Stay Away From EA Forums

If you have any game on EA's new Steam-like service Origins then stay the hell away from their forums. If you're banned from the forums then that will affect your purchased games as well.

RPS has been following this: EA BANS

Here's one of the extreme cases in this ongoing insanity:

Most exceptional perhaps is Aaron, who after receiving a 72 hour ban was told by EA support they couldn’t help because “the game developers control this”. Pardon? His crime? Someone else swearing on the forum, with his username in their post. Trying the live chat support instead, he was then informed that his account was permanently banned, and that “all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.” Followed by, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Aaron tried again, pointing out that forum bans shouldn’t affect games. And then came this incredible reply:

“Please be informed that your account not only suspended, But it is also Banned, So you will no longer to play the game in single player.”

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Now I know that corporations are mindless husks that have no respect at all for their consumers, but this is beyond ridiculous. They're just emerging on the scene and have the likes of Steam to deal with let alone Impulse, GamersGate, Desura and to some extent GoG. This is how they decide to win customers over?

So if you want to keep your Origins games then stay the hell away from the forums. It's just not worth it. If you get banned then you lose not only the ability to go to the forums, but also the games you paid for.

I'm speechless. I remember them banning people over DA2 earlier this year. This should be illegal but I'm sure there is some loophole in the contract you agree with to use Origin.

Hahahaha, EA strikes again? How many more cases we'll see before they realize it's only adding more bad reputation to them.

Although I've never planned to go post anything on their forums, thanks for the warning.

Here we go found the loophole.

For the record:
EA Terms of Service, sections 9 & 10:
http://tos.ea.com/legalapp/WEBTERMS/US/en/PC/#section9

(See section 10 where violations are listed and then an “anything else we haven’t thought of and put in that list” clause is added…

"EA may also terminate access to EA Services for violation of this Terms of Service (in its sole discretion) … You may lose your user name and persona as a result of termination. If you have more than one (1) Account, EA may terminate all of your Accounts and all related Entitlements. In response to a violation of these Terms of Service or any other agreement applicable to EA Services accessed by you, EA may issue you a warning, suspend your Account, selectively remove, revoke or garnish Entitlements at an Account and/or device level , immediately terminate any and all Accounts that you have established and/or temporarily or permanently ban your device and/or machine from accessing all EA Services or certain EA Services. You acknowledge that in such an instance EA is not required to provide you notice before taking action to suspend or terminate your Account, temporarily or permanently banning your device from some or all EA Services or selectively removing, revoking or garnishing Entitlements associated with your Account. If EA terminates your Account, you may not participate in an EA Service again without EA’s express permission. EA reserves the right to refuse to keep Accounts for, and provide EA Services to, any individual. You may not allow individuals whose Accounts have been terminated by EA to use your Account."

If your Account, or a particular subscription for an EA Service associated with your Account, is terminated, suspended and/or if any Entitlements are selectively removed, revoked or garnished from your Account and/or if your device is temporarily or permanently banned from accessing some or all EA Services, no refund will be granted, no Entitlements will be credited to you or converted to cash or other forms of reimbursement, and you will have no further access to your Account or Entitlements associated with your Account or the particular EA Service. If you believe that any action has been taken against your Account or device in error, please contact Customer Support at help.ea.com, support.popcap.com or swtor.com/support.

Put it in simple terms EA owns your ass and can can do whatever they want at any given time.

This is absurd. Pretty much warrants no further EA purchases for me, simply on principle.
(Which admittedly is kind of easy for me to say, as they don't produce anything remotely interesting to me these days)

Amaizing. EA is just unable to admit that this is wrong.

Why on earth do they do something like this to paying customers? I thought it was basic business practise to treat your customers with respect and dignity. What people say or do on the ea forums shouldn't have any effect on their ability to play their purchase games.

