Electronic Arts named the worst company - and my break down of it.

Electronic Arts named the worst company in America – again | Games Blog - Yahoo! Games games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-… Seems Legit. XD
— DigitalChaos (@DigitalChaosSC) April 10, 2013

If you haven't been following the articles and EA's response then I'll catch you up quickly.

What's going on is the back lash for SimCity, accused of DRM scheme, micro-transactions and so on. Everything and anything that can go wrong has and keeps going even with a PR letter.
I will try to break everything down to reasonable sense and draw a opinion in overall as to what the problem is and if i worked for EA, how i would take care of the problem.

EA starts off with a unrelated, batch opening. Perhaps try to set the tone of their PR letter to the EA followers.

The tallest trees catch the most wind. 

That’s an expression I frequently use when asked to defend EA’s place in the gaming industry.  And it comes to mind again this week as we get deeper into the brackets of an annual Web poll to name the “Worst Company in America.”

This is the same poll that last year judged us as worse than companies responsible for the biggest oil spill in history, the mortgage crisis, and bank bailouts that cost millions of taxpayer dollars.  The complaints against us last year were our support of SOPA (not true), and that they didn’t like the ending to Mass Effect 3.

This year’s contest started in March with EA outpolling a company which organizers contend is conspiring to corner the world market on mid-priced beer, and (gulp) allegedly waters down its product.  That debate takes place in bars – our audience lives on the Internet.  So no surprise that we drew more votes there.

First off why would a company like EA even bother to respond to a laughable poll? Its like giving the troll what s/he desires and moving along with it. I get it they're trying to draw their image of the way of what EA thinks most of the internet sees them as. Why even mention Oil spills, Beer, Banks when none of these things have a relation to video games. This is just a poor opener and choice of words. They should of just started with "The tallest trees catch the most wind" and left it that.

Let me cut to the chase: it appears EA is going to “win.”  Like the Yankees, Lakers and Manchester United, EA is one of those organizations that is defined by both a legacy of success, and a legion of critics (especially me regarding all three of those teams).

"Win". Did they talk to Charlie Sheen and took his advice about "WINNING". Nobody wants to see a company phrase such a paragraph together. Only the share holders do, because it is the share holders they're obviously trying to keep, not the consumer with this paragraph.

Are we really the “Worst Company in America?”  I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve made plenty of mistakes. These include server shut downs too early, games that didn’t meet expectations, missteps on new pricing models and most recently, severely fumbling the launch of SimCity.  We owe gamers better performance than this.

EA trying way too hard to save face. Why even question your self if you're the worst company in America. I know EA been around a long time but this shows they're trying to say the company its self has alzheimer's. Of course you owe gamers more than what you're doing Captin' Obvious! Pointing out the obvious is a dumb thing even after saying they're gonna win, win what? Win at saving face? Maybe. At least be clear. So far we're still at "The tallest trees catch the most wind"

Some of these complaints are 100 percent legitimate – like all large companies we are not perfect. But others just don’t hold water:

If some are 100 percent legitimate, then why have you not reversed course on some like shutting down servers and bring those back or give out the server coding needed for people to be able to host private servers for such game (like Minecraft does) and be done with it? Great you don't hold water to solving anything. By the way its "Just don't hold up", not water.

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.

If it's not then why is there not any OFFLINE play for the game? Get real. Leaving it always-on allows you as a company to ban, deny access and basically allow you to do whatever you want to that person's copy of the game. Granted they can play the game but never offline. So if you have to always have a internet connection to play, what will happen to people that have to get rid of their internet to save costs on their bills? They have a game they cannot play and really don't own. Why would a large company be worried about a game being pirated if its got no offline play? Blizzard was able to resolve offline play and still have it for their games like Starcraft II and the only reason a person would need to be online is to record achievements, play with friends and One-on-One games. Even now you can find Starcraft II being pirated but they still sold billions of copies at 30+ bucks per normal copy and collectors version going for 80+. Why does EA lack the same sense as Blizzard? You don't see Blizzard sweating the petty stuff, so why is EA and answering it stupidly.

