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#1

EA has done it again!

Archive: 42 posts

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6459941/1
Get banned from their forum? Well that sucks! But what doubly sucks is that you're no longer allowed to use your DLC, or even play the game!'
He's suspended for 72 hours, and during these 72 hours, he is disallowed from playing any EA title that requires a valid EA account.

As you know, Game key is tied to the account, so in the event of you getting suspended, you're locked out from a whole lot of games, ranging from Mass Effect 2 to Red Alert 3.		2011-03-11 04:08:00

Author:
ll_ye
Posts: 236

Wow. That sucks. They really need to get on that. And what he was suspended for was just asinine. That's ridiculous. Everyone knows they already sold their souls. I don't see why they banned him.

But seriously, this issue could cause them to lose business.		2011-03-11 04:49:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799

Winpost:


Well, you did insult them.

Don't go telling someone to go **** themselves then bother asking why they flipped you off afterwards.

2011-03-11 10:00:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

LOL...bans are ridicoulous but people is really over reacting.2011-03-11 10:27:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Winpost:





That may be, but they should not keep you from playing a game you have bought. That's just ridiculous.		2011-03-11 11:19:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

If this equals true, then yeah, it is stupid for them >_>

... Especially if it's for THAT reason. >_<		2011-03-11 11:32:00

Author:
RockSauron
Posts: 10882

That may be, but they should not keep you from playing a game you have bought. That's just ridiculous.

Do they mean online? Because online is acceptable. But if it's the whole game in general, then isn't that illegal to do that to a customer?		2011-03-11 12:09:00

Author:
CyberSora
Posts: 5551

Do they mean online? Because online is acceptable. But if it's the whole game in general, then isn't that illegal to do that to a customer?
It is written in the TOS, terms of service that if you are suspended, or have your account terminated, the account will be unusable until you are unbanned. (In case of termination, forever.)

You get no refunds. Not for DLC, not for games. Nothing. Also, if your account is terminated, you cannot ever make a new EA account unless you make them write down that you are once again allowed to own and use a EA game. So even if you buy a new game, you are not allowed to register it with EA until you have express written permission, otherwise, that account, if found out to belong to a banned user, will be terminated without any warning.

Suspended accounts can be unbanned, whileas terminated accounts are practically impossible to get back.

I don't know how well the TOS would hold up in court, but would you go to court over a couple hundred dollars worth of video games, against a large corporation like EA?

While EA has done alot recently that's pretty cool, this is pretty lame.		2011-03-11 12:12:00

Author:
ll_ye
Posts: 236

72 hours... 3 days. Really? Is that such an outrage?2011-03-11 12:13:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

72 hours... 3 days. Really? Is that such an outrage?
I am in no way advocating that people who are rude and disrespectful should not be punished, but while I think it's ok for a company to revoke you online services, but it's not ok to not let you use the software at all because of misconduct on a forum.

I know I might sound a bit aggressive, The nature of text based communication often leaves some things out of the message.		2011-03-11 12:47:00

Author:
ll_ye
Posts: 236

Old news my mate was banned from that forum cause he made fun of a spammer (5 months ago)
he couldent play battlefield a week long online		2011-03-11 14:51:00

Author:
Unknown User

As time goes I start to hate EA even more...*
*Hopefully they won't track me down and ban me from BF2, PSN, LBPC and blow up my PC and PS3... 		2011-03-11 17:24:00

Author:
gdn001
Posts: 5891

I don't think there is anything in the EULA that specifies that your conduct in a forum will prevent you access to your legitimate, paid for content.

What's the clause that they are using to prevent this guy from accessing it?
I bet it's open to interpretation - in which case there would be grounds for a legal case.

It's a consumer rights issue - quite a serious one at that.
Each game has it's own EULA - which you accept on a 'per-game' basis.
To have a blanket ban on all EA content, because of conduct on a forum (which again has it's own seperate EULA) doesn't seem fair at all.
Your account could easily be hijacked - or someone posting from a PC that was left signed in.

