Consumerist Worst Company in America

[DJMoose]

The world had better be careful. They might end up partnering.

SHHHH!  Don't give them ideas!  This would cause the end of the world as we know it!

[LadyWizard]

haven't figured out how ticketmaster managed to beat carnival for worse

[Kistulot]

Has everyone seen EA's responses?

As a supporter of various human rights (avoiding getting political, don't want to make your jobs harder mods!) I find this... offensive:

EA Plays The Blame Game (Or How I Learned To Keep Reading And Love The Fail)

[dwturducken]

"Many continue to claim the Always-On function in SimCity is a DRM scheme. It's not. People still want to argue about it. We can't be any clearer – it's not. Period."

"It's not because we say so, #$%@ it! Now, go to your room!"

Really, the whole list he presents is more an itemized "Oh, yeah! Well, suck it, haters!" than any kind of reasoned refutation. Except possibly that last one. While hardly more than an excuse, it is at least factually accurate.

[EDIT: Fixing quote box syntax ~Agge]

[Osborn]

"Many continue to claim the Always-On function in SimCity is a DRM scheme. It's not. People still want to argue about it. We can't be any clearer – it's not. Period."

"It's not because we say so, #$%@ it! Now, go to your room!"

Really, the whole list he presents is more an itemized "Oh, yeah! Well, suck it, haters!" than any kind of reasoned refutation. Except possibly that last one. While hardly more than an excuse, it is at least factually accurate.

You'd think if it was not a DRM scheme and people have proven that the game can be played offline fine, and a lot of people don't want to use the 'service' and just play the game, they'd be fine not making it mandatory. Especially as it's driving business away. But nooope. That clearly means to me they both see it as DRM and see it as more effective of DRM than the sales they lose by people fleeing.

And as a LGBT person that encompasses several of the letters of that acronym, I find it a extremely insulting they hide behind us as a scapegoat for all their bad practices and terrible monetizing strategies that drive business away and put them on this list by pretending oh, it's our fault nobody likes them, as if their the lone defenders of LGBT rights, despite the fact that their games fail very hard to depict LGBT characters in a positive light, and if at all, and then late as usual.

Like "Oh, we'd be one of the best companies ever on lists like these if only we weren't shackled by our noble decision to uplift the gay community by promising same sex relationships in games then delivering on them never or half-baked or in a straight male friendly girls kissing girls manner."

Pathetic.

[EDIT: Fixing quote box syntax ~Agge]

[TimtheEnchanter]

EA failed to change the Origin EULA to a less intimidating one with regard to privacy, even after it caused a massive panic. EA did respond to the panic, and assured the public this was not the case, but none of the changes in the EULA had ANYTHING to do with the item that scared people the most. The Origin EULA gives them the right to snoop around your entire computer. Not just elements of your computer that pertain to relevant information (what other EA games you own, your system config, etc), but everything.

EA conspired with LucasArts to raise the licensing fees for Star Wars in order to force SOE to close Star Wars Galaxies.

EA was the first gaming company to hire professional trolls to go into forums and get threads locked that were painting them in a poor light.

[Kriiden]

EA failed to change the Origin EULA to a less intimidating one with regard to privacy, even after it caused a massive panic. EA did respond to the panic, and assured the public this was not the case, but none of the changes in the EULA had ANYTHING to do with the item that scared people the most. The Origin EULA gives them the right to snoop around your entire computer. Not just elements of your computer that pertain to relevant information (what other EA games you own, your system config, etc), but everything.

EA conspired with LucasArts to raise the licensing fees for Star Wars in order to force SOE to close Star Wars Galaxies.

EA was the first gaming company to hire professional unicorns to go into forums and get threads locked that were painting them in a poor light.

I knew EA was bad...but sending in people to lock threads? Wow...that just lowers my opinion of them even further.

[Osborn]

...
EA was the first gaming company to hire professional unicorns to go into forums and get threads locked that were painting them in a poor light.

