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BattleField 2142, spyware included

shacknews.com — When you open the box, a big slip of paper falls out first, preceeding any discs or manuals. The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order

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  • gronne, on 10/12/2007, -3/+312Boycott
    • aplardi, on 10/12/2007, -213/+13Is it really spyware when the software admits it?

      How often doEthan Hunt or James Bond go around telling people they are spying on them?

      Just a thought.
    • Klowner, on 10/12/2007, -3/+175@aplardi - I'd be a little pissed off after purchasing a house, to walk inside and find a little sign saying there's security cameras in my toilet
    • wurzelgummage, on 10/12/2007, -1/+104@aplardi

      If they had the piece of paper stuck on the outside of the box, possibly.
    • Aooogah, on 10/12/2007, -63/+7Damn! If only Spore wasn't going to be published by EA then I would join you.
    • Greattastic, on 10/12/2007, -53/+16If spore ever gets finished
    • BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -46/+5As if the game wasn't already doomed enough to be a total failure...

      Battlefield 3 better be pretty amazing or Dice is done.
    • geneshifter, on 10/12/2007, -4/+100Forget spore. Boycotting EA is more important. If you want change, we all are going to have to sacrifice something.
    • fauxXenophanes, on 10/12/2007, -8/+73Hello Mininova - I hate paying for someone to monitor me.
    • koweja, on 10/12/2007, -56/+15"Forget spore. Boycotting EA is more important. If you want change, we all are going to have to sacrifice something."

      But, but, it's SPORE! As the saying goes "those who would give up an awsome game for a spyware-less computer deserve neither".
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29@BassCadet

      DICE will never die so long as EA is bankrolling them. It may be absorbed (EA recently bought DICE but is currently keeping them in the same capacity as they were before - their bitch).
    • wotcher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+46It's worse than a hidden catch, or hidden fees. They hook you into something, and then "oh uh sorry we're installing crap on your computer that you definitely don't want."
      This is pretty gross.
    • Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+198Spyware: It's In the Game.
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -1/+60@koweja

      It'd be "Those who sacrifice a clean computer for a good game deserve neither."

      Alternately, "Those who would give up Essential Privacy to purchase a little Temporary Spore, deserve neither Privacy nor Spore."
    • Promantarius, on 10/12/2007, -15/+25"those who would give up an awsome game for a spyware-less computer deserve neither"
      Whoever said that is an idiot, you're buying a game, there's no reason for them to be able to throw advertisements in your face every few seconds based on what you do when you aren't playing the game.
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -3/+46@Promantarius

      Thank you for providing a perfect example of why America's youth is screwed.

      He took one of Benjamin Franklin's greatest quotes and raped it. It then had a child, which was that sentence that you quoted.
    • cplkai, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13What they'll end up doing is when you buy Madden 08 it'll update your player based on your surfing habits for a more "interactive" experience.
    • Molly, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Bah,
      even IF it is true, i give it a week after release before a reg hack is released.
      EA hasn't done one good thign since they cancelled Ultima Online 2....bastards.

    • returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16I'm boycotting the the game because it sucks. The demo was nothing short of terrible. How they could possible take the same idea behind BF2 and make it even less fun is beyond me.
    • tmcc, on 10/12/2007, -12/+7Yep, BF2142 looks like it's going to suck. The demo was a joke, I wouldn't even call that a game.

      Games tend to have a point and be fun, even if the point is that there is no point.

      But BF2142... not so much.
    • aplardi, on 10/12/2007, -10/+8@ aplardi: i had to hit "show comment" to see your remark, just to bury it.

      it was worth it.
    • night141, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I'm probably gonna wait for a torrent of 2142 without the crap-ware, try it for a few days, then see if I'll fork EA some money.
    • brundlefly76, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I would really like to see the actual copy on the paper and not a paraphrase from a shacknews poster.

      this will be an easy boycott as the game, if anything like the demo, blows.
    • lowriderjohn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27heres a pic of the slip of paper:

      http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7315/igavy2.jpg

    • Nobi-Wan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15So does this mean BF 2142 is like $10 or less? I can't see them charging full price for this crap if there are advertisers that help pay for the game, let alone using spyware to help do it.
    • steeel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Boycott EA as a whole not just the game.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3If they're going to monitor me, at least pay me by giving me the game free. Don't sell me adware.
    • agentgonzo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17"BY ACCEPTING THIS BRICK THROUGH YOUR WINDOW, YOU ACCEPT IT AS IS AND AGREE TO MY DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS WELL AS DISCLAIMERS OF ALL LIABILITY, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL, THAT MAY ARISE FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THIS BRICK INTO YOUR BUILDING."

