So who else here is pre-ordering Mass Effect 3?

[zerogear]

Origin required. Order canceled.

 

[Kev]

ok can someone explain the absolute hatred towards origin?

 

[Inspector Jihad]

I can understand not wanting to use one particular platform, although origin worked fine for me. What I can't understand is ruling out all other delivery platforms than steam.

To use your analogy, that is like saying if you had no cell phone service you would refuse to use any other means of communication.

i don't think thats the same analogy. i think a more appropriate one is if a friend told me i can only call him from a pay phone instead of my existing and functioning cell phone. i would tell that friend to go to hell.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

ok can someone explain the absolute hatred towards origin?

They throw around permanent, total-account, can't play your games at all bans for minor infractions on their forums (and in some cases, for other peoples minor infractions).

It's yet another download service, one which doesn't actually offer the consumer any worthwhile advantages - offers advantages to EA, but not to the end user.

And it's run by EA, which is the least trustworthy software publisher this side of Zynga.

 

[Terzo]

i don't think thats the same analogy. i think a more appropriate one is if a friend told me i can only call him from a pay phone instead of my existing and functioning cell phone. i would tell that friend to go to hell.

Yeah, analogies generally seem to be lacking when used in arguments.

That said, I disagree with your analogy. While one friend (EA/origin) says you may only call them from a pay phone, another friend (Valve/steam) says you may only call from a separate pay phone, which you don't seem to have any issues with.

In general, people don't seem to have any problems if a game requires steam, but can't accept other companies doing the same thing. I understand that some people enjoy the additional services offered by steam or dislike EA, but the core concept is the same. Play by their rules or don't play at all.

I don't understand why some people take issue when other companies do that but give Valve a pass.

I realize that you're not necessarily criticizing EA. It just seems that many people unfairly do so when EA or other companies do the same thing as Valve.

 

[Zenoth]

They throw around permanent, total-account, can't play your games at all bans for minor infractions on their forums (and in some cases, for other peoples minor infractions).

It's yet another download service, one which doesn't actually offer the consumer any worthwhile advantages - offers advantages to EA, but not to the end user.

And it's run by EA, which is the least trustworthy software publisher this side of Zynga.

That's probably the main "issue" (the bold part). There's of course people who hate EA, so they also hate Origin, not because of the software itself perhaps (maybe, but that would be rare case scenarios I'm sure), but simply because it serves a company that is being hated by many. It's just like saying I hate Ford cars because I hate Ford, but I have nothing against the cars themselves, I just won't ever buy or use one because they were made by a company I hate. With that said, I myself believe that the "real" reason... or rather the more plausible reason as to why people don't pre-order ME3, or cancels their pre-order of it because it requires Origin, or will simply never buy ME3 as long as it is requires Origin is simply because there's no "need" for them to use "yet another content delivery platform". Not necessarily because they "hate" Origin, but to repeat myself simply because they already have Steam. So why bothering with another one? I'm not very good with analogies but I'll give it a try. That's similar (read, "similar") to saying I have a car and a garage for it. My current garage does the job, it even has enough space for two other cars. In fact I would like to buy another car, but to buy that specific car I need another garage, why can't I just park that other car in my existing one? I don't need another garage, it's a car I want, not a garage. /end of attempted analogy.

So in the end, I think that a lot of people are just "turned off" from Origin not necessarily because they "hate" it as the software that it is, or even because they hate (perhaps) EA themselves, but simply because they already have Steam, and they would rather just start Steam and download the game from there instead, rather than having to install "yet another separate software" just because some adult-aged kids can't come along with each others. That's the bottom line really, I don't blame the consumers on that one, I blame both EA and Valve, yes BOTH of them, for not being able to come up with a mutual arrangement. All of the whole "Origin requirement" issue wouldn't have existed if ultimately ME3 would have been available on BOTH Steam and Origin, as to accommodate a larger digital market, seems rather simple in my book. I'm pretty sure that having it both on Steam and Origin would mean more sales, I'm very surprised that EA never really took the case any further and barely tried to convince Valve to try to come up with a good solution for both of them (if at all), since it's a question of money.

