lol EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 to space from San Francisco
they were supposed to land and get picked up by fans as prize
but they ended up stuck on top of a huge tree and noone has been able to recover them
see this vidoe on youtube:
Game » consists of 19 releases. Released Mar 06, 2012
lol EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 to space from San Francisco
they were supposed to land and get picked up by fans as prize
but they ended up stuck on top of a huge tree and noone has been able to recover them
see this vidoe on youtube:
@muktor said:
lol EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 to space from San Francisco
they were supposed to land and get picked up by fans as prize
but they ended up stuck on top of a huge tree and noone has been able to recover them
see this vidoe on youtube:
Hey all,
I've been lurking on GiantBomb for a while, but now decided to join when I saw this thread. I was there (am one of the people that can be seen in the video) and I wanted to give my point of view regarding this whole issue.
On the surface, this promotion by EA seemed like a very cool one - send a copy of a video game into space (technically it wasn't sent into space of course, but into the upper atmosphere) and have sort of like a scavenger/treasure hunt where a lucky fun can get a very limited edition (space edition) copy of this game.
However, obviously EA did not really think it through to the end, and it ended up being a potentially disastrous event.
EA//Bioware actually launched two different balloons containing the special copy of the game, at two hour intervals. The first one (not shown in the video) landed deep in the wilderness near Santa Cruz. It landed in a very rough area, full of bushes, thorns, trees, and poison ivy. I personally met reporters from IGN and GameShampoo on the trail whom look like they got stung by poison ivy. I myself had my clothes torn and ended up with lots of scratches and bruises. The terrain is very hard to navigate without the proper equipment, especially if you are not a very experienced hiker, which the average gamer is generally not. Two people got lost in there, and the Sheriff department had to be called to help look for them. Eventually, those two gamers were found and returned to a safe area by another group of gamers (I was with the group who found them and talked to the Sheriff), after they had spent the night sleeping in a barrel, with their cellphones dead (not that it mattered, as there was no reception in that area so no way of calling anyone for help)
The second balloon, which is shown in the video, landed on top of a very high tree. That tree was very dangerous to climb. EA representatives at the sight told people not to climb the tree, but trying to tell people what to do was kind of silly on their part since EA is not the police or anything and has no authority to tell people what to do or not to do in a public area. So then, when they saw people were not listening to them and climbing the tree anyway, they said they would not be responsible if something bad happened. Again, that is pretty stupid, since obviously had a disaster occurred, it's not hard to see that EA would've been held at least partially responsible, since they are the ones who sent the video game in a balloon and a likely outcome was that it would end up on top of a tree.
So people kept trying to climb the tree, some made it very high, and it was a miracle that nobody got hurt, especially since from talking to people at the sight, none of them were experienced climbers.
EA then suggested that people pitch in and hire a professional arborist, supposedly costing $250 an hour, to get the game down (There was the special copy of the game which actually appears to have been lost along the path, plus there was 5 xbox 360 copies and 4 PS3 copies in a small box hanging from that tree). Again I think that is poor judgment. I am sure EA has enough money in the budget to hire the Arborist themselves and perhaps avoid someone getting injured, rather then tell us to do so. So nobody wanted to spend so much money, and people kept climbing the tree and endangering themselves (and others, sometimes branches fell down from the tree pretty close to hitting some of the people that were watching below)
So yeah, to sum it up, while this was a good Marketing and publicity stunt, not much thought was put into the safety of those participating, and luckily noone got hurt, but it could have also ended in a disaster if someone had fallen from that tree or got lost in the wilderness.
@OllyOxenFree said:
@Stepside said:If only I can smack people over the internet...Le sigh.
Can I join in?
@kwerr said:
@muktor said:
lol EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 to space from San Francisco
they were supposed to land and get picked up by fans as prize
but they ended up stuck on top of a huge tree and noone has been able to recover them
see this vidoe on youtube:
Hey all,
I've been lurking on GiantBomb for a while, but now decided to join when I saw this thread. I was there (am one of the people that can be seen in the video) and I wanted to give my point of view regarding this whole issue.
On the surface, this promotion by EA seemed like a very cool one - send a copy of a video game into space (technically it wasn't sent into space of course, but into the upper atmosphere) and have sort of like a scavenger/treasure hunt where a lucky fun can get a very limited edition (space edition) copy of this game.
However, obviously EA did not really think it through to the end, and it ended up being a potentially disastrous event.
