EA are chopping up BF3 into DLC exclusive to certain stores

[Calneon]

FUCK. EVERYTHING. ABOUT. THIS.

Pre-order the game from GAME or Gamestop and you'll get the Type 88 LMG, Karkand map, silencer and unique ammo which regular buyers won't get. The unique ammo is even described as being better than the regular ammo.

http://www.battlefield.com/uk/battlefield3/blog/battlefield-3-limited-edition-physical-warfare-pack-available

It's obviously down to EA and not DICE who made this decision, but I thought BF3 was going to be better than this. The worst thing is, I'm probably going to have to buy it because I want the exclusive stuff, which will make them do this shit even more in the future.

[Target]

LoL, they did this for BC2, you get like extra stuff for pre-order, I think most people will pre-order anyway but this is pretty lame, but people who can't aim will still fail no matter how much better there bullets are XD
Just annoying that you have to do this in order to get the Karkand map though, that seems pretty shit as they really big it up that they had remade the map....I can see more DLC being re-skinned pop BF2 maps :s and maybe weapons aswell

[Trigger]

Indeed its really clever business, but id put the blame more on the retailers than i would EA.

Game and gamestop can now get the customers that would go to cheaper retailers and have the most to gain from it all.

[ez64]

Propping up a dead delivery method with a stick wont prevent the inevitable, looks like I wont be buying BF3 either :(

[VoX]

Any chance this will be like the "Deluxe" edition stuff from BC2? As in you get the deluxe edition and you get tracer dart etc from the start, other than that you have to unlock it?

[Hutch]

They said ages ago that the Karkand DLC would be released separately a month later. I reckon the flechette ammo might be an early unlock or something. A bit of a dick move. But I guess I'll buy from Game.

[Calneon]

Silver_Rook: question.... these pre order bonuses? are they available to everyone once they rank up? or are some TRUE exclusive?

Demize99: The Physical Warfare Pack is fully exclusive. There's no other way to get those 4 items.

http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=164936

Fully exclusive.

[Target]

can get some good deals if you pre order anyway :D

[Calneon]

can get some good deals if you pre order anyway :D
I don't think you understand. This is a bonus exclusive to certain retailers, being GAME and Gamestation. Both have BF3 listed for £30. If you pre-order from ANYWHERE else you will not get these weapons or map EVER (if what they say is true).

[Isphera]

Oh no, a retailer made a deal with a publisher in order to try and increase profits. What a disaster. (/sarcasm)

Honestly don't see the big deal. If you want the content, buy from those outlets. If your not fussed, or think this is a dick move, don't buy from there and buy in other places and accept the lack of DLC. Not difficult to understand. If it costs the same at GAME as opposed to other places such as Play.com and Amazon, in what way does it actually effect you other than having to go into a town instead of having it shipped?

EDIT - You can actually order online and get the content, so I would be interested in seeing how it actually effects anything.

EDIT2 - The above posts are also a little misleading - that flacette ammo is only useable on the DAO-12 shotgun, not every weapon. The DAO-12 is also a day 1 unlock for pre-orders, but will be unlockable once others have ranked up.

[Calneon]

Oh no, a retailer made a deal with a publisher in order to try and increase profits. What a disaster. (/sarcasm)

Honestly don't see the big deal. If you want the content, buy from those outlets. If your not fussed, or think this is a dick move, don't buy from there and buy in other places and accept the lack of DLC. Not difficult to understand. If it costs the same at GAME as opposed to other places such as Play.com and Amazon, in what way does it actually effect you other than having to go into a town instead of having it shipped?

EDIT - You can actually order online and get the content, so I would be interested in seeing how it actually effects anything.

EDIT2 - The above posts are also a little misleading -that flacette ammo is only useable on the DAO-12 shotgun, not every weapon. The DAO-12 is also a day 1 unlock for pre-orders, but will be unlockable once others have ranked up.
It costs £30 at those retailers, other places have it for less than £25. You are paying for more maps/weapons.

[Isphera]

My bad on the difference. Even so, £5 is a reasonable price for those maps though - damn sight cheaper than most DLC packs for similar amounts of content. Still honestly don't see a problem.

[Chazlene]

It costs £30 at those retailers, other places have it for less than £25. You are paying for more maps/weapons.