Besides how does it make sense to build all these fancy community sites for fans and then act like the worst school yard bully? On the one hand they vocally promote their online communities and urge players to become even more social together. They clearly encourrage this whole idea that EA customers should gather on their forums and share ideas and opinions about EA games.

Yet at the same time they ban people from using their paid content due to inappropriate forum behavior or like many many times without any logical reason at all.

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. They better get smart about this. Does anyone really think a jury is going to listen to what their EULA says?

Personally, I'm not surprised. I'm rather frightened that my worst fears and predictions actually came true. I had had some hope that EA would behave at least politely and civil.

rossrjensen said:

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. They better get smart about this. Does anyone really think a jury is going to listen to what their EULA says?

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If you recall they added a change in policy where you cant sue them. The only way out was to write them a letter by a a certain deadline. Sony and Microsoft followed in there footsteps.

You can still sue but it is harder and you must pay some hefty penalty's and fees. You also wouldn't receive much money either.


Here is part of that EULA -

By accepting these terms, you and EA expressly waive the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action.

YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY THIS PROVISION, YOU AND EA ARE FOREGOING THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

YOU AND EA AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

It pays to read the fine print. You skip it and agree your screwed. You can blame all the idiots who filed bogus lawsuits just to get money over trivial things.

And the cherry on the cake is the following, which will be a suitable reason of not going to EA forums anymore.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/20/ea-confirms-closure-of-visceral-melbourne-reaffirms-support-for/

Following reports last Friday that EA shuttered its Visceral Melbourne studio, the International Game Developer's Association Melbourne tweeted on Sunday, "Confirmation of EA closing Visceral has been received our best wishes to the 21 devs now out of a job #EAVisceral." Electronic Arts has finally weighed in on the matter, telling MCV, "With no active project in development at that location, we've decided to close the Visceral Melbourne office. They are talented individuals and may find other roles elsewhere in EA, if they choose."

The EA rep added, "EA continues to maintain its mobile studios in Melbourne which are both thriving and hiring." Those studios include the recently acquired Firemint, makers of Flight Control and Real Racing, and Iron Monkey Studios, the team behind the excellent Dead Space for iOS and Xperia Play.

Of course, this follows just weeks after LA Noire developers Team Bondi entered administration, a month after THQ shuttered two Australian studios, and less than a year after Krome severely downsized. We'll pour a Foster's out for you, Australian game devs.

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The reason of those Aussies having creating the Playside studio and turn themselves into casual developers is EA's decision of closure before the upcoming game The Ripper being completed(It was at 90%).

Those Aussies were responsible of creating Dante's Inferno and other hardcore games we loved.

FUCK OFF, EA!

I am not sure why this is such a big deal. They have had such clauses in software for decades. Either you folks were not aware of it or it is just the shock someone actually enforced their rights to do so.

Steam can do the same thing, here is their EULA:

13. TERM AND TERMINATION

Either you or Valve has the right to terminate or cancel your Account or a particular Subscription at any time. You understand and agree that the cancellation of your Account or a particular Subscription is your sole right and remedy with respect to any dispute with Valve.

First sentence. In effect Value can whack your account for any reason, at any time with or without notice (which is clarified in another part of he EULA). And Impulse has similar wording as do most all MMO's as far back as Ultima Online.

The bottom line is you are using their software, on their network. Legally speaking that is considered private, not public property. So you have NO rights other than the rights they chose to give you.

Same with this and my web site as well. We admins have the final say and no member here really has any 1st amendment or the like protections as this is considered private, not public property. (The 1st amendment and related only applies to legally defined public space which this is not) so the 'rules' of a web site or company network are just in effect for show. The admin really has the final say if he does not like your haircut can ban you and legally is within his rights. As again you have NO RIGHTS only those that the admin/company choose to give you. So just like that Origins members got banned from some other user using his name while clearly, morally wrong, for getting banned, legally they have every right to do so for any reason.

Of course I am speaking of the USA, legally things may be different in the EU.

Yeah, don't be a douchebag and you should be fine, right?

