Electronic Arts Message Board older than one year ago

#stickjockey In 2007, the NFL staged a regular-season game in London for the first time ever. The night before, the American ambassador invited several VIPs to the U.S. embassy there. Even diplomatic cocktail parties do not proceed without some formality. More »

Battlefield 3 will have 10 times the hardware unlocks as Bad Company 2, in an obvious ploy to keep players away from friends, family and potential mates for years to come. Battleblog #5, "Years worth of unlocks and rewards in Battlefield 3," unsurprisingly boasts a massive unlock tree for vehicles and oodles of unlocks for weapons, weapons attachments and gadgets. It also lists awards, service stars, kit tailoring options and tactical unlock details.

Battleblog #5 focuses on Battlefield 3's "play it your way" philosophy, giving players more flexibility in creating their kits and earning service stars to keep us playing well into 2013 and beyond. Just not on Steam.

A few minutes ago I didn’t know, but now I do – that’s the magic of online marketing materials for The Old Republic. They’re not just entertaining, they’re educational! And when it’s your job to be a enormous nerd on the internet, as mine is, it’s good to know this stuff. I’ve posted the Jedi Consular trailer below, so that you can see it too. Being a Jedi Consular involves wearing very large shoulder pads, looking at glowing machines, deflecting energy bolts, and basically being a big old space wizard. Good times.(more…)

EA CEO John Riccitiello recently met with Notch with (reportedly) a view to acquiring the Minecraft creating company, according to an interview with Develop. “EA came to see us,” says Notch. “I think they had plans, but picked up the vibe. Nothing’s been said since – it’s all very high politics,”

Mojang is basically not for sale, and frankly why would it be? Minecraft recently hit three million copies sold and Notch is richer than the rest of indie game dev put together. I think there’s a point where you can stop worrying about money, and Mr P has hit it: “I play their games, and they make great games, but we are too far from each other,” said Notch of EA. “They can make their games, and I’ll buy them. We’ll make ours, and they can buy them. Not the property – that’s ours. But they can play it like everyone else.”

"There's a game out there that's better than both [Dragon Age] Origins and DAII, and I'll be damned if the talented folks of the DA team can't find it," BioWare lead designer Mike Laidlaw concluded a recent response to one fan on his company's forums. He was engaged in an ongoing conversation over the past few days in a subject thread titled "Dragon Age 2 reception and community discussed," wherein fans sounded off and a handful of BioWare reps responded to criticisms about the critically divisive Dragon Age 2, and its improved follow-up DLC, Legacy.

"Legacy, I think, goes a long way towards demonstrating that we are listening, that we are aware of the weaknesses of DAII, and that we will continue to address them," he responded to another, specifically citing combat encounters, asset re-use, loot, and choice impact as areas to improve. While he of course didn't speak to Dragon Age 3, he did note that "Reasonable, passionate feedback is the best possible thing to provide. Seeing strongly negative reaction to DAII, and strongly positive reaction to Legacy, even from some of DAII's strongest detractors (and yes, I know it's not universal, but what is), is incredibly useful."

#pullquote One day before Electronic Arts' reorganization, Patrick Bach, the DICE executive producer of Battlefield 3 said an annual publishing schedule "will eventually kill the franchise." A day later, EA's top general had a somewhat different tone. More »

#easports Peter Moore, president of EA Sports for the past four years, has been promoted to Electronic Arts' chief operating officer in a company-wide reorganization, John Riccitiello, the EA chief executive, said today. More »

We’ve had word back from EA regarding their peculiarly-worded terms of service for Origin. Senior director of corporate communications John Reseburg explains: “The Origin terms of service are designed to protect against misuse of the Origin system. No Origin user who has paid entitlements and/or downloaded games will have their account cancelled or games expired due to extended non-use. The term regarding account cancellation for non-use is designed to guard against creation of non-active accounts for inappropriate reasons.”

