"What do you think of EA publishing TSW? Love it, hate it, indifferent so long as the game is good?"
Indifferent so long as the game is good.
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you." -Empress Jamyl Sarum I
After EA hit my credit card for 22 subs in 3 min., for a game I had cancelled the sub on 3 months prior. I'll be damned before I sub to or pay EA for anything. I could careless how great the game, It has been over 4 months and I have yet to see an apoilody for fucking up my credit rating. FUCK EA!
Sorry to say it, but I won't be purchasing or playing TSW.
I agree, steam is a worthless pile of crap. A 3rd party program that I have to mess with is just a headache. Sure I can configure it to not auto-download updates for my games, but will it let me play the game without the update? I am not sure.
It throws up advertisements everytime I exit a game, which slows down the computer while it loads this crap I don't want to buy.
It is just more sensitive information I have to give up, which in turn can be hacked and stolen from me.
It takes up computer memory, and for slower machines, you need all the memory free you can have. (Oh steam doesn't take that much) yes but it takes some and that some should be free.
I buy HARD COPIES of a game, then are REQUIRED to download a 3rd party program and get on the internet. I am not sure but if I don't have the internet would I be able to play a steam game like Shogun: Total War 2?
I have facebook I don't need another social networking thing to screw around with. I already have people requesting my friendship who I don't even know.
Steam locks up, bogs down, freezes, screws up the games I play, makes them hard to mod or use mods with.
Steam just plain outright sucks. direct2drive does it right. Steam Sucks.
As for EA, they can go suck an egg. I am tired of these big mega-companies sucking up everything that they deem valuable. Let the small companies thrive, let companies stay independent, let them develop their own track record without joining the mega-crapper that is EA.
But I suppose in the end it is all about the money...which is sad, but that is just how the world works.
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
It seems to me a lot of people are somewhat confused about EA's role in this.
Considering the writer of the article is one of them.. probably explains it fairly well.
Way back in the 1980's EA used to be mainly a publisher for other companies. That was a large portion of their business.. being paid to get someone elses product to market.
TSW may never see the light of day now. Last time there was a brilliant new MMO in the works that EA had their hands in (UO2) they cancelled it because they were afraid it would interfere with their current cash cow UO. EA does not care thing one about the industry or its players. They care solely about what makes their company money. Even if it means destroying or hindering potentially great works to further their own ends. They are a monster company that has succeeded upon the most base of business practices. Are they good at making money, sure. Is what they do a detriment and a plague upon the spirit of creativity and innovation in the MMO industry, absolutely.
TSW may never see the light of day now. Last time there was a brilliant new MMO in the works that EA had their hands in (UO2) they cancelled it because they were afraid it would interfere with their current cash cow UO. EA does not care thing one about the industry or its players. They care solely about what makes their company money. Even if it means destroying or hindering potentially great works to further their own ends. They are a monster company that has succeeded upon the most base of business practices. Are they good at making money, sure. Is what they do a detriment and a plague upon the spirit of creativity and innovation in the MMO industry, absolutely.
You are forgetting that EA doesn't own Funcom unlike the UO developers.
I can't see how partnering with EA is going to hurt their chances of TSW being a success. In my eyes, Funcom has yet to do an MMO well. They still bring the experiences and lessons of AO and AoC (we can only hope)... while simply having the budget of EA at their disposal, as the author points out.
Though I disagree with one thing: EA isn't the "evil big brother" of the gaming world... IMHO, that title has been stolen by Sony. EA is more like the crazy uncle who always has a get rich scheme that blows up in his face.
That being said, I'm keeping tabs of mild curiousity on TSW. I'm not expecting much from a Funcom title, so if it's even mildly entertaining for a month or two, it will clear the bar I've set and I'll walk away happy if I do buy it.
The reason I dislike steam is I have boxed CD, but no I have to have an Internet connection to play them. Take for instance the duke nukem I just got, requires steam. If my Internet goes down I'm screwed out of playing that game. And I have charter cable, it goes down a lot.
