EA Online Service Updates

EA: "Our licensing deal with Middle-earth Enterprises has expired, forcing us to shutdown the online services for The Lord of the Rings™ games. We hope you have enjoyed playing these games online and appreciate your patronage. There's still time for one last epic tower rush!..."

[wescan40]

I think that it's a shame that EA is Shutting down it's online servers for so many games, I think that they should make it a point to inform potential buyers of their software that they only intend to allow you to enjoy the online portion of their games for 2 years then you'll have to pay to buy a newer game in order to continue to play their games. So in effect it's the same thing as the on line pass. If you don't purchase a new game and get a new code then they'll discontinue access to the online purchase of older games, in order to force you to pay for more games to enjoy online.

[BattleAxe]

Talk about piss poor support....

[Substance101]

Yep EA support sucks, Most of their games are terrible anyways.

Ill think twice before picking up a EA game.

[wescan40]

I don't mean to bash EA, I'm just saying that If I buy a game that has multi-player I want to play it for more than a year or two. I still to this day enjoy playing NFL 2k5 and wish like heck that it still had an online component available. but for me it still is a darn good game even though it's from 2005.

[Inside_out]

EA exec's should be in jail...
What an evil and disgusting company EA is...talk about low. Trying to hide behind percentages, the list of 2009/2010 games is huge. If you paid up to $80.00 for these games plus dlc you can't be happy. I hope some one takes them to court over this. If you sell a game and say there is multi-player and sell dlc then one can assumed the game is going to be around for a reasonable length of time...by industry standards...1-2 years is not reasonable. Take a look at this list...

EA announces massive list of online shutdownsJanuary 5th, 2011 @ 11:26
By Johnny Cullen

EA’s announced a massive list of games that it’ll shut down this year, beginning next week with Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II.

The rest of the list is EA Sports-related, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, FIFA 09, NHL 09, NBA Live 09 and Euro 2008 some of the titles up for the chop.
“These decisions to retire games is never easy,” said EA on its website.
“The development teams and operational staff pour their hearts into these games almost as much as the customers playing them and it is hard to see one retired. We hope you have gotten many hours of enjoyment out of the games and we appreciate your ongoing patronage.”
The full list of games and the dates they’re shutting down is below via the EA website.
Mar 1, 2011 Online Service ShutdownTiger Woods PGA TOUR® 09 for Wii
Feb 8, 2011 Online Service ShutdownFIFA 07 for Xbox 360
FIFA 08 for PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
FIFA 09 for PC, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
FIFA 09 Ultimate Team for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
FIFA Street 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
EA SPORTS™ FIFA Manager 10 for PC
EA SPORTS™ Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Madden 09 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
Madden 10 for PlayStation Portable (all regions), PlayStation 2 and Wii
NBA LIVE 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NBA LIVE 09 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii
NCAA® Basketball 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA® Basketball 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA® Football 07 for Xbox 360
NCAA® Football 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA® Football 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NCAA® Football 10 for PlayStation 2
NFL Head Coach 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL® 08 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
NHL® 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 09 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
UEFA EURO 2008™ for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
2010 FIFA World Cup™ for PlayStation Portable and Wii
2010 FIFA World Cup™ Demo for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
Jan 17, 2011 Online Service ShutdownThe Sims Carnival
Jan 11, 2011 Online Service ShutdownThe Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II for Xbox 360
The Lord of the Rings™, The Battle for Middle-earth™ II, The Rise of the Witch-king™ for Xbox 360

[Bnet343]

One good thing about not having dedicated servers, your online gameplay last forever. I know original Xbox Live was shut down, but all the games were playable for the entire generation.

[gamerz]

Yeah, when it comes to making a buck or screwing the gamers, EA takes the buck every time.

1. They are the first to offer DLC giving online players an advantage over those that don't purchase the DLC.

2. They are the first to add a $10 online pass to their games.

3. They are one of the first to shut down online servers after 2 years or less. Particularly offensive if you're paying for Xbox Live.

4. They buy licensing agreements which prevent other companies (2K Sports) from making competitive games instead of improving their own games and competing on merit.

5. They sell your information and now even their demos collect online info on you.

6. After four years the vast majority of their games are still only at 720p resolution. Come on ya cheap bastards, we want 1080p!

Yes, they publish some great games but they are one of the worst companies from a consumer standpoint, IMHO.

[Megaton]

Hello? "As of April 6 2010". It's 2011, bud. You're a year late with this.

Here are the server shutdowns I think you're trying to report on: http://www.ea.com/2/service...

[spunnups]

This is crap. Sony has supported Warhawk, with dedicated servers, since 2007. People S on Sony sometimes, but they treat their loyal customers better than anyone.

[Rush]

X random clan servers have supported Counter Strike since 2000 without taking a penny from people I don't see what's so great about Sony supporting a server not even 5 years old.

[BattleAxe]

People still play Socom 2 which came out in 2003, so why are you trying to counter his point for absolutely no reason?

[-X-]

OMG!!! SOCOM 2!!!
Off topic I know but I had to let that go since SOCOM 2 was the first console online game I played. SO much fun!!!! I remember when the PS3 clock messed up the first thing I did was go and play SOCOM 2 online.

K so back on topic. From all the online games I played EA servers suck. Hopefully they might improve on the servers that aren't going to be shutdown.

Maybe im hoping for too much :/

Oh and I found this article pretty funny. The title makes it sound like EA is doing something good with the servers. You click the link and BAM!! shutdowns.

[Silly gameAr]

nvr.

[The_KELRaTH]

Epic are another that support their online games properly - still plenty of active players for the original Unreal Tournament 1998.

