EA Responds To Battlefield Hardline DRM Complaints

[-Fran-]

Other than people who are benchmarking I can never see anyone needing to swap out hardware more than 5 times in a 24 hour period. Sounds like cheap software thieves are pissed because they can't buy 1 copy and share it with everyone they know.

I have my main PC, the HTPC in the living room and my notebook for gaming on the go. That's 3 different hardware configs on one hand. I have changed my computer 3 times since I bought (for example) HL2 and TF2 and they are still working just fine.

So no, there ARE people for whom those 5 HW configs will fall *really* short.

EA as usual sucks donkey marbles. That's why I haven't bought anything from them since they left Steam.

Cheers!

 

[AnUnusedUsername]

I don't buy the whole "PC gamers pirate games and bring in less money"

lol consoles are riddled with DRM. Whats worse is, the buyer can sell their used game to someone else which effectivly takes money out of developers wallets.

Same effect as pirating a pc game. The only difference is, Console sells more titles period because there are more console gamers.

Jason, that's what they stated in their financial fillings. Companies tend not to lie in those because they are legal documents and like i said you can see a trend, year over year less and less money is going into PC gaming titles.

Also these days fewer and fewer disk based games are sold, i actually do not have a single Xbox game that is on the disk. I purchased the code and have digital copy.

Also honestly do you like coffee? A game costs as much as what 5 cups of coffee, i mean come on, you can just drink what they give you at work or make your own for one week and just buy a game. If you are into PC gaming you simply can not really be poor lol, not when you need a $200 GPU just to launch a game.

At least in my experience, the vast majority of people who pirate games are kids who are too young to get a job, and thus have zero income. They couldn't buy most games if they wanted to. Most people's parents don't give them limitless funds. When I was growing up I got enough to buy a $50 game once every six months, tops.

Then you have the rest, which are either people without enough interest in the game to buy it to begin with, and the (probably fairly small) group of people that just pirate everything, either because of a hatred for DRM or just because they can. One downloaded copy is nothing like one lost sale. Nobody can do the math, but I'd be astonished if even 1/50 pirates would have bought the game if piracy was impossible.

PC games bring in less money because companies spend less money on them. Years ago PC was a distinct platform and everybody had a desktop of some kind or another. So your install base was huge and games didn't require as serious a hardware commitment as they do now. The market's smaller or about the same now, while console sales skyrocketed. Companies reacted to their smaller market by trying to keep more of it with DRM measures. It lost them more customers than it gained since pirates get around the DRM anyway.

 

[willard]

This particular instance of DRM isn't too bad, and only benchmarkers and thieves should really care.

The people dealing with this are the people who paid for the game, not the ones who pirated it. A pirate gets the DRM free version, like they always have and always will. DRM has no appreciable impact on piracy, and only serves to inconvenience legitimate purchasers, sometimes to the point of driving them to piracy just so they can use what they already paid for.

Thinking that DRM impacts pirates in any way is an astonishing misunderstanding of both DRM and piracy at their most basic levels.

 

[childofthekorn]

I don't buy the whole "PC gamers pirate games and bring in less money"

lol consoles are riddled with DRM. Whats worse is, the buyer can sell their used game to someone else which effectivly takes money out of developers wallets.

Same effect as pirating a pc game. The only difference is, Console sells more titles period because there are more console gamers.

Jason, that's what they stated in their financial fillings. Companies tend not to lie in those because they are legal documents and like i said you can see a trend, year over year less and less money is going into PC gaming titles.

Also these days fewer and fewer disk based games are sold, i actually do not have a single Xbox game that is on the disk. I purchased the code and have digital copy.

Also honestly do you like coffee? A game costs as much as what 5 cups of coffee, i mean come on, you can just drink what they give you at work or make your own for one week and just buy a game. If you are into PC gaming you simply can not really be poor lol, not when you need a $200 GPU just to launch a game.

Just to launch a game? Someones never built a budget gaming PC before. Slightly more expensive than a console yet results in more power and potential productivity.

 

[achoo2]

steam, but steam is fair and unobtrusive

Why is it that every time some DRM scheme is under fire, some Valve fanboy shows up and starts praising Steam? Dude, Steam is the worst of all.

There are games available from the Steam store right this minute that will not operate properly on modern computers (eg, any MS-supported OS). Buy them, and Steam will not issue a refund. There are also games on Steam with 3-computer hard activation limits - you install three times, even on the same hardware, and that's it. Steam will not issue a refund. For that matter, no matter how bad Origin becomes, Steam would LOVE to distribute EA games - Origin included - if they could carve away 10-20% of the sales. They do it w/ Uplay, after all.

tl/dr: the only DRM you won't find on Steam is Origin.

 

[jhanschu]

Other than people who are benchmarking I can never see anyone needing to swap out hardware more than 5 times in a 24 hour period. Sounds like cheap software thieves are pissed because they can't buy 1 copy and share it with everyone they know.

Few years ago i use to do a financial analysis and i was studying a number of Video Game makers. Year over year less and less money is coming from PC gaming and more money and resources is going to consoles. PC gamers don't understand that every time you pirate a game that's money for the company. The less the company makes the less likely they are to develop new games.

