You Are a Pirate or an Idiot, Says EA CEO

[Lemur]

If you don't appreciate the DRM loaded onto the newest EA games, you must either be a pirate or a fool, according to an interview with the CEO of EA, John Riccitiello.

“Everyone gets that we need some level of protection, or we’re going to be in business for free,” Riccitiello says. But he sees a lack of understanding among “a minority of people that orchestrated a great PR program. They picked the highest-profile game they could find,” he says. “I respect them for the success of their movement.”

“‘I'm guessing that half of them were pirates, and the other half were people caught up in something that they didn’t understand,” he says. “If I’d had a chance to have a conversation with them, they’d have gotten it.”

Ya hear that, kids? Agree with the man, or face up to your binary choice of pirate or idjit.

That does it. No more EA games for the foreseeable future, and I'm going to do my level best to convince every gamer I know to do the same. The only thing these pin-headed suits understand is money, so let's hit them where they get it.

That means no Dead Space. No Spore, obviously. No Mirror's Edge. Nada. Nothing.

Who's with me?

[Xiahou]

I can't remember the last time I bought an EA game. So yeah, I'm in.

I can't speak for my wife though, she's a 'Sims' fan. At least I talked her out of Spore, though- I really didn't want that turd installed anywhere on our network.

As for:

“If I’d had a chance to have a conversation with them, they’d have gotten it.”

I would have loved to been in on that conversation.
"So, you're going to treat me like a criminal because I paid for the game, while the pirates get an unrestricted copy for free. You say I should be happy about this. Explain."

[The_Doctor]

I'm in.

Maybe I can start an anti-EA crusade. It will just like the Anti-Jamster Crusade, only more popular and not spam.

[Meneldil]

No WAR for me, even though I was eagerly waiting for a Warhammer MMORPG. I sincerily hope EA will go bankrupt now.

I'm not that much of a pirate, as I've never downloaded any video game, but I'm starting to get tired by this whole 'punish the customer' trend.

[Hosakawa Tito]

If these companies are going to use DRM in their software then I demand that it is :
1. Plainly labelled on the product.
2. Is totally removed from my system when I uninstall the software.

This stealth DRM malware crap like SecuRom on the MTW2 Kingdoms pack should be illegal.
Let the consumer decide if he wants this stuff before he buys the product. Oh, and Johnny-boy...
you my .

[Hooahguy]

you know, there is a reason why Relic hides phrases like "EASUX5" in their games....


but ya, i hate DRM stuff....
especially music! i cant use any of my songs i downloaded from itunes b/c of the DRM, and my new mp3 player (phillips brand, 4 gbs, music, video, text and pics for $50) wont play DRM protected music....

[Koga No Goshi]

This is b.s. Most game companies have a pretty contemptuous attitude towards their customers, so that is nothing incredibly new. But all these excessive measures to stop pirating, rarely stop pirates. They just inconvenience or aggravate customers.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I guess I'm going to have to become a pirate then.

CR

[Gregoshi]

I guess I'm going to have to become a pirate then.

That's a software patch EA won't like.

This thread is rated Arrrrrrrr.

[Lemur]

This thread is rated Arrrrrrrr.

Ow, ow, ow, my poor sides hurt from laughing ...

CR, I think pirating their games just proves them right and reinforces their idée fixe. Better to ignore their slate completely, and send them a polite note explaining what you're doing.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Well I've never pirated a game (and won't start because of some idiot CEO), but if their CEO is saying I'm either stupid or a pirate to oppose them...

CR

[Decker]

This is why the PC Gaming industry has been struggeling. And he's making it even worse by these claims! I'm with you guys. I'm not buying EA anymore. I think the biggest problem was that Spore's DRM ambushed just about everybody. His quote about WoW's monthly charge frieghtened me a bit becuase it appears he has taken into consideration a type of year-round memebership that requires a monthly charge to play their games. That's how I took it. And EA's buying up and bullying out competitors kind of reminds me of Microsoft in some aspects... never really been happy with them.

