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Battlefield 3, Mass Effect 3 MP Will Require Online Pass

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Why would they want people playing on their servers who haven't payed them? Multiplayer is a service, not a product, and charging for a service to every user on it seems pretty rational.

This is all pointless anyway as if your on this site you should be a PC Gamer! and beyond such primitive things as physical media and resales! I have BF3 pre-ordered on Origin and less then 30min (100mbps whats up!) after midnight on launch day I will be up and running, faster then anyone running to a store!
 
[citation][nom]rad666[/nom]I will never use ME3's multiplayer mode, since I can't stand multiplayer, so I will never have to use the "online pass" it comes with. Thus, when I go to sell it on eBay (assuming it's not on Steam and I have to pick it up retail), I'll be able to say it has an unused online pass, incidentally, just like I did with my ME2 since I never activated the "Cerberus Network" BS it came with...[/citation]

Cerberus Network isn't BS, it has quite a bunch of free DLCs :)
 
[citation][nom]shin0bi272[/nom]meh already bought bf3 on origin and dont plan on playing me3's stupid ass multiplayer component. Mass Effect isnt about multiplayer and its just [strike]bioware[/strike] EA trying to make more money.[/citation]

Fixed
 
The majority of those second-hand sales would have been new purchases if the second-hand option wasn't available.

This notion is supported by the FACT that second-hand retailers like Gamestop and Amazon are able to sale MILLIONS of used hard disk games for only a few dollars below the retail price of the NEW games (that pay's the developer/publisher's bills).

When the Gamestops of the world are undercutting your new release sales by cashing in on millions of used games by selling them for $54.99 while the new ones are $59.99, starting less than a weak after the game was released, you deserve to be driven out of business as a publisher if you do NOT take action to counter that threat to sales.
 
[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]Cerberus Network isn't BS, it has quite a bunch of free DLCs[/citation]

None of the "free" DLCs were worth the effort of dealing with it.
 


Who the hell sells a game a week after it's been out?! ME3 and BF3 aren't CoD, they will be played for a long, long time - ME3 for its allegedly/hopefully amazing single-player story, BF3 for its multiplayer.

Thing is, I don't see what's the big deal with circumventing such BS. Why not sell this online key, as well?
 
[citation][nom]airborne11b[/nom]Honestly, with how game development is today, the really ground breaking, graphically intense, complex gameplay mechanic, AAA games require huge amounts of money to fund. On average games are in full swing development for at least 2 years with a team of over 100 employees. Each need to make a salary. Lets just say they made bottom barrel pay of 50k - 60k, that's over 2 million dollars in wages alone for the staff for a 2 year development of a game.Then you got to calculate in work space, hardware to work on, advertising costs, costs to manufacture - label - package - ship the product, liscencing fees, and all the other business expensenses for a large scale operation.You consider all of that and complain about paying $50 or $60 for a AAA title?Come on.[/citation]

actually with games, you figure in generally 10 million a year.
lets assume that AAA costs 50 million on average to make.

at 60$ a game, with 12 going to the sellers, thats 48$
various other costs,

i believe that the games actually start making money at 2 millionish sold, at least thats what i have been told.

but that point is moot, when games that have small dev teams and low cost to produce come out and get me playing longer than most AAA games.

terraria got me for 2 days in game, the most recent cheap one i can remember.
 
I simply have stopped buying from the big three, Eletronic Arse, Smellivision and UBICRAP!

Trust me, there are a whole lot of better publishing houses out there that deserve your money more, and that is exactly what I do along with as many people as I can enlighten!

Bring on GW2, you never hear any crap about ARENANET!
 
although we bitch and complain about this online pass, I'll see all of you out there on the Battlefiled.
 
[citation][nom]RealityClash[/nom]And they wonder why so many people pirate games these days...[/citation]

Fuzzy logic says that a pirated title with no online connectivity, is basically the same product as these used titles bought 2nd-hand.

Can fuzzy logic then conclude that pirating only cheats the 2nd-hand market, and not the game developers?

Fuzzy logic says game companies can't sue pirates, and 2nd-hand stores are the ones entitled to any many awarded for pirating.

I'm going to become a lawyer, just as soon as I can find a website selling the degrees for cheap.

My name is Dirk Diggler and I approve this message. No games were harmed in the production of this message.
 
[citation][nom]DarkBlue21[/nom]Wow, canceling my pre order now. First it had to run on crapper Origin, and a lame browser that adds nothing, but actually makes it harder for you to switch servers, and now there is going to be online pass. That is the last straw, I mean I don't even plan on selling the game nor buying it used, but just the fact that I'm buying a game, I want to know that I own it and that I can use it however I like. Screw this, I'll just wait till it hits bargain bin prices...[/citation]

LOL if you had already pre-ordered than this whole story doesn't even apply to you. It's only used copies that require additional effort and money. You were gonna buy it new anyway. And than when it hits bargain bin prices, you will have to fork out extra money to play it so you are being a little silly
 
[citation][nom]de5_roy[/nom]with all the power efficiency and speed improvements from the newer technology the server maintenance costs must be going through the roof!!they should totally use bulldozer platform if they want to make profit!![/citation]

give us the server software, and let the gamers finance the servers themselves. we tend to do this with games we like when given the chance.

