Why all the Hate Towards EA Games

Here is fact EA sucks balls and one reason it's hated

ULTIMA ONLINE..........Back when Richard Garriot/Orgins Owned it. It kicked ass...it was great...nothing could be better

Now EA owns it..and UO to this day sucks fucking balls and needs to die and so does ea...i hate EA more and more everyday :mad:
 
G'ßöö, i really enjoyed the light heartedness you showed in some of your posts.

but i must say this: the excuse of "what company doesn't?" is far from acceptable. Slave labour is slave labour. Not properly paying your employees, and pushing them to the limits and beyond is unacceptable. Sure every industry has crunch time. Just the other day I worked a 14 hour day at my job. We had a mission critical job to be finished, and I didn't leave the office until it was finished.

But you know how often that happens? Maybe every 3 months. I've worked retail, in fast food, and now in the "corporate" world, and in every industry we've had crunches and times where everyone has to pull their weight beyond what "normal" work constitutes.

But saying that every company does it is no excuse for bad business practices.
 
G'ßöö said:
nope. lead programmer. he does work alot but that's the position. he seeems to come into projects that need help finishing and etc. he's had his "3 weeks" off, albeit only when a game finishes but that's acceptable. I'm sure he's seen his fair share of turnover. who hasn't? no he's married and older than 30. perks include ~40% off on ati products, $20 titles from the ea store...I duhno the list goes on.... yeah that sound slike a shitty job e[H]? RIGHT!!
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:eek: You're joking me. That guy needs to get out and see the sunlight. Okay, I got comparable stuff from Microsoft when they were my publisher. 12 hour work-days, dinner brought in, free cokes, discounts from Microsoft. I was married and had a kid.

Crappiest job ever. Yes, it was the "greatest job", but it sucked, sucked, sucked.

I was unhappy, burned out and never saw my family. I was in the game industry, but I was blinded to the dire straits I was in because I was "in the club". I left and things got much, much better. I have time off whenever I want. Even in the middle of a project. I get every other Friday off, I still BETTER discounts on things that matter: cellphone packages, cars, travel. My health insurance will kick your ass and covers everything. They'll cover future education, pay me a bonus even if my project sucked that year and rent out Six Flags every year.

I couldn't be happier. Go read the white paper the IGDA put out. I'm friends with one of the principal authors and what is written is gospel. Now don't take what I've written about your relative personally. If he enjoys it, all the better for him. He may not realize the cage that he actually is in.

Read the Allegory of the Cave.
 
I'm really not impressed with 40% off ATI products and $20 games. How are you going to enjoy that video card and brand new game when you spend all your time working? And then when you get home I'm sure the last thing you want to do is look at a computer some more.
 
Stiler said:
I hate them because:

They don't treat their employee's decently.
They gobble up GOOD dev studios, work them, then fire them and keep the "brand" name and hire idiots to take over.
They buy out things instead of having competetion.

Bf1942, was NOT made by EA, it was made by DICE, published by EA.

Though now, since EA saw how well 1942 did, they have yet again "Gobbled" up Dice and you can bet most of the dev team will be gone in a few years with EA riding on the "name" instead.
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Yup, this is EXACTLY what they do. They do make some great games but overall they are severely harming the gaming industry. Let'em burn in hell!
 
The reason everyone hates EA is first impressions. Buy any game published by EA and for the first 3 months its so buggy its unplayable. This happened with BF1942, BF:V "Still needs alot of work" Any of the medal of honor games. This has happened to me on several other EA titles that I cant think of right now. Plus on top of that EA buys up great developers all the time only to force them to push out shit.
 
I didn't have much beef with EA for years to be honest, until they bought out the exclusive rights to the NFL. The Madden series has already gone stagnant, I was severely dissapointed with Madden 2005 and '04. Visual Concepts did an amazing job with ESPN 2k5 and I will sorely miss their franchise.
 
Electronic Arts... their name says what they should be.

