EA makes a loss of $45 mil previous quarter.

[PowerYoga]

This is one popular sentiment about EA I just do not get.
Blizzard games require battle.net, steamworks games require Steam. How is Origin any different...

because its another fucking client I need to install because EA doesn't like playing nice with others. Gamestop impulse games activate on steam, ubisoft's uplay games can also be activated on steam.

EA? Nope, origin or nothing, and they make all ea games exclusive so you can't play it ANY OTHER WAY. Not to mention the thing has broke more times over the course of me playing mass effect3 than steam did over the course of its lifetime on my computer.

Blizzard's different with their battlenet 2.0, but it's integrated into the game and is not another launcher that I have to install.

 

[showb1z]

because its another fucking client I need to install because EA doesn't like playing nice with others. Gamestop impulse games activate on steam, ubisoft's uplay games can also be activated on steam.

EA? Nope, origin or nothing, and they make all ea games exclusive so you can't play it ANY OTHER WAY. Not to mention the thing has broke more times over the course of me playing mass effect3 than steam did over the course of its lifetime on my computer.

Blizzard's different with their battlenet 2.0, but it's integrated into the game and is not another launcher that I have to install.

Yea I'd rather have everything on steam too and be done with it. But how can you possibly fault a company the size of EA of getting their own online store? Why would they pay Valve if they can just do it themselves?
It makes perfect sense in every way. This is exactly the same as steamworks games. Play it though steam or don't play it at all. Just cause Valve was first doesn't make anyone who does the same evil.
But maybe this is all too rational, afterall this is EA we're talking about, worst company in the world according to the internetz.

 

[Red Storm]

Yea I'd rather have everything on steam too and be done with it. But how can you possibly fault a company the size of EA of getting their own online store? Why would they pay Valve if they can just do it themselves?
It makes perfect sense in every way. This is exactly the same as steamworks games. Play it though steam or don't play it at all. Just cause Valve was first doesn't make anyone who does the same evil.
But maybe this is all too rational, afterall this is EA we're talking about, worst company in the world according to the internetz.

EA is more evil than Valve. That's the difference.

 

[PowerYoga]

Yea I'd rather have everything on steam too and be done with it. But how can you possibly fault a company the size of EA of getting their own online store? Why would they pay Valve if they can just do it themselves?
It makes perfect sense in every way. This is exactly the same as steamworks games. Play it though steam or don't play it at all. Just cause Valve was first doesn't make anyone who does the same evil.
But maybe this is all too rational, afterall this is EA we're talking about, worst company in the world according to the internetz.

My gripe is that other game clients can have games that activate via steam. Origin can too, but they wanted to have their own client which doesn't work as well. I wouldn't be complaining if origin worked well, but it doesn't and has prevented me from being able to play my games more times in a month than steam has in 3-4 years.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Yea, unless you are going to do it better, then don't do it. They did it out of money grabbing spite, not for the players.

No one wants 50 different game front ends. It's stupid and pointless. If the best we can do is just not buy their products..so be it.

 

[JTsyo]

Guess they need to start churning out more-er crapper faster. :hmm:

Or they need some Brondo. It's got what people crave.

Yup, now COD is coming out every month. 😛

 

[Skel]

Yea I'd rather have everything on steam too and be done with it. But how can you possibly fault a company the size of EA of getting their own online store? Why would they pay Valve if they can just do it themselves?
It makes perfect sense in every way. This is exactly the same as steamworks games. Play it though steam or don't play it at all. Just cause Valve was first doesn't make anyone who does the same evil.
But maybe this is all too rational, afterall this is EA we're talking about, worst company in the world according to the internetz.

One thing I've learned around here, when a company is hated enough they're not allowed to do anything but suck. This lesson is applied every a thread like this, or the one about MS having an app store is made. Of course to be fair there is a flip side to this, where companies that are loved, like Valve and Google only do good things, and if there's ever a misstep it's OK because it was done for the consumer even if it did something shady.

 

[darkewaffle]

My gripe is that other game clients can have games that activate via steam. Origin can too, but they wanted to have their own client which doesn't work as well. I wouldn't be complaining if origin worked well, but it doesn't and has prevented me from being able to play my games more times in a month than steam has in 3-4 years.

I've had the opposite experience personally. Origin uptime has been almost 100% over the months I've used it but I can recount a number of instances where Steam crapped out on me. Not to mention a number of game management issues I've run into. Could be due to a larger sample size of course, time will tell.

Origin is really not a bad piece of programming imo. I like the way it looks better, it's much cleaner and doesn't have the "uber social" integration that Steam pushes. Comparable if not better download speeds. It doesn't require/install any Start Up items/services. It also let you pick your install directory long before Steam did, which I think probably put pressure on Steam to introduce it. It's still missing some features (gifting comes to mind, and lacks the "latest game related" news which I really like in Steam) and of course has a smaller library.

There's a lot of room for growth in both programs; skins, bandwidth controls, re-selling games (unlikely to happen but players would flock to it), performance improvements for integrated browsers.

