EA Wants to Get Rid of Fair Matchmaking to Focus on Player Spending & Engagement with Psycological Manipulation

[mr moose]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

Didn't Activision already patent this?  So are they going to license it to EA, or are they going to sue them?

Now that I'd like to see,  one game company proving to the court their in game match making algorithm is an important part of their revenue.  It'd be like admitting the black jack table is rigged. 

[Paranoid Kami]

It was already pretty bad with not getting all weapons/attachments available in Battlefield and now it's going to get worse. I've already experienced unfair matchmaking in Guild Wars 2 and have learnt to hate it. Because it's terrible. If EA is going this route I'll just go play other games.

[Arika]

And no one is surprised

[suicidalfranco]

more reason to not bother with any of their games. I'm going to stay on Dirty Bomb for my fps deathmatch fix, it may be free to play but at least it's doesn't try to fleece me every minute of the game and when i die it's simply because i didn't gitgud yet and there is not enough Bolshevik in my gene pool  

[Drak3]

20 minutes ago, Sierra Fox said:

And no one is surprised

I'm surprised

 

 

Spoiler

That it took this long.

 

[Guest]

You could shorten this article to,  "EA wants to get rid of players".

[Arika]

7 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

I'm surprised

 

 

  Hide contents

That it took this long.

 

Good joke. I like

[AlTech]

4 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Didn't Activision already patent this?  So are they going to license it to EA, or are they going to sue them?

Nope. Activision patented different stuff.

 

One of the patents outlines how EA could manipulate your chances of winning a match based off of how likely you are to quit playing the game in the play session.

 

And the other relates to adjusting difficulty to increase player engagement (e.g. amp up the difficulty if you're finding it too easy or vice versa)

[Delicieuxz]

When a company decidedly biased their game so that it is no longer fair and equal, then there should some regulation that forces the company to declare to the player that the game is working against them. I would think it is false advertising to market a game as simply a straight player-based competitive game, when the actual back-end of the game is working to disadvantage select players for the sake of getting them to want to spend more money.

 

And predatory practices, which is what this algorithm represents, are typically outlawed to begin with.

[Jito463]

4 hours ago, Sierra Fox said:

And no one is surprised

The only thing that surprises me is that EA and Actizard bothered to patent them.  It's like declaring to the world that you're greedy and willing to do whatever it takes to get your customer's money.  The smart play is to be subtle about it, not to announce your intentions.  This is as subtle as a Mack truck in a china shop.

[Misanthrope]

Damn EA what's next, Carl Jung on the fucking payroll to get more cash out of people?

 

"Yeah fuck developing fun games let's just exploit deep seeded fucking traumas to get em to keep fucking playing"

[GDRRiley]

On 1/8/2018 at 8:16 PM, dizmo said:

EA isn't a bad company to work for if you make it into management. 

or if you have nothing to do with the games and work in network security. 

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Damn EA what's next, Carl Jung on the fucking payroll to get more cash out of people?

 

"Yeah fuck developing fun games let's just exploit deep seeded fucking traumas to get em to keep fucking playing"

I'm thinking Darth Vader in a corset and garters... and he whips players... I can't unthink that image. 

[Energycore]

19 hours ago, Cheezdoodlez said:

How gullible do EA think people are?

I think people are gullible enough outside of hardcore people who look at news. I think most players won't know that this is in effect, or might only find out if it turns out on the biggest news outlets / in mainstream media.

 

And honestly I'd rather this news did show up in mainstream media. Let's see how EA and Activision like the "games are designed to manipulate your kid into spending your money" stigma.

[Farden]

So it seems a youtuber called YongYea has discovered some published EA papers documenting research into the manipulation of online matchmaking and "dynamic difficulty adjustment".

 

The short of it is that they are basing their online PVP interactions around the concept of boosting engagement (and presumably, loot box sales) over any perceived notion of maximum fun. A pretty sad state of affairs for what is still a 'game'. These papers were released back in April 2017 and they suggest that these practices have already been tested and/or implemented in a few games which have been released since that date. They were likely tested on some of EA's sports titles such as Fifa and there is evidence to suggest these principles will find their way into some upcoming titles such an Anthem and a yet unnamed Star Wars title.

 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/01/ea-has-tested-online-matchmaking-algorithms-to-favor-engagement-not-fairness/

 

 

[Xander Cousins]

Eh if it's the likes of those sports game I don't really care  

 

TBH EA's sport titles have always been based on their micro-transactions n boxes anyway so I don't exactly see it being anything new. Even if it was added to their FPS series like Battlefront n Battlefield I don't see them fitting in unless it was added to the SW Battlefront 2 as it would fit it in the way the micro-trans n boxes are done on that game.

