Customer banned from activation of DA2 due to post in BioWare community forum

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A small storm has been whipping up recently (to add to the others already around DA2), concerning a user on the BioWare social forums who received a short-term ban for posting criticism of BioWare's relationship with EA. Specifically, the question: "Have you sold your souls to the EA devil?"

So what? Well, the ban also prevented him accessing his DLC and activating his store-bought copy of DA2, for 72 hours.

Link 1 User explaining situation and pleading for explanation/mercy.
Link 2 Response thread at BioWare social forums.

I'm not going to comment immediately myself, but I'd strongly advise SPers to check out the BioWare mod's response in link 1... and to be thankful that independently run sites like this one exist.

 

I'm glad but you can still get banned from independent sites.

 

Utterly pathetic.

 

Yes, but not for something so trivial, and nothing you do on SP will stop you playing/activating any software you bought, which is the key "beef" people have with this.

My --

1. BioWare / EA have the right to run their private forums however they wish. They may ban users from posting as they deem necessary, for reasons outlined in their signing-up agreements. Here at SP, we're all used to having to maintain high standards of SPAG and behaviour, because that's what we signed up for. However, extending bans to cover access to legitimately purchased content, especially when the "offence" is essentially to express a negative opinion -- without, I might add, use of inappropriate language -- against an affiliated software company, seems extremely disproportionate.
2. Whatever the forum rules, whatever the technicalities of EULAs, the Law, ToS agreements etc. someone at EA / BioWare community relations seriously dropped the ball on this one. Want to give thousands of potential customers an(other) excuse to pirate this and other future games from your company? Congratulations, you just have done. Want to ensure that you spread huge dollops of negative rep around a vocal and, up until now, supportive internet community? Yup, you just did that too.

It's a golden rule of customer service that word of mouth does spread, and that shabby treatment of one customer is often the tip of the iceberg as far as the impact on your reputation goes. That effect can be multiplied by a factor of 10 or more online, as events get posted and re-posted in different places across the web.

Someone had to realise the impact, and should also have been more aware of the pre-existing anxieties among BioWare's loyal fanbase about their continuing relationship with EA. Because ultimately, by taking the action they did they effectively answered that original question -- "Have you sold you soul to the EA devil?" -- with an emphatic "yes".

 

I'm not a bandwagon guy (unless I happen to agree with the bandwagon). I realize there's a lot of outrage over this. I'm embarassed for EA that they felt the need to do this over the poster's comment. It looks like a standard sort of post you're gong to see when a new game is released. You always have your share of pissed off posters.

At the same time, meh, it was only a 72 hour ban, that was apparently protected by the EULA. In my opinion it's not worth all the angst. But of course, far be it from my to try to deny the angst-ridden hordes their reason for living.

 

Yeah, they are typical, corporate fools at EA. That's why I never bother with their forums. They think it is a privilege for us to buy their games and give them our money. But the gaming establishment has pretty much treated its customer base this badly in recent years. I thought Bioware was pretty good when they first started out - now? Not so much.

 

Wow, that's not very nice at all. As if EA needed further proof of their tyranny.

 

As a software developer you may put anything you like in your EULA, but that doesn't mean it superceeds the law. I don't know if they do permanent bans on their forums, but if they do, this is a lawsuit just waiting to happen.

Well said. It's ironic really.

I guess that I won't be buying EA games anymore, or at least none that require an online account to activate. Not that it will matter to EA, I suspect. If sales drop, they'll just blame piracy. (Note that when I say not buying, I also mean not playing - I couldn't care less if that means I will not play a supposedly good game. Can't miss what I don't have.)

 

Update on the situation from Chris Priestly himself.

 

Or, translated:

"We didn't expect such a shitstorm, so we're backing down."

 

Maybe. On the other hand, the angst-ridden hordes don't have the full details. They simply react to a partial picture of what happened, grab their virtual pitchforks, and cry afoul of EA (or whatever target appears deserving of their anger). Accurate details are completely unnecessary, unneeded, and if they would serve to minimize the angst, generally unwanted.

Smite them for their tyranny! Burn the witches! They turned one of their customers into a newt! He got better, but still! BURN THEM!

 

Exactly.

While the corporate lackeys will believe anything they are spoon-feed....

 

And finally, the level-headed among us will realize that because they don't have the full picture, from either side, that information from either side should be taken with a grain of salt.

I take no offense to your comment my good friend Chandos, as I know full well that you wouldn't try to place your level headed buddy Marceror in any group other than the small, prestigious level headed group.

And yes, there are some corporate lackeys out there. Thanks for point that out!

 

You should not take offense, because that comment about "corporate lackeys" was certainly NOT directed at you in particular.

Yes, it must be hard to find a hat that fits it.

 

I think I've been down this road with you before. Was it directed at me in general then? No, nevermind. We've already had this conversation.

Because my head is so level, I have to wear hats that are completely flat. I have get them custom made, but it's worth it to have such a clear perspective on life.

 

Dragon Age 2 is a rushed game, even judging from mainstream gaming magazines like the Gamestar (one of Germanys leading magazines).
They admit it's a good game, but still rushed and could have been better.

I think the more of a flawed product any developer gets out the more nervous he gets about criticism, this is just an example.

By the way, even Inon Zur (the music score composer of DA1) criticized the rushing part of DA2 (in a diplomatic way of course).

It is no secret that EA was pushing it to milk on the success of DA1.
Imho, it is only due to the quality of some Bioware staff that they have still delivered an ok product.

I, personally, passed on DA2 without regret.

 

I would agree that it some regards DA2 feels rushed. A lot of the warehouses you enter ,for example, are almost identical to one another (things like what doors can be opened and where traps are placed might be different, but they are otherwise the same). This doesn't ruin the game for me, but it certainly cannot be ignored.

A lot of the music is straight out of DA:O, but since that music evokes plenty of nostalgia for me, I don't mind so much.

I'm not sure that this makes the developer more sensitive to criticism. If that's their nature, then they are likely to react in this way regardless of the status of their games.

 

This will be easy for you. You said:

Just take my comment about corporate lackeys and yes men the same way, since I'm sure you didn't mean your comments to be insulting or offensive to anyone in particular. You were really just explaining how "level headed" you were. But why would we doubt that?

 

Actually, no, if someone fits that description I have no problem if they find my comment insulting or offensive. Most of those people are over at the Bioware boards, however.

 

We agree. See how easy that was?