      - bash.org
    • jsaya, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I bought and enjoyed BF1942 and BF2. I *WAS* looking forward to buying BF2142 as the BF series has been the ONLY game I have purchased in the past couple years. But with this BS that EA is pulling I have changed my mind and will not support such vile actions. > STOP THE CRAP EA - AND WE WILL BUY YOUR GAME - A disappointed BF fan
      ONLY way I'll get this game is if it's given to me free - and the ads are for pr0n.
      Hamachi - http://forums.hamachi.cc/viewforum.php?f=6 + RAZOR1911 FTW!
    • museo, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0if you really hate EA (and to be honest you got every reason to be) you could just wait for the game to be cracked.....
    • PYREX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3UN

      FREAKING

      BELIEVABLE

      i could have lived with ads in the game. i would have TOLERATED ads streaming from their server, NO WAY IN BLOODY HELL ill tolerate data mining of my PERSONAL COMPUTER.

      WORST MOVE EVER.

      hope many people get fired over this. if they dont change their policy the consumer backlash is going to be huge. PC gamers are not ignorant.
    • DarthJames, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I would just liek to point out while I agree that the use of hidden spyware that is NOT advertised on the outside of a box which cannot be returned after purchase is extremely terrible. However, after doing a little digging on EA's site, I stumbled across more information:

      The in-game advertisement is respectful of players' privacy: it never accesses files not directly related to the game, and it does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, gameplay behaviour or surfing history. As it is an integrated part of Battlefield 2142 and not a separate program, it only runs when the game is running.

      Because BF2142 delivers ads by region, the IP address of the player is used to determine the region of the player and helps serve ads by region and language; for instance, a player in Paris will be presented with ads in French. Note that this IP address is not stored on the advertisement server and is not repurposed for other uses.

      http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=QprE2Nki&p_faqid=14211

      There is the link if anyone is interested. I'm not impressed either, but so long as it doesn't directly affect my privacy I'm willing to aid companies in research especially if the programs only run while you're in game. I don't browse while gaming anyway. Thought it might interested everyone.
  • EvilFerret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Here's the podcast: http://zdmedia.vo.llnwd.net/o1/Podcasts/CGW/101106.mp3

    They start talking about it about 52 minutes into the cast.
  • Ascendant, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Does anyone have an actual link to the verbage that says this?

    Also, where is this disclosure available for folks who order directly through EA Downloader?
  • Ascendant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+54I just found a forum thread where some folks from DICE are addressing this.

    http://www.totalbf2142.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4460&highlight=spyware

    They say the only thing they are monitoring is whether and how much you look at the in-game ads- not web browsing or anything else.

    Still- seems like a slippery slope to me.
    • technotimber, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4how would they know if you are looking at in-game ads or not?
    • nesdude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Oh, there are ways...