What the fuck's the problem then £30 is still a decent price for a brand new game.

[Hutch]

Calneon you are beginning to sound like a vegetarian. The shotgun ammo probs won't make a huge difference, loads of companies have exclusive maps for preorders, and you have a choice of who to buy from, Game or Gamestation if you want the extra stuff, or elsewhere if you don't.

[Colonel Mitch]

Whilst I agree this is a bad move and don't agree with the way it's been executed, I agree with oric and chazlene that it isn't that bigger deal.

The shotgun I doubt very much will be well used or OP, even with the lolammo.

As chazlene said £30 isnt a particularly high price for a band new game of this caliber.

The main problem I see with this is giving people who pay better ammo for a gun, but so long as its just the generic shotgun which will rape at close range and be useless at long range, and wont get widely used, then i dont see a big issue with that.

I may pre order it BUT ONLY if i can use the key with steam, if not then i'll be ordering it off steam solely for the convenience

[Trigger]

This type of sales can become quite a big deal if they continue down this road, exclusives like this isnt unique anymore. Deus Ex is having weapons and a couple of missions being exclusive if you buy from a certain retailer, the new Arkham asylum and DIrt are also using this same device.

Indeed weapons are not a major concern, but when 4 Maps, an expansion in itself is being closed off it definitely is a big deal. £30 for me is still a lot of money for a game and when alternative retailers are available i want to be able to take them without losing large content for a game at the very start of it.

You could probably also make an argument that stuff like this would also increase piracy

[Calneon]

Calneon you are beginning to sound like a vegetarian.
Please enlighten me, I can't quite see the connection there.

You don't see the problem with restricting certain weapons/ammo/maps from players just because they didn't buy the game before any reviews were released and from a specific retailer? Mitch, your argument that it's not a big deal because you don't think people will use the shotgun is frankly abysmal, lots of people use shotguns in FPS games. Regardless, restricting content because I bought the game at the wrong place is really poor in my opinion.

If they feel like this works it will just get worse and worse in the future, cutting up their finished games into pieces just to charge more for it.

[Trigger]

A survey has been done on EA site and 94% disagreed on such a move. It annoys me that so many games have plans before a game goes live to restrict content and either sell it as early DLC or now as a pre order bonus.

[Vicious Horizon]

Welcome to the world

You are not entitled to have everything you want.
It is the developer's game, it's down to them and their publisher what they do with the iP.
You do not own the franchise.
You do not have a say about what they do with their franchise.
If you don't like it, don't buy it.
There's a miniscule advantage involved "Z0mg, new ammo I CANT GET BCUZ I DONT WNA SPEND ANOTHER £5!?!?!?!?!??!?!" is a poor argument for there being an unfair advantage.
Paying for the new content now supports developers in the future, EA aren't the bad guys anymore, they're surprisingly good with developers.

My view on the whole thing tbh.

[Calneon]

A survey has been done on EA site and 94% disagreed on such a move. It annoys me that so many games have plans before a game goes live to restrict content and either sell it as early DLC or now as a pre order bonus.
Yeah I saw that. I also saw a post somewhere that suggests DICE had absolutely nothing to do with this move, and are just as pissed off as most of the people who voted in that poll. EA just announced the pack and is basically forcing DICE to go through with it.

[Calneon]

Welcome to the world

You are not entitled to have everything you want.
It is the developer's game, it's down to them and their publisher what they do with the iP.
You do not own the franchise.
You do not have a say about what they do with their franchise.
If you don't like it, don't buy it.
There's a miniscule advantage involved "Z0mg, new ammo I CANT GET BCUZ I DONT WNA SPEND ANOTHER £5!?!?!?!?!??!?!" is a poor argument for there being an unfair advantage.
Paying for the new content now supports developers in the future, EA aren't the bad guys anymore, they're surprisingly good with developers.

My view on the whole thing tbh.
You play LoL. You're used to paying for an advantage. For most other proper gamers it's bullshit. Is your attitude for everything just "Meh I don't like it but I can't do anything about it so I guess I'll just live with it"?

[VoX]

Whilst it sucks, kinda have to accept that theres fuck all gamers can do about it, no matter how many times they whine.

[Calneon]

Whilst it sucks, kinda have to accept that theres fuck all gamers can do about it, no matter how many times they whine.
Wrong.

