EA voted worst company by the consumerist

[V-Man339]

When you run against the Bank of America for how badly you treat customers and win, it says nothing good.

Both EA and Bank of America made it to the final round of the tournament on the strength of their willingness to nickel-and-dime their customers. While Bank of America charges various fees for consumers to use their checking accounts and other services, EA does the same for consumers who want to play videogames in their entirety. The company has begun to release downloadable extra content along with their games, already complete, that can only be played if an extra fee is paid. EA and other game companies have also begun to make exclusive deals with retailers such as GameStop and Best Buy that offer in-game items to only those customers who pre-order the game with those specific retailers.

While “Worst Company in America” is certainly subjective, I have to agree that EA has taken some big strides toward the dark side by putting DLC directly on game discs that can only be unlocked through another payment. That, and that fact the Katy Perry version of The Sims 3 exists is enough to justify the title for me.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Well at least people have their priorities straight.

 

[Lucid]

Worse than Bank of America?

Are you ****ing kidding me?

 

[Remus]

Well at least people have their priorities straight.

That's what I was thinking. A greedy game company is worse than a greedy bank? Really?

 

[Mellish]

I like how all the attention has switched from Activision to EA.

 

[Krynn72]

I like how all the attention has switched from Activision to EA.

Its a seesaw between the two. You probably joined hl2.net after the whole "**** ea" signature epidemic happened, so only know the Activision hate. Activision has been laying low recently, and Kotick seems to have learned to shut his ****ing whore mouth, so naturally EA is there to pick up the slack.

 

[Mellish]

Its a seesaw between the two. You probably joined hl2.net after the whole "**** ea" signature epidemic happened, so only know the Activision hate. Activision has been laying low recently, and Kotick seems to have learned to shut his ****ing whore mouth, so naturally EA is there to pick up the slack.

Well they're both awful companies, no doubt.

 

[SpotEnemyBoats]

Serves them right for insulting the mod community for BF3.

 

[Stylo]

More like Bank of Scamerica and Electronic Ass.

EA worse than greedy banking though? I dunno about agreeing but it's a f*cking massive insult, regardless.

 

[Sgt.Tibbs]

Just had to shut down my bank account yesterday. Luckily, I didn't use Bank of America, otherwise I feel like I'd end jumping through a lot of hoops.

 

[CptStern]

keep in mind that this was from an online poll

The Consumerist poll tournament started with 32 teams which included GameStop, Netflix, Apple, Google, Ticketmaster, Best Buy, and Facebook. Much of the bracket was made up of clusters of similar companies. For example, in the first round Apple beat Google, Comcast beat Time Warner Cable, DirecTV beat Dish Network, and AT&T beat Verizon. AT&T would go on to tear through its bracket, beating both Apple and Facebook before losting to EA in the Final Four. Walmart met a similar fate, beating both Kmart and Sears in the first round, then moving on to victories against GameStop and PayPal before losing to Bank of America.

they should have had this catagory:

"most entitled consumer group"

gamers would have won by a landslide

 

[V-Man339]

So apparently EA has responded.

“We’re going to continue making award-winning games and services played by more than 300 million people worldwide.”

"We're going to carry on exactly as we are," apparently is their decided response to the most glaring message I've ever seen sent from a companies customers. They're as bad about learning as Sony is.
Once they're forced to switch to an IP that hasn't sold millions consistently, I'm fairly certain they'll feel the squeeze with an attitude of this nature.

 

[Remus]

What I find hilarious is the hypocrisy. You hate EA so much stop buying from them. That's exactly why EA responded "We're going to carry on exactly as we are", because they know people are too weak to stand by their principles, and will buy anyway.

 

[Absinthe]

It seems there isn't a week that goes by without gamers making themselves look like twits. The ridiculous ranting and vendettas formerly confined to fan message boards seems to pop up at every provocation now. And then they'll still throw their money to the very games and companies that piss them off so much.

If there's anything we should have learned by now, it's that gamers should not be allowed to participate in any kind of poll unless you want your results to look retarded.

 

[Krynn72]

I like how they say "Award Winning" like thats a ****ing accomplishment when you're spending millions on marketing.

And while everything Absinthe said is true, the even truer, even sadder part is that even if everyone who is upset about it were to boycott EA's games, it'd not make a dent in their profits because of all the people who buy games and have no idea who the publisher is, much less care about who it is. The "gaming community" that we're talking about, and who voted in this, is a pretty insignificant percentage of "people who buy games".

 

[Vegeta897]

And then they'll still throw their money to the very games and companies that piss them off so much.

I'm not. **** if EA's getting my money for Sim City 5.

And Krynn, if enough of the 'real' gamers who know about developers and publishers hate EA, then game devs (respectable ones, anyway) are going to take note of this and avoid working with them.

 

[<RJMC>]

read this on rockpapershotgun,mades me wonder if this was the reason of ea victory,though I already knew this stuff was probably arranged by the 4chan group and the like

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/05/ea-responds-to-hate-campaign-from-homophobes/

 

[Krynn72]

And Krynn, if enough of the 'real' gamers who know about developers and publishers hate EA, then game devs (respectable ones, anyway)

The respectable ones already don't, because "enough 'real' gamers" already do hate EA. The only thing that matters to devs under EA's employ right now is cash. Primarily because EA will sink them if that's not all they care about.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well, there are still games that plenty of people here play that are being released under EA, so I'm not so sure if we've reached that point yet?

