Steam is falling in the pit of doom, lately... Who know, maybe one day Origin will be better than Steam.
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They would need to change a lot, not really about origin but they as in the company. Most of the gamers hate EA these days, and because of that it won't happen soon. But yeah, if things changes, it COULD be better than steam. But unfortunately thats years away from happening, at most.
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Hey they weren't voted the worst company this year. Maybe improvements are coming.
Then again it could just go to their heads and they'll go back to being horrible.
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Yeah, too bad they didn't win that "worst company of the year" medal, i would`ve loved them to win it.
Well, as long as they keep ruining most of their games, they won't win any new gamer on their side. This new game called Titanfall is seriously making ME get back to them, but only 1 game won't win them the loyaly of gamers back, some yes, but not all. Its just 1 game from their BIG list of games, the majority of their broked games wins.
Honestly, i DO want them go be like they used to be, i loved EA GAMES, and i still hope they stop breaking every game they take.
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Yeah, but that was a year ago. miniTotent was mentioning the fact that they didn't win it THIS year. So they must be improving, right?
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Not could it already is better than Steam. Origin is better than Steam in nearly every way other than the fact that it has a much smaller game selection and it's run by EA. If you say Origin is bad then you obviously don't know what you're talking about. If you mean EA then say EA and not Origin.
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I'd agree that steam has been floundering lately. I joined after the coal incentives/giveaways and its gone downhill since even then.
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Anyone remember how shit Steam was when it was released? IMO both Origin and Uplay had better starts.
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Yeah, Steam was 'just another launcher' back then, but I'm glad they really made something of it.
Ragdoll Kung-Fu, oh man. I was really surprised when they said they were going to sell it on Steam, given it was a non-Valve game. It was all up from there on out <3
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Steam was one of if not THEE first online distribution/DRM service when it was released 8-10 years ago. Technology and knowledge of the consumer were lacking and a lot different then they are now. Problem with Uplay and Origin are that they made the exact same mistakes Steam made when it first came out even though technology and the know how were already sufficient. Online DRM and purchasing were completely figured out with almost perfect example of how do it correctly, and yet EA and Uplay jumped in a took a shit on that model. Its akin to someone fucking up how to make paper, compared to the first person to make a viable paper production method.
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"Problem with Uplay and Origin are that they made the exact same mistakes Steam made when it first came out even though technology and the know how were already sufficient."
So guessing you didn't use Steam when it came out? Because they sure as hell did not make the same mistakes....not even close, I mean not even slightly similar...
First off Steam was INCREDIBLY unstable, 2nd off you could barely play Half Life because of it, it literally made me stop playing Half Life, the server browser didn't work, it crashed, game ran slower, the list continues, it got stuck, hung, Origin I used when it came out, no issues really besides some memory leaks, and I dislike EA but lets be fair here, Steam had a much rougher start.
Steam was a shitty programed program, being the first has nothing to do with it imo.
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My boycott was snuffed when I agreed to an EULA on an EA game on Steam (which turns out had the same content as the Origin EULA). It pretty much fed them my "+1" despite only wanting to play a game I already owned (Darkspore). Hell, when I tried to reinstall Spore from the retail DVD, it asked me to install Origin, and when I declined it shut the installer. I got around it by disconnecting from the internet while I installed (as Origin wasn't even around back when Spore was released), but still. :/
Once I realised EA would see this as just another +1 towards their business practice, in the form of yet-another user agreeing to their terms, I resigned myself. The EA humble bundle was on, and I always wanted to try BF3. They didn't get any money from it, and I was apparently already behind them. And then the Origin installer fucked up to a point it tried deleting it's parent directory, which I honestly thought would be impossible due to some degree of OS restriction. I tried to install it a second time, but recording with FRAPS so I could capture proof, and then it went without a hitch. :V
More power to you, though. Just be careful about playing older EA games, and make sure to read the EULA in any patched updates.
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lol
Yes, there are actually people who read their agreements.
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The problem is when they expect you to re-read the EULA agreements every time they patch their game. They're catch-alls intended as click-throughs to hold customers to a standard of conduct, but are also used to entrap at times too (see also : the paypal horror stories of old).
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+1, aswell as one for ATARI, but they are bankrupt now anyways luckyly :)
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Same here. Why do I want to give my money to EA when I can give it to companies like CD-Projekt?
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Origin haters must be the ones that hasnt log-in origin a while.
Compared to steam, steam is broken, I installed my steam on D: drive HDD(second HDD). When I change my main windows HDD, steam become broken, tried reinstalling it wont work. I have to uninstall steam first which automatically removes all my games = sucks to the core.
