The Madness of King Ward...and EA.

Let me start by saying I've given a lot of thought to this blog before posting and there are some key points to remember before moving on to the main point of this post.

1. I've only ever played Burnout Paradise.

2. I've never posted on any EA forum.

3. I have no idea what kind of a man Alex Ward truly is to truly judge him.

As far as point 3 goes...with his recent comments...I'm about to have a pretty good try.

To point 1, I started playing Paradise shortly after it came and have loved every minute of it. I joined Burnoutaholics to share my passion for the game and it's online community is a MAJOR selling point for the game when I talk about it with my friends. I think Criterion are amazing in the support they've shown for the game with the free updates and have frequently sang their praises on this website, on XBL and on other boards.

Which makes what I'm about to say feel kinda dirrrrrty...

Burnoutaholics is a place for those who love Burnout games, not just Burnout Paradise. In the same way that some people Prefer Empire to the Return of the Jedi and others feel that muppets make for a better Star Wars film, Paradise has it's fans and detractors.

You know...I'm able to talk to both. I appreciate that few films, books, music or games are going to pick up a wide audience and that some fans of these are not going to like their sequels when some aspects are changed, that is an inevitability.

So whay can't Alex Ward? Is his ego so over inflated that to dare to criticise something is completely unacceptable? People come here because they like Burnout games, not because they hate them and want to vent. To dig out Burnoutaholics for expressing themselves is ridiculous and petty - something that makes Mr. Ward look like a bit of ass for doing so. Hands up - purely my opinion. Please Mr. Ward do not hold Burnoutaholics responsible for my words, which they have not endorsed and are not reflective of their own opinions...I'm sure...

The thing that really grabs my nuts...and SQUEEZES...is the way that EA have decided that hells yeah...King Ward has a point. They have now taken the draconian steps of threatening anyone who 'misbehaves' on their forums with not just a ban from the forums but being locked out of their EA games as well - all of them. They do not define what constitutes 'misbehaviour' nor do they try to, just telling everyone to 'play nice and act maturely'. Someone on my friends list was banned a few months ago for being 'overly critical'. So apparently being 'mature' and 'playing nice equates to 'telling us only what we want to hear'.

While I agree that certain behaviour requires banning from a forum I find it hard to justify locking them out of games which they have spent their own money and and OWN LEGALLY. It will also be interesting if this actually occurs and someone takes legal steps of their own as I'm sure it's unenforceable.

It's a shame that EA and in particular Alex Ward seem incapable of accepting criticism - and completely unacceptable to even CONSIDER locking people out of their games.

 

Comments

kevlar0's picture

I posted in one of the threads last night titled "Quirks of Paradise city" it read " ooooo Alex Wards dented ego now thats quite a quirk in paradise" and needless to say it was deleted off the thread, Don't get me wrong, i love the game but the creator of the series is a complete basketcase, he hasn't even got the balls to come on here and defend his comment about burnoutaholics slagging his game off all year, which is clearly untrue.

He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.

ZombieTron's picture

but I didn't get what you meant by this bit:

"They have now taken the draconian steps of threatening anyone who 'misbehaves' on their forums with not just a ban from the forums but being locked out of their EA games as well - all of them."

Where did you get this from? I do occassionally use the EA forums and I am not aware of this. Please can you let me know where you saw this?

Thanks

 

SUFFUR's picture

how ever it's spelt, and i feel pain for someone else, and I can't do jack, shyte about it, I... I love the guy, oh not the gay way you ....

 

And Alex is Alex, live with it people, just like he has to live with us, just like Paradise, is not the game we expected, it's a good game, but not what anyone was looking for at the time. People love it great, people hate it, great, but ... Alex was a wally, or whatever word you wish to use, to have a go at Burnoutaholics, Zombie or anyone else, from here.

You want an open commuity, then let it, but don't cover it up with deletion, due to negativity, that is being open, kcuf it, dude OP, well said you have a point, and so does Alex, saddly he needs to put it in a pencil sharpener and go back to the drawing board, yes and laugh, because today was not funny, nor was what Alex said, but we get up in the morning and survive, and i'm worried my friend isn't, but i hope he does, because he has had a lot to deal with, with his life and his recent past, and now his future is open, i don't think he wants it, and I hate that...

Patience is something I taught myself, so I never know when it's going to run out? And trying to drink Singapore dry will never happen, no matter what, but met some nice ladies of the night and great old friends, who play pretty good pool, especially when there is money on the table, lol, but I had fun, even in my sad state of empathy.