So that’s good. As long as you weren’t intending to create non-active accounts for inappropriate reasons, anyway.

USA Today has calculated that Electronic Arts could face $1 billion in damages if it eventually loses a class-action lawsuit brought against the publisher and the NCAA by former college athletes. The lawsuit, which has been ongoing for two years, revolves around compensation for athletes' likenesses being used in EA's NCAA football and basketball games.

The Cliff's Notes version of the math works a little something like this: the law apparently says each player can be awarded $1,000 per likeness, per platform. This ends up being about $305.5 million for all the football players and $29 million for basketball players, a total of $334.5 million. Now, if the judge decides EA and the NCAA were "knowing, willful or intentional" in their compensation violation, the amount can be tripled under the Indiana publicity rights statute for damages over a billion dollars.

EA's official statement, provided by EA corp. comm VP Jeff Brown: "We could lose billions more if a giant meteor hits the earth. We're not planning for either outcome."

A number of readers have written in to express concern about this clause in the terms of service for Electronic Arts’ new digital distribution, Origin. Here’s the key bit: “If you have not used your Entitlements or Account for twenty four (24) months or more and your Account has associated Entitlements, your Entitlements will expire and your Account may be cancelled for non-use.” The “entitlements” it’s talking about are “paid and free downloadable content, unlockable content, digital and/or virtual assets, rights of use tied to unlock keys or codes, serial codes and/or online authentication of any kind, in-game achievements and virtual or fictional currency.”

We’ve asked Electronic Arts for clarification on this, but it suggests you might lose DLC, achievements, and even your account if you don’t log on for two years. Not exactly the kind of permanence we’ve come to expect from certain online services, is it? I can think of quite a few services I’ve not logged into for two years, and I’d still expect all my stuff to be there. Is anyone aware of similar clauses in other distribution systems or online game services?

The confusion regarding EA's plans for Battlefield 3's multiplayer access is palpable. GamerZines reports that Battlefield 3 Executive Producer Patrick Bach stated in an interview last week that the game would "probably" require a code for access to multiplayer. When pushed on whether EA would lock out second-hand players through use of an online pass, he replied, "I think we are." EA told the site it would pick up the conversation "another time."

The latest major iteration of the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, implemented a "VIP Pass," granting access to extra content, but placed no initial limitations on multiplayer access. EA's online pass (i.e. Project Ten Dollar) -- now utilized by many publishers, with Ubisoft being the latest -- cuts off multiplayer to anyone who doesn't purchase a code, which comes bundled in new copies of games. Of course, with today's announcement of EA Sports Season Ticket (i.e. Project 25 Dollar), there's a whole new level of possibility.

"The whole idea is that we're paying for servers and if you create a new account there is a big process on how that is being handled in the back end," Bach said. "We would rather have you buy a new game than a used game because buying a used game is only a cost to us; we don't get a single dime from a used game, but we still need to create server space and everything for you."

We've reached out to EA for clarification.

Follow along with us: An online resume for one Mr. Rick Stalder noted that the developer was working on an unannounced FPS title for PS3 since September 2010. While that news in and of itself isn't revelatory, the name of his employer was: Black Troll Studios. While the developer, currently at Halo house 343, has since removed that reference from his resume, a screengrab was snagged by SystemLink PlayStation.

After some quick Googling, the site tracked down the registrant of blacktrollstudios.com and ... you're never going to guess, guys! It says "Electronic Arts." Now, before you take that as gospel, it's worth pointing out that the semi-anonymized listing doesn't match EA's other registrations, like masseffect.com, needforspeed.com, visceralgames.com, and others. Perhaps it's different because the studio is still unannounced? But why list the name on the anonymous registration as Electronic Arts? We've reached out to EA for a comment, but don't let that stop you from getting ahold of us if you've got any info!

[Image credit: Bludgeoner86]

The most memorable sales numbers we've heard about an EA game recently were not good (see: Shadows of the Damned's disappointing debut). EA has some much happier numbers to report (about other games) in its latest quarterly earnings report.

