DRM at it's finest - EA deactivating Servers

[digitaldurandal]

Who buys EA products? I don't.

 

[videogames101]

Dedicated Servers god damnit, LISTEN TO ME YOU IDIOT DEVS!

 

[pontifex]

They are most definitely nickel and diming. There are currently 3 DLC packs (not including the recently announced expansion) with more on the way.

Return to Ostagar - $5
The Stone Prisoner - $15
Warden's Keep - $7

http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/

And if you want a hat for you xbox 360 avatar you can get one for only 80ms points! ($1.00 US) lol
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/offers/011f0003-0000-4000-8000-0000454108c0

Seriously, you can't possibly look at that addons page and tell me they aren't attempting to nickel and dime people..

I got stone prisoner with the game and bought warden's keep. haven't even seen the other one. it never showed up on the pages i was looking at.

still, i'd hardly call 4 DLCs nickel and diming. if they had like 20 or more or it was for little things like armor and weapons i might agree more with the nickel and diming thing.

 

[lothar]

I understand old games but sports games that are last years titles??? That's pure BS.

Another example of the foolishness of buying the same sport games for $59.99 every year.
You pay $59.99 every year for nothing but the same game with updated rosters and statistics that can easily be added through a free patch or released as an expansion pack. Everyone knows this.

Hopefully this supposedly "dick" move by EA that's good for their stockholders will convince more people to stop spending $59.99 every year for the same sport games and either go bargain hunting, buy used, or buy the series every few years.

 

[mindcycle]

if they had like 20 or more or it was for little things like armor and weapons i might agree more with the nickel and diming thing.

Just wait, it's coming. I mean come on, it's EA we're talking about here. They sell shirts and hats for your xbo 360 avatar that cost a dollar a piece.

 

[Maximilian]

Bleh theyre all sports games, who cares.

 

[zerocool84]

Bleh theyre all sports games, who cares.

Well maybe for people like you but for the rest of the world who actually care, it sucks. I buy sports games every other year and this pisses me off as a consumer.

 

[coloumb]

Another example of the foolishness of buying the same sport games for $59.99 every year.
You pay $59.99 every year for nothing but the same game with updated rosters and statistics that can easily be added through a free patch or released as an expansion pack. Everyone knows this.

Hopefully this supposedly "dick" move by EA that's good for their stockholders will convince more people to stop spending $59.99 every year for the same sport games and either go bargain hunting, buy used, or buy the series every few years.

Shareholders > a few disgruntled customers.

This "dick" move has been going on for quite awhile now - every year they obsolete a list of games to make room for the newer version of the games.

 

[gorcorps]

Hmmm... this doesn't seem to have anything to do with DRM and more about EA pulling more bullshit.

Raise of hands: who thinks the OP is a crazed nut who missed the point?

*raises hand*

 

[Mike Gayner]

*Raises hand also*

Who buys EA products? I don't.

I do. Some of my favorite games are EA titles.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Shareholders > a few disgruntled customers.

This "dick" move has been going on for quite awhile now - every year they obsolete a list of games to make room for the newer version of the games.

Shareholders don't pay themselves. It's the customers that do, and EA is losing more and more of them as time goes on.

 

[Jadow]

ea is doomed, their sports titles are so unfun now it's unbelieveable.

I thought it was just me getting old and not likeing the newest madden because of the complex controls, but no, it's kids too. My brother in law and his friends who play modern warfare 2 all date (13 year olds), HATE madden.

Yet when I had a classic nintendo tournament at my house, he LOVED Tecmo Super Bowl.

Go Figure

 

[wanderer27]

Hmmm... this doesn't seem to have anything to do with DRM and more about EA pulling more bullshit.

Raise of hands: who thinks the OP is a crazed nut who missed the point?

*raises hand*

I tried to clarify what I'm talking about here :

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=29161395&postcount=44


I'm looking at this more in the light of the "Digital Restriction Management" aspect, but I can see your (and some others) point.


