EA's Origin

[Tebonas]

Ah thats why I had that Need For Speed available on Orgin all of a sudden. I thought that was a promo or something.

[Mrbloodworth]

I suppose that's one way to siphon users.

Basically migrate them one game at a time to the new platform.

[Paelos]

Again, this is the reason I don't agree with Origin's terms of service. You are opting in to their marketing efforts simply by downloading their client, even if it has nothing to do with what you purchased on their client.

[HaemishM]

What else? Absolutely any morsel of information they think will allow them to sell you something you didn't even know you wanted.

[Kail]

Origin is known to check out the file names on users' computers -- without reading or transmitting any private information back to EA, of course -- and it now uses that power to streamline your EA games lists.

That can't be right.  Then I'd be able to download a cracked copy of DA2 or something, unzip it into my Steam directory, log into Origin, and find a legit copy waiting for me there.  Or hell, skip the cracked version and just rename Magic_Ponies.exe to MassEffect3.exe if it's just checking file names.

Are we sure it's not just EA looking at their own verification database for these games?  Even for non-Origin stuff, EA still handles their own registration of CD Keys and things AFAIK, wouldn't it be easier to just check that?

[Velorath]

Are we sure it's not just EA looking at their own verification database for these games?  Even for non-Origin stuff, EA still handles their own registration of CD Keys and things AFAIK, wouldn't it be easier to just check that?

That might very well be the case.  Once again luckton has linked to a less than reputable article.  This time the article lists it's source as a forum post.  If you click on the link there's some speculation about why Dead Space 2 popped up on the OP's Origin account, but none of the posters have any real information.  I'm not sure how someone from Joystiq read that thread and decided to turn it into a news article,

[ffc]

I'm not sure how someone from Joystiq read that thread and decided to turn it into a news article,

Joystiq

That's how.

[UnSub]

What else? Absolutely any morsel of information they think will allow them to sell you something you didn't even know you wanted.

Big Data is the way of the future.

[Kageru]

Most of the articles claiming evidence link back to this image in which origin is merrily scanning through the guys accounting software data files. I believe that function was removed after the anger at the time. But I'm pretty sure if EA can get information without people noticing they will. The fact that the EULA allows that being a pretty good hint.

[UnSub]

If they want the data, they can buy it from clearing houses. They have your name, address and credit card / financial information. That's a good place to start.

I read this data mining piece on Target the other day. Take what you gain from your customer's interactions with you, combine it with other behavioural data from other sources and you've opened up a predictive gold mine. Online companies are even better placed to do this kind of analysis, since they can end up tracking a lot of your online behaviour (through social media monitoring et al).

[kildorn]

So just as a "oh for the love of god" moment for me, last night there was an Origin update. Ever since, I click the icon and it does nothing. No errors, nothing in the windows event logs, nothing.

Finally figure out where the hell the tech support forums are, and find this lovely thing: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/8212346.page

Mostly laughable for me because of the "I have what appears to be a semi common issue!" *PM'd response to people instead of just posting the fix* (as an aside, the use-the-pre-patch .exe fix works great)

[Kageru]

I'm not sure how deep EA is, I sort of assume they just want to be getting the cut that steam would take for themselves. But to an extent Steam threatens their entire business model. They rely on flashy big budget titles, assembled by an army of subsidiary companies and developers, that need advertising and retail presence to get the numbers that pay for development and drive their profits.

Steam lowers the margin for entry to the market, weakens the retail chains EA works closely with and can take advantage of the internet to both advertise its product and generate positive word of mouth. It lets weirdo games and small publishers actually compete meaningfully with EA in a way they would never be able to do through retail. Likewise it encourages developers within EA (like [http://vr-zone.com/articles/star-wars-the-old-republic-developers-leave-bioware-to-work-on-independent-game/14967.html]stoic[/url]) to feel there is an alternative if they don't want to be part of EA. And since EA relies on buying up talent that's threatening.

If Origin replaced steam then they'd have more control. Choose not to sell a stoic game, choose not the encourage f2p or indie titles, push the big budget titles they thrive on, try and steal some of the digital light from other online sources of games. Probably not nearly as much control as they enjoy now, but more than if they become just another vendor on steam.

In a way they are quite a lot like the big media companies.

[Ingmar]

Does Steam really threaten retail chains in any kind of meaningful way? I don't think any of them are going out of business because PC sales are being lost to Steam, they've been primarily console shops for years and years anyway.

[kildorn]

Steam basically saved PC gaming from what I can tell. Origin is just EA wanting another revenue stream. They've had similar services before and the only reason Origin is getting any notice is because they picked a fight with Steam over EA content/DLC on it's launch.

It still needs a ton of improvements to be anything but that thing I launch to play EA games though. Hell, pass through authentication would be fucking awesome at the very least. They're your games. Why do I need to type my EA user/pass when the game starts to log in? Origin already authenticated me!

[Furiously]

Does Steam really threaten retail chains in any kind of meaningful way? I don't think any of them are going out of business because PC sales are being lost to Steam, they've been primarily console shops for years and years anyway.

When you walk into a video game store, compared to in the 80's, what percentage of the store space is dedicated to PC games?

[Sjofn]

It was going towards that before Steam, though?

[tgr]

It was going towards that before Steam, though?

Literally all the stores I walked in to prior to going hot and heavy on to steam had a mediocre amount of PC games, and they'd been shuffled further and further back into the darkest corner of the store. Then they began with starforce etc, which drastically reduced my desire to buy games even further. Then came steam, and I now have well over 300 games on there.