According to the report, Crysis 2 has "sold in" (shipped) "approximately three million units" since its March release, adding another million since last quarter.

You want some more big numbers? How about 15 million FIFA 11 shipments (including various mobile and downloadable versions), and 9 million of Battlefield Bad Company 2? The document is full of large numbers in various denominations; we'll talk about some of the others soon.

The most memorable sales numbers we've heard about an EA game recently were not good, bringing us news of Shadows of the Damned's disappointing debut. EA has some much happier numbers to report (about other games) in its latest quarterly earnings report.

According to the report, Crysis 2 has "sold in" (shipped) "approximately three million units" since its March release, and Dead Space 2 has shipped roughly two million since January.

You want some more big numbers? How about 15 million FIFA 11 shipments (including various mobile and downloadable versions), and 9 million of Battlefield Bad Company 2? The document is full of large numbers in various denominations; we'll talk about some of the others soon.

Speaking to Gamezone.de (as translated by CVG), DICE Executive Producer Patrick Bach explained some of the changes made to Battlefield 3 multiplayer on consoles. According to Bach, compromises had to be made in order to create the best possible experience on consoles. One such compromise is the 24-player limit we learned about earlier this year.

Another compromise, he said, is the construction of more "compact" maps. Maps will be smaller than their PC counterparts, though he assures players "it's not that we have cut them in half," but rather compacted them "slightly to keep the action up."

Bach mentioned Battlefield Bad Company 2 as a point of reference, noting that its maps "weren't really small on console." Having spawned at the base with no vehicles many times, we'd be hard-pressed to disagree. Speaking of vehicles, Bach did confirm that jets will be available in the console version, so virtual pilots can rest easy.

You think you have had enough of The Old Republic news? WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED. By the end of the year you’ll actually have had your childhood memories replaced by SW:TOR marketing materials, and the world will seem a better place for it. The latest cocktail of sparkling hype-juice to be pumped energetically from the info-nozzle of Lucas/EA/Bioware is the Join The Fight trailer (below), which shows the various character classes strutting their talent trees. Each class has a pithy line and a bit of fighty to illustrate their unique appeal. Off-screen, however, it’s my suspicion that the Sith Warrior looks at the Imperial Agent and says “Lol, nerd.”

Go take a look.(more…)

We'd love to tell you that EA DICE explained the Battlelog functionality coming to Battlefield 3, but the Swedish devs only cursorily discussed it in a recent blog post. Most of what is shown off here was already gleaned from accidentally posted German screens earlier this month. DICE does point out one crucial aspect, however: "It's absolutely free."

It's still unclear whether the Battelog will be available in-game or solely accessed via PCs, but given Autolog's implementation in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, we imagine at least some form of the service will be available via consoles. Thankfully it seems that we won't be waiting long to hear more, as the post notes plans to reveal the "full suite of features" in Battlelog "at a later date." The multiplayer beta kicks off in just two months, so that "later date" will likely be "sooner" than ... erm .. well, you know.

Haven't had quite enough of Battlefield 3's Parisian multiplayer map "Operation Metro?" Neither has YouTube user FPSMoose, apparently, as he's compiled a more thorough (and likely leaked) assortment of footage. Take a peek before EA takes it out!

Guys, I love Battlefield. And like a lot of you, I was concerned about Battlefield 3 on the home consoles. I play Bad Company 2 on Xbox 360 regularly and since EA came packing a PC build at E3, after months of flaunting the high-powered PC version, my concern over the console release grew.

So when I learned that EA would be showing off the E3 multiplayer demo on the PS3 at its Summer Showcase event earlier this month, I went in with no small amount of trepidation and curiosity. Rest assured, not only does it run smoothly on the console, it also looks amazing. Console players have nothing to worry about come October 25.

