Game News EA bans player from playing Dragon Age II

[Rogue]

The guy speaks and shit comes spewing from his mouth.

So for console users it's too complex that you can select an enemy and click A to attack until dead? It's much simpler to be given the option to instead just mash A for awesome like a retard?

 

[KevinV12000]

Yeah, well, as an attorney I’m just going to resist analyzing this claim in light of intellectual property law, license issues, consumer protection laws, property in general and contract, because, while I’d love to read the opposing parties’ arguments in this regard, the fact of the matter is that this is such an obvious case of bad corporate judgment as to render the legal argument a bit beside the point.

Once people find out that their purchase of your product for actual use is contingent upon you refraining from criticizing them on their forums the reaction of most red-blooded American men will be a hearty “well, fuck you then.”

Or, at least, it should be.

This may be smarty-pants lawyering—and it could be, legal people aren’t dumb and I presume this decision wasn’t made without their in-house counsel passing on the policy—but it’s dumb-ass X10 marketing.

The good news is that despite massively positive reviews among the major critics, things like this and other bad news is leaking out and soon or later the facade will crack. I take no joy in it and I expect not to like console games; despite superficial similarity the genre actually has little in common with computer games.

But it is gratifying to see at least a portion of the gaming public refusing to accept whatever is shoved down their throats.

 

[Pelvis Knot]

End.

I'm sure you meant "End of line" or "Lockdown"

 

[xemous]

dragon age 2 isn't that bad

 

[Shannow]

Damn, I'm glad nobody ever expressed their aversion to the whole DRM/online registration/purchasing a renting right/mal-spy-bloatware/STEAM shtick the industry tries to force down the legit customer's throat as a measure to "fight piracy". I'd have to feel embarrassed for any sheople who laughed those "conspiracy theories" away...
Oh wait. Damn, I feel embarrassed for all those sheople. Go EA, go. Fight the good fight. Show those legit customers what you think about the freedom of speech.
At least pirates won't be able to finally excuse their piracy with moral obligations to destroy nazi-publishers... Oh wait...

I cannot resist the

 

[Trash]

You wouldn't want to confuse people with enchanting or anything complex like that.

Lowest common denominator.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Mike Laidlaw is worse than Todd Howard.

 

[Begriffenfeldt]

Holy hell. Move over, bethstapo. This is next-gen forum moderation. Lucky for that poor soul they're practically giving the game away over at thepiratebay.org.

 

[RPGMaster]

Can't wait to see the second week drops in sales for this baby. Should make the 70% for ME2 look somewhat reasonable.

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

Eurogamer: One stronger criticism levelled at Dragon Age II was that it was designed by committee; it tried too hard to appeal too far and wide, and in doing so it lost a sense of self. What do you say to that?

Mike Laidlaw: Dragon Age II was designed by just the senior, core team. Honestly I don't feel it's a game that's been designed to appeal far and wide and so on. If it were, there were choices we could have made that would have taken it much, much further. We would have probably simplified down to a single character, maybe with companions; probably looked at doing some even deeper changes to inventory management, making sure that... You wouldn't want to confuse people with enchanting or anything complex like that. Really what we wanted to do with the game, just talking about first-principles, was to look at elements of Origins that were over complex and needlessly so and see if we could pull those out in a clean way and didn't take out what I always saw as core elements of the experience: strong, character-driven stories, and the idea that the combat should be a party working together, especially at higher difficulty levels.

Oh man

 

[Jools]

lol.

 

[Xor]

It just keeps getting better and better.

And while the Bioware defense squad may feel that /v/ and the Codex are rooting for Bioware's destruction purely for the lulz, I think it goes deeper than that. Some of us still hoped that Bioware would start making real RPGs again and are disappointed that they chose to go with the least common denominator route instead. Personally I knew this game was going to suck pretty much from the first time information was given, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.

Maybe Bioware will take this as a lesson and start putting effort into their games again, or (more likely) maybe it's too late and EA Canada will be closing down soon, its offices moved somewhere else and most of the staff laid off.

 

[Jools]

Epic phallus!

Improved.

Improved 2.0.

 

[Angthoron]

Holy hell. Move over, bethstapo. This is next-gen forum moderation. Lucky for that poor soul they're practically giving the game away over at thepiratebay.org.

This is the new shit.

 

[Chaotic Lulz3r]

EA bans player from playing Dragon Age II

In what is most likely a saving throw after catching hell from EA's marketing and PR department, the moderator that decided to ban the heretic's game access stated that he is not, and never has been, entitled to do so, he had simply "misunderstood the rules".

EA Not Banning Game Access for Forum Hijinks

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

I look at the Codex again and...more amusement!

I think I am falling in love with the new Bioware. This may even open up the Admirals creative urges again. I see a new comic story in the making.

Edit: Just read the 'apology'.

