EA bans ongoing + can ban non-Origin EA games

All the folks getting upset need to read up on the current state of intellectual property rights. The publishers and game companies have been telling us for years, you don't own the games you purchase.
 
I see problems on both sides.

I agree that a individual who is causing a scene regularly and is warned multiple times, should be reprimanded in a clearly defined way. (ie: 1 Day Temp ban, 3 day Temp ban, 7 Day Temp ban, Account lockout.) [With a time-period to reset the infractions to zero]

I disagree with the rate at which these bans are distributed and am doubtful that the repercussions are being -clearly- defined. Also, when account bans are required, a final and manual approval should be necessary. Temp bans on an automated program are fine, never a license revocation though. It also sounds like they need to resolve their automated crawler's programming, though, it seems as if this story may be heavily embellished as I can not believe anyone would create something as primitive as that automated ban-tool.

For the Origin and thereby any license provisioners hate, why? Any service possessing a license has the ability to revoke your access on the agreed license terms. Origin, Steam, D2D all have the capability to do it. EA seems to be policing harder though, as more 'anonymous asshats' think they can get away with it. The issue is that the rules need to be clearly defined as well as possible repercussions for attempting to either circumvent or ignore them, willfully.
 
Guys, this is far too important to just ask you to click a link and read it for yourself.

Here, read the WHOLE thing, and then comment

To keep you up to date with the status of our investigation into EA’s dubious banning players from accessing their Origin account games (mostly multiplayer, although we’re hearing exceptions), we have, well, no news.

Unfortunately, despite repeated attempts to receive a statement on EA’s current position on their banning procedure, we have only been met with silence for the last fortnight. After some initial responses, pointing affected customers toward their support lines, we received an ambiguous statement that avoided the current issue and rather said there were plans to “review” whatever the current secret policy might be. And then no responses to our emails since. All the while, we’re hearing of case after case of customers being affected.


I’m building up quite the portfolio of affected gamers, who find after a forum violation they’re unable to access their Origin games. And within this is a more disturbing trend – those who are finding that their forum bans are, without explanation, becoming permanent bans. Permanent bans from accessing their Origin accounts, their Battlelog accounts, and therefore downloading purchased games, and playing online. Something which obviously raises serious questions about consumer rights, which is of course another angle we’re currently investigating.

The pattern tends to go like this:

Person says a naughty word on an EA forum.
Person receives 72 hour ban from forums, which blocks Origin too.
Person contacts EA customer support and is told “tough”.
Person writes to RPS.

With the occasional addition of:

Person finds their ban has become permanent with no warning, and no option to appeal.

Of those people who contact us, we tend to get two types. The first who write invective-speckled fury on the forum, and then to us, and obviously entirely deserve their forum bans. The second are those who have done absolutely nothing wrong on the forums, but are punished erroneously, either for quoting an insult someone else has called them, or doing nothing offensive whatsoever. But neither group, according to EA’s words to us in March, should be being banned from Origin or accessing their games. A statement, however, that EA doesn’t appear willing to repeat nine months on.

So there’s Rob, who was accused of posting a commercial to his support site – a site that EA links to itself in its own support site FAQ – who received a ban. And James, permanently banned (until his account mysteriously popped back to life recently, with no communication from anyone) for saying “e-peen”. We’ve heard from Alex, who put a sweary joke on the forum, not directed at anyone, and found himself locked out of his games. Toma got in touch to say that after previous bans for what sound like entirely unacceptable forum posts, months later he has now found himself banned because of his Gravatar logo – a Reddit troll face. Buh? Pointing out that one of the main devs at EA uses the Me Gusta face got nowhere, and he has been told he’ll learn of his account’s fate in seven days, so certainly longer than the traditional 72 hour ban, potentially permanent.

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.”

Aaron chronicles his adventures here.

At this point, with no reply from those within EA who have responded to this matter in the past, we can only suggest that our readers avoid the EA forums. The chances of being banned seem far too risky, when the consequences are the loss of access to products you have paid for. We are aware we’re not the only ones looking into the legality of this matter.
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It's simply incomprehensible that anybody would defend this.
 
Fail said:
Guys, this is far too important to just ask you to click a link and read it for yourself.

Here, read the WHOLE thing, and then comment



It's simply incomprehensible that anybody would defend this.
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Not important at all. Act like an adult, don't be a fucking moron, and everything is fine. Just because it is a game you're playing doesn't mean you're not addressing a business in the support section and forums.

