Don't Buy a used EA Game from Amazon... (PSA)

[Evadman]

gamestop and other resellers create a market where a game gets bought once and resold over and over with the developer never making money ever again and everyone else getting the profit...so how is that fair.

It is totally fair. In the same way that I don't pay Ford a $100 'steering wheel activation fee' when I buy a used truck.

 

[0roo0roo]

It is totally fair. In the same way that I don't pay Ford a $100 'steering wheel activation fee' when I buy a used truck.

your analogy would work if cars worked like games do. but we both know that isn't how it works, if you could buy a ford and "play" it for a week and be done with it for life and sell it on at 60% of value in perfect condition to the next guy ad infinitum, yes you'd have a point.

 

[Sonikku]

I wonder how long until EA requires constant internet connection with your PC or Xbox to play their games. The moment connection is lost or their servers go wonky, and you can't play the game. My first thought is the consoles at least would never go for this, but if any one of them did then they would gain approval and support from 3rd party developers tired of losing sales to used games. If that happens, all the other console brands would do the same thing just to save face and spare themselves being spurned.

 

[exdeath]

DRM Nazism, corporate franchising, and greed are the primary reasons I'm less interested in video games day by day.

Games today just suck. It's not about fun games anymore such as only making cheap crap that can be franchised to death with sequels, DLC, and merchandise. Anybody pre-order Call of Duty 19 and a half super ultra white ops turbo edition cut b yet? Act now and you can get a collector edition plastic figurine for $100 more!

EA and Activision were the worst things to happen to gaming at the turn of the century.

It won't be long before you can't buy or own a game but have to lease it indefinitely for a monthly fee. Never ending subscription charges and endless revenue for something you can't ever physically own is the holy grail for these greedy fucks; they learned well from the cell phone industry's nickel and dime per button press model.

 

[0roo0roo]

DRM Nazism, corporate franchising, and greed are the primary reasons I'm less interested in video games day by day.

Games today just suck. It's not about fun games anymore such as only making cheap crap that can be franchised to death with sequels, DLC, and merchandise. Anybody pre-order Call of Duty 19 and a half super ultra white ops turbo edition cut b yet? Act now and you can get a collector edition plastic figurine for $100 more!

EA and Activision were the worst things to happen to gaming at the turn of the century.

It won't be long before you can't buy or own a game but have to lease it indefinitely for a monthly fee. Never ending subscription charges and endless revenue for something you can't ever physically own is the holy grail for these greedy fucks; they learned well from the cell phone industry's nickel and dime per button press model.

sounds like ur just getting old.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Exactly the same as selling a used Steam game on Amazon, only I doubt Valve would let you send them $10 for a code.

Steam's EULA disallows selling used games.

 

[foghorn67]

sounds like ur just getting old.

You're like spidey of the gaming world.

 

[mvbighead]

your analogy would work if cars worked like games do. but we both know that isn't how it works, if you could buy a ford and "play" it for a week and be done with it for life and sell it on at 60% of value in perfect condition to the next guy ad infinitum, yes you'd have a point.

No, that is exactly the point. I can buy a used car, and GM/Ford/whatever does not see a dime of that money. I could go so far as to buy a new used vehicle every month and resell them for close to what I paid for them, as could others. There is no difference.

The only difference is that companies like EA can make the used goods useless by doing what they are doing. It definitely keeps money rolling in their direction, but a consumer like me is not likely to buy their game at full price any way.

And, like exdeath said, 90+% of games out their make one good game engine, and then rebuild on that engine over and over and over.

 

[SillyOReilly]

In fairness to the OP, it is ludicrous that anyone would sell a used game knowing that whoever purchased it would be unable to use it. That's like those people who sold empty Wii boxes on eBay; sure, you're "technically" getting a copy of Battlefield 3, but you bought expecting to be able to play it, not just look at the disc.

In fairness to Amazon, I'm almost positive they don't sell used games and you were going through a third party seller. While it is shady, it is not really Amazon's fault. I mean, yes, they should thoroughly vet all third party sellers to keep these shady business practices out of it, but there are a lot of people who don't know how DRM works who won't realize that a used EA game is worth less than a brick.

Lesson learned, hopefully.

I know many people are dense, but in no way is the game unusable.

 

[Gibsons]

You should change the title to 'Don't buy an EA Game' and leave it at that.

Yep, lack of resale value is just one reason.

