EA Sucks!! If you buy a used EA game you can not play multiplayer unless...........

I can't stand sports games, so it doesn't bother me, but I hope it doesn't carry over to FPS's and whatnot. They're already doing the whole VIP type code when you buy new, but it's still not multi. Piracy is fucking over the used game market.
 
[quote name='Sparta Omni']I can't stand sports games, so it doesn't bother me, but I hope it doesn't carry over to FPS's and whatnot. They're already doing the whole VIP type code when you buy new, but it's still not multi. Piracy is fucking over the used game market.[/QUOTE]

I doubt this has anything to do with piracy. If it was a piracy issue they wouldn't do it on PS3 games (since they cannot be pirated).

It's more like EA is trying to stifle used game sales.
 
I don't care about multiplayer, so it doesn't really impact me. However, this makes me dislike EA even more, but then again this doesn't really impact me since I hardly ever buy EA games (since I hate them). I hope this doesn't become a trend with developers that I actually care about, but since I buy all of my games new at rock bottom prices, I don't think this will really matter much to me at the end of the day.

...I don't think this is going to end well for EA. It's just going to piss people off and they'll just buy better games from someone else.
 
I'm sure it's not 100% due to piracy, but it seems they are encouraging you to buy the game new, versus pirate it and miss out on DLC and Multi and other features. I guess it's just an incentive more than anything, but this is getting ridiculous. Are they going to let you only play half the game soon and you'll need a one time code to unlock the other half? I think the used game market is just getting affected by this more than them going after it, I figured it was mainly from piracy issues. I don't think they'd give PS3 a free pass, because most people would buy it over the 360 versions and not sure if MS would allow that.
Regardless the reason, this isn't a good sign for gamers.
 
cheap games can still be had new, so doesn't impact me a bit. but this seems to be going the way of DRM and CD keys. we know how well that goes...

publishers are certainly going the way of digital pay-per-play model to the ridiculous degree.

===================================================================
Welcome to Dead Space 2, Mr. Clarke. Please insert 200 Microsoft Points (MPs) to suit up. Thank you. Did you wish to view the intro sequence? Please ante up 80 MPs.

Sorry, Mr. Clarke, you'll need to pay another 200 MPs to enter Sprawl. Chapter 1 Re-ignition will also cost another 200 MPs. Would you like to purchase your plasma rounds in bulk at a discount now or pay as you go? (Really doesn't matter to us, cause we'll get you either way.)

Hold up now, Sir. To view the epic twist, please pony up 400 MPs, as this will entitle you to the final two Chapters. By the way, we feature 5 other attractive 'useless' gimmick suits at 320 MPs each package. You can also get this bundle at a sale price of 1200 MPs.

Or just buy the new retail version, only available in uber necromorphobic edition for a low low $129.99. [exclusive at GameStop, all other major retailers 109.99 + 1600 MPs to experience the sexy online frag Nicole hot cafe experience.]

===================================================================
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I haven't paid full price for an EA game in ages... probably not since NBA Live 97. I don't think I've paid more than $20 for an EA game this generation or last generation.
 
This is actually a pretty big deal for sports games. They already have a super short trade in life span, and this will only hurt it even more. At least you can score Madden with a $20 gift certificate at Amazon, making it not so bad. That being said, I might rethink my plans to get Madden.
 
Is it really that big a deal? There are a number of sales on these games, the price for sports games drops pretty quickly and it does not impact local multiplayer, which the more casual audience is looking for. If you are going to be a diehard sports game fan, then you are probably lining up at Midnight.

P.S. Pirating on the PS3 is not impossible, and that is all I will say.
 
[quote name='dwhelan']

P.S. Pirating on the PS3 is not impossible, and that is all I will say.[/QUOTE]

What publishers need to do is have sexy hot gamer girls visit each console purchaser on a routine basis to ensure piracy does not exist. These girls will visit in frequency similar to probation officers. [sexy hot gamer boys for you gamer girls; oh sorry, ahh....same gender for lgba folks; or whatever you decide to set as your preference]
 
I hope this doesnt spread like wildfire to other genres, I only play 1 EA sports franchise and I buy it on day 1 so it really doesnt affect me.
 