I love gaming on PC and that's why i never pirate games.

I suspect 5-10 years from now fewer and fewer games will be PC exclusives.

Tell that to Square Enix who came to the exact opposite conclusion.

 

[MasterMace]

Just another reason not to use Origin or buy EA titles.

 

[canadianvice]

As far as I'm concerned they got their money for the game. The way I wish to use it is up to me.

That's where you're wrong. If you did buy the game legally you also agreed to the DRM. Using a pirated version in a manner that the software is not licensed for is wrong. You're just rationalizing your behavior to be something that it is not.

Eh, I paid them. I use it for personal use in such a way that literally nobody would be the wiser if I hadn't told them. The courts here are fairly liberal for personal use provisions, and while I can see a definite problem if I hadn't paid for it, I did. By the letter, yes, I did wrong, supposing a court were to find such terms enforceable - or harmful. As I stands, I don't believe that to have been tested.

The people who care about licensing terms are usually the same people smart enough to "acquire" things, and therefore render the point moot, so I don't think the courts have had challenges of that sort.

If they could prove harm, I would listen. As it stands, they really can't. No harm, no foul, and therefore my conscience on the matter is clear.

Going off precedent regarding music downloading in Canada (legal for personal use) I suspect the courts would be amicable to my reasoning.

 

[canadianvice]

steam, but steam is fair and unobtrusive

Why is it that every time some DRM scheme is under fire, some Valve fanboy shows up and starts praising Steam? Dude, Steam is the worst of all.

There are games available from the Steam store right this minute that will not operate properly on modern computers (eg, any MS-supported OS). Buy them, and Steam will not issue a refund. There are also games on Steam with 3-computer hard activation limits - you install three times, even on the same hardware, and that's it. Steam will not issue a refund. For that matter, no matter how bad Origin becomes, Steam would LOVE to distribute EA games - Origin included - if they could carve away 10-20% of the sales. They do it w/ Uplay, after all.

tl/dr: the only DRM you won't find on Steam is Origin.

Look, I'm as much a fan of DRM-free as the next guy, but you don't see that in Digital downloads much anymore.

My opinion on steam is such that I believe it to be the best of a bad bunch. I've never had issues with it, I get my games dirt cheap (which I consider a fair trade) and I've never had compatibility problems. Careful with that "fanboy" term, you'll wear it out.

I like steam. More than origin, if only by virtue of the fact origin is run by a company I loathe. Otherwise, the reason I don't want both is simple - I hate redundant functionality. Origin gives me nothing extra and takes hard disk space. Simple as that.

 

[alidan]

steam, but steam is fair and unobtrusive

Why is it that every time some DRM scheme is under fire, some Valve fanboy shows up and starts praising Steam? Dude, Steam is the worst of all.

There are games available from the Steam store right this minute that will not operate properly on modern computers (eg, any MS-supported OS). Buy them, and Steam will not issue a refund. There are also games on Steam with 3-computer hard activation limits - you install three times, even on the same hardware, and that's it. Steam will not issue a refund. For that matter, no matter how bad Origin becomes, Steam would LOVE to distribute EA games - Origin included - if they could carve away 10-20% of the sales. They do it w/ Uplay, after all.

tl/dr: the only DRM you won't find on Steam is Origin.

because we arent talking about steam as a business, we are talking about it as drm

 

[Fierce Guppy]

canadianvice: I bought the license via humble, tool. One way or another binary is binary - whether you get it from steam or origin or disc. I paid them for their game, which is basically a license to use the binary. I simply didn't want to use the authentication platform they use. What might be "immoral" is if I didn't even buy the game before I pirated a DRM free copy of it. Ultimately, it's still used by the same person, but origin is awful, so I don't want to have to install it additionally.

Then why say you've pirated the game after having paid for the license? I have a mate who's bought games from Humble Bundle in the past. It's been around for years. I'd assume it has permission to sell licenses for these games. Just because you didn't get it via the Origin store doesn't make what you did software piracy.

 

[canadianvice]

canadianvice: I bought the license via humble, tool. One way or another binary is binary - whether you get it from steam or origin or disc. I paid them for their game, which is basically a license to use the binary. I simply didn't want to use the authentication platform they use. What might be "immoral" is if I didn't even buy the game before I pirated a DRM free copy of it. Ultimately, it's still used by the same person, but origin is awful, so I don't want to have to install it additionally.

Then why say you've pirated the game after having paid for the license? I have a mate who's bought games from Humble Bundle in the past. It's been around for years. I'd assume it has permission to sell licenses for these games. Just because you didn't get it via the Origin store doesn't make what you did software piracy.

I use the term for the general understanding. I bought the sims 3 via the humble bundle, so they were paid. It is the "origin" copy, but there was no price reduction for that.

I went to the swedish navy and got a DRM free copy, but ultimately, my point is the company got my money.
Sorry for the tool comment, by the way.