I don't want to draw conclusions, but yes, I'd say steam did do a lot to make PC gaming not suck all the dicks on the way to the parking lot for a few years.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, that's more or less my memory too, that PC games were being shuffled into the Dark Corners of the store, and if it wasn't something Big Name it probably wasn't there at all.

[Kageru]

In Australia PC games were a dark and shrinking corner. Largely full of blizzard and EA games. And I think the big publishers (including microsoft who in theory should be the champions of PC gaming) and retail were absolutely fine with that.

However PC gaming, largely due to steam, is now alive and demonstrating it is a good platform for a variety of titles. Especially things that are actively modded, fringe or deep.

[Sky]

It was going towards that before Steam, though?

Before I adopted Steam wholesale, I was buying my games through Amazon. B&M gave up on PC gaming a long time ago. And good riddance, there was never a good physical distribution channel for PC games imo.

[Lantyssa]

Yeah, Steam didn't do squat to brick and mortar stores.  At worst they smoothed out the dirt on the coffin after the stores dug a hole, hopped in, nailed it shut from the inside, and pulled their little contraption to dump dirt in the hole.

[koro]

Interestingly enough, my nearest Best Buy was a surprisingly excellent source of PC games for a very long time, even after the big decline in PC game sales and the rise of consoles, with nearly as much shelf space dedicated to just PC games as my local strip mall Gamestop has for games, period. They'd stock some fairly old stuff too, which was very weird.

[Malakili]

Interestingly enough, my nearest Best Buy was a surprisingly excellent source of PC games for a very long time, even after the big decline in PC game sales and the rise of consoles, with nearly as much shelf space dedicated to just PC games as my local strip mall Gamestop has for games, period. They'd stock some fairly old stuff too, which was very weird.

If I buy in a store, I still generally go to Best Buy to be honest.  I don't love the store, but they have a reasonable selection, and then always have plenty of boxes of big releases.  Last game I bought like that is SC2 I think, which probably says enough at this point.

[Ingmar]

Interestingly enough, my nearest Best Buy was a surprisingly excellent source of PC games for a very long time, even after the big decline in PC game sales and the rise of consoles, with nearly as much shelf space dedicated to just PC games as my local strip mall Gamestop has for games, period. They'd stock some fairly old stuff too, which was very weird.

Yeah Best Buy and Fry's are both like that here. Everywhere else has had shit for PC games since *before* Steam.

[MuffinMan]

Even when I find a store with a good selection of PC games they'll still display it like a garage sale with spines facing out and boxes beat to hell.

[UnSub]

It was going towards that before Steam, though?

It's always hard to link correlation and causation though. PC gaming was suffering through retail at least partly because console titles became more popular (and had a nice, small, standardised box size that packed more onto shelves) and at least partly because of the "buy, burn, return" attitude a lot of players took to PC gaming. Dealing with PC games became too much of a hassle for a lot of gaming outlets, so they dropped all but the big releases.

Steam was there to help pick up the slack, but it's also interesting to note that both Steam and Xbox Live have about the same number of users (40m) and Xbox Live's is growing faster.

[Kageru]

It was mostly perception and console games are wonderful for the second hand games trade. Big names, high volume and in 6-8 hours a lot of them are finished and people are trading them in for credit.

Also PC gaming had no "champion". In theory Microsoft should be pushing PC gaming but in practice they'd rather people buy X-box's. I mean the idea of a "PC exclusive" title is nonsensical. Even if a game only comes out on the PC only it doesn't count because no one paid them to make it PC only.

[Rokal]

The pre-load process for ME3 on Origin was much smoother than any pre-load processes I've experienced on Steam. Deus Ex HR in particular I had to download three times as it kept failing to finish 'unlocking' the game on the release day, and then downloading 10gb worth of 'missing files'. After letting this process complete twice I uninstalled the pre-load version entirely and did a regular download.

The ME3 pre-download was just a regular download with a release date check when you actually try to launch the game.

I'm guessing what is required for pre-loads on Steam is largely determined by the publisher, not Steam, but it was still sort of bizarre to have a better experience with Origin's software for once. I guess anything is possible.

[Sjofn]

It's a universe of infinite possibilities, Rokal!

[Tebonas]

I guess when the inevitable crack to play ME3 prior to release date appears, EA can't sue itself while Steam could very well be sued in such a case and has to take precautions?

[kildorn]

Steam would be in pretty deep shit if they wound up releasing games a week early by not encrypting them.

Origin can skip all the complicated bits and just accept that it's very easy to download a cracked exe to skip the check and play early. I'm actually pretty shocked that ME3 doesn't have one yet, considering every other game I've played on Origin has had a crack out ~5 days before release.

[koro]

The pre-load process for ME3 on Origin was much smoother than any pre-load processes I've experienced on Steam. Deus Ex HR in particular I had to download three times as it kept failing to finish 'unlocking' the game on the release day, and then downloading 10gb worth of 'missing files'. After letting this process complete twice I uninstalled the pre-load version entirely and did a regular download.

The ME3 pre-download was just a regular download with a release date check when you actually try to launch the game.

I'm guessing what is required for pre-loads on Steam is largely determined by the publisher, not Steam, but it was still sort of bizarre to have a better experience with Origin's software for once. I guess anything is possible.

Of course on the flip side you have plenty of people who aren't being allowed to pre-load ME3 at all, so...

[amiable]

I hate orgins so much I refuse to buy ME3 until it is available on steam.   I am willing to never play it if it is never available, and I am a big fan of the series.

[waffel]

Oh? How many games do you have on origins? What are your negative experiences with it?

[amiable]

Oh? How many games do you have on origins? What are your negative experiences with it?

SWTOR, and it was a total nightmare.  I wrote a thread about it somewhere.

Here it is:  http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=21404.0