MP game server closures

st4fore

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Hi all,

I just thought I would share an experience I have had yesterday. Basically as an Xbox player since launch, I thought that every game would work online forever (or at least 10 years), as after all that's what you pay for when you buy a game, the online and the offline versions of that game.

However yesterday, after speaking to some friends we all went and got Lord of the Rings: BFME2 second hand from game at £14.99 a copy as we used to play this years ago and it's still my favourite strategy game other than Age of Empires. Anyway, I got home first, opened the game and installed it to find an update which effectively renders the online part of the game unplayable.

A quick Google and I find the servers were taken offline permanently on 31st Dec 2010.

Now I intend to go back to go back to Game today and quote the trades description act as the Game is not fit for the purpose as stated on the box (i.e. the multiplayer) but has anyone had anything like this before?

At the very least they should have had a sticker on the box or something :(
 
Yeah EA turned the servers off this past xmas. Shame really as I have some multiplayer chevs still to get which now i'll never be able to get now.
I can see EA's point in saving money by turning off the multiplayer servers for their older games but at this point the game in question should revert to peer to peer so it can be at least still be played online. ESP for a current gen title. I can understand the older gen games no longer working. I certainly don't expect to turn on PSO on my Dreamcast and expect it to work online.
Does raise an intresting point of the game still being on sale without notification that the multiplayer servers are offline though.

Maybe fire an email at EA complaining?
 
Maybe fire an email at EA complaining?

I have read loads of people that have done this online and to no avail so just gonna get a refund for the game. As I say it's a shame as nothing comes close to the fun I used to have on this game in terms of strategy :(
 
I have read loads of people that have done this online and to no avail so just gonna get a refund for the game. As I say it's a shame as nothing comes close to the fun I used to have on this game in terms of strategy :(

I wouldn't be surprised if GAME refuse a refund because i bet there's something on the box somewhere that says online play isn't guaranteed.. or something to that effect.

I totally agree though and i would have had it back to the shop straight away, good luck :smashin:
 
I have emailed them the below before I make a trip to the store:


Hi,

I purchased 2 copies of Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 for the Xbox 360 yesterday for £14.99 per copy second hand - one copy for myself and another for a friend. After installing the game I have found that the multiplayer option no longer works as the company who host the servers and allow customers to play this game have taken them offline permanently.

As this is the only reason I purchased 2 copies of this game, irrespective of the fact I have now broken your used game seal, I would like to return both games to store for a full refund under the trades description act - as they are no longer fit for purpose. I would also like to make you aware of this situation so you can display this on the packaging to avoid this problem in future.

Please can you confirm this is acceptable before I visit a store as I have already wasted my time initially buying a game with no indication on the box or packaging that the multiplayer wouldn't work.

I look forward to hearing from you asap.
 
Hi all,

I just thought I would share an experience I have had yesterday. Basically as an Xbox player since launch, I thought that every game would work online forever (or at least 10 years), as after all that's what you pay for when you buy a game, the online and the offline versions of that game.

However yesterday, after speaking to some friends we all went and got Lord of the Rings: BFME2 second hand from game at £14.99 a copy as we used to play this years ago and it's still my favourite strategy game other than Age of Empires. Anyway, I got home first, opened the game and installed it to find an update which effectively renders the online part of the game unplayable.

A quick Google and I find the servers were taken offline permanently on 31st Dec 2010.

Now I intend to go back to go back to Game today and quote the trades description act as the Game is not fit for the purpose as stated on the box (i.e. the multiplayer) but has anyone had anything like this before?

At the very least they should have had a sticker on the box or something :(


quite a few games at gamestation have a sticker on the front about online play, whether it can be used in general or if an online code has been used.


i always check games for online play anyway before getting them, i don't get E.A. games now because they keep turning the servers off, still don't understand why they don't just let M$ do the servers to save all the hassle.
 
I have emailed them the below before I make a trip to the store:


Hi,

I purchased 2 copies of Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 for the Xbox 360 yesterday for £14.99 per copy second hand - one copy for myself and another for a friend. After installing the game I have found that the multiplayer option no longer works as the company who host the servers and allow customers to play this game have taken them offline permanently.

As this is the only reason I purchased 2 copies of this game, irrespective of the fact I have now broken your used game seal, I would like to return both games to store for a full refund under the trades description act - as they are no longer fit for purpose. I would also like to make you aware of this situation so you can display this on the packaging to avoid this problem in future.

Please can you confirm this is acceptable before I visit a store as I have already wasted my time initially buying a game with no indication on the box or packaging that the multiplayer wouldn't work.

I look forward to hearing from you asap.



Seems like a completely reasonable letter to me, it's obvious you purchased to play online so the game is redundant to you.
 
i always check games for online play anyway before getting them, i don't get E.A. games now because they keep turning the servers off, still don't understand why they don't just let M$ do the servers to save all the hassle.

Same, and some people still defend EA claiming they aren't the enemy they once were. Never been a fan of EA and still am not now, and unless I really REALLY want a game publised by EA, I'll give them a miss(along with Activision).

Personally I think it's pretty discraceful the way they just close their servers down, in some cases after a very short time(I think less than 2 years from release for some games). If they don't want to continue running their servers they should just leave it to players to host, or run dedicated along side player hosted games(as with Frontlines as an example). Must be pretty infuriating to be enjoying playing a certain game online with friends, only to find out EA have decided to not allow you to play it online anymore so please kindly upgrade to the newer not necessarily better version of said game(if there even is one, which being EA there probably is:rolleyes:).

