Banned from Origin forums, Lose Games

From Rock Paper Shotgun:

I’m building up quite the portfolio of affected gamers, who find after a forum violation they’re unable to access their Origin games. And within this is a more disturbing trend – those who are finding that their forum bans are, without explanation, becoming permanent bans. Permanent bans from accessing their Origin accounts, their Battlelog accounts, and therefore downloading purchased games, and playing online. Something which obviously raises serious questions about consumer rights, which is of course another angle we’re currently investigating.

Most exceptional perhaps is Aaron, who after receiving a 72 hour ban was told by EA support they couldn’t help because “the game developers control this”. Pardon? His crime? Someone else swearing on the forum, with his username in their post. Trying the live chat support instead, he was then informed that his account was permanently banned, and that “all property, items, and characters associated currently are or will soon be deleted.” Followed by, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Aaron tried again, pointing out that forum bans shouldn’t affect games. And then came this incredible reply:

“Please be informed that your account not only suspended, But it is also Banned, So you will no longer to play the game in single player.”

If you use Origin, don't post on the forums. Or don't use Origin.

what?  so someone could could just cuss...  toss in a bunch of usernames in the post and they would all get banned?    There has got to be more to it than that... otherwise that's grounds for a lawsuit imo.  

@Marz said:

what? so someone could could just cuss... toss in a bunch of usernames in the post and they would all get banned? There has got to be more to it than that... otherwise that's grounds for a lawsuit imo.

It's a forum filter bug.

This is kind of old news isn't it? I kind of love the idea of people who act like shitheads on the forums having their stuff taken away but it isn't really an okay thing to do.

I thought they resolved all this stuff a couple weeks ago and said that they didn't intend for a ban in one aspect to impact your games?

Also, Origin support is a fucking joke. Chatting with them is almost comical. They forget what you're talking about every other sentence. They go away for minutes or tens of minutes at a time and they ask redundant, meaningless questions. They double charged me many months apart for BF3 (charged me when I pre-ordered and then charged me on launch). Dealing with them was such an unending hassle and they were so convoluted and confused and redundant and obtuse that I eventually just gave up, because the amount of time I was spending dealing with them was worth far more than the fucking extra $60 they charged me.

I'm pretty sure this was a story a couple months ago.

This seems like a tragedy introduction for them that will seriously impact people's desire to use the service in the future. I don't like it, EA. I don't like it.

@ShadowSkill11 said:

I'm pretty sure this was a story a couple months ago.

If it is, it's picking up steam now that more people are apparently being affected by this policy. There was a tweet by Patrick earlier tonight asking for anyone affected in such a way to contact him as part of his own research into the matter.

This is still giong on? EA really needs to get their policies in order. This is wrong on so many levels.

This is no surprise for me. EA/Origin support is next to useless. So if it turns out that forum accounts are the same as Origin accounts then not only are EA abusing consumer rights by banning them from sales, but are also exposing consumers to potential security risks.

yep, i heard about this before. it's pretty bad to read that. i don't really like EA all that much. i don't even understand why they wanted to make origin. Steam is a great service and then EA decided to make one. 
 
if this continues then every single PC game is going to have it's own service.

yep, i heard about this before. it's pretty bad to read that. i don't really like EA all that much. i don't even understand why they wanted to make origin. Steam is a great service and then EA decided to make one.   if this continues then every single PC game is going to have it's own service.

If this is true, I wonder how long EA can continue to be pricks. Sure they're a big publisher, and a huge company and they can't cater to every single person out there, but i mean come on.

Stories like this are why I will never use origins.

Just don't use the forums? It's not a good idea on EAs side though. They should just permanently ban people from the forums instead of taking their games away. This way they're going to lose customers, because many of those people wont come back.

This is so dumb... more so because he hadn't actually done anything wrong. If EA won't un-ban him.... which they most likely won't, since that would be admitting mistake.

I'm certainly not using Origin.

This impacts users of consoles as well or PC only?

This impacts users of consoles as well or PC only?

@Azteck said:

@Still_I_Cry said:

This impacts users of consoles as well or PC only?

