 justinAustralian
join:1999-05-28
New York, NY
kudos:7
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
Home/Office setup ..
| reply to Midak
Re: Battlefield 2142 ships with spyware? Say it ain't so said by Midak:I agree with paying extra for extra but will EA give extra since they are getting extra? Since they will be making it hand over fist with the advertisers, will the next booster be free or will they more than likely charge $10-$20? Well the same question goes for games over direct2drive or steam. Zero distribution costs. Are they keeping the extra profit? Yes, they are, unless there is competition.
I think if this game is the first to really try to introduce dynamic advertising inside the game world it is likely to be a loss leader for them and they might not even make back the money they spent on the technology, the sales staff, etc etc. Advertisers will be very tentative with such an unproven channel.
And another point: Is the price of a movie with product placement any less than the price of a movie without? answer: no. That isn't how things work. |
|
 MidakDoctors suckPremium
join:2002-02-26
Yonkers, NY | said by justin:And another point: Is the price of a movie with product placement any less than the price of a movie without? answer: no. That isn't how things work. Same price to the consumer, yes but it does allow the producers to spend more on the movie. |
|
justinAustralian
join:1999-05-28
New York, NY
kudos:7 Host:
IPv6
Business Connectiv..
Console/Handheld g..
Console Tech
Home/Office setup ..
| and we know that BF2142 isn't also a better game because of this potential advertising revenue stream?
Anyway sorry i'm in a caffinated mood right now. Yes EA is being a little sleazy here in not really explaining what they are doing but did anyone expect more from a publically listed company run not by digerati, but by suits? And since gamers are so desirous of games like this, most are going to put up with the relatively tiny real-world risks, in order to play it as delivered with ill-explained data collection technology and all. |
|
MidakDoctors suckPremium
join:2002-02-26
Yonkers, NY | said by justin:and we know that BF2142 isn't also a better game because of this potential advertising revenue stream? If it is true spyware, where it actually runs when the game is not even being used, it is just plain wrong. If it is strictly in game and it does not disrupt the game play in anyway by causing lag, excess bandwidth use, etc. then I could care less...as long as they give something back in the form of new maps, weapons, better support and some real customer service that does not take a day or 30 to get a hold of. I have no problem with any company trying to earn more money as long as they in turn put out a better product. |
|
| Has anyone verified yet if the spyware runs even if the game does not?
Has anyone found yet if it's an extra process or extra tunnel that can be blocked or does it go through the game stream? |
|
 BlackbirdBuilt for SpeedPremium
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:2
 ·Frontier Communi..
| reply to justin
said by justin:... Are they keeping the extra profit? Yes, they are, unless there is competition. I think if this game is the first to really try to introduce dynamic advertising inside the game world it is likely to be a loss leader for them and they might not even make back the money they spent on the technology, the sales staff, etc etc. Advertisers will be very tentative with such an unproven channel. And another point: Is the price of a movie with product placement any less than the price of a movie without? answer: no. That isn't how things work. In some ways, I think you've hit very close to the heart of the matter. All private-sector companies are in whatever their business is, simply to make a profit - and there are many theories and models on how best to do that. Fail to make a profit, you become toast... make a large profit, your investors/owners will be very happy. EA is no exception - as are all other outfits in the digital gaming business. They're looking at dollars-in versus dollars-out... advertising and data-mining are simply two methods of trying to raise dollar inflow. It remains to be seen whether or not the net result of including this within games will actually be to quench their revenue stream through lost product sales, etc. It's a free market out there... EA has the right to create gaming software and include advertising/data-mining schemes - and the public has the right to accept or reject the resulting product(s).
But... my real beef with what EA has done in BF2142 is that they haven't informed the buyer ahead of the sale about the included advertising and monitoring. A hash sheet included inside the box means the buyer doesn't know about it until he's opened the package - and that means he cannot (in most cases) return the product at point-of-sale if he doesn't want such software intrusion.
Regardless of "ironclad" software EULA's and what "other software companies" may routinely do, a computer still belongs to its owner, not the purveyors of the software installed on it. The time, processor cycles, bandwidth, memory, storage space, etc. belong to the owner - not the software houses. The owner has the legitimate right to determine what is placed onto his computer, and what he will tolerate it doing. By denying him clear pre-purchase understanding of the included advertising and phone-home monitoring software, EA is denying him the right to make an informed buying decision, and they are offering him no recourse after the sale.
This advertising and data-mining code may promise added profit to EA, but risking the alienation of your customer base by deliberately denying them relevant information prior to product sale is an even better going-out-of-business plan.
--
If God wanted us to work with electrons, He'd make them big enough to see... |
|
| I will agree with Blackbird. The lamest thing EA did was not that they included spywware but the fact that they were sneaky about putting a sheet inside the box letting you know about the advertising rather than on the outside of the box. If that sheet was on the outside how many would of bought it? Name a store that will take back a game that has been opened. Lucky for me the truck for my Best Buy was late and i wasn't able to pick up the game. I will be cancelling my preorder now. Hopefully id software won't go this route with Quake Wars. At least i got a flash drive out of the deal and my daughter lucks out since i will use the money i was going to use for 2142 to buy her another Nintendo Wii game when it launches. |
|