EA did the same thing for Bad Company, gamers complained, EA reversed the decision. Obviously nothing is going to happen if people sit on their asses and admit defeat before even trying anything.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/hxxoy/in_case_youve_forgotten_ea_tried_this_same_crap/

[VoX]

Well you learn something new every day...

[Marshy]

'@notch Markus Persson
When I make a movie, it will have different exclusive scenes added to it depending on what cinema you go to. #subtle'

Notch be trollin

[Calneon]

'@notch Markus Persson
When I make a movie, it will have different exclusive scenes added to it depending on what cinema you go to. #subtle'

Notch be trollin
Awesome :P.

[Vicious Horizon]

Nowhere in LoL can you pay for any meaningful advantage, it's something that they strive to keep from happening.
But back to topic:

I don't see why everyone's getting so much anal pain from a small amount of money which you can pay for if you want.
If you don't want it, don't pay the money and don't complain that other people have bought it, it was your decision.

As far as I'm concerned, DICE and EA can do what they want with the pricing, it's their product, they can do what they want to it.

I don't see why people think they're so entitled to be able to dictate everything a company does, not every company is VALVe, and not every company should be.

The awesome gamer community we have often makes us think that we are an integral part of the development team.
We're not.
And we shouldn't be, sure, businesses should listen to their consumers, but what gives US the right to dictate and tell THEM how they should price their products, how they should market their products, and slam them for utilising a legitimate and proven business strategy in order to maximise their profits.

Why the fuck should they have to listen to people complaining about getting more for their money at a price cheaper than every single console gamer out there?

The console price without this additional content is going to be between £40 and £50, and us PC gamers are complaining about an OPTIONAL OPTION FOR EXTRA CONTENT IN GAME?

Seriously?

Get some perspective, please.

[Hutch]

Vegetarians and Vegans normally have very strong opinions on everything. They also hate any kind of injustice, whether it is there or not.

[Trigger]

I don't see why people think they're so entitled to be able to dictate everything a company does, not every company is VALVe, and not every company should be.

The awesome gamer community we have often makes us think that we are an integral part of the development team.
We're not.
And we shouldn't be, sure, businesses should listen to their consumers, but what gives US the right to dictate and tell THEM how they should price their products, how they should market their products, and slam them for utilising a legitimate and proven business strategy in order to maximise their profits.

A business that does not understand what the customers want or listen to criticism is doomed to fail. If i look past your exaggeration i can see the point your trying to get out, yes a company can try to make as much profit as possible and often that goes against what customers want but a middle ground must be found. Customers CAN tell businesses how they should price/market their product, they are the ones that buy it.




Why the fuck should they have to listen to people complaining about getting more for their money at a price cheaper than every single console gamer out there?

The console price without this additional content is going to be between £40 and £50, and us PC gamers are complaining about an OPTIONAL OPTION FOR EXTRA CONTENT IN GAME?

Seriously?

Get some perspective, please.

The issue about extra content is the key, its not really an 'optional option' When a game gets released you want it to come with everything and as a consumer you want to be able to choose where you get it. (In my opinion 4 Maps for a multiplayer game with history does not really count as luxury content at launch, whilst weapons does)

Comparing the prices with Consoles is a weak argument, 'Your getting a better deal than the other people who are ripped off more!'

Isnt looking at the state of consoles and games like COD with the prices of new maps a good enough incentive for people to complain to companys and let them see what its like from our perspective.

I understand the pressure companys are under to release games but when every game is a sequel, every RPG comes with at least £15 worth of DLC somewhere along the line, More FPS contain map and weaponry DLC, companys need to stop sucking money slowly from consumers and get creative with new games and ideas. (Though thats another debate on the problems of creativity)

[Vicious Horizon]

Optional Option Best Option.


It boils down to choice really doesn't it, you're free to choose whether or not you buy the extra content from whoever it is that is doing this deal, if you don't like it, you have three choices:

1) Buy the game for less, with slightly less content
2) Buy the game for more, with more content
3) Don't buy the game

If you don't agree with EA's decision to create more content for more money, fair enough, that's your opinion and I understand that, so choose option 1 and don't support their choice.
If you would like to spend more money for more content, then go with option 2, and get more content.
If you think that the game is going to be horrendously imbalanced due to the additional content that people can buy then don't buy the game, simple.

