EA: Says Battlefield 4 Complaints Are Just "Noise"

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Electronic Arts, a company known for putting the customer ahead of profits*, says complaints about Battlefield 4 are "a lot of noise."

I think there was a lot of noise about the game, but some of that is a function of your surface area. The more customers you have, the more noise becomes available. We did things wrong. We know that. We’re gonna fix those things. We’re gonna try to be smart about what customers want in the future.
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*haha
 
Why would they care or even try to change? People will bitch, moan, and whine but in the end the majority are still going to buy every game they release no matter how bad they screw up and no matter how terrible their customer service is. They have no incentive to improve. They are just like the phone and cable companies.
 
man they make it sound like its there first freaking rodeo. every single battlefield release has had so many bugs. youd think they eventually get it right. ive owned and played every battlefield since bf2 and this has been one of the worst launches ever.
 
Cobra said:
Why would they care or even try to change? People will bitch, moan, and whine but in the end the majority are still going to buy every game they release no matter how bad they screw up and no matter how terrible their customer service is. They have no incentive to improve. They are just like the phone and cable companies.
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This.

Not sure what happened to people, but somehow the corporations have convinced us (society on the whole) to buy shit products. And keep buying them, despite how much we hate them. How did that happen?
 
They don't listen to demands of their customers, they only jump when the share holders complain about something...If only they played the games EA made them money with.
 
Czech99 said:
man they make it sound like its there first freaking rodeo. every single battlefield release has had so many bugs. youd think they eventually get it right. ive owned and played every battlefield since bf2 and this has been one of the worst launches ever.
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Its more then just bugs, ever read the battlefield forums for bf3 and bf4. Nerf this nerf that. I don't know how they can sit there, read all the complaints and not go nuts
 
I returned BF4 after playing it for a day. Been playing CoD Ghosts instead (which isn't much better, but at least it's stable... most of the time)
 
jbltecnicspro said:
This.

Not sure what happened to people, but somehow the corporations have convinced us (society on the whole) to buy shit products. And keep buying them, despite how much we hate them. How did that happen?
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I got tired of paying $200 a month for TV to get HD, a DVR, and the 25-30 channels I actually wanted to watch. I haven't had TV in years. I miss TV. Do you think Comcast gives a shit about the fact that I refuse to buy their service because I don't want to pay $200 a month for 200 channels I won't watch? Not as long as the majority of other people are willing to. Basically, unless the majority revolts there is no incentive for them to change and the people that don't buy in just wind up feeling deprived because they are left out.
 
EA is like the Cleveland Browns.
They live on past glory and a die hard fan base, make big promises every year and pump out shit product that drives everyone nuts.
We keep hearing how things are going to change, but they never do.
And so long as people keep lining up to buy shit, things aren't going to change because who cares so long as the money keeps rolling in?
 
I think there was a lot of noise about the game, but some of that is a function of your surface area.
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Typical corporate speech. This happens when people running the show do not understand their consumers. It's part of the reason old B&M music stores weren't able to survive. EA will do just fine though. As buggy as BF4 is, it's still one of the best team based FPS and there's still plenty of brand equity. It seems like EA is set on milking the BF franchise as opposed to investing and building upon it.

Here's to hoping a good contender comes out sooner than later.
 
Cobra said:
I got tired of paying $200 a month for TV to get HD, a DVR, and the 25-30 channels I actually wanted to watch. I haven't had TV in years. I miss TV. Do you think Comcast gives a shit about the fact that I refuse to buy their service because I don't want to pay $200 a month for 200 channels I won't watch? Not as long as the majority of other people are willing to. Basically, unless the majority revolts there is no incentive for them to change and the people that don't buy in just wind up feeling deprived because they are left out.
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It's the consumer version of the hunger strike:

"I'm going to keep harming myself until you relent!"
 
EA head honchos only care about the shareholders thus they push unfinished games out the door that are riddled with bugs. Then the devs are literally depressed with the negative backlash, but the CEO doesn't care. The customers are pissed that it's broken, but the CEO doesn't care. The CEO is happy because everyone bought it and that's all he cares about. Dollars and cents. Thus he can go back to the shareholders and brag about the amount of sales and they toss more money his way. The more money they toss; the larger his yearly bonus and compensation package grows.

So why would any of you think that EA's top brass give a fuck about you?
 
jbltecnicspro said:
This.

