EAs "Origin" service...

[Krusty]

Origin has a really stupid (no, I mean REALLY stupid) way of launching BF3, but they have a required launch platform in an attempt to get more money from STEAM, called "Origin."

However they gather your info to sell to make even more money. The Origin program is reported (from testing) to scan all the files in your program data folder or some such, and it's not reporting yet but it's just been launched and they may be waiting to turn on the "send us the gathered data" subroutine for when they have a larger customer base.

There is no way to avoid this. The only way to avoid it is to not install the software, which means no BF3 (exclusive to Origin) and no other recent EA titles. They are moving towards this as their main money making platform and you can bet the majority of their new games will go through it.


Aside from the entire BF3 discussion (another topic unto itself!), has anybody done any testing on Origin? Does anybody have any thoughts? Actual observations/tests? It's a major breach of privacy IMO and I won't run BF3 because it requires Origin. That's just me.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Origin has a really stupid (no, I mean REALLY stupid) way of launching BF3, but they have a required launch platform in an attempt to get more money from STEAM, called "Origin."

However they gather your info to sell to make even more money. The Origin program is reported (from testing) to scan all the files in your program data folder or some such, and it's not reporting yet but it's just been launched and they may be waiting to turn on the "send us the gathered data" subroutine for when they have a larger customer base.

There is no way to avoid this. The only way to avoid it is to not install the software, which means no BF3 (exclusive to Origin) and no other recent EA titles. They are moving towards this as their main money making platform and you can bet the majority of their new games will go through it.


Aside from the entire BF3 discussion (another topic unto itself!), has anybody done any testing on Origin? Does anybody have any thoughts? Actual observations/tests? It's a major breach of privacy IMO and I won't run BF3 because it requires Origin. That's just me.

Umm the antihack kinda has to scan your files to be able to detect them. Punkbuster scans your whole computer basically.

[Krusty]

It's not an anti hack... It's on startup of the Origin service itself, not running any game. They explicitly admitted they were going to take your info and sell it in the EULA, then realized folks read it and changed it to make it more obscured.

BF3 will be using Punkbuster, for example, and not some native anti-hack from EA.

[gyrene81]

wow...that's worse than microsoft...thanks for the info krusty

i swore 7 years ago i would never buy another ea pc based game...and they just keep adding to the list of reasons not to buy.

[Tyrannis]

wow...that's worse than microsoft...thanks for the info krusty

i swore 7 years ago i would never buy another ea pc based game...and they just keep adding to the list of reasons not to buy.

Whats the alternitive?

Activision's call of duty "Elite" system? pay $49 a year to get guns/maps that should of already been in the game in the first place?

[Krusty]

Activision's greed is highly elevated, to be sure, and I'm of the opinion that such a business model of paying for what is already in a game is recipe for that game's failing. Want to play the game? Buy it... Oh, sorry, you can't finish the game without paying another $30... Oh, and you can't beat the final boss without a DLC item we sell for $20.... Oh, and you'll only be able to solve the puzzle to get into the boss chamber by purchasing a DLC puzzle key... just $20!

Unfortunately EA has also been going that route for a while. Valve is starting to venture into that land, which is scary.

Overall Origin is a prying piece of spyware, it looks like, intended only to make money for EA by either 1) taking sales from other well established digital distributors and 2) selling your marketing info after searching your HD for it. EA has been moving closer and closer to this step for a while, but to actually take the step is a terrible setback for all PC gamers.


The truly sad part is BF3 will keep Origin going when any other time it would crash and burn. BF3 isn't even that great! It's a console game coded to use a PC video card! They have no clue how to make a PC game anymore.

[gyrene81]

Whats the alternitive?

Activision's call of duty "Elite" system? pay $49 a year to get guns/maps that should of already been in the game in the first place?

what's the alternative? i know it would be like telling a crack addict to put the pipe down but...stop buying the crap!!! the developers don't care what you think, after you drop $50-$60 for one of their craptastic bazooka noob games, they don't care what you do.

ea is getting away with the crap because you squeakers continue to buy their junk. they have been steadily getting worse than microsoft and until their sales suffer noticeably, it's not going to stop.

[SIK1]

what's the alternative? i know it would be like telling a crack addict to put the pipe down but...stop buying the crap!!! the developers don't care what you think, after you drop $50-$60 for one of their craptastic bazooka noob games, they don't care what you do.

ea is getting away with the crap because you squeakers continue to buy their junk. they have been steadily getting worse than microsoft and until their sales suffer noticeably, it's not going to stop.

There it is there.

[Krusty]

Well, before it gets totally blown out of proportion, I will correct myself to say "it looks like" it's a piece of spyware... I don't know for sure, hence partly why I was curious if folks knew more in here.

The alternative is to stop buying bad games and supporting BAD companies with underhanded and dirty tactics. I'm not getting BF3 because of this. It's a sloppy rushed and super-overhyped product being used to hide the fact that EA gets to own you ("But, hey, look! BF3! Don't think about that other stuff, just go play a new game!").

Even if it didn't pry for data, I would boycott the terrible user interface, the horrid BROWSER PLUGIN method as the only way to launch the game, etc. The fact they lied and said it was a PC game but it has all the characteristics and leftover problems of a console port (including crappy input support, looking for gamepads instead of joysticks, etc -- stuff found in BC2 already).

[Tyrannis]

what's the alternative? i know it would be like telling a crack addict to put the pipe down but...stop buying the crap!!! the developers don't care what you think, after you drop $50-$60 for one of their craptastic bazooka noob games, they don't care what you do.

ea is getting away with the crap because you squeakers continue to buy their junk. they have been steadily getting worse than microsoft and until their sales suffer noticeably, it's not going to stop.

