PC Mass Effect 3 to Require Origin on PC

[eXo]

Those hoping to play Mass Effect 3 on Steam will be sadly disappointed to hear that Electronic Arts will be requiring the use of Origin for PC players to play Mass Effect 3 at launch. The game will require both physical and digital versions of Mass Effect 3 to have a constant connection to Origin in the form of a one time single authorization for the single player game.

The constant connection to Origin will be required for those playing the multiplayer portion of the game[...]

Continue reading: Mass Effect 3 to Require Origin on PC...

 

[Adiuvo]

I didn't play BF3 because of Origin, and I guess ME3 is now on that list. The customer service stories and general attitude EA has really push me away.

 

[slicer4ever]

meh, ME3 is an console title for me, i've played 1+2 on the 360, no reason not to play 3 on the console as well.

 

[x3sphere]

Not a day one purchase for me anymore. Will pass until it gets really cheap.

 

[MenaceInc]

Guess I'll never get to put my Shepherd through ME3 then. I'm with Adiuvo on this.

 

[slicer4ever]

I'm surprised it will force you to install origin, since sw: tor doesn't force you to install orgin to play.

 

[El Diablo]

This turned my "Day one purchase" into a "Day one pirate".

 

[MenaceInc]

This turned my "Day one purchase" into a "Day one pirate".

Don't be pirating it, just abstain. It's what I've done with BF3 so far.

 

[El Diablo]

Nah, I still want to play the game. I just won't support them for making such a stupid decision.

 

[Sinfulfate]

Nah, I still want to play the game. I just won't support them for making such a stupid decision.

How is it a stupid decision? EA wants more people to use Origin and this is a good way to make that happen. Its no different than Valve requiring you to download Steam if you want to play TF 2 or any Valve game.

I really don't understand all the hate EA/Origin gets. Once you boot a game up it doesn't matter what applications are running in the background.

 

[Trigun]

Unless hackers/pirates circumvent it and I can download a perfectly normal copy from a torrent after Purchasing a Retail Copy or whatever; I won't be buying.

 

[Abe Froeman]

How is it a stupid decision? EA wants more people to use Origin and this is a good way to make that happen. Its no different than Valve requiring you to download Steam if you want to play TF 2 or any Valve game.

I really don't understand all the hate EA/Origin gets. Once you boot a game up it doesn't matter what applications are running in the background.

I'm with you on this. Makes no sense to me.

 

[x3sphere]

How is it a stupid decision? EA wants more people to use Origin and this is a good way to make that happen. Its no different than Valve requiring you to download Steam if you want to play TF 2 or any Valve game.

I really don't understand all the hate EA/Origin gets. Once you boot a game up it doesn't matter what applications are running in the background.

It may not be different in practice but Valve does not a history of nickel and diming its customers like EA does. Valve has always supported the PC first and foremost, EA has not. EA has withheld content from its own PC games for seemingly no reason: the DLC for Dead Space 2 was only accessible via an in-game hack.

Valve didn't have the luxury of leveraging other DD services: there was nothing else like Steam at the time. When TF2 launched, what other platforms could have possibly supported it? EA has many options open to them and instead is trying to bruteforce its way into the market. Personally I see no reason why BF3 couldn't be done on Steam, Mass Effect 3 even more so since it's primarily single player. Steam's API is fully open to devs, yet only EA seems to have a problem with it. Valve has been extremely transparent with features, all the tools they use in-house are made available to SteamWorks partners.

In regards to all the negative rep Origin has been receiving, though, I think it comes down to trust. When you're using a DD platform, trust is a factor for me at least. EA hasn't been the most consumer friendly company over the years, far from it. Who knows, one day they could say Origin no longer makes 'business sense' and poof go your games. I don't see that happening with Valve.

 

[FrozenIpaq]

How is it a stupid decision? EA wants more people to use Origin and this is a good way to make that happen. Its no different than Valve requiring you to download Steam if you want to play TF 2 or any Valve game.

I really don't understand all the hate EA/Origin gets. Once you boot a game up it doesn't matter what applications are running in the background.

The hate it gets? It's an easy explanation: EA was using Steam for its games and everyone was happy. EA removed Steam from the equation to form their own competing online platform, Origin. They didn't need to create Origin, Steam was working and everyone was happy to have their friends list in one place on the PC and a single application that would manage most of their PC games. Now Origin is in the equation with a different set of friends, with exclusivity and with completely lousy customer support from the complaints I have been hearing and seeing.

I don't want multiple online delivery services on my computer running at the same time. It's unnecessary. The PC platform needs unity, not division. It's already divided from the consoles and now EA is dividing it even further with it's "exclusively on Origin" crap. Windows tried to do it and it just never caught on. Games for Windows Live still exists but its reach is far less than Origin's reach.

 

[Abe Froeman]

Sounds like you're pro-monopoly Frozen.

Competition and more specifically, options are needed in every consumer market. Without them, new and better ideas will never happen. If the 800 pound gorilla doesn't want to add a feature it doesn't have to if it has a 90% market share.

Please take that with a grain of salt since I rarely use my PC for gaming.

 

[Trigun]

It may not be different in practice but Valve does not a history of nickel and diming its customers like EA does. Valve has always supported the PC first and foremost, EA has not. EA has withheld content from its own PC games for seemingly no reason: the DLC for Dead Space 2 was only accessible via an in-game hack.