And poor Maxis... Surely it's not their fault for being with EA, since they were with them since SimCity 2000 that's probably the only reason?

I donno much about dev/pub relationships.

 

[Krynn72]

Well, there are still games that plenty of people here play that are being released under EA, so I'm not so sure if we've reached that point yet?

We have, its just that for any difference to be made those gamers also need to give a shit. So not only do you need gamers to know about it, they also have to give a shit about it enough to either not buy it, or talk lots of shit about it in public so that others dont buy it. Few devs care enough to change their ways and sacrifice cash so they can feel good ethically about themselves when its just a fraction of a percent of all their customers complaining.

And poor Maxis... Surely it's not their fault for being with EA, since they were with them since SimCity 2000 that's probably the only reason?

I donno much about dev/pub relationships.

Its different with each relationship. Some were dumb enough to sign contracts that force them to work with the publisher in the future. Maxis however is actually a subsidiary of EA. EA owns them, either in part or entirely.

Here's a thing on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxis#Acquisition_by_EA

 

[Naph]

They drew all the support they could, even from bots.

 

[Stylo]

They drew all the support they could, even from bots.

Erm... I believe that's AllOut.org - Their page for this petition is here: http://www.allout.org/en/actions/th...english&utm_medium=email&utm_source=actionkit

If there were bots involved in the support, it won't be overlooked.

They rally support against Homophobia and Anti-LGBT stuff in the form of petitions which anyone in the world can sign. I've supported their causes in the past so I got the following E-Mail about this:

Electronic Arts (EA), maker of the highly popular Star Wars: The Old Republic video game - is the target of a boycott orchestrated by hateful anti-gay groups. Why? Because they had the courage to give players around the world the option of including a gay romance storyline in their interactive Star Wars game.
Right now, thousands of anti-gay letters are flooding Electronic Arts headquarters, threatening to push the company and its staff to the dark side ("Homos are ruining gaming!" wrote one boycotter. "I urge all parents to keep any EA games from their children to prevent them to be AIDS-spreading, Satan-loving scum," wrote another).

But we can do something about it - if we channel the force for good. Companies like Electronic Arts need to be rewarded when they do the right thing. And together we can help them stand their ground. Sign this urgent letter to Electronic Arts (EA) now, asking them to stay strong and resist the dark side. When 50,000 of us sign on, All Out members will make news by dressing as Star Wars characters and delivering your letters directly to Electronic Arts headquarters:
www.allout.org/theforce
Video games - like books, magazines, TV and film - are enjoyed by hundreds of millions around the world, and the fictional characters in them often inspire us, and teach us about the world we live in. This is exactly why anti-gay hate groups are targeting them - because they know that the more LGBT people are represented as regular characters, the harder it will be to deny them equality in the real world.

Games from Electronic Arts (EA) reach 100 million players in 75 countres around the world. When a major company like this makes the effort to create gay role models for all players, gay and straight, we need to let them know that we've got their back - especially in the face of an organized hate campaign.

Sign now, and we'll make sure company executives know the force is with them:
www.allout.org/theforce
Thanks for going All Out.
Best,
Alberto, Andre, Erika, Flavia, Guillaume, Jasmin, Jeremy, Joseph, Oli, Tile and Wesley

SOURCES:
EA supports gay youth, haters pile on hate
www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/ea-supports-gay-youth-haters-pile-hate-125950

EA is the target of an anti-gay letter writing campaign
www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/04/05/ea-is-the-target-of-an-anti-gay-letter-writing-campaign

EA ‘harassed’ over gay video game characters
www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/04/05/ea-politically-harassed-over-gay-video-game-characters/

 

[mechanicallizard]

Im a bit behind, having no internet at the moment, but **** me I almost shat myself to death when I read this:

“The Sims 3 Katy Perry’s Sweet Treats” players will be able to “enhance” their game with “candylicious” items including furniture, clothing, and hairstyles. EA wants you to turn your Sims neighborhoods into “Candyfornia.”

Dig your holes with the hands god gave you. The end is nigh. **** you EA. **** you.

 

[NeptuneUK]

Im a bit behind, having no internet at the moment, but **** me I almost shat myself to death when I read this:




Dig your holes with the hands god gave you. The end is nigh. **** you EA. **** you.

I refuse to believe. REFUSE. I haven't fully prepped my tinfoil hat.

 

[Dr.Demento]

What I find hilarious is the hypocrisy. You hate EA so much stop buying from them. That's exactly why EA responded "We're going to carry on exactly as we are", because they know people are too weak to stand by their principles, and will buy anyway.

^This

 

[kineaesth]

Please try to make constructive posts when bumping old threads

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Electronic Arts just living up to their name, dudes. Katy Perry produces ART. BF3 is art. Tetris on your cellphone is art.

All they want to do is let their developers do their art. and not pay them.

 

[Majestic XII]

EA is the most glorious company in the world.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Another shocker in big publicly traded publishing and their wholly owned developers. These guys care.

I actually was having a great bit of fun playing Battlefield 3 on the console at a mate's house out here in the middle of nowhere. Not a PC in site except this puny lab, but plenty of Xbox to be found. Could be worse. The players are quite shite so it's a good bout to shove them around.