XBOX 360 Child Restrictions - Page 3

Monkemperor · 16-02-2008, 01:09 PM

I am having the same problems, i sent an email to the suggested and eventually got a response that detailed all the information on how to allow my son to log on to this site...i think her name was jodie ...IMO she is either stupid or taking the **** as I could not have been clearer in my email to the dept. I have given up... I did pm some one on this thread maybe i wil get a response....

UrbanRacer · 16-02-2008, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Daddy Davee

Urban, your moderator status is in the post I am sure.

Not sure what this means.. I'm not a moderator, nor am I an EA fanboy, but it seems there are a few people upset that thier children cannot play, despite the fact the box does state online = 13+, and are having a go at EA because of it. Unfair.

However, it seems that there is a way for the children to play but you're having to jump through hoops to get there.

Quote:

Forget our disagreements and re-read this

I did, and I do agree with you. We have no disagreement, I think adults should be able to control what thier own children access online and what they don't. EA seem to think so to, despite thier internal confusion.

As I have said before, I hope this gets sorted for all of you.

DMA dave · 18-02-2008, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMA dave

just got what looks like an auto reply or 'jody'is busy, seen this before i expect

ps. this was from an email asking for the consent form.... not the admin guy who is 'getting back to me'.

Hi,

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts.

An EA Online Account will allow the registrant to access online features such as chat and message boards as well as access to in-game multiplayer features for all EA Online products and websites. You can learn more about EA’s products at www.electronicarts.co.uk. You may also wish to view our Privacy Policy at http://www.ea.com/global/legal/privacy_noseal.jsp. Please note that we do not share the details of those individuals under the 18 regardless of consent.

ACTIVATE: If you have no objections to the activation of this account, please click here. This will accept the activation of the account and take you to a web page confirming the action. Alternatively, you can copy and paste this URL. http://email.ea.com/cgi-bin24/DM/y/heTu0VwmGt0A0BYHj0EW9BzuoVolGzWh

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Jody
EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland

Matt , could you contact jody and get her to check the url.

Just got another of the 'link' emails so i letJody know that the link was broken and recieved this, could we be getting closer???????

Hi Dave,

Sorry about this issue. It seems that you are correct and the URL I provided is no good. I will get back to you once I have sorted this issue out.

Many thanks for your continued patience.

Regards,

Jody
EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland

Matt Webster · 19-02-2008, 11:32 AM

DMADave, thanks for your patience. Be aware that I am also discussing this at a senior level.

Clearly there is confusion and we can fix that. The minimum age requirements that EA has chosen are based on a significant amount of business and regulatory considerations that companies such as EA need to adhere to when it comes to protecting children and the internet. Unfortunately, the parental controls provided by game consoles were not sufficient for EA to use to overcome these considerations. An email consent process has been approved for Europe, but currently this isn’t sufficient for the U.S for example. I presume that this is what Jody is attempting to push you to. For US players there is a process in the works but its probably going to take more than modifying the registration process.

It's not about taking control away from the parent (of which I am one myself) it's about balancing regulatory obligations whilst understanding that there are parents out there who want their children to play. Believe me, we want everyone to enjoy playing this game that we've made irrespective of their age

Again, many thanks for your patience, I think we’re closer J

-Matt

Ricardini · 19-02-2008, 02:18 PM

So , As an European I can indeed experience full Burnout experience as long as my Dad does what exactly ? I've written an e-mail to EA Portugal and i got no answer at all .

If anyone could help me out here i'd love to .

Many thanks .

vantheman1956 · 19-02-2008, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Webster

An email consent process has been approved for Europe, but currently this isn’t sufficient for the U.S for example. I presume that this is what Jody is attempting to push you to

Matt not sure I understand, I'm in UK I recieved the mail from Jody who signs herself 'EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland'. The link sent to me is absolutley identical to the one listed by DMA Dave yet despite mailing back I've had no response, although he/she took 11 days to respond to my first mail. If as you say an e-mail consent process has been approved for Europe then any idea why EA are making it so difficullt to engage the process.

choppster · 20-02-2008, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Webster

An email consent process has been approved for Europe

I don't think this has actually been implemented yet though by the look of things. I have discovered that there are other consent forms available, which gives me hope - you can even look at one here http://www.ea.com/global/legal/register_child_fax/register_child_fax.jsp but please don't be confused, this is not the form we're looking for as there's certainly nowhere for you to put a Gamertag, and it's not an 'email' process as stated above.

Thanks for working on this Matt, I hope we can get it sorted soon!