I managed a bank branch for years. If someone addressed one of my employees the way some of these forum posters have (and it did happen at times) I would advise them that we no longer wanted their business and close out their accounts.

Welcome to reality kids, be an internet tough guy, be ready to get punched back.
 
Its not incomprehensible that people would defend EA , the public in general is massively naive and ignorant.

Its funny until it happens to you is the only way they can learn. You can't possibly make an argument for how this guy deserved to have all his games banned and his ability to ever play them again revoked. I don't care if he mocked your holocaust surviving great grandmother (despite that being a horrid thing) it just doesn't make sense what EA is getting away with it.
 
_PixelNinja said:
I do not understand how people --other than EA-- can think that behavior on a forum can and should warrant the removal of a product one payed for.
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Simple, if you are being an idiot at a concert you will get kicked out without refund. Same principle that's used anywhere and everywhere else in the world, if you feel the need to be a prick you pay the price. It's just that the Internet has for a long time perpetuated that behavior that would be unacceptable in a face-to-face situation is perfectly fine and without consequence online. EA disagrees. Good for them.

I hope this ends up in court and the courts side with EA.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Not important at all. Act like an adult, don't be a fucking moron, and everything is fine. Just because it is a game you're playing doesn't mean you're not addressing a business in the support section and forums.

I managed a bank branch for years. If someone addressed one of my employees the way some of these forum posters have (and it did happen at times) I would advise them that we no longer wanted their business and close out their accounts.

Welcome to reality kids, be an internet tough guy, be ready to get punched back.
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Exactly you closed there accounts but you didn't steal all the money in it and deposit it into the bank's main account and say "you are banned from ever using your money again".

Wonderful counter argument.
 
I'm sure that kid is being 100% truthful to the journalist. Might have left out a few a few troll post or two that has since been deleted. I'm sure EA goes around and ban people without any investigations.
 
Godmachine said:
Exactly you closed there accounts but you didn't steal all the money in it and deposit it into the bank's main account and say "you are banned from ever using your money again".

Wonderful counter argument.
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But any services they paid for at the bank were lost. I didn't refund that month's checking fees or whatever else they may have paid.

EA isn't coming to your house and stealing your CD and box; those are your physical items. But the battle log service and forums, which is a service you no longer have access to. You're comparing apples with oranges.
 
Godmachine said:
Exactly you closed there accounts but you didn't steal all the money in it and deposit it into the bank's main account and say "you are banned from ever using your money again".

Wonderful counter argument.
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I lol'd, you're exactly right, as usual.

I love metaphor fails just as much as anybody else.
 
TwistedAegis said:
But any services they paid for at the bank were lost. I didn't refund that month's checking fees or whatever else they may have paid.

EA isn't coming to your house and stealing your CD and box; those are your physical items. But the battle log service and forums, which is a service you no longer have access to. You're comparing apples with oranges.
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The single player games are unplayable as well.
 
Again, I can see banning someone for life from a forum even though that's always easier said than done. I'm all for it if the situation merits it.

Single player games: Nothing should happen, ever.

Multiplayer games: Temp bans, black lists, stuff like that for CHEATING. Now, I have been in games where you get these people that think they're really cool because they've discovered how to mix profanity and the N word like it's something completely new...unfortunately, a lot of those same people still paid money for a complete product which means that includes the multiplayer component.

Believe me: I'd LOVE to have less douches and lowlifes out there and in these games but I still feel like there's a slippery slope there when you're talking about someone pays money for a product and then is banned from using it the product they paid for.

For all the drive by troll posts in this thread with people saying they like it and they agree with EA, I have yet to see one person actually back that up with anything concrete and meaningful. You know why? Because you can't and everyone knows it.

So there's only one other solution: If that person gets "life banned from the game" then they should get at least a partial refund if not a full one.
 
TwistedAegis said:
But any services they paid for at the bank were lost. I didn't refund that month's checking fees or whatever else they may have paid.

EA isn't coming to your house and stealing your CD and box; those are your physical items. But the battle log service and forums, which is a service you no longer have access to. You're comparing apples with oranges.
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But are you buying the service or the game? Is the product they are buying called "Battlelog Service and Interlocked Forums to Access and Play Software Entitled Battlefield 3" or some such? Or is that nice little point buried in the EULA?