I should not be required to hitch up to steam to play a game that I own.
Personally I'm not too fond of EA willingness to sell xp and character upgrades online for their multiplayer games. Not something you want to see in an MMO.
The reason I dislike steam is I have boxed CD, but no I have to have an Internet connection to play them. Take for instance the duke nukem I just got, requires steam. If my Internet goes down I'm screwed out of playing that game. And I have charter cable, it goes down a lot.
I should not be required to hitch up to steam to play a game that I own.
As has been mentioned, after you authenticate the game the first time, you can set it to offline mode and never have to log in to steam again to play it.
Besides, it's not the fault of Steam that you have to activate the game through Steam to play it, it's the choice of developers to rely on Steam to act as a form of DRM. Believe me, if it wasn't Steam, it would be some other equally or more intrusive authentiation system required to play the game.
Take Ubisoft for example... you register the game to an Ubisoft account and need to have a constant Internet connection to play the game. If your Internet connection drops, gets packet loss, or is otherwise shaken, you instantly get booted from the Ubisoft game you're playing. Be happy Steam isn't that bad.
FAN OF STEAM? What are you smoking? Steam is the most evil and useless tool ever developed by man.
Could you elaborate? Why is Steam the most evil and useless tool ever? Just curious...
They take controll of your game they scan your HD and i just cant play this game anymore if i dont install steam so yes pure evil. No steam for me or any company that take over my game ive payed 50 bucks for. Privacy and freedom. So NO STEAM or any similar company.
I wouldn't buy games through steam either. I don't have a problem with them, but I don't like that I can't play my games without logging into them first. That's just silly. I don't care if it helps fight against piracy (which by the way it doesn't, since I have tons of friends with steam and if I want to play a game I don't own I just log into their accounts, start the game then log out and fwoosh, I'm playing a game I don't own, for free). If I buy something, it's mine and that's that.
As for the people ranting and raging about EA, let's be honest, if TSW fails it's going to do so because Funcom is developing it. EA won't even have a chance to sip from that watery grave before Funcom lets TSW drown in it. EA is just another venue of selling the game, that's like people saying all the goods at a flea market are trash because the person running the market is a dick. Whether TSW fails or succeeds is purely on Funcom.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
The reason I dislike steam is I have boxed CD, but no I have to have an Internet connection to play them. Take for instance the duke nukem I just got, requires steam. If my Internet goes down I'm screwed out of playing that game. And I have charter cable, it goes down a lot.
I should not be required to hitch up to steam to play a game that I own.
As has been mentioned, after you authenticate the game the first time, you can set it to offline mode and never have to log in to steam again to play it.
Besides, it's not the fault of Steam that you have to activate the game through Steam to play it, it's the choice of developers to rely on Steam to act as a form of DRM. Believe me, if it wasn't Steam, it would be some other equally or more intrusive authentiation system required to play the game.
Take Ubisoft for example... you register the game to an Ubisoft account and need to have a constant Internet connection to play the game. If your Internet connection drops, gets packet loss, or is otherwise shaken, you instantly get booted from the Ubisoft game you're playing. Be happy Steam isn't that bad.
I dont buy such games so they lose not me, plenty of games specially from europe that can still be played without these stupid evil gameportals like steam. But future it will be harder and harder i know and i will buy less and less games prolly eventually play only classic games that dont need internet, becouse my privacy and freedom is more worth then give up controll to companys like steam. And ive btw always bought my games in shop for past 12 years got a nice collection if the game developers/[ublishers things they need to enable a steam like system so illegal dl games will be of the past im not willing to give up my freedom becouse some douchebags steal there games all these years.
"Funcom has signed a co-publishing agreement with EA for The Secret World. The partners will cooperate on the marketing, sales and PR for the game. EA will be responsible for the distribution of the physical boxed product in all key markets. Funcom will sell the game in digital form from its websites. Under the terms of the agreement, EA will also make significant contributions to the marketing campaign of the game. The deal terms are broadly similar to those of previous publishing agreements signed by the Company. "
At the end of the day, who do you have more confidence in? EA as a publisher of Funcom publishing their own games?
