I've been known to rant that EA should join forces with Valve and get their PC games onto Steam. The Spore debacle(s) made the need even more obvious.

The thing is-- The wisdom of jumping on the Steam bandwagon was so clear and smart, it seemed beyond EA's capabilities to recognize. Riccitiello in particular has demonstrated a persistence in boldly doing inherently stupid things, especially regarding the health and good standing of the corporation he heads.

But the suits at EA have done something right for a change. EA has added some recent titles to Steam's library. It's shockingly true, there's a press release proving it.

Next I'd like to see LucasArts on Steam and *gasp* here's hoping that Microsoft clues in and stops trying to weave their own baskets for their eggs (Windows Live sucks for games).

Kudos to Valve once again. They got the digital distribution and DRM-as-a-benefit (as compared to punishment) right in the first place. I was slow to catch on myself, but I'm one hell of a happy customer now. The more publishers on board, the more games I get to buy conveniently.

How to screw over your own customers in one simple step:

1. Be EA.

The Spore DRM debacle is a mess EA has created for itself.

Do not fuck over your paying customers. Especially do not fuck over your customers under the excuse that you're trying to stop piracy. You're not punishing the pirates, you're just giving piracy a wider margin by reducing your legit players.

As if we needed any more reasons to dislike EA. Sheesh. Do they not realize this actually affects player spending habits? There are several people in my guild where WAR was the first EA product they've begrudgingly bought in years. And they did so only after Mythic took the EA out of EA-Mythic.

There are piles of game boxes on my shelf and notably the majority are not EA games.

If there was any question over whether they might abuse their DRM-schemes, it's now been answered. You don't ban players from your game over their legit questions and complaints on your forums. You just don't. Especially when their complaints are specifically that you're holding too much power over a product they've purchased. /facepalm.

This kind of heavy-handed nonsense towards their customers has serious impact on their sales and brandname identity, don't they get that?

Dumbasses.

Spore had the potential to go huge and instead it's just gone big. It's no slouch, but with its pedigree, EA could be raking in a lot more dough. Shareholders, take note, because ultimately CEO John Riccitiello is responsible, hold him to it. Errors like this significantly reduce potential, plus the fodder he's handed the pirates: It's achieved the exact opposite of what EA was going for.

If anyone is wondering why the games industry isn't as bulletproof in the economy as it should be, it's nonsense like this. Consumers don't need another excuse NOT to buy a product right now.

Oh yeah, this post adds to my negative-parental filters I'm sure. =)