Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups

Though the story of a player banned from playing Dragon Age II was settled when the ban was lifted, and we had a follow-up from BioWare in our forums to the accusations of SecuROM being present in Dragon Age II, we have now received statements on both issues from Electronic Arts. Here's what EA says about these issues:
Re: DRM in Dragon Age II:
Dragon Age II does not use SecuROM DRM. Any statements made to the contrary are false. The confusion stems from the use of Release Control which is also made by Sony. Release Control was employed to protect the game against usage prior to its release date. These are two different technologies with different purposes. Release Control in no way affects users’ rights to access after launch, and its executable automatically deletes itself once the Release Control process is finished. For more information, please visit: http://support.ea.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4921.

Re: the account issue from one player at Social.BioWare.com:
EA strictly enforces the code of conduct at Social.BioWare.com. If a player violates the rules by using profanity, they will be temporarily banned. Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user's entire account. Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA took steps to restore the user's macro account and apologized for the inconvenience.
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17.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 14, 2011, 08:33
17.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 14, 2011, 08:33
Mar 14, 2011, 08:33
 
@ Dev
Well that was exactly what I meant. I said that I tend to believe that the game ban was an unwanted mistake.

And yes, anyone can treat their own boards however they want. Thus I say that I would rather bother about their weak ability to withstand such pressure, than about the game ban.
So I don't really understand what remains to be discussed?

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16.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 14, 2011, 08:20
16.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 14, 2011, 08:20
Mar 14, 2011, 08:20
 
I said in another thread I imagined this was a glitch, not a feature, and I stand by that.

EA had zero to gain in banning someone from playing a game at the same time as banning them from posting in the forum. All it did is result in headaches.

I don't think it's hard to accept that this was almost definitely not the intended outcome, if only because there's zero positive in it. Sure, that doesn't always stop companies, but someone most likely would have caught how stupid this is. At the same time, I'm sure they also want the ability to totally ban people under certain circumstances, which is how these things were tied together accidentally, and whether they should even have that power, ever, is open for debate, and where much of the conversation actually was.
15.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 14, 2011, 06:51
Dev
15.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 14, 2011, 06:51
Mar 14, 2011, 06:51
Dev
 
Golwar wrote on Mar 14, 2011, 06:27:
Imho a developer has to accept a certain level of anger and bad mouthing from its customers. If players break rules and attack each other, ban the initiator. If the developer causes the mess with his product, show at least some style and don't ban left and right.
And you are going to trust EA or other developers to accept a certain level of profanity rather than a zero tolerance policy? EA just said they "strictly" enforce it. Remember that free speech doesn't apply on forums such as these, whoever owns the boards can enforce as restrictive or as loose of a policy as they want. There's going to be a wide range of acceptable behavior on game forums. Some will tolerate just about anything or ignore or not bother to police them. Others (especially where they think they could get in trouble if kids read it) are likely going to be far more restrictive.

On a semi related note, the problem here isn't the banning from forum, its the co-joined banning from the game. Regardless of who and how the guy badmouths on the forums, he shouldn't get banned from the game, only the forums. Game banning should be things like hacking
14.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 14, 2011, 06:27
14.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 14, 2011, 06:27
Mar 14, 2011, 06:27
 
Dev wrote on Mar 14, 2011, 06:15:
Golwar wrote on Mar 13, 2011, 19:18:
And as we didn't hear from more similar cases, why not trust them that it was a unique mistake? I'd be more pissed about being banned for such simple shit as in that case.
You realize that the above word is profanity and could have gotten you banned from playing a game you owned had you posted it on the EA/Bioware forums?

Imho a developer has to accept a certain level of anger and bad mouthing from its customers. If players break rules and attack each other, ban the initiator. If the developer causes the mess with his product, show at least some style and don't ban left and right.

In this certain case, what was the profanity there? The usage of the word "devil"? I guess we could do a search on their forum, find this word often enough and I doubt that every user had been banned.