EA//Bioware actually launched two different balloons containing the special copy of the game, at two hour intervals. The first one (not shown in the video) landed deep in the wilderness near Santa Cruz. It landed in a very rough area, full of bushes, thorns, trees, and poison ivy. I personally met reporters from IGN and GameShampoo on the trail whom look like they got stung by poison ivy. I myself had my clothes torn and ended up with lots of scratches and bruises. The terrain is very hard to navigate without the proper equipment, especially if you are not a very experienced hiker, which the average gamer is generally not. Two people got lost in there, and the Sheriff department had to be called to help look for them. Eventually, those two gamers were found and returned to a safe area by another group of gamers (I was with the group who found them and talked to the Sheriff), after they had spent the night sleeping in a barrel, with their cellphones dead (not that it mattered, as there was no reception in that area so no way of calling anyone for help)
The second balloon, which is shown in the video, landed on top of a very high tree. That tree was very dangerous to climb. EA representatives at the sight told people not to climb the tree, but trying to tell people what to do was kind of silly on their part since EA is not the police or anything and has no authority to tell people what to do or not to do in a public area. So then, when they saw people were not listening to them and climbing the tree anyway, they said they would not be responsible if something bad happened. Again, that is pretty stupid, since obviously had a disaster occurred, it's not hard to see that EA would've been held at least partially responsible, since they are the ones who sent the video game in a balloon and a likely outcome was that it would end up on top of a tree.
So people kept trying to climb the tree, some made it very high, and it was a miracle that nobody got hurt, especially since from talking to people at the sight, none of them were experienced climbers.
EA then suggested that people pitch in and hire a professional arborist, supposedly costing $250 an hour, to get the game down (There was the special copy of the game which actually appears to have been lost along the path, plus there was 5 xbox 360 copies and 4 PS3 copies in a small box hanging from that tree). Again I think that is poor judgment. I am sure EA has enough money in the budget to hire the Arborist themselves and perhaps avoid someone getting injured, rather then tell us to do so. So nobody wanted to spend so much money, and people kept climbing the tree and endangering themselves (and others, sometimes branches fell down from the tree pretty close to hitting some of the people that were watching below)
So yeah, to sum it up, while this was a good Marketing and publicity stunt, not much thought was put into the safety of those participating, and luckily noone got hurt, but it could have also ended in a disaster if someone had fallen from that tree or got lost in the wilderness.
so on one hand you are saying that EA does not have the authority to tell people if they can or cannot climb that tree
But on the other hand you say that if they did decide to climb the tree and something happen EA would still be responsible?
Isn't that a contradiction? Why would EA be responsible if people decided by themselves to go climb that tree?
It's like saying that EA would be responsible if I hurt myself trying to break into a store to steal some Mass Effect 3 copies, since EA put them in that store...
@muktor said:
@kwerr said:
@muktor said:
lol EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 to space from San Francisco
they were supposed to land and get picked up by fans as prize
but they ended up stuck on top of a huge tree and noone has been able to recover them
see this vidoe on youtube:
Hey all,
I've been lurking on GiantBomb for a while, but now decided to join when I saw this thread. I was there (am one of the people that can be seen in the video) and I wanted to give my point of view regarding this whole issue.
On the surface, this promotion by EA seemed like a very cool one - send a copy of a video game into space (technically it wasn't sent into space of course, but into the upper atmosphere) and have sort of like a scavenger/treasure hunt where a lucky fun can get a very limited edition (space edition) copy of this game.
However, obviously EA did not really think it through to the end, and it ended up being a potentially disastrous event.
EA//Bioware actually launched two different balloons containing the special copy of the game, at two hour intervals. The first one (not shown in the video) landed deep in the wilderness near Santa Cruz. It landed in a very rough area, full of bushes, thorns, trees, and poison ivy. I personally met reporters from IGN and GameShampoo on the trail whom look like they got stung by poison ivy. I myself had my clothes torn and ended up with lots of scratches and bruises. The terrain is very hard to navigate without the proper equipment, especially if you are not a very experienced hiker, which the average gamer is generally not. Two people got lost in there, and the Sheriff department had to be called to help look for them. Eventually, those two gamers were found and returned to a safe area by another group of gamers (I was with the group who found them and talked to the Sheriff), after they had spent the night sleeping in a barrel, with their cellphones dead (not that it mattered, as there was no reception in that area so no way of calling anyone for help)
The second balloon, which is shown in the video, landed on top of a very high tree. That tree was very dangerous to climb. EA representatives at the sight told people not to climb the tree, but trying to tell people what to do was kind of silly on their part since EA is not the police or anything and has no authority to tell people what to do or not to do in a public area. So then, when they saw people were not listening to them and climbing the tree anyway, they said they would not be responsible if something bad happened. Again, that is pretty stupid, since obviously had a disaster occurred, it's not hard to see that EA would've been held at least partially responsible, since they are the ones who sent the video game in a balloon and a likely outcome was that it would end up on top of a tree.
