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EA Forum Ban Will Now Mean EA Game Ban
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Oct 30, 2008 08:55 PM
from the being-nice-is-actually-an-option dept.
from the being-nice-is-actually-an-option dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A post on the EA Support Forums from APOC, online community manager for Electronic Arts, outlines a new policy for their new forums, saying users who earn a ban based on their behavior in the forums will be locked out of all of the EA games tied to that account: 'Well, its actually going to be a bit nastier for those who get banned. Your forum account will be directly tied to your Master EA Account, so if we ban you on the forums, you would be banned from the game as well since the login process is the same. And you'd actually be banned from your other EA games as well since it's all tied to your account. So if you have SPORE and Red Alert 3 and you get yourself banned on our forums or in-game, well, your SPORE account would be banned to. It's all one in the same, so I strongly recommend people play nice and act mature. All in all, we expect people to come on here and abide by our ToS. We hate banning people, it makes our lives a lot tougher, but it's what we have to do.'" Update: 10/31 12:36 GMT by T : Not so! Pandanapper writes "After a flood of complaints the EA community moderator APOC corrects his statement about how banning you from the forums bans you from your game access as well:"That said, the previous statement I made recently (that's being quoted on the blogs) was inaccurate and a mistake on my part. I had a misunderstanding with regards to our new upcoming forums and website and never meant to infer that if we ban or suspend you on the forums, you would be banned in-game as well. This is not correct, my mistake, my bad."
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Submission: EA forum ban = game ban by Anonymous Coward
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Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
Fo'shure I'm looking forward to shelling out my hard-earned money (especially in this wonderful economy) for EA titles in the future after seeing this.
I enjoyed EA games in the past. Being a military buff I especially enjoyed their flight simulators. They were mostly stable and fun to play. I cringed when they bought out Westwood because I thought they were going to screw up the C&C franchise, but (mostly) they didn't.
But being banned from online play because I let out a "fuck" on their forums? Or for any reason whatsoever unrelated to behavior within the game? Never mind the insane DRM on their latest output.
Fuck that. No more EA games for me. I'm getting old anyway. Time to switch to online Scrabble or something. Flash DigDug and Galaga FTW.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
spoken like a true tyrant. "Obey me, or I will be forced to hurt you. I don't want to hurt you but you're forcing me".
In other news.... EA has forums?
Re:Awwww (Score:5, Interesting)
I started buying EA titles used a while back because I didn't want to directly support EA anymore. I certainly won't purchase Spore with their DRM.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
Won't it be fun finding out you just bought a "banned" copy then? I'm sure they will start tying the bans to the game's activation serial number as well.
And of course, they'll ban anyone who complains about the constant bugs and shoddy coding in their games and wants to see a patch to make the game usable. Why should they care? They already got what they wanted (your money), you got screwed because they sold a crappy product that doesn't work and can't be returned to the store... they're happy, you're not, but they don't give a crap about the customer.
Welcome to soviet russ....er EA-Land, Where Game Plays You.
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Re:Misunderstanding... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not a correction or a misunderstanding.
That's a hasty back-peddling move. Expect to see this repeated in about a year. We are the frog in the slowly boiling water, and EA just tried to turn up the heat.
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Re:Misunderstanding... (Score:5, Informative)
Moderator: "Vicious bans about for badmouthing (EA Game of choice)!"
Public: *outcry*
Moderator: "I mean.. uh.. never mind!"
EA: "He doesn't actually work for us, he's a community volunteer." (Link [bit-tech.net])
It happened when Spore was released and the DRM was a hot topic on the forums.
Parent
Re:Misunderstanding... (Score:5, Informative)
Look at this quote from here though
http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=457006 [ea.com]
First the mod says that bans from the forums don't mean a ban from the games a bit later some other EA guy says this
Elearen (EA.com)
tbh I would rather that forum behaviour did affect online availability.
It would tie in with the TOS quite nicely.
http://www.ea.com/global/legal/tos.jsp [ea.com]
And the TOS he links to says this
EA may terminate any EA Service at any time by giving you notice of such termination within the time period specified when you joined the particular EA Service, or if no time period for notice of termination was specified, then within thirty (30) days of the date such notice is posted on the applicable EA Service.
EA may also terminate your Account(s) (and access to all related entitlements) for violation of this Terms of Service, illegal or improper use of your Account, or illegal or improper use of EA Services, products, or EA's Intellectual Property. You may lose your user names and personas as a result of Account termination. If you have more than one Account, EA may terminate all of your Accounts and all related entitlements. EA may issue you a warning, or EA may immediately terminate any and all Accounts that you have established. You acknowledge that EA is not required to provide you notice before terminating your Account(s). If EA terminates your Account, you may not participate in an EA Service again without EA's express permission. To participate in an EA Service, contact support.ea.com EA reserves the right to refuse to keep Accounts for, and provide EA Services to, any individual. You may not allow individuals whose Accounts have been terminated by EA to use your Account.
