EA tries to clone Steam, but fails miserably

o_deadly furby · 11-06-2006, 06:12 PM

Flat out broken, but still has privacy problems
By: Charlie Demerjian, Monday 06 November 2006, 10:10

It looks like EA is trying to pull a Valve and clone Steam. While it sounds like a good thing, the current iteration is so buggy that it just doesn't work, and the EULAs are scary. I would heartily recommend avoiding it until they get it working and respect privacy. That said, it is a good idea, and has some nice touches, where it works.

The service is called EA Link, a newer version of the EA Downloader. If you are a fan of frustration, you can get the 12MB installer here, but like I said, wait a bit, V2.0 is where you probably want to start. The point of it is to allow you to purchase, download and install games without leaving the comfort of your couch, the great American way.

The first problem came when I tried to install it. It wasn't exactly quick on the A64/3000 machine I am testing this on, and with every newly opened window, it lost about 90 per cent of the little speed it had. When it indicated I didn't have enough space on my C drive for the cache, I hit browse and waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, the browser window came up, and I typed in the path D:\EA\cache, and waited and waited and waited. Eventually, I gave up and hit cancel. Five minutes later, I had to kill the task, it was stuck. Reinstalling had the same effect.

After a reboot it installed correctly but was just glacially slow. It should not take the better part of a minute to pick a directory. In any case, it went in, and nothing truly horrible happened. So far so slightly below average.

During this process it popped up a EULA. Seeing ass I am already in pain after a weekend accident that left me without large portions of my skin, I decided to read it. The pain wasn't much worse than sliding across a sidewalk on your face, and I didn't see anything truly objectionable. I am not a lawyer, so don't take this as a definitive all clear, but there isn't anything obvious about souls, puppy strangling and chunks of flesh.

Back to the program. The initial screen was about what you would expect, lots of things to buy, and an options menu on the left. The trailers were the first thing I checked, and that is where I encountered my first problem, if you click on a .wmv, it downloads it, .qt, it opens IE to a blank page. First problem, it opens IE forcibly, never mind that all my browser preferences are Firefox. Then it gives a blank white page and hangs. So far, 0 for 2.

The things that did work came down at a good clip, but the low rez clips looked terrible on a 1600*1200 screen, if that is what I was going to base my purchase on, well, I would look elsewhere. The one high rez clip they had was in Quicktime, and it looked awfully white. And it hung. Whoopee!

I clicked on the My Stuff option, and was presented with My Games, Demos and Wallpapers, all of which needed an account. In a fit of masochistic pique I decided to try it, mainly to see how much personal info they required.

To EAs credit, it asked for nothing more than a username, password and email address, so well done there. They had the usual 'type in a number for verification' before you can continue, but this is where the showstopper problem hit, it looked like this.

Try as I might, I could not get it to work, so there went any chance of me signing up for it to report on. Ah well, win some lose some. To bide my time, I read the second EULA they presented, and this one is much darker and less user friendly than the last. I got about a third into it before I decided that the terms were unacceptable, basically they could use my personal info and share it around.

Unless there is a clear, 100 per cent ironclad policy option to have your info completely kept private, I won't sign up for a service. There was none that I could see, but a lot of weasel words about how they could do it even if you asked them not to. One good opt-out is that if you are under 18 years old, they have to keep it private, so I would recommend that you claim to be about 10 years old on signup.

Overall, the EA Link idea is a good one, but for now, it simply doesn't work. If they can't make the basic functionality work right, you have to wonder about them keeping your credit card safe. If that hurdle is overcome, then there is the privacy issue(s) which are another dealbreaker for me. I find this sad, mainly because I like Steam so much, and this has a really good chance of cloning that magic. Ah well, maybe in six months when they get it closer to right and realise that some of us don't like intrusive advertisers.

**mervaka** · 11-06-2006, 06:15 PM

cool, that means i can avoid all of their games in one neat package.
A+++++++

o_uber · 11-06-2006, 06:17 PM

Funny.. and scary at the same time.

o_dancingfool · 11-06-2006, 07:50 PM

Fuck EA. I don't even give a shit, fuck EA.

o_zsilver_fox · 11-06-2006, 07:51 PM

Seriously, were you actually surprised by how horribly it ran?

o_geokill-----> · 11-06-2006, 07:54 PM

The Program new eh....?

*Runs off to Warez forums to get the games for free until fix by EA but knowing them hahah that won't happen.

o_sh4x · 11-06-2006, 08:28 PM

Shut up guys, stop disrespecting EA. These guys are clearly in the business because they love games. They don't care much about money, they just wanna make good games and I respect that. That's why I would NEVER warez their games.

Anyways, I downloaded NFS10 and was shocked to see that it was almost the same shit as NFS9, I'm deleting this mf, just gotta finish seeding.

o_dancingfool · 11-06-2006, 08:38 PM

lol, for a second I actually thought you were serious.

o_|404|innoc-tpf- · 11-06-2006, 08:40 PM

I'm not surprised at all. EA is a cancer in the gaming industry. It's a pity that craftsmanship in game development is stifled by them.

o_zsilver_fox · 11-06-2006, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh4x

Shut up guys, stop disrespecting EA. These guys are clearly in the business because they love games. They don't care much about money, they just wanna make good games and I respect that. That's why I would NEVER warez their games.

