EA is not exactly popular with people like us and it's widely known among gamers to be unfriendly and unfair to consumers. But is all the hate they recieve really justified? Online passes, Day one DLC, origin account requirement for games... these are all considered detrimental to the user experience and arguably to the industry as a whole, but they are good business, and that is what EA is, a business. They are doing nothing illegal and only trying to achieve their primary goal, which is to make money. If you don't like the way they run their business, you can change that. We are the consumer and we have the power to change how EA achieves their primary goal. 

There is just a proper and improper way we should go about doing so; we shouldn't tank the user scores of their games, we shouldn't harrass and insult the men and women who run EA, we shouldn't swear and become infuriated at Day 1 DLC. What we should do is something proactive, something that'll actually send a message to EA and change the way their business is run. It's simple, if you don't like the way they run things, don't buy their products!

If you don't like, for example, day 1 DLC, don't buy it. Encourage others to do the same and when sales start to drop, EA will need to rethink their strategy; this is when we, the consumers, tell them what we think is reasonable and what we will spend our money on. Same applies to Origin and the same applies to online passes, you don't like them? That's fine, tell them with your wallet. What we shouldn't do is buy their product, buy their day 1 DLC and then sign some silly petition or write some rude words about them in a forum after giving them your money. This is NOT how things change, they don't give 2 shits about your petition aslong as they have your money.

So to conclude and answer the question in the title, is the hate for EA justified? Not really, I mean God forbid a business wants to make money right? If you want them to change, let them know with your wallet. 

But perhaps we also can make them change by badmouthing them on forums and giving them a bad name.

I don't exactly hate EA but I dislike them no doubt.

I dislike EA but I love their products such as Dragon Age, Dante's Inferno, Battelfield, Dead Space and Crisis.

That's been happening for the last, what? 10 years? 5 years minimum. That isn't how you change a business. You change them by changing how you spend your money. (You being consumers in general, not necessarily you personally) 

But my only way to change them is by badmouthing them. I can't vote with my wallet because I like so many games published by EA and I don't want to miss out on any of the DLC lol.

I own many games published by EA including DLC. Both Dragon Ages with DLC, both Dead Spaces, Dante's Inferno with all its DLC, both Crisises and a couple of Battlefield games.

I understand, but you don't have to buy their games. Again, if you want to change them, use your wallet. But to be honest you aren't really one of the people I'm talking about, the kindoff person who goes and sends silly insulting messages to EA employees on twitter or who whines and complains about them in forums and youtube comments. These people are annoying as fuck and that's why I wrote this. Not because of people like you :P

I don't think so. They make some bad choices like any company but lately the hate for them is getting out of hand.

Yes it absolutely is justified. They are cancerous. 

A horribly anti-consumer (and anti-employee..) company , and seemingly proud of it.

RIP Westwood and Pandemic.

RIP Bioware and Maxis (they're dead to me).

Not really, they're not perfect, but their evilness is overrated.

I don't like most of their games, but to hate a gaming studio it's pretty harsh, no matter which.*
(I still love Capcom, for example, you just have to learn how to take advantage of them, instead the opposite)



*unless it's gameloft