So people kept trying to climb the tree, some made it very high, and it was a miracle that nobody got hurt, especially since from talking to people at the sight, none of them were experienced climbers.
EA then suggested that people pitch in and hire a professional arborist, supposedly costing $250 an hour, to get the game down (There was the special copy of the game which actually appears to have been lost along the path, plus there was 5 xbox 360 copies and 4 PS3 copies in a small box hanging from that tree). Again I think that is poor judgment. I am sure EA has enough money in the budget to hire the Arborist themselves and perhaps avoid someone getting injured, rather then tell us to do so. So nobody wanted to spend so much money, and people kept climbing the tree and endangering themselves (and others, sometimes branches fell down from the tree pretty close to hitting some of the people that were watching below)
So yeah, to sum it up, while this was a good Marketing and publicity stunt, not much thought was put into the safety of those participating, and luckily noone got hurt, but it could have also ended in a disaster if someone had fallen from that tree or got lost in the wilderness.
so on one hand you are saying that EA does not have the authority to tell people if they can or cannot climb that tree
But on the other hand you say that if they did decide to climb the tree and something happen EA would still be responsible?
Isn't that a contradiction? Why would EA be responsible if people decided by themselves to go climb that tree?
It's like saying that EA would be responsible if I hurt myself trying to break into a store to steal some Mass Effect 3 copies, since EA put them in that store...
Your analogy is flawed. Breaking into a store is illegal. Climbing a tree is not.
@kwerr said:
@muktor said:
@kwerr said:
@muktor said:
lol EA sent copies of Mass Effect 3 to space from San Francisco
they were supposed to land and get picked up by fans as prize
but they ended up stuck on top of a huge tree and noone has been able to recover them
see this vidoe on youtube:
Hey all,
I've been lurking on GiantBomb for a while, but now decided to join when I saw this thread. I was there (am one of the people that can be seen in the video) and I wanted to give my point of view regarding this whole issue.
On the surface, this promotion by EA seemed like a very cool one - send a copy of a video game into space (technically it wasn't sent into space of course, but into the upper atmosphere) and have sort of like a scavenger/treasure hunt where a lucky fun can get a very limited edition (space edition) copy of this game.
However, obviously EA did not really think it through to the end, and it ended up being a potentially disastrous event.
EA//Bioware actually launched two different balloons containing the special copy of the game, at two hour intervals. The first one (not shown in the video) landed deep in the wilderness near Santa Cruz. It landed in a very rough area, full of bushes, thorns, trees, and poison ivy. I personally met reporters from IGN and GameShampoo on the trail whom look like they got stung by poison ivy. I myself had my clothes torn and ended up with lots of scratches and bruises. The terrain is very hard to navigate without the proper equipment, especially if you are not a very experienced hiker, which the average gamer is generally not. Two people got lost in there, and the Sheriff department had to be called to help look for them. Eventually, those two gamers were found and returned to a safe area by another group of gamers (I was with the group who found them and talked to the Sheriff), after they had spent the night sleeping in a barrel, with their cellphones dead (not that it mattered, as there was no reception in that area so no way of calling anyone for help)
The second balloon, which is shown in the video, landed on top of a very high tree. That tree was very dangerous to climb. EA representatives at the sight told people not to climb the tree, but trying to tell people what to do was kind of silly on their part since EA is not the police or anything and has no authority to tell people what to do or not to do in a public area. So then, when they saw people were not listening to them and climbing the tree anyway, they said they would not be responsible if something bad happened. Again, that is pretty stupid, since obviously had a disaster occurred, it's not hard to see that EA would've been held at least partially responsible, since they are the ones who sent the video game in a balloon and a likely outcome was that it would end up on top of a tree.
So people kept trying to climb the tree, some made it very high, and it was a miracle that nobody got hurt, especially since from talking to people at the sight, none of them were experienced climbers.
