#288365 - 19/10/2006 00:04
Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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It seems the corporate greed of EA has no limits. They had Dice, developer of the Battlefield series, make a new game called Battlefield 2142. That game finally came out today, and includes a nice surprise inside the box in the form of an ad software notice. Basically, the game includes software to deliver in game ads like this and report back how often you view those ads, along with your IP that can be used for location based demographics. Now I'm not completely opposed to ads in games. However, BF2142 still costs $50, and development costs for the game were way lower then the previous title Battlefield 2 since 2142 uses the BF2 engine. So the excuse of "we need the ad revenue for next generation game development" doesn't cut it. Add to that the fact that EA absorbed Dice and promptly shut down one of their offices, and well it seems the Battlefield franchise is headed to it's deathbed. To help voice my concern about this, I am doing something similar to when copy protected CDs first shipped to stores. I will buy the game at various stores, then open the product and return it, forcing that retailer to send it back to EA. Since the notice is nowhere on the outside of the box, it makes it easy to get them to agree with it. I just came back from a Best Buy where I returned my opened copy. At first the two reps at the customer service desk refused to return it, but I pushed and eventually got them to summon the store manager. He came over, and actually read the notice. After that, he expressed his own disgust over this, refunded my money, then grabbed a plastic frame to put the notice in along with the front of the game manual. That plastic display is now at eye level right where all their boxed copies of the game are, so that other people will be made aware of this. It's a similar reaction when I returned the copy protected CDs and really helps to raise awareness with the retailers. They end up being the ones who have a voice with companies like EA, and really is one of the few ways to try and get EA to take notice.
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#288366 - 19/10/2006 00:08
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
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Wow that is a pretty good reaction from a Best Buy manager. I would have expected them to give you the money back and do nothing.
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Matt
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#288367 - 19/10/2006 01:51
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: msaeger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Wow that is a pretty good reaction from a Best Buy manager. I would have expected them to give you the money back and do nothing.
Ditto. I'm impressed with that guy.
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Matt
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#288368 - 19/10/2006 02:35
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Perhaps this new advertising strategy will result in free games, just like we have free tv, free radio, and free internet sites.
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#288369 - 19/10/2006 04:23
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: ]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 23/08/2000
Posts: 3826
Loc: SLC, UT, USA
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I'd rather pay for ad free games than have free games full of ads.
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#288370 - 19/10/2006 11:39
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1525
Loc: Arizona
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That was pretty slimy of them to do that, and they are rightfully catching all kinds of crap. What they are claiming the software does is just keeps track of how long you look at each ad to help target the audience better. That is scummy, but could be a lot worse (like Slashdot's overreaction - but that is typical Slashdot).
What has a lot of people even more pissed off is the inability to play the game. PunkBuster is broken and kicks people after one kill. Their master server keeps dropping people for no reason. A lot of others are crashing to the desktop (wow, BF2 flashbacks) with no warning/reason/error.
I'm also not sure where that screenshot could have come from. The ads aren't activated in game yet. According tot he forums, they won't be active for a couple more days.
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#288371 - 19/10/2006 14:46
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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addict
Registered: 18/02/2002
Posts: 658
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Yeah I'm pretty pissed off about this. I've loved the BF series since 1942 and thought they were all great games. Even when everyone (including myself) were going through all sorts of issues with BF2, I stuck with it. The ad thing doesn't bother me so much as the fact that they are, like you mentioned, charing $50 for a game that is basically a mod.
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#288372 - 19/10/2006 15:27
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: loren]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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I'd rather pay for ad free games than have free games full of ads.
I can imagine it in ten years: You are in the endgame, just about to kill the bad guy and the screen freezes...
"This game was brought to you by McDonalds, to continue this game you need to buy....[pause] three triple McGameburgers. Please enter your purchase codes from the boxes when you are ready."
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#288373 - 20/10/2006 12:09
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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We've been playing ad-laden games for years already. And seeing ad-laden feature films, and getting ads in television shows (apart from the commercial breaks). I don't see why EA needs to make it overt like that.
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#288374 - 20/10/2006 12:40
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: loren]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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I'd rather pay for ad free games than have free games full of ads.
Riffing on your point, and Billy's: I'd rather pay for ad-free TV than have free TV full of ads.
Oh, I do. It's called the BBC.
What really pisses me off is when I've already paid for (TV, games, whatever), and then they still fill them up with ads or product placement.
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-- roger
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#288375 - 20/10/2006 13:47
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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We've been playing ad-laden games for years already.
So that justifies this then? They did it before, so they can keep doing it, with more intrusive methods? And off the top of my head, I can really only think of one game I have played recently with ads in it, and that was Planetside. At least there, the ads are justified by the fact that it is playable for free. Admittidly I don't play sports games, where I believe a lot of this started. But I'd like to see this trend stop soon, before I'm sitting in the middle of an immersive game, and have some ad snap me out of it. Somehow "Subway - Eat Fresh" doesn't make me think of killing oppressors in City 17.
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And seeing ad-laden feature films,
Nope. All depends on the theater you chose to attend. I'm still paying normal ticket prices, and haven't seen a non movie ad preshow for 6 months now.
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#288376 - 20/10/2006 13:56
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: tfabris]
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veteran
Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1525
Loc: Arizona
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I don't see why EA needs to make it overt like that.