[Lemur]

Wow, the EA execs really don't know when to shut their greasy, stupid mouths:

‘We implemented a form of DRM and it's something that 99.8 per cent of users wouldn't notice,’ claimed Riccitiello, ‘but for the other 0.2 percent, it became an issue and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it.’

So if you're at all bothered by DRM, you're part of a meaningless 0.2% of humanity, and you opinions just don't matter.

[Koga No Goshi]

Wow, the EA execs really don't know when to shut their greasy, stupid mouths:

‘We implemented a form of DRM and it's something that 99.8 per cent of users wouldn't notice,’ claimed Riccitiello, ‘but for the other 0.2 percent, it became an issue and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it.’

So if you're at all bothered by DRM, you're part of a meaningless 0.2% of humanity, and you opinions just don't matter.

Sounds just like Blizzard's comments whenever anyone brings up mmorpg addiction. They start making really nasty, greasy, reeking-of-covering-my-rear-from-lawsuit contempt remarks about their own customers.

[drone]

Sony should buy EA so I only have to keep track of 1 boycott.

[Ronin]

I don´t buy EA games for my computer anymore.......hell...what the hell am I saying?...I don´t buy games for my PC period

I must admit that Burnout Paradise for the PS3 is pretty kickass though....I bought that one.

[seireikhaan]

EA-

[Sarmatian]

When you have cases where people buy the game and THEN download the crack to play that game, you should know you went too far...

[Andres]

Who's with me?

I follow the great Lemur! Finally, his historic conquest of the world has begun!

Aux barricades, mes amis! Vive la révolution!

Who would have thought that it would start with a boycot of some pc game company? Oh well...

[Veho Nex]

I FIGHT WITH YOU LEMUR!!

[Seamus Fermanagh]

What is this nefarious DRM and why is it so vexing?

[Incongruous]

Meh, I'm in, heck when did EA last bring out a decnt game? Freekin eons ago! They have really let the standards fall. They was never that 'igh to begin wiv niver!

[Husar]

You left out this:

I personally hate DRM,” EA CEO John Riccitiello tells Gamasutra.

and this:

“I don’t like the whole concept; it can be a little bit cumbersome. But I don’t like locks on my door, and I don’t like to use keys in my car… I’d like to live in a world where there are no passports. Unfortunately, we don’t – and I think the vast majority of people voted with their wallets and went out and bought Spore.”

Now everybody who posted about Spore in the Arena and wants to complain here just got roflpwned by John Riccitiello.

Apart from that I think I can count my EA games on one hand or so, naturally I'm not too interested in their policies as they don't affect me a whole lot.
I mean they had some good flight simulations for DOS...

[Fragony]

What is DRM?

[pevergreen]

Yay!

Just as a note, I may decide to source this thread as a "Community" reference to DRM, the topic of my current assignment.

On topic: EA has always been the company to leave. They ship out worthless products anyway, so .

[naut]

I'm never buying an EA game ever again. Pity, I was really looking forward to Dead Space.

[Jolt]

I wanted so much to buy Spore, but neither is my PC able to run it, nor do I enjoy DRM one bit.

[KukriKhan]

Welcome to my bandwagon.

I haven't bought an Electronic Arts game since they, without announcement or explanation, unplugged the Shogun:TotalWar multiplayer servers in early 2002, after promising the community that they would never do so- or at least for 5 years.

My next day off, I'll dig through the 2002 Tech forums archives and find that (those) gem(s). They (EA) have proven since time immemorial that they cannot be trusted to even consider the will or pocketbooks of their customers.

-edit-
and that ‘but for the other 0.2 percent, it became an issue and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it.’ bit is eerily reminiscent of their response to our protest at the time, along the lines of: "You guys were only 1% of the community anyway...".

[CrossLOPER]

What is DRM?

Digital Rights Management. It come in several shapes and sizes. Spore's comes in a neat little flavor of "I can't uninstall it (easily) and I can only install my game three times and I won't know this until I open the box and invalidate the return policy". I don't mind Steam too much, mainly because I can get rid of it easily.

[rvg]

Sadly, PC gaming is in its death throes. I won't be surprised if the gaming company exec are purposefully alienating whatever is left of the PC gaming crowd in order to have everyone switch to consoles.