Valve didn't have the luxury of leveraging other DD services: there was nothing else like Steam at the time. When TF2 launched, what other platforms could have possibly supported it? EA has many options open to them and instead is trying to bruteforce its way into the market. Personally I see no reason why BF3 couldn't be done on Steam, Mass Effect 3 even more so since it's primarily single player. Steam's API is fully open to devs, yet only EA seems to have a problem with it. Valve has been extremely transparent with features, all the tools they use in-house are made available to SteamWorks partners.

In regards to all the negative rep Origin has been receiving, though, I think it comes down to trust. When you're using a DD platform, trust is a factor for me at least. EA hasn't been the most consumer friendly company over the years, far from it. Who knows, one day they could say Origin no longer makes 'business sense' and poof go your games. I don't see that happening with Valve.

This.

 

[Sinfulfate]

It may not be different in practice but Valve does not a history of nickel and diming its customers like EA does. Valve has always supported the PC first and foremost, EA has not. EA has withheld content from its own PC games for seemingly no reason: the DLC for Dead Space 2 was only accessible via an in-game hack.

That's because Valve is a much smaller company than EA. I'm a little confused here. At first it seemed like Origin was the issue but now your making it seem like EA is the issue. If EA is the issue then it doesn't matter if their games are on steam or not because you support EA regardless of what digital download service you buy their games on.

Valve didn't have the luxury of leveraging other DD services: there was nothing else like Steam at the time. When TF2 launched, what other platforms could have possibly supported it? EA has many options open to them and instead is trying to bruteforce its way into the market. Personally I see no reason why BF3 couldn't be done on Steam, Mass Effect 3 even more so since it's primarily single player. Steam's API is fully open to devs, yet only EA seems to have a problem with it. Valve has been extremely transparent with features, all the tools they use in-house are made available to SteamWorks partners.

Any DD platform that was out at the time could have supported TF2. All it would have to do was host a download for the game and when you installed the game have it install steam. This is exactly how GFWL games work on steam since they all use GFWL for online matchmaking so when you download a GFWL game from steam it downloads GFWL as well. Valve doesn't put its games on any other DD platform because they want people to use steam. If Valve can do it then I don't see why EA can't as well.

In regards to all the negative rep Origin has been receiving, though, I think it comes down to trust. When you're using a DD platform, trust is a factor for me at least. EA hasn't been the most consumer friendly company over the years, far from it. Who knows, one day they could say Origin no longer makes 'business sense' and poof go your games. I don't see that happening with Valve.

The likelihood of EA doing that is very slim but this is a fear that comes with any digital download service where you don't actually own the games you buy. Steam is no different.

I don't want multiple online delivery services on my computer running at the same time. It's unnecessary. The PC platform needs unity, not division. It's already divided from the consoles and now EA is dividing it even further with it's "exclusively on Origin" crap. Windows tried to do it and it just never caught on. Games for Windows Live still exists but its reach is far less than Origin's reach.

Third party applications like Steam or Origin are what's unnecessary. Your right the PC platform needs unity and it starts by integrating everything into the operating systems.


My whole point with all this is that I don't understand why EA gets all this hate for doing things other company do. I'm not saying it's right what their doing but I don't hear anybody saying they're gonna pass on Diablo III because it wont be on Steam.

 

[FrozenIpaq]

Sounds like you're pro-monopoly Frozen.

Competition and more specifically, options are needed in every consumer market. Without them, new and better ideas will never happen. If the 800 pound gorilla doesn't want to add a feature it doesn't have to if it has a 90% market share.

Please take that with a grain of salt since I rarely use my PC for gaming.

Well aware of the competition breeds innovation / monopoly argument but I don't see that being the case here - Steam is most likely not going to change in response to Origin and the competition here is slightly different. It would be fine if all services had equal access to game distribution but EA has held exclusivity on most of their games. There's no real "choice" in the matter for consumers and that's my big problem with how it is done.

This is Valve we are talking about too, it's not your traditional Monopoly scenario - they are constantly evolving and adding new features to Steam with almost no direct competition.

The issue most people current have with EA / Origin is their customer support. It's crap. That's where most of the hate is coming from.

 

[slicer4ever]

I don't want multiple online delivery services on my computer running at the same time. It's unnecessary. The PC platform needs unity, not division.

^This^, valve has won me with steam, and i don't really care to require steam to play some games. and i do not want to put another service on my pc, to take up more resources, and longer start-up time(assuming i let it start-up with the pc).

to be honest, i don't care for anything were i don't really "own" the game, or requires me to be connected to their service before i can play one of "My" games.

 

[El Diablo]

Sin, imo, there is a difference between releasing a standalone game requiring no digital download service (in turn, not being on Steam), and between releasing a game and forcing you to install and use a digital download service, and an inferior one at that. It does nothing that Steam doesn't do, and does less at that. I'm fine with EA trying to put out a download service for their games, but to try and make it a big program and deal like Steam is is dumb, and so is FORCING people to use it, that's not how you get more customers and people wanting to use your product. It would be nice if they provided competition for Steam but they don't as it is way worse of a product with less features. Steam has almost every computer game people would want on it, Origin is strictly EA bullshit and worse prices than steam. There is literally no reason to use it aside from the fact that there are a couple games published by EA that force you to use it if you want to play them now.