Edit: I just registered that the context of "Have you sold your souls to the EA devil?" is unknown. If he said it to other players, the ban seems legit. Less so if the target was Bioware.
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13.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 14, 2011, 06:15
Dev
13.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 14, 2011, 06:15
Mar 14, 2011, 06:15
Dev
 
Golwar wrote on Mar 13, 2011, 19:18:
And as we didn't hear from more similar cases, why not trust them that it was a unique mistake? I'd be more pissed about being banned for such simple shit as in that case.
You realize that the above word is profanity and could have gotten you banned from playing a game you owned had you posted it on the EA/Bioware forums?
12.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 19:18
12.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 19:18
Mar 13, 2011, 19:18
 
I can't say if RYG's accusation is correct. I'm not sure if I shall trust on EA's logic, but it would be rather dumb to use SecuROM under such circumstances. It is imho more likely that someone from RYG made a quick mistake rather than EA hoped that nobody would discover it.

I don't really care that much about the ban. It shouldn't happen, but it was for a limited time anyways. And as we didn't hear from more similar cases, why not trust them that it was a unique mistake? I'd be more pissed about being banned for such simple shit as in that case.

The most annoying part about DA2 is the game itself and we should focus on punishing Bioware/EA for that.
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11.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 18:34
nin
11.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 18:34
Mar 13, 2011, 18:34
nin
 


"Re: Our shitty cash in game:
Please buy it and pretend it's good. We were hoping you wouldn't notice."
10.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 18:14
10.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 18:14
Mar 13, 2011, 18:14
 
I'll be interested to see what a judge says regarding the SecuROM issue. They've made it clear that the title of the software is SecuROM: Release Control but each new statement they seem to be adjusting that title a bit so they don't have to say SecuROM. Now it's just "Release Control which is also made by Sony"...

Uh hunh, well if you didn't install SecuROM, then why are there SecuROM tire tracks across my lawn? I suppose it's like MS saying they won't install office but they need this program called MS Outlook which is installed via MS Office...so that is ok right?

Good luck in court EA, I hope they find you in violation of the court order over this.

As for the ban, I think it's pathetic that they're back pedaling saying this is all a mistake. It's clear from their terms and conditions at EA's community site that there are a ton of forum situations that will get your account banned, including what this guy said, and it spells out in painful detail that this will involve you're registered products.

The game should still work after installing it but the install process depends on you having an account with the game registered. If you've registered and you get banned for some reason you won't be able to install the game or use some of the content. It's not clear if you being online and starting the game will still work because the game supposedly check each time you start it for an internet connection. I would guess that if you disabled that connection the game would fire up....but I can't test this.

This whole mess is a reminder why I rarely pay full price for pc games. Console games will always work, I own them. Regardless of what someone says, I own the hardware, I own a legit copy of the software, and there is nothing anyone can do to get in the way of me playing it.
9.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 18:12
9.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 18:12
Mar 13, 2011, 18:12
 
D4rkKnight wrote on Mar 13, 2011, 17:16:
Gamers are losing control of the products they purchase, this was not about a bug, its about the company stance. EA and Bioware defended this position, to them this is entirely expected and normal. Arguing with them is not going to change that, hurting their reputation and damaging their sales will.

I don't dispute any of that, nor is your comment even related to my post aside from your claim to know factually that this was not a bug.

My point is very simple. The same people who decry EA for their poor testing are the same people who refuse to believe it could possibly be a bug. They're not interested in what actually happened, one way or the other. All these people are interested in is demonizing the company and they'll choose whatever argument makes EA look worse regardless of whether or not it's entirely contradictory to previous arguments they've made against the same company.

That slashdot post that someone posted is an interesting tidbit that I'd not seen before, which may make the claim more believable, but again it's still largely speculation and assumption backed up by a questionable statement made two and a half years ago. I'm quite certain that more than one person has been banned from EA forums in the last couple years and this is the first I've heard of anyone actually being unable to access a game as a result. Looking past the venom of the gamers, that sounds like an isolated incident to me, and thus more likely a bug than some villanous intent that they only decided to try and secretly enforce now.
8.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 17:16
8.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 17:16
Mar 13, 2011, 17:16
 
Teddy wrote on Mar 13, 2011, 17:04:
Irony is such an interesting thing.

