What makes Origin so terrible?

[Something Amyss]

That is your right. And in that my only concern is Gabe's retirement or untimely death. Long Live Gabe!

Valve has changed a lot. one can deduce either that Gabe has changed or his control in the company is not absolute. Steam has become more draconian with time, and I prefer to judge actions rather than rely on blind faith. Gabe may indeed be some benevolent figure, but if he is someone else in the company is acting like a seedy middleman in some Disney movie. Either way, it doesn't matter. The end result is the same, and Valve is not as magnanimous as given credit.

But hey, it's not like a corporation with a monopoly and a friendly face on it has ever done any harm.

 

[Something Amyss]

What it doesn't do is yank the game away from your preferred distribution platform, put it behind another program you don't want to run, and then refuse to lower prices for a digital copy.

Of course, Valve makes their own games available on other DD platforms, right?

Before you talk about the games that require Steam to run, I am already aware of this. If I'm stuck with needing to run a platform to play my games, I'd like to keep it limited to the one that doesn't screw me over.

You mean the one with the screwjob you're okay with.

I bought BF3. It said my email was registered. When I wanted to reset password on my origin account(dont remember having one) it told me that the email is not in use. Made a second email just for damned BF3. Played through a somewhat decent SP and a fun but short Co Op. No problem even on ultra settings. Wanted to play multiplayer... damn it, damned game keeps crashing so bad ctrl+alt+delete and alt+F4 does not work. Reset button on computer does not work. I have unplug PC in order to restart. Usually happens on oficial servers with punk buster. OK, I tried fixing it. To no avail. Contacted support 3 times, do everything, explain in great detail. Does not work. OK... but you know what? They added insult to injury, gave me a one month code for -20% price reduction on the next EA game I buy...

Doesn't really sound all that different from complaints about Steam, though.

 

[RandV80]

The reason it is hated though is because it offers really crappy prices compared to competators, even the Gamestop Impulse program offers better details than Origin, and the fact that their early EULA gave them the ability to scan your computer for really whatever the hell they wanted.

Having shit prices isn't a reason to hate something though. It's a reason to not use it sure, but hate it?
EA may not be the best company but the number of people out there who just look for a reason to hate it at any point is saddening.

Well, if the company behind the platform is a publisher that would like nothing better than to use it's influence to corner the market on digital distribution and set these prices as the standard Through Origin and it's prices EA has shown us they want to get in on that digital cash cow but they have no intention of sharing the benefits, outside of the basic convenience, with their customers. So there's plenty of room for 'hate' to creep in here when looking at the pricing.

I'd imagine some people have an underlying worry in that despite what the textbook definition of free market capitalism says it isn't always the company with the best product that wins but rather the one with the best marketing and backroom dealings. Personally with the lead they've built I can't see Steam ever falling behind, but I'll feel much safer when Origin has officially become a loser (I'd never want it to shut down completely and have people lose their stuff).

Keep in mind that the OP is just getting into PC gaming and digital sales, but for many of the rest of us posting here we've been enjoying the benefit of Steam for years.

 

[Viking Incognito]

Because everyone who plays games on their computer already uses steam and origin is a less convenient steam wannabe that was invented solely so EA wouldn't have to share their money with Steam

 

[RandV80]

What makes Origin so horrible? Example I experienced a day ago:

I bought Batman: Arhkham City GOTY edition on sale for 5 euro. As I did not receive the productcode by mail, nor did it appear in my library, I had to contact EA Customer Support. A friendly support employee informed me that they had ran out of gamecodes for the game, and therefore could not provide me with one within short notice. They also informed me that they did not know when these codes would arrive, and offered to return my money.

Okay, never had that with Steam before, which is a good reason for me to wait for the game to go on sale again on Steam.

However! What absolutely baffled me, is that as of today, the sale for the game is still ongoing!

Meaning, people who spend money on the game are in fact buying nothing at all, and are forced to contact EA support for restitution of their money.

Reason enough for me to never again buy a game on Origin, except ofcourse when EA forces me to (upcoming SimCity comes to mind).