#easports Electronic Arts today said it will expand its EA Sports operations to Texas, and bring in more than 150 new jobs in a move the state government is expected to back with financial incentives. More »

As boys turn to men, we know it's hard to say goodbye to yesterday, but time marches on and Electronic Arts has server power bills it's no longer keen on paying. EA has decided to shut down online functionality for several titles, including Army of Two, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, as of August 11.

EA's explanation is that games being shut down represent "fewer than 1% of all peak online players across all EA titles," and that its server teams would rather "focus on keeping a positive experience for the other 99% of customers playing our more popular games." Find the list of titles being disconnected from the internet after the break.

#popcapgames Whatever Electronic Arts is spending to acquire PopCap, its casual gaming rival Rovio, the maker of Angry Birds, would cost more. That's according to ... well, Rovio. More »

#adiossalemandrios Electronic Arts is performing another round of "online service shutdowns," taking dozens of multiplayer games and demos offline forever. So, if you're still playing Army of Two or Skate online, you won't have the option much longer. More »

Electronic Arts is in the Plants Vs. Zombies business it seems, announcing today that they have picked up PopCap Games for $750 million. More »

#blip Soccer fans will be able to play the iPad version of EA Sports' FIFA on a full-size television set when the game's next edition arrives this fall, Electronic Arts said at this afternoon's Summer Showcase. More »

We first heard about "Burnout Crash" this spring through ESRB and Australian ratings, but EA has kept mum about the downloadable racer -- until now. The publisher officially announced Burnout Crash! for PSN and XBLA, coming fall 2011.

The downloadable top-down racer is based on previous Burnout games' Crash Mode, and offers rewards for "causing traffic chaos by crashing into cars, triggering explosions and destroying everything in sight." 18 different "crash junctions" will challenge players' ability to wreck stuff.

And should you desire a new way in which to wreck stuff (like your living room), Burnout Crash! will include a Kinect mode on XBLA, in which "two teams use gestural controls to play on one television in a party battle!"

#secrettonotmysuccess Zynga's massive billion dollar public offering came packed with plenty of insight into the company behind FarmVille and Mafia Wars. There's even a few lessons that Activision and Electronic Arts could stand to learn... or relearn. More »

As if it'd taken a swig from a bottle labeled "Drink Me," the price tag on Alice: Madness Returns has diminished in size at Amazon. This week only, the retailer is offering American McGee's second excursion into Wonderland for $20 off, making it $40 on PS3 and 360 and $30 on PC.

The deal is available only "while supplies last," and joins similar week-long discounts on Brink and The Witcher 2 -- which is also a fantasy game, but features far fewer flying pig snouts.

The sextet of hackers known as "Lulz Security" may be done with their 50-day reign of semi-terror, but that doesn't mean the ramifications of their actions are over. In a final file released alongside yesterday's statement, the group released info from approximately 550,000 Battlefield Heroes beta user accounts (according to Rock, Paper, Shotgun) as well as the info from roughly 50,000 "random gaming forum" users. EA tells Eurogamer that the info was from "an early beta version" of the game, and "no emails, account history, credit card numbers or payment methods" were obtained.

Apparently the breach took down BF Heroes servers over the weekend, though EA also explained that it has recovered the free-to-play FPS to operational status. And though it's possible that some of the group's handiwork has yet to be discovered, we're hopeful that this is the last story of a breach we'll be writing after the hacking group's disbandment.

If you can't wait until Comic-Con to see what's coming next for Dragon Age 2 DLC -- or if you're one of the most people on Earth who can't make it to Comic-Con -- you can get an early glimpse of the future now, thanks to Xbox360Achievements.

The site has posted a list of achievements for the "Legacy" DLC, which we suppose could constitute spoilers for content nobody knew about. Judging by the Achievements, you'll be spending the majority of this episode in the Vimmark Mountains -- though we wouldn't be surprised at all if that time was padded out by several (dozen) hours in the city of Kirkwall.