DMA dave · 20-02-2008, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vantheman1956

Matt not sure I understand, I'm in UK I recieved the mail from Jody who signs herself 'EA Privacy Policy, UK and Ireland'. The link sent to me is absolutley identical to the one listed by DMA Dave yet despite mailing back I've had no response, although he/she took 11 days to respond to my first mail. If as you say an e-mail consent process has been approved for Europe then any idea why EA are making it so difficullt to engage the process.

van, i phoned initially, and got put through to 'jody' which is probably why i got a reply ,but i do not know why the auto-reply is exactly the same as the actual 'personal' email i recieved because i also emailed the link that you probably did as well and was quite surprised when they were identical .. I just suppose that they are getting thousands of emails and maybe not that many phonecalls so they reply to the calls (easier). Not taking it away from Jody , things do seem to be happening, all be it slowly.
Thanks for the reply also matt, i had started thinking that no one was watching this thread anymore.

I have been emailing jodys 'personal email addy not just the EA privacy policy link. That would also be a reason i get replies. I will keep this thread updated as often as i get messages.

DMA dave waiting patiently always

mzu · 20-02-2008, 09:32 PM

It's all down to this bloody EA Nation.
It absolutely sucks, Xbox Live messaging and game invite services are there for a reason, along with the gamertag. you basically have to remake your gamertag to play on EA games online!
I don't know what overpaid prat came up with EA Nation, but he deserves a kick up the backside.
Why do EA always not use the stuff that is already on the xbox ie. parental controls?

vantheman1956 · 21-02-2008, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMA dave

I have been emailing jodys 'personal email addy not just the EA privacy policy link.

Dave what's her personal mail as i'd like to add to the swell of pressure on EA.

DMA dave · 21-02-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vantheman1956

Dave what's her personal mail as i'd like to add to the swell of pressure on EA.

what i mean is if you phone the ppa office they will put you through to someone 'probably jody' and they will actually register the phonecall and not just an email. they probably have a rule for emails and put people they have spoken to at top of the list. The phone number is in this thread and i not the only one who has been put through to someone.

I actually used the number you posted i think try it early evening and the lady that answers is REALLY moody so unfortunatly you have to be patient with her or i reckon she will drop the call. Cool,calm and collected.
GL

Matt Webster · 28-02-2008, 05:31 AM

So I'm currently at EA Vancouver so apologies for being out of the loop. I'm talking to the head of legal involved in Privacy Policy tomorrow. The current answer is that this is so damn complex it's no wonder there is confusion. What I *hope* to be able to do is at least explain why this restriction is in place and some way to deal with it!

-Matt

Ricardini · 28-02-2008, 11:20 PM

We're waiting , although i kind of already lost the hope in it . Oh well ...

Dsmano · 29-02-2008, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Webster

So I'm currently at EA Vancouver so apologies for being out of the loop. I'm talking to the head of legal involved in Privacy Policy tomorrow. The current answer is that this is so damn complex it's no wonder there is confusion. What I *hope* to be able to do is at least explain why this restriction is in place and some way to deal with it!

-Matt

Really!? Does that mean that we can unlock some sort of way to play online?

Please tell me it does, I really do want to experience this game online, and it is not fair, all of my 13 year old friends are playing it online. And I am sick and tired of hearing how badly they owned some guy.

And, Army of Two is coming out soon, and i really want to play with my friend on it.

Is that too much to ask for EA ? :'( is it?

Ricardini · 29-02-2008, 10:54 PM

Oh and Army of Two is from EA ... I guess i will have the same problem there too ? ... Seriously , that is SAD .

TapdanceButters · 04-03-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dsmano

Really!? Does that mean that we can unlock some sort of way to play online?

Please tell me it does, I really do want to experience this game online, and it is not fair, all of my 13 year old friends are playing it online. And I am sick and tired of hearing how badly they owned some guy.

And, Army of Two is coming out soon, and i really want to play with my friend on it.

Is that too much to ask for EA ? :'( is it?

Amry of Two is a 17+ game anyway, which you shouldn't be allowed to play anyway.

Ricardini · 04-03-2008, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TapdanceButters

Amry of Two is a 17+ game anyway, which you shouldn't be allowed to play anyway.

But i am 17 , and still i won't probably be able to play it , doesn't that sound like a contradiction to you ?

choppster · 22-03-2008, 03:58 PM

Any news yet please Matt?

Ricardini · 22-03-2008, 04:32 PM

Yes i am interested in knowing if there are any advancements in this matter.

choppster · 28-03-2008, 05:48 PM

At this point (a month since the last Criterion update, and over 2 months since the game was released) I won't be risking further disappointment on any more EA games for my family. Online play is a big part of what I look for in almost all of the games I buy.this policy on children can't possibly just relate to Burnout Paradise, so I will expect theres a chance that future EA releases on Xbox 360 and PS3 will also be restricted to adults online, unless anyone from EA can confirm otherwise.