If I were in that guys shoes, I would certainly be arguing my case through a consumer protection body.
But then, I'm argumentative, and would have nothing better to do for 3 days 		2011-03-11 17:55:00

Author:
Macnme
Posts: 1970

People seem to easily forget that EA had an abysmally bad reputation as a publisher a few years back, so this kind of thing isn't surprising to me.

I'll never forget Westwood Studios.

Also, I'm willing to bet that if they push this new scam too much, some lawyer is going to be happy to round up some miffed gamers and make a class-action nuisance lawsuit to make a quick buck. 		2011-03-11 17:58:00

Author:
Gilgamesh
Posts: 2536

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/11/ea-retracts-game-ban-for-forum-violation/

backpedal		2011-03-12 00:11:00

Author:
oldage
Posts: 2824

Yeah it was a "mistake..."



At least it won't happen to anyone else, hopefully.		2011-03-12 00:57:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

Acting against people in one area for something done in another is wrong. Period. And don't even start with telling me it doesn't matter if it's only a short while - if a short ban holds up legally, there's nothing to stop EA from banning whoever the hell they want.

This is what mindless support of a big company gets you - keep that in mind next time you start cheering on those who would violate rights to, say, secure a console from hackers. 		2011-03-12 01:08:00

Author:
Voltergeist
Posts: 1702

This is great, all video game companies need to do this.2011-03-12 04:56:00

Author:
IAmChavez
Posts: 142

72 hours... 3 days. Really? Is that such an outrage?I am glad it was an outrage on the net. If not maybe EA wouldnt have found their "mistake". The man paid for those games. Anyway who hasnt heard the expression "give them an inch, and they will take a mile". Idk EA makes me paranoid.2011-03-12 05:28:00

Author:
EinRobot
Posts: 739

I am glad it was an outrage on the net. If not maybe EA wouldnt have found their "mistake". The man paid for those games. Anyway who hasnt heard the expression "give them an inch, and they will take a mile". Idk EA makes me paranoid.

What are you talking about, they made no mistake. The guy went against the terms of agreement. He agreed to the rules then gets made because he's a liar.		2011-03-12 07:21:00

Author:
IAmChavez
Posts: 142

72 hours... 3 days. Really? Is that such an outrage?
the only time that is an outrage is if the moon is about to fall on you,oh wait........		2011-03-12 07:39:00

Author:
wait wtf
Posts: 853

What are you talking about, they made no mistake. The guy went against the terms of agreement. He agreed to the rules then gets made because he's a liar.

Ummm...


He received an email from EA?s Senior Director of Customer Support, Boyd Beasley, explaining that his ?inappropriate language? meant he had received a 72 hour ban from the BioWare Social Network, but that,

?Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended your entire EA account. Immediately upon learning of the glitch, we have restored the entire account and apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused while accessing other areas of the EA service.?

Pretty sure that means they made a mistake.		2011-03-12 08:22:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

Ummm...



Pretty sure that means they made a mistake.

The moderator told him that it wasn't an error & live support as well, there was no error. EA just made a decision to lie & blame it on a "error" to make people stop making a big deal out of it. That's damage control for you.		2011-03-12 08:31:00

Author:
IAmChavez
Posts: 142

The moderator told him that it wasn't an error & live support as well, there was no error. EA just made a decision to lie & blame it on a "error" to make people stop making a big deal out of it. That's damage control for you.

I highly doubt that. I agree that they blamed it on an error however I do believe they realized that it's stupid to keep a customer from playing a game they have paid money for, over a ridiculous comment made on a FORUM. Not on the actual game, but a forum.		2011-03-12 10:09:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

I think the error came in bundling "product activation" in with the online community services that you get banned from. My understanding of the situation was that he bought the game whilst banned and then couldn't activate it... Rather than being explicitly banned from using the product at all (which I agree would be OTT). Bad press is almost certainly the reason why they reversed the decision, not any actual sense of guilt (lolz).