 

[Gunbuster]

Imagine if they had spent money on the Mass Effect 3 ending instead of 10 seconds diddling with a color filter and hitting render again. 😛

 

[clok1966]

Yea I'd rather have everything on steam too and be done with it. But how can you possibly fault a company the size of EA of getting their own online store? Why would they pay Valve if they can just do it themselves?
It makes perfect sense in every way. This is exactly the same as steamworks games. Play it though steam or don't play it at all. Just cause Valve was first doesn't make anyone who does the same evil.
But maybe this is all too rational, afterall this is EA we're talking about, worst company in the world according to the internetz.

see its not that they are Competing that bad.. Valve Store, EA Store.. its that EA had a Digital Store a long time Before Valve and put ZERO effort into making it, in fact they often times charged more for Digital then Boxed (which costs more do you think?). They did a digital store reluctantly and killed it as soon as they could.

Valve does one, makes it worth having (deals), starts growing and is succesfull.. EA does what it always does..

WE BUY OR WE CRUSH!.. EA didn't like the idea till cash started rolling in.. tehn it was a good idea.. VALVE did the hard work to make it succed.. now EA wants to copy? FOOK them..

 

[CPA]

Yea, unless you are going to do it better, then don't do it. They did it out of money grabbing spite, not for the players.

No one wants 50 different game front ends. It's stupid and pointless. If the best we can do is just not buy their products..so be it.

As stated above, all other companies with front ends allow their games to work with Steam (though some require two front ends). So, it's not 50, it's 2 (actually 3, if you include Blizzard). There is nothing wrong with a company monetizing their products to their fullest extent.

 

[Veliko]

Valve weren't the first to offer digital downloads, and it's in our best interests for their to be competitors to the Steam store.

 

[darkewaffle]

see its not that they are Competing that bad.. Valve Store, EA Store.. its that EA had a Digital Store a long time Before Valve and put ZERO effort into making it, in fact they often times charged more for Digital then Boxed (which costs more do you think?). They did a digital store reluctantly and killed it as soon as they could.

Valve does one, makes it worth having (deals), starts growing and is succesfull.. EA does what it always does..

WE BUY OR WE CRUSH!.. EA didn't like the idea till cash started rolling in.. tehn it was a good idea.. VALVE did the hard work to make it succed.. now EA wants to copy? FOOK them..

Someone always gets there first and has a hit, then others follow suit. Smartphones, cars, TVs, computers, video game consoles, fast food, the gold rush; it's nothing new. Someone getting there second means nothing in terms of their product or the quality of it.

 

[busydude]

There is nothing wrong with a company monetizing their products to their fullest extent.

There is also nothing wrong in consumers rejecting them for whatever reason they see fit.

 

[ImpulsE69]

As stated above, all other companies with front ends allow their games to work with Steam (though some require two front ends). So, it's not 50, it's 2 (actually 3, if you include Blizzard). There is nothing wrong with a company monetizing their products to their fullest extent.

Seriously? You do realize that since Steam there have been no less than 5 additional. I don't even like using Steam as a front end to play games, but it has almost become a standard now. I do not use Steam for anything other than to load my games. Everything else is just bloat. There is the problem, the more we accept it, the more there will be. Imagine every dev, company, corporation, indy company, what have you, having their own REQUIRED front end that are not allowed to interact with each other. It's not there yet, but it's coming. There is no need for every major company to have it's own required front end. You want to cater to it, have fun, and enjoy it when there ARE 50 of them.

I don't disagree that competition is good, and certainly PC prices have been super low as of late, but the whole front end store thing is just so they can control the consumer. It's not a GOOD thing.

 

[showb1z]

see its not that they are Competing that bad.. Valve Store, EA Store.. its that EA had a Digital Store a long time Before Valve and put ZERO effort into making it, in fact they often times charged more for Digital then Boxed (which costs more do you think?). They did a digital store reluctantly and killed it as soon as they could.

Unless it's a deal on an older game I can usually get the box cheaper than on steam too. On release the boxed version is almost always €15+ cheaper on amazon than on steam.

You want to cater to it, have fun, and enjoy it when there ARE 50 of them.

Nobody WANTS that. There aren't going to be 50 online stores because you either need an install base or games that are big enough to create one.
But I wouldn't blame Activision if they came up with their own service because it helps their bottom line. Every major publisher might get one in the end. Will I like this? No, of course not. But that's just the way it goes.

Everyone can dislike EA all they want for the way they run devs into the ground and destroy game series, but Origin in itself is not a reason imo.

 

[brandonb]

I will not buy anything EA. Has nothing to do with their quality or that they are an evil corporation. It has everything to do with Origin. I don't mind another client, big deal. The problem I have with Origin is the fact is that you cannot make backups/restores like Steam. I have a shitty 3G wireless internet at home, and redownloading BF3 when I resintall my computer (because I cannot back it up on my fileserver) is the #1 reason I refuse to do anything EA.

Have they fixed that? I haven't even loaded Origin/BF3 in the last year.

 

[darkewaffle]

I didn't even know Steam could make backups, but either program basically does nothing but install the game inside a folder that's inside the Steam/Origin directory anyway. If you just make a backup of the folder, you've got a backup of the game.

