Thank you EA

[biscotti]

I love wasting 30 mins of my Sunday evening waiting for some stupid verification code that lets me verify an account I didn't even want to make, because you won't let me play this SINGLEPLAYER game otherwise.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, wishing you another well deserved golden poo
xoxo

[GravityWave]

I just re-verified with Steam and EA is still unable to start the game!

[76561198856165040]

Refund it. At least that will speak louder volumes.

[biscotti]

Alas, can't refund keys you activated.

[Jonathan J. O'Neill]

You know, your complaint really doesn't make sense, outside of having to wait for a verification code. You can't play Valve games without a Steam account. You can't play Ubi games without having an Ubi account and you can't play newer EA games without an EA account.

Edit: To clarify... If you don't want the account, why did you buy the game when it clearly states you require the account and use of their app?

[biscotti]

The sad reality of AAA publishers forcing you to use some app for superfluous social crap on top of your Steam account is what we're stuck with. I'm willing to live with that. That wasn't my actual point either.

You are laser focusing on my off handed comment that I didn't want to make the account, when the issue here is that paying customers are stuck with a barely functional afterthought that actively interferes with their ability to smoothly enjoy the game, just like the Ubi app you so eloquently pointed out. And before you plug your ears, the numerous threads made by people having the app break on them are proof enough of that.

The bottom line is that these apps wouldn't draw so much ire if they got out of the player's way once the initial registration is out of the way (which the EA app amazingly also manages to turn into a cumbersome waste of time), instead they repeatedly do the opposite.

[Jonathan J. O'Neill]

Originally posted by biscotti:

The sad reality of AAA publishers forcing you to use some app for superfluous social crap on top of your Steam account is what we're stuck with. I'm willing to live with that. That wasn't my actual point either.

You are laser focusing on my off handed comment that I didn't want to make the account, when the issue here is that paying customers are stuck with a barely functional afterthought that actively interferes with their ability to smoothly enjoy the game, just like the Ubi app you so eloquently pointed out. And before you plug your ears, the numerous threads made by people having the app break on them are proof enough of that.

The bottom line is that these apps wouldn't draw so much ire if they got out of the player's way once the initial registration is out of the way (which the EA app amazingly also manages to turn into a cumbersome waste of time), instead they repeatedly do the opposite.

I don't deny there are numerous threads about the app but I still stand by it's not many compared to the number of copies sold. Yes, some people are having issues. Maybe in the tens of thousands (though I haven't seen tens of thousands of different people reporting issues), definitely not close to the millions who've bought the game. You just don't see people praising the app.

It's kinda like comparing flights. There are hundreds of thousands of flights every day and you don't see news reports about each of them but you do see reports about the ones that crash.

[biscotti]

Since we're hypothesizing anyway, I reckon there's no praise for it since to most people it's a minor inconvenience they mash past to get to their game at best. No point making a thread about that, just get it out of your way and be done with it. At worst it actively prevents you from playing the game.

Do you know what service does get praise? Steam. There are valid cases to be made where circumventing Steam would offer you a subpar experience. Not here. There is absolutely nothing the app offers that validates its existence, but there are clearly plenty of cases demonstrating the app's absence would be a net benefit. As a matter of fact, anyone who has bought the game and doesn't care about whatever superfluous features the EA app offers would be better off cracking the game to circumvent it. That is a service problem.

[Jonathan J. O'Neill]

Originally posted by biscotti:

Since we're hypothesizing anyway, I reckon there's no praise for it since to most people it's a minor inconvenience they mash past to get to their game at best. No point making a thread about that, just get it out of your way and be done with it. At worst it actively prevents you from playing the game.

Do you know what service does get praise? Steam. There are valid cases to be made where circumventing Steam would offer you a subpar experience. Not here. There is absolutely nothing the app offers that validates its existence, but there are clearly plenty of cases demonstrating the app's absence would be a net benefit. As a matter of fact, anyone who has bought the game and doesn't care about whatever superfluous features the EA app offers would be better off cracking the game to circumvent it. That is a service problem.

Do you know what service was absolutely loathed for years before people finally got used to it and said it wasn't worth complaining about anymore? Steam.

No one wanted Steam but you had to install it when Half Life 2 came out. Why did we need Steam for a singleplayer game? The only reason Steam is praised now is because most people have the majority of their gaming library on it and they can't really move away from it. I have over 500 titles on my account now. I actively went for retail copies of games whenever I could for the longest time to avoid Steam but, eventually, even retail copies of games were just Steam keys in a box with a disk containing some of the game files.

Steam had the benefit of being out first and securing a player base before other companies released their apps. Every app that's not Steam gets crapped on for no real reason other than "It's not Steam". Yes, some people have technical issues but most people blame the apps for everything, even if it's not the problem. I've had two issues that were quickly fixed by EA support in the last ten years of using Origin. No issues with EA App so far. No issues with UPlay/Ubi Connect and I don't use the Epic Game Store because I don't believe in paid exclusivity for titles they didn't publish.