I understand that this is part of a growing trend of game companies splitting up content that; let's be honest, should be in the game (Oh wait, it is!) - I don't agree with spending £15 on a new map pack every month a la Call of Duty.... so I don't buy a new map pack every month for Call of Duty.

I don't see what the problem is to be honest, I probably won't spend £30 on the game just for some small upgrades that may give people an advantage, but they paid for it and I didn't, so fair enough it doesn't bother me because I could have spent the extra money if I think it's worth it, however I don't think it's worth it, so I won't be buying it. If other people buy it, great! That's their decision, good on them for digging deep for something they really want, and if they kill me because of, for example, this unique ammo for a shotgun, fair enough - he'd paid the money and I didn't.

[Calneon]

Nowhere in LoL can you pay for any meaningful advantage, it's something that they strive to keep from happening.
But back to topic:

I don't see why everyone's getting so much anal pain from a small amount of money which you can pay for if you want.
If you don't want it, don't pay the money and don't complain that other people have bought it, it was your decision.

As far as I'm concerned, DICE and EA can do what they want with the pricing, it's their product, they can do what they want to it.

I don't see why people think they're so entitled to be able to dictate everything a company does, not every company is VALVe, and not every company should be.

The awesome gamer community we have often makes us think that we are an integral part of the development team.
We're not.
And we shouldn't be, sure, businesses should listen to their consumers, but what gives US the right to dictate and tell THEM how they should price their products, how they should market their products, and slam them for utilising a legitimate and proven business strategy in order to maximise their profits.

Why the fuck should they have to listen to people complaining about getting more for their money at a price cheaper than every single console gamer out there?

The console price without this additional content is going to be between £40 and £50, and us PC gamers are complaining about an OPTIONAL OPTION FOR EXTRA CONTENT IN GAME?

Seriously?

Get some perspective, please.
At the moment it's a £5 price increase, and you get exclusive guns and ammo. Don't come crying to me when publishers hike the price up and up, and split their games up into minuscule parts and market them off as pre-order and day 1 DLC for £5 per map. It's not unlikely in a few years that publishers will be restricting classes, entire map packs, multitudes of weapons depending on where you buy the game and when you pre-order it.

You would have to be blind not to see the increase in this sort of marketing recently, and the decline in the quality of games.

http://i.imgur.com/1hy5e.jpg


Vegetarians and Vegans normally have very strong opinions on everything. They also hate any kind of injustice, whether it is there or not.
You appear to have a strong opinion opposing mine. Therefore you are a vegan.

[Vicious Horizon]

Yeah, I've seen the obvious increase in DLC over the last 5-6 years, but you know what? A majority of the time DLC involves a fair bit of man-hours, which spread over a whole studio (as a studio will always be involved in any DLC released) will cost money, and so these people have to be paid, which is lost revenue as far as the publisher is concerned, and- oh look, you have to pay money to buy something that people made, how absurd and outrageous.
Before you jump down my throat and say "But Vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalve update TF2 for freeeeeeeeeeeee" - I know, how utterly amazing that a studio which is directly funded by one of the most successful digital distribution enterprises to date is releasing DLC for free!
And don't forget about the micro-transactions that TF2 has now incorporated, which I notice has been swept under the rug as everyone injects even more money into it.

I know this isn't strictly relevant to the matter at hand, however I think it's a parallel to what the BF3 pre-order content is.

You talk about how in the future publishers (cough activision) will be restricting content depending on where you buy it and how much you pay, which I'm not arguing against, it's a fair point, however why not pay for the content if you want it? If you don't want to pay extra for content, don't pay extra for the content and just don't buy it, it's fairly simple I think that if you don't want it, don't pay for it, no one is forcing you to buy this content.

I may not agree with this gaming dystopia where if you want to unlock a specialised class you have to pay £3.49 to unlock the class in-game, but it may well happen, and if you want to stop it, don't pay for it, that'll show 'em, right?

Wait, the casual gaming masses will still pay for it, and there's nothing we can do about it, it's a fact of the industry that the kiddies who buy CoD 17: Return to AMERICA and pay through the nose for the latest maps, guns and classes outrageously overweigh those of us who disagree with this form of marketing and profiteering and as such, we have to follow suit.