I personally don't give a shit if a bunch of cheaters and bigots are banned from games I play. Fuck 'em. No sympathy here.

Harlequin said:

I am not sure why this is such a big deal. They have had such clauses in software for decades. Either you folks were not aware of it or it is just the shock someone actually enforced their rights to do so.

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Seems that I'm actually one of the few people read the "terms & conditions" really through.

In German law there is the term of "Gutgläubigkeit". It describes the being/thought of a person - a customer, usually - who is not expecting personal harm from buying something - or, to put it more cynical, being ripped off.

"Gutgläubigkeit" is some sort of being naive. And it often works in sueing companieswho thought they'd cash in some easy bucks by hiding terms in which they express that they allow themselves to cash in some easy bucks, actually. Not in these words, but in this sense.

One example of a company violating "Gutgläubigkeit" is, when deeply within the terms & conditions there is something very, very, very well hidden that no average customer would expect … for example "hidden fees". The fact that the average customer doesn't expect this is an example of "Gutgläubigkeit".

http://dict.leo.org translates "Gutgläubigkeit" as "good faith" and as "credulity".
The deeper something is hidden in terms & conditions, the more likely an average customer might actuzally win such a case. Here in Germany. I don't know how U.S. laws are.

Harlequin said:

I am not sure why this is such a big deal.

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It becomes a big deal because, as a customer, I should at least be able to get my money's worth out of the game that I bought. The single player campaign has nothing to do with the forums, or public interaction. If I decide to be a boner on the internet, then you are fully within your rights to restrict or limit my access to a public domain that does not carry a guarantee of free speech rights. However, to tie a public persona to a game that has a single player component to it, and then to restrict me from playing said single player component for something that was done in a forum is just bad business.

Furthermore, from what I read, the person who was banned wasn't even violating the terms of agreement. His name was mentioned in a post that was, and some fistful of assholes working for EA went scorched earth on him. I understand that developers and publishers have rights to their product, but if you read what actually happened to the guy that got banned, how can you come to the conclusion that A: The banning was justified, or B: Restriction to single player components of a paid-for game is justified?

Really its one thing to ban a person on a forum it's different when companies basically say thanks for your money now screw you. You already bought the game so by all rights its yours.

See this is the problem I have with digital distribution. It gives way to much power to the company allowing you to use there service. Also now don't get mad Steam is part of the problem also.

Being a dick and not following and agreeing to the masses is not a crime. A simple forum ban is enough. Now if you cheat in MP then a simple ban from the servers like steam is sufficient.

Its mostly they don't want any negative posts about them. Just like the Bioware forums the moderators themselves are pricks. There no different than the posters that lose there games and account.

If you support company's that allow this then the problem will only get worse and I can only shake my head in amazement at what people accept. I understand the problem is not new it's how they enforce it nowadays.

darkling said:

Yeah, don't be a douchebag and you should be fine, right?

I personally don't give a shit if a bunch of cheaters and bigots are banned from games I play. Fuck 'em. No sympathy here.

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If this was EA then you're banned. Right here and right now for being a potty mouth.

They've banned people for having someone mention their name while swearing and ranting or whatever excuse they pull out of their ass …..of wait, now I'm banned. Shit……just did it again, fuck…..There I go again. Hell, it's permaban for me and now they get to take away the games I paid for as well. Thx EA, you guys are a class act.

Harlequin said:

I am not sure why this is such a big deal. They have had such clauses in software for decades. Either you folks were not aware of it or it is just the shock someone actually enforced their rights to do so.

Steam can do the same thing, here is their EULA:

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I suppose the shocking part is simply the fact that they are making use of this provision.

Most of us agree on a regular basis to draconian EULA terms without even reading them (Human-Cent-I-Pad, anyone?). However, although we often hear of Steam libraries being deactivated due to user account trading, etc., personally I have never heard of Steam doing this based on forum account activities. In fact the Steam forum accounts are not even linked to your user account.

