Clearing up a few things after extensive experimentation this AM...
1) EA is locking XBox child accounts out of Battlefront 2. Their referral to the XBox parental account management process is disingenuous at best, because Battlefront 2 is ignoring the parental permissions provided by Microsoft. They are simply looking at the child/parent indicator on the Microsoft account and if the account belongs to a child (regardless of permissions or ratings settings), it is locking the account out of Battlefront 2’s online content.
A proposed fix elsewhere in this thread - linking the child account to a parent account in Origin - is no longer operative. That option has been removed from the Origin Mac, PC, and online clients. EA now handles account linking internally with not-very-solid internal routing rules.
2) EA is not all that serious about COPPA, because if you set up a separate adult Microsoft account and link it on through to XBox and EA, EA merrily provides online access to that account, even if it has the same contact information and names as the previous child account. Setting things up this way is non-trivial as Microsoft, to its credit, does check on this, and does not allow editing of birthdates for an existing account. But it is possible for a determined site administrator.
3) As to why EA might be taking this stance solely on Battlefront 2, well, that’s apparent if you think about it. Battlefront spent a whole lot of time on micro transaction economics (and quite obviously no time on account administration) in an attempt to boost their margins and stock price. This was controversial of course, to the point that Congress is threatening legislative remedies that will no doubt be onerous. And such Congressional actions will expose EA to liability if loot box gambling is found to have been made available to minors. So the simplest thing to do is just lock all minors out and wait out the storm.
EA stock has been getting hammered in the markets, and based on this experience, it’s entirely justified. I’ve worked around their half-@#$ restrictions for Battlefront 2, at the cost of significant parental control. But I’ll be damned if I spend my family’s money on another EA title. Considering Battlefront 2’s market is young emerging gamers, who stand to spend a lot of future gaming dollars, that’s a dumb approach on their part. But it’s no longer my problem.
Hello Can anyone please look at my sons gamertag and answer it in plain English for me. His gamertag is gardengrowerjim
My son I autistic and is struggling massively with the idea that he can play GW2 with his friends and everything else but not Battlefront 2 yet all of his friends are currently playing on it and he is being socially excluded. He is highly anxious and much to my understanding and attempts to resolve this it hasn't worked and not its the worst Christmas ever! I have upgraded all his accounts by changing the DOB to over 18 on both Xbox account and EA account using the same email address and gamertag and they haven't linked and I'm at my wits end!!
Please someone help me to turn this bad start of 2018 into a good one! Thanks in advance
Thank you but this doesn't make any sense to me - I need it putting in plan old English please? Sorry to be a pain
Ditto. Two autistic children here. The older one is 14, the younger 13. We're in the UK. They have teen restrictions on Xbox and play Titanfall 2 online. The older one can play BF2, the younger one cannot. This shows the system is glitchy as both or neither should be blocked. The attitude from EA is clear, they have absolutely no intention of doing anything about it. Some appear to have had some success in modifying accounts but it's tedious - download Origin, set up account, unlink/link accounts, blah-di-blah but with no guarantee of success - went through this with the first one but from memory (need to ask the kids) the problem seemed to go away or maybe the younger one never bothered with the game. ***SIMPLEST SOLUTION*** - The simplest way to get them to play is to create an adult account and let them use that; my younger one uses my wife's account. Thing is he doesn't get achievements and so on.
I have been having a similar problem. I was thinking I had to change his age and have been having problems signing into my son's account because I can't remember which email I used and never receive the password resets when they are sent.... That being said, I obviously CAN sign into my own account and have yet to be able to find where to change my own age.
Now I know all of this has been a complete waste of time, so thanks for that, other posters. (being sincere, thank you, I might have spent a LOT more time trying this before finding this thread)
The issue I'm having is that my son HAS been using my gamertag to play BF2, but I got him his own gold account and EA account so he didn't have to use mine. This means that whenever he wants to play BF2, I can't play games or use any apps on my account. This is not a decision I should have to make in the first place if I have paid money for him to have his own account for Xbox and EA. It completely defeats the purpose of buying him his own account. At the very least I should get a refund for the account I got him that is yet to be used.
And what if I want to play BF2 with him?
The error code has changed but this is still an issue, and yes EA are still blaming COPA even for people outside the US. I had the peoepl on the help chat tell be COPA was worldwide depsite the articles they linked too clearly stating its a US law.
So rather than fixing the issue EA have there heads in the sand and are humming "its all your fault we are just protecting the children"
