EA's extreme T&C's

[Wildeybeast]

So here's one to get the internet up in arms. EA are currently running a beta for the new SimCity game. Buried away in their T&C's is clause 6.2 (http://www.sidequesting.com/2013/01/ea-reserves-the-right-to-ban-simcity-testers-from-all-ea-products-for-not-reporting-bugs/). In summary, if you discover a bug in the beta or if you have knowledge of a bug and fail to report it to them, they can ban you for life from all EA products. :eek: I'm reliably informed if you have linked your PSN or 360 gamertag to your EA account it will also include any games on those formats and not just PC. I get that they want people to treat this as a beta rather than a demo, but this seems a bit extreme. It also strikes me as rather pointless. It's a threat designed to scare users into reporting stuff, but given most people don't read T&C's, it seems a pretty pointless threat. I would also like to know how they will actually find out that you didn't report a bug and I'd be doubtful as to whether they would actually follow through with this threat even if they did find out.

[Wolfshade]

The question also is how do you know if it is a bug or an intended consequence.

[Wildeybeast]

A good point. Some like glitches will be obvious but others may just be unusual things happening like suddenly getting a ton of money.

[Psychosplodge]

Doesn't surprise me, the client btw is also apparently spyware..

[Wolfshade]

You might have a bizare thing like two buildings that give bonuses next to each other but the bonusus stack instead of being a max take precedence thing

[Godless Zealot]

Very odd, like Wildey said barely no-one (unlike him I guess:p) reads these things and exactly how are they going to enforce this?

[Psychosplodge]

Easy there's probably a crash reporter similar to the windows one, and Origin would know if it's crashed, and if you sent the report.
Probably quite easy if you're a SW engineer...

[Wildeybeast]

I only know because a friend who works in the industry keeps an eye on these sort of things and told me about it. Otherwise I would have been none the wiser (I didn't even know there was beta).

[Godless Zealot]

Easy there's probably a crash reporter similar to the windows one, and Origin would know if it's crashed, and if you sent the report.
Probably quite easy if you're a SW engineer...

Surely not all bugs and glitches result in a crash though? Sometimes it just results in bizarre gameplay scenarios?

[Wildeybeast]

Easy there's probably a crash reporter similar to the windows one, and Origin would know if it's crashed, and if you sent the report.
Probably quite easy if you're a SW engineer...

My industry friend says they will have probably have an automatic detection system running for simple bugs (glitches, crashes, game faults like starting with a trillion dollars etc.). What they need/want you to report are bugs that only occur when you do a certain combination of things to trigger them as auto scanners won't recognise these. But given the auto scanners won't pick these up, how will they know if you haven't reported them? Just seems all round dumb, but apparently EA have previously banned people from all their problems for swearing of EA forums so don't be surprised if they do follow through with this.

[Wolfshade]

How do you report unknown unknowns?

Though if you have ever worked for a certain defense contractor you will see they are usually reported at 100% progress, untill they are known unknowns or unknown knowns...

[Psychosplodge]

My industry friend says they will have probably have an automatic detection system running for simple bugs (glitches, crashes, game faults like starting with a trillion dollars etc.). What they need/want you to report are bugs that only occur when you do a certain combination of things to trigger them as auto scanners won't recognise these. But given the auto scanners won't pick these up, how will they know if you haven't reported them? Just seems all round dumb, but apparently EA have previously banned people from all their problems for swearing of EA forums so don't be surprised if they do follow through with this.

What's worse is EA have banned people for been quoted in someone elses post that contained swearing, that's what cause all the uproar iirc.

[Wolfshade]

“The clause in the EA Beta Agreement for the SimCity beta was intended to prohibit players from using known exploits to their advantage. However, the language as included is too broad. EA has never taken away access to a player’s games for failing to report a bug. We are now updating the Beta Agreement to remove this point.”

So there we have it. Though who knows what the new EULA will look like