      http://nationalcheeseemporium.org/

      Old, but still a really interesting and freaky read about how they're using the in game ads information that's collected.
    • tocksin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, they will find not many people are watching their ads because not many people will be playing their game at all. We don't like to be spied on.
  • vexter, on 10/12/2007, -10/+63Complete CRAP. I steal EA games as my own little way of "sticking it" to the man. I will and do gladly support those in the game industry with scruples.
    • Reizors, on 10/12/2007, -18/+7lol, yeah if only everyone did that, we could make EA realise their retarded decisions.
    • pilot3033, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24If there are in-game ads, EA doesn't give a *****. They make money from you either way.
    • SPThom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11...Except that if they can take surfing information back to possible ad clients, they can probably make more money on the ad space.
    • ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -25/+15no, i'm pretty sure you just steal EA games because you're too cheap to actually buy them. I'm sure you steal non-EA games as well.
    • Stwo, on 10/12/2007, -14/+6I agree with your sentiment, but you probably steal ALL games, not just EA's.
    • b-dizzle, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3To stick it to the man, I prefer murdering people.
  • isewise, on 10/12/2007, -51/+5Its probably to fight against cheats and mods. It monitors other processes running in the background, Processes = cheats. It is still wrong though, but it could be worst with EA not telling people about the monitoring software
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -0/+35Doubtful. Punkbuster is the only anti-cheat I know of that comes with BF2 and BF2142, and that is an optional component at install.
    • Klowner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18That's what punkbuster does, and punkbuster has been around for years.. This is something different. (nebbermind, Akaji beat me to it)
  • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -1/+73Go EA! They're so great at introducing 'new ideas' to the market. It's too bad they can't think of a 'new idea' that anyone wants.
  • EPhibian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20I am not sure what they mean by in-game ads. I mean, I am pretty sure that the products used in an apocalyptic war in the year 2142 will not be same we use today, so billboards etc would look out of place.

    Anyone who has played the beta willing to expand?
    • Dgen_X, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11when browsing the menu system/server browser little one liners pop up at the bottom of the screen

      not the most effective advertising...but if you accidently click a little too low you'll open the link
    • UrlorJkron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7In the demo after a few games it basically play an advertisment for the game itself. They might use that as well.
    • bfdhud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The demo has default textures. They will be replaced with ads in retail.

      The company that is doing 2142's ads is IGA teh same company that did SWAT 4.
      want to see how that turned out?

      here is the link -> http://www.simhq.com/_land/land_023b.html

      Read the note, all those screenshots were taken from one 3 mission session. Maybe 35 to 45 minutes of play.
  • jsac, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17glad i pirated a cleaned version ;)
    btw... games graphics are nice.. but its all the same as all the same FPS.. just a diff wrapper... not really worth the money imho
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Honestly, it's BF2 v1.0 all over again. Literally. I mean, they basically just reskinned the game, added a few more polygons, and a couple of extra features, and released it as a new game. The aiming is still crap, there are loads of bugs (this is EA after all - always rushing their child companies to get the game out the door without any QA to speak of), etc. It's sad, really.
  • gronkers, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16Any game software that requires you to have an adminstrator access account or reboot the machine is installing spy-malware etc.
    Its that simple.
    This includes ALL software put out by EA and ubisoft.
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -4/+25Wrong.

      Any game that modifies registry entries when run will require local admin, and certain games that may need to patch sys files to run as well. EverQuest 2 is an example of this.

      Also, I dare you to prove that Ubisoft puts spyware in their games. The worst thing that they've ever done, to my knowledge, is to put Starforce in a couple of games (King Kong and one other I believer) - which, when the community cried out for retribution, they immediately released patches that removed the Starforce requirement for those games. I like Ubisoft; they actually care about their customers.
    • Hellman109, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23Ubisoft used to use Starforce but they have dumped it, so their newer titles are fine now.

      Starforce is basically dead now, which is great, its intrusive and annoying and such, PLUS its cracked, so it actually just hurts legitament customers and doesnt stop pirates.
    • cyanid3, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Actually, IMO, Ubisoft is one of the cleanest companies this generation. Guess who's getting my money! :)
  • kalidav, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Hopefully someone will analyse exactly what's included.
  • dvfreelancer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9As competitive as the gaming industry you wonder how ideas like this ever see the light of day. With all the hurdles that went through to get included in a game not one person ever said,"People might think you're spying on them." Which hurts sales. Just the few people here opting for a different game will hurt.