Both have their downsides but let's face it, EA are no worse than Funcom when it comes to the publishing and all it entails ie customer support than Funcom are.
The publishing deal provides them with more money for development.
Well unlike Bill, I'll take it one step further. I think Steam is the best thing that happened to PC gaming in the last decade, Steam is everything XBLA wish it was. for free.
As for Funcom, I hope they bring TSW in Steam too, much like AoC but now very doubtfull with the publishing deal with EA.
Steam is good for PC gaming. The publishers get 70% of the revenue from Steam sales compared to the 30% that they get from normal retail. If enough people buy games off of Steam, it gives the publishers a little extra incentive to produce PC games with the number of users being so much smaller than on consoles. Plus, it allows for great deals for us users. I'd much rather have Steam be the DRM rather than the rootkits that some developers have put on their games. Plus, it allows for indie developers to get more exposure.
Steam is rubbish, and so will be Origin. I want to play a game without installing third party software that scans my computer, runs in background, EXCLUSIVELY sets forth in EULA, that I no longer own the game I buy, but instead I get a limited access to the game via steam or that can block my access anytime they see fit - also set forth in EULA, which applies to single player games as well. I'm sure most of you did not even read that.
Steam is rubbish, and so will be Origin. I want to play a game without installing third party software that scans my computer, runs in background, EXCLUSIVELY sets forth in EULA, that I no longer own the game I buy, but instead I get a limited access to the game via steam or that can block my access anytime they see fit - also set forth in EULA, which applies to single player games as well. I'm sure most of you did not even read that.
How is steam rubbish? They offer an amazing all in one service, for free. You can add friends, browse the internet IN game, talk to friends in game, get achievements, get awesome deals and packs for cheap, see what your friends are playing, built in rating system with trailers and reviews on the games buy page, they support indie development and have their own section with incredible unique titles. All this for free, while microsoft would charge for such a service such as XBL. They even host addons for games you've purchased and have fantastic download servers (get full DL speed at all times).
PC gaming needs a platform for a community, otherwise the whole community would be seperated to each game.
EA bought it so they can run it to the ground and let SWTOR prosper.....rar!!!
Seriously, I doubt EA will ever be able to develop a good MMO. They don't allow products the time they need to be successful, like Dragon Age 2, and they don't make games that people want like Sim City 2011. Activision wouldn't have been able to either if it weren't for WoW already having been made. And Blizz tells Activision to stfu any time they try to hurry up release on a game, just look at Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 having been in production for ever as proof. Titan will be allowed to develop fully because of Blizzard's attitude towards Activision as well.
And also, Origin is a stupid idea. How is this any different from buying downloadable products via EA Online? Steam is different because it's more "neutral" than Origin. Origin won't carry non-EA games, and EA doesn't make nearly enough good games to warrant it having its own download service.
Comments
"What do you think of EA publishing TSW? Love it, hate it, indifferent so long as the game is good?"
Indifferent so long as the game is good.
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you."
-Empress Jamyl Sarum I
After EA hit my credit card for 22 subs in 3 min., for a game I had cancelled the sub on 3 months prior. I'll be damned before I sub to or pay EA for anything. I could careless how great the game, It has been over 4 months and I have yet to see an apoilody for fucking up my credit rating. FUCK EA!
Sorry to say it, but I won't be purchasing or playing TSW.
I agree, steam is a worthless pile of crap. A 3rd party program that I have to mess with is just a headache. Sure I can configure it to not auto-download updates for my games, but will it let me play the game without the update? I am not sure.
It throws up advertisements everytime I exit a game, which slows down the computer while it loads this crap I don't want to buy.
It is just more sensitive information I have to give up, which in turn can be hacked and stolen from me.
It takes up computer memory, and for slower machines, you need all the memory free you can have. (Oh steam doesn't take that much) yes but it takes some and that some should be free.
I buy HARD COPIES of a game, then are REQUIRED to download a 3rd party program and get on the internet. I am not sure but if I don't have the internet would I be able to play a steam game like Shogun: Total War 2?