If your Account, or a particular subscription for an EA Service associated with your Account, is terminated, no refund will be granted; no online time or other credits (e.g., points in an online game) will be credited to you or converted to cash or other form of reimbursement, and you will have no further access to your Account or entitlements associated with your Account or the particular EA Service (such as points, tokens or other digital items).
Seems like the Mod announced the draconian new policy that he can ban you not just from the forums but from all the games you've bought with no refund, a shitstorm erupted and he clarified things that that was not the policy. But it is in the TOS as the other EA guy pointed out.
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Simply follow the rules! (Score:5, Funny)
Rule 8: There are no real rules about posting
Rule 9: There are no real rules about moderation either -- enjoy your ban
Parent
Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately, it does sound a lot like EA have designed this system to be completely open to abuse from their end. I'm not really sure that this is a good move on their part; they're going to end up with a lot of unhappy customers (some of whom will almost inevitably have been banned unfairly).
However, I'm not actually 100% opposed to the idea that people who behave like idiots on the forums should face consequences. As others have noted, somebody who is a foul-mouthed idiot on the forums is liable to be at least as bad, if not worse, in-game.
A far better solution would have been to offer two tiers of servers for the game. You'd have "regulated" servers, which are free to play on (we're not talking about subscription-model games here, although I guess third party server-owners could still charge their own fees), but which would require a valid EA account in good standing. You'd then have "open" servers, which are likewise free to play on, but have no authentication required beyond a valid CD key. On connecting to an open server via the game's UI, you'd be given a quick warning/annoyance message indicating that the server you were connecting to would not be bound by EA's code of conduct or whatever.
I know that in 100% of cases, I would choose to play on the regulated servers, while those who suffer from a bit of a potty-mouth, or buy a second hand copy of the game from somebody who does, would still be able to play online, just not with me.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Funny)
I sure hope you're trolling. If you aren't, then allow me to give you this gold-plated certificate inviting you to keep your fucking kids off my internet.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Funny)
While these modern murder simulators are training up my children to smite sinners down with a shotgun to cleanse the world for the second coming of the Lord, I certainly don't want them to see hateful speech like "piss", "shit", or "titty fucking arse bandits with their gay dick up an elephants cunt".
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
I submit this as an example of why Slashdot is the greatest website on earth.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
Consider that +5 a big fat middle finger to anyone who thinks they get to decide what appropriate speech is.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Funny)
I submit this as an example of why Slashdot is the greatest website on earth.
You should check out /b/ on 4chan. They'll have the picture.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
True; clearly it should be "...gay dick up an elephant's cunt".
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Funny)
"titty fucking arse bandits with their gay dick up an elephants cunt".
Congratulations, you just got Slasdot banned in australia [slashdot.org]
On the bright side, maybe I'll be able to get some work done now.
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Re:Awwww (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Seen forum bans for pretty civilized conduct (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, if you've looked at enough game forums, you'll see lots of bans which are for stuff that has nothing whatsoever to do with being uncivilized.
There are whole companies where they delete posts, and even ban accounts for stuff like reporting or discussing bugs. And I don't mean the "you gay motherfuckers get off your lazy arses and fix my pet peeve right now" kind of "discussion", but even mentioning that some exploits exist at all, or that some DRM bug has prevented someone from starting the game. Especially if someone from Marketing got ideas like, "omg, if people find out we have bugs or multiplayer exploits, our sales will drop, and we can't have that before Christmas." But whatever the reason, trying to prevent people from posting bugs, especially if a bug has showed up already too often on the forum, _is_ a pretty popular way to avoid fixing them.
Heck, Sony even had a sandbox for new forum users (which included veterans finally activating their forum account), just so they can't complain about the NGE in SWG. Apparently enough people activated their forum account just to say a final "good bye, but this is no longer fun" when unsubscribing, and we can't have that, can we?
I also remember forum bans and account bans for as little as distasteful fanfic about someone's game. But it wasn't in the game, and it wasn't even on the game's forums. Just, you know, if you dare post something we dislike about our games, we'll kick you out.
So I'm really not looking forward for more of that dictatorial accounts. If someone actually cheated in a multiplayer game or anything, fine, ban them. But not for offending an already arbitrary forum moderation system.
And how does a Spore ban (since they used that particular example) even fit that picture? Even EA marketed Spore as a "massively single-player game". Let's say I was a forum troll. So exactly how's my temper going to affect someone else's game? Can I even get into anyone's game to spew obscenities at them? Or what?