Some claim there’s no room for Origin as a competitor to Steam.  45 million registered users are proving that wrong.

Basic Business 101. 45 billion? okay and lets say half of them are not happy with the performance of Origin. That at least 2.2  billion  only. a small 1 billion that can change their mind going from nerd rage one day to next day acting as if nothing ever happened and some still raging like the angry german kid on youtube set to auto-replay.

Let's poke at Steam for a moment. As of January 2013, Steam has seen over 6.6 million concurrent players. 54 million active user accounts and they show their stats and lets not forget, Steam is coming out with their home system while Origin remains, PC ONLY.
Steam & Game Stats Updated: Apr 11, 2013 - 05:14 PM

Now let's look at Origin.  

Electronic Arts has stated that it wants Origin to match Valve's Steam service, Origin's leading competitor, by the end of March 2012, by adding cloud game saves, auto-patching, achievements and rewards, and cross-platform releases. 

You can read that in the PDF E3 2011 Investor Presentation

So if EA wanted to Win, Why are they so late to the part when they're clearly admit that Steam is Steam Rolling EA. Also Where does EA get 45 billion? EA being nowhere near transparent enough unlike Steam.

Let me break you a few numbers if I may:
As of October 31, 2012 Electronic Arts has updated its user figures for the Origin digital game distribution service, noting that over 30 million users are now registered, including 13 million on mobile devices.

EA's COO Peter Moore revealed the figure as part of the company's latest earnings call, up from 21 million registered users (including 9 million mobile users) in August.

In May, the platform had just over 12 million registered users, suggesting that its player base is ramping up at a considerable pace, no doubt in part thanks to the success of EA's mobile endeavours and console games that have Origin built in.

Discussing monetization on the platform, Moore noted that around 4.4 million of these 30 million registered users have actually purchased content via Origin, with the average sale totalling $64.

In comparison, Valve's Steam platform -- Origin's biggest competitor -- currently has over 50 million registered users worldwide. Steam users are able to purchase games for PC and Mac platforms, while Origin users cover PC, mobile and console games from EA and other select third-party publishers. 

Also let's not forget: Since Origin's launch, the service has received criticism over EA's practice of suspending or deleting accounts for disputed infractions, suspected monitoring of users' computer activity. Origin users are identified by their unified Origin account, which supersedes an EA account and may be canceled if left unused after 24 months if there are not any premium games on it. As of February 2012, Origin has been installed by 9.3 million users.

So far Origin 30 million give or take a few like the 9.3 reported. Steam at a solid 54 with 9 million(ish) active at one time. Where does EA get this 45 billion? Most likely counting in non-active accounts and those that were banned plus the current active. Sounds right don't you think? Silly EA to give such a false number but let me also cover why Steam doing a lot better by bringing to light what EA likes to say it had no part in Origin actions but yet EA OWNS Origin, they bought out Origin Systems in like the 90's. 

There have been several instances of EA enforcing such bans for what critics argue are comparatively minor infractions, such as making rude comments in EA or BioWare's official forums or in chat.

During March 2011, a user named "Arno" was banned for allegedly making the comment "Have you sold your souls to the EA devil?" Arno's account was banned for 72 hours which prevented him from playing any of his Origin games. After reporting on the details of the incident, website Rock, Paper, Shotgun received a statement from EA saying that Arno's account ban was a mistake, and that future violations on the forums would not interfere with Origin users' access to their games.

Later during October and November, 2011, one user was banned for posting about teabagging dead players. Another user received a 72-hour account suspension for posting a link to his own network troubleshooting guide in the EA forums. EA interpreted this as a "commercial" link, even though the same link had been posted elsewhere in the forums, and EA's own corporate support site and FAQ. One user was permanently banned for submitting a forum post containing the portmanteau "e-peen," which is slang for "electronic penis."