I'm coming home soon, but it is not over it has only just begun, now wheres my pissport, parc, I swore!

Patience is something I taught myself, so I never know when it's going to run out?

ZombieTron's picture

Before everybody gets into bash EA mode about this, it looks to me like it's all a bit of a internet forum debacle over at the C&C forums. The C&C community manager made a mistake, and retracted his statement a couple of weeks later... this is how it went:

HERE is the link to the first thread and this is the first quote:

"Well, its actually going to be a bit nastier for those who get banned.

Your forum account will be directly tied to your Master EA Account, so if we ban you on the forums, you would be banned from the game as well since the login process is the same. And you'd actually be banned from your other EA games as well since its all tied to your account. So if you have SPORE and Red Alert 3 and you get yourself banned on our forums or in-game, well, your SPORE account would be banned to. It's all one in the same, so I strongly reccommend people play nice and act mature.

All in all, we expect people to come on here and abide by our ToS. We hate banning people, it makes our lives a lot tougher, but its what we have to do.

Those banned will stay banned, but like most other internet services, its not that hard to create a new fake e-mail account. However, its a lot harder to get a new serial key =)

Avatars should be back within 2 weeks of the launch.

-APOC"

However, a couple of weeks later a retraction thread was made HERE and this is the second quote:

"Hey everyone,

If you didn't notice, your C&C Community Manager, me, had a bit of a run-in with the video game blogging media today in reference to a direct quote I made on our forums here a few days ago in regards to how we handle bans and suspensions on the forums and in-game. You all know how we are greatly trying to protect and serve you from those who wish to disrupt our C&C community by breaking ToS on our forums or in-game, and I know everyone appreciates when we take action on those that are the worst.

That said, the previous statement I made recently (that's being quoted on the blogs) was inaccurate and a mistake on my part. I had a misunderstanding with regards to our new upcoming forums and website and never meant to infer that if we ban or suspend you on the forums, you would be banned in-game as well. This is not correct, my mistake, my bad.

If we suspend or ban you from the forums, that does not affect your in-game account and certainly it does not impact your in-game account for other games. Quite often we usually warn you before taking any type of action, suspend you before considering any type of ban, etc. I am sure you guys know that we are fairly tolerant and stress that you please show respect to others, but we also understand the forums are a place to be heard and express your opinion in a constructive manner. Everyone has their "flame" moments.

Your Posting in our official C&C EA Forums is enabled by an EA Nucleus account (the Master EA Account you typically login with to chose your Persona) -- but access to the forums and access to the games are separate. Players who have been banned from EA Forums are not automatically banned from online access to their other EA games, or the game associated with that particular forum. Players can be warned, suspended, and/or then banned if they breach the Terms of Service or Code of Conduct in a forum, game or service. Each forum, game and service is managed independently by our customer support representatives responsible for that specific forum, game or service.

Suffice to say, when we take action on someone on our C&C forums here, for any number of ToS breaking reasons, it does not impact your C&C game account or any other EA Game Account connected to your forum name. The mods here do a great job of alerting me when we need to warn someone or take further action, if I haven't seen it myself or heard it in a thread from one of you, but any action we take on a C&C Forum User, doesn't impact their in-game status.

I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I hope everyone is able to see the greater good intent in that we are simply trying to keep the forums and in-game as friendly and fun environments as possible, just know that those two environments are treated seperately by myself, the mods, and especially our Customer Support team. =)

Sincerely,
APOC

*hopefully i'll have better historical memorable moments as your C&C Community Manager than this one =) * "

I hope that clears it up for everybody. Gaming websites take note... Check your Facts before repeating forum posts as cold hard news!!

Jinno Angelo's picture

Hahaha! The madness of EA!! and A.W.....

Yeah, we need a filter.... Because I have 100+ cusses on my DiCC(ROFLMAO)tionary to say....

 

 

 

I went into the Criterion Forums..... seems kind of bland...

-------------------------------

"I Have Loved. I Have Suffered. Now, I Hate."

"There's Jinno, One of the Twin Angels" - DjSubzero18 (Burnout Revenge Online, 3/20/ 2009).

oO EezO Oo's picture

Quality...

CAPS LOCK - Cruise control for AWESOME!!

 

CAPS LOCK - Cruise control for AWESOME!!

 

Jinno Angelo's picture

Respect!!

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"I Have Loved. I Have Suffered. Now, I Hate."

"There's Jinno, One of the Twin Angels" - DjSubzero18 (Burnout Revenge Online, 3/20/ 2009).