Actually this may be more secuROM/GWL bullshit than Origin. Steam had the same problem when Arkham Asylum was on for their summer sale. To contrast experiences though you could find a discussion about in the Steam forums, to learn what was going on and how it would be resolved without needing to phone a customer support rep. It took a week but eventually the new keys came out and you could play the game

 

[Lucky Godzilla]

As an actual service, Origin is a superior product than steam. The overlay is better, you get a built in repair install option, and offline mode actually works.

What it ultimately boils down to is the fact that Origin is an EA product. You hear it all the time, people hate the fact that EA games now require Origin to play, never mind the fact that every single valve game needs steam, as well as several notable third party games (CoD being the biggest). What sets these two apart was the working of Origins EULA, which essentially made it out to be little better than spyware.

 

[AT God]

Origin should not be exclusionary. If I buy a hard copy of a game I shouldn't have to use Origin to play it. Origin is a poorly made system. I don't care if it exists, I just shouldn't be forced to use it when it doesn't work correctly.

As for the scanning thing, I could care less to be honest. They can scan me all the want, they can track how often I play Steam games over their crappy system.

Another big problem with Origin is their terrible measures against modding. I understand not wanting people to mod multiplayer if there is an official ranking system, I understand that policy though I don't agree with it. However being unable to mod your own game offline should never be against the "agreement"

And people who think Origin is a better service than Steam don't understand what a service is. Steam has a working (albeit slightly buggy) in game web browser, supports modding of most popular games, has an offline mode that works, has quick tech support, and now has the community feature which allows people to quickly find other players.

Origin, as of November of 2012, didn't have a working in game overlay for me. It didn't work in Battlefield 3 and it didn't work in Mass Effect 3, my only Origin games. It may be working now, I don't know because I don't use it. But Origin has been required for over a year to play Battlefield 3.

I don't agree with steam being required to play games but that isn't the argument here, the argument is that Origin is a bad service.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I don't HATE Origin, but I dislike it. It brings all the inconveniences of Steam without the same kinda community or the support for modding (won't they ban you for modding most games?) or the great sales.

Don't get me wrong, I think Steam is a load of shit, too. I like the sales and I like being able to chat to my friends who are playing different games and I like being able to install mods at a click, but I don't like being FORCED into using a bloated third-party launcher that won't let me play my retail-bought games until I've downloaded a 12GB patch over the course of about 12 hours (FUCK YOU, Shogun 2). I just think Origin is worse because it doesn't give me those advantages.

Though the community issue isn't necessarily a problem with the Origin service itself; it's more an issue with EA's PR. I should also probably mention that Origin let me play BF3's single-player without downloading the update. Steam has never let me do this.

 

[Nocturnus]

While I like and use Steam, I don't really have any ire for developers/producers wanting to do their own service similar, so long as the service isn't terribly obtrusive, which Origin isn't.

Why?

Keep in mind that for every sale that happens on Steam, Valve takes about a 1/3rd cut. That means that if Mass Effect sells on Steam for 30 dollars, Valve gets 10 of that.

I will continue to purchase games through Steam, but Origin? Doesn't bother me. Neither does the new UPlay. It's just another program that takes a fraction of a percent of my memory. No biggie. And developers get to keep more of their money.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Because it isn't Steam. That's basically it. There's a lot of general hate for EA that I never really got, and more than a little entitlement. But mostly, just because it isn't Steam.

It takes up space on my PC, doesn't do anything useful, and isn't as good as Steam.

Meanwhile, I have to use it for certain EA titles that I never intend to play?

Wow, I'll take two.

 

[In Search of Username]

For me it's the fact that my computer freezes for a whole minute whenever I try to open it. A whole minute. I don't even have a bad computer.

 

[Sargonas42]

Recently in my ever continuing immigration to PC land from Xboxville I decided I wanted my Mass Effect games on the PC (Mostly so I could download a mod that makes the ending acceptable and so the people playing multiplayer weren't 12 year olds)

Now of course to get Mass Effect 3 I needed to use Origin, now I've had Origin for a while; I played the ME3 demo on it a while back and I tried out Battlefield 2142 on it, besides that I ignored it.

Using it now I have to ask, why is it so horrible exactly?

