesn't hate EA for some valid reason. If you have then fine but I personally haven't.

I would call BS as well.

For instance, usually wouldn't an electric company contact you the moment they can't automatically bill your account? Most utilities have a grace period of like 1-3 months of failed payment before they shut the service off.

And I definitely know for a fact the bit about BW programmers is false.

Ok then I think I'll edit that part about the Bioware programmers into the first post since I heard others say the same on reddit. Granted anyone can still say anything but that is one of the few things I've heard more than once.

Calling bs. Couldn't care less. EA, as a developer and publisher, pumps out a lot of games I like each year. As long as they keep doing that, EA is fine in my books.

Well that's 3 BS in a row unless someone else posts before this goes out. Well if you like their games then fine. Personally I don't anymore with the exception for a while being Bioware but after doing some thinking and analysis of ME1&2 and DA2 (I didn't finish Origins because it crashed 5 hours in and I couldn't progress so I don't want to go back to it) I realized that I just don't like them anymore.