csirifiszkio said:
Wow. EAs reputation is so bad that they had to do this...
I think this short comment captures the essence of EA's proposal. They're actually doing something nice, as they have lost a large part of the potential PC market due to lack of goodwill.
That's also why I'm not seeing anything wrong with it, provided that there are no strings attached. Taking in mind the lack of goodwill, I think such strings would be something that EA is desperate to avoid, as they really do not need a negative backlash.
EA isn't evil. It's just a corporation trying to make as much money as possible. If they want to win back some of the older-school PC gamers, then goodwill is perhaps the best currency.
As a side note:
EA
is part of the problem for PC gaming, due to lazy console ports, pushing out run-off-the-mill "AAA" games etc., but in this particular case, I think they're doing something good for PC gamers. Instead of criticizing a company as a whole, I think it makes more sense to criticize or praise individual actions.
I'm rather pragmatic, so to me, it's perfectly feasable to dislike consolitis and the dumbing down of games that EA represents, whilst still appreciating it when they're doing something good. Positive reinforcement can often work better than negative reinforcement.