Arts... that's what games are. Art. Art takes time. Art doesn't have deadlines. Some will say... "but you need to deadlines to get things done". Do you think that the first PC game developers had a major publisher breathing down their throat? No. They had enough motivation to finish in a timely manner on their own. The industry will naturally create deadlines because of competition. A company like EA, ruins this idea. They eat up all the studios, defeating the idea of competition between different studios.

So now instead of the studios being happy with their product, it is rushed out the door and lacks any quality.

Games like HL2 and DOOM3 were created by studios that have such a grand reputation that they do not have to answer to a huge publisher (Valve being the exception and the heat between them and Vivendi, yet they still seemed to write their own schedule). And look what happens... the competition to create a game of the year produced two incredible games. EA kills this.
 
Torgo said:
:eek: You're joking me. That guy needs to get out and see the sunlight. Okay, I got comparable stuff from Microsoft when they were my publisher. 12 hour work-days, dinner brought in, free cokes, discounts from Microsoft. I was married and had a kid.

Crappiest job ever. Yes, it was the "greatest job", but it sucked, sucked, sucked.

I was unhappy, burned out and never saw my family. I was in the game industry, but I was blinded to the dire straits I was in because I was "in the club". I left and things got much, much better. I have time off whenever I want. Even in the middle of a project. I get every other Friday off, I still BETTER discounts on things that matter: cellphone packages, cars, travel. My health insurance will kick your ass and covers everything. They'll cover future education, pay me a bonus even if my project sucked that year and rent out Six Flags every year.

I couldn't be happier. Go read the white paper the IGDA put out. I'm friends with one of the principal authors and what is written is gospel. Now don't take what I've written about your relative personally. If he enjoys it, all the better for him. He may not realize the cage that he actually is in.

Read the Allegory of the Cave.
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The reasons you listed are basically the reasons I feel bad for those who are looking to get into the gaming industry. Most publishers couldn't care less about their employees because there are always dozens of others who could replace them.

People don't seem to understand that developing games isn't all fun. Most of the time is spent drudging your way through numbers and wondering why Sequence A-1 is corrupting Sequence Z-832. From a development standpoint, making games is mostly playing with numbers.

It's unfortunate that companies like EA can push their employees around, but it happens (And not just with EA, either...like I said, most major publishers are this way).
 
Anyone remember what happened to Motor City Online?

We payed to play per month and they shut the servers down just when the Sims online became popular. They would not release a single player patch or the code so someone could run some servers.

They didn't listen to their user base about problems/suggestions and made a ton of promises which never materialised.
 
EA doesn't make a single game I want to play, period. All of their games are shallow crap, and way too many sequels at that. Until they make a game that isn't a complete piece of shit, I will never buy one of their products.
 
Torgo said:
Lemme guess. He's a manager right? Since you brought him up, let me ask some questions. How many hours does he work a week? How much vacation has he actually taken in the past two years? How much turnover has he seen? Is he single? Is he older than 30? Outside of stock options, what are the huge perks?

Oh, and lest you accuse me of ignorance, I'm very intimate with the gaming industry. More than you know.
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Folks, I got news for you, there is no such thing as an industry where you can cruise into work at your leisure, work 35 hours, and collect 6 figures. Doesn't exist. You get what you earn no matter where you work. EA is a big company and just like every big company there is pressure to meet the bottom line.

You don't like their practices or their games ? Don't buy them. Eventually, lack of sales is going to hurt their bottom line more than their employment practices help it.

But to think that EA is the devil is just naive and foolish. Every company essentially treats their employees much the same way. You just don't hear about it very often.
 
deadrody said:
Folks, I got news for you, there is no such thing as an industry where you can cruise into work at your leisure, work 35 hours, and collect 6 figures. Doesn't exist. You get what you earn no matter where you work. EA is a big company and just like every big company there is pressure to meet the bottom line.

You don't like their practices or their games ? Don't buy them. Eventually, lack of sales is going to hurt their bottom line more than their employment practices help it.

