EA named worst company in America by Consumerist

[yoshiblue]

What I dislike about EA? Spend maybe 40-50$ on a Sims game, cough up an extra 30$ for the expansion. Said expansion would include maybe 13 new items and maybe two new expressions.

[Randomness]

That's part of it, sure, but EA has been the bane of the gaming community for a long time for many reasons.

The best part is EA's response to this "award": they blamed homophobia over the inclusion of same-sex relationships in Mass Effect.

Yeah EA, that's it. That's why everyone and their mother hates you. Homophobia.

I swear, if that's what they think the problem is...

[Shattered_weasel]

Wait, this wasn't because everyone got butthurt over ME3's ending was it?

The fuck is wrong with people. D<

Just the ending? Not Dragon Age 2, ToR, Ding Dong Bannu, the whole get banned on the forums then you aren't able to play any of the games you bought. etc.

[Akaimizu]

Of course, people will cite EA's buying of the NFL license as well, effectively killing off their honest competition.

However, it's not the developers they hate as much as what EA does with the developers. However, my issues with them are specific.

DA2 didn't really burn me. I enjoyed it, but I also fully understand the disappointment as I believe they lost touch with their core audience with that one. People went to Dragon Age so they can get more of the Baldur's Gate style of gaming. It was to be a welcome PC-centric contrast to the modern streamline aspects they were attempting with their console-friendly series. DA2 kind of put Dragon Age on the same line as Mass Effect, more or less, and players saw that. That was not the gameplay they wanted.

It took away one of the biggest reasons people were excited to play it. While I still enjoyed the game, I also agree that someone totally missed the boat when it came to understanding the core audience and ignoring the very reviews and previews that boasted about Dragon Age. They should've known the kind of Bioware vintage gameplay their fans expected. This showed a major disconnect. The facts that all the gamers unanimously understood about the game...and the developers in charge of that project. Unlike a major game plot device in DA, there was no gray area here. Because it was so obvious that Dragon Age was *made* for the PC Baldur's Gate fans, I *had* to get it on PC. The PC-specific strategic view was the bomb. I wouldn't miss that as that is a classic and great way to control the flow of battle.

My main issues were with what they often did to the games of their wonderful developer teams. From the ugly DRMs, to other things the Publisher forced onto the game, they lost a lot of favor. Now I will give certain due where I believe it is earned. One thing I do like best, for something EA did, was the concept of EA servers where you have one unified account across all platforms they develop for. It allowed one thing other companies can't do. Cross-platform/Cross-game awards. Nice that I can buy Mass Effect for 360 and get free in-game swag for my Dragon Age characters on the PC, and vice versa. Something I get on iOS might get me an award for an EA PC/MAC/360/PS3/Wii game. As long as they keep their servers well maintained, it's a nice function.