I mean sure its not the BEST game distribution downloader thing, and I doubt it's sales are nearly as good as Steams but overall its not offensive or horrible. Hell I managed to pick up the ME3 digital blah blah edition for about 40 bucks which isn't all that bad.

Did I miss the memo where Origin raped someones dog or what?

TL;DR
Why is Origin so hated?

That's just the point. EA/Origin have done nothing no other major publisher has not also done, more or less. It's just that everyone compares Origin to Steam... except in this matchup it's not a result of one is better than the other and that's that, but one is better than the other... and therefor the looser is a steaming pile of shit that must die a horrible death. It's quite one sided and bandwagon driven really. Sure Origin has some drawbacks, but nothing to deserve the level of hate that it gets. It's simply a matter of the vocal minority drowning out everyone else until they just jump on the bandwagon simply so they can be part of the conversation, or just shut up and say nothing else on it because they know no one will listen with an open mind.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

Well I... Well I don't quite kno-
Just kidding, yeah I do.

I hate Origin not for the service they provide, but the fact that they try to be "Exclusive" with games, so I have to juggle clients in order to play my games. Uhh, no. I want one. I also hate Ubisoft for doing this- I mean seriously, does that launcher they have hold any purpose besides annoying the shit out of me?

Origin is an inconvienance to anyone who would usually use steam/ another game client that doesn't offer titles exclusive to a publisher.

 

[lordmardok]

Recently in my ever continuing immigration to PC land from Xboxville I decided I wanted my Mass Effect games on the PC (Mostly so I could download a mod that makes the ending acceptable and so the people playing multiplayer weren't 12 year olds)

Now of course to get Mass Effect 3 I needed to use Origin, now I've had Origin for a while; I played the ME3 demo on it a while back and I tried out Battlefield 2142 on it, besides that I ignored it.

Using it now I have to ask, why is it so horrible exactly?

I mean sure its not the BEST game distribution downloader thing, and I doubt it's sales are nearly as good as Steams but overall its not offensive or horrible. Hell I managed to pick up the ME3 digital blah blah edition for about 40 bucks which isn't all that bad.

Did I miss the memo where Origin raped someones dog or what?

TL;DR
Why is Origin so hated?

It's not objectively bad, but compared to it's primary competitor, Steam, it has an inferior User Interface and is less user friendly with less features and worse deals overall. That's the basic gist of it.

 

[Agayek]

TL;DR
Why is Origin so hated?

There's several reasons. Some of them are valid, some are ridiculously inflated hate-wagoning.

The 'best' reason Origin is bad is because of the way EA treats their customers. Tying games to Origin accounts means that EA can ban your account, at any time and for any reason, and you have lost access to all of your games. Other such services (most prominently, Steam) get around such an obstacle because they're (generally) pretty nice to their customers. Not always of course, but they have a reputation for being fair, if not necessarily nice.

EA is known for banning Origin accounts because of off-color comments on their forums.

It's kinda bullshit.

Past that, there's really not much actually wrong with Origin, at least when compared with the alternatives. It's flat out inferior when compared to the likes of Steam or GOG, but there's nothing actually wrong with it.

 

[solemnwar]

One of the things I like about Origin is that it ACTUALLY LETS ME PLAY A GAME WHILE DOWNLOADING/INSTALLING ANOTHER GAME.

Good lord does that ever piss me off about Steam. I forget which game I got (I think it was Skyrim?) but while I was waiting for it to download/install I decided to play another game. 'cept it would pause the download/install if I did that. I mean, I have other, non-steam games, but I didn't want to play them at that time 8|

Otherwise I don't really see the big deal. If you're short of memory space it might be annoying to have to have ANOTHER program on your computer, I guess?

 

[NiPah]

Every time I hear "EA hate wagon" I think of Rush Limbaugh and other Republican's catchphrase "Drive-by media" or any other equally useless catchphrase. I mean shit look how many posters used it on the front page, I know a lot of people hate EA but now I guess we'll need a catchy phrase to define the haters of EA Haters. The fact that they're insulting those who got on the EA hate bandwagon when they themselves are just another bandwagon is laughably ironic, almost as ironic as Movie Bob calling out angry nerds.