During December 2011, an account belonging to a user named "Aaron" was banned after a user insulted him in EA's forums; another instance also affected a user called "MaximumTaco".

Like if these bans are too old, here is something a little more recent as of March 7th, 2013. SimCity is having issues right now and majority of people are unable to play the game.

One user was understandably frustrated with this and tried to ask a refunding citing the official EA press release which said “if you regrettably feel that we left you down, you can of course request a refund for your order.”

The customer service representative acknowledged the press release but then later added “it is also the our discretion to process a refund.”

Not only that he also mentioned that if the user tries to dispute it, his “account will be banned.”

You can check the screen grab of the conversation below. This was posted on the EA Forums

POSTED TRANSCRIPT BELOW

Adrian: I am sorry for any inconvenience that this has caused. I can offer you a 15% off coupon from Origin with your next purchase. 
Adrian: I am sorry, but I can not offer you a refund. 
you: Why can't you offer me a refund? 
you: Your product is defective 
Adrian: Return Policy 
you: I can call my bank and have the refund done that way. 
Adrian: I can offer to assist you with any trouble shooting issues. 
you: Why can Amazon users get refunds but I can't? 
Adrian: That is understandable, but I must inform you that if you choose to dispute it, your account will be banned. 
Adrian: I am sorry, but I can not speak on another company's policy. 
Adrian: Now this just released. 
you: I am at a loss of words 
Adrian: So the servers are having issues, with more servers opening up as other countries release then we will show these issues resolving themselves. 
you: Yes, but it is not capacity demand I am debating 
Adrian: I can understand this causing frustrations and I do apologize for this. 
you: Your servers are not the issue 
you: The game/back end is 
you: "Game updates" are not an excuse to hide behind 
Adrian: I am sorry, but I am not able to process a refund. 
Adrian: Is there anything else that I can assist you with? 
you: You were offering refunds according to your press release!!!! 
you: In response to the launch day trouble Hatam said " If you regrettably feel that we left you down, you can of course request a refund for your order at http://help.origin.com/contact-us , though we are currently still in the process of resolving this issue. " 
you: Why lie?? 
you: I have done nothing wrong in expecting what is quoted. 
Adrian: That is correct, that this is where you can request a refund, but as our policy is stating it is also the our discretion to process a refund. 
you: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/210/9330019.page#top 
you: Process a refund. 
Adrian: As I stated before, we are not able to offer a refund. 
Adrian: Is there anything else that I can assist you with? 
you: This chat text goes viral. 
you: Thanks

END OF TRANSCRIPT

So let's roll with the fact that Origin still rolling out these insanely stupid bans. That places them at less than 30 million, nowhere near 45 billion that's being reported.

Origin's end-user license agreement (EULA) gives EA permission to collect information about users' computers regardless of its relation to the Origin program itself, including "application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware." Initially, the EULA also contained a passage permitting EA to more explicitly monitor activity as well as to edit or remove material at their discretion. This of course points to the fact as to why EA is being accused of a DRM scheme.

However, this section was removed following an outcry over privacy implications. That outcry was fueled in part by pictures and video captured by several German gamers which showed Origin accessing tax programs and other unrelated software, as well as a report by the newspaper Der Spiege linvestigating the allegations. In response to the controversy, EA issued a statement claiming they "do not have access to information such as pictures, documents or personal data, which have nothing to do with the execution of the Origin program on the system of the player, neither will they be collected by us." EA also added a sentence to the EULA stating that they would not "use spyware or install spyware on users' machines," though users must still consent to allowing EA to collect information about their computers

Funny how in Germany they're still having the EULA problem. According to reports in German newspapers, the German version of Origin's EULA violates several German laws, mainly laws protecting consumers and users' privacy. According to Thomas Hoeren, a judge and professor for information, telecommunication and media law at the University of Münster, the German version of the EULA is a direct translation of the original without any modifications and its clauses are "null and void"

Don't forget that if Origin bans you either by EA choice or Origins, you lose all access to copies of your EA Games.