I don't actually see why a ban from the online services of company from all of their online services is actually a bad thing though. Being banned from online play etc. for being a jerk on a forum (again, what this guy did wasn't actually banworthy, I agree, but if it was) seems reasonable to me, even if it is a bit over-zealous. If you decide you don't want someone in one aspect of your community interacting with people then why would you want them elsewhere? It's like banning someone across an entire forum, rather than just the thread they posted in... just a bit bigger. The boundaries are all conceptual afterall.		2011-03-12 10:16:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

I think the error came in bundling "product activation" in with the online community services that you get banned from. My understanding of the situation was that he bought the game whilst banned and then couldn't activate it... Rather than being explicitly banned from using the product at all (which I agree would be OTT). Bad press is almost certainly the reason why they reversed the decision, not any actual sense of guilt (lolz).

I don't actually see why a ban from the online services of company from all of their online services is actually a bad thing though. Being banned from online play etc. for being a jerk on a forum (again, what this guy did wasn't actually banworthy, I agree, but if it was) seems reasonable to me, even if it is a bit over-zealous. If you decide you don't want someone in one aspect of your community interacting with people then why would you want them elsewhere? It's like banning someone across an entire forum, rather than just the thread they posted in... just a bit bigger. The boundaries are all conceptual afterall.

The thing I took from the whole ordeal though, was that he wasn't allowed to play offline either. I may be wrong but that's what I read.		2011-03-12 10:47:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

The issue has been "resolved", but if this happens again. That will look pretty bad.

But in this case everybody agrees that it wasn't banned worthy (Well, banned from everything worthy) so it still wouldn't be fair to keep him out of everything.

Uhh... So, if your account gets "banned" and "deleted" (I forgot those words), then you wont be able to play any of the games that you bought before?

And like Whaaaaaale said, this also means he can't play offline either? That's a HUGE PROBLEM.		2011-03-12 10:49:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799

The thing I took from the whole ordeal though, was that he wasn't allowed to play offline either. I may be wrong but that's what I read.

Because he couldn't activate online - online activation being one of the online services he was banned from. Which is ridiculous, I know, and arguably it's probably an oversight in the system that requires you to use your account online to activate (which is what happens when your systems are too tightly coupled together for convenience).

I got the impression that you could still play any game that was purchased and activated prior to the ban, you just wouldn't be able to purchase and activate games after being banned. It is a bit vague though.		2011-03-12 11:15:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

I'm not sure though, because if you have the code on a specific account, then it gets deleted. Then doesn't that mean you can't play the game any more because you no longer have access to the code that you previously used on the account that was deleted?

I think they use this system to keep away copies of the same game. That way two games with the same code can't be accessed.		2011-03-12 11:20:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799

I don't know. I never owned an EA game ever since they did this whole code thing.2011-03-12 11:31:00

Author:
Whalio Cappuccino
Posts: 5250

Doesn't Blizzard do this as well?2011-03-12 11:40:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799

I don't know. I never owned an EA game ever since they did this whole code thing.
You're blessed. EA's "activation" stuff is the most painfull way to install a game ever. I bought BF2142 Deluxe Edition years ago and couldn't activate the booster pack since then. And apparently it wasn't just me.
I think that the power made EA begin to act like fools. 		2011-03-12 11:41:00

Author:
gdn001
Posts: 5891

They were fools to begin with. BWAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!! >

But uhh.....yeah. The process is like a thorn. I hate it. They really need to scrap the idea and use something else.		2011-03-12 11:47:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799

Do people really think that's okay? That banning a user from one area should ban him from everything?

Wow... all I can say is I really, really hope you're the victim of one of these linked ban systems. Because if you won't fight for someone else's rights, I have a hard time imagining a world that lets you keep yours. Like I've said in the past, we're already headed well down the road of "connecting" PSN activity to this site - how long until you can get banned for messing around with someone on LBP? How long, really? Don't even tell me it's not possible - you get good griefed on LBP, that data could easily be uploaded to lbp.me where any admin could see who they were banning today. Hell, you could even build a bot to auto-ban if you wanted.

We're heading down a dangerous road as far as consumer rights are concerned. If you're someone who wants to be able to speak against a company, to preserve that right - you better start speaking out now.

Remember, first they came for the...		2011-03-12 13:46:00

Author:
Voltergeist
Posts: 1702

Do people really think that's okay? That banning a user from one area should ban him from everything? ..... If you're someone who wants to be able to speak against a company, to preserve that right - you better start speaking out now.

