News

EA forum bans still leading to game bans?
Posted: 14.11.2011 17:25 by JonahFalcon Comments: 16
Internet forums can be emotional places, and even the most stoic gamer has probably once or twice angrily posted the wrong thing in the wrong way and earned themself a temporary ban. However, they're not supposed to be linked with in-game bans, which are generally issued to cheaters, hackers and the occasional racist spewing hate during a game.

Earlier this year, a gamer was banned from playing Dragon Age II inadvertently after being banned from EA for accusing the publisher of having "sold their soul to the devil". This was an accident, EA had claimed. According to EA senior director of customer support Boyd Beasley, “Unfortunately, there was an error in the system that accidentally suspended your entire EA account. Immediately upon learning of the glitch, we have restored the entire account and apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused while accessing other areas of the EA service.” The publisher then promised that the issue would be fixed.

Apparently, it hasn't been, as Battlefield 3 players have found that they are unable to play the game if they're banned in the EA forum. One user, who was banned for using the term "e-peen" was told by Customer Service in an email, “Please note that your account (email) has been permanently terminated from the Electronic Arts Online service for violating the terms of services. The account will no longer be accessible in any way, and all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.”

If that sounds bad, apparently he'd made non-existent "repeat offenses", and there was no use in discussing the matter at all: “This action was necessary due to the repeated nature of the offense on the account. We regret having to take this final step, but it is entirely necessary on behalf of protecting the Electronic Arts Online community. The violation has already been discussed above so further communication on this matter won’t be entertained. We thank you for your understanding on all the statutes within the Terms of Service, and they still contractually apply to you as per the original agreement, especially the sections regarding terminated members of the service.”

Worse, players who are banned in the forums can't even play their game offline. Even if the user is rightfully banned from the EA forums, should it result in their inability to play the game they paid money for? Let us know what you think.

Strategy Informer will follow this story as it evolves.
Source: RPS

Comments

By noobst3R (SI Core) on Nov 14, 2011
noobst3R
Oh my god, that is just stupid. Who would ban someone for saying e-peen, let alone in a game too. How does EA profit from that?
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Nov 14, 2011
nocutius
Brilliant, so now they're making this their official policy :(.
EA, is your e-peen really so tiny that you have to play tough on the internet?
By JonahFalcon (SI Elite) on Nov 14, 2011
JonahFalcon
Oh, and remember, you can't play it OFFLINE.
By djole381 (SI Elite) on Nov 14, 2011
djole381
Taking away customers ability to play the game he/she payed for simply because of swearing on forums or in-game is just plain stupid, but then again, when was EA known for any smart moves.
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Nov 14, 2011
herodotus
While I agree there should be moderation on the EA forums, particularly on Battlelog this is an aborhent action by EA and deserves to be highlighted by every gaming site and emagazine.
More seriously damaging than silly comments, EA should be looking at Server Admins on "BF3" Ranked Servers who are penalising and kicking players for the meanest of reasons and abusing their authorities (unranked, well it's your own fault for playing on them).
This, in addition to the game's many bugs and exploits is rapidly turning the game from fun-for-all to "pick your server wisely".
By JonahFalcon (SI Elite) on Nov 15, 2011
JonahFalcon
This is why Valve's Steam and Steam forum accounts are SEPARATE.
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Nov 15, 2011
herodotus
Yes, well we can't say that EA are fast learners. I just hope they sort themselves out before many a gamer jacks it in and turns to a game more gamer-friendly. I've lost count of the number of explicit hate posts on Battlelog Forums....the player numbers may just vanish altogether.
By ViGotH (SI Core) on Nov 15, 2011
ViGotH
Wow, this is some extreme stuff. I am not a fan of EA, though I must admit that they do make great games every once in a while.

On this matter, I am surprised that EA hasn't sorted out this problem yet. Though I don't intend to become part of EA's Origin, I really hope that this mess gets sorted out for the rest of the Gamers.

I would lose it, if this happened to me.
By JonahFalcon (SI Elite) on Nov 16, 2011
JonahFalcon
The answer is easy: never post in EA Forums.
By herodotus (SI Herodotus) on Nov 16, 2011
herodotus
That defeats the whole purpose of Battlelog then, Jonah not that it takes much defeating. It is BatleFace after all....
As for exploits leading to accounts being banned, it's crazy then that the official BF Page of FB promotes videos showing exploits being tested by a known bunch of gamers as to whether they are T or F. It just serves to show gamers what they might not already know. Player sees video, thinks it's cool and goes to try it out then: BANNNED.
By Jasca_Ducato (SI Core Veteran) on Nov 19, 2011
Jasca_Ducato
I can see a few court cases coming EA's way. The company has no right, whatsoever, to ban individuals from playing games they've actually paid for. Granted, they might be allowed to suspend their activities online, but offline, it's illegal.
By bosnian_dragon (SI Core) on Nov 20, 2011
bosnian_dragon
EA is some sort of gaming dictatorship. Imagine someone losing access to their games just because of a dumb forum post. Some people have more than a 1000$ worth of games probably. I guess the only solution is to avoid EA Forums as JonahFalcon said. Or better, never become a part of EA games family in the first place :)
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Nov 20, 2011
nocutius
EA are dicks but they have bought a ton of good developers over the years so it would be kinda hard to avoid all of their games.
By bosnian_dragon (SI Core) on Nov 20, 2011
bosnian_dragon
I know, I do own EA titles from before, but I believe that I won't buy a single game on Origin, for the reasons I mentioned in my comment above. I don't want to buy a game which they're gonna steal from me if I make a forum post that doesn't suit their dictatorial policy.
By FoolWolf (SI Elite) on Nov 21, 2011
FoolWolf
Never posting in EA forums as well. Started with ME and all that stupidity... Since then BioWare and EA and many more of the big publishers just got apes**t.
I hope someone will sue over this...
By nocutius (SI Elite) on Nov 21, 2011
nocutius
I'm avoiding Origin as well but for privacy concerns. Steam can take all my games away as well if they choose but at least they have a proven track record. Origin is new and EA being EA i don't trust them one bit at the moment.