does EA screw up everything they attempt?

[Mucman]

Great rant! I totally agree with all of your points. EA is just a games factory which focuses on the tech side of games, not the artistic storytelling side. There are plenty of great games avaliable by smaller independent game makers, but these companies have a fraction of the marketing budget than EA so you will never hear about these companies unless you look for them.

I live in Vancouver which has EA's largests office (over 2000 employees). I know many people you work as developers, programmers, testers and it is more of a game sweat shop than an artistic outlet. It's sad really...

 

[Harabecw]

They also killed Multiplayer Battletech: 3025.
:brokenheart:

 

[HostVisions]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
Back in the olden days, EA was da bomb. Who can forget these:

Archon 1 & 2
M.U.L.E.
Adventure Construction Set
Racing Destruction Set
Hard Hat Mack
The Bard's Tale 1, 2, & 3

...among many others.

EDIT: How could I forget the Bard's Tale???

(edit, how could you forget STARFLIGHT?)

Archon 1 was da bomb.

 

[HostVisions]

Originally posted by: Sunner
I really really really....really, hate the EA "EA Games, challenge everything" splash, that sound is by far the most annoying sound I've ever heard in a splashscreen,

EA Games - I challenge you to create a different splashscreen...

 

[blazer78]

when EA added the red guard and nuclear technology in generals something went awfully wrong...

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Harabecw
They also killed Multiplayer Battletech: 3025.
:brokenheart:

WWWWWWWWHHHHHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT?????????

Another Battletech/Mechwarrior series down the plug hole? What is this world coming to?

Ive never encountered a BAD Mechwarrior/Mechcommander/Battletech game yet and Ive played most of them. Mechcommander2 wasnt exactly great but it wasnt bad. Mechwarrior3's menu system looked better then half the games released today.

 

[BespinReactorShaft]

Was EA also involved in the undertested wreck known as Ultima IX?

 

[Mucman]

Originally posted by: ming2020
Was EA also involved in the undertested wreck known as Ultima IX?

Yup! That's my biggest beef with EA. They don't care if a game is done or not, they ship it out when they believe it should be finished. As we all know, Garriot likes to take his time with his game, I'm sure it would have been a great game had he been given another 6 months to work on it.

 

[styrafoam]

I was really surprised that BF 1942 got as many patches as it did, I wonder if DICE is footing the bill for patching the games or if EA is still paying them.

One of the biggest gripes I have is their "its broke and we aint fixing it" stance on compatibility with games released before xp. They continue to repackage and rebundle their entire back catalog of games, going back to around '98, but most anything released before '01 goes crazy when you run it under xp.
:| greed :disgust:

 

[royaldank]

EA makes good games. Have some missed? Sure. Are some not what they could have been? Sure. Do they make cool games that people like? Yes.

There are plenty of great EA games. They are a software company writing software. They publish something when they are pleased with the game. Maybe there are mistakes...that is to be expected with computers today. There's 1,000s of different configurations and so forth. No way a company can get everything straight. Some of their consoles games have problems too, but they are generally not something huge.

Madden is one of the top selling games of all time. People love it.

Could they do more? Sure. But, if you were selling millions of copies, why would you? They don't owe it to the gamer. When the gamer quits buying their game, then they should start worrying about how to do things differently.

Point is, they are in business to make money. And they are doing just that. They make money hand over fist. They don't care about Joe Schmoe in Western Wyoming that loves how something was done in a previous game but is angry it's been removed in a new version. If you had stake in the company or were an owner, you wouldn't care either.

EA makes good games. If you don't like one, don't buy it. It's not something you have to have.

If you've played Burnout 3 and think EA can't make games, then you need to probably quit playing games. If you don't think they add or change enough year to year on their yearly games, then please don't buy it.

 

[Elcs]

If you can play through the bugs, they have made some good games.

But looking at, Sims..... Im sorry but that just happens to be awful. I dont understand for 1 second why people love that game so much. Its ok but nothing spectacular or addictive. I played it around my mates for a while and it got boring quite fast.

Burnout3.... never played it, if it isnt out for the PC then quite frankly im not buying it. I find even racing games far better on a PC.

EA's support for games isnt the greatest. It took me a week to get a fix for C&C Renegade. Part of my Kyro II's drivers were clashing with something in Renegade. Renegade ranks as my best Multiplayer FPS experience with Red Faction and Quake2 coming very close.

Had a problem or 2 with Generals which took a while to sort out. Was worth trying to get it work but I shouldnt have to fight through it all.

Royaldank.... are you some kind of manager or director? If so, your job safety must be next to zero. Id hate to meet you in customer service. You've been provided goods, the goods arent up to scratch and the company turns around to to you and says it wont fix it, you'd complain and probably go berserk if they continue to refuse. Possibly even sue if it got out of hand. If you practiced what you preached as a manager, you'd have been out on your ear faster then Road Runner. Sooner or later, it will catch up on EA.

When I buy a game, I dont expect it to be perfect but quite frankly I expect to be able to install it. It took me a week before I could play Renegade on my PC, it took EA that long to put a message on its support FAQ about it. I had problems with Generals as well. Cant recall it specifically but I had difficulties.

EA do owe it to customers to release patches. Id complain if I had a fly in my soup. Its a bug. Im owed a new bowl of soup. If plenty of people are having problems with their game then they deserve a fix unless the game is of an age/popularity to be considered obsolete so to speak.