Unless you're running a ten year old potato, no gaming app uses up resources enough to hinder a game's performance. Disable stuff like the overlay and data collection features and they use even less resources. Right now, my EA App is using less than 300 MB of memory and hardly any CPU. UbiConnect is using almost 600MB of memory and barely any CPU. Steam is using over 1500 MB of memory and barely any CPU, almost double of the other two combined but still not causing performance issues. Not on my new 32 GB RAM PC or my old 16GB of RAM PC from 2016. You might have issues running on an 8GB RAM system but, honestly, I wouldn't be surprised since modern games tend to require at least half of that and modern OSes (Win 10 and 11) need about 4GB allocated to it to run.

Again, I know some people have issues. The problem is, most of the time, they don't want help from what I've seen. They'll come in, complain about the app, and won't even post their system specs. You ask for the specs and they won't give them to you because they don't want help. There was a post by a guy named Fok or something about a week ago doing this and his isn't the first time I've encountered it.

Edit: This guy - https://steamcommunity.com/app/1328670/discussions/0/3953658554148615204/

So it's hard to take them seriously when they're not seeking help.

There were also a few people blaming the EA App for not being able to play this game when it was their OS not being up to date. They didn't read the requirements that the game has to have Win 10 or 11 but was running 7 or 8.1 and instantly claimed the app was causing issue.

It's easy to see people complaining about the app but we can't know how many problems are actually tied to it. I managed to help a few people get the game to work by having them manually create a registry entry that wasn't being created automatically. That wouldn't be an EA App problem as the creation would be tied to Steam since it installs the game.

[biscotti]

If it were 2004 I'd almost agree with you. But using Steam as it was in its infancy back then to put it on equal footing in your defense of the EA app anno 2023 isn't doing it much of a favor.

The fact remains that the EA app managed to waste more of my time on a single Sunday evening than Steam has managed to in half a decade.

Anyway, this is turning out like 99% of internet arguments do. So instead of letting this app indirectly waste even more of my time I'm gonna leave it at this, and begrudgingly deal with yet another barely functional launcher taking up free real estate on my PC.

[Gizmo]

Boycott my friends. Boycott. The phrase "vote with your wallet" exists for good reason. Sadly, too many people actually do so, by not boycotting crap like this. Me? I'll never buy another game from Blizzard again for the rest of my life. I know, I know, we're discussing EA here. But, same logic applies. Tell your friends, loved ones, and anyone you know really, boycott these AAA ♥♥♥♥♥. Hope I'm helping, cuz that's my end goal behind this comment.

[Jonathan J. O'Neill]

Originally posted by biscotti:

Anyway, this is turning out like 99% of internet arguments do.

I disagree. 99% of topics like this devolve into childish name calling and personal insults pretty quickly. I'd say this is pretty civil and mature, which I'm happy to see. But, I see your point and I know I can't change yours or other people's opinions of the service, misguided or not.

Not sure why it was delayed but I've had it happen across various services for verification codes or password resets over the years. I, personally, don't see that big of a deal with a minor, thirty minute delay in getting a verification code when there are other things to do or play in that short time frame. Then again, I'm also nearly forty-four and grew up in the 80s and 90s before the generation of people who expect instant gratification or on-demand entertainment. I'm not saying you are this type of person, per se, but I certainly encounter this mindset quite frequently online and in the real world.

[Jörmunrekkr]

this is like slavery... you have to pay with your nerves to play this bs

[barzai]

Originally posted by Jörmunrekkr:

this is like slavery... you have to pay with your nerves to play this bs

"Slavery"--seriously? I'd think someone who lives in Zimbabwe might have a better sense of proportion.

[Sentinel 08295]

Can I register this product to my Origin account if I already have one? I already have the MELE on that account free from Amazon Prime in 2022. Will it register a second time to my Origin account and allow me to play for Steam Achievements?

[GravityWave]

Originally posted by Jonathan J. O'Neill:

Originally posted by biscotti:

Anyway, this is turning out like 99% of internet arguments do.

I disagree. 99% of topics like this devolve into childish name calling and personal insults pretty quickly. I'd say this is pretty civil and mature, which I'm happy to see. But, I see your point and I know I can't change yours or other people's opinions of the service, misguided or not.

Not sure why it was delayed but I've had it happen across various services for verification codes or password resets over the years. I, personally, don't see that big of a deal with a minor, thirty minute delay in getting a verification code when there are other things to do or play in that short time frame. Then again, I'm also nearly forty-four and grew up in the 80s and 90s before the generation of people who expect instant gratification or on-demand entertainment. I'm not saying you are this type of person, per se, but I certainly encounter this mindset quite frequently online and in the real world.