EA then suggested that people pitch in and hire a professional arborist, supposedly costing $250 an hour, to get the game down (There was the special copy of the game which actually appears to have been lost along the path, plus there was 5 xbox 360 copies and 4 PS3 copies in a small box hanging from that tree). Again I think that is poor judgment. I am sure EA has enough money in the budget to hire the Arborist themselves and perhaps avoid someone getting injured, rather then tell us to do so. So nobody wanted to spend so much money, and people kept climbing the tree and endangering themselves (and others, sometimes branches fell down from the tree pretty close to hitting some of the people that were watching below)
So yeah, to sum it up, while this was a good Marketing and publicity stunt, not much thought was put into the safety of those participating, and luckily noone got hurt, but it could have also ended in a disaster if someone had fallen from that tree or got lost in the wilderness.
so on one hand you are saying that EA does not have the authority to tell people if they can or cannot climb that tree
But on the other hand you say that if they did decide to climb the tree and something happen EA would still be responsible?
Isn't that a contradiction? Why would EA be responsible if people decided by themselves to go climb that tree?
It's like saying that EA would be responsible if I hurt myself trying to break into a store to steal some Mass Effect 3 copies, since EA put them in that store...
Your analogy is flawed. Breaking into a store is illegal. Climbing a tree is not.
well ok but still my point is that EA did not tell anyone to climb the tree so why would it be responsible if someone did
thyey couldve cut it down if they really wanted it.
but thats probably a nature reserve and im pretty sure thats illegal to do on government owned land.
This is dumb. There needs to be a law that says "If you are dumb, and get hurt because you did something dumb, then you can't take legal action." This was a cool thing EA did, and people did dumb stuff to get something free because of two reasons. First they are dumb. Second they are pansies.
@css_switchfoot said:
This is dumb. There needs to be a law that says "If you are dumb, and get hurt because you did something dumb, then you can't take legal action." This was a cool thing EA did, and people did dumb stuff to get something free because of two reasons. First they are dumb. Second they are pansies.
yeah I agree
That looked like fun
I wish I was there
@css_switchfoot said:
This is dumb. There needs to be a law that says "If you are dumb, and get hurt because you did something dumb, then you can't take legal action." This was a cool thing EA did, and people did dumb stuff to get something free because of two reasons. First they are dumb. Second they are pansies.
The situation is kind of like this: lets say I have a hand full of candy. I tell a kid that, "I'm going to throw the candies in the air and you go and get them." So I do that and one of the pieces of candy lands in the middle of the street. The kid runs to get it and gets hit by a car. Whose at fault here? The kid, the parents or me? The parents are going to say me. Now it's slightly different because you could argue the kid doesn't know any better, unlike an adult, but I still put the kid in a situation where he/she could get hurt. Just like EA did here. EA didn't intend for this but... I could see why someone would sue them and win.
EA are not the bad guys in this situation. Pointless analogies are.
It's kind of like if I created this hypothetical situation that may or may not be comparable to the situation at hand instead of just discussing what is going on in said actual situation, and then proceeded to complain about how much I hate analogies without making any meaningful contribution to the discussion.
Just doesn't make any sense to me.
@CaptainCody said:
@Stepside said:
@Hitchenson: Whoa, what's with all the hate? Is "Le sigh" a GB no-no or something?
It's because Reddit is one of the dumbest places on the internet which steals, and ruins, any jokes they can get their hand on.
There are quite of few members on this site who do the same thing. Everyone on the internet runs jokes to the ground. Yes, it's annoying, telling someone to leave is uncalled for.
@DemBones: Yeah, I hear that. I remember when the "no-homo" thing was going around everywhere. That drove me crazy. I dunno, it's just something I typed - I don't really follow internet trends anymore (like I said, I've never been to Reddit in my life..) so I didn't know it would annoy at such a high flaming level. I changed it so we can all live together, passively and share the glorious love that is a forum. ;)
@Stepside said:
@CaptainCody said:
@Stepside said:
@Hitchenson: Whoa, what's with all the hate? Is "Le sigh" a GB no-no or something?
It's because Reddit is one of the dumbest places on the internet which steals, and ruins, any jokes they can get their hand on. Le sigh doesn't even make any sense and is something only pathetic losers would say, at best. Get the fuck out of here.
Never been to Reddit...and...yeah. You need a bran muffin there champ.
So you took a trend from an already dumb site through other means? Aren't you impressionable.
@DemBones said:
Most new users can be a waste of space, I'll wait till I should care before I don't ask them to leave
back to the topic, dunno if it's true but according to the comments here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDiKbmVI_JA
they say the tree is gone now? so someone actually chopped down the tree to get the game?