Anyway, that's my two cents if anything. I myself don't "hate" Origin although I don't have a smile on my face when I think of EA in general. All I know is that financially I can't afford to buy too many games lately, and that I already don't have much spare time in the first place for gaming (in general). I know I will buy ME3, surely on Origins since I don't think it'll be sold elsewhere (digitally I mean), but I really don't feel any urgency in buying it, much less in pre-ordering it. In fact I'd rather wait until BioWare releases one or two patches for it, and perhaps some higher quality textures pack or something, then I'll see.

 

[Kev]

I absolutely abhor everything about EA, but I like the ME games enough that I will allow a small program to run on my computer in order to launch the game. I don't really see why it's that big of a deal.

/firstworldproblems

 

[irishScott]

That's probably the main "issue" (the bold part). There's of course people who hate EA, so they also hate Origin, not because of the software itself perhaps (maybe, but that would be rare case scenarios I'm sure), but simply because it serves a company that is being hated by many. It's just like saying I hate Ford cars because I hate Ford, but I have nothing against the cars themselves, I just won't ever buy or use one because they were made by a company I hate. With that said, I myself believe that the "real" reason... or rather the more plausible reason as to why people don't pre-order ME3, or cancels their pre-order of it because it requires Origin, or will simply never buy ME3 as long as it is requires Origin is simply because there's no "need" for them to use "yet another content delivery platform". Not necessarily because they "hate" Origin, but to repeat myself simply because they already have Steam. So why bothering with another one? I'm not very good with analogies but I'll give it a try. That's similar (read, "similar") to saying I have a car and a garage for it. My current garage does the job, it even has enough space for two other cars. In fact I would like to buy another car, but to buy that specific car I need another garage, why can't I just park that other car in my existing one? I don't need another garage, it's a car I want, not a garage. /end of attempted analogy.

So in the end, I think that a lot of people are just "turned off" from Origin not necessarily because they "hate" it as the software that it is, or even because they hate (perhaps) EA themselves, but simply because they already have Steam, and they would rather just start Steam and download the game from there instead, rather than having to install "yet another separate software" just because some adult-aged kids can't come along with each others. That's the bottom line really, I don't blame the consumers on that one, I blame both EA and Valve, yes BOTH of them, for not being able to come up with a mutual arrangement. All of the whole "Origin requirement" issue wouldn't have existed if ultimately ME3 would have been available on BOTH Steam and Origin, as to accommodate a larger digital market, seems rather simple in my book. I'm pretty sure that having it both on Steam and Origin would mean more sales, I'm very surprised that EA never really took the case any further and barely tried to convince Valve to try to come up with a good solution for both of them (if at all), since it's a question of money.

Anyway, that's my two cents if anything. I myself don't "hate" Origin although I don't have a smile on my face when I think of EA in general. All I know is that financially I can't afford to buy too many games lately, and that I already don't have much spare time in the first place for gaming (in general). I know I will buy ME3, surely on Origins since I don't think it'll be sold elsewhere (digitally I mean), but I really don't feel any urgency in buying it, much less in pre-ordering it. In fact I'd rather wait until BioWare releases one or two patches for it, and perhaps some higher quality textures pack or something, then I'll see.

Meh, my view is I can understand and even sympathize with the EA hate. As a company they've done a lot of bad things that have damaged the gaming market as a whole, and have proven time and again that they don't give two shits about their customers. My one concern is that EA, more than Valve, would cut support to Origin at some point in the future and screw over their users.

That said, none of the above precludes them from publishing good products. Origin itself, from what I've seen, is a solid piece of software. I don't really understand the arguments that it's "yet another content deliver system". Neither Steam or Origin run on my computer until I fire up a game that needs one or the other, so there's no performance impact. There's not even any effort to switch, they automatically activate when I open a game. So functionally speaking the "yet another download service" argument has no merit to me.