I'll watch this space but I'm not holding my breath for a solution, until then anything with an EA and an Xbox Live logo on the box will be left on the shelf. I'm sure they won't miss my £120 a year custom.

Ricardini · 28-03-2008, 08:12 PM

Well , i really doubt anything will change at all ... it doesnt matter if the product is yet to be released or was released already , if they dont change the policy , you will never be able to login , only when your son turns 13 or 18 . however what i find wierd is that when i created my GT my Birth Date made me of 17 years old , then when Burnout Paradise came out i tried to change to 19 to see if it worked , well , it did not , but i had an error that said i couldnt log due to EA policy on Children , on Army of Two , i get another error saying im YOUNGER than 13 , which i find it wierd since my birthdate is from '91 , so basicly , i cant play nor Burnout Paradise nor Army of Two nor Battlefield Bad Company Beta , but i can however play Fifa 08 , i tried to get help from EA , they cant help , i called Xbox , they cant help ... Who the **** can help me ?

All these problems are just ridiculous when they could be solved really simply.

Matt Webster · 02-04-2008, 02:58 PM

Choppster, firstly many apologies on the delay in getting back to you.

The 13 year old restriction is in for the near-future. The issue is in how data is collected (and how you verify age) from a player under this age. Also, as I've said, adhering to many legislative and guideline restrictions across the world many of which are contradictory.

We cannot honour the platform age verification from Sony or Microsoft as they don't share this information with us and therefore we need a system to do the same thing. We had a opt-out system that we had in place for Europe but this was changed following EU guidelines and therefore we won't be able to support children playing online until we have our new system in place.

I know this doesn't help you short term and it's disappointing but after seeing a glimpse of how complex this whole thing is it's pretty much all we can do for the moment.

-Matt

Ricardini · 02-04-2008, 06:30 PM

Matt thanks for the update , now i have one remaining question , can you explain me if EA Games and EA Sports have differences in their Guidelines / Policy on Children because i cant play either Burnout , Army of Two or Bad Company Beta , but i can indeed play Fifa 08 , and when i try to go Online on Army of Two it says im 13 , how could it be i can play Fifa 08 ?

otelio · 12-06-2008, 05:31 PM

i have the same problem when trying to play EA games online
i've never played any EA Sports games on my 360 so i don't know if they work properly online or not.
but when it comes to NFS Carbon, the demo of Army of Two and the demo of Battlefield B. Company there's no way i can play any of them online because of this age problem
my question is: by the end of this month i'll be 18 already, does that mean i'll be able to play EA games online without any problems related to this age issiue?

Thunderstorm025 · 13-06-2008, 07:30 AM

if it doesnt let u play 3+ games online theres a problem...................

13-06-2008, 07:30 AM	#75 (permalink)
Thunderstorm025 Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Westchiltington, England Age: 15 Gender: Male Posts: 539	if it doesnt let u play 3+ games online theres a problem................... __________________ Look up Sgt. Worm on Youtube to see my Flash animations!

16-02-2008, 01:09 PM	#51 (permalink)
Monkemperor Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1	I am having the same problems, i sent an email to the suggested and eventually got a response that detailed all the information on how to allow my son to log on to this site...i think her name was jodie ...IMO she is either stupid or taking the **** as I could not have been clearer in my email to the dept. I have given up... I did pm some one on this thread maybe i wil get a response....

19-02-2008, 11:32 AM	#54 (permalink)
Matt Webster Criterion Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 38	DMADave, thanks for your patience. Be aware that I am also discussing this at a senior level. Clearly there is confusion and we can fix that. The minimum age requirements that EA has chosen are based on a significant amount of business and regulatory considerations that companies such as EA need to adhere to when it comes to protecting children and the internet. Unfortunately, the parental controls provided by game consoles were not sufficient for EA to use to overcome these considerations. An email consent process has been approved for Europe, but currently this isn’t sufficient for the U.S for example. I presume that this is what Jody is attempting to push you to. For US players there is a process in the works but its probably going to take more than modifying the registration process. It's not about taking control away from the parent (of which I am one myself) it's about balancing regulatory obligations whilst understanding that there are parents out there who want their children to play. Believe me, we want everyone to enjoy playing this game that we've made irrespective of their age Again, many thanks for your patience, I think we’re closer J -Matt

19-02-2008, 02:18 PM	#55 (permalink)
Ricardini Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9	So , As an European I can indeed experience full Burnout experience as long as my Dad does what exactly ? I've written an e-mail to EA Portugal and i got no answer at all . If anyone could help me out here i'd love to . Many thanks .