 

[MotionMan]

When game companies look at resales as losing money or getting zero dollars, they are being short-sighted. First, there are those who would never buy their games at full-price, so they are not losing those sales. Plus, there are those who buy the first version of the game used, get hooked on that game, and then go out and buy the sequel new. There are also those who buy a game used and build up goodwill towards the game company, inspiring them to buy other games new.

Also, history has shown us that Draconian methods of copy-protection and the implication that the company is trying to squeeze out every dollar from its customers leads to piracy and negative views of the company.

There are very good reasons to allow a second-hand market of computer games. But corporations fail to think that way.

MotionMan

 

[0roo0roo]

No, that is exactly the point. I can buy a used car, and GM/Ford/whatever does not see a dime of that money. I could go so far as to buy a new used vehicle every month and resell them for close to what I paid for them, as could others. There is no difference.

The only difference is that companies like EA can make the used goods useless by doing what they are doing. It definitely keeps money rolling in their direction, but a consumer like me is not likely to buy their game at full price any way.

And, like exdeath said, 90+% of games out their make one good game engine, and then rebuild on that engine over and over and over.

well not that isn't the point, because if you played games like you played cars the entire situation would be different wouldn't it😛

 

[Terzo]

your analogy would work if cars worked like games do. but we both know that isn't how it works, if you could buy a ford and "play" it for a week and be done with it for life and sell it on at 60% of value in perfect condition to the next guy ad infinitum, yes you'd have a point.

What about music and movies? I don't recall having to fork over money to the label to "unlock" the full CD or special features from the movie.

And while music tends to have more staying power, you could watch a movie in 2 hours, be done with it, and sell it to the next guy.

 

[lxskllr]

your analogy would work if cars worked like games do. but we both know that isn't how it works, if you could buy a ford and "play" it for a week and be done with it for life and sell it on at 60% of value in perfect condition to the next guy ad infinitum, yes you'd have a point.

Then substitute "books" for "Ford". That's an exact analogy. Would you let publishers get away with removing a chapter in a used book shop?

 

[mvbighead]

I know many people are dense, but in no way is the game unusable.

Coaster? Actually, coasters, as it has two disks.

Otherwise, if one can't install it, one cannot play it. So yes, completely unusable.

 

[Joseph F]

Don't buy what you don't understand! They even state on the game they require a code for online play. You can still play the damn game, just not online. This is not a new policy so I don't understand the complaints. Besides why would someone play BF3 when you have MW3 which doesn't require a code?

Because every Battlefield game >>>>> every CoD game.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Server maintenance is expensive, that's what I think the $10 is for. it's included in the first purchase, but if someone else buys the game then it's another person playing. My real problem is that their servers suck anyways. My brother loves the BF series, but constantly complains about the inability to play online or extreme sluggishness. I spent a good deal of time troubleshooting his network and the conclusion was EA servers blow.

I told him to quit buying EA games, greedy bastards.

 

[Gothgar]

fuck EA

 

[lxskllr]

Server maintenance is expensive, that's what I think the $10 is for. it's included in the first purchase, but if someone else buys the game then it's another person playing. My real problem is that their servers suck anyways. My brother loves the BF series, but constantly complains about the inability to play online or extreme sluggishness. I spent a good deal of time troubleshooting his network and the conclusion was EA servers blow.

I told him to quit buying EA games, greedy bastards.

Aren't the servers privately run?

 

[shortylickens]

fuck EA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpKiPyNynU8

 

[Dessert Tears]

Yep. They've at least issued a $10 promo credit which'll negate the loss for the most part.

I just wish they'd stop facilitating the sale of the used games, but I suppose after enough people complain, they may consider it.

I think you should edit your title to remove Amazon, since you would have had this activation problem buying used from any source, and they gave you a credit.

I looked at the Amazon BF3 product page closely, and I noticed the following:

• The promo box shows "Buy Used and Save" for Xbox 360 only.
• Roughly half of the PC used listings mention online code or activation.
• All three of the fully-shown PC reviews (2, 1, 3 stars) mention the Origin DRM unfavorably.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Aren't the servers privately run?

I really don't know, that was my best guess. He could play CoD with no problems, and other online games, but pop in BF3 and he couldn't find a playable server. After everything I tried, even getting Comcast to replace his shitty old modem, that all I could conclude.

edit: this is for Xbox 360