EA: You magnificent bastard

--I want to preface this post by saying im an avid PC gamer, I have amassed somewhere around 200 games on steam, and I have more on my shelf that were unavailable on steam. I never pirate, and the games I cant play on my PC I rent for my Xbox --

EA. We have gone through some hard times in the past few years. We started out this relationship with fresh eyes in 2006. So many magnificent new games coming out around that time, Mirrors Edge, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, etc. But now its 2012. What was once a sexy looking model has been eating McDonald's every day and now is a 400 lb wildebeest. I just cant stand being around you anymore. You have changed. You are smelly, mean, and I cant fit on the couch with you there.

Bioware used to be my favorite studio, but they have adapted to EA so much that I cant even buy their games because it means I am supporting EA.

I'm not naive, EA is a business and their goal is to make as much money as they can. But by the methods they are taking they are alienating their core fan base and even annoying the people they are trying to attract. Online passes taking away the opportunity for possible new fans to get into a series, Day 1 DLC that you are forced to pay for annoying long standing fans. Shoehorning in modes that simply do not belong in a game in the interest of attracting a new fan base.

I used to buy all of Biowares games within a week of release. Dragon age, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2; But now, I can barely buy their game a year after its release.

The day it was released, I rented Dragon Age 2. For all the shit it got, I very much enjoyed the game. But I never got around to buying it because I was broke at the time. A couple of weeks ago I finally got around to buying it. However, even though it was only 15 bucks with my employee discount, I felt TERRIBLE about buying the game I thoroughly enjoyed. I felt guilty. Simply because I do not want to support EA.

That being said, EA and Bioware still make great games. I am looking forward to playing Mass Effect 3, however, EA does not deserve my money. I do not in any way condone piracy, I will be renting the game. I will be voting with my wallet on how I think EA should treat its customers. Hopefully, enough people will snap to the point they will no longer buy EA games so EA will be forced to change. Until then, EA will be getting as little of my money as possible.

Here is what I want EA to do before I start buying their games again:

1. Remove online passes - Its a huge pain in the ass, its detrimental to possible new fans of a series and its giving you a reason to shoehorn in multiplayer where it doesn't belong. Activision has the best selling multiplayer series and they dont have online passes. I work at a game store. We sell 3x as many NEW copies of Call of duty then we do battlefield 3, and we still sell used vs new 4 times to 1.

2. Put your games back on steam - I have no problem with origin, competition is good. However, forcing people to use your service (battlefield 3, mass effect 3) Is annoying and something I will not support. Steam has a well built community, a great interface, and it is where I have chosen to amass my game collection. Why should I be forced to install and use another service that doesn't give me anything special for using it?

3. Day 1 DLC - Im not saying this should stop. EA has a right to make money and Day 1 DLC can be a way to reward customers for buying new instead of used. (such as Dragon Age 1) However, if its Day 1 DLC that the new customer is forced to pay for, its ridiculous and harmful to the player. They will feel jilted and less likely to buy your future games.

4. Dont shoehorn in multiplayer - Its just starting with Mass Effect, and I would be shocked if they dont put it in Dragon Age. I don't care if multiplayer is part of the game, don't force me to play it to get a better ending. I suck at multiplayer. I don't enjoy it. (admittedly this is the least important thing on the list by far)



EA I really want to support you, more so I really want to support Bioware. But until you change your attitude I simply cant.

Thanks,
Josh