I'm not sure how Origin is about recognizing that however. I know in my experience Steam will not simply accept "dragged and dropped" folders and will attempt to download the game again. I'd wager there's workarounds for both though.

And now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure Origin lets you set a folder specifically for the installation executables to be kept [after downloading] if you wish.

 

[CPA]

There is also nothing wrong in consumers rejecting them for whatever reason they see fit.

Never said there was. I was just countering the claim that EA was doing something stupid.

 

[CPA]

Seriously? You do realize that since Steam there have been no less than 5 additional. I don't even like using Steam as a front end to play games, but it has almost become a standard now. I do not use Steam for anything other than to load my games. Everything else is just bloat. There is the problem, the more we accept it, the more there will be. Imagine every dev, company, corporation, indy company, what have you, having their own REQUIRED front end that are not allowed to interact with each other. It's not there yet, but it's coming. There is no need for every major company to have it's own required front end. You want to cater to it, have fun, and enjoy it when there ARE 50 of them.

I don't disagree that competition is good, and certainly PC prices have been super low as of late, but the whole front end store thing is just so they can control the consumer. It's not a GOOD thing.

I'd be interested to hear the other 5 front-ends that don't allow their games to be activated on Steam.

Impulse - almost all games can activate on Steam
Gamestop - same
UPlay - same, but less so.
Amazon - no true front-end, just download or Steam is a requirement
GOG - okay, but generally because many of these games are not on Steam
GreenManGaming - no front-end, must use Steam or Origin
GetGamesGo - almost all games can activate on Steam
Origin - Generally must be played through Origin
Microsoft - Use Steam, but also must log through GFWL

What are the other 3-4 front ends that you must exclusively play your games through that company's software?

 

[Arkaign]

I will not buy anything EA. Has nothing to do with their quality or that they are an evil corporation. It has everything to do with Origin. I don't mind another client, big deal. The problem I have with Origin is the fact is that you cannot make backups/restores like Steam. I have a shitty 3G wireless internet at home, and redownloading BF3 when I resintall my computer (because I cannot back it up on my fileserver) is the #1 reason I refuse to do anything EA.

Have they fixed that? I haven't even loaded Origin/BF3 in the last year.

I have two extra PCs that I loaded BF3 much faster on just by copying the Origin BF3 folders (one inside ProgramData, so you have to make sure hidden folders are visible), and it saved me about 40gb of downloading to get BF3 on the extra PCs. Copied folders, downloaded tiny origin client, logged in, clicked 'download', it quickly verified the contents of the folders, ready to go.

 

[Canbacon]

I will not buy anything EA. Has nothing to do with their quality or that they are an evil corporation. It has everything to do with Origin. I don't mind another client, big deal. The problem I have with Origin is the fact is that you cannot make backups/restores like Steam. I have a shitty 3G wireless internet at home, and redownloading BF3 when I resintall my computer (because I cannot back it up on my fileserver) is the #1 reason I refuse to do anything EA.

Have they fixed that? I haven't even loaded Origin/BF3 in the last year.

That is odd, from day 1 you could just keep the installation folder or copy the downloaded game and keep it tucked away.

Change the game folder setting in Origin to the new folder (one step up from the location where the game folder is put). It will look like it is downloading the whole thing again, but if you look at the details, it will show it verifying files. I had to do that when I accidentally installed BF3 on my spindle drive instead of my SSD.

 

[Canbacon]

I'd be interested to hear the other 5 front-ends that don't allow their games to be activated on Steam.

GreenManGaming - no front-end, must use Steam or Origin

What are the other 3-4 front ends that you must exclusively play your games through that company's software?

Odd, did they get rid of their Capsule Download/DRM client? I know I have to keep that installed for some of their free games they gave out for. Commando's 2 for example.

The majority of their games for GMG is for codes, but most if not all the trade in eligible games require their client for verification.

 

[Skel]

Seriously? You do realize that since Steam there have been no less than 5 additional. I don't even like using Steam as a front end to play games, but it has almost become a standard now. I do not use Steam for anything other than to load my games. Everything else is just bloat. There is the problem, the more we accept it, the more there will be. Imagine every dev, company, corporation, indy company, what have you, having their own REQUIRED front end that are not allowed to interact with each other. It's not there yet, but it's coming. There is no need for every major company to have it's own required front end. You want to cater to it, have fun, and enjoy it when there ARE 50 of them.

I don't disagree that competition is good, and certainly PC prices have been super low as of late, but the whole front end store thing is just so they can control the consumer. It's not a GOOD thing.

Now you've confused me a bit. You're ranting about more "front ends" that reach out to the developers/publishers being a bad thing because they are just "so they can control the consumer" but are OK with consolidating that under one company (Steam in this case)? That wouldn't end badly for the consumer..

 

[CPA]

Odd, did they get rid of their Capsule Download/DRM client? I know I have to keep that installed for some of their free games they gave out for. Commando's 2 for example.

The majority of their games for GMG is for codes, but most if not all the trade in eligible games require their client for verification.

Yes, they still use Capsule on non-steamable games. The argument, unless I misunderstood, is that there are several other companies out there that exclusively require you to use their front-end system for their games. Other than EA, I'm not aware of another company that does that.