Access denied to a thread I was on less than 24 hours ago

Even with your explanation I’m still confused about why I got an “access denied” message, but I’m just gonna table that entirely cuz, based on the rest of your reply—in particular, the paragraph regarding lag/latency and your statement implying that users (“fans”) are expected to “battle” through a known technical issue—I get the strong impression I’m wasting my time. Perhaps it’s unintentional, but I think your reply speaks volumes as to why we’re in this mess.

First off, I just want to say that none of what I’m about to say is directed at you personally—you’re just doing your job and trying to handle this as deftly as you can. But what I take from your reply is that it’s basically the position of EA that their game doesn’t have to actually provide the functionality advertised straight out of the box (e.g., smooth H2H online play) because they’ve just decided to outsource the problem of lag/latency to customers who will be relied upon to “battle” through an arcane troubleshooting process in order to obtain said functionality. I mean, when I zoom out from your “lag/latency” paragraph, the troubleshooting links, and note that there is no mention in your reply of any tangible steps EA is taking to address lag/latency, that is what I’m hearing—it’s all on me, the customer.

There’s part of me that’s really angry about this situation (for having paid good money for a product that isn’t performing as advertised) and another part of me that’s bemused (at a company that’s so transparently preying on its customers and playing them for chumps rather than taking full responsibility for its product—or at least being honest that it will never perform as expected for many). But mostly I’m just sad. I’m sad because I love football and I used to love “FIFA” and get really excited when that “If it’s in the game…” tagline would come on. I used to believe that EA were kind of badasses for putting out such great games and it’s sad to see them so nakedly admit to me that they're not even trying to stand by their product—they expect me to fix it.

If it weren’t so sad it would be truly laughable. This is a multi-million dollar tech company with goodness knows how many IT wizards in its employ telling a bunch of mostly IT-illiterate customers (like me) that we have to develop the knowhow to make their game work. I mean imagine if Porsche or Ferrari sold sports cars that required “troubleshooting” instructions to round a simple turn smoothly? Could you seriously blame the angry customers for asking “Why the hell didn’t you design a decent steering wheel instead of expecting me to become a mechanic?!”

Cuz that’s what this boils down to. EA is offloading problems it failed to address (whether in the game’s design or in the quality of its servers—or, at a bare minimum in large disclaimer on the box) to its customers. Nobody buys a car or a video game expecting to have to become an expert in how either one works—indeed, we expect we’re paying NOT to have to become experts in anything but it’s USE, whether (on smooth roads or bumpy one’s, lightning fast fiber connections or run-of-the-mill broadband). But EA seems to want to flip this paradigm on its head with FC25. And maybe that wouldn’t be such a big problem if it were just up front about it (“Disclaimer:  This game requires exceptionally high rates of data transfer for lag-free play. Do not purchase unless you’ve confirmed that your internet connection meets the following requirements…”). But that’s not what they’ve done here and that’s why people are so rightfully upset. I even went back and took a look at the FC25 packaging and there’s ZERO indication that the enjoyment of what’s inside is entirely contingent on anything more than a generic “broadband internet connection.” (And there’s certainly no mention that I will need to be responsible for troubleshooting that connection or running diagnostics to determine “packet loss” or other mumbo jumbo I’d never heard before three months ago.)

So, I guess if this is EA’s stance—that it expects customers to “battle” through lag/latency rather than take it upon itself to fix it (by designing a game that will run smoothly on an average broadband connection?)—then I’m not gonna keep wasting my breath. For the record, I think this stance is a cop out and an insult, but if you guys want to live in a fantasy land where the customer’s willingness to endure a “battle” with lag/latency is what earns them credibility as “fans” then we just aren’t inhabiting the same universe. If EA has really fooled itself into thinking that any customer wants to pay their money for a product and then spend half their time troubleshooting then you’re well and truly lost. I say this as a true “fan” who’s bought more of your titles than I care to remember dating back to the 90s. I say this as a fan who, despite appreciating the polite response I received to my inquiry, will leave this interaction with nothing good to say about EA or the FC franchise at this point in time. You guys appear to have chosen this lag/latency issue as a hill you’re willing to die on, and, as I said before… it’s sad.