Pity too. I wouldn't go there so often if demos were offered - but especially with Steam being no-refunds (as is basically every storefront ever for software) I don't like risking my money - nor do I have much to risk.
1. If I like it enough to play it, I buy it. They get their money.
2. If I uninstall it, it's because it wasn't worth. Holding me to a purchase without offering a demo is more immoral than piracy, imo. then again, I hate caveat emptor as a principle because it's 99% assholes abusing non-returnability.

 

[dstarr3]

Here's a pretty good video on why devs don't make many demos anymore. It actually doesn't make a lot of sense to make a demo from the dev's perspective, unfortunately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY

 

[canadianvice]

Here's a pretty good video on why devs don't make many demos anymore. It actually doesn't make a lot of sense to make a demo from the dev's perspective, unfortunately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QM6LoaqEnY

I'm not surprised. Thankfully, there are people willing to humour me.
I understand to many people "free is free", but DRM has already failed to stop them.

IMO, a product will (and should) earn money on its own merits, not because they've made it hard to not pay for it.

 

[slyu9213]

Don't think any company should have the right or power to block you from playing a game legally offline that you payed for. Same with offline play while being online.

Good news is no one is going to upgrade their GPU or some part of their hardware 5 different times. Only time problems occur are people who plan on running benchmarks. Still forced limitation is quite annoying. This should have nothing to do with piracy. Pirated copies don't need a account nor do they need to be online. Limiting a game/account to only 5 different pcs/hardware changes in 24 hours only limits innocent account users and maybe account sharers. Pirates are not affected at all. I don't play FPS that much anymore so glady I am not affected by this directly. If they did this with DA:O..man I would be pissed.

 

[demonhorde665]

i read the headline and I knew before I even read the article .. headline should read: EA gives the middle finger to DRM complaining customers!

 

[JonnyDough]

"Yet, this limit makes us wonder if EA is having a hard time with customers sharing their Origin account."

Sharing wouldn't be a concern if the number of concurrent connections to a single Origin account is limited to one or two. Does anyone know what the limit is or if there is one?

Who cares, it's Origin. Just don't buy EA crapware.

 

[JonnyDough]

As far as I'm concerned they got their money for the game. The way I wish to use it is up to me.

That's where you're wrong. If you did buy the game legally you also agreed to the DRM. Using a pirated version in a manner that the software is not licensed for is wrong. You're just rationalizing your behavior to be something that it is not.

That's funny, I remember a time when a sale meant that you actually owned something. If I recall, buying a game meant you could loan it to your friends, sell it, etc. Just because we went online and we're dealing with licenses does not mean I should no longer take possession of software to do what I want with it. I'm not sure when we made this turn but I find it quite unsettling as it is a sign of our times and reflects other freedoms and rights we have lost.

 

[maxiim]

No surprise here, to be fair I didnt even bother to look this game up not once. Plenty of other better games, than dealing with EAs bs.

 

[ohim]

Why are people acting like total idiots ? I do not like EA or Origin but i like to play Battlefield 4, there is no way to do this on Steam.

 

[nate1492]

Few years ago i use to do a financial analysis and i was studying a number of Video Game makers. Year over year less and less money is coming from PC gaming and more money and resources is going to consoles. PC gamers don't understand that every time you pirate a game that's money for the company. The less the company makes the less likely they are to develop new games.

I love gaming on PC and that's why i never pirate games.

I suspect 5-10 years from now fewer and fewer games will be PC exclusives.

On what basis are you making this huge assertion? PC gaming has been growing very, very, very rapidly in the past 10 years and console exclusives have dried up as more and more developers are going the PC route. Your financial analysis must not include market share.

 

[wtfxxxgp]

Everything should be F2P, which essentially makes everything pay 2 win. Eventually, people end up spend $60 on the game over the course of a year or 2. $5 here, $2 there eventually adds up.

Gotta love how a Free to Play model is automatically determined to mean "pay to win". Stupid developers work that way. Look at League of Legends for the perfect example of clever strategy. There are users who spend tons of money (up to 4k USD) over a period of what, 5 or so years, on a truly F2P game that DOES NOT mean Pay to Win. Make the game interesting, extremely accessible, continually improving and then make the profit through having limited-time skins and other visual and/or sound effects options. Do that properly, and you have the behemoth known as Riot's League of Legends. The game isn't without issues, and it isn't for everyone, but its success is hard to deny.

So I agree with you about making all games Free to Play. I totally disagree with you about the Pay to Win.

 

[cats_Paw]

While the limitation dosent seem that huge (5 per 24 hours? Try BIoshock one, 5 EVER), the fact that they monitor your hardware at all is something that scares me.
Im glad I stopped buying games from those companies years ago. Now I only buy games from studios I can trust (sort of).

 

[codo]

EA is a cancerous vermin to the industry, and battlefield is indicative of that. little better than call of duty.

 

[ubercake]

Even though I won't have a need to play this on 5 different hardware configurations within a 24-hour period, this type of DRM is getting a little stupid.

If I buy a game and play it under my login on only one machine at a time, why the heck does EA care how many different machines I play it on? DRM like this is most punitive to honest buyers.

Hackers/Pirates are always going to find ways around DRM.