http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/141/index/6459941/1#6460241
Basically, this man asked Bioware if "they sold [their] soul to the EA Devil?" and was banned. But not just from the Bioware forums, from his DLC, from his games, from his Dragon Age II: Bioware Signature Edition.
and what did Bioware have to say about this?
"Please review the EA Community Terms of Service, particularly sections #9 and #11. There are two levels of enforcement here:
1. BioWare community bans are forum-only and can be for as little as 24 hours. These bans should have no effect on your game, only your ability to use all the features of this website/community. these bans are handed out by BioWare Moderators as the result of our travels around the forum and/or issues reported by fellow community members.
2. EA Community bans come down from a different department and are the result of someone hitting the REPORT POST button. These bans can affect access to your game and/or DLC.
Because the BioWare community now operates under the same umbrella as all EA Communities, community members here have all explicitly agreed to abide by and be governed by both sets of rules. Consider it an added incentive to follow the rules you say you're going to follow.
If there are further questions or concerns, please send them to me via private message. Thank you.
End of line." - Stanely Woo
So, anyone else really love the new Bioware?
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Since EA seems to be deleting some key posts here, its hard to get the whole picture, but I hope people have screen-capped what's there because if there really is some truth to it, it should be brought to light.
Sorry, but I've got an EA account which I've got linked to my PSN ID and my Xbox360 GamerTag. I've actually read the EULA and realized that yes, acting like an asshat over at the EA forums could lead to consequences as far as my gaming goes. And you know what? Just like I have the right to modify my consoles however the hell I want, if I go be an asshat on EA's forums, they have the right to deny me access to their servers. Fair is bloody well fair.
Of note is the fact the guy got banned for 72 hours. He knew he needed to connect at least once to activate his (presumably) PC copy of the game. Yet he went and asked, word for word, if they had sold their souls to the EA Devil.
It's not Bioware's fault. They answer to EA now. At that point you can lay the blame at EA's feet and take your medicine, or you can wait 72 hours. Either way, you've learned a lesson: Don't take registered accounts into official forums and act like a fucking moron.
This post could have been titled "Holy Shit! Actions have consequences!" and it would have been just as relevant.
It is possible I'm missing something, but from what is here and on the link provided it seems to me that this is an EA thing. As for BioWare being in kahoots with EA and guilty by association, this is in regard's to what alternatives? They need a publisher and if they think that EA is the one for them when it comes to creative control, exposure, resources, payment, etc., then I find it hard to blame them for accepting something as small as this as collateral.
We're not talking about an MMORPG here - where your behavior can be disruptive to gameplay and waste the time of other players. We're talking about a statement made on a forum that resulted in denial of single-player content the user had already paid for.
Like I told Pedrovay earlier to day - EULAs only exist to cover the company's ass and prevent them from having to deal with special case on an individual basis.
This, however, is the sort of thing class-action lawsuits are made of.
For me, though, its just another reason I refuse to support EA and their developers.
Is what they did fucked up? Yeah. Is it affecting my love of their games? Nope.
He should threaten legal action though. Legal action against EA since it's under EA's thumb that that button was pushed and that rule was writ. How this is any fault of the "new Bioware" I don't know except that now their forums are under EA's rules. If that's reason to hate Bioware...that's silly. Hate EA.
Not really a Bioware fanboy, don't own nor have I played either of the Dragon Age games, and despite ME2 recently being released for my console of choice, I have yet to buy it. I'm not defending the action, blocking a person from accessing a game they bought isn't right, but implying that it is BioWare's fault for being subject to their publishers rules doesn't ring true to me. I'm not saying their completely innocent, but they don't seem to be the root of the problem here as the above implies.
1) This was strictly an EA thing. Bioware has the ability to ban people from the forums without effecting DLC or other game-related features. Blaming Bioware for this is completely wrong. Stanley Woo all but said "Sorry guys, this is NOT us." in as unofficial a voice as he could. Even on the forums, Bioware staff have to remember that they report to EA and can lose their jobs if they agree that this is a dick move.
2) This was only a 72 hour ban, not a permanent one. It's not like this guy is never going to get to play his game. He gets to start playing it today or tomorrow, if I'm reading the timeline here right.
Either way, and I can't stress this enough, this fucking moron learned that actions have consequences.
I'm not saying that I agree with EA. Frankly, I don't. However I don't have to agree with EA to remember that free speech doesn't apply to privately owned forums (like the Bioware forums) and that acting like a dickhead can have unpleasant consequences, especially when it comes to accounts linked to GamerTags, PSN ID, or whatever.
I hate the typical internet style bashing this game is getting. I think DA2 is a fine game but with some real criticisms and concerns (over abundance of DLC, perhaps too much streamlining) but you can't have a real discussion about it because the knee-jerk Hatedom for the game just takes over.