I have absolutely no problem with this. This is a great way for them to get some extra money from people who buy nothing but used games. I purchase a lot of used games myself, but anything I truly enjoy I purchase the game new, so it won't affect me.

I really like this way of business, and I hope they continue it. With the extra money coming in from people purchasing multiplayer codes with used sales, we may see online servers living for longer than they used to. I say continue on EA. You deserve a little money here or there for those used sales.
 
[quote name='GaveUpTomorrow']I have absolutely no problem with this. This is a great way for them to get some extra money from people who buy nothing but used games. I purchase a lot of used games myself, but anything I truly enjoy I purchase the game new, so it won't affect me.

I really like this way of business, and I hope they continue it. With the extra money coming in from people purchasing multiplayer codes with used sales, we may see online servers living for longer than they used to. I say continue on EA. You deserve a little money here or there for those used sales.[/QUOTE]

Yes, we all know EA is going through such troubling economic woes. If any game publisher needs to do this it's definitely them.

ROFL

False consciousness FTW!
 
[quote name='CtyBarn']It will just lower the trade in or resale value another 10 bucks. So it realy makes no differance.[/QUOTE]

I doubt that will be the case, it'll take a while for that to happen. GS still paid 25-30 dollars for Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age and Battlefield Bad Company 2 that had these VIP codes for the first month or two and then just dropped the value like normal. They still priced them just five dollars below the new price.

Either way I kind of do not care as I rarely buy used. But it will probably lower resell and trade-in value when I do trade in games. I see where EA is coming from, it helps a little to fight piracy, but it'll making to get a piece of the used gaming pie that GS has.
 
Some of you are taking this far too seriously. EA is in business to make money and not lose money to Gamestop, Amazon and Ebay.

People who buy used games use up the same servers that people who buy new games do.

It's EA's game. You play by their rules or not at all.
 
This should be no surprise given the fact that they did something very similar with Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, and a few other recent games.

EA is a business and is here to make money. This is a move to sell more new games verses used games. If EA can't get their cut of the used market, they're going to introduce tactics like this to make money. If you want to be mad at anyone, get mad at Gamestop.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Some of you are taking this far too seriously. EA is in business to make money and not lose money to Gamestop, Amazon and Ebay.

People who buy used games use up the same servers that people who buy new games do. [/QUOTE]

I think that's a good point... they maintain their own servers but don't get any revenue in the long-term as people buy used games instead.

I have absolutely no problem with this. Frankly Gamestop makes a killing and it's not unreasonable for publishers to want to make a dent in that and get paid for the products they create.
 
Madden 2010 had Franchise Online for those who bought the game New. People who bought the game Used had to pay for a key as well.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']This should be no surprise given the fact that they did something very similar with Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, and a few other recent games.

EA is a business and is here to make money. This is a move to sell more new games verses used games. If EA can't get their cut of the used market, they're going to introduce tactics like this to make money. If you want to be mad at anyone, get mad at Gamestop.[/QUOTE]

hang on, that was something a bit different, in me2 you just didn't get a few nicknacks in bc2 you don't get several maps. it's lame all the same but it's not completely limiting mp. the is an extra step in the lame direction. we can all see where this is going, basically you need an authorization code to play a console game. it won't ever kill used games however. in fact it will probably only decrease the price of used games, but that also means gamestop will pay even less for games. it's interesting that they do this to sports games as i would bet online play falls off a cliff as soon as the new game comes out. i guess also the resale price too.
 
[quote name='trogoldito']Yes, we all know EA is going through such troubling economic woes. If any game publisher needs to do this it's definitely them.

ROFL

False consciousness FTW![/QUOTE]

You have no idea what you are talking about. EA is losing money hand over fist. Last year they lost hundreds of millions of dollars.
 
Good thing I don't buy EA Sports games. Sucks for people that buy them used though.

Wonder if Gamestop will get sued by lazy ass customer cause they weren't informed about the online activation code? Just like someone sued them for the Dragon Age Origins codes a couple months ago(did that ever make it to court?).
 
EA can get fucked, not gonna pay for this sorta bullshit.

For used game buyers who don't play online this is a good development as used EA sports games will be even cheaper and more unwanted than ever.
 
