EA Blocks Multiplayer Mode on Used Games XBOX360/PS3/PC

Bhoya said:
It also helps them recover some money from pirates so I'm not totally against this, it could make all the difference for smaller developers between losing a million sales through piracy and getting nothing to at least getting some revenue.

Wasn't this already done in the recent PSP SOCOM game and one of the previous PES games on the PS3?
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So it helps them recover money from pirates by fining legal buyers? Yeah sounds very fair. I recently bought fifa10 2nd hand for purely the online play with mates.

The nice thing about console games at the moment is that they do keep their value for a while. This will make all EA games virtually worthless after a few months from release. Nice move ;)

Streeteh said:
So you're outraged that you can't pirate games for free now? I have no sympathy.
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How does it effect pirates? This means that they can now download the game for free and then pay $10 for multiplayer access. If that is true then I can only see piracy increase in volume. $10 per new game and you can play onilne?, wow that is a great deal!
 
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Seems like a joke, i buy second hand games and new games, i save more than £5 aswell, more like £15ish, they should introduce registration codes, it works for the pc, pirated games rarely rarely work online and only have single player use wich is exactly all this would offer protection against, simply put EA does not like the idea of consumers purchasing there products at heavily reduced prices that arnt sanctioned by them.

pirated games are no way as big a problem as made out, MW1 and MW2 are prime examples of what a good multiplayer feature can bring to a game id, wager there arnt many pirated versions of them game being used.

bloodline76 said:
How does it effect pirates? This means that they can now download the game for free and then pay $10 for multiplayer access. If that is true then I can only see piracy increase in volume. $10 per new game, wow that is a great deal!
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WOW such a worrying thought and great point missed, seems like the hounest consumer is getting even more screwed.
 
Why are people so convinced it is to do with piracy?

Surely it is down to retailers who add a mark up on these publishers games when they are traded in. I do not blame publishers for taking these steps, companies should not be allowed to sell a trade-in product at £39.99 whilst offering the same product brand new at £42.99 it's a shocking practice and I hope this new policy from publishers punishes those retailers choosing that as their cornerstone business model.
 
bloodline76 said:
The nice thing about console games at the moment is that they do keep their value for a while. This will make all EA games virtually worthless after a few months from release. Nice move ;)
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Which of course EA don't care about since they get nothing from 2nd hand sales :)
 
Bhoya said:
It also helps them recover some money from pirates so I'm not totally against this, it could make all the difference for smaller developers between losing a million sales through piracy and getting nothing to at least getting some revenue.

Wasn't this already done in the recent PSP SOCOM game and one of the previous PES games on the PS3?
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thats just it tho from pirates........

so yet again the legit person who wants to pay for a second hand copy tho i know the devs dont see the money this time as its now second hand.

he/she suffers but if he/she was to pirate it he/she could get a copy for free so pirates win again any way.

and it wont stop piracy can you realy see a person who pirates all his/her games thinking ohhhh i could buy this game second hand then pay an extra ten pounds then i have got it legit yeah right he/she will pirate the game.
 
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Welcome to PC gaming? ;p Most PC games over the years need a CD key etc to play online which may have already been claimed, this seems very similar just harder to bypass.
 
I don't see any issue with this, its a bargin...

go out on the beer 5 hours later you are £30 down....

buy a game 2nd hand £20, pay £10 so for your £30 you get how many hours fun?

Sounds fair to me
 
D.Roberts said:
thats just it tho from pirates........

so yet again the legit person who wants to pay for a second hand copy tho i know the devs dont see the money this time as its now second hand.

he/she suffers but if he/she was to pirate it he/she could get a copy for free so pirates win again any way.

and it wont stop piracy can you realy see a person who pirates all his/her games thinking ohhhh i could buy this game second hand then pay an extra ten pounds then i have got it legit yeah right he/she will pirate the game.
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As far as publishers are concerned 2nd hand game sales aren't legit either, whatever we think about it. They don't receive a penny when someone sells their game on and they see it as them being deprived a sale so whether it's piracy or selling a game on they're just trying to coin it in anyway they can. This all started with the DLC codes for little things in the box and that seemed to work for them so EA being EA they're pushing it further.

If this takes on and all the publishers start doing it the 2nd-hand market will have to adjust to take the online cost into account.
 
bloodline76 said:
How does it effect pirates? This means that they can now download the game for free and then pay $10 for multiplayer access. If that is true then I can only see piracy increase in volume. $10 per new game and you can play onilne?, wow that is a great deal!
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It's worse for them than what they have now though isn't it? At the moment they get to play online for free, at least if they have to pay $10 the developers are getting a little money from them as opposed to nothing.
 
Cant seeing it being to beat piracy. most of them dont even go online for fear of being banned, or they are allready banned so cant go online.

Just sounds like EA trying to milk a few more $$$
 
I don't see a problem with this either. I hope other publishers go the same route.
 
ViRuS2k said:
I WILL NEVER BUY A EA GAME AGAIN, check this info out. EA ARE D*(KS
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WOW iv never heard that before!!!

great idea tbh - its about time publishers did this , they already experimented a little with mass effect 2 and cerberus network and it worked really well.

publishers have had issues with used games for ages - simply put they get nothing from it, factor in piracy and increased costs and its little wonder many are going down the drain.. this will only get worst with the next generation of consoles...

so yes they need money, their not a ****ing charity which some people seem to think game devs and publishers are.

kidloco said:
Cant seeing it being to beat piracy. most of them dont even go online for fear of being banned, or they are allready banned so cant go online.

Just sounds like EA trying to milk a few more $$$
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[bangs head] this is not about piracy this is about claiming something back from second hand games!!! of which they get absolutely nothing!
 
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This is fine for me on the condition that to counter this they actually lower the price of games in the first place - most people buy 2nd hand because they are often an acceptable price.

Average console game is £40 lower that to £25/£30 and i dont mind the online code section...

Still i picked up Gears of War 2 for £5 recently - i will miss finds like that if all companies decide to do this (though i am not a massive gamer for online... in fact i wont play GoW2 online i dont think!)

:)
 
The main problem the OP has is that he can't play his illegally downloaded games online.

Boo hoo.
 
ViRuS2k said:
Update:

it looks like this will shatter the 2nd hand community that buy EA games.
if you buy it and the original pass key was used you will need to pay EA money for a new key.
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Buy new, problem solved.

Don't see the problem myself. If moneys an issue, wait a few weeks/months for a games price to drop.
 
Might as well buy the brand new game for £40 though if you have to pay £25-£30 for the pre owned then £10 for the online play.
 
This is really not good for me as I buy a lot of used games from Game, Gamestation or the likes of, simply for the cheapness. I would love to download 360 games but have no sodding clue lol.

So, for people like me, it is going to stop me playing the full game for which I have already paid my money for???

May as well just go buy it brand new, which again, is not something I like doing.

If I am going to be honest, this is a utter scam, it's the whole secuROM crap all over again just on the console.

ags

I can honestly say I will never buy another EA game again, shame really, as that new crysis game was going to come out on the console.
 
Blame the likes of Game/Gamestation for their own robbery from the game studios in the first place.

As I said earlier they inflate the new price by a few quid to say £42.99, then put the second hand game at £39.99. They have probably given £20 to somebody for that game so they make £20 straight off where as they will make much less from the same product new.

I'm surprised it has lasted this long, but last christmas was certainly the worst for this 'price fixing'.
 
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