Do you have proof of this last item? Not because I doubt you (because I don't), but because I want to read it.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Do you have proof of this last item? Not because I doubt you (because I don't), but because I want to read it.

Most of the really good stuff on this is long gone now. The SWG forums near the shutdown were a treasure trove of information on all sorts of behind-the-scenes stuff. There were lots of links to all sorts of things, including research on a pro-troll effort (they were on the SWG forums too, trying to tell us how stupid we were for not worshiping SWTOR like a god).

The only thing I could turn up is the 4chan thing, but that article came up months after the fact.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/EA-Viral-Marketing-Exposed-Big-Buyout-Horizon-40885.html

This alleged EA troll effort has created a lot of speculation since then, that other companies have picked up the strategy. You'll notice random folks around here, wondering if NCsoft has ever tried to send anyone to cause trouble here. And there was a lot of paranoia about it on the NCsoft forums during the final months of CoH as well.

[Osborn]

Most of the really good stuff on this is long gone now. The SWG forums near the shutdown were a treasure trove of information on all sorts of behind-the-scenes stuff. There were lots of links to all sorts of things, including research on a pro-unicorn effort (they were on the SWG forums too, trying to tell us how stupid we were for not worshiping SWTOR like a god).

Yeah, while I don't think SWTOR is all that bad, I wouldn't want like, say, CO closed down for CoH or vice verse. I wish though that CoH got the sort of emulation support that SWG did though.

This alleged EA unicorn effort has created a lot of speculation since then, that other companies have picked up the strategy. You'll notice random folks around here, wondering if NCsoft has ever tried to send anyone to cause trouble here. And there was a lot of paranoia about it on the NCsoft forums during the final months of CoH as well.

EA didn't in any way create that strategy, it's older than the internet, but it does disturb me and anger me that they would participate in it.

People need to realize that sort of thing is going to be found out more often not and then punished for it when it does happen.

[Kistulot]

People need to realize that sort of thing is going to be found out more often not and then punished for it when it does happen.

The problem is that these companies are in it for the profit, and unless you stop buying wholesale from companies that you feel don't deserve your service, they wont learn. I know people who agree that Activision/EA/Ubi are terrible, then buy their games anyway. I know they publish a lot of games, but it's kinda the only way to send a message.

[TimtheEnchanter]

The problem is that these companies are in it for the profit, and unless you stop buying wholesale from companies that you feel don't deserve your service, they wont learn. I know people who agree that Activision/EA/Ubi are terrible, then buy their games anyway. I know they publish a lot of games, but it's kinda the only way to send a message.

It's a pretty useless sentiment, unfortunately. Civilization in general has no unity. There is no core source of communication that allows the populous to come together over an issue and fight for it. Corporations on the other hand, are exactly that - an organization united in its cause.

You might as well be expecting a billion headless chickens to have a chance at beating a well-trained and disciplined army. And I'm not just talking about the information age where media entertainment can perpetually distract us from more important issues. "Oh crap, we're losing our right to bear arm... oh look, Rihanna is takin her clothes off!"  When was the last time a boycott accomplished anything? I'm willing to bet that the only times that has ever worked, is in small towns against businesses that only operated in that same small town.

Globalization, and the ability for a business to cover such a large area of the world, is how that "Too big to fail" phrase came about.

[Kistulot]

But when it comes down to it, what else can you do? Speak up about the practices you dislike, and refuse to insentivize their continued development unless they're willing to change away from things that you find intolerable.

Paying people to actively frustrate you isn't smart, even if not paying them wont cause them to change overnight.

Decrying them while paying them won't work either.

[Illusionss]

EA failed to change the Origin EULA to a less intimidating one with regard to privacy, even after it caused a massive panic. EA did respond to the panic, and assured the public this was not the case, but none of the changes in the EULA had ANYTHING to do with the item that scared people the most. The Origin EULA gives them the right to snoop around your entire computer. Not just elements of your computer that pertain to relevant information (what other EA games you own, your system config, etc), but everything.