The fact it is in their official EULA, was quoted by the mighty Stanley Woo in his answer to the individual who lost their...playing privilege and that they even have the power to do this should be the main questions. I suppose the gaming 'critics' will quickly pat each other on the back now and say it was just 'an unfortunate accident', instead of raise hell.

I have tried telling people for years about how this online 'Big Papa' rubbish will end up, and have been called an oldschool looney every time. Glad I have never given in to it.

 

[Begriffenfeldt]

Holy hell. Move over, bethstapo. This is next-gen forum moderation. Lucky for that poor soul they're practically giving the game away over at thepiratebay.org.

This is the new shit.

End of line.

I want to be a dragon!

 

[Volourn]

No defending this bullshit. Plain, and simple garbage.

I say EA better reactive his game account and let him play or he should sue them and/or bring them up to the Customer Rights Board. EULA or no EULA this type of crap wouldn't survive a court showdown no doubt about it.

 

[KevinV12000]

It just keeps getting better and better.

And while the Bioware defense squad may feel that /v/ and the Codex are rooting for Bioware's destruction purely for the lulz, I think it goes deeper than that. Some of us still hoped that Bioware would start making real RPGs again and are disappointed that they chose to go with the least common denominator route instead. Personally I knew this game was going to suck pretty much from the first time information was given, but I didn't expect it to be this bad.

Maybe Bioware will take this as a lesson and start putting effort into their games again, or (more likely) maybe it's too late and EA Canada will be closing down soon, its offices moved somewhere else and most of the staff laid off.

I don’t follow these things as closely as most here, but my impression of the...er...evolution of Bioware over the past years is marked in my memory by three events:

1) The PC-only Dragon Age, the “successor to the Baldur’s Gate series,” is revealed to be intended for consoles very late in development;

2) The biggest damn MMO ever, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is a huge deal and, yet, its lead person at Bioware Austin just left as the development of the game reaches the homestretch prior to release; and

3) The obvious console-only-to-the-point-where-the-PC-version-has-to-be-considered-a-port vibe of the DA2 demo, which I played a grand total of 4 minutes before uninstalling.

I, too, don’t think it’s funny that Bioware is gone. It was a great computer game company.

But there is no stopping the console juggernaut. Idiots tell us, through the power of the marketplace, what kinds of movies will be produced, what kind of music will see the light of day, what kind of political discourse is acceptable and, yes, what kind of games we get. I hate this, I always have, in many different fields, but the logic of the marketplace is what it is and there is a much larger market for dull-witted button mashing than there is for engaging and complex games.

 

[Decado]

EA bans player from playing Dragon Age II

In what is most likely a saving throw after catching hell from EA's marketing and PR department, the moderator that decided to ban the heretic's game access stated that he is not, and never has been, entitled to do so, he had simply "misunderstood the rules".

EA Not Banning Game Access for Forum Hijinks

Uhh, dude, that link is from 2008.

 

[Burning Bridges]

That was very dumb, whoever did it. Because it's further proof that the detractors of online DRM were right from the beginning. I mean people who objected of any form of DRM which may be used to take control over when or where you play your game. No matter what they tell, that stuff does nothing but help the companies to get more of your money and steal your time with ads and other crap. And - as can be seen - it can even be used for some petty, stupid tricks to bully people around. Although this one will legally backfire, that's what they certainly realized, and they will have to apologize. For though it will happen anyway, they will certainly not want a legal precedence case earlier than necessary.

 

[Xor]

EA bans player from playing Dragon Age II

In what is most likely a saving throw after catching hell from EA's marketing and PR department, the moderator that decided to ban the heretic's game access stated that he is not, and never has been, entitled to do so, he had simply "misunderstood the rules".

EA Not Banning Game Access for Forum Hijinks

Uhh, dude, that link is from 2008.

They pulled this exact same shit over another game; I'm pretty sure it was Spore off the top of my head. No excuses this time.

 

[Micmu]

No defending this bullshit. Plain, and simple garbage.

I say EA better reactive his game account and let him play or he should sue them and/or bring them up to the Customer Rights Board. EULA or no EULA this type of crap wouldn't survive a court showdown no doubt about it.

Bullshit!
It his own fault to not obey the rules int he first place. If he didnt like the rules he shouldnt buy the game. period. plenty of other games in the sea

 

[Decado]

No defending this bullshit. Plain, and simple garbage.

I say EA better reactive his game account and let him play or he should sue them and/or bring them up to the Customer Rights Board. EULA or no EULA this type of crap wouldn't survive a court showdown no doubt about it.

Bullshit!
It his own fault to not obey the rules int he first place. If he didnt like the rules he shouldnt buy the game. period. plenty of other games in the sea

You're a fucking moron. The whole point is that behavior on a message board does not give them the right to curtail your access to a product you already bought. Bang your head on your keyboard for a few minutes until it starts to sink in.

 

[Micmu]

failure to detect joke