Plus, here's another idea: it seems to me like if you have a player rebellion on your hands, on the forums or in game or otherwise, the best policy is to be open and fair. People don't run amok about a bug when they know it'll get put in the queue and looked at later. You might get one, though, if it becomes obvious that you use PR bullshit and deleting bug reports, instead of fixing very real problems and exploits. They don't run amok about some griefer being banned, especially if again you're open as to why and what the rules are. You get a virtual rebellion when you're acting like an ass to the customers in the first place.
Adding a game ban there just adds injury to the already existing insult.
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Re:Awwww (Score:5, Insightful)
I am betting that they can live without you.
The Sims 3 is #36 on the Amazon PC seller list and it won't be released until February.
Red Alert 3 is #3 - and the geek's negative reviews of the EA product and DRM are being ignored across the board.
2,500 1-star reviews for Spore, currently #6 on the charts.
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Re:Mod parent up - this is relevant! (Score:5, Funny)
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wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:wow (Score:5, Funny)
Don't hate the game, hate the player.
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Re:wow (Score:4, Funny)
So their sporting games will be more real!
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Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's the way I see it:
It was EA's privilege to get my money. Well fuck that, they just lost that privilege out of principle. While people like us stop giving them money, time and time again we have seen boycotts like that don't work. Some one needs to sue EA, badly. That's the kind of action that speaks out.
Parent
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
There, fixed that for you. Oh, and by the way - you're banned (bittorrent-talk, cursing) Have fun playing solitaire, sucker!
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wow... (Score:5, Interesting)
Are they TRYING to start a class action lawsuit???
Judge: "What did you do?"
Me: "Called him an asshat."
Judge: "What did they do?"
Me: "Locked me out of $500 worth of software"
Judge: "I rule in favor of the plantif for 1 ass-ton of money"
Funnier when they ban you for spore dick-monsters (Score:5, Funny)
Judge: What did he do?
EA: Made a monster that looks like a dick!
Me: Objection! It looks nothing like a dick!
EA: Its clearly phallic!
Me: Thats a long neck, evolved for reaching high...
EA: Its sitting on a pair of balls!
Me: Theyre legs! It walks on them!
EA: HAIRY BALLS
Its worth it just to see a gaggle of lawyers on $400+ p/h trying to argue the phallic appearance of my one-eyed trouser monster.
Parent
NEW From EA! (Score:5, Funny)
EA Guy 1: You see what Bungie, Valve, and many other game developers are doing? Linking games to gamer's internet forum accounts? Letting you see your stats, other peoples stats, game avatars, recently played games, and other cool stuff like that?
EA Guy 2: Um, yeah.
Guy 1: Well, we need to do something to top that. We need something that will really draw in our players and make them part of our community.
Guy 2: How about, participate in our forums, and earn the chance to be banned from your favorite game forever by a power-starved, 17 year-old forum mod.
Guy 1: Brilliant! Next issue, blood sample toolkits packaged with all our games.
Guy 2: ??????
Guy 1: No, it's not what you think. It's only for the initial install... and three times a month after that.
Re:NEW From EA! (Score:5, Insightful)
Linking games to gamer's internet forum accounts?
Yeah, don't you love that? They've completely eliminated the ability to sell your old games.
Parent
One problem is... (Score:5, Insightful)
No it will not (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55656 [shacknews.com]
Re:No it will not (Score:4, Funny)
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story is completely false (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55656 [shacknews.com]
Posting in EA Forums is enabled by an EA Nucleus account -- but access to the forums and access to the games are separate. Players who have been banned from EA Forums are not automatically banned from online access to their other EA games. Players can be banned if they breach the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct in a forum, game or service. Each forum, game and service is managed independently by customer support representatives responsible for that specific forum, game or service.
This is why you should buy independent games (Score:4, Funny)
corporate ethics (Score:5, Interesting)
it always seems kinda odd when major corporations that don't mind being unethical themselves when they can make a profit then turn around and try to force their sense of morality on others (e.g. censorship policies). i think companies like Sony, EA, Gamespot, etc. should focus more on correcting their own bad behaviors rather than trying to control the behavior of others. trampling on the rights of consumers, extorting your customers, and selling out your journalistic integrity to advertisers are not exactly shining examples of corporate responsibility.
it's especially annoying when major gaming sites have incompetently implemented profanity filters that prevent you from using ordinary words that happen to contain the same letter sequence as an "inappropriate word or phrase." i don't even bother posting reviews on Gamespot anymore because it's such a pain in the ass trying to figure out what word i used that triggered their profanity filter.
and then there are sites like IGN that have imbeciles for moderators, who think that homebrew/emulation/ripping CDs is illegal. if i want to rip one of my PSX games onto my hard drive and convert it into an eboot that i can play on my PSP that's my own prerogative. censoring posts that talk about homebrew/CFW/etc. is blatant posturing by the gaming industry to condition the public into thinking that only industry sanctioned uses of games/consoles are legal, and that using homebrew, CFW, etc. is illegal/unethical/taboo.