Probably only PC gamers as it's Origin related and not necessarily EA as a whole or game specific.

That said, BF3 was the only, and I mean only reason I have origin on my PC. It was and will be the last game I buy from EA.

Good point. Thanks for clarifying.

@Deleth said:

Just don't use the forums? It's not a good idea on EAs side though. They should just permanently ban people from the forums instead of taking their games away. This way they're going to lose customers, because many of those people wont come back.

If they're permanently banned, they don't have much of a choice in whether they come back or not.

I know it's a terrible idea and all that but I kinda like the idea of not running into those people in games like Battlefield 3.  
Yes, I know, it's wrong and a bad move by EA.. Still makes me smile though and go "YES!!!" on the inside

I think this is a great idea. Maybe if there are real-world consequences for being an asshat on the interwebs, people will think before posting.

@Hailinel said:

@Deleth said:

Just don't use the forums? It's not a good idea on EAs side though. They should just permanently ban people from the forums instead of taking their games away. This way they're going to lose customers, because many of those people wont come back.

If they're permanently banned, they don't have much of a choice in whether they come back or not.

Actually they do, they just would've to buy all the games again.

No one is going to use their crapy service if they have to buy the games for a secomd time

As far as the official Battlefield forums are concerned, they will give out a first offense warning. I personally received one for use of the word "christ's." While it certainly sucks for the people who have been banned, something tells me they probably went above and beyond in relation to vulgarity to earn themselves a ban. However, when you're in a forum for a game that has a single player campaign filled with obscenities, it's hard to wrap your head around exactly why EA would be so sensitive to such obscenities coming from their community.

Perhaps we should create a fictional account of a once feral child, who now at the age of 18, is socially adjusted enough to enjoy his/her first combat simulation. Prior to playing through the first three missions of the single player campaign, the now young adult had never used a vulgar word. But after just three missions, the young adult has discovered a whole new language in addition to the language he learned through his/her late Catholic upbringing. In other words, EA taught he/she how to cuss.

that is fucking ridiculous.

Hearing things like this year after year about EA's products and services is why I do not support EA.

That's wrong. I could maybe side with them, for example, if they mute banned you because all you did on the forums was swear and insult people, but others could manually unmute you, but they probably wouldn't want to. But taking away a product you bought, with real money, for being banned on an internet forum? Seriously guys, that's not cool.

Yeah, having repercussions for your internet bullshit would be nice, but should it cost someone their hard earned money? Also a dude got banned, not because he swore, but because someone else swore and had his username in his post. That's fucked up.

@Branthog said:

I thought they resolved all this stuff a couple weeks ago and said that they didn't intend for a ban in one aspect to impact your games?

Also, Origin support is a fucking joke. Chatting with them is almost comical. They forget what you're talking about every other sentence. They go away for minutes or tens of minutes at a time and they ask redundant, meaningless questions. They double charged me many months apart for BF3 (charged me when I pre-ordered and then charged me on launch). Dealing with them was such an unending hassle and they were so convoluted and confused and redundant and obtuse that I eventually just gave up, because the amount of time I was spending dealing with them was worth far more than the fucking extra $60 they charged me.

I've had the exact same experience. When I got fed up with dealing with their live chat I emailed them about the double charge and got a response a month later basically saying "NOPE" and they closed the case. An auto response bot would actually be more helpful than their live chat team. I avoid Origin like the plague.

I continue to dislike Origin, and I'll feel so very dirty when I eventually purchase Old Republic.

If.

When?

I'll probably get banned too. I'm opening tickets without end, because they keep closing them without solving the problem!

What's my problem? Lately, the Origin client refuses to run if no internet connection is available. This means, I cannot play the games I paid for. This is downright theft!!!

Some sites have become nazis with their bans. Ive had two temporary bans in my life. One for making a joke that I was under 13 on gamefaqs, and said I was not in reply after the fact. But I guess being under 13 is a violation for that site. Other was Giantbomb for using the R word as a verb in reply to someone getting a cheap deal on product. I said they prob would be "overcharged" on shipping as a joke. I guess using as a verb specifically is too far, but you can look up games involving it on the GB wiki for it.