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EA Takes Over Scrabble App, Wipes Player Histories and Switches Dictionary
New submitter DeathToBill writes "EA is in the midst of another user backlash, the BBC reports. After EA took over operation of the online Scrabble brand, it introduced a 'new and improved' version. Improvements include requiring manual refreshes to see other players' turns, irretrievably wiping players' game history and a switch to the Collins dictionary (rather than the traditional Chambers edition) that has proved deeply unpopular with Scrabble fanatics. "EA was unavailable for comment.""
This article is about how you can get free advertisement. Move along.
Yep, because nothing makes me more interested in checking out a game than learning of an unpopular change.
It serves as a reminder that EA are a bunch of assholes. Lest we forget.
i think this dictionary swap is having a larger effect then expected.
What hole? Users still line up to buy their shit. EA execs know gamers will continue to fork over the cash for shit. As a gamer myself, I can't help but marvel at the stupidity that requires.
Watch; EA has control of star wars. I guarantee they pull the same shit with forthcoming SW games, and they'll make a mint regardless of the quality of the game itself, nor how the company chooses to abuse the consumer this time around. Oh, we'll all whine, bitch and moan. Then we'll turn around and buy the DLC and expansions.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
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after the latest SimCity i was afraid i might never see EA release another title again. However with this latest acquisition i can see EA is still dedicated to the tradition of alienating consumers, infuriating players, and pedaling the franchise ever further into the dirt. A worry had crossed my mind that perhaps they might suddenly change direction, or maybe continue the sincere course the original developers had maintained for so long in order to foster a thriving online gaming community. Yet once i heard "EA was unavailable for comment," I signed in relief and smiled to myself, knowing somewhere, somehow, John Riccitiello's biggest care in the world was trying to find a port of call that not only offered both legitimate cuban cigars as well as fine vintage scotch, but could also fit the likes of his superyacht in on short-notice. Carry on you brave pioneer of the digital age.
Good people go to bed earlier.
You can't copyright a set of rules. You can patent them. You can copyright the specific wording explaining the rules that Scrabble uses. You can trademark the name Scrabble, and the appearance of Scrabble would be trade dress. The patent on Scrabble expired a long time ago. Anyone is free to make a Scrabble clone as long as it doesn't look so similar to the original that people would think it is authorized by the company that owns the original.
Isn't it just common knowledge that EA destroys everything they touch and have zero respect for gamers?
What kind of amazes me(not entirely, given how EA manages to fuck up things like 'Origin' so completely), is that none of the player-shafting here appears to have actually been in EA's interests...
Manual refresh to see the other player's move? That's just insanity. If anything, the bandwidth eaten by players hammering 'refresh' impatiently will be substantially greater than just having the server push things down when the other player submits their move.
Nuking play histories? Probably made some DBA's life easier(but since when has EA given a damn about the tech peons?), at the expense of cutting existing customers' perceived 'investment' in the platform. Good job, guys...
Switching dictionaries? You'd better have a convincing story about how usurious the licensing costs were for the official one; because the reaction from the hardcore scrabble heads was totally predictable. Those guys are Serious.
Had they taken it over and then larded it with DLC, microtransactions,(Would you like to buy a vowel?), and in-game ads for assorted discordant products, that'd be merely lawful evil of them. This is just stupid evil.
It serves as a reminder that EA are a bunch of assholes. Lest we forget.
I had that tattooed on my ass. I sure hope they never get their act together or I'm going to have some explaining to do.
They own a lot of brands that USED to be great before EA bought them, and ran them into the ground. Before EA bought Bioware, I used to buy Bioware's games without knowing much about them because Bioware always made outstanding games. Since EA bought them, the quality of those games has went down the toilet, and I honestly doubt I'll buy the next dragon age game that comes out simply because DA 2 was complete shit. Honestly, it was the same with the Mass Effect games. Same with Maxis, and a dozen other brands.
5 days ago the BBC had this article
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22801311
i think this situation with Scrabble explains why EA will never stop being hated.
Just how poorly must your company be run if you fuck up scrabble, that you bought. EA Purchased scrabble from Mattel, Mattel ran it successively for many many years. Just moving it over to EA's servers completely destroyed everything.
EA will always be hated. And Scrabble shows us why
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.