You're actually talking about 2 different things here. The reason for bannings and the extent of bannings. If the ban was for legitimate reasons* involving the online interaction between users in one area of a group of intrinsically connected services, then I would say that it's totally acceptable to have the ban affect all areas of online interaction. This absolutely falls into the category of preserving the rights of customers. Basically, if someone is actually being a ****, then other people's rights come before theirs. If the ban is for criticising the company vocally then this would fall into the category of abuse, regardless of the extent of the ban. As for removing the ability to use the product offline, there is actually no reason for that that makes any sense whatsoever.


* Not true in this case, but I'm talking about this in a more general sense.



*Starts making comparisons to the Nazis*
Oh, the drama! 		2011-03-12 14:12:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

I had no idea that quote originates from the Nazi's - I just use it to explain the problems with saying "Well, I'd never do that, so I have nothing to worry about!".

The two bans aren't that different, if we start accepting one, it's only a matter of time before we start moving into the grey area. Where does a level in LBP complaining about Mm's actions fall?		2011-03-12 14:58:00

Author:
Voltergeist
Posts: 1702

Where does a level in LBP complaining about Mm's actions fall?
Ummmm.... Somewhere around there:

If the ban is for criticising the company vocally then this would fall into the category of abuse [on the part of the people administering the ban - should have made that clearer], regardless of the extent of the ban.

i.e. not a legitimate ban. As I said, the nature of the reasoning behind the ban makes a massive difference... Publishing inflammatory, racist, insulting, or otherwise abusive content or content harassing other users (in whatever form) on the LBP servers could result in a legitimate and reasonable ban. I don't really see why, if the ban is legitimate in itself, then having it extend beyond LBP, to the rest of PSN (for example) is particularly a problem. I really don't. And I especially don't in the cases where said online services are recreational in nature and the bans are temporary. If going without PSN for a week or two is a problem for you, the the ban is most likely gonna do you some good....		2011-03-12 16:26:00

Author:
rtm223
Posts: 6497

I'm all for the online pass costs.
The second hand market is not fair because developers and publishers don't earn a penny, cent, whatever and only gamestops and the likes get richer.
And I'm for the bans.
I hate to play online and hear swearings all the time...eventually who has to swear on a forum has no problem in swearing online.
Not that I'm a polite nun, and I actually swear a lot but there's place and place to do it.
That's just a matter of being educated and polite where there are other people that are trying to have some fun and relax.		2011-03-12 16:36:00

Author:
OmegaSlayer
Posts: 5112

Well it's cool now.
EA does something bad, the internet starts getting mad and EA backpedals. EA still has no backbone/care of the user and everyone points and laughs at them.

It's kinda like when you buy a camera. When checking it out, you find these real nice glossy photo book made with the camera, showing off cool people using it. Once you get the camera, you get a cruddy little manual in 7 languages and customer support is nonexistent. All about the sale, nothing about the customer! Very bad, but that's making money for you.


As for removing the ability to use the product offline, there is actually no reason for that that makes any sense whatsoever.

We are in agreement then rtm. This was the only issue I had. The fact that he could not play the game or use DLC was odd.

While it is petty of EA to revoke all his online services for three days for saying that "Bioware sold their soul to EA" (or however it went.), it isn't entirely uncalled for.		2011-03-12 20:11:00

Author:
ll_ye
Posts: 236

The quote was, "Have you sold your souls to the EA devil?"

It's a reasonable reason for banning him for 3 days from the forum, but not from the whole system.

The thing I hate the most that really shows that they care more about money than the consumer, are the sport games. They come out with a new one every year, and only make a slight change.		2011-03-13 01:52:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799

the only time that is an outrage is if the moon is about to fall on you,oh wait........

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh189/Chris-Flame/firstday.jpg
DUNDUNN

Sorry, I couldn't resist. 		2011-03-13 12:32:00

Author:
Coconuts
Posts: 384

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh189/Chris-Flame/firstday.jpg
DUNDUNN

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

(I'm like 100% sure someone has said this to you)

Coco, you nuts man!		2011-03-13 12:36:00

Author:
Devious_Oatmeal
Posts: 1799


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