This is the EXACT REASON none of the Dead Space games are on my computer! Who the ****!!!!!  do these people think they are, what gives them the sheer RIGHT to think they have a right to pillage and cherry-pick through my computer, snooping out what interests them! THIS BUNCH NEEDS A REALITY CHECK! And until they get one, they will not be getting my cash!  God its like corporations are mad with power or something!

[Osborn]

Also being like "Oh well, people aren't organized and so we can't do anything, so neither will I!" is a self fulfilling prophecy.

[Kistulot]

Also being like "Oh well, people aren't organized and so we can't do anything, so neither will I!" is a self fulfilling prophecy.

Tis! That's why while I don't feel the need to organize or do anything all the time (CoH activisim I have time for, rallying against every triple A publisher, I just dont have the time or the care) but I feel like I do my part in not encouraging them at least. Not helping them isnt the same as stopping them, but when a good cause crops up I tend to try helping, too.

[Shenku]

I know people who agree that Activision/EA/Ubi are terrible, then buy their games anyway.

That right there is exactly the problem, spurred on by the brainwashed mentality that we need to drop $60 on the latest game that's only half finished, then another $15-$60 for the remaining parts that were held back as either DLC or as "Awesomest FPS 2!"... (Example: Halo 4 almost seems to be using the same model as Sim City, since everyhing but the way-to-short-cause-it's-only-part-1 Master Chief story requires XBox Live... You can't even do local multiplayer matches anymore without XBox Live it seems...)

Some people are willing to boycott, sure, but the larger majority is too sheeple-minded to think for themselves, or quite simply there are no legitimate(i.e. not blatant rip-offs) substitutes out there, and very few large corporations actually care more about their customer satisfaction than the Uncle Scrooge McDuck piles of money they can swim through.

[Xieveral]

EA "won"

http://consumerist.com/2013/04/09/ea-makes-worst-company-in-america-history-wins-title-for-second-year-in-a-row/

[JaguarX]

The problem is that these companies are in it for the profit, and unless you stop buying wholesale from companies that you feel don't deserve your service, they wont learn. I know people who agree that Activision/EA/Ubi are terrible, then buy their games anyway.

And that is exactly what they counting on.

EA probably get a good laugh out of winning that poll each year because they know people know they are terrible, people gripe about them day in day out, yet, still rush to the store, stand in line at 4 am waiting for the store to open to fight each to buy their latest game anyways. As long as people continue doing that, they probably dont give a hoot if they win that title for the next 20 years. And the devil inside me, asks this, Can you really blame them? It's like that woman that complains about how terrible her boyfriend is to her, and how he cheats, and how he's in and out of jail and how he never gets a job and etc but never leaves him even though her life is not in any danger. What incentive is it for him to change if he is gettign what he wants and the person he wants doesnt seem serious about ever leaving him?

[Segev]

Globalization, and the ability for a business to cover such a large area of the world, is how that "Too big to fail" phrase came about.

Actually, the phrase "too big to fail" is a misnomer. When it's said, it's usually by politicians who really mean "too big to be allowed to fail," and who are using that as an excuse to inject public money and regulation onto a company that would otherwise fail. It's the antithesis of a free market and globalization; it's government choosing who gets to win despite their bad economic decisions.

Companies are never too big to fail; anything can fail if it makes enough bad choices and unsustainable expenditures of resources. Even those companies propped up, mercantilist-style, by crony (so-called) "capitalism," will eventually fail when the government that decided they get to "win" runs out of money. That usually means a collapse of that government's finances, however, so really, everybody except the elite few skimming money off the transfer from earners to spenders is better off if we don't allow such shenanigans and instead allow companies that are failing to simply fail. Then, people learn from their mistakes and do better next time to avoid the same fate.