Fifa 11 and Trading Standards

richp2k

I am not entirely sure what i'm about to write is possible, but I am absolutely appalled by the quality of game EA have released.

For anyone who has Fifa 11 they may know what i'm talking about. For those that don't, it is basically a broken game. Last year was exactly the same, and this year's is even worse.

The main mode on it is the Career mode, but this is riddled with bugs and basically unplayable for an extended amount of time. Things basically happen that shouldn't, and ruin the game mode.

The point of this post anyway is to see where we would stand with Trading Standards on this issue. I and everyone else have basically paid £40 for a game that is faulty and does not work properly. Legally, how can EA get away with this? It is simply not fit for purpose. I know games have problems but this is ridiculous. It has been out for about 2 weeks, and already on EA's forum there are nearly 300 pages of threads; 90% of which are complaining about problems with the game. EA can't keep up with their responses, but are purposely ignoring the problems as they did with Fifa 10 last year.

I am really not happy with this, but i can't return the game to where i got it and get a refund as it's opened. So can I return it straight to EA? Also, I am keen to know if anyone has any knowledge on trading standards and video games, and what the situation would be in terms of complaining officially about EA?

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help or takes the time to read this.

Lokolo

My game isn't faulty haven't encountered any problems so far, only half way through the season though.

JasX

You didn't see what EA did to everyone with their game APB last month....

Distributed by EA, all servers shutdown within 2 1/2 months after the developer they partnered with went bankrupt and major distribution channels paddled out the 'no refunds' line, we don't particularly care about the SOGA.....

(game had no offline mode, all you basically have now is a login screen for a server that doesn't exist and pretty background picture)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APB:_All_Points_Bulletin

Knarf44

Rich

My suggestion would be that you take your issues up directly with EA's UK office via the Support site.

However, you'll need to give them a detailed list of your problems including the specs of your PC and a description of the actions that cause the bugs to occur. This way, you're more likely to get a response that tries to help or offers to perhaps exchange your game.

If you start hurling insults at them or threatening legal action immediately they will be less likely to want to help you resolve your problem.

richp2k

Lokolo wrote: »

My game isn't faulty haven't encountered any problems so far, only half way through the season though.

you will mate, it's guaranteed. i had no problems till the 2nd season, but considering the career is meant to span about 15 years i believe, no-one will ever get that far.

some examples -

1.) Random players will disappear from your team
2.) Your Virtual pro may randomly disappear from the CM as well
3.) Scheduling problems will cause a freeze during the warming up part of a match.
4.) You will win the league only for the news feed to tell you that the 2nd place team secured the title (I believe this is when the problems start)
5.) The search mode on the buy players section will not find players. Also player wages will suddenly go through the roof to around £400k a week, making buying players impossible.
6.) Player growth is faulty (although EA have announced a patch is in the works for this).
7.) Cup draws will see you playing the same teams again and again.

and this doesn't touch the problems with the online servers currently, making the big "selling point" of 11 v 11 basically impossible to play due to lag and connection issues.


@ JasX - I will have a read of that now. I'm not trying to start a campaign against EA, but i am very very unhappy. It's like selling a table with 3 legs or something!! It's just not fit for purpose and I don't know how they can get away with taking £40 off everybody.

richp2k

Knarf44 wrote: »

Rich

My suggestion would be that you take your issues up directly with EA's UK office via the Support site.

However, you'll need to give them a detailed list of your problems including the specs of your PC and a description of the actions that cause the bugs to occur. This way, you're more likely to get a response that tries to help or offers to perhaps exchange your game.

If you start hurling insults at them or threatening legal action immediately they will be less likely to want to help you resolve your problem.

I will be, but I want to know where I stand first. I am not threatening legal action etc, nor am i going to insult them, i'm better than that!!

But exchanging the game won't help. It is a fault in the game itself. It's a bug basically, but a large number of them are present. This is why i am querying as to how they can get away with releasing a game with the number of problems that it has.

Thanks for the link anyhow. :beer:

JasX

Other than the APB issue which was unique it seems to be a trend over the last couple of years that companies are releasing games earlier and earlier with more unfixed bugs.

Not sure what platform you're on but for PC a good developer will over the first few months stick around and release patches to update/fix the worst flaws....

Are you running it on an internet connected machine and are you able to check for any patches/fixes that may have been released?

richp2k

xbox 360, so it automatically checks for patches and fixes.

i'm going to send an e-mail later with picture attachments to EA and see how they respond.

you're right about the releases tho. It's laziness and profit-grabbing, and they are becoming less interested in a polished product.

almillar

Don't be fobbed off by a store (which one?) telling you you can't have a refund if you've opened the seal. That may be their POLICY but it's not the law. This product is clearly not of reasonable quality in your view, and therefore you should be given a refund, without all this hassle.
And can I suggest that people vote with their feet and don't buy games that are rushed out the door not ready?

minimad1970

I was in the customer services queue in Asda today and the man in front was returning this game and it sounded like he had the same problems with it. They gave him his money back.

richp2k

minimad1970 wrote: »

I was in the customer services queue in Asda today and the man in front was returning this game and it sounded like he had the same problems with it. They gave him his money back.

i'm not surprised mate at all.

EA are rushing through a patch at the moment to try and sort out around 10 issues. But they'll need to do more patches than that. Between the lag, the servers, the online cheating and the bugs, it's made the game just about unplayable.

they've already done a mass reset of the stats once too (which didn't go down well), now it seems they are set to do it again.

Like the vodafone issue a while back regarding the 2.2 update, i've read in a few places as well that people are contacting news and gaming websites to complain about it the state of the game.

Whatever way it's dressed up, it should NOT have been released in this state. I know it's only a video game at the end of the day, but it's nearly £40 of people's money for a product not fit for purpose. It's the principle of the thing.