Electronic Arts has been at the forefront of the online gaming scene since way back in the days of dial-up internet. As one of the first publishers to support online gaming on the original Xbox, they set the standard for what the online experience should be for a console sports game. With titles like Spore, they have changed the way games interact with each other, implementing a groundbreaking cross-pollination of user created content, all facilitated through the wonders of the internet.
During this massive expansion into the online space, EA took a road that no other publisher’s had, unifying user accounts. Using this single account, the users can easily track all their stats, schedule matches and interact in game forums, all from the comfort of your browser. The beauty of this system is that a single user account would work across all games, giving you access to all of your gaming information at one centralized location.
In an effort to curb illicit behaviors going on in the EA forums, an announcement was made that will totally change the way the unified login system is viewed. An EA community manager just posted the following message to the Command and Conquer forums:
“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 recommend 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…” — EA Forums
What was once a system of convenience has now be transformed into a way to strike fear into the hearts of gamers everywhere. The idea that they could ban you from every EA title that you own is a staggering concept, that could lead to serious controversies down the road. So be sure to mind what you say, because if you are not careful, it might be your last. I just hope that they have a responsible person on the other end of the ban hammer, because with great power comes great responsibility.
What say you? Is this fair and in the best interest of the gaming experience? Or too harsh?
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