The problem with the idea of denying a service (access to battlelog) based on behavior in a different service (forums) is that it completely disables your ability to use the product you bought (the game).

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for banning idiots in the forums but I don't think any of these analogies really work here. Checking fees and such are paid for use as well, so that example may be closer to an mmo model - you get banned and don't get refunded money for any time you've spent up to that point playing.
 
Fail said:
I love metaphor fails just as much as anybody else.
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met·a·phor   /ˈmɛtəˌfɔr, -fər/ Show Spelled[met-uh-fawr, -fer] Show IPA
noun
1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”

krakerman said:
But are you buying the service or the game? Is the product they are buying called "Battlelog Service and Interlocked Forums to Access and Play Software Entitled Battlefield 3" or some such? Or is that nice little point buried in the EULA?

The problem with the idea of denying a service (access to battlelog) based on behavior in a different service (forums) is that it completely disables your ability to use the product you bought (the game).

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for banning idiots in the forums but I don't think any of these analogies really work here. Checking fees and such are paid for use as well, so that example may be closer to an mmo model - you get banned and don't get refunded money for any time you've spent up to that point playing.
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I don't agree with banning them from single player. But overall, I agree with the overall intent, even if it does need to be more clearly defined and transparent.

That being said, arguing shades of gray in here is pointless as some appear to feel that being an asshole without consequences is written somewhere in the Constitution.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Not important at all. Act like an adult, don't be a fucking moron, and everything is fine. Just because it is a game you're playing doesn't mean you're not addressing a business in the support section and forums.

I managed a bank branch for years. If someone addressed one of my employees the way some of these forum posters have (and it did happen at times) I would advise them that we no longer wanted their business and close out their accounts.

Welcome to reality kids, be an internet tough guy, be ready to get punched back.
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Just to be clear then, you support the banning of people for swearing, for posting links that ea themselves posted or have a link to and for having a pic on your profile that a dev has as well. Oh and you also support the banning of quoting someone that may break a rule like me replying to you if this site didn't allow swearing?

Why should any of that effect my single player game? Hell why should it effect my multilayer game!?
 
Fail said:
Guys, this is far too important to just ask you to click a link and read it for yourself.

Here, read the WHOLE thing, and then comment



It's simply incomprehensible that anybody would defend this.
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I will take EA's word over some random internet person's opinion.:rolleyes:
 
nobody_here said:
no, not the same. if you buy a real car, and walk into a ford dealership and act like a child and cause a scene and defame the company, you could find yourself being locked up and then sued, in which case they would get your car most certainly

i think it's pretty simple now that I understand the situation

buy a video game, play it according to the terms of service, thats it, if you decide to stand in a crowd and talk shit to people, expect that person to take offense and perhaps take action. just because kids can act like children in a video game forum doesn't mean they should
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You're obviously joking, but in case anyone takes you seriously:

What the above poster is saying is that if you buy something, then talk shit about it, its no longer yours. It doesn't matter that you paid for it, instead of restricting your right to talk shit, its proper to take away the product you bought without refund.

Someone please remind me real quick what its called when someone takes something you own without your permission.
 
Dethred said:
You're obviously joking, but in case anyone takes you seriously:

What the above poster is saying is that if you buy something, then talk shit about it, its no longer yours. It doesn't matter that you paid for it, instead of restricting your right to talk shit, its proper to take away the product you bought without refund.

Someone please remind me real quick what its called when someone takes something you own without your permission.
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Eminent domain? ;)
 
merlin704 said:
I will take EA's word over some random internet person's opinion.:rolleyes:
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Then you will take their side in which they stated officially that this shouldn't have been happening in the first place? (specially all those bans of people who did nothing).

Seriously they need to hire more monkeys, lock them in cages with computes, to see if finally instead of flinging and coding feces they code a proper system that separates forums, multiplayer, singleplayer experiences AND just adds a darned profanity filter!
 
Fail said:
Guys, this is far too important to just ask you to click a link and read it for yourself.

Here, read the WHOLE thing, and then comment



It's simply incomprehensible that anybody would defend this.
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My statement and musings were made prior to reading it and intended as a genral approach to these types of problems, as I could not get to that link from here. As you have kindly posted it and I read it, my prior statement stands.
 
Dethred said:
So you're cool with one of the admins here coming to your house and taking your PC if they disagree with your comment?
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Yeah EA will rape your whole family to death and make you watch if you say something mean on their forum.
 