Some people think that free-to-play games and micro-transactions are a pox on gaming.  Tens of millions more are playing and loving those games.

Well Free-To-Play is fine such as Blizzard has done with Starcraft but Blizzard is not making you buy new units one unit at a time. EA is selling DLC that should of came with the game and not be sold  separately. Also you can't reference people that wanna toss away money for a full experience when those with enough common sense say it should of came with the game. EA you're not seeing you're treating the consumer as a ATM. We're not.

We’ve seen mailing lists that direct people to vote for EA because they disagree with the choice of the cover athlete on Madden NFL. Yes, really…

Pictures or it didn't happen.

• In the past year, we have received thousands of emails and postcards protesting against EA for allowing players to create LGBT characters in our games.  This week, we’re seeing posts on conservative web sites urging people to protest our LGBT policy by voting EA the Worst Company in America.

That last one is particularly telling.  If that’s what makes us the worst company, bring it on.  Because we're not caving on that.

Good for you EA. You've mentioned something in your save face letter i can stand behind. A lot of morons fail to see that even when they play any PvP game if it be sports or FPS or even RTS. That other player could be part of the LGBT. So it happens all the time, not sure why its the rage of the internet. However EA trying to take the high road does not save face. You could of just not mentioned this at all.

We are committed to fixing our mistakes.  Over the last three weeks, 900,000 SimCity players took us up on a free game offer for their troubles.  We owed them that.  We’re constantly listening to feedback from our players, through our Customer Experience group, Twitter, this blog, or other sites.  The feedback is vital, and impacts the decisions we make.

What about your other customer's you have defrauded? Good you'll keep 900k players while another million or two that don't play SimCity leave and stop buying EA products. You should know gaining a customer is easy, losing them and trying to gain them back is even harder. This is basic business. How are you a COO again Peter Moore? I'll admit. EA lost me as a Customer after starting to make crappy Road Rash games after the first PSX one. As for SimCity before the newest one, called buying 2ed hand. So you actually never saw a dime from me on this regard as well.

I expect the debate will include a lot of comments under this post.   But here’s the truth: each year EA interacts with more than 350 million gamers; Origin is breaking records for revenue and users; The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Real Racing 3 are at the top of the mobile charts; Battlefield 3 and FIFA are stunning achievements with tens of millions of players; and SimCity is being enjoyed by millions of passionate fans all over the world.

Every day, millions of people across globe play and love our games – literally, hundreds of millions more than will vote in this contest.

So here’s my response to this poll: We can do better.  We will do better.  But I am damn proud of this company, the people around the globe who work at EA, the games we create and the people that play them.

The tallest trees catch the most wind.  At EA we remain proud and unbowed. 

Ah the save face part but lets not forget. Put your game on Steam too and we will see how 'great' your Origin will do.  Medal of Honor could have been a good game, if you actually put some resources behind it. Instead we get another half baked generic war shooter, with ZERO support post launch. Suddenly we're to blame because we didn't buy it by the millions.

Yet not a single mention of exactly how they intend to do better, or what that might eventually look like.

Remember when you play on PS3, PS4, Xbox360, Wii, WiiU, 3DS, Vita, etc anything you download is under a DRM. Nothing beats owning a phy copy. As the gaming community does not push back, everything will be on a cloud service and if you get banned, you own none of it. You lose it all. While Game companies are trying to avoid their games becoming pirated, they are hurting their customers as well.

We will eventually adjust and get used to the way things are becoming. However in EA's case they are going about it all wrong and they need to copy how Steam and Playstation Network does it. At least with PSN even if you get banned and if you made a copy of all your digital downloads on your PC or CD or on another HDD, you can still play them because you OWN those games. Origin is just hanging them selves. This of course is my opinion but you will have to make your own if you choose to support EA or not.

EA Blog - WE CAN DO BETTER
Electronic Arts named the worst company in America – again - Yahoo News