[quote name='anubis20']I hope this doesnt spread like wildfire to other genres, I only play 1 EA sports franchise and I buy it on day 1 so it really doesnt affect me.[/QUOTE]

Your gamertag card begs to differ ;)
 
Doesn't EA also run dedicated servers for all or some of their games? This could be to offset the server costs, since they are running dedicated servers vs. the peer to peer set up of most games.
 
I don't have a problem with this at all. Hell If I were EA I'd be charging $60 bucks to play online for used copies. I'd even keep that online fee at $60 even after the normal MSRP started to get discounted months downs the road. So that way it would actually cost you more for a used copy than a new one. EA doesn't make any money from used sales so I'd say fuck the people who buy used and put the screws to them. You wanna play MY game you pay ME.

Anyone who wants to complain about first resale rights or any of that bullshit or start likening used games to used cars or something else can just save it. The game is the code on the disc not the disc itself. The disc is just the delivery system. EA wants you to pay them to play the code they developed and I sure as hell don't blame them.
 
This is a very crappy and half assed solution to the problem until DD goes into full swing. But I guess it is better than locking out all used games and having to pay an extra 10.00 to play them at all.
 
[quote name='wildcpac']Madden 2010 had Franchise Online for those who bought the game New. People who bought the game Used had to pay for a key as well.[/QUOTE]

Yes but I don't have a problem with blocking 1 mode vs. blocking ALL online modes. I think this crosses an ethical line that will have me not buy another EA Sports game again, which means I'll never play another football game again except for Tecmo Bowl Throwback on XBLA.

I play NBA with 2K and baseball with The Show so as long as those franchises are still going I'll have at least 2 active sports games I'll play each year.
 
not surprised but it doesnt effect me since i never play sports games online. and the only ea sports game i play is tiger woods. tried madden but i cant get into it the way i can with golf.
 
I understand the frustration people feel, but didn't you see this coming? They started with extra content for games like Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, and Bad Company 2. This is just the next step. And as others have said, EA maintains their own servers, so I really can't blame them for this move.
 
from a games marketplace/publisher view? Every game should do this.

From a consumer point of view? Only a problem if you buy used or pirate.

I will buy used games but usually only single player type titles I missed out on. If I buy a game for multiplayer I want it new and immediately usually. That said this would discourage me from buying used copies of games that do this. Hopefully hurts gamestop and de-values copies in the used market.
 
I skip all games that do this kind of stuff. Plenty of games to play that don't try to piss on my rights.

Edit: Also this screws over multiple users in the same household. So far on PS3 all of these codes have only been good for one EA account. What about families that share a console? Sorry but your little brother/dad/sister has to buy a code. SMH at people who are ok with that.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
To OP -

This is news to you? EA has been doing this for a year now - ever since Madden 2010. I really don't get the big deal personally. Nowadays, you can pre-order a new copy of an Electronics Arts game from Amazon or Wal-Mart (even sometimes Gamestop?! gasp!) for cheaper than the used price at Gamestop.

Mass Effect 2 had the Cerebrus Network, Dragon Age had the Shale and Blood Dragon Armor DLC, Battlefield had extra maps and weapons, this has been going on for A WHILE...

In my opinion it's good business, and if you look at ME 2 or DA:O, for example, neither DLC is truly necessary; so if you don't want it, don't buy it!

If you buy a used copy of one of their sporting games, they're getting no money from you. Why should they let you use their dedicated servers for free? Hopefully, by getting more people to actually pay the money for the game to the developers instead of to Gamestop, more money can go to making better games and higher salaries for developers.
 
[quote name='Professor Oreo']I don't have a problem with this at all. Hell If I were EA I'd be charging $60 bucks to play online for used copies. I'd even keep that online fee at $60 even after the normal MSRP started to get discounted months downs the road. So that way it would actually cost you more for a used copy than a new one. EA doesn't make any money from used sales so I'd say fuck the people who buy used and put the screws to them. You wanna play MY game you pay ME.