Im buying BF3 for ps3 because i LIKE the battlefield franchise. just like YOU like Aceshigh.  But if you wish to call BF3 junk, may i point out that AH's current subscriptions would probably not even come close to matching a third of the sales of past battlefield games, or even bf3 alone.

And you overuse the word "squeeker" gyrene. You may call me a squeeker, but its YOU that is always in topics criticizeing  other's opinions. Your turning into a mini-krusty when it comes to how badly you feel your opinion needs to be stated above all others.

[gyrene81]

Im buying BF3 for ps3 because i LIKE the battlefield franchise. just like YOU like Aceshigh.  But if you wish to call BF3 junk, may i point out that AH's current subscriptions would probably not even come close to matching a third of the sales of past battlefield games, or even bf3 alone.

And you overuse the word "squeeker" gyrene. You may call me a squeeker, but its YOU that is always in topics criticizeing  other's opinions. Your turning into a mini-krusty when it comes to how badly you feel your opinion needs to be stated above all others.

son, when you were still sitting around in crusty diapers i played battlefield and 4 other first person shooters, on dedicated servers that i paid to have control over...my servers ran community modifications to bring the most realistic settings possible and those modifications took months to perfect. my servers were full 24/7 365. the games were specifically programmed to work on computers. the bf3 subscriptions will fall just like the orginal battlefield fan base...it's a squeaker flash in the pan. same thing happened with modern warfare, mw2, ofp dragon rising, and every other first person shooter the developers have made specifically for consoles. you pay $60 for a $20 game, plus an online subscription fee but nobody will care if you don't like the game, you already paid for it.

aceshigh is not perfect, but you do get 2 weeks to find out whether or not you want to pay for it. i did that very thing 3 years before i actually subscribed.

[Tyrannis]

son, when you were still sitting around in crusty diapers i played battlefield and 4 other first person shooters, on dedicated servers that i paid to have control over...my servers ran community modifications to bring the most realistic settings possible and those modifications took months to perfect. my servers were full 24/7 365. the games were specifically programmed to work on computers. the bf3 subscriptions will fall just like the orginal battlefield fan base...it's a squeaker flash in the pan. same thing happened with modern warfare, mw2, ofp dragon rising, and every other first person shooter the developers have made specifically for consoles. you pay $60 for a $20 game, plus an online subscription fee but nobody will care if you don't like the game, you already paid for it.

aceshigh is not perfect, but you do get 2 weeks to find out whether or not you want to pay for it. i did that very thing 3 years before i actually subscribed.

Ive played every battlefield except Battlefield 2142. (This includes all addons, including the BC2 Vietnam Add-on, and 1943). so even if i was in "crusty diapers", ive still done everything you have.

I cant say for the PC versions, but the console battlefields, "bad company" had demo's, letting you try them out. Bc1 had 2 betas, and after it was released had a demo you could download and try whenever you liked.

BC2 had 2 betas. Both invite only, but they also released an Open Multiplayer Demo for 2 weeks before the game was released. i remember staying up till 1 a.m, parachuting into the battlefield. and knifing many, many bush wookies.

Battlefield 1943 comes with a permanent Online demo. Where you can go online and use all the classes, but you can only play on wake island.

And whats wrong with console gaming? IGN, Gamespot, Game informer have all ran articles, showing how PC gaming is on the decline. and Console gaming has risen. Console gaming is the future. whether you like it or not.


Also, i like how if anything contradicts your own opinion gyrene, its automatically labeled a "squeaker" by you. Your a squeaker because of how much you squeek that dam word.

[Krusty]

Comparing BF3 to AH2 is not a valid analysis... Who will be suffering EA's indignities 10 years from now, paying subscriptions month after month to continue enjoying it?


Most won't even bother with the DLC (which should have been part of the game from the start -- more bad business ploys on EA's part), even, let alone pay $30 a month for years, then $15 a month for more years.

I am also a long-time PC gamer and FPS gamer. I have played in most of the major FPS games you can list (but not all) and rather heavily at times. I can also say that BF3 is coming across (the entire system, requiring Origin just to run it, launching through web browsers, having the interface of a console game) as junk.

Fun junk, but not worth the headaches, hassles, and limitations imposed upon those that would play it.


P.S. Saying console gaming is the future is myopic at best. PC gaming keeps console games in business. PC hardware pushes limits and furthers technology and software. Consoles do not. Don't compare console gaming on BF series with PC gaming on BF series. They are night and day different, from the ground up and from the player base/community up.

P.P.S. If you're getting BF3 on a console and only play them on consoles, you don't have the PC background or PC gaming experience to notice the difference between cheap console ports and native PC games. It's not about the running and jumping and shooting. It's about the entire way the game is laid out. It's not the action it's the function. If you like it on console, fine. If you are a PC gamer you have more scope and capability and PC gaming demands that games use this scope and capability. Inputs, keymapping, level of detail setting, more options both for GPU and CPU. None of these you will be familiar with on a console, but make or break a game on a PC.

[Krusty]

Just going to say... I'd rather not have this turn into a console-vs-PC... A few comments sure, but let's focus on EA's Origin service and it's PC-related ramifications.

[Chalenge]

I have AH installed on a Windows 7 install and backed up to an True Image secure zone. Its a simple matter to 'restore' the install to an unused 500GB drive and remove AH before installing BF3. Then I can play it for a few months before removing the drive. There isnt anything for EA to grab that way!