But to think that EA is the devil is just naive and foolish. Every company essentially treats their employees much the same way. You just don't hear about it very often.
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My dad and brother both make good money and they never work 80+ hour weeks, nor even 50+ hour weeks. Rarely do they even have to put in long days (only when something screws up or something big is happening, which isn't THAT often).
 
deadrody said:
But to think that EA is the devil is just naive and foolish. Every company essentially treats their employees much the same way. You just don't hear about it very often.
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You are correct. Vivendi is the devil, and EA is some sort of demon spawn.
 
deadrody said:
Folks, I got news for you, there is no such thing as an industry where you can cruise into work at your leisure, work 35 hours, and collect 6 figures. Doesn't exist. You get what you earn no matter where you work. EA is a big company and just like every big company there is pressure to meet the bottom line.
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Maybe not, but you don't have to spend 12+ hours per day every day of the week to make six figures either.

By the way, most developers don't make nearly that much anyways. The entry level average of a developer in the gaming industry is 70k.
 
Most people don't make six figures in any industry, let alone gaming. The median family income in the USA--that means a man AND a woman working usually--is something like 40 to 45K a year. How families pay for everything is beyond me.
 
I've heard from a game industry friend that EA often times doesn't treat their employees right. In addition to that, their company strategy is to churn out games as much as possible. Quality is #2. On a busines perspective, I think they are doing great with this strategy. For us Hardcore games (not the mass market) may not so.

Recent case in point - Battle for Middle Earth. Love the game, I still play it everyday...but bugs bugs bugs.
 
It's kind of disheartening to me to read about programmers getting shafted. You just don't expect something that takes such high level abstract thinking to be treated like a commodity. I just don't understand that.
 
Torgo said:
The unions are coming... like it or not.
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Then they will just move to a "right to work state"... Or at least move an office to one and make all their employees sign an "I am employed in the state of Oklahoma" affidavid... Where ever they actually work..

Back on topic, I was pissed at what they did to the last wing commander game... No multiplay, buggy, no support to fix the bugs, and basically killed the entire franchise... I am very fond of space combat flight sims.. Haven't played any really good ones in a while..

All the bad press they seem to be getting over employee treatment and vampiric bussiness practices improves my opinion of them not at all...

I want WC6 dammit :D
 
I do not have a great love for EA, however, I am of the opinion that you are paid exactly what you are worth and you deserve the job you have because you applied for it. If the working conditions are crappy, that is not EA's fault. EA is obligated to do only what the law requires them to do. If their office is so horrible, then the true talent will leave for greener pastures and they will begin to tank when the games start to suck. If the support for games is horrible enough, then the bad reputation of EA will grow and people won't buy the games. People are free to not work there. The only thing that could be said is that they may have broken the law in regards to paying their employees overtime and for that they deserved to be sued.
 
They canceled the first mmorpg that I ever played, Earth & Beyond. They never really gave it a chance to grow after they took it over when they bought out Westwood. Had pretty much zero marketing for the game, only a few ads here and there. It had the potential to be a really great game, but they put an end to that.

EA will always be evil to me.
 
Battlefield 1942 is the funnest game I've ever played. And I've played them all.

Programmers getting the shaft sucks, but you can blame it on our Government for allowing companies to outsource labor to the dot-heads in India (who don't contribute income tax revenue to our society) so some rich asshole can get even richer... so he can hire someone to wipe his ass for $9.50 an hour. Thanks Bush!

And BTW, I'm a Republican (fuck Bush), haven't lost my job to a dot-head (yet).
 
RVE said:
I didn't have much beef with EA for years to be honest, until they bought out the exclusive rights to the NFL. The Madden series has already gone stagnant, I was severely dissapointed with Madden 2005 and '04. Visual Concepts did an amazing job with ESPN 2k5 and I will sorely miss their franchise.
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This is exactly why I will no longer buy EA games, and I could care less about football. They have picked up exclusives on the NFL, NCAA, NASCAR and would probably pick up exclusives on everything else if Take Two hadn't grabbed an exclusive on MLB (as of enxt year. Does anyone expect the quality of any of the EA sports games to benefit from the exclusive licenses? As of right now, Burnout 3 is the last EA game I will ever buy.
 
EricDawg: shut up.

that was completely uncalled for. all you're doing is giving a mod a reason to shut this thread down.
 
