I heard it through the Steam grapevine that EA was offering refunds and free games to people unfortunate enough to buy APB. I figure that I should be pretty qualified, since I bought it a day before release. So I wait an hour to chat with an EA support member, and he tells me that the conditions for a free game are something about purchasing 7/15/10 and the free game has to already be out. I look through EA's store and ask for the Digital Deluxe Version of Mass Effect 2, since the 360 one I played on is still with my brother.

He says, "Oh, sorry, you can only get the free game if you purchased AFTER 7/15/10. What you get is a 25% coupon to the EA Store."

Who's ever heard of a refund system that punishes you for being an early customer. and not the other way around? This is what I get, for getting in early to a game from you guys and not having that game last more than 2 or 3 months? Thanks, I'm REALLY appreciative of your customer support, EA. I'm so happy that I can get a dismal $15 off Dead Space 2, even if I buy the PC version!

*cries*

It can only be explained with this.

I would ask to speak to a supervisor, and if that did not work I recommend you not buy their games any more, and let them know why in a respectful manner.

I've sent them a support ticket through their e-mail system this time. Hopefully I'll get someone better to talk to. If not, I will continue to pester them with requests to speak with supervisors and such. If others could get free games like DEAD SPACE 2 from them, It'll be a cold day in hell before I stop bugging them.

If I remember rightly (because I never got the chance to TRY the fucking thing), the access you got with the game lasted 60 days. It seems likely that the reason that EA are doing this is because some people didn't get the advertised 60 days so they might be liable for breach of contract. The 25% off voucher thing is very probably a combination of buying annoyed customers off with something that costs EA virtually nothing and a none too subtle encouragement to buy something else from EA. How does the refund thingy work? Can you not just claim you got it after the cutoff date?

It makes sense from this point of view I suppose.

*hands tissue*
It's a great thing that I can't run APB, cause I'd be pissed if that happened to me.

No, they make me show my receipt from Steam, which includes the date purchased. I didn't play through my entire time period. I was spacing out my time so I could go through this semester without paying for more time.

What about the people who bought lifetime subscriptions? What happens with them? This is screwed up all over.

Epitaph of the game and studio all round by the sound of it

Well, in EA's defense, the game wasn't really doing good with preorders and advertising in-game. It was doomed since the launch.

And that's the point where you shut it the hell down and give everyone FULL refunds.

I agree, but that is kind of a pain in the ass to do, especially since you sunk in $100 million USD into a game that flopped on that scale. Hell, that is the only MMO I can think of, free or P2P, that lasted not even half a year.

Well...life isn't fair...they too bought the games under the exact same conditions everyone else did. My guess is that these guys would never have to pay any subscription again by buying this lifetime subscription. And they paid what for it? Over the amount of the regular version plus the months (in money) that the game is online? If yes, which shouldn't be too far over that amount, then again the EA offer seems reasonable.
Depending on the money spent, perhaps a better coupon would be in order for them, but I don't see anything technically wrong with what EA does.
When you buy a copy of a MMO game you know the game might last 1 month or it might last 10 years.
If APB lasted, say 5 years and then went bust, would you expect them to give full refund to the hundreds of thousands of people who bought and played the game? What about those who bought it and didn't like it and spent only an hour on it? Do they deserve even more money or even less? And if they do, then what about anyone else who bought a game which has only or relies on multiplayer and after X time there are no more people playing it online? Should the publisher refund whoever wants to now play the game online but there are no opponents? The game is worthless to them too.

Buying a MMO game is a risk, the same as buying any other game in some ways. The disc might get damaged or the hard drive fail, or even the online shop decides to play a prank or close for real. Should the publisher have to refund them too? It never ends. Which is why I believe they will never accept a full refund. It would open way too many doors to ruin them, plus if it is achieved through court, it might mean the end of MMO games altogether. Which isn't a bad thing on its own (for me), but, I think you see where I am going with this.
Basically...too much caffeine and I need to get some sleep.

Lifetime subscriptions are for the life of the product, sadly APB lifers got exactly what was advertised...