As for the game itself, everyone has their tastes, but I play ME3 for the story and gameplay. Everything else is secondary. Bioware has done an excellent job in creating an epic, engaging plot for most of the world. The minority that doesn't get it, and want a game that's the equivalent of a barbie doll with tedious grind quests, apparently congregates here. But the rest of us are dying to know how it all ends. ME3 is on par with the 3rd Lord of the Rings in terms of how psyched I am. Not saying it's of the same quality, but it has the same epic element to it. Bioware has truly created a rich Sci-Fi universe that is on par with Star Wars in its potential. Even more-so given that Bioware actually tries to make ME somewhat adult and believable. So yeah, I've got the bug and I pre-ordered. That's why.

 

[Via]

And it's run by EA, which is the least trustworthy software publisher this side of Zynga.

That's it for me. I just don't trust EA at all.

 

[frozentundra123456]

i don't think thats the same analogy. i think a more appropriate one is if a friend told me i can only call him from a pay phone instead of my existing and functioning cell phone. i would tell that friend to go to hell.

You sure have a thing for your cell phone!!

Anyway, I stand by what I say. I can understand if you hate EA for some reason and refuse to use Origin. I dont particularly like EA, but personally I dont dislike them so much that I would refuse to use Origin for a game that I really wanted to play.

What I still dont understand is why you would refuse to play any game that was not on Steam no matter what the delivery system or how good the game. For the sake of argument, I will accept what you said that Steam is the best delivery system in use now. (They are probably the "best" because they basically control the market, but I will ignore that and accept your argument.) Does that really have to eliminate any other options?
What if a really great game came out that required no DRM, would you still not play it if it was not on Steam?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Yeah, analogies generally seem to be lacking when used in arguments.

That said, I disagree with your analogy. While one friend (EA/origin) says you may only call them from a pay phone, another friend (Valve/steam) says you may only call from a separate pay phone, which you don't seem to have any issues with.

In general, people don't seem to have any problems if a game requires steam, but can't accept other companies doing the same thing. I understand that some people enjoy the additional services offered by steam or dislike EA, but the core concept is the same. Play by their rules or don't play at all.
I don't understand why some people take issue when other companies do that but give Valve a pass.

I realize that you're not necessarily criticizing EA. It just seems that many people unfairly do so when EA or other companies do the same thing as Valve.

Very well stated.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

The reason Valve gets a pass is because we're already invested in time and effort in the Steam platform.

It's got a pretty good track record for reliability and managing to avoid most of the largest problems, and most of the kinks have been worked out because it's a mature platform.

Another service therefore has to offer not only equivalent value to Steam, but greater value to make up for the inconvenience of the platform switch, and the greater risk associated with adopting an unproven platform.

Kind of like buying a house. Moving is a large inconvenience. The new house can't be just equivalent to the old house to get you to move - has to offer something more to make up for the trouble.

 

[Raduque]

Hmm, free copy of Battlefield 3 for pre-ordering from the EA digital store?

Extremely tempting.

 

[Qbah]

Hmm, free copy of Battlefield 3 for pre-ordering from the EA digital store?

Extremely tempting.

Is that only in US? It's not mentioned anywhere in the local version (Denmark).

 

[AstroManLuca]

Hmm, free copy of Battlefield 3 for pre-ordering from the EA digital store?

Extremely tempting.

Yeah that's not a bad deal given that even if you wait months to buy the games after the prices drop, you'll still probably wind up paying $40-$50. $60 to get ME3 at launch AND BF3 right away as a bonus seems like a really good deal.

 

[Kev]

so we don't get the bf3 code until march? that's dumb

 

[gorcorps]

Origin required. Order canceled.

This has been known for a while, what took you so long?

 

[surfsatwerk]

so we don't get the bf3 code until march? that's dumb

I had been on the fence, this got me to hop off on the "fuck EA" side.

 

[Zenoth]

I had been on the fence, this got me to hop off on the "fuck EA" side.