If there are bugs in an EA released game, gamers will say "Of course there's bugs, EA can't release a game without bugs. They don't quality test worth a damn!"

Yet when EA says their website software had a bug in it, all of a sudden to these same gamers, it's inconcievable that EA's programmers could have made a mistake, or that the positively thorough testing that EA puts their software through didn't catch it.

Yes, it must be EA lying to hide their nefarious plots and couldn't possibly be related to ineptitude or lack of Design or QA attention.

Gamers are losing control of the products they purchase, this was not about a bug, its about the company stance. EA and Bioware defended this position, to them this is entirely expected and normal. Arguing with them is not going to change that, hurting their reputation and damaging their sales will.
7.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 17:11
7.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 17:11
Mar 13, 2011, 17:11
 
Just to confirm one thing, can anyone confirm that the forum software EA uses both in the US and UK forums is made outside of EA?
6.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 17:06
6.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 17:06
Mar 13, 2011, 17:06
 
DRM: SecuROM is SecuROM is SecuROM and is, BTW, a stinking piece of shit. Even if you only use part of it.

Ban: BULL-SHIT. This is EA in damage control mode. AGAIN. Look here: EA Forum Ban Will Now Mean EA Game Ban. Yeah, they retracted it quickly, but is clear now that the functionality was in place.

So, no games from EA and no games from Acti. And a lot of money to give to the indies.
5.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 17:04
5.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 17:04
Mar 13, 2011, 17:04
 
Irony is such an interesting thing.

If there are bugs in an EA released game, gamers will say "Of course there's bugs, EA can't release a game without bugs. They don't quality test worth a damn!"

Yet when EA says their website software had a bug in it, all of a sudden to these same gamers, it's inconcievable that EA's programmers could have made a mistake, or that the positively thorough testing that EA puts their software through didn't catch it.

Yes, it must be EA lying to hide their nefarious plots and couldn't possibly be related to ineptitude or lack of Design or QA attention.
4.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 16:52
4.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 16:52
Mar 13, 2011, 16:52
 
Kosumo wrote on Mar 13, 2011, 16:45:
Same as the nice try of Reclaim Your Games (still m.i.a.) at slandering the game with claims of SecuROM, which have not even close to be proven right yet people are posting it like it was a fact.

Just like ASeven, I hope this leads to a lawsuit, one in which EA sues Reclaim Your Games for slander.

It's hard for RYG to reply back when their website is down.

I'll wait to see if RYG apologizes or offers further proof, or if some skilled coders out there can show a definitive answer either way.

As for the forum ban, damage control to the fullest and the only reason they're apologizing is because of the massive outcry, and it was fucking massive, not to mention that that game ban for words spoken on a forum is actually illegal under EU law and particular countries in the EU as well. EA probably thought oh shi- and went to full damage control. Corporations can and often lie often to cover their asses, anyone thinking EA always speaks the truth should take EA's dick out of their mouth for a moment and use their remaining neurons in their brains.
3.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 16:45
3.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 16:45
Mar 13, 2011, 16:45
 
Same as the nice try of Reclaim Your Games (still m.i.a.) at slandering the game with claims of SecuROM DRM, which have not even close to be proven right yet people are posting it like it was a fact.

Just like ASeven, I hope this leads to a lawsuit, one in which EA sues Reclaim Your Games for slander.

edit - added DRM
2.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 16:41
2.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 16:41
Mar 13, 2011, 16:41
 
EA = the lying liars and their damned lies.

Notice they still haven't rescined this policy and can cut you off anytime they feel likt it.

Boycott EA and is subsidiaries and partners!

"The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip." - Henny Youngman
1.
 
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups
Mar 13, 2011, 16:27
1.
Re: Official EA Dragon Age 2 Follow-ups Mar 13, 2011, 16:27
Mar 13, 2011, 16:27
 
there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended a user's entire account. Immediately upon learning of the glitch, EA took steps to restore the user's macro account and apologized for the inconvenience.

Wasn't an accident you douchebags, nice attempt at damage control.
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