[BrutallyBlunt]

@ spunnups
Warhawk is still very popular. Sony is also not immune to shutting down servers.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

http://www.wired.com/gameli...

http://www.geek.com/article...

http://www.gamertell.com/ga...

Microsoft also shut down the original Live support for games like Halo 2 and Steel Battalion was also shut down.

[Balt]

Disposable games. Online gaming is here and now -- There is no nostalgia to be had and they will never age beyond their years of prime time deliverance. I hate online gaming for this reason. It's also ruining the single player experience and or potential to a bigger margin than you might think.

Why pour 40% of your resources into an online deathmatch when you know the servers will be shutdown in 2 years? Seems kind of pointless. And this is also why games made today are forgettable and forgotten so easily. There is nothing made today that will ever amount to a Pacman, Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Metroid and so forth and so on. Classic, nostalgic gaming died a long, long time ago.

[Arup02]

Uncharted has online multiplayer and it not ruined the SP, just sayin.

[DarkFantasy]

Demon's Souls.

[AKissFromDaddy]

They gotta do what they gotta do.

[slugboss]

Shutting down servers that even have just 20 people playing on it is wrong, it only cost EA a few pennies to keep going. I'm sure the group was good for it.... Although, Microsoft takes the cake by shutting down Xbox Live originals peer to peer gaming, I can never pay for gold after that tremendous fail...

[xDaRkModEx]

You know how companies are, every few penny they can save they take.

[WhiteNoise]

#1 reason why there should always be a local MP alternative. Online only MP is turns games into rentals instead of keepers.

[helrazor343]

I completely agree, and while that isn't much coming from me considering I'm not the biggest online gamer (I dabble from time to time), I think it sucks that these companies market their consoles, "look we can support multiple controllers, blah blah blah" (isn't the PS3 able to support like up to 6 or something?), but then local multiplayer is nerfed in lieu of online gaming. I much rather have my friends (when they're around) in person to socialize with, while we game. Not to mention, I have a family of four (I don't mind sharing the tv screen real estate), I do mind that there is less and less choices of good games to play with those around me.

[WhiteNoise]

@helrazor343

I'm not much of an online gamer either, I still play Unreal Tournament vs bots on a weekly basis though.

Games like that have 30 maps and all sorts of bot game modes including LAN plan...only only games tend to have much less maps ( Hint: DLC milking imminent ) and so people are 100% reliant on buying map packs to be able to keep playing, if there was more maps and an offline component people would get more value for money.

Crysis 2, Dead Space 2 etc etc, more upcoming games with wasted MP potential by having it as offline only.

I'm just glad Brink will have 100% offline mode bot matches with all the same unlocks as the online mode. Games like that last for years. You should check it out when it drops so you can play with your family etc

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[WhiteNoise]

^^^ jesus christ I must have been smoking crack.

"only only games tend to have much less maps"

= Online only games...

"more upcoming games with wasted MP potential by having it as offline only.
"

= as online only

[Dlacy13g]

This is my real gripe with EA. They do this regularly with their sports games. It's one reason why I like peer to peer multiplayer games.

[RonaldRaygun]

I find it ironic that EA is one of the developers most against the used games market. Then they render their games unplayable online after a few years. All that does it make me want to rent their games or sell them once I'm done with them. I don't want to hold onto a game that I can't go back and play later.

[SilverSlug]

So will EA just give out those Merc 2 online trophies? They are pretty easy,just never got around to just doing them.

[wescan40]

These developers need to let some of these franchises rest a year or two before throwing the next years addition at us that barely has any improvements over the previous games. Also, look at all the games that EA has shut down the servers for. It's a shame. They either need to Re-engineer the servers to accommodate larger amounts of players for longer time periods (meaning years) and hire more people to manage those servers, it's not like they do not make enough money. (Hey...that's our money!!!The very same money that they made from us when we bought their games they don't want to spend to support those games that we bought from them for not much longer than it takes for them to make a new game..ahh..err..slightly newer game!!!!) Better still, they could build dedicated servers for the smaller amounts of people who are still playing those older games and hire people to manage just those servers serving older games. At least Ea should inform potential buyers that buying their software only allows you x amount of play time online, then they'll make you buy a new game.The nerve of them.

[wescan40]

Yeh, they totally took out the multiple video out put from the PS3 to keep the price down, but it would have been nice to have that feature right about now. Also, it would be nice if you could have a LAN with the PS3, I have a link cable for the PS2 and when ever I get the chance I link up and play multi-player on separate screens. Pretty nice.Wish PS3 had that.

[Dark_Overlord]

Certain games do support LAN, all you need is a router and you're good to go. Surprisingly, as much as I dislike CODBO, it supports this feature

[LMS]

hell on pc, you can still play wolfenstien online

Sometimes though, from a business aspect, you gotta move on, especially the xbox360 version of battle for middle earth 2, that game was sooo bad, it ran at like 8 frames per second anytime more that ten units were on screen, on pc it looked and ran great but was terribly shallow compared to something like Starcraft 2, all you needed to do was spam archers and upgrade em.

[Dlacy13g]

LMS...I agree with you that sometimes you have to move on. However, whats basically happened with EA is that they have created their own internal network of servers and force all games to run on these servers. For games like NHL 11 or Madden 10...even Battlefield where you have a more "persistent" world for mulitplayer stuff it makes sense but it also forces you on to their servers no matter what. I am not even sure people can do private matches outside of their servers... So basically if they kill the servers for your game....outside of the single player game its toast.

[LMS]

I agree with you, with a game as recent as a 2010 sports game, that is highly offensive, it sort of forces your hand into "upgrading" to the next iteration, while something like BFME2 I can see, though i did love that title:(