So, how many game companies is there left? (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft? No thanks, I don't do Windows or Xbox.
Sony? No thanks I don't want a Blu-Ray player nor DRM in my games.
EA? Transgaming/Cedega, DRM and now this? No thanks.
Companies I still trust enough to buy their games:
- Nintendo (for Zelda, Metroid, etc)
- Blizzard (still waiting on Starcraft II and Diablo III)
In fact, almost any Zelda, Metroid, Starcraft or Diablo game is already pre-sold because I trust them enough to sell me good quality games that don't make me feel like a thief or a beta-tester.
EA TOS (Score:5, Insightful)
Check out the full TOS [ea.com] for the "code of conduct." I wouldn't share that No CD utility with the EA forums :)
Re:money back ? (Score:5, Interesting)
So, they take away something I paid for - will they refund? Probably not. I wonder how that would play out in a court of law.
My guess is they would argue you agreed to the TOS which allows them to ban you; and that the money you paid was damages for violating the TOS and hence non-refundable.
Would that fly, especially for games that you did not do anything wrong? Who knows, certainly not me since IANAL.
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Re:money back ? (Score:4, Interesting)
Lets say you buy a car and one of the features is a fancy stereo and you get caught playing unauthorized music. Is it acceptable for the manufacturer to disable your stereo because you broke the rules?
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Re:money back ? (Score:5, Insightful)
When you purchase Spore, you are licensing software.
So which is it?
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
EA just doesn't want any money, now do they?
Average consumer will think... "surely only potty mouths get themselves banned from the game by flaming in the forums"
And still buy the game.
The banned person has to buy their games all over again, if they still want to play == more $$$ for the game maker.
Re:heh (Score:5, Insightful)
The point is, they're not going to continue getting money if they keep screwing over, on a continuing basis, the people who give them the money.
Then how do you explain the fact that the cable and cellular companies are still in business? ;)
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Re:The Microsoft of Gaming (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:EA = Lazy Bastards (Score:5, Interesting)
The term "burning" brought up a memory - I was in the Oakland firestorm back in 1991, got out with clothes on my back and my car. The entire Bay Area community was very supportive in helping people recover - with the notable exception of Electronic Arts. I had about ten EA titles for my beloved Amiga 3000 system at the time. When I called EA, explained the situation, and asked how to get replacement media, the answer was "We have no way of knowing you really owned those games. Feel free to buy them at full retail again." When I asked what the point of all the registration cards I'd dutifully mailed in was, the answer was that "Those go to marketing, we don't have any record of them."
Needless to say, I don't have to worry about dealing with the EA forums.
KeS
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Re:No different than bars and restaurants (Score:5, Insightful)
How is this any different than the signs in restaurants that say "We reserve the right to refuse to serve someone."
Because when you are getting kicked out from a bar/restaurant, you are not banned from all the restaurants in the neighbourhood at the same time, and you are generally only banned for a limited time.
Parent
Re:No different than bars and restaurants (Score:5, Insightful)
Wrong analogy. In restaurants you pay after you receive service. If you abuse the wait staff, they'll kick you out and don't expect you to pay (or come back).
Here you already paid for service and now they're kicking you out based on their interpretation of acceptable free speech. It's like buying a car, paying it off then loudly complaining how bad that car is (whether or not something goes wrong) at the dealership when you bring it in for service and then the dealership says: sorry, we're keeping your keys (you physically own the car, you just can't drive it)
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Re:No different than bars and restaurants (Score:5, Informative)
"They don't care if you already paid for your meal, if you're abusing the wait staff, they can kick you out."
They *do* care if you paid for your meal. If you are abusing the wait staff because you aren't getting your meal, they are legally obligated to refung you your money. In this case, if you aren't getting the service you paid for, then they are legally obligated to refund you your money, regardless of how you act. However, they can kick you out, but not without your money.
Being a jerk, to a degree, is completely legal. Taken too far, being a jerk can be Disturbing the peace, which is illegal in a public place. In a private setting, it is completely legal, but you can be asked to leave. Taking money and not providing the service or product that was purchased, to any degree, is theft and fraud. Theft and fraud are far worse than disturbing the peace or being asked to leave.
Thankfully, being a dick is legal, and theft and fraud are not.
Regardless of what their TOS states, if they remove functionality from a game package that you paid for, they are legally obligated to refund you your purchase cost, regardless of what their TOS says.
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Re:Guess who cares about your anti-EA opinions? (Score:5, Insightful)
EA makes great games, most of which I have played through and through.
I'll always buy their games, if it interests me, as most of their titles have.
Most of you are silver spoon fed arrogant bastards who think EA owes you something.
They don't. They owe you NOTHING.
If I pay them for a game, then they owe me a functional game.
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