@kwerr said:
The second balloon, which is shown in the video, landed on top of a very high tree. That tree was very dangerous to climb. EA representatives at the sight told people not to climb the tree, but trying to tell people what to do was kind of silly on their part since EA is not the police or anything and has no authority to tell people what to do or not to do in a public area. So then, when they saw people were not listening to them and climbing the tree anyway, they said they would not be responsible if something bad happened. Again, that is pretty stupid, since obviously had a disaster occurred, it's not hard to see that EA would've been held at least partially responsible, since they are the ones who sent the video game in a balloon and a likely outcome was that it would end up on top of a tree
So let me get that straight. EA doesn't have the slightest authority to prevent you from doing something utterly stupid (true) but if one of you guys got hurt by that something utterly stupid, they would've been partially reponsible.
<- click it
@NaDannMaGoGo said:
@kwerr said:
The second balloon, which is shown in the video, landed on top of a very high tree. That tree was very dangerous to climb. EA representatives at the sight told people not to climb the tree, but trying to tell people what to do was kind of silly on their part since EA is not the police or anything and has no authority to tell people what to do or not to do in a public area. So then, when they saw people were not listening to them and climbing the tree anyway, they said they would not be responsible if something bad happened. Again, that is pretty stupid, since obviously had a disaster occurred, it's not hard to see that EA would've been held at least partially responsible, since they are the ones who sent the video game in a balloon and a likely outcome was that it would end up on top of a tree
So let me get that straight. EA doesn't have the slightest authority to prevent you from doing something utterly stupid (true) but if one of you guys got hurt by that something utterly stupid, they would've been partially reponsible.
<- click it
yep according to what someone said fully responsible lol
Next up: Bioshock Origins mega reveal and Ken Levine ties a bag full of copies to a submarine and sends it down a few thousand fathoms. Youtube vids begin to appear with fans strapping on scuba gear and flippers in search of the treasure. Other suggestions?
@BasketSnake said:
Next up: Bioshock Origins mega reveal and Ken Levine ties a bag full of copies to a submarine and sends it down a few thousand fathoms. Youtube vids begin to appear with fans strapping on scuba gear and flippers in search of the treasure. Other suggestions?
But it doesn't take place in Rapture. The copies would obviously have to be obtained via rail-line, using your trusty grappling-hook-thingy, from a city in the sky. Everyone has those right?
P.S. Is that how people in San Fran dress? Or is that the average Mass Effect player? Yeesh.
@Ulain: @Ulain said:
@BasketSnake said:
Next up: Bioshock Origins mega reveal and Ken Levine ties a bag full of copies to a submarine and sends it down a few thousand fathoms. Youtube vids begin to appear with fans strapping on scuba gear and flippers in search of the treasure. Other suggestions?
But it doesn't take place in Rapture. The copies would obviously have to be obtained via rail-line, using your trusty grappling-hook-thingy, from a city in the sky. Everyone has those right?
P.S. Is that how people in San Fran dress? Or is that the average Mass Effect player? Yeesh.
average nerds lol
At least no one died, at least as far as I know. When I first heard that they were doing this, I felt convinced that that was the only possible outcome.
At least no one died, at least as far as I know. When I first heard that they were doing this, I felt convinced that that was the only possible outcome.And then some lucky guy would literally be able to say "People have died trying to get what I have in my hands right now". It just serves to make the edition even cooler. At least in a hypothetical sense, anyway...
God dammit. Climb the tree! Climb the tree! God damn flabby gamers. I'd be up that tree in a second, probably even without the game up there.
@NinjaHunter said:
@css_switchfoot said:
This is dumb. There needs to be a law that says "If you are dumb, and get hurt because you did something dumb, then you can't take legal action." This was a cool thing EA did, and people did dumb stuff to get something free because of two reasons. First they are dumb. Second they are pansies.
The situation is kind of like this: lets say I have a hand full of candy. I tell a kid that, "I'm going to throw the candies in the air and you go and get them." So I do that and one of the pieces of candy lands in the middle of the street. The kid runs to get it and gets hit by a car. Whose at fault here? The kid, the parents or me? The parents are going to say me. Now it's slightly different because you could argue the kid doesn't know any better, unlike an adult, but I still put the kid in a situation where he/she could get hurt. Just like EA did here. EA didn't intend for this but... I could see why someone would sue them and win.
yep gamers are like kids when it comes to getting a game :)
why did you need to link the video? I watched it and almost died of boredom, I think EA's marketing department are responsible for this boredom and as such I'm demanding a free copy of the game.
If those kids lost some weight and were rugged, hairy chested gods of dominating mother nature like me and my cadre of woodsmen they would've cut that shit down in no time.
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