I have facebook I don't need another social networking thing to screw around with. I already have people requesting my friendship who I don't even know.
Steam locks up, bogs down, freezes, screws up the games I play, makes them hard to mod or use mods with.
Steam just plain outright sucks. direct2drive does it right. Steam Sucks.
As for EA, they can go suck an egg. I am tired of these big mega-companies sucking up everything that they deem valuable. Let the small companies thrive, let companies stay independent, let them develop their own track record without joining the mega-crapper that is EA.
But I suppose in the end it is all about the money...which is sad, but that is just how the world works.
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
It seems to me a lot of people are somewhat confused about EA's role in this.
Considering the writer of the article is one of them.. probably explains it fairly well.
Way back in the 1980's EA used to be mainly a publisher for other companies. That was a large portion of their business.. being paid to get someone elses product to market.
TSW may never see the light of day now. Last time there was a brilliant new MMO in the works that EA had their hands in (UO2) they cancelled it because they were afraid it would interfere with their current cash cow UO. EA does not care thing one about the industry or its players. They care solely about what makes their company money. Even if it means destroying or hindering potentially great works to further their own ends. They are a monster company that has succeeded upon the most base of business practices. Are they good at making money, sure. Is what they do a detriment and a plague upon the spirit of creativity and innovation in the MMO industry, absolutely.
You are forgetting that EA doesn't own Funcom unlike the UO developers.
Disturbing news... let's hope their influence on TSW is indeed limited.
Hype train -> Reality
And left us bend down to pick it up and looked the other way while..................Terrible, this had potential.
I can't see how partnering with EA is going to hurt their chances of TSW being a success. In my eyes, Funcom has yet to do an MMO well. They still bring the experiences and lessons of AO and AoC (we can only hope)... while simply having the budget of EA at their disposal, as the author points out.
Though I disagree with one thing: EA isn't the "evil big brother" of the gaming world... IMHO, that title has been stolen by Sony. EA is more like the crazy uncle who always has a get rich scheme that blows up in his face.
That being said, I'm keeping tabs of mild curiousity on TSW. I'm not expecting much from a Funcom title, so if it's even mildly entertaining for a month or two, it will clear the bar I've set and I'll walk away happy if I do buy it.
Time will tell.
The reason I dislike steam is I have boxed CD, but no I have to have an Internet connection to play them. Take for instance the duke nukem I just got, requires steam. If my Internet goes down I'm screwed out of playing that game. And I have charter cable, it goes down a lot.
I should not be required to hitch up to steam to play a game that I own.
Personally I'm not too fond of EA willingness to sell xp and character upgrades online for their multiplayer games. Not something you want to see in an MMO.
Wow funcom is partnering with the failtrain.... Great just another game for EA to run into the ground!!!!!!!!!!
You can run Steam in offline mode. I've done it several times.
As has been mentioned, after you authenticate the game the first time, you can set it to offline mode and never have to log in to steam again to play it.
Besides, it's not the fault of Steam that you have to activate the game through Steam to play it, it's the choice of developers to rely on Steam to act as a form of DRM. Believe me, if it wasn't Steam, it would be some other equally or more intrusive authentiation system required to play the game.
Take Ubisoft for example... you register the game to an Ubisoft account and need to have a constant Internet connection to play the game. If your Internet connection drops, gets packet loss, or is otherwise shaken, you instantly get booted from the Ubisoft game you're playing. Be happy Steam isn't that bad.
They take controll of your game they scan your HD and i just cant play this game anymore if i dont install steam so yes pure evil. No steam for me or any company that take over my game ive payed 50 bucks for. Privacy and freedom. So NO STEAM or any similar company.
I wouldn't buy games through steam either. I don't have a problem with them, but I don't like that I can't play my games without logging into them first. That's just silly. I don't care if it helps fight against piracy (which by the way it doesn't, since I have tons of friends with steam and if I want to play a game I don't own I just log into their accounts, start the game then log out and fwoosh, I'm playing a game I don't own, for free). If I buy something, it's mine and that's that.