I thought I had also mentioned that since EA has the exclusive NFL License, this means there will no longer be an online P2P Football game for the PC (This may also be the case for a few of the other PC titles on the list), but it seems I missed adding that.

 

[Raduque]

How am I ignoring the rest of the DLC? I'm not upset about a hat i'm simply pointing out how EA is quite obviously nickel and diming people. IMO the other DLC packs are just as bad as the hat for your avatar. You can disagree with what is and isn't worthwhile DLC but in no way am I ignoring anything.



Yes, that is one way you can define it. Here's another:



http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nickel%20and%20dime

Thing is, you may consider it Nickel and Diming, but I don't, because, and here comes the important part, the dlc is not required to continue playing Dragon Age.

Now, if the DLC was required to actually get the ending you thought you originally paid for, for example you get to the final boss battle, and the game spits out a window that says "For only $3.99 you can defeat the Dragon and win the game, buy now!", then you might have a point.

Otherwise, you're bitching about buying things that aren't important. It's like bitching about buying antenna toppers or visor-mounted CD holders for your car that you don't need in order to keep driving the car.

Yes, I know PC<>car analogies are overplayed.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Thing is, you may consider it Nickel and Diming, but I don't, because, and here comes the important part, the dlc is not required to continue playing Dragon Age.

Now, if the DLC was required to actually get the ending you thought you originally paid for, for example you get to the final boss battle, and the game spits out a window that says "For only $3.99 you can defeat the Dragon and win the game, buy now!", then you might have a point.

Otherwise, you're bitching about buying things that aren't important. It's like bitching about buying antenna toppers or visor-mounted CD holders for your car that you don't need in order to keep driving the car.

Yes, I know PC<>car analogies are overplayed.

Why is this term such a big issue? Who cares if it's called nickel and diming or not? They're churning out minor paid updates to grab more consumer bucks. Some companies don't charge for significant content updates, some do. From the consumer's standpoint, the former is obviously more appealing than the latter.

 

[I4AT]

I'm a little surprised these games use servers to begin with. They're mostly 1 on 1 games, so why aren't they using P2P hosting?

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I'm a little surprised these games use servers to begin with. They're mostly 1 on 1 games, so why aren't they using P2P hosting?

Because whatever is running on someone's computer can be hacked? I don't know exactly why EA does it.

 

[blurredvision]

If you look on the back of any EA Sports title, you'll see in bold print that they reserve the right to shut off online servers as soon as 12 months after release.

I don't see the problem here. It's the nature of the yearly sports game beast.

 

[Genx87]

This really has little to do with DRM and everything to do with EA pulling online support for older games.

 

[Schadenfroh]

It's only crappy sports games.

Indeed, this is how EA extracts an MMO like fee from sports gamers. Instead of a monthly fee, it is $60 a year to play online.

 

[exar333]

This just in - EA treats it's customers like crap!

Response A: EA always was crap, why are you suprised?
Response B: EA is running a business and wants to make money; they are doing nothing wrong.
Response C: EA is crap, but I buy their games anyways...

 

[bullbert]

This just in - EA treats it's customers like crap!

Response A: EA always was crap, why are you suprised?
Response B: EA is running a business and wants to make money; they are doing nothing wrong.
Response C: EA is crap, but I buy their games anyways...

EA was not always crap, but there was a management change, probably round about the time you were born.

 

[ShawnD1]

EA was not always crap, but there was a management change, probably round about the time you were born.

Their stuff on the Sega Genesis was pretty damn good. Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Urban Strike, Road Rash, Skitchin.

Games back then couldn't be updated so you had to get it right the first time. I don't even think they care anymore. Release the game totally broken, maybe fix it if there's time.

 

[CP5670]

Their stuff on the Sega Genesis was pretty damn good. Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Urban Strike, Road Rash, Skitchin.

I remember the Strike games on the PC. That was back when they called themselves Electronic Arts in the intro videos instead of just EA.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Dragon Age, NFS: Shift, Battlefield series, Dead Space, Crysis etc. I think I'm gonna go ahead and not join the hate bandwagon, because many of my favorite games are EA titles.