Origin? they work on the fly. There is no need to reinstall even the client, they just work.
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Except when trying to download games with Origin, where it will randomly decide to delete several gigs and then continue downloading for no reason. The solution? The same solution they offered years ago : "Make sure you enable the option to use the latest client beta". Funnily enough, it seems to stabilise it a little, but that's a lot of wasted gigs, and a strange ethic towards patching.
Also, steam breaking itself? The client is tiny and easily resolved. I'll say this much : Steam never tried to delete it's parent directory. Origin however, did. That's right. Well, I say "tried", it succeeded, just shy of the final two folders in my /games/ directory, because of having caught it and disabled the Origin installer that was doing it. You need to have some pretty messed up installer to make a mistake THAT big. I'm just glad I decided to install Origin to my /games/ directory and not the default of /program files/ :P
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It is not the parent directory I am talking about, it is that both clients install on the second drive /game directory, but to my surprise, when I swap my win8 HDD out with another new empty C drive HDD & install another OS = win7. Steam is the only one become broken. I tried reinstall = still broken lol. I was expecting steam to work right away without re-installing at all. It fails me.
Origin doesnt even need reinstall, it launch my Bf3 right away
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Oh, also, steam lets you back-up games you have installed. It trims off some of the files, but compresses itself into a semi-complete download that you can restore later on to really speed up the process. Failing that, you can also just copy out the whole uncompressed games from the steam /common/ folder and try to transplant them back in (though I've only had patchy success with this).
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I have all of my games installed on another drive and have reinstalled my OS while keeping my games on the other drive. No issues at all. Origin on the other hand always wants to redownload the entire install package even if the game is installed already.
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If that was the case, it's more likely that other files would be effected. In these cases, it's always a single game directory that gets scrubbed and auto-queued for downloading. It's a noted phenomenon in their support site, along with the thing where downloads-in-progress drop entire gigs of downloaded data just to re-download them without reason. Looking at the dates, it's been a known error/bug since the launch of Origin, and the strangest thing is that enabling the "use latest beta client" actually solves it. Yet it's not actually the client state itself, otherwise the bug would cease to exist as the patches move up, right?
There's some weird oversight in the code that has been left unchecked for years.
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I've changed my SSD (windows) recently. All games are installed in HDD previously. So, with a new freshly install Windows 7, I install both Steam & Origin and linked back their games folder to the HDD. Steam recognized the installed game immediately, but for Origin, I need to click download on each game. However, it detected that the games were there, so it went right up to 100% except for some which needed some update. So it works for both I'd say.
P/s: For skyrim, even the mods are being saved :D The mods manager needs to be reinstalled though.
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Only problem currently with steam is that they are letting tons of bad games on, they were having a big spout of it going offline but lately it has been fine for me at least.
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I have to agree. Some of the new games on steam don't deserve to be on there.
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It's not really a "power play" when you give away a free, older game. Even if the game was popular and still actually pretty cool. That's better described as "baiting", to get more people to give them a chance. What EA doesn't realise though, is that it's bad pricing and consistently bad/weird decision-making over many years is what turns people away from them. A power play would be more akin to a reform of their Origin EULA to inspire trust, reviewing their pricing, and listening more closely to vital concerns regarding games they themselves release. You know, like the lack of an offline mode in Sim City, which by the way is also not a power play, and more of making a game more accessible / less inhibitive.
The humble bundle they did, where they took no direct profits from it was more of a power-play than this is. Yet in the end, this is all just bells and whistles upon something that suffers from some pretty harsh fundamental flaws. If they could just address those and perhaps step up their game in regards to customer interaction/communication (no, not customer service/helpdesking), they they could legitimately pose a threat to things like Steam. Until then, they're just another 'slightly more than a games launcher'.
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A powerplay would be them being bought by Valve, and consumed by the being known as Steam.
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As is so frequently the case, your insights are keen.
I continue to attest that Steam has quite a few fundamental flaws that can be ruthlessly exploited by others (Amazon, Origin), should those companies wish to make a hard push.
First and foremost, Steam's Achilles heel is their customer service. It is beyond reprehensible. The good news is that the client usually works pretty well (I won't give them very well). But when something goes wrong, especially inside of an individual account, it can take weeks to iron out because of the drunk monkeys that got rejected from medical testing.
Steam has what is probably the thinnest definition of customer service of almost any organization I have ever dealt with. It exists, but it just functions to continue to exist.
If Amazon could offer the interface and selection, I'd jump ship in a heartbeat, even having to pay tax with regularity. I have no love for Steam. It's a relationship of convenience.