There, rant over, feel much better now I go that off my chest:)
 
as EA are slowly closing the online servers of the older games in their franchises ie Tiger Woods 09, FIFA 09, Fight Night Round 3 (particularly gutted about this one as still think its the best of the series) etc, what happens when they come to close the servers of the games that required the online pass (or 800ms points) to access the online features. Can/will they close the servers down on games they've charged people to access ?
will be interesting when/if this happens in a year or two, when the likes of Tiger 11, FIFA 11, etc are deemed as old...
 
as EA are slowly closing the online servers of the older games in their franchises ie Tiger Woods 09, FIFA 09, Fight Night Round 3 (particularly gutted about this one as still think its the best of the series) etc, what happens when they come to close the servers of the games that required the online pass (or 800ms points) to access the online features. Can/will they close the servers down on games they've charged people to access ?
will be interesting when/if this happens in a year or two, when the likes of Tiger 11, FIFA 11, etc are deemed as old...

I don't think the fact that a charge has been made (to those that purchased a game 2nd hand) makes the blindest bit of difference to EA's strategy for closing down what they believe are redundant or under-utilised servers.
 
Why the need to quote anything to Game ? Just take it back and tell them the online doesnt work and they will refund you the money.

Also it's not upto Game to keep tabs on server status of all the games they sell. Should they put stickers on all the PS3's saying that the online part is down ? People go overboard most of the time over simple things..
 
Why the need to quote anything to Game ? Just take it back and tell them the online doesnt work and they will refund you the money.

Also it's not upto Game to keep tabs on server status of all the games they sell. Should they put stickers on all the PS3's saying that the online part is down ? People go overboard most of the time over simple things..

Because I want to clarify the situation before I go to the store because the nearest one isn't that local to me. Charging £15 for something where only 50% works is obviously not on and if Gameplay can do it then so can Game.

Obviously you are the sort of person that likes causing arguments but I just thought I would make people aware of this as I have been a gamer and not come across this in my 15 or so years of playing

- sorry I thought AVF was for helping your fellow AVF'r? :hiya:
 
Yup...your within your rights, take it back and get a refund. If there was a warning on the box then fair enough but as there isn't then you aren't getting what you have paid for
 
EA usually put a '30 day cancellation with/without warning' thing on their boxes.

I'm like a few in this thread, won't touch EA stuff if I can avoid it, hate the way they operate and will do my best to not put profit their way.
 
Interesting to note I emailed them Monday (Bank Holiday I know) but nothing baack yet. Pretty poor imo :thumbsdow
 
Should they put stickers on all the PS3's saying that the online part is down ?

Uhhh.... YEAH :devil: :laugh::rotfl::clap::laugh::hiya::devil:

Interesting to note I emailed them Monday (Bank Holiday I know) but nothing baack yet. Pretty poor imo :thumbsdow

Let us know how you get on.

I think it's ****ing dire that the servers are switched off for older games. I want to play my Fifa 09 online even though I never do. I still want to. :mad:
 
Because I want to clarify the situation before I go to the store because the nearest one isn't that local to me. Charging £15 for something where only 50% works is obviously not on and if Gameplay can do it then so can Game.

Obviously you are the sort of person that likes causing arguments but I just thought I would make people aware of this as I have been a gamer and not come across this in my 15 or so years of playing

- sorry I thought AVF was for helping your fellow AVF'r? :hiya:
I have no idea where you get that im trying to start an argument with anyone. I dont see how this thread helps anyone in anyway. If you have never heard of servers being shut down in the past 15 years then you must be very selective in what you read about games/gaming.

I speak as I see things and am not used to dealing with sensative people. It's just a black and white issue. You bought a game that no longer works online. You simply take the game back to the shop and tell them this and they will refund you. In 15 years this is the first time its happened for you and now you expect all game sellers to label games. It's just one of those things that happens in life and I didnt see the need to make a mountain out of a molehill..

Game/Gamestation/Gameplay.co.uk who are all the same company are well known for having bad customer service. By sending them an email which will take a week or more to get a reply (if you get one at all from the first contact) you are making it harder for yourself to get the refund.

It costs alot of money to keep servers up. If a game has less than a certain percentage of players using it then they will close it down.
 
It costs alot of money to keep servers up. If a game has less than a certain percentage of players using it then they will close it down.

I am sure that if you brought a car and then 3 years later they said that only a few people brought it so now you can't go faster than 35mph even though we are continuuing to sell other cars profitably then you would be annoyed.

As other people have said, why could they not integrate this 1% into the server of a new relesase like Crysis 2 - if it's such a small amount of people. And they should have a disclaimer on the original purchase of all new EA releases now it's clear they are going to be doing this.
 
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I dont see how this thread helps anyone in anyway. If you have never heard of servers being shut down in the past 15 years then you must be very selective in what you read about games/gaming.
.

:thumbsdow I disagree.

I'm not very selective in what I read at all. Yet I only learnt about EA shutting down servers for games (on the 360 side I'm talking about now) until a couple of years ago. :confused:

I hope others that buy older games aint selective in what they read and check out this thread. :thumbsup:
 
I hope others that buy older games aint selective in what they read and check out this thread. :thumbsup:

Totally agree... could do with a thread name change IMO the current "A word of warning" could be about anything.:rolleyes:
 
Totally agree... could do with a thread name change IMO the current "A word of warning" could be about anything.:rolleyes:

Perhaps if a mod could change the title as appropriate. To conclude the story I got an email back from Game today saying they would honour the excahnge but I needed to let them know what store and what time I was visiting so they could prewarn. I didn't bother with this and just printed off the email and got a full refund. Funny enough the girl on the counter next to me said to another customer 'I wouldn't by Call of Duty for the PS3 as it's not working online at the moment' :laugh:

Glad this thread may be useful for the majority :smashin:
 

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