NickTheNut : We are free to discuss whatever we want. If I lose my job I'm not gonna take it quietly and will state loudly my opinion about Bush, my old boss and your mother.
I think you are mistaking this board for AnandTech forums where free discussions are not exactly welcome.
 
The hell? akanafene and EricDawg need to remember this is the Games & Gaming Equipment forum. We're not talking about people in India making the newest Madden game and stealing jobs from EA. No you two trolls, this is all about EA and their working conditions, their attempts to monopolize the industry, and poor quality in finished product.

Were you two separated at birth or something? Stay on topic.
 
Torgo said:
The hell? akanafene and EricDawg need to remember this is the Games & Gaming Equipment forum. We're not talking about people in India making the newest Madden game and stealing jobs from EA. No you two trolls, this is all about EA and their working conditions, their attempts to monopolize the industry, and poor quality in finished product.

Were you two separated at birth or something? Stay on topic.
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+ the fact that outsourcing was a problem before Bushy ever made it to office...
 
WickedAngel said:
+ the fact that outsourcing was a problem before Bushy ever made it to office...
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Shh...that would require [H] posters to look at more facts than the ones they choose to put in their narrow viewpoint of reality.

-tReP
 
Defective said:
... I am of the opinion that you are paid exactly what you are worth ...
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Only if "worth" is defined as how much one is paid.

"Perceived worth" would be closer to the truth, though even then, it's not impossible that someone could be underpaid (or overpaid, if "worth" excludes maintaining/feeding the ego of the person making the determination ("I want to keep my headcount" / "he's a great suck up"))
 
yep. The guy talking about you are paid what you worth.....obviously has not been in Dilbertville yet where some people are vastly overpaid for doing very little.
 
I'm the Dude said:
yep. The guy talking about you are paid what you worth.....obviously has not been in Dilbertville yet where some people are vastly overpaid for doing very little.
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This is very much true. At my dad's company some plant manager quit his job and then the assistant plant manager quit. The plant got along PERFECTLY fine without them, and they were both pulling in 6 figure salaries. They went for like 4-5 months (maybe more) without a manager or asst. manager and it was never an issue.
 
Cardboard Hammer said:
Only if "worth" is defined as how much one is paid.

"Perceived worth" would be closer to the truth, though even then, it's not impossible that someone could be underpaid (or overpaid, if "worth" excludes maintaining/feeding the ego of the person making the determination ("I want to keep my headcount" / "he's a great suck up"))
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I'm the Dude said:
yep. The guy talking about you are paid what you worth.....obviously has not been in Dilbertville yet where some people are vastly overpaid for doing very little.
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No, you are never overpaid or underpaid. If someone has worked out a better deal than you, and are paid better than you, it is your fault for not working out a better deal. If you feel that you are not being paid what you are worth, then it is up to you to find a job that pays you more. Never blame your employer for your pay or benifits. You have the freedom to go and work where you want. Ambition is part of your worth, if someone lacks the ambition to seek a job that pays them what they feel they are worth, then they limit themselves. So, to relate this to the topic. I don't feel sorry for the programmers at EA. There are other places to work, or if they are truely dedicated, they can find away to start their own development shop. If they selected a field of expertise where it is hard to find a good job, then that is also their fault if it doesn't work out. Choices are not always without risks.

I'm a cubicle jockey like many people trying to climb up in the company. My only limit is my own skill and ambition. If I find a wall in the way, I have to find away to get over it or around it. If I can't, then its up to me to go somewhere else. Calling myself "underpaid" or other people "overpaid" doesn't help me at all, those are just excuses for people who wish to justify their lack of ambition. Concepts like "underpaid" and "overpaid" are the haven for entitlement thinkers who believe they deserve more than they are willing to try and get.

I may not like EA's support or the bugs in their games, but then it is my choice as a consumer to buy or not buy their games. If they, however, provide a faulty product and fail to fix the issue, I should have the right to get my money back. This is my only real problem with EA, their support. But I didnt have to go to many Michael Bay movies to know that I didn't want to go to any more. Now I wait for reviews.
 
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