A couple of weeks ago I seem to recall some ruckus about a user losing access to his Origin games due to a temporary EA forum ban, but there was some sort of apology issued and his games were restored. IIRC, EA stated that it was an error of some kind due to the linking of the forum account and his Origin account.

I suspect EA's overzealous efforts to incorporate its social network into Origin are going to result in more trouble for the company than it's worth. Valve seems to have taken a smarter approach by not linking the forum account.

skavenhorde said:

If this was EA then you're banned. Right here and right now for being a potty mouth.

They've banned people for having someone mention their name while swearing and ranting or whatever excuse they pull out of their ass …..of wait, now I'm banned. Shit……just did it again, fuck…..There I go again. Hell, it's permaban for me and now they get to take away the games I paid for as well. Thx EA, you guys are a class act.

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I've made some colourful posts on EA's Battlelog forums and have had no problems yet. I've not posted any sexist, racist or homophobic tirades though. When this "controversy" started, the banned people who complained to all the news sites earlier this year were completely disingenuous about their activities on the forums. They linked to posts they claim triggered a ban which had no offensive content, ignoring the huge backlog of bigotry and hate they spewed in every other post they made.

Captain Buzzkill said:

It becomes a big deal because, as a customer, I should at least be able to get my money's worth out of the game that I bought.

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On a basic, I bought it thus I should own it level I would agree with you. However that is not how this works in the real world nor legally. You didn't seem to get my previous post. In a nutshell you DO NOT own the software, you are, at best, leasing it, as well as any other network the software accesses (such as their corp servers). Thus at THEIR desecration they can terminate the EULA (the lease) and cut you off on a whim. Very similar to if you lease a car and they revoke the lease and take the car back. Yes you paid them, but only to lease the software/their network. You have NO legal claims to ownership or rights to said software/network. ONLY those they choose to give you (and can take back at any time).

Not you can disagree with how this works and that is fine, but this is how it does work and has since the 80s.

> The single player campaign has nothing to do with the forums, or public interaction. If I decide to be a boner on the internet, then you are fully within your rights to restrict or limit my access to a public domain that does not carry a guarantee of free speech rights. However, to tie a public persona to a game that has a single player component to it, and then to restrict me from playing said single player component for something that was done in a forum is just bad business.

Once again you do NOT own the software and have NO rights to it. You are allowed access on a lease basis basically and THEY choose the 'rules' of allowing you access to it. And it can be totally unfair and biased rules and you just have to accept it or not use the service in question.

> Furthermore, from what I read, the person who was banned wasn't even violating the terms of agreement. His name was mentioned in a post that was, and some fistful of assholes working for EA went scorched earth on him. I understand that developers and publishers have rights to their product, but if you read what actually happened to the guy that got banned, how can you come to the conclusion that A: The banning was justified, or B: Restriction to single player components of a paid-for game is justified?

It does not matter WHAT he did. They could make a EULA violation that if you live in Florida you are in violation and banned. A extreme example granted but within their rights. Point being they can make up ANY rules at ANY time and enforce them, fair or not. (Side note: as long as rule does not violate already established law such as racism.) So in this case they made up a rule where 'if your name is used in a post with vulgar language you are banned'. Fair? No, but within their rights.

It was justified, legally speaking. Morally speaking that is another matter. I do not agree with the their policies/actions but my opinion does not change the law or reality of the situation.

Couchpotato said:

Really its one thing to ban a person on a forum it's different when companies basically say thanks for your money now screw you. You already bought the game so by all rights its yours.

See this is the problem I have with digital distribution. It gives way to much power to the company allowing you to use there service. Also now don't get mad Steam is part of the problem also.

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No it is NOT 'yours' and never has been. Read the EULA's from the 80s if you dispute that. You have ALWAYS been paying to LEASE NOT OWN the software. And the companies can revoke the lease at ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON. Period. It really is a very simple concept.