Not sure what happened to people, but somehow the corporations have convinced us (society on the whole) to buy shit products. And keep buying them, despite how much we hate them. How did that happen?
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oh yea ive seen it its 100+ pg threads about those types of things
 
Scumbag EA: Brags about how many customers they have, while saying they're not going to try to please them in any way.
 
Love this line from the article...

The obvious and glaring issues – the ones we heard most about from our customers, the ones that matter most to them – we’ve really gotten on top of those and they’re fixed.

Now that's a good one!!! Love playing without sound on TDM!
 
Just to provide a counterpoint, I think both sides have merit. The BF4 release evidently sucked, and it was probably pushed to market before it was ready, which is typical of EA. I say "evidently" because I didn't own the game then, I got in during the BF/CM sales. Battlelog says I have 82h in on the game, and I think I've crashed out maybe twice in that entire time. Overall I think the game is amazing, from the visuals, to the maps, to the teamplay, everything coming together is nothing short of astounding as far as pushing the genre and multiplayer games in general. I think EA does have a point that a vocal minority is what you see on the forums, as a majority of people are too busy playing (evidenced by the huge queues on servers).

Again, I missed the launch fiasco(s), but so far the game has been great and stable, although I notice that there are people who still complain. Like many times before, I sit her wondering at which point do I stop becoming "lucky" and instead am a guy who actually knows how to run a fucking computer system. I think many times you have people who have no idea how to stably overclock, or update drivers, or not run tons of bullshit on their computer, and then blame software for their incompetence. The other thing is I'm not pissed because I picked up the game and Premium for a total of $57 during the sales a MONTH after release. If you're upset you paid full price, you only have yourself to blame; be an adult and set a price you're willing to pay for the experience, then shut up about it. I totally understand being frustrated with the launch and the game not working as intended despite pre-ordering on good faith, EA totally dropped the ball on its fanbase. But that's over now, move on and don't pre-order next time. Fool me once, shame on you... blah blah blah.
 
I can't remember the last time I bought an EA game - but Cobra's right. Unless a whole bunch of people boycott their products - it don't mean crap. Meanwhile I get called "cheap" from my friends :)
 
DoubleTap said:
It's the consumer version of the hunger strike:

"I'm going to keep harming myself until you relent!"
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That's what you do to make a change. Look at history. Either you literally go to war to change something or you completely ignore an institution until they hurt financially.

When African Americans were required to sit in the back of buses or literally stand up to their destination, they combated it by refusing to ride the bus at all. The bus companies literally were going bankrupt from the loss of customers. In a very short period of time they were granted the right to sit where they wanted to on the bus.

When stores carry the wrong products or at too high of a price, consumers will boycott it and shop elsewhere. KMART, SEARS, Woolworth, etc found this out the hard way. So it's not hard to do in the gaming industry. It requires having a backbone.

Games are not considered real entertainment by the mainstream press most of the time. Thus consumers don't take gamers seriously. You'd think that a multibillionaire industry wouldn't have these identity issues. But it does because many gamers are young and don't understand what it means to truly believe in a concept. To actually give a damn when something is wrong. To want to fight for a cause. They just whine to their parents for the new "in" thing.

The EA's of the world just gather their little flock and shear them for their pennies with every new DLC pack that emerges. The sheep just say "Baaa" and life goes on. Thus this EA executive is 100% right. It's just a bunch of noise.
 
cageymaru said:
EA head honchos only care about the shareholders thus they push unfinished games out the door that are riddled with bugs. Then the devs are literally depressed with the negative backlash, but the CEO doesn't care. The customers are pissed that it's broken, but the CEO doesn't care. The CEO is happy because everyone bought it and that's all he cares about. Dollars and cents. Thus he can go back to the shareholders and brag about the amount of sales and they toss more money his way. The more money they toss; the larger his yearly bonus and compensation package grows.

So why would any of you think that EA's top brass give a fuck about you?
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They don't nor would I ever think they would give a shit about me. It's up to the consumers to look out for themselves.

Personally I don't pre-order games. I wait for 3rd party reviews from people like totalbiscuit and Angry Joe, and I try to look at some random in game footage. Then if it looks good I'll consider buying it.

