Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 On a whim a few days ago, I decided to see if it would be possible to convert some of the physical PC games that I still have CD/DVD keys for into digital versions in the clients of their respective publishers. The games that I was looking to "digitize" were Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Ubisoft), Crysis (EA), Crysis: Warhead (EA), and Command & Conquer Generals/Zero Hour (EA). Because I still had the original packaging and manuals with the keys, I figured that I had the best chance to digitize these games out of my remaining physical collection. I first contacted Ubisoft and explained to them what I wanted to do and that I still had all the original materials and the CD authentication key for Chaos Theory. Reasonably, they asked me to send them pictures of the packaging, the manual, and the CD authentication key which I did without hesitation. After sending them the pictures, they responded that the authentication key was from a period prior to the implementation of Uplay and that it couldn't be integrated into the Uplay system to generate a digital copy of the game for my Uplay account library. I responded that I totally understood this, however as someone who clearly owns a physical copy of the game, that they would add Chaos Theory to my Uplay library as a customer service gesture. While I waited for Ubisoft to respond to my request, I went ahead and contacted EA to see if I could add the three games I mentioned to my Origin library. I decided to go with the live chat route with EA and told the CSR exactly what I wanted to do. Without hesitation, the Origin CSR asked for the authentication keys that I immediately provided. Within two minutes, the CSR reported that both Crysis and Crysis: Warhead had been added to my Origin account. In addition, because a standalone version of Command & Conquer: Generals/Zero Hour no longer exists, the ENTIRE Command & Conquer Ultimate Collection (17 games in total) had been added to my Origin library. Naturally, I was absolutely pleased with the way the Origin CSR addressed my request and I left a glowing evaluation. Hell, I was so pleased that I bought a couple of games on Origin that were on deep-discounted sale because I actually felt that I "owed" EA something Now, back to Ubisoft. Well, the Ubisoft CSR's response was effectively the dead opposite of that of the Origin CSR. The Ubisoft CSR said that there was no way they could add Chaos Theory to my Uplay account despite the ample documentary evidence that I actually own the game and that they were "sorry for any inconvenience". Of course, this doesn't upset me in the least, but I decided to leave this one little "parting shot" at Ubisoft/Uplay: I appreciate all the time and attention that has been devoted to my request, but I'll admit that I'm somewhat disappointed that Ubisoft/Uplay cannot provide the same level of service that EA/Origin has in adding digital versions of physical games that I provided evidence of ownership for to my Origin game library. Perhaps this is something that Ubisoft should consider going forward to enhance the overall value proposition of Uplay to the end customer. So, that's my little Tale of Two Customer Service Experiences. The moral of the story is essentially this: "EA - crappy games, great customer service" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moa Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 On a related note, EA access is the easiest to cancel service I've ever used. This sounds a lot like a potshot, and it totally is, but I was surprised that it was like three total clicks and wasn't hidden away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 They gave Chaos Theory away free on Uplay a while ago so you missed out there. I've heard EA / Origin generally has good customer service (but mainly from an EA fanboy) I've only dealt with them once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 5 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said: They gave Chaos Theory away free on Uplay a while ago so you missed out there. Yeah, just like I missed out on the free Dead Space over at Origin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 1 hour ago, SFLUFAN said: Yeah, just like I missed out on the free Dead Space over at Origin There are a few EA games on Steam you can claim on origin with a CD key, like Mirror's Edge (I'm pretty sure) if you haven't already done that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted April 20, 2019 Author Share Posted April 20, 2019 Just now, Keyser_Soze said: There are a few EA games on Steam you can claim on origin with a CD key, like Mirror's Edge (I'm pretty sure) if you haven't already done that. I didn't have it on Steam either It was one of the deeply-discounted games ($4.99) I bought on Origin today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser_Soze Posted April 20, 2019 Share Posted April 20, 2019 1 hour ago, SFLUFAN said: I didn't have it on Steam either It was one of the deeply-discounted games ($4.99) I bought on Origin today. I'm saying this as an aside from your story. If you have some EA games on Steam you can use the CD key to claim them on Origin. But it's only for certain EA games. Correction to the above, you can't do it with Mirror's Edge but I think you can with Dead Space 1 and 2 and Crysis 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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