20-02-2008, 09:32 PM	#59 (permalink)
mzu Forum Guru Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,501	It's all down to this bloody EA Nation. It absolutely sucks, Xbox Live messaging and game invite services are there for a reason, along with the gamertag. you basically have to remake your gamertag to play on EA games online! I don't know what overpaid prat came up with EA Nation, but he deserves a kick up the backside. Why do EA always not use the stuff that is already on the xbox ie. parental controls?

28-02-2008, 05:31 AM	#62 (permalink)
Matt Webster Criterion Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 38	So I'm currently at EA Vancouver so apologies for being out of the loop. I'm talking to the head of legal involved in Privacy Policy tomorrow. The current answer is that this is so damn complex it's no wonder there is confusion. What I hope to be able to do is at least explain why this restriction is in place and some way to deal with it! -Matt

28-02-2008, 11:20 PM	#63 (permalink)
Ricardini Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9	We're waiting , although i kind of already lost the hope in it . Oh well ...

29-02-2008, 10:54 PM	#65 (permalink)
Ricardini Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9	Oh and Army of Two is from EA ... I guess i will have the same problem there too ? ... Seriously , that is SAD .

22-03-2008, 03:58 PM	#68 (permalink)
choppster Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 18	Any news yet please Matt?

22-03-2008, 04:32 PM	#69 (permalink)
Ricardini Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9	Yes i am interested in knowing if there are any advancements in this matter.

28-03-2008, 05:48 PM	#70 (permalink)
choppster Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 18	At this point (a month since the last Criterion update, and over 2 months since the game was released) I won't be risking further disappointment on any more EA games for my family. Online play is a big part of what I look for in almost all of the games I buy.this policy on children can't possibly just relate to Burnout Paradise, so I will expect theres a chance that future EA releases on Xbox 360 and PS3 will also be restricted to adults online, unless anyone from EA can confirm otherwise. I'll watch this space but I'm not holding my breath for a solution, until then anything with an EA and an Xbox Live logo on the box will be left on the shelf. I'm sure they won't miss my £120 a year custom.

28-03-2008, 08:12 PM	#71 (permalink)
Ricardini Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9	Well , i really doubt anything will change at all ... it doesnt matter if the product is yet to be released or was released already , if they dont change the policy , you will never be able to login , only when your son turns 13 or 18 . however what i find wierd is that when i created my GT my Birth Date made me of 17 years old , then when Burnout Paradise came out i tried to change to 19 to see if it worked , well , it did not , but i had an error that said i couldnt log due to EA policy on Children , on Army of Two , i get another error saying im YOUNGER than 13 , which i find it wierd since my birthdate is from '91 , so basicly , i cant play nor Burnout Paradise nor Army of Two nor Battlefield Bad Company Beta , but i can however play Fifa 08 , i tried to get help from EA , they cant help , i called Xbox , they cant help ... Who the **** can help me ? All these problems are just ridiculous when they could be solved really simply.

02-04-2008, 02:58 PM	#72 (permalink)
Matt Webster Criterion Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 38	Choppster, firstly many apologies on the delay in getting back to you. The 13 year old restriction is in for the near-future. The issue is in how data is collected (and how you verify age) from a player under this age. Also, as I've said, adhering to many legislative and guideline restrictions across the world many of which are contradictory. We cannot honour the platform age verification from Sony or Microsoft as they don't share this information with us and therefore we need a system to do the same thing. We had a opt-out system that we had in place for Europe but this was changed following EU guidelines and therefore we won't be able to support children playing online until we have our new system in place. I know this doesn't help you short term and it's disappointing but after seeing a glimpse of how complex this whole thing is it's pretty much all we can do for the moment. -Matt

02-04-2008, 06:30 PM	#73 (permalink)
Ricardini Rookie Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 9	Matt thanks for the update , now i have one remaining question , can you explain me if EA Games and EA Sports have differences in their Guidelines / Policy on Children because i cant play either Burnout , Army of Two or Bad Company Beta , but i can indeed play Fifa 08 , and when i try to go Online on Army of Two it says im 13 , how could it be i can play Fifa 08 ?

12-06-2008, 05:31 PM	#74 (permalink)
otelio Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 1	i have the same problem when trying to play EA games online i've never played any EA Sports games on my 360 so i don't know if they work properly online or not. but when it comes to NFS Carbon, the demo of Army of Two and the demo of Battlefield B. Company there's no way i can play any of them online because of this age problem my question is: by the end of this month i'll be 18 already, does that mean i'll be able to play EA games online without any problems related to this age issiue?