[Farden]

1 minute ago, Alex Colson said:

Eh if it's the likes of those sports game I don't really care  

 

TBH EA's sport titles have always been based on their micro-transactions n boxes anyway so I don't exactly see it being anything new. Even if it was added to their FPS series like Battlefront n Battlefield I don't see them fitting in unless it was added to the SW Battlefront 2 as it would fit it in the way the micro-trans n boxes are done on that game.

The article suggests that it seems likely that EA will apply similar methodology to upcoming games such as Anthem (which is already guaranteed to be a lootbox riddled mess) and an unnamed Star Wars title.

 

You are right though, this isn't exactly surprising, it just compounds the already well established reputation for EA's modus operandi of maximum profit at the expense of fun and/or fairness, which is a shame considering the IP's they ruin hold

[Xander Cousins]

If people use this to be negative towards Anthem sorry get ya head out your A**. Any open world game is gonna have some aspect of Micro-transactions, it being getting some materials or cosmetics then ya. Secondly Anthem was made by Bioware so I actually have high hopes that they kept EA's hand out of the cookie jar, So I'm still gonna buy that game more for Bioware than EA.

 

So F all the haters  

[Farden]

Hey now, I never said I wouldn't get Anthem - actually the concept is super interesting. That being said, Bioware aren't known for their stellar multiplayer game releases and I can think of quite a few games by them which involve loot boxes of dubious value...

[Xander Cousins]

1 minute ago, Farden said:

Hey now, I never said I wouldn't get Anthem - actually the concept is super interesting. That being said, Bioware aren't known for their stellar multiplayer game releases and I can think of quite a few games by them which involve loot boxes of dubious value...

But yeah got to remember Bioware are kinda in their element when it comes to open worlds (Mass effect) So I don't doubt they will do well on the exploration of stuff and the story line (If their is one). And Hey now I never pointed you out for not saying your gonna buy it. Just seen a lot of EA hate comments Shouting . "DON'T GIVE INTO EA's GREED DO NOT BUY THIS GAME"

 

which saddens me because I don't want to see Anthem be for nothing even though it sacrificed ME Andromeda to make it happen

[Farden]

4 minutes ago, Alex Colson said:

which saddens me because I don't want to see Anthem be for nothing even though it sacrificed ME Andromeda to make it happen

This is a good point. I just wish Bioware could shake free from the EA overlords =(

[Xander Cousins]

1 minute ago, Farden said:

This is a good point. I just wish Bioware could shake free from the EA overlords =(

I'm use to these companys being like this, Activision is just as bad in their own way. So to me everyone making all this drama kinda pisses me off. Yes it is a BIG mistake that EA done but come on give them benefit of the doubt atleast. Activision as Black Ops III and now WWII which are two games heavy on the loot crate system along with them breaking MW Remastered by adding it to that. 

 

EA was kinda just following the scheme of things and got bit in the ass for doing so.

 

Ubiso--- sorry OoopsieSoft get haggled for their server maintenance yet they have moved passed it and have Revived Dying titles. RAINBOW SIX Siege got revived and is a high climbing games 3 years after release. Same with The Division, that game don horrible at start and has been brought back round may not be Best ever but it is playable and fun now.

 

My point is from my view all the people complaining and now nit picking at EA are looking for something to bring them down more when they have made One BIG mistake (That I know of)  

[AlTech]

Just now, Farden said:

So it seems a youtuber called YongYea has discovered some published EA papers documenting research into the manipulation of online matchmaking and "dynamic difficulty adjustment".

 

The short of it is that they are basing their online PVP interactions around the concept of boosting engagement (and presumably, loot box sales) over any perceived notion of maximum fun. A pretty sad state of affairs for what is still a 'game'. These papers were released back in April 2017 and they suggest that these practices have already been tested and/or implemented in a few games which have been released since that date. They were likely tested on some of EA's sports titles such as Fifa and there is evidence to suggest these principles will find their way into some upcoming titles such an Anthem and a yet unnamed Star Wars title.

 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/01/ea-has-tested-online-matchmaking-algorithms-to-favor-engagement-not-fairness/

 

 

repost

 

 

[Farden]

Goddamnit I searched and everything

[WkdPaul]

7 minutes ago, Farden said:

Goddamnit I searched and everything

No worries, it happens.

 

I merged your thread with the original.