By now, we’re all familiar with the 2017 comment by EA about how lootboxes provide “a sense of pride and accomplishment.” The remark was the epicenter of a global move for world governments to investigate lootbox practices and kicked off attempts to make game developers change their tune — efforts that are continuing to this very day. So is it any wonder that the comment made it to the Guinness World Records?
According to an image shared on Reddit, the comment has made it to the 2020 edition of the annual, officially becoming the most-downvoted comment on Reddit. The remark made the record with a grand total of 683,000 downvotes. Even though it’s now a year and change since the post, it’s still a scab on the skin of EA’s PR team that will rightfully never be allowed to heal.
The real shame is that there’s no equivalent award for “biggest fib told on the floor of Parliament,” as EA might’ve taken that in June when it characterized lockboxes as “healthy” and “ethical” and akin to a fun “surprise mechanic.”
In the greatest example of how gamers are vocal crybabies.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a dumb fucking post and deserved all the mockery it received. But when I see shit like this or EA being voted the worst company in the US it just makes me want to find these people and give them a slap across the face. What the fuck, shitty lootboxes in a game aren’t worse than what a number of companies in industries are doing when those companies are actively harming and killing people.
But sure, I guess a cringy, stupid post about lootboxes in a game is the worst thing to happen on Reddit.
Also, Guinness World Records are a freakin joke and have been for years, sadly.
They’ve changed their tune for that specific game, but not for their approach to the industry in general.
Still scum.
You know, there’s lots of things that could of been /downvoted over there…I guess I’m glad it was that one. O.o
On the other hand…
…I think their current sitting PM is trying to challenge that record. >.<
I liked Jim Sterling’s take on the “Surprise Mechanic.” A nutter wearing a welding mask with giant googly eyes who breaks in to “fix” your car. And after you chase him off, the instant you turn your back he runs in, clocks you with a wrench, and steals your wallet. “Surprise!”
I’m sure it will look nice next to their Worst Company In The World trophies. Although the shelf is getting full.
Wasn’t the “sense of pride and accomplishment” related to the 40 hours of grinding necessary to unlock each of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker? A bar so high it was obviously meant to drive even dedicated players to loot boxes. The idea that that EA expected players to spend $60-$80 on a game just to grind for the ability to actually play the game is the soul of exploitation.
Have you seen what’s been going on with Brexit for the past week? EA doesn’t even come close.
~sobs in despair~
Yeah, watching the Tories devolve to the point of literally calling people chicken while trying to use parliamentary procedure to vote themselves out of office temporarily just to stop any attempt at defanging no-deal brexit is a master class in sheer baldfaced duplicity.
Yeah, they don’t come close to a lot of stuff done in politics. Biggest fib told on the Parliament floor? Hah. The amount of lies and corruption and deception, the backhanded practices, the sleaze, EA is just a baby in the world of political shenanigans. They’re a speck of rain in the ocean of lies that washes through the place consistently.
Is Britain having a comb shortage? What is the deal with the political upper crust not brushing their hair? Is it simply a sign that they give no fucks?
Guinness World Records…
i was surprised they beat that one ellen pao comment from a few years ago. but i suppose she served the purpose she was hired for whil ea still lingers on with the haha’s.
(ftr both were spread far and wide as a comment to downvote, but the longevity of ea memes far surpasses that of the one time reddit interim ceo).
Given that Guinness World Records will gladly accept money from brutal authoritarian regimes, I’m surprised EA wasn’t able to just pay their way out of appearing in the book.
The record holder may not be liked but a record is a record.