Anyways, I downloaded NFS10 and was shocked to see that it was almost the same shit as NFS9, I'm deleting this mf, just gotta finish seeding.

You get a cookie for best joke post ever

.

o_nuk3m · 11-07-2006, 02:44 AM

EA practically swallowed up all the gaming companies, to water down competition, then released a load of buggy software.

EA kind of reminds me of OPEC

o_psycnet · 11-07-2006, 03:54 AM

Seeing as I'm not a pussy evangelist/treehugger/mamas boy/protester I went and bought BF2142 *Gasp* through EA Link last week...

It fucked up a whole lot...

But I remember Steam fucking blew hairy ballsack for the first year or more that it was released.

EA = Valve = Ubi = Everyone Else

o_sobe green · 11-07-2006, 09:00 AM

Heh you go ahead and buy games through EA Link. Just remember EA has a long history of stopping support for its games after a year sometimes not even that. Rarely they'll support something for two years but that is pushing it. This is of course unless its a Sims game and then to cover up the fact they quit supporting the game they'll release addons so your girlfriend will give you something else to buy her but she'll eventually leave you anyway so its pointless.

o_zydell · 11-07-2006, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh4x

Shut up guys, stop disrespecting EA. These guys are clearly in the business because they love games. They don't care much about money, they just wanna make good games and I respect that. That's why I would NEVER warez their games.

Anyways, I downloaded NFS10 and was shocked to see that it was almost the same shit as NFS9, I'm deleting this mf, just gotta finish seeding.

You get some hot chocolat and cake plus an exclusive invitation to the yellow team for making me laugh

o_|404|innoc-tpf- · 11-07-2006, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nukem373

EA practically swallowed up all the gaming companies, to water down competition, then released a load of buggy software.

EA kind of reminds me of OPEC

Resistance is futile...you will be assimilated...

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoBe Green

Heh you go ahead and buy games through EA Link. Just remember EA has a long history of stopping support for its games after a year sometimes not even that. Rarely they'll support something for two years but that is pushing it. This is of course unless its a Sims game and then to cover up the fact they quit supporting the game they'll release addons so your girlfriend will give you something else to buy her but she'll eventually leave you anyway so its pointless.

Ok, someone's working through some relationship issues...If I get to follow you in the insult thread I'll have some advice for you...

Completely agree on the support issue with EA...some games I absolutely loved were left that way...like Zero Hour...

**mervaka** · 11-07-2006, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Seeing as I'm not a pussy evangelist/treehugger/mamas boy/protester I went and bought BF2142 *Gasp* through EA Link last week...

It fucked up a whole lot...

But I remember Steam fucking blew hairy ballsack for the first year or more that it was released.

EA = Valve = Ubi = Everyone Else

so that makes you stupid/retarded/dumb/unaware/careless/thoughtless?

o_sizeablessonic · 11-07-2006, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mervaka

cool, that means i can avoid all of their games in one neat package.
A+++++++

Indeed.

o_sobe green · 11-07-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |404|Innoc-TPF-

Resistance is futile...you will be assimilated...

Ok, someone's working through some relationship issues...If I get to follow you in the insult thread I'll have some advice for you...

Completely agree on the support issue with EA...some games I absolutely loved were left that way...like Zero Hour...

Haha nah I was just trying to be creative or slightly funny...well some of it might be kind of true but thats a story for another day.

