Does EA really stand for "Evil Alliance"? I wonder.......

On 03/08/2013 at 09:57 PM by smartcelt

On Tuesday of this week my wife and I went down to our local GameStop. I was there picking up Tomb Raider,she was picking up Sim City. We'd both been looking forward to our games for quite some time. But we ended up having vastly different experiences playing them.

Now don't get me wrong here. Sim City is a terrific game made by some dedicated people. They have made outstanding games in the past. The popularity of The Sims franchise is enough evidence of that. I've played them on PC and consoles. Enjoyed them all very much. But EA did something with this last one that has folks(including my wife)more than a little upset. The game must be online at all times in order to be played. EA's servers could not handle the amount of players online that night. Or the next,for that matter. Today they doubled the amount of servers,which is cool. But they still fill up pretty fast. I'm not a PC gamer,never really have been. But my wife is,and she is not happy. Can't say I blame her. How bummed would I have been if I had not been able to play Tomb Raider? Just because others beat me out of room on the server.

In defense of EA,if such a thing is possible,I get why they did it. They are trying to stop piracy of their products. Looking out for their bottom line,it is pure business. But taking care of your customers is also good business. They should remember where those huge profits come from. I remember the days when EA was an industry leader. When they were one of my favorite game companies. Now it's all just Madden games and greed. I heard the company was recently de-listed by NasDaq. What is up with that? Could there be a connection? But they could bounce back in a big way. They have lots of money and extremely talented people. They just need to start paying more attention to consumer's needs. Like being able to use their products. Would be nice!

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

03/08/2013 at 10:02 PM

The folks at EA are nothing more than a bunch of suits trying to make fast money and dupe gamers into buying their crap. I miss the old EA.

GrayHaired

03/08/2013 at 10:34 PM

I would never knowingly buy a game like that...I think it was Diablo 3? that was just like that. I actually have a few friends that do not have internet and dont want it...what do they do with a game like that?

V4Viewtiful

03/08/2013 at 10:44 PM

EA are truely the worst how many developers will need to die at their hands before the industry wakes up? RIP Visceral Games

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/08/2013 at 11:27 PM

I really hate the idea of download-only games, let alone online-only games. As for piracy, it's an issue, but fighting it in ways like this will probably only hurt the company, when people start hating them and not wanting to pay for a defective product.

But hey, given reviews I've read, you're in for a treat with that Tomb Raider game. haha

leeradical42

03/09/2013 at 04:02 PM

I agree with you on online only or digital games, the only ones I buy are on xbla and even then I would rather have the physicle game and I dont think you should be forced to play games online, and if the internet is down then your sitting there wishing you hadnt paid $60 for a game you cant play lol.

SanAndreas

03/09/2013 at 03:16 AM

....EA's ham-handed approach to DRM has pretty much wrecked SimCity. Not surprised. My wife bought Spore when it came out and that game was so chained down with DRM it wasn't funny. I love city sims, but I will either get Cities XL instead or just stick with SimCity 4.

I generally try to avoid EA games on principle anyway. Since I don't really like EA Sports or Bioware, that's a surprisingly easy choice, because anything EA makes, someone else makes a better version of it. :)

Ranger1

03/09/2013 at 07:55 AM

EA doesn't treat their employees any better than they do their customers. I have a friend who worked on one of the Madden games and quit because they were so awful to work for.

smartcelt

03/09/2013 at 10:07 PM

Not a whole lotta love for EA.huh? People are being downright nasty toward them this week. I did read that they treat their employees like cattle. Kinda like Wal Mart!

03/09/2013 at 10:17 PM

Oh lord; I have yet to find a friend of mine that is in any way a minority and had anything other than the most hellish, painful time working at Wal-Mart. My ex girlfriend worked in Arkansas at Wal Mart, and my God, it sounded like the worst thing. lol Her friends still worked there when we visited her old college, and they all agreed when we watched the South Park episode about it, that that Halloween special episode was a documentary by all accounts: it really was a monster. But then, there's so many savings, which even they admitted to loving, despite despising their jobs ... ugh. lol

03/09/2013 at 11:30 PM

Very true on that stuff. Wal Mart works their people like rented mules. Throws the old ones out like dirty dish rags when they outlive their usefulness.

jgusw

03/09/2013 at 02:54 PM

It's hard to defend EA. They cause more problems for the people that actually buy their games than for the pirates.

03/09/2013 at 10:47 PM

I went to your page and read how you describe your life. I don't have all the kids you do,but I identify with a lot of what you describe there. Especially the part about collecting. Sometimes I look at my collection and think.....hmmm.....maybe someday....err. Then I have to go work! I'll be the biggest gamer at the retirement village,you'll see.

03/09/2013 at 03:57 PM

So basicly they eliminated people who are not online or dont want to be online and if your not online your screwed, well in my opinion they can keep there sorry ass game and I would get something else, I cant stand EA if you cant tell lol my encounter with them came when i got tigerwoods 2011 and you couldnt complete the acheivements with out buying add on courses then you have to buy the same golf courses you bought last year in order to play themnthis year, there just a greedy with a capital G, i love Tiger woods golf but in 2011 when they pulled that crap, I told tiger to f#@% off.

03/09/2013 at 10:10 PM

Every time you try to play it's a crap shoot. Just dumb luck if you can get the game online. EA says they are working tirelessly to correct these issues. I read a news story this morning that even some of their employees are furious about this disastrous launch.

PixlBit