    Those companies spend millions on PR press hits and advertising, then to have this be the big story? Anywhere outside the Bush administration mofo's get fired for moves like that.
  • cyberghost232, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11Can anyone say lawsuit?
    • Specht1988, on 10/12/2007, -2/+27OK... Lawsuit?
    • Akaji, on 10/12/2007, -26/+5For what? Selling you a product that contains something that you didn't think was in there? Okay, I'm going to sue ID Software for putting hell monsters in Doom 3, because I didn't they'd be in there, and I wanted to buy an FPS, not a horror game. (Although that's not true, I was looking forward to the hell monsters for a long time :) )

      And by the way, you should read the Windows EULA some time. Everything on your computer is owned by Microsoft anyways.
    • netdroid9, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The windows ELUA says that? That doesn't sound very enforceable.

      ...On second thoughts, I hope it is. I could patent something, code it and hit Microsoft with a patent infringement lawsuit. Multi-million dollar settlement, here I come!

      But seriously, the real argument here is not that it's giving you something you didn't expect but rather that it's installing malware on your PC. You probably could've pulled off a class action if they hadn't included that piece of paper in the box. Although you might be able to get them for not putting a notice on the outside of the box...
    • Stwo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@ Akaji...
      That's a ridiculous comparison... Hell monsters in Doom 3 and and infringement upon someones' privacy rights have nothing in common. I can smell lawsuit as well... and there is no reason why we should stand for this as consumers. If you don't know about the spyware before you purchase the product, you are being duped. As far as I know, a court would defend your rights as a consumer and your right to privacy.
  • muka3d, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19EA has yet again solidified it's position as the game development company that cares the least about creativity. Such a shame that it is a huge and powerful company that takes over otherwise innovative and creative groups, only to dissolve them.

    This company is about yielding the biggest profit with the smallest investment (of talent or money) possible.
    • thwackitechnica, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11It's all just part of EA's continuing campaign to downsize by eliminating their customers and developers. Previous actions include:
      http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/06/no-more-online-gaming-for-you-says-ea/
      And:
      http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/4/5/3479
      When they're done with this they're gonna outsource the actual development to korea, then translate with google for free, thus lowering headcount and expenses, and giving the CEOs more space to play indoor polo.
    • yoda133113, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1News flash, other game companies are about making the most money also, they just go about it different, making good games. Nothing wrong with trying to make the most money, as long as people continue to buy games from EA, they will continue to make money, and as long as they ride on their series' and bought franchises, then they will continue to sell.
  • po43292, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4must be a way to disable it
    • Ark7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why would there be?
    • foolfromhell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Not provided by EA, a mod maybe.....
    • imotbh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hopefully it just connects to a dedicated ad server / external advertising company that can be blocked in the hosts file.
  • Bitgod, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25As Alex would say, "F EA in the A"

    I'll add them to my boycott list, Sony was getting lonely.
    • Stwo, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Very difficult to boycot Sony.... their products are in everything.
    • MasteRR, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22"I'll add them to my boycott list, Sony was getting lonely."


      Here is mine:

      RIAA
      MPAA
      Sony
      PriceRitePhoto/Barclay's Photo
      BellSouth
      Best Buy
      AOL
      Microsoft
      Intel
      Coke
      SCO
      Apple, iPod and anything iPod related.
      iTunes Music Store
      Naptster Music Store
      Yahoo Music Store
      Walmart Music Store
      Yahoo!
      AT&T/SBC
      Verizon
      Goodmail
      Clear Channel
      Infinity Broadcasting
      Fox
      Any video game that uses StarForce copy protection
      Rhapsody Music Subscription Service/Music Store
      Tiger Direct
      Dell
      Jetsoft/Daemon Tools
      Jiffy Lube
      Amazon Unbox
      HP
      EA

      Granted it is impossible to follow everything, I try my best.
    • firebush, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2MasterR, it looks like some of those boycotts are political. In case you didn't know, Apple gives to Dems, and Microsoft gives more to Republicans. Buy Microsoft and you pay to reelect Republicans. Same thing with Walmart and Home Depot.
    • Grayfox777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2AT&T bought Bellsouth
    • MasteRR, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"AT&T bought Bellsouth"

      Aye. Top of the list is a bit outdated and I have removed Bellsouth yet.
  • m00kie, on 10/12/2007, -17/+5LOL at anyone who thinks that ppl will Boycott EA games.

    Seriously, most gamers have the addiction gene -- and no amount of spying on their online activities is going to prevent them from getting this latest game.