Dethred said:
So you're cool with one of the admins here coming to your house and taking your PC if they disagree with your comment?
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I didn't agree to a TOS saying that they could, like in EA's case.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending EA. I'm defending following rules.

I do, however, disagree with how EA is handling the situation.
 
TwistedAegis said:
Not important at all. Act like an adult, don't be a fucking moron, and everything is fine. Just because it is a game you're playing doesn't mean you're not addressing a business in the support section and forums.

I managed a bank branch for years. If someone addressed one of my employees the way some of these forum posters have (and it did happen at times) I would advise them that we no longer wanted their business and close out their accounts.

Welcome to reality kids, be an internet tough guy, be ready to get punched back.
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The difference here, is that when you close out their account you don't take their money too. If you took that person's money, you'd be posting on [H] from prison.

There seems to be a massive gap between reality and what people are saying here.
 
Dethred said:
Someone please remind me real quick what its called when someone takes something you own without your permission.
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Just to enlighten you on the subject you don't actually OWN the game. You may be in possession of the physical media, but you license it's use. And that license can be revoked. So, read the EULA (End User LICENSE Agreement) and TOS (Terms of SERVICE). You'll clearly see that your forum account is linked to your EA account which is linked to your Origin account. Therefore banning one bans them all.

Don't fuck up and you won't get banned. Simple as that. Their service, their rules.
 
Valshistixol said:
Yeah EA will rape your whole family to death and make you watch if you say something mean on their forum.
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1257003814239.jpg
 
Dethred said:
So you're cool with one of the admins here coming to your house and taking your PC if they disagree with your comment?
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Not in [H]ardforum's TOS so your argument is null and void.
 
Dethred said:
The difference here, is that when you close out their account you don't take their money too. If you took that person's money, you'd be posting on [H] from prison.

There seems to be a massive gap between reality and what people are saying here.
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Ok, if you had real money in your EA account I could see what you're saying. What I did was close out access to the service, which is the same thing EA is doing.

Yes you paid for the game, but you have already gotten use out of it. I don't agree with blocking SP, but the way the game is implemented I don't see a way around it. I think they should make the banning process more transparent and the rules clear and not ban for nitpicky BS, but honestly I have no problem with the concept.

They're running a business and their goal is for people to enjoy their game. If someone is being an asshat in the forums, most likely they'll be an asshat in game as well, making the experience worse for other paying customers.
 
Gooch3008 said:
What about individuals who haven't broken the rules?
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Those individuals likely haven't been banned. You really find it easier to believe that EA bans people for things they didn't even say rather than believe that people will use any excuse to get out of paying the price for bad behavior?
 
HydroBudz said:
Just to enlighten you on the subject you don't actually OWN the game. You may be in possession of the physical media, but you license it's use. And that license can be revoked. So, read the EULA (End User LICENSE Agreement) and TOS (Terms of SERVICE). You'll clearly see that your forum account is linked to your EA account which is linked to your Origin account. Therefore banning one bans them all.

Don't fuck up and you won't get banned. Simple as that. Their service, their rules.
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Um, you're joking right. EULA's have essentially no legal backing. You buy a physical copy, you open it (thus revoking any chance of a return-for-refund), then read the EULA as you're installing it... and it turns out what you bought is just a glorified rental?

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

I'd love to see that stand up in a courtroom. Just because EA puts something into a EULA doesn't mean it stands up to a class action suit.

Lets put this into other terms (parenthesis are the game's equivalent):

You buy a car (BF3). You drive it off the lot (open the box) but the car won't start the next morning (you have to install). You get a message from the car that you must agree to the following contract to run the vehicle (EULA). In that contract it states that you must abide by their rules, including no negative comments towards the manufacturer or dealer. You start the car (game) after signing the contract (EULA), and its engine is knocking (buggy ass battlefield piece of shit). You then decide to throw a fit and tell everyone how shitty the vehicle (game) is. The manufacturer finds out and then comes by and takes your car away without providing a refund.

As scam is a scam is a scam.
 
A video game is in no way comparable to a car. Please stop using that as an analogy. The more comparable analogy is: You buy a car. You then speed on the highway. You get your license taken away - you still have your car but you are no longer permitted to use it on the roads.

They're not taking the game away from you. They're taking away access to their online service.
 
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