Gamer Banned From Dragon Age II Over Forum Post [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

RogueyWon writes "Kotaku is reporting that a Dragon Age II gamer banned from BioWare's forums for an allegedly inflammatory post has been locked out of the (singleplayer only) game for the duration of the ban. This is a consequence of EA's backend systems, which link forum accounts to the accounts that players use to access their games. This would appear to be a worrying new development; while trolling forums has led to bans from massively multiplayer games in the past (arguably with some justification), the extension of the principle to singleplayer games, where an abusive player cannot affect the enjoyment of others, must surely be a step too far."

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[heybtbm]

It's called unplugging the ethernet cable or playing under a new account name. Problem solved.

Lesson learned: Don't be a dick.

[98PaceCar]

Lesson learned: Don't be a dick.

This. While I disagree completely with a publisher having the ability to cut off access to a legally purchased product, there are a lot of people that need to learn that spouting stupidity on the internet can have negative consequences.

Unfortunately, with the proliferation of digital only software and software which requires server authentication to use, there is going to be more and more of this in the future.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Damn, that list of reasons to pirate current games just keeps getting longer.

[rxd]

Damn, that list of reasons to pirate current games just keeps getting longer.

This.
I don't pirate games.... Yet.

But sometimes it sure seems that companies are trying to force me to.

[Wolfrider31]

I don't understand what the justification for a move like that is. Banning someone from a forum for breaking the rules makes sense - if they keep breaking the rules it begins to disrupt the forum.

However, banning someone from playing a single player game that they purchased legally and that they can't use to communicate with others strikes me as being completely vindictive and childish. And also possibly illegal. Bioware better hope that an opportunistic lawyer doesn't catch wind of this - I doubt that their forum's TOS warned players that disruptive behaviour in the community would result in them getting locked out of their game.

[Zthun]

This. While I disagree completely with a publisher having the ability to cut off access to a legally purchased product, there are a lot of people that need to learn that spouting stupidity on the internet can have negative consequences.

Unfortunately, with the proliferation of digital only software and software which requires server authentication to use, there is going to be more and more of this in the future.

The sad part is that EA won't care as long as money is coming in. A few people might be outraged, but the majority of people won't care at all.

Though, I agree, it is BS.