So my housemate went out and picked up the Rock Band 2 bundle a couple days ago. He brought it home, started to unpack, and made an interesting discovery:

The new wireless RB2 guitar controllers are supposed to have a sunburst finish. His does not. It has the "wood grain" neck, but the face of the guitar is the plain old black finish.

When I went back to the store yesterday (to pick up my collectors edition Fallout 3), the salesman was surprised to hear that the controllers are no longer featuring the sunburst pattern. Especially since their in-store setup has the promised guitars and was "as advertised".

So you come on the Spore forums to complain, despite Spore has nothing to do with this?

EA is responsible for the publishing of Spore. EA is also responsible for the publishing of many other games. Comparisons can be made.

EA only has a distribution deal with MTV/Harmonix.

They have nothing to do with the game itself or peripherals.

TheNeoianOne wrote:They have nothing to do with the game itself or peripherals.

Wrong. If you have problems with the controllers (as I did with RB1), you contact EA Support. Not Harmonix or MTV Games. EA clearly has the responsibility for supporting the peripherals. You'd think they'd take some responsibility for making sure they're right in the first place.

(Addendum: I'd also like to add that when I RMAed the broken controller, EA then LOST IT. It took over FOUR MONTHS to receive a replacement. And then I had to prove that I'd sent it. Good thing I saved all those UPS tracking numbers, huh?)

MinionJoe wrote:So my housemate went out and picked up the Rock Band 2 bundle a couple days ago. He brought it home, started to unpack, and made an interesting discovery:

The new wireless RB2 guitar controllers are supposed to have a sunburst finish. His does not. It has the "wood grain" neck, but the face of the guitar is the plain old black finish.

When I went back to the store yesterday (to pick up my collectors edition Fallout 3), the salesman was surprised to hear that the controllers are no longer featuring the sunburst pattern. Especially since their in-store setup has the promised guitars and was "as advertised".

That's not surprising at all unfortunately.

While we're on the subject of EA not keeping promises, remember that incident with MySporePage and the post where he threatened to ban someone and that the ban would remove their ability to play Spore? Remember how SporeMasterLadyM and some Maxis people showed up to boot him from this site and claim he was being inaccurate? Looks like he was entirely accurate:

http://kotaku.com/5070957/backtalk-in-eas-forums-get-banned-from-your-games

ZJBDragon wrote:http://kotaku.com/5070957/backtalk-in-eas-forums-get-banned-from-your-games

SPORE.

Can't really say that's going to affect how I post though.

Still...

SPORE.

ZJBDragon wrote:

While we're on the subject of EA not keeping promises, remember that incident with MySporePage and the post where he threatened to ban someone and that the ban would remove their ability to play Spore? Remember how SporeMasterLadyM and some Maxis people showed up to boot him from this site and claim he was being inaccurate? Looks like he was entirely accurate:

http://kotaku.com/5070957/backtalk-in-eas-forums-get-banned-from-your-games

Untrue. Spore's system for the forums suspension/banning is separate from the system for suspension/banning for the online features of the game. I cannot speak for other EA games.

-caryl

MaxisLucky wrote:Untrue. Spore's system for the forums suspension/banning is separate from the system for suspension/banning for the online features of the game. I cannot speak for other EA games.

-caryl

I hope that's true, but this subject keeps coming up. I don't know who to believe anymore. I'm starting to feel like any purchase of an EA game is like taking a seat in a bait car. I understand things get out of control sometimes, but biting the hand that feeds you is never a good idea.

ZJBDragon wrote:I don't know who to believe anymore.

Rereading the article, it sounds like they're unsure of the poster's identity. It could just be a non-employee stirring the pot.

I mean, we can only really go on what the Maxis folks tell us and hope that EA doesn't later override them.

MinionJoe wrote:

Rereading the article, it sounds like they're unsure of the poster's identity. It could just be a non-employee stirring the pot.

I mean, we can only really go on what the Maxis folks tell us and hope that EA doesn't later override them.

Whoever that person is, they don't work at the Maxis Studio - and they don't work on Spore. But I do.

-caryl

MinionJoe wrote:

ZJBDragon wrote:I don't know who to believe anymore.

Rereading the article, it sounds like they're unsure of the poster's identity. It could just be a non-employee stirring the pot.

I mean, we can only really go on what the Maxis folks tell us and hope that EA doesn't later override them.

That's the problem -- EA can override them and has in the past.

They are sure of the poster's identity. This was the thread they linked to and you just need to scroll a little over half way down the page to see the message in question:

http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=449687&tstart=0&start=0

MaxisLucky wrote:

MinionJoe wrote:

Rereading the article, it sounds like they're unsure of the poster's identity. It could just be a non-employee stirring the pot.

I mean, we can only really go on what the Maxis folks tell us and hope that EA doesn't later override them.

Whoever that person is, they don't work at the Maxis Studio - and they don't work on Spore. But I do.

-caryl

Thank you for taking the time to clear this issue up. Please know it's widely appreciated.

Marx83 wrote:

MaxisLucky wrote:

MinionJoe wrote:

Rereading the article, it sounds like they're unsure of the poster's identity. It could just be a non-employee stirring the pot.

I mean, we can only really go on what the Maxis folks tell us and hope that EA doesn't later override them.

Whoever that person is, they don't work at the Maxis Studio - and they don't work on Spore. But I do.

-caryl

Thank you for taking the time to clear this issue up. Please know it's widely appreciated.

Widely appreciated indeed.

MaxisLucky wrote:Whoever that person is, they don't work at the Maxis Studio - and they don't work on Spore. But I do.

-caryl

My thanks as well! Reassurances that everything is alright are always appreciated.