11-06-2006, 06:12 PM	#1
o_deadly furby Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cell Block 17 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	EA tries to clone Steam, but fails miserably Flat out broken, but still has privacy problems By: Charlie Demerjian, Monday 06 November 2006, 10:10 It looks like EA is trying to pull a Valve and clone Steam. While it sounds like a good thing, the current iteration is so buggy that it just doesn't work, and the EULAs are scary. I would heartily recommend avoiding it until they get it working and respect privacy. That said, it is a good idea, and has some nice touches, where it works. The service is called EA Link, a newer version of the EA Downloader. If you are a fan of frustration, you can get the 12MB installer here, but like I said, wait a bit, V2.0 is where you probably want to start. The point of it is to allow you to purchase, download and install games without leaving the comfort of your couch, the great American way. The first problem came when I tried to install it. It wasn't exactly quick on the A64/3000 machine I am testing this on, and with every newly opened window, it lost about 90 per cent of the little speed it had. When it indicated I didn't have enough space on my C drive for the cache, I hit browse and waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, the browser window came up, and I typed in the path D:\EA\cache, and waited and waited and waited. Eventually, I gave up and hit cancel. Five minutes later, I had to kill the task, it was stuck. Reinstalling had the same effect. After a reboot it installed correctly but was just glacially slow. It should not take the better part of a minute to pick a directory. In any case, it went in, and nothing truly horrible happened. So far so slightly below average. During this process it popped up a EULA. Seeing ass I am already in pain after a weekend accident that left me without large portions of my skin, I decided to read it. The pain wasn't much worse than sliding across a sidewalk on your face, and I didn't see anything truly objectionable. I am not a lawyer, so don't take this as a definitive all clear, but there isn't anything obvious about souls, puppy strangling and chunks of flesh. Back to the program. The initial screen was about what you would expect, lots of things to buy, and an options menu on the left. The trailers were the first thing I checked, and that is where I encountered my first problem, if you click on a .wmv, it downloads it, .qt, it opens IE to a blank page. First problem, it opens IE forcibly, never mind that all my browser preferences are Firefox. Then it gives a blank white page and hangs. So far, 0 for 2. The things that did work came down at a good clip, but the low rez clips looked terrible on a 16001200 screen, if that is what I was going to base my purchase on, well, I would look elsewhere. The one high rez clip they had was in Quicktime, and it looked awfully white. And it hung. Whoopee! I clicked on the My Stuff option, and was presented with My Games, Demos and Wallpapers, all of which needed an account. In a fit of masochistic pique I decided to try it, mainly to see how much personal info they required. To EAs credit, it asked for nothing more than a username, password and email address, so well done there. They had the usual 'type in a number for verification' before you can continue, but this is where the showstopper problem hit, it looked like this. Try as I might, I could not get it to work, so there went any chance of me signing up for it to report on. Ah well, win some lose some. To bide my time, I read the second EULA they presented, and this one is much darker and less user friendly than the last. I got about a third into it before I decided that the terms were unacceptable, basically they could use my personal info and share it around. Unless there is a clear, 100 per cent ironclad policy option* to have your info completely kept private, I won't sign up for a service. There was none that I could see, but a lot of weasel words about how they could do it even if you asked them not to. One good opt-out is that if you are under 18 years old, they have to keep it private, so I would recommend that you claim to be about 10 years old on signup. Overall, the EA Link idea is a good one, but for now, it simply doesn't work. If they can't make the basic functionality work right, you have to wonder about them keeping your credit card safe. If that hurdle is overcome, then there is the privacy issue(s) which are another dealbreaker for me. I find this sad, mainly because I like Steam so much, and this has a really good chance of cloning that magic. Ah well, maybe in six months when they get it closer to right and realise that some of us don't like intrusive advertisers.

11-06-2006, 06:15 PM	#2
mervaka A Very Sound Guy! Fortress Forever Staff Join Date: May 2005 Location: UK Posts Rated Helpful 15 Times	cool, that means i can avoid all of their games in one neat package. A+++++++ __________________ Support FF:

11-06-2006, 06:17 PM	#3
o_uber Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Funny.. and scary at the same time.

11-06-2006, 07:50 PM	#4
o_dancingfool Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Fuck EA. I don't even give a shit, fuck EA.

11-06-2006, 07:51 PM	#5
o_zsilver_fox Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts Rated Helpful 2 Times	Seriously, were you actually surprised by how horribly it ran?

11-06-2006, 07:54 PM	#6
o_geokill-----> Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Fort Worth, Tejas Posts Rated Helpful 1 Times	The Program new eh....? *Runs off to Warez forums to get the games for free until fix by EA but knowing them hahah that won't happen.

11-06-2006, 08:28 PM	#7
o_sh4x Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Montreal Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Shut up guys, stop disrespecting EA. These guys are clearly in the business because they love games. They don't care much about money, they just wanna make good games and I respect that. That's why I would NEVER warez their games. Anyways, I downloaded NFS10 and was shocked to see that it was almost the same shit as NFS9, I'm deleting this mf, just gotta finish seeding.

11-06-2006, 08:38 PM	#8
o_dancingfool Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	lol, for a second I actually thought you were serious.

11-06-2006, 08:40 PM	#9
o_\|404\|innoc-tpf- Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: The Midtown Express Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	I'm not surprised at all. EA is a cancer in the gaming industry. It's a pity that craftsmanship in game development is stifled by them.

11-07-2006, 02:44 AM	#11
o_nuk3m Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New Jersy, USA! reppin' Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	EA practically swallowed up all the gaming companies, to water down competition, then released a load of buggy software. EA kind of reminds me of OPEC

11-07-2006, 03:54 AM	#12
o_psycnet Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Calgary, Canada eh? Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Seeing as I'm not a pussy evangelist/treehugger/mamas boy/protester I went and bought BF2142 Gasp through EA Link last week... It fucked up a whole lot... But I remember Steam fucking blew hairy ballsack for the first year or more that it was released. EA = Valve = Ubi = Everyone Else

11-07-2006, 09:00 AM	#13
o_sobe green Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Arkansas Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Heh you go ahead and buy games through EA Link. Just remember EA has a long history of stopping support for its games after a year sometimes not even that. Rarely they'll support something for two years but that is pushing it. This is of course unless its a Sims game and then to cover up the fact they quit supporting the game they'll release addons so your girlfriend will give you something else to buy her but she'll eventually leave you anyway so its pointless.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)