Bwaha... good I'm having a laugh from that EA mishap, I'm at work right now and that's all I needed. Seriously I do wonder if it was intended. I know it's EA... they usually tend to mess up stuff but that one is funny. What is the point of pre-ordering "now" to get a free copy/code to get to play BF3 if ultimately you have to wait for ME3 to be released in the first place to play BF3, even though BF3 is already out. The answer: none (I.E. no point).

Good job EA, really.

 

[Beev]

I think their logic is that you could always cancel your preorder, and they don't want you to get a free game out of it, but couldn't they just de-activate your free BF3 if that happened?

 

[gorcorps]

Bwaha... good I'm having a laugh from that EA mishap, I'm at work right now and that's all I needed. Seriously I do wonder if it was intended. I know it's EA... they usually tend to mess up stuff but that one is funny. What is the point of pre-ordering "now" to get a free copy/code to get to play BF3 if ultimately you have to wait for ME3 to be released in the first place to play BF3, even though BF3 is already out. The answer: none (I.E. no point).

Good job EA, really.

Really? You can't grasp how somebody who has a month to cancel their pre-order MIGHT be able to take advantage of that bonus if you could activate BF3 now? I don't know if you're just clouded by all your EA hate or really that stupid, but the logic is there and makes perfect sense. You can't get your pre-order bonus until the game ships... that's always been the case and I don't know why people all of a sudden think it should be different. I guess just because it's EA you feel you need to bitch about something, even if it's free.

"Here's a free game for you, the only thing is you have to wait till next month to use it"
"What? But I want it NOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW! *stamps feet*"

Bunch of self-entitled assholes in this place. Good lord it's getting old.

 

[thespyder]

In general, people don't seem to have any problems if a game requires steam, but can't accept other companies doing the same thing. I understand that some people enjoy the additional services offered by steam or dislike EA, but the core concept is the same. Play by their rules or don't play at all.

I don't understand why some people take issue when other companies do that but give Valve a pass.

I realize that you're not necessarily criticizing EA. It just seems that many people unfairly do so when EA or other companies do the same thing as Valve.

By and large, i think that it is because of the past history and relationship. Valve doesn't have a long and distinguished history of screwing gamers. EA on the other hand does. So there isn't really the level of trust on the Origin side.

It's like this. You are hungry one day and decide to go get a burger. you have two choices. One, lets call them McDowels, has always provided a decent burger for you. You put your money down and you get a reasonable meal out of it.

On the other hand is another company, lets call them Burger Prince. At BP, they offer the exact same burger but.... Burger Prince has a history of buying out smaller burger joints, particularly ones that offer a better burger than they do, and changing them into more BP burgers. BP also has a smaller variety on their menu and generally want everyone to eat things "Their way".

the burgers may be the same, but the McDowels burger just somehow seems less like selling out to an evil empire.

 

[AstroManLuca]

so we don't get the bf3 code until march? that's dumb

LOL, yep, not even slightly tempted anymore.

 

[Necc]

By and large, i think that it is because of the past history and relationship. Valve doesn't have a long and distinguished history of screwing gamers. EA on the other hand does. So there isn't really the level of trust on the Origin side.

It's like this. You are hungry one day and decide to go get a burger. you have two choices. One, lets call them McDowels, has always provided a decent burger for you. You put your money down and you get a reasonable meal out of it.

On the other hand is another company, lets call them Burger Prince. At BP, they offer the exact same burger but.... Burger Prince has a history of buying out smaller burger joints, particularly ones that offer a better burger than they do, and changing them into more BP burgers. BP also has a smaller variety on their menu and generally want everyone to eat things "Their way".

the burgers may be the same, but the McDowels burger just somehow seems less like selling out to an evil empire.

Is it weird that your analogy made me hungry? :awe:

 

[exar333]

How do you all like the demo? Any good?

I never could get through ME1; never got into the story and the missions were pretty bland. Nothing terrible mind you, but it was the first Bioware game I really didn't love. Can't bring myself to play ME2/ME3, without playing the first. ME2 scared me off too with the stuff I heard about it being so watered-down in terms of RPG elements.