Until Activision, EA and other Publishing giants decide that they're going to cater for the hardcore minority then they're not going to care that 500,000* hardcore players are boycotting their DLC when the 10 million* sheeple go for it as quickly as they can, with a fist-fulla-dollars.


*Figures plucked from guesstimates, the 10million was from MW2's sales, and the 500,000 is a reasonable estimate of the number of hardcore gamers who'd follow a boycott such as this.

[VoX]

Wait, the casual gaming masses will still pay for it, and there's nothing we can do about it, it's a fact of the industry that the kiddies who buy CoD 17: Return to AMERICA and pay through the nose for the latest maps, guns and classes outrageously overweigh those of us who disagree with this form of marketing and profiteering and as such, we have to follow suit.

This.

*Swiftly exits thread*

[Calneon]

Wait, the casual gaming masses will still pay for it, and there's nothing we can do about it, it's a fact of the industry that the kiddies who buy CoD 17: Return to AMERICA and pay through the nose for the latest maps, guns and classes outrageously overweigh those of us who disagree with this form of marketing and profiteering and as such, we have to follow suit.
You're right but that doesn't mean we don't have the right to complain.

[Hutch]

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/1572/hipsterkitty.png

[Vicious Horizon]

You're right

Don't worry, I know :D

[Trigger]

Yay for cynicism, to have an attitude that says because the majority is not acting then nothing can be done is so depressing. What changes would ever be made if people just accepted matters because they didnt think it could be changed.

The Minority of 'Hardcore' gamers can easily sway things like this because theyre the ones that review games, write blogs spread opinon to the masses of other gamers. The Herd of 'Kiddies' will just as easily agree with the wrongness of content being sacrificed for profit if attention for the issue is shown.

[Calneon]

http://twitter.com/#!/Battlefield/status/81395538259476480

[Trigger]

http://twitter.com/#!/Battlefield/status/81395538259476480

Good News, the wording on the Blog made me laugh. If the original intent was to make it a Time-based exclusive and they were concerned over misunderstanding its quite peculiar that they forgot to ever mention it :D

(http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/06/16/physical-warfare-pack-available-to-all-battlefield-3-players.aspx##)

[Calneon]

Good News, the wording on the Blog made me laugh. If the original intent was to make it a Time-based exclusive and they were concerned over misunderstanding its quite peculiar that they forgot to ever mention it :D

(http://blogs.battlefield.ea.com/battlefield_bad_company/archive/2011/06/16/physical-warfare-pack-available-to-all-battlefield-3-players.aspx##)
Yes, they're obviously trying to make it sound like that was their intention all along instead of caving in to consumer demand. Either way, I'm happy they've done it.

[Hutch]

I seriously swear ages ago they said it was a time based exclusive. You guys may have blown this all out of proportion.

[ez64]

indeed we have, hopefully they wont keep releasing stuff then you have to wait a couple months until its unlocked unless you pay.

[Calneon]

I seriously swear ages ago they said it was a time based exclusive. You guys may have blown this all out of proportion.
No, they specifically said it was unavailable to people who didn't pre-order, for ever. I can dig up the source if you want.

[kneticz]

not great, however not the end of the world.

If they decide to make you pay for each DLC. I may pass completely.

[Isphera]

not great, however not the end of the world.

If they decide to make you pay for each DLC. I may pass completely.

To decide on whether to buy a game on whether or not it will sell DLC is ridiclous. So many games now use both DLC and Microtransactions now, you'll be hardpressed to find a good multiplayer game that doesn't use either.

[kneticz]

I'd more likely pay for DLC on xbox, I'd rather there be no DLC on pc and just give the communities the tools to make the game the way they want it.

All about the money though.

[kneticz]

Yeah, I've seen the obvious increase in DLC over the last 5-6 years, but you know what? A majority of the time DLC involves a fair bit of man-hours, which spread over a whole studio (as a studio will always be involved in any DLC released) will cost money, and so these people have to be paid, which is lost revenue as far as the publisher is concerned, and- oh look, you have to pay money to buy something that people made, how absurd and outrageous.

The Call of Duty DLC is awful, bet they just crack the whip out on the interms. lol