Anyone who wants to complain about first resale rights or any of that bullshit or start likening used games to used cars or something else can just save it. The game is the code on the disc not the disc itself. The disc is just the delivery system. EA wants you to pay them to play the code they developed and I sure as hell don't blame them.[/QUOTE]

How is it different than a used car? I need transportation. The purpose of using an automobile is to get ME from point a to point b, not the automobile itself. An automobile is simply my delivery system for transportation.

In the above, The CAT bus is blockbuster and Amtrak is Netflix.
 
[quote name='Bluth Superfan']I skip all games that do this kind of stuff. Plenty of games to play that don't try to piss on my rights.[/QUOTE]

Can you show me in what document or what court interpretation we were given the right to free online game play?
 
Absolutely terrible, but not unbelieveable. First EA shuts down the online for MADDEN NFL 09 (!!), but now they are going to be taking their most popular sports franchises and locking out online for used gamers? I mean come on, this is getting to the point where it feels like EA is becoming a Communist company, forcing me to do things I shouldn't be forced to do (such as having to buy Madden 10 to play online, or buy new to get/pay for a "Pass").

Its getting insane, and people had better not be paying for these passes. It doesn't matter if EA MMA is the greatest game that has ever been and will have ever been made, if I have to buy a "Pass" to play online I would rather just play the single player or never play online. I refuse to submit to EA's money hungry will that will continue to grow more and more threatening to gamers (especially cheap ones) unless we nip this now!
 
For some reason I think this would be right though.. It may be bad for stores like Gamestop..

But there's something about Used games that I don't like.. :roll:
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']Absolutely terrible, but not unbelieveable. First EA shuts down the online for MADDEN NFL 09 (!!), but now they are going to be taking their most popular sports franchises and locking out online for used gamers? I mean come on, this is getting to the point where it feels like EA is becoming a Communist company, forcing me to do things I shouldn't be forced to do (such as having to buy Madden 10 to play online, or buy new to get/pay for a "Pass").

Its getting insane, and people had better not be paying for these passes. It doesn't matter if EA MMA is the greatest game that has ever been and will have ever been made, if I have to buy a "Pass" to play online I would rather just play the single player or never play online. I refuse to submit to EA's money hungry will that will continue to grow more and more threatening to gamers (especially cheap ones) unless we nip this now![/QUOTE]

I agree with you, but i find it funny calling them communist, this is capitalism in it's most raw sense. like i said before, we're heading for a time where you buy a game disk and activation code. or hell, maybe just the activation code and then your xbox just downloads the game. we're already there with the psp, when buying a psp game code, that's the future whether we like it or not. personally, if that's how they want to do, fine, but with this method comes significant savings, so games better get cheaper somehow though i doubt that will ever happen.
 
TBH, this is no different than registering a CD key for an MMO. It's smart in a sense that it depreciates the value of the game immediately after registration, curbs resale, and makes playing a pirated copy online near impossible. If they'd just drop the BS DRM in lieu of this, I'm all for it.
 
I actually agree with EA doing this. Nothing wrong with making sure devs get PAID instead of the countless moochers out there renting/borrowing games endlessly netting them dime zero.
 
[quote name='paddlefoot']How is it different than a used car? I need transportation. The purpose of using an automobile is to get ME from point a to point b, not the automobile itself. An automobile is simply my delivery system for transportation.

In the above, The CAT bus is blockbuster and Amtrak is Netflix.[/QUOTE]


Ummm... What? You're not serious are you?

A game is the code playing on a machine. Now whether I got that code on my machine by downloading it from the interwebs or by streaming it off the disc is irrelevant. What makes up the game I'm playing is the code. What's the difference between a Gears of War disc or a Forza disc? The discs themselves are both the same shitty piece of 10 cent plastic. It's the code on the disc that makes the difference. Blank dvd discs are cheap as hell. Discs that have the codes for new games on them cost $60. You aren't paying for the disc, you're paying for the information on the disc.

Please tell me how what you described in any way similar to buying and owning cars? Ford doesn't license you the experience of being transported by one of their cars - they sell you a machine that you operate. You can't extract the experience of being transported by the car, throw the car away and yet still get from point a to point b using that car. And there's a difference between a ford and a honda and a subaru. It's not all the exact same machine with a different logo slapped on the top.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top