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If there were other digital distribution platforms that actually posed a threat to Steam, then it would finally create a more substantial competitive element which might drive Valve to up their game a little more.
I actually like Steam despite it's few warts, though Valve themselves have a big part in that. I feel I can trust them, and they generally listen to concerns and address them in a manner other than the virtual "We're never changing, get out if you don't like it" that you get from other places. Their customer service is lacking, but thankfully no worse than any other support that uses automated-response as a first-line filter. Some live support would be great, though.
Steam kind of exists in a vacuum at the moment because it is so far in the lead. The movements of the competitors are so far beneath them that there isn't any real call to match any progress they make. The selling prices, the sheer range of products, and the general attitude/ethic of Valve make for a strong opponent. If and when another platform catches up to Steam, it will be interesting to see how they would refine themselves to stay in the lead. Without competition, it's only natural to get a little sloppy around the edges. Similarly, Origin exists in a vacuum because there is seemingly no interest in expanding to cover a wider range of games, nor to keep the prices for their own games competitive. They have an exclusive product line, so rely on the fact people will throw money at them no matter how shabbily they treat their consumers, and rather than trying to reach/branch out and grow, they simply buy, absorb and digest other properties and companies. Desura is the premium spot for indie games yet suffers because of a lack of price standardisation (and with quality control akin to greenlight), yet occupies a slot that only GoG contests, but both have different focuses so coexist easily.
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Agreed on the vacuum. The other thing Steam has going that's both a positive and a negative for the consumer is that Valve is still a private company. That's not an accident. Newell is poised to be able to move more quickly on trends, sales, and prototyping (the new hardware push is a great example). And OTOH, it also allows them to move more slowly in development of the actual new ideas. No public shareholders to bitch at them about meeting QEs and all the other BS that goes along with that.
Downside is that they really only have to answer to themselves, which means that despite your assessment of Origin treating their customers shabbily, Steam does the same. I mean, c'mon. Anyone who has had to deal with not one, but a half dozen goddam C&Ps from a Valve monkey, or bot, or whatever the hell is going on there, has to at least feel like they're getting a nice fuck you. Because...well, they are.
I remember a couple of years ago buying a game and putting it in my inventory. It then promptly disappeared from my inventory with no trace. It was in my purchase logs, but customer service couldn't be bothered to do a damn thing except repeat some version of "end user error". The client finally resolved the issue, but it was weeks later. So...when as a company you sell something and don't give it to the client. Well, that's tantamount to theft and some pretty darn shitty service. :)
But anyway...back to the bitchfest about Origin. It's at least good to know that all is well and predictable in the world tonight. ;)
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I've come to the same conclusion, when dealing with Steam's dull "support". Words can't describe how frustrating it is.
But I still prefer Valve in Gabe's hands rather than a bunch of overconfident business dimwits.
By looking at EA, you can easily tell what happens when such people are in charge, even if indirectly, they still dictate the company's course of action and the outcome is, that franchises are being ruined by rushing sequels, repetitive sports titles to milk the long term fans and bullshit marketing like the SimCity online requirement, that was removed by some random internet guy with couple lines of code. These are results of mismanagement and a series of bad decisions just to cash in and make the share holders happy at any cost.
Both have their flaws but for now, Steam is better. But oh god their fucking support.....
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One time I was trying to buy the GTA complete pack, a pack with GTA IV and its DLC's and I think San Andreas and Vice city. I was going to buy it but Steam (Beta Launcher) was unable to add it to my cart. I filed a service complaint that I would have bought it but would miss the sale. Since I stated I would have bought it in my complaint, but couldnt due to there failures, they gifted me the pack for free. That was the 3rd problem I've ever had with Steam but they bought a level of my respect. There are flaws, but I'll trust Valve over M$ and Sony any day. Still love Nintendo though haha.
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I've only ever had one problem with Valve's support, and that was coincidentally a problem that was shared with EA, too. It was regarding the release of an EA game (All Points Bulletin) which is an MMOG-styled shooter, but the company went under a few months after launch, taking the game's servers down with it. While EA were happily offering a choice of a few games to compensate for this, that was limited to people who purchased it directly through their barebones EADM webstore thingy. I got in touch with Valve about the state of the game, and they told me to take it up with EA. I got in touch with EA, and they told me to take it up with Valve.
Who should really be held accountable is uncertain, because we don't really know exactly the kind of agreements the two companies made in regards to resale and responsibility, but I was shit out of luck. Thankfully the game now exists as a F2P with pay elements, and us old-timers were able to import some of our visual customisation, but lost everything else. Great game with a terrible playerbase though, it's a real marmite game.
