EA's Worst Reddit Comment Set a World Record
Getting into the Guinness World Records is usually cause for celebration. Electronic Arts (EA) might think differently about its apparent inclusion in the 2020 edition of the book, however, because the record it set was for the most-downvoted comment on Reddit. The comment in question was made in response to the Star Wars Battlefront II loot box controversy of 2017 and received more than 683,000 downvotes from the platform's outraged players.
For anyone who doesn't remember: Star Wars Battlefront II locked characters like Darth Vader behind an onerous progression system that could be sidestepped by getting lucky after purchasing the game's take on loot boxes. Reddit user "MBBMaverick" started a discussion thread titled "Seriously? I paid 80$ to have Vader locked?" and said they'd be contacting EA for a refund because "this age of 'micro-transactions' has gone WAY too far."
The official "EACommunityTeam" account responded with the following comment:
The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes.As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we're looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we'll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can.
The comment reached a karma score (which Reddit uses to rank posts) of -667,825 before it was archived 12 months after posting. The score takes both upvotes and downvotes into account. Assuming that some people upvoted the comment, the only way it could have a negative score would be for it to have more than 667,825 downvotes.
But we doubt many people care about how accurate a beer company was in counting downvotes on a social platform in a book of barroom trivia. Our main question is whether or not someone will be able to break EA's record. It's hard to imagine, so hopefully EA can be a good sport about holding this dubious honor for a while.
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Nathaniel Mott is a freelance news and features writer for Tom's Hardware US, covering breaking news, security, and the silliest aspects of the tech industry.
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bigdragon I expect that EA, 2K/T2, Activision, and Ubisoft will be battling each other to create a more downvoted comment in the future.Reply
The whole "pride and accomplishment" debacle is emblematic of why I stopped playing most video games -- especially those from AAA sources. Games like Battlefront 2 demand hours of investment that rival a full time job. I play games to have fun and be entertained; not to work for some sort of unlockable asset that I paid for. Finding whale harpoon games is easy. Finding games that are worth their list price is not. -
BulkZerker EPIC - Hold my gamerjuice and watch this.Reply
They're just one stupid comment away from having another backlash hit them. One that honestly is coming considering the lack of a reaction from their very poorly excited summer sale.
This doesn't really surprise me, a long history of pulling an absolute bonehead move and then trying to damage control it only having a Streisand effect hit it multiple times should have taught them by now that when they do said bonehead move they should just their head and walk out.