    But you don't need to take my word for it. We'll see what the sales are in a few months from now to see that this has ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT on the purchasing habits of video game junkies.

    o';reilly .
    • JKraut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Seriously!? I got the addict gene, yet I dont buy EA's crap... im actually capable of reading some gamer reviews, and forming an opinion of my own despite the hype. Maybe your refering to adolescent gamers, lil punks that dont know ***** about ***** and spend spend spend!
    • incubusnb, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2normally I would agree, but as a gamer that does keep up with reviews and previews, there are some EA games that I just can't stand to miss out on, NFS Carban and Spore being 2 of them.

      I don't boycott companies, i boycott products, if you only buy the good products and ignore the ***** ones the company should still get the message that the customer only wants good products.

      the exception, of course, is when a company makes nothing but ***** products(ie. AOL)
  • PopcornDave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Not having played an EA game for a lot of years, I don't care all that much, but what is going to stop someone from using an anonymizer client to screw Wit EA over this? Is the amount of information sent going to be so volumous that it would cripple said client?
    • incubusnb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3write a program that requests the ad information billions of times per second, bring the EA servers to their knees!!!!!!11oneone
  • mwace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Um, does anybody know if the spyware was included in the Demo? =S
    • SPARTACVS, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I don't think so, but I still uninstalled it when I saw this headline.
  • Halodude1489, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Last game I bought from Ea was Command and Conqure Generals, they released it and dumped it completly. NO support for it and multiplayer ? good luck. Patch servers are up less then 10% of the time you want to patch and even if you do manage to patch, connecting to a server is still a bitch.
  • Dustyb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Glad I didn't preorder this bull.
  • sgu222e, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yeah, I won't be buying this now... I gave up Planetside when SOE® decided to place ads in game...
  • LAX182, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Well its affected my decision... After the crapfest that BF2 turned out to be I didn't really need any more reasons not to buy 2142. I miss the 1942 days.
  • Jaymoon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11After playing the game for 10mins, I can tell you that I will not be buying this game.

    ...and it's not because of the spyware.
  • kamilmarkowicz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17So FIRST no Widescreen support, no Vista support and now SpyWare? Thanks EA, you just reassured me that my decision to boycott your software was 100% RIGHT!
  • Nuhaus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Does this run only when the game is running or is it on the computer permanently? If it is running permanently wouldn't it be a simple matter to delete the process?

    On another note, again only if this is confirmed (cuz I'm having a little trouble believing EA could be this stupid.). WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING!?
  • datakillx99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Ugh EA/DICE have completely gone downhill. First bad patches with BF2 (let alone the immaturity of the players) and now this? I played the BF2142 demo. Honestly, not impressed. Just a futuristic BF2, no major changes. Deffinately not a title I'll be purchasing.
  • cterryr2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I miss the 1942 days too! Ads are fine w/me but adspy ware takes it beyond the line. I really don't understand why they think that looking into a computer which is not yours is acceptable behavior in ANY fashion? Biggest problem, all the uninformed who buy the game who will first learn about this from a note inserted in the game case! This stinks bad. Shame on them! I will not buy 2142 with that condition.

  • wmcheesemaster, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1so, umm, how about some actual proof of this? All i see is some random forum post.
    what the hell people
  • radiofrequency, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Is this crap in the demo? Boycott is right. Damn shame as Battlefield2 is what I'm playing most of right now.
  • xenovis, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1This better be a joke
    • EASUCKIT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0COST TO PREORDER BF2142 $10.00

      STRADIGY GUIDE FOR NEW BF2142 $16.00

      MONEY PAID AT REGISTER FOR THE NEW
      BF2142 ON RELEASE DAY. $40.00

      GETTING MY REFUND THE MOMENT AFTER
      THE GUY BEHIND THE COUNTER TELLS ME
      THAT THERE WAS SPYWARE TO DOWNLOAD
      IN ORDER TO PLAY THE NEW BF2142. $PRICELESS

      ***** EA, ***** BIG BROTHER, ***** BIG GOVERMENT, ***** BIG BUSINESS, AND ***** EVERY ONE ELSE THAT STANDS BY AND LETS THERE LIVES BE MUNIPULATED AND MINIMIZED BY SAID *****!!!