As for the people ranting and raging about EA, let's be honest, if TSW fails it's going to do so because Funcom is developing it. EA won't even have a chance to sip from that watery grave before Funcom lets TSW drown in it. EA is just another venue of selling the game, that's like people saying all the goods at a flea market are trash because the person running the market is a dick. Whether TSW fails or succeeds is purely on Funcom.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
I dont buy such games so they lose not me, plenty of games specially from europe that can still be played without these stupid evil gameportals like steam. But future it will be harder and harder i know and i will buy less and less games prolly eventually play only classic games that dont need internet, becouse my privacy and freedom is more worth then give up controll to companys like steam. And ive btw always bought my games in shop for past 12 years got a nice collection if the game developers/[ublishers things they need to enable a steam like system so illegal dl games will be of the past im not willing to give up my freedom becouse some douchebags steal there games all these years.
http://l3cdn.funcom.com/funcomportal/pdf/funcom_4q10_report.pdf
"Funcom has signed a co-publishing agreement with EA for The Secret World. The partners will cooperate on the marketing, sales and PR for the game. EA will be responsible for the distribution of the physical boxed product in all key markets. Funcom will sell the game in digital form from its websites. Under the terms of the agreement, EA will also make significant contributions to the marketing campaign of the game. The deal terms are broadly similar to those of previous publishing agreements signed by the Company. "
At the end of the day, who do you have more confidence in? EA as a publisher of Funcom publishing their own games?
Both have their downsides but let's face it, EA are no worse than Funcom when it comes to the publishing and all it entails ie customer support than Funcom are.
The publishing deal provides them with more money for development.
Well unlike Bill, I'll take it one step further. I think Steam is the best thing that happened to PC gaming in the last decade, Steam is everything XBLA wish it was. for free.
As for Funcom, I hope they bring TSW in Steam too, much like AoC but now very doubtfull with the publishing deal with EA.
Steam is good for PC gaming. The publishers get 70% of the revenue from Steam sales compared to the 30% that they get from normal retail. If enough people buy games off of Steam, it gives the publishers a little extra incentive to produce PC games with the number of users being so much smaller than on consoles. Plus, it allows for great deals for us users. I'd much rather have Steam be the DRM rather than the rootkits that some developers have put on their games. Plus, it allows for indie developers to get more exposure.
Steam is rubbish, and so will be Origin. I want to play a game without installing third party software that scans my computer, runs in background, EXCLUSIVELY sets forth in EULA, that I no longer own the game I buy, but instead I get a limited access to the game via steam or that can block my access anytime they see fit - also set forth in EULA, which applies to single player games as well. I'm sure most of you did not even read that.
REALITY CHECK
How is steam rubbish? They offer an amazing all in one service, for free. You can add friends, browse the internet IN game, talk to friends in game, get achievements, get awesome deals and packs for cheap, see what your friends are playing, built in rating system with trailers and reviews on the games buy page, they support indie development and have their own section with incredible unique titles. All this for free, while microsoft would charge for such a service such as XBL. They even host addons for games you've purchased and have fantastic download servers (get full DL speed at all times).
PC gaming needs a platform for a community, otherwise the whole community would be seperated to each game.
EA bought it so they can run it to the ground and let SWTOR prosper.....rar!!!
Seriously, I doubt EA will ever be able to develop a good MMO. They don't allow products the time they need to be successful, like Dragon Age 2, and they don't make games that people want like Sim City 2011. Activision wouldn't have been able to either if it weren't for WoW already having been made. And Blizz tells Activision to stfu any time they try to hurry up release on a game, just look at Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 having been in production for ever as proof. Titan will be allowed to develop fully because of Blizzard's attitude towards Activision as well.
And also, Origin is a stupid idea. How is this any different from buying downloadable products via EA Online? Steam is different because it's more "neutral" than Origin. Origin won't carry non-EA games, and EA doesn't make nearly enough good games to warrant it having its own download service.