To be quite honest, i think it would be funny if everyone boycotted the games of EA's which are buggy.

 

[royaldank]

Nah, it's not like that. I understand customer service and I was actually very good at it when I had to deal with the public.

Just saying that EA ruins everything is untrue and unfounded. No moderate to large software company releases bug-free code. They are in the business of making games, and they do it well. Heck, look at the Sims. The #1 selling game ever. You said it yourself, "Why would someone play this garbage?" Well, someone at EA was smart enough to green flag that project. Sims 2 sold a million copies in 2 weeks, I think. There's a long list of games they make that are fantastic.

Could they do things better? Sure. Do I think they intentional ruin things? Not a chance. I also believe they care about bugs and producing quality games, but you can only do so much. They are doing the best they can at the moment. They owe that to stock holders.

Small bugs and compatibility gets the best of any large software maker. Another thing to remember, they only distribute many of their titles. They don't do the gameplay, engines, etc.

 

[Elcs]

Some of the bugs in the games arent small. If you read this thread in its entirity some of the errors encountered are quite massive problems. Some detrimentally affect a game to an undesirable level. You cant please everyone but theres a load of people with loads of problems that EA wont help or fix.

Well yeah, EA distribute it but distributing products with major flaws, raking in the cash then providing poor support isnt a great way to treat customers.

I dislike Sims with a passion. I cant grasp why its so addictive to people. Simulating a real life life in a game is just stupid. At least in Half-Life, you are smart, kill things and attempt to save the world. In Rome: Total War, you try to become a great leader and crush your enemies. In the Sims, your peon goes to work and gets laid and thats pretty much it. I can go to work any time I like and as for getting laid... well thats trickier but the real life is better than the simulation in the Sims.

I suppose if its a relatively bug free EA game, thats 1 to add to the list. Although I did hear of a major CD/DVD bug in Sims2.

 

[royaldank]

I'm not a fan of the Sims. I can't understand why it's so popular, either.

Sega makes game killing mistakes as well. Everyone has problems along the way. As consumers, you need EA because they bring a tremendous amount of games to the table and force other companies to up the ante. No one is perfect. In development, there is a point where you have to let it go and push it out. It's cheaper to fix it problem by problem rather than studying the model and fixing before release. They could probably be better at this, but who couldn't be?

I see what you're saying. I know what th OP was saying. But EA is a pretty good company and I enjoy many of their games. Just wanted to lend another view.

We need EA. Look at NFL2K5 this year...$19.99 b/c of EA. You can't beat that.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: royaldank
I'm not a fan of the Sims. I can't understand why it's so popular, either.

Sega makes game killing mistakes as well. Everyone has problems along the way. As consumers, you need EA because they bring a tremendous amount of games to the table and force other companies to up the ante. No one is perfect. In development, there is a point where you have to let it go and push it out. It's cheaper to fix it problem by problem rather than studying the model and fixing before release. They could probably be better at this, but who couldn't be?

I see what you're saying. I know what th OP was saying. But EA is a pretty good company and I enjoy many of their games. Just wanted to lend another view.

We need EA. Look at NFL2K5 this year...$19.99 b/c of EA. You can't beat that.

NFL? American Football? Dont see the point being a UK person into Football (or soccer if you want to annoy me). Considering how many people buy NFL2k5 compared to other games, its little compensation.

Launching products with massive flaws or simply releasing a game which has easily noticeable and annoying bugs is just plain wrong. Some large bugs may not be noticable in the lab but EA do take the cake when it comes to support. I know Rome wasnt built in a day but surely they could improve things. They have the cash, they have the demand.... they should take action before people do.

 

[royaldank]

If it could be done better I'm betting it would be. No reason in the world for EA to send out faulty discs because they want to. You're just an idiot if you believe that.

 

[BFG10K]

Undying & MOHAA rock.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: royaldank
If it could be done better I'm betting it would be. No reason in the world for EA to send out faulty discs because they want to. You're just an idiot if you believe that.

There is a difference between faulty and buggy. I never mentioned EA deliberately sending out faulty discs. I doubt a company of EA's stature and reputation as one of the 'big ones' would risk itself like that. I said that people were having problems with Sims2 with respect to their CD/DVD.

 

[blazer78]

omg, check out Simcity4, very unplayable when u fill one of those squares on the main screen with a large city. scrolling is just impossible, even with the new ea patch.

i rkn u need hmm... 2gb of ram at least? to run that game.

 

[Harabecw]

MPBT:3025 was one of several games canceled after the WTC attack. EA said they lost quite a bit and had to fire quite a lot of people, IIRC. I don't know what really happened afterwards as I didn't stick around.
Like many others I went back to Mechwarrior 4.

 

[Elcs]

Originally posted by: Harabecw
MPBT:3025 was one of several games canceled after the WTC attack. EA said they lost quite a bit and had to fire quite a lot of people, IIRC. I don't know what really happened afterwards as I didn't stick around.
Like many others I went back to Mechwarrior 4.

Mechwarrior4 was good, still good but aged. Its graphics arent great but considering its 2+ years old, its reasonable. Its a pity MPBT was cancelled.... We havent had a new Battletech based game on the PC since MW4 Mercs afaik. The demand is there but the ball isnt in our court so we just have to bide our time.

 

[EmperorRob]

EA releases some good games but they never support any of them. They have many issues w/zero hour and they pretty much quit supporting the game. Just go look at the forum; it's pathetic.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-5347305.html