Another answers that he researched a lot of stuff before buying. Researching though reviews no longer works on the net at authorized site. You see, if the editor or one of the game testers writes up a bad review, next time around, that site doesn’t get an early preview for writing up an article. The game makers and others see an honest review that doesn’t give them glowing words as a reason not to let the site evaluate the next latest greatest. So forget going to the gaming review sites. Also forget going to the software review sites or music sites for that matter. You won’t get the real truth from them, unless you keep this in mind and read between the lines.

The better place to go is someone that has no affiliation with the game or originator. Someone that doesn’t care if they get a good report or bad one because they have no vested interest beyond the reader. That advertisement dropping won’t affect them and late or early release won’t matter to them. Either that or talk to the real die hard gamer that has to have all the new titles.

Don’t go by the burb on the box; they all sound like the next Oscar winner for a movie, the next blockbuster game, the next superstar of music, and nothing is further from the truth.

email them back and demand a key or a copy on DVD or you will be suing them for fraud!

It not like they have a leg to stand on!
you payed for a perfectly legal product and have NOT received it
which in my book at is blatant case of fraud

if companys want to use DRM they need to use it in a way that will not hurt legit customers

eg let you install the game on as many as 10 different computers with unlimited number of profiles
(eg if a game is installed on a Windows XP machine with 8 users then all 8 users can play the game)

and get the installation to verify itself every 90 days by either getting you to insert the original CD/DVD or by contacting the EA website and getting your registration info to verify the installation

hence the DRM will only stop you from playing the game if you can not verify that your installation is legit

and if you need to install it on more than 10 machines you could contact the company and arrange to have your installation limit increased for a very small fee once you have verified yourself as a legit customer

sure he could have downloaded it for free from one of many torrent tracker sites

it just shows how much EA really cares about its customers, it is much more worried about profits
and by doing so they have blinded themselfs to the real way to make money,which is to keep your customers happy
and they will be a continuing source of income

How does DRM help stop piracy anyway???people that are going to not pay for the game are going to download copy of the game
from a torrent site ,though thoese that actually buy the game are force with ridiculous DRM limitations…How does that help???

it does the opposite I think as people like guy that started this thread is now very pissed off at EA
and is wanting to take legal action as he feels ripped off,which he has every right in my opinion to feel that way
hence the chances of him going and buying a game in the future with DRM is greatly decreased
and has increasing the chance he will pirate games that he wants in the future

EA is making things worse for themself

I think they would be better off making games much cheaper and not use DRM
then people are much more likely buy the game instead of pirating it!

Same goes for the Movie industry

if DVDs movies where $2 USD and Bluray movies $9.95 USD
and they continued to lower the price on Bluray movies over the next ten years until they are $2

and by then make DVDs movies cost less than $1 each or $2 for a triple packs

they would make money as heaps more people would buy them legitimately hence they would make money

Sure EA is a Rich and Powerfull company (At the current time)
Though so where other software companys in previous times though have fallen and they didnt use there fore
Adding DRM to the mix just reduces your companys life even further

or sue you for ‘piracy’ for letting someone borrow your car, instead of buying their own.

Does everyone get it now? You can’t make a copy of a car, but you can make a copy of a movie. So why is it piracy to let a buddy ‘borrow’ my CDs, but it’s NOT if I let him borrow my car? Whether he makes copies of the CDs or not, I still get them AND my car back….

So, from Mitch ‘the Don’ Bainwol’s point of view, if he worked for GM, would be that its copyright infringement to let your buddy borrow your car, and he should go buy his own, that’s a lost sale.

gimme a frakking break already with the lost sale ad nauseum

stw

oh and Fuck the ESA.

With the economy in its current situation more and more people will research before they buy therefore lowering profits on crap. Maybe GM and Chrysler should cry the piracy/Internets fault, and start sueing people because they don’t enter the dealership.

It seems a common issue among all product creators today. Put out a shit product and people will find out faster than ever, thereby influencing their buying decisions. This is not a ‘piracy is killing everything’ issue, this is more of a ‘put out a better fucking product asshole, and more people will buy it’ issue.

my 2 pence.

Games are expensive enough without having all these extra hassles to go through. Then there are so many that are very poorly done games as to make them not worth the money they want for the game. How to tell what is a good game and how to tell what isn’t worth considering? You know the answer to that as well as I. You check it out first.

For myself, I like games with replay value. If you play it once and there are no more challenges then I don’t fancy that sort of game. I want one that is interesting the first time played and then again and again after that. Very few games fit into that category. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like serial games. Something like COD is ok to play once but unless you are on line, that’s the end of it. EA specializes in those because they know there is a following for them. Franchised games wind up usually to be short games, limited replay value, and not worth the money, so I usually avoid them.

DRM is something I consider too. If it has draconian DRM, I don’t want it. I’m not going to purchase a console, forget that. I will do without them first. The computer is a multitask tool that does well at lots of things, games is just one of them. I see no need of having a tv to play a game when I don’t use a tv. Have no call to buy one for use. So console is out of consideration.

I don’t mind buying a good game. I don’t mind rewarding the maker of a good game. I do mind getting stuck with problems or with trash claiming to be what it is not.

Something game makers are going to have to come to grips with is that if you piss your customer off enough, they ain’t coming back. EA has gotten an ear full over Spore. So much so that they have released tools to remove some of the crimp but I hardly think it enough of a step. They have more negative feed back coming. If they won’t hear and do about it, then they can kiss my money goodbye.

I already do this with makers of other products, such as Sony who screwed me on a warranty job. They screwed me once and now for years and years afterward, they continually miss sales in what I buy, just because the makers name on the product is Sony. EA is quite capable of earning a spot on the list and they are well on their way to arriving there. I won’t forgive forever and have limited patience when it comes to this sort of thing.

I expect things right when I pay. If it isn’t I remember that next time I consider another product. Give me enough to remember and I will quit buying totally from that maker. Mark my words…