      YOUNG AND OLD TAKE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT GOING TO STOP UNTIL WE MAKE IT STOP. USE YOUR VOICE FOR WHAT IT WAS MADE FOR. “SPEAKING UP AND SPEAKING OUT” AGAINST THE THIS TYPE OF BULL *****. USE YOU FINGERS, MIND, AND BODY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

      PS

      THE GUY BEHIND THE COUNTER ALSO SAID HELL NO TO BUYING BF2142 AFTER HEARING ABOUT THIS CRAP.
  • Chromain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I've requested a refund on my preload order, based off this post-purchase shadeyware notification and the news that preloaders are getting the shaft (24 hours after the rest of the world when we've had it sitting on our computer for a week).

    If they see it fit to refund me, i'll walk away from this (silently) spiteful, and try to remind myself to stay away from EA stuff.

    If, however, they refuse to refund me (which is what will most likely happen), I'll gladly be starting a consumer awareness campaign aimed at EA's shadier practices. No libel, just straight up facts to help people determine whether they really want to support EA.

    If anyone is interested, just make a note of it in a reply below, and I'll try to remind to drop you a note about the outcome.
  • fcra, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0The bigger a corporation gets, the less it cares about what made it big in the first place. This is the same parent company that bought out the NFLPA license so it could churn out the same crappy Madden game every year without fear of competition. Everybody buys Madden because they need a football game, just like everyone's going to buy BF2142 because they need an online shooter. Accept it and move on.
    • JKraut, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Hello Counter Strike Source... Jeez... are you blind? Is that not an online shooter to easily rival any crap EA spews out?
    • BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8@JKraut
      BF2 series and CSS are TOTALY different shooters. And there is a rival to BF2142, it’s called Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, it’s a similar game to BF2142 that takes place in the future. And judging by the ***** EA is pulling it looks like I am going to get QW:ET over BF2142.
    • fcra, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Fine, EA is going to lose your money. But please tell me you don't actually believe that any sizeable percentage of BF2142's potential consumer base is so discerning as to wait another six months for a better game. Next year 90% of the people buying Quake Wars will have already bought BF2142 because they needed a game, any game, six months ago. The wheels keep turning, and EA will make millions on BF1862 next.
    • BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@fcra
      You obiously don't understand the fact that people absoulutly hate EA and I think its worth it to wait for QW:ET for 1)a less buggy game, 2)to not have ingame ads+spyware thrown at you and 3)to not continue the let EA rape me. Hopefully people know to get good games and not buy it just because its there. If they don't, well meh im still not going to buy it.
  • xenovis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Someone could easily write a client to allow other applications access to EA's ad data and use it for its own advertisement/trend mining. The second a piece of spyware/adware does it expect this to blow up in EA's face even more.
  • Jolene, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15While I hate this, I have to say the biggest complaint I have about it, is that you have to open the game to get to the piece of paper that tells you this. So therefore, you can no longer return it for your money because you opened it...
    • fcra, on 10/12/2007, -9/+0Where do you buy your games? I can't think of one store with such a harsh return policy.
    • Jolene, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5EB games, Gamestop, Target, WalMart, Fred Myers. All these places have a return policy on "electronics" (which includes all console games and PC games. As well as CDs.) which states that if the product has been opened, it can only be returned within 30 days (approx, may vary from store to store and location) and may only be returned if it is defective and only for a copy of the same game.