I don't know if I'd call it 'overt'. The ads still aren't activated (as of last night), but so far I have noticed a total of three billboards. Two of them were attached at a 45deg angle, so you might call that just one.
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#288377 - 20/10/2006 14:42
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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veteran
Registered: 21/01/2002
Posts: 1380
Loc: Erie, CO
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Quote:
Quote:
And seeing ad-laden feature films,
Nope. All depends on the theater you chose to attend. I'm still paying normal ticket prices, and haven't seen a non movie ad preshow for 6 months now.
Except that the lead character drives an Aston Martin (tm), drinks a Pepsi (tm) and uses an Apple Macintosh (tm) to upload the virus into the alien ship.
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#288378 - 20/10/2006 15:05
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: cushman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
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Except that the lead character drives an Aston Martin (tm), drinks a Pepsi (tm) and uses an Apple Macintosh (tm) to upload the virus into the alien ship.
Only in some movies, and thankfully most of them do it in a tasteful way. Having ads in games where it would be normal doesn't really strike me as odd. But in movies about the Roman empire, I don't see soldiers wearing Nike shoes, nor do I expect to see modern ads in games that don't take place in modern times.
My main annoyance with this particular case isn't the ads specifically. It's more about the blatant greed at EA with this. The game cost them very little to make compared to BF2, and they add in this ad technology to make more money. If they had priced it at $20-$30, I wouldn't have cared as much. Apparently in the EU they were even greedier by suggesting it be priced at 55 instead of 50. And it also makes me mad that EA bought the developer, to then shutdown one of their studios as a likely cost cutting move.
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#288379 - 20/10/2006 15:14
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: cushman]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 21/05/1999
Posts: 5335
Loc: Cambridge UK
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Except that the lead character drives an Aston Martin (tm), drinks a Pepsi (tm) and uses an Apple Macintosh (tm) to upload the virus into the alien ship.
In my book that's all fine if the lead character has to drive a car, drink a soda and use a computer - PROVIDED it is shot in context. Lingering shots of a brand logo totally destroy all credibility and turn the viewer against the product, and I think marketroids are starting to understand that.
Rob
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#288380 - 20/10/2006 16:12
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: rob]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 13/07/2000
Posts: 4180
Loc: Cambridge, England
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In my book that's all fine if the lead character has to drive a car, drink a soda and use a computer - PROVIDED it is shot in context. Lingering shots of a brand logo totally destroy all credibility and turn the viewer against the product, and I think marketroids are starting to understand that.
Right, any time I notice a placement, it's gone too far. Judge John Deed always drinks the same type of cheap blended whisky, which is unlikely for such an aesthete, but just about plausible. But what's not plausible is that he always so happens to pour and drink it that the label side of the bottle faces the camera.
Peter
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#288381 - 21/10/2006 12:49
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Attachments
289259-20061020.jpg (269 downloads)
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Bitt Faulk
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#288382 - 21/10/2006 14:05
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Apparently in the EU they were even greedier by suggesting it be priced at 55 instead of 50.
Is that with tax? Most prices in the EU are quoted with tax, so prices are usually higher. Plus the exhange rate is a bitch.
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#288383 - 21/10/2006 15:46
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Brilliant!
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Matt
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#288384 - 22/10/2006 12:35
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: cushman]
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addict
Registered: 23/12/2002
Posts: 652
Loc: Winston Salem, NC
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Apparently I, Robot was the worst about ad trademarks in a movie.
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#288385 - 22/10/2006 14:26
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: drakino]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
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a plastic frame to put the notice in along with the front of the game manual. That plastic display is now at eye level right where all their boxed copies of the game
Good work, Drakino! Voting with your dollar; the only remaining democracy! I vote to support the indie gaming scene which is more creative and less abusive to programmers. See the attached magazine clipping, reposted from somewhere, picking top 10 indie games to check out (sorry, shrunk to fit BBS) (do note Narbacular Drop; magnitudes more creative than any big budget shooter).
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We've been playing ad-laden games for years already. And seeing ad-laden feature films
As scheduled, the corporations are gradually increasing their advertising greed. Gradually enough that we don't notice its creeping filth. No we don't mind, "it's only a little worse than the previous game or last television season." This long but funny flash bit sums up the point, and how television has made us gradually more mindless over the years:
Invention Pioneers of Note
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Lingering shots of a brand logo totally destroy all credibility and turn the viewer against the product
I hope they realize that they've bred a generation whose suspicious of advertisements, "offers", and corporations in general. Hopefully they'll notice as people move away from ad-laiden network TV and broadcast radio to cable and satellite. Maybe we'll soon see pay per view TV channels specifically without product placement.
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- FireFox31 110gig MKIIa (30+80), Eutronix lights, 32 meg stacked RAM, Filener orange gel lens, Greenlights Lit Buttons green set
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#288386 - 22/10/2006 15:08
Re: Protesting Battlefield 2142 by opening and returning the software
[Re: rob]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Quote:
Quote:
Except that the lead character drives an Aston Martin (tm), drinks a Pepsi (tm) and uses an Apple Macintosh (tm) to upload the virus into the alien ship.
In my book that's all fine if the lead character has to drive a car, drink a soda and use a computer - PROVIDED it is shot in context.
In fact, back in the day before they allowed any advertising at all on TV shows (at least here in the US), I found the beverage cans labelled "Cola" and "Beer" somewhat off-putting.
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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