@Gharsnip, I commiserate with you. I'm waiting for Titanfall 2: Angel City's Most Wanted Bundle (amongst other items) to go on sale, and it hasn't been on sale on Origin since November 2018 (based on Origin's US sales promotion history; I'm not sure if it's the same for other countries). Titanfall 2: Angel City's Most Wanted Bundle was, however, on sale on Steam during the recent promotional period.
@Gharsnip wrote:
...at least one designated member that reads and take heed of requests / complaints...
Your guess is as good as mine as to the impact posts here have, but I will say that I have never seen EA corporate acknowledge and heed a user's request made here (it might have happened, but I haven't seen it). That doesn't mean some of the things people have asked for on Answers HQ haven't come about, but I can't say there is a causal relationship (E.g. I could ask for another Mass Effect game to be made, but if one is made, that doesn't mean my request is what brought it about). Answers HQ employees can tackle issues within their purview, but many customer requests fall outside that domain.
I think that is what I find most dissatisfying about EA from a customer service perspective, is that there is a big gap in coverage that isn't filled by what Answers HQ and EA Help can provide, and there is no one to contact for the myriad of issues that fall in that coverage gap. EA is a multi-billion-dollar company with thousands of employees, yet it's probably easier to track down a member of secretive criminal organization than it is to find official contact information for a party at EA other than EA Help, Answers HQ, and Investor Relations.
@Gharsnip wrote:
I would like to know a reason why in the world you would not do ANYTHING in order to keep it alive? . . . If I was in charge and aware of this I would have created a team the next day and started a brainstorm of how to not just keep it alive...but how to make it better...updates...dlc...etc.
I speculate that EA has made the determination that it has made 99% of the revenue it is going to make off of Titanfall 2 on Origin, and as such, aggressive promotion of Titanfall 2 on Origin isn't its focus. You may still find the DLC on sale once a year on Origin (for some of the DLC at least), but it won't be on sale consistently (i.e. it won't be on sale every time there is an Origin store-wide sale or EA-publisher sale).
To be honest, I find several of EA's promotional choices strange/blind, but they have access to data I don't (e.g. Need for Speed Most Wanted Terminal Velocity DLC goes on sale fairly regularly on Origin, but the other three NFS Most Wanted DLC packs haven't been on sale on Origin since late 2015 to early 2016, and the Complete DLC Bundle for NFS Most Wanted hasn't been on sale on Origin since 2018, and before that it hadn't been on sale on Origin since 2016). Another good example is that there is currently a The Sims 4 sale on Origin, yet the Digital Deluxe Upgrade isn't on sale. If you own the The Sims 4 Standard Edition on Origin and wish to upgrade to the deluxe edition, it is currently cheaper to buy the complete Digital Deluxe Edition than it is to buy the Digital Deluxe Upgrade for the Standard Edition (and thus you end up with two The Sims 4 games in your library). How does that make sense? Something similar happened to me with Dragon Age: Origins. I had the Digital Deluxe Edition, but it was cheaper to buy the Ultimate Edition in order to get all of the DLC than it was to add the DLC individually to the Digital Deluxe Edition (this was before the DLC Bundle existed), so now I have both editions in my library even though the extra content is shared between the two, such that they are exactly the same other than cover art.
Maybe the thinking is that by putting the base games on sale periodically on Origin but excluding certain DLC from regular sales, they can tempt customers into buying the respective (dated) DLC at full price, but there are plenty of base games that haven't been on sale on Origin in years as well (e.g. both editions of Medal of Honor Warfighter haven't been on sale on Origin since 2015). I'm not sure what the thinking is. I actually started looking through the sales promotion history of EA's catalog of games on Origin, and a lot of EA's games/DLC haven't been on sale on Origin in quite a while (i.e. years), at least in the US. Origin may have as many store sales throughout the year as competitors do, but the same group of EA games/DLC repeatedly end up getting neglected/excluded from those sales.
With regard to future content updates for Titanfall 2, I think the game would need to have a truly monumental resurgence for EA to consider that (cost-benefit analysis). Otherwise, I think they'd be happy to maintain the current trajectory of their revenue stream from this game, which requires little investment on their part.
@Gharsnip wrote:
I`ll be as blunt as possible...after EA made that awesome deal on Steam for the new players...not doing it for ORIGIN players, for old players that bought the game and stood by it its just a big f you. (period)
I assume Steam is where EA saw untapped opportunity. I don't necessarily mind a one-time promotion of this nature to mark EA's re-embrace of Steam, but if in the future EA's customers on Steam continue to receive better deals than EA's customers on Origin, I would be foolish to continue to buy EA's games on Origin.
You would think EA would prefer that its customers buy its games on Origin instead of Steam since EA doesn't have to split its sales revenue with Valve for EA games sold on Origin (since EA owns the Origin digital distribution platform), unless Valve has given EA a more favorable revenue split than the standard Steam agreement, or unless EA corporate has a heretofore publicly unknown multi-year plan to phase out the Origin store (because they deem it not worth the operational cost), although EA would still need to maintain the Origin client for legacy games (although in this hypothetical scenario, I wouldn't put it past them to get rid of the client at some point as well and tell customers "tough luck").
@Gharsnip wrote:
Yes I know I am sorry I did not buy it then but I could not leave behind all my grinding.
Opinions vary, but I personally see little point in buying EA's games on Steam if they require the Origin client (there are a few that don't, and hopefully by 2022 future EA games on Steam won't), unless of course EA's games continue to receive better sales promotions on Steam. I particularly don't think it's worth it to buy EA games on Steam that require the Origin client if I already previously purchased those games on Origin.
@Gharsnip wrote:
None can say that what I ask is unreasonable, none can say that is not fair and that, if they are Origin bound, they would not want also the same respect after all...
I'm not saying your position isn't valid; I hope my post wasn't taken that way. What I'm saying is that I don't believe that we, as EA customers, can really do anything in this situation to effect change other than vote with our pocketbooks. Sorry if that seems pessimistic, but that's the opinion I have formed after years of being an EA customer.
The opinion I have formed of EA, and many software companies, not just gaming companies, is that they do the bare minimum with regard to customer service. I say gaming companies, but many AAA companies, none more so than EA, come off more so as businesses that make their profits off of gaming rather than as gaming companies, and there is a difference culturally between those two approaches. Gone are the days of "We're an association of electronic artists who share a common goal. We want to fulfill the potential of personal computing. That's a tall order. But with enough imagination and enthusiasm, we think there's a good chance for success. Our products, like this game, are evidence of our intent." That being said, EA still employs a lot of talented and creative developers who are passionate about gaming.
There are lots of bad customer service experiences across many industries, but there are few industries so truly deficient at customer service for the amount of money they make off of the customer. If an EA Community Manager reads this, that isn't a swipe at you, I know you are just doing your job within the constraints placed upon you.
