EA gives away free games!

[alanschu]

It wasn't just the distribution of the codes. Sure that might have been a problem, but the much bigger issue was that it wasn't limited in any way. The fact that it applied to everything in your cart, rather than a single item was the real issue.

 

HAHA. Well, that just made it more efficient for people. That's certainly a huge technical issue and I didn't realize that was the case. To go back to the coupon, no "limit one per customer"

[Volourn]

"I'm not totally sure it's legal (in some countries at least) for them to take the games back. It may be considered a breach of contract : the contract being selling a game at an explicite proposed price (even 0 is a price)."

 

iI dunno. I don't think you can have an actual legally binding contract if both parties aren't getting something tangible out of it. Plus for those who didn';t qualify for the offer had no right to accept an offer that wasn't meant for them. That's akin to fraud like taking someone's lottery ticket or better yet some sort of free raffle for whatever. But, who knows.

 

Legal or not, it's definitely immoral.

[AGX-17]

Addressing the OP subject, yes, piracy is a crime, it is codified in US copyright law. It doesn't matter what 4chan told you ("video games grow on trees, developers are rich bourgeoisie pigs living in mansions made of gilded diamond encrusted, gilded ivory-inlaid gold," etc.) You are not a morally superior rebel fighting "the man" when you pirate a game, you're just maximizing your economic opportunities by acquiring for no cost what you would otherwise have to spend money on.

 

 

I've always held disdain for coupon whores no matter the product. Usually the "honest" consumer suffers in some way because of it.

 

Yes, god forbid anyone maximize the efficiency of their spending power in capitalist society. If not for those coupons, that 20% would have gone to poor orphans in Djibouti, no doubt.

 

SARCASM ASIDE, have you ever taken a basic economics class? Economy of volume. It's sales that drive most retail, retail is consumption, consumption is the capitalist economy. Do you have any evidentiary basis for the belief that "honest consumers," are being harmed, or are you just one of those people who has "opinions"? If you "honest consumers" are "honest" and coupon users are "cheaters," why do the manufacturers or retailers of any goods have sales or give out coupons?

 

Penny-pinchers and coupon hoarders have not harmed you in any way, save for the loss of time standing in line.

Edited October 19, 2012 by AGX-17

[NOK222]

It's more akin to printing off some coupons for a specific group of people, and someone going off and photocopying them all and distributing them of their own volition, which results in the promotion being canceled and really the only people that are actually disadvantaged are those that the promotion is intended for no longer receiving said perk.

 

And the person who did it was said an employee in this hypothetical situation, not the consumer.

[alanschu]

It's more akin to printing off some coupons for a specific group of people, and someone going off and photocopying them all and distributing them of their own volition, which results in the promotion being canceled and really the only people that are actually disadvantaged are those that the promotion is intended for no longer receiving said perk.

 

And the person who did it was said an employee in this hypothetical situation, not the consumer.

 

Actually, that's not true. Unless you're alleging that it was an EA person that went and posted it on Reddit and so forth. The closest analogy is going to be "Someone obtained access through legitimate means, and decided to distribute said access to other people that weren't technically qualified for said offer."

 

So, unless the person that obtained the access to the coupon and posted it online was actually the employee, your comparison is incorrect. The coupon analogy I think is pretty apt since Subway actually stopped their Sub Club cards due to counterfeits as well.

 

 

Lets just call a spade a spade: Someone got access and realized it wasn't restricted, so they shared it with other people on a public forum (known as the internet). I'm not surprised people would take advantage of the situation. Simple economics has people wanting to accumulate as much of their wants and needs for as little cost possible, and this enabled them to do it through a pretty direct and official means of doing so.

Edited October 19, 2012 by alanschu

[NOK222]

It's more akin to printing off some coupons for a specific group of people, and someone going off and photocopying them all and distributing them of their own volition, which results in the promotion being canceled and really the only people that are actually disadvantaged are those that the promotion is intended for no longer receiving said perk.

 

And the person who did it was said an employee in this hypothetical situation, not the consumer.

 

Actually, that's not true. Unless you're alleging that it was an EA person that went and posted it on Reddit and so forth. The closest analogy is going to be "Someone obtained access through legitimate means, and decided to distribute said access to other people that weren't technically qualified for said offer."

 

So, unless the person that obtained the access to the coupon and posted it online was actually the employee, your comparison is incorrect. The coupon analogy I think is pretty apt since Subway actually stopped their Sub Club cards due to counterfeits as well.

 

 

Lets just call a spade a spade: Someone got access and realized it wasn't restricted, so they shared it with other people on a public forum (known as the internet). I'm not surprised people would take advantage of the situation. Simple economics has people wanting to accumulate as much of their wants and needs for as little cost possible, and this enabled them to do it through a pretty direct and official means of doing so.

 

I did not know the origin of the sale, I retract my opinion.

[alanschu]

No worries mate. In any case it's a /facepalm moment for someone that set up the system.

[Hassat Hunter]

Theme Hospital, which haven't been put on sale since they appeared.

It's on sale now