EA - 9.3 Million Registered Origin Users

jhwisner said:

……Technically it might be a TOS violation to create multiple accounts - and definitely is if you post from both of them to forums ever. You wouldn't want to be perma-banned ….

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I'm required to create two accounts by ea, origin and swtor. I posted the FAQ from ea's site in this thread if you missed it. I still haven't decided, nor ever been required to make two accounts.

It would be great if origin is only required for purchasing from ea. Hopefully we can buy from amazon, then just use our code to download directly from swtor website, without origin.

Khalus said:

Notice how quickly EA amassed those 9.3 Million Origin Users when there are just over 10 Million Battlefield 3 sales…{which requires Origin to play ~ SWTOR does not}

Thats one way to get people to use your service, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that number jump to 15-17 Million users come March 6th when Mass Effect 3 is released.

Its one thing to claim a service is great, but when its being forced on the consumer to play the latest games…not so much!

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How do you think Steam became popular?

In 2004, Valve bought out the World Opponent Network and then required all of its end users to switch to Steam and began requiring Steam for Valve PC games.

At this point, considering Steam's first-to-market advantage, I'm surprised EA isn't requiring Origin for every single PC game they publish in order to expand the install base further.

Considering I saw some KOA:R (PC Version) live-streams up earlier today I imagine Origin might not offer publishers quite the same degree of launch-date protection. Of course they may have just been faked. I don't remember seeing the console-button choices on menus and one of the presenters said he alt-tabbed and showed his desktop - but he might have just toggled between video sources on the streaming software.

The cracked PC version of KOA: R is out on torrent sites so it isn't faked and I also saw a Steam rip so I guess they didn't do like other games and wait till release day to get all of the data.

The Steam version doesn't use Origin (and I know that the Amazon.com version was on pre-load as well, not sure if that one use or not Origin).

azarhal said:

The Steam version doesn't use Origin (and I know that the Amazon.com version was on pre-load as well, not sure if that one use or not Origin).

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From the FAQ -

Do I need to register the PC version of Reckoning with Origin prior to play? Does that require the Origin client if I purchased Reckoning on Steam?

All PC versions of Reckoning, except for the Steam version, require a one-time authentication through Origin and the Origin client. If you purchase Reckoning through Steam, you only need to authenticate the game through Steam.

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So yeah the Steam distribution is the only one that does not require the use of Origin. The Steam release is not using the Steamworks Suite but it does use their activation and executable distribution - so any "steam-rips" are likely incomplete or fake. I hope the developers do get their money for the game though - and I also hope it sells more through steam than EA would have liked. I will be getting my copy through Steam and I don't think I'll wait for the price drops now either.

I do have to say I respect BHG's business and management side quite a bit more now. I am certain EA was not pleased with Steam being able to distribute a version that does not require Origin - the only one it seems that does not. Regardless of how much I ultimately end up liking or disliking the game, I do at least like BHG a little more than I did yesterday. They may even be able to resist EAification as they grow in the next couple of years; not many companies which closely partner with EA manage that.

jhwisner said:

I do have to say I respect BHG's business and management side quite a bit more now. I am certain EA was not pleased with Steam being able to distribute a version that does not require Origin - the only one it seems that does not.

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Are you certain BHG had anything to do with EA's decision to release the game on Steam? Perhaps EA simply wanted to hedge its bets considering the IP is new.

CountChocula said:

EA isn't requiring Origin for every single PC game they publish in order to expand the install base further.

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On the contrary, that's exactly what they do. I think you haven't bought any EA games for PC, recently.

SWTOR is an exception, of course. And that's because it already has an online client. And as jhwisner pointed out, Reckoning is a different beast.


===EDIT===
Okay, I'm not sure but I think you are mistaken because Reckoning requires Origin client:
https://help.ea.com/article/does-reckoning-require-origin-to-play

It doesn't make any difference however, because I don't care about Steam or Origin. If I'm going to be forced to have a client running in the background all the time, Steam is just as bad as Origin.

blackcanopus said:

If I'm going to be forced to have a client running in the background all the time, Steam is just as bad as Origin.

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Not sure if you've played Steam or Origin games before — I have tried both.

I was worried about Origin but pleasantly surprised to see that it was not a resource hog. I have 16GB RAM and I have never played any game that used more than a few GB at most, even including Steam or Origin running in the background.