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I'm scared by valve's EULA tbh. Let alone EA's. I get that they're making sure there is no way they can possibly be sued over improper distribution but it's still scary to me
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There's a difference between transitioning to making a paid game to F2P, and making a paid game free for a limited amount of time.
"And they were giving away Portal, L4D2 for a limited time - just like Origin with Battlefield 1942 and Dead Space."
Except there's one huge piece of information you are leaving out, EA is going to keep distributing paid games for free, it's a part of their games on the house program. Valve doesn't have a program like that. Also Battlefield 1942 was not free for a limited time, it's free forever, not only that but Portal was only free to a specific type of people and should not be counted.
"Greedy people and their short memory."
Lol, sure thing buddy.
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"Portal was only free to a specific type of people and should not be counted."
You mean ones that have steam account? Fair enough, you should not count it because that's way too much they were asking for.
If those games EA is giving out are part some kind of program, good for them, and of course us as players, had to miss that info out. And the last sentence was pure sarcasm. When Valve was giving out L4D2 most people were praying them for being so awesome. Now when Origin does something good let's all hate steam? Almost every online game store is giving out games for free from time to time, but that's not the reason to despise others.
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"You mean ones that have steam account? Fair enough, you should not count it because that's way too much they were asking for."
I was actually talking about the Mac promotion where you had to install Steam on a Mac and sign in to get the game. Was it available for free again after that? I can't remember. If so my bad.
" Now when Origin does something good let's all hate steam? Almost every online game store is giving out games for free from time to time, but that's not the reason to despise others."
No one is hating on Steam, this is a Steam-centric community and all. Origin is just not as bad as people make it out to be. Origin is not Steam, but it's still a nice service.
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Portal 1 was free for all platforms on 2 occasions, you can see the dates in the wikipedia article
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Sim city is a big change in attitude. They're breaking a large part of their DRM to help fix customer complaints. It's unlikely many people will buy the game because of that addition so imo it looks like customer service.
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They did make some good games, unfortunately they've pulled the plugs on most of the servers supporting those games.
They sometimes even do this within two years of a release (while those games are still up for sale at your local store in the bargain bin...).
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I don't understand all this hate against EA and people who think Steam is the new messiah of pc gaming. We are all a number on a dollar bill to them, we're just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are here to make a profit, not doing charity.
I think both Steam and Origin do different things. Steam is an online retailer for pc games, while Origin is the same thing but only focused on EA games. The only thing I have against origin is that they turn everything into a first-person shooter.
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Sony gives away free games through PS+, no one complains.
Microsoft gives free games through XBL Gold, the only complaints are that they're stealing from Sony.
EA announces a plan to give away free games, and EVERYONE bitches about it.
Now I'm not a fan of EA, but they do have some decent games (like Dragon Age, and Mass Effect). That said, I'm not a fan of their business practices, and if I do buy an EA game, I'd buy it used (So buying stuff from Origin never happens). Hell, when EA announced they'd stop using their online pass shit at E3, I got a bit excited, because that was one of the reasons I don't buy new EA games.
I could understand all the hate if they maybe increased the price, but they literally made an item free, and announced a plan to do it more. I don't even get why you people are complaining.
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"EA announces a plan to give away free games, and EVERYONE bitches about it."
That's funny, I haven't seen any bitching about it at all. Just people discussing the general state of EA / Origin. The OP's claim of it being a "power play" is what's getting criticised, if anything.
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Those games are not "free"
You only have access to them as long as you continue paying for PS+
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It's an obvious bait strategy to tempt people into Origin, but Dead Space is a solid horror game despite the cheap jumpscares. The polish and claustrophobia were pretty cool.
This is what irks me the most, really. EA shows that they have business sense in making profits, and that they have the potential to be a real contender beyond just a money-grinding machine, but they never really go that extra stretch to secure customer satisfaction, instead opting for token "we're still good!" gestures. As time passes, those in directing seats within the company will be shuffled by, and hopefully some good folks will straighten EA out and turn it into the true Valve competitor it could be. Competition is a great thing to have, because it drives companies to strive for better goals, but right now they're all just floating sorta idly around one another.
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It is worth noting since some people don't know, some games on Steam have codes that can also be activated on Origin like Dead Space for example. I know I got a bunch of other games on Origin using the same code that gave me the game on Steam.
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First allowing Maxis to make a non-online version of Sim City and now giving away free copies of old games? I'd say so. Too bad they're late to the party.
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