Let me list a few of the trends by publishers/developers that encourage me to wait:
  • Day one DLC, sometimes "on disk" DLC. The despicable act of stipping content that should be in the release to try to suck more money. Later on the game gets released as a "Game of the year" or "Ultimate" version, which really should have just be the release version, or as I call it, the "What it should have been", version.
  • Closely related in the greed dept., single player games now charging for "cheats". Example: selling "resource packs" in Dead Space 3. What used to be a "cheat code" (ie. IDKFA) is now $1.99.
  • No dedicated servers - so if it's a good game they can "sunset" it, release a new version, and suck up more money.
  • No mods with very few exceptions (such as Fallout / Skyrim).
  • Broken Games that don't get fixed as the developer has moved on since they already made their buck. On top of that Official releases are more and more becoming paid betas.
  • Almost never a demo. When I first got to play Doom Shareware, holy crap, I couldn't wait to buy the game! I happily spent months of allowance to get it. Personally, I absolutely DEMAND to see the product before I buy it. I don't give a shit what their marketing department or the "totally not bribed" reviewers at IGN say. If you won't let me see a product before I buy it, I assume you're hiding something and trying to fuck me over.
  • The corrupt "review" system.
  • Oppressive DRM.
 
I remember masses of complaints and moans about BF2 but I just got on with playing it and didn't really have any issues.

And yes it did work fine with 1GB of ram back then. It was all in the HDD you had. I had a Raptor.
 
Shareholders mean everything. Customers mean something, but not as much as shareholders. It's when a problem hits a company, like the EA stock hit, that's when they start paying attention.
 
cageymaru said:
That's what you do to make a change. Look at history. Either you literally go to war to change something or you completely ignore an institution until they hurt financially.
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It's not going to do anything at this scale. It's a meaningless gesture.

It's like those those greasy fedora-wearing nerdshoe bronies smashing their iphones on reddit because BITCOIN.
 
cageymaru said:
But it does because many gamers are young and don't understand what it means to truly believe in a concept. To actually give a damn when something is wrong. To want to fight for a cause. It's just a bunch of noise.
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Not buying shitty games is not fighting for a cause. Dial back the drama, Roosevelt.
 
Holy fucking denial batman.

I am intrigued by the new UFC game for the PS4, but there's no way in hell I can support that shitty company with another dime of my money. I guess I'll do without that and Madden this go round.
 
While there are tons of valid complaints over BF4, and EA as a whole, but most nerd rage is in fact just noise.

The internet as a whole constantly blows things up way out of proportion, and complaints over even the most minor issue can end up sounding like some earth shattering, life ending mistake.

You need look no further than COD for perfect examples such as how any weapon balancing patches are followed by death threats and massive emo rage directed anyone and everyone involved in the game in any manner.
 
for people saying this isnt totally EA's fault, pre-order ANY blizzard game (or buy any of them, even the ones that are 10 years old) and run it. very few if any problems ever, nearly seamless online experiences, etc. why do you think they refuse to make hard release dates?
 
This place cracks me up. You know why BF4 sales so well?

Because there isn't a viable alternative that is better, period. Even with the issues it is the best game of the genre on the market, or COD if you prefer that play style.

I am having a blast with BF4 on PS4 no less.

The market will kill something it doesn't like, see Guitar Hero.
 
Aluisious said:
Not buying shitty games is not fighting for a cause. Dial back the drama, Roosevelt.
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My generation imploded the video game market in the 80's because it was uninspiring, they were turning out the same games over and over, zero improvements in graphics quality, ultra expensive, and the QC was crap. We literally asked our parents for something else instead of games, and only bought a game if it was in the local pharmacy bargain bin for $0.50 or what Shigeru Miyamoto created. My dad had to talk me into those games as they had become cheaper than a bag of chips and a soda. I guess the differences in our attitudes is age most likely or maybe upbringing. No diss intended.
 
XvMMvX said:
This place cracks me up. You know why BF4 sales so well?

Because there isn't a viable alternative that is better, period. Even with the issues it is the best game of the genre on the market, or COD if you prefer that play style.
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true there really isnt. and there SHOULD be. more competition in the marketplace will result in better games
 
G_Sup said:
Love this line from the article...

The obvious and glaring issues – the ones we heard most about from our customers, the ones that matter most to them – we’ve really gotten on top of those and they’re fixed.

Now that's a good one!!! Love playing without sound on TDM!
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Yeah, that PR strategy is such bullshit - just proclaim to the public that they've fixed all the major issues. Such a blatant lie.
 
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