      I have been able to get store credit all of two times, but still. I rather just get my money back.
    • BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"may only be returned if it is defective"
      A buggy POS game with ad-ware isn't considered defective?
  • Bob042, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Does EA ever not pull a stunt like this? My perfectly legal hard copy of Sim City 4 won't play until I illegally crack it, because EA has some stupid copy protection that doesn't get along with my CD drive.
  • BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+24I suggest you all contact EA and tell them your disgust for what they are doing and how you will be getting Enemy Territory: Quake Wars instead. I don’t care if it’s a little bit of spying on what game ads you view; it’s simply not cool and will not be tolerated but consumers.
    I dug around the EA site for the privacy policy contact info; everyone should tell them how you think about there "Privacy Policy"

    Postal Address
    Electronic Arts Inc.
    Privacy Policy Administrator
    209 Redwood Shores Parkway
    Redwood City, CA 94065

    United States Email Address privacy_policy@ea.com
    Phone Number 650-628-1393
    Fax Number 650-628-1422
  • bdmbdm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Great, I don't want spyware on my computer even when it's free. Tell me why the ***** I'd want to pay for it?
  • dustyshadow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10EA = Exploitation Arts

    Not only do we exploit our own employees, we also do it to our customers!!
  • mirunit, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Is this true spyware or just the punkbuster?
    • Ark7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6True spyware. It has nothing to do with punkbuster. It's software that lets add companies (and anyone who can find a way to exploit it) to look through your computer without your consent, for starters.
  • Asianwaste, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Although 2142's demo sucked balls, I don't want to pass any judgement before I see all angles on this issue. They could be referring to punk buster, EA downloader, or gamespy arcade..... course maybe not. This could just be corporate ***** trying to get a few extra bucks at our expense.
    • Ark7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"They could be referring to punk buster, EA downloader, or gamespy arcade"

      How does any of that sound like it has anything to do with this:

      "Battlefield 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers."

      This spyware allows third-party companies access your computer without your consent or any authority or legal basis to do so.
  • MrESaulved, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If these coke-addled marketers think that the tech-savvy gamers are going to let them get our precious eyeball time, after we have blocked and removed as many banner and pop-up ads as we possibly can while web-browsing, they are seriously underestimating the power of a man to say, "Leave me the F! alone, thank you very much."

    I play video games, in part, to avoid the advertisement frenzy that has become the urban landscape. Ads before movies, ads on the subway, ads that glow, ads that fall out of my magazines, ads that come in my mail, ads during TV shows, ads during video games would make me feel very stabby.

  • gummialien, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1well this blows... anyone know if its possible to return a preorder box to best buy?
  • dupswapdrop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3EA is still around I thought they died after screwing everyone in the 80's with their high priced 8bit games with so much protection that you could only play their games if you cracked them. I use to use their 51/4" disks to adjust the heads on drives, because if it could read a EA game it would work for any disk.
  • JKraut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1www.buy2142.com
    Is that some kind of sick joke?
    • JKraut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If anyone was wondering why there is no BF in the url its for your own good, I could leed innocents to an BF site, I just refused to.
  • salivalnz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ummmm...firewall the traffic/sites/IPs/programs so they can't send/receive the data?
    • Terr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That would be interesting to know. What happens if the data can't get to the other side. Will the game prevent you from playing online (perhaps after a while, because they were smart enough to calculate in the risk of the ad-server going down) or wouldn't it care at all?


  • dirtyhipster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hope they have a version with macs and the spyware works ^^
  • Jodiuh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This is *****.
  • Asianwaste, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I don't mind if EA wants to sell downloadable content or if they want to generate ad revenue while I try to enjoy a game I paid money for, but the peekig inside my computer is going a little too overboard. Someone really should make an official boycott, Make it expand past BF2142. I don't know threaten to boycott their next big title Spore if this ***** isn't cancelled. Hell make it every EA title for that matter. There can even be a call for a massive shut down on BF2 servers and have players idle their accounts.
    We need to squash this thing to make it plain and clear that this ***** won't stand. Otherwise we'll be seeing this in just about every game in the future. Last thing I want is Spybot trying to erase my games.
    • JKraut, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I just dont think alot of people give a ***** about this. IE they are ignorrant... Boycott only works if you can reach enough people, pity the people you want to reach are to busy playing the stupid game to begin with to know about a boycott let alone participate in it.
  • Stan57, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I have a question, All the servers are privately owned or rented. How do the renters of the servers feel getting screwed out of advertising money, or being forced to make money for EA at there cost. Just doesnt seam write,and maybe the server owners,renters have some kind of recourse here.
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