[citation][nom]airborne11b[/nom]Battlelog was a little buggy in the beta, but I liked it's functionality. Best thing about it is going to be setting up squads in battlelog that carry over into the game itself, so you can group up with your friends on the browser, pick a server that will fit you all, and when you get into the game, it's going to put you all on the same team and in the same squad. That's awesome imo. Then it's got stats, server list, everything rolled into one thing seperate from the game (So no need to patch the game to do updates on the browser. It's a great thing.Origin, though I like steam better for their deals and selection, works damn the same way, so don't see how it's crappy.If you'd cancel a game over this news, you must be a no-body anyway lol. Probably just some guy that got rolled over 100x per game in the beta and started raging.[/citation]

well lets see here.

this is dureing the beta, so it may change

- no in game browser for games, this means i have to launch the game every time i want to play a new server... i dont make friends in game, i go to a server, play there a bit, and go to the next once that server dies out or hits a map i despise, but haveing to relaunch the game EVERY TIME I WANT TO PLAY A DIFFERENT SERVER, or get kicked off the current one for lag, i cant handle that

- the game isnt on steam, where everyone is in the pc space, and is forceing origin, something that when i played the beta for bf3 was a horrible experiance across the board... i dont like that

- foriceing online pass, basically a way to f the used gamers. you know, i have gone into this allot, but at the end of the month, if you have even 100$ left over after bills and saving some as an ugh oh stash... you are LUCKY... not everyone has that GREAT JOB that allows you to only need to work 40 hours a week... my dad needs to put in over 60 a week and is making over 30$ an hour and lives... its hard to explain... not how i would expect someone who works that hard and makes that much to live... its really bare minimum... i have friends who also work 40+ hours whose spouse also works 40+ and they still cant afford anything nice.

if you really cant understand peoples frustrations with this publishers crap, please don't comment saying they have nothing to complain about... because there is a hell of allot.

 
[citation][nom]Article[/nom]Kertz said the Online Pass revenue also helps pay for the cost of keeping multiplayer servers up and running.[/citation]

You mean their profit will increase because the cost of running the servers is alleviated by the online pass fee
 
[citation][nom]hetneo[/nom]Here's one explanation for all you who don't understand the problem here and just cry about it.When you buy a game you don't actually buy it or own it as some other product like car, phone or w/e. You are buying so called "limited nontransferable licence". You basically don't buy game, but right to play it. At the moment when you install game you agree on those conditions by clicking Yes, I Agree or w/e on screen with EULA. This is in it self a different kind of problem than what this article is about so I will not delve on it and just say that it's a bit wrong.If you think that you are entitled to resell licence, you are wrong. You have already waved that right by agreeing to the EULA.[/citation]

The license theory for software isn't concrete. There have been first-sale cases in either direction. Besides that, if you do think there is a problem with the general idea of an EULA, you're pretty much in agreement with most everyone else who has posted.

You cannot bind someone to a legal agreement after a purchase has been made. Specifically, after a piece of software has been open and halfway installed, ruining any chance of a refund. Take business software for example. Much of that IS licensed, with a contract negotiated and signed before any commitment or purchase takes place.

Now if we think of right and wrong, which is ideally what our legal system should be based upon, for a EULA to be enforceable I would argue the same standard. If you think it would be pretty damn silly to see fratboys buying bf3 at best buy signing full legal contracts with the minimum wage checkout kids notarizing.. well that's just how silly this whole situation is.

The great thing is EA is doing us all a favor. We PC gamers have been dealing with and b*tching about this crap for a long time. When change begins to happen is when those same console kiddies/ fratboys realize their games have zero resale value and they just got bent over. Once the masses have to deal with this crap in a big way it'll be the same as when the music industry pulled the same crap.
 
All games should be 45 dollars. Then you pay an extra 15 if you want to get online. Offline players save money, Online players might save a nickel in tax, and game developers make money from used games. Then, discount the price as people stop playing online.
 



So are you saying that you don't mind if the government listens to all your phone calls, use cameras to monitor your every move? I mean so long as it is protecting the country it is fine right? And if you are doing nothing wrong, then don't sweat it right? Come on, don't give up your privacy just because it can help prevent pirating and hacking. But nevertheless, Origin isn't gathering information to stop pirating or hacking (or at least to my knowledge), it states that it is there to gather information for marketing purposes.

I'm not talking about Co-op, I'm talking about me not ever playing the game anymore, and just handing it down to somebody.

Honestly, if you're buying the game on PC, you should expect it to only allow one person to play. And again, I'm not talking about the Co-op experience, I want to give this game to someone when I don't play the game anymore. And because of online passes, the game that I pass on will require extra $ to pay for an online pass.

You are pro huh, having a high kill ratio? But I'm guessing you didn't contribute to your team very much.
 


lol, the reason I'm not going to buy this game is because I don't support this kind of move, and I also want the ability to be able to pass down this game to somebody without them having to fork over extra cash. And when I meant bargain bin prices, I was referring to a new version of the game, like a sale of some sort.
 
I'm not too fond of the idea of the game companies getting paid several times over for the same game. That just seems fundamentally wrong. If they're gonna double dip, then they should let people choose whether to buy the game outright, or rent it at a heavy discount. Only through them renting brand new games could I possibly see any justification in getting paid repeatedly for the same game. Maybe 50% off retail price for a 30 day rental. Do that, and skip the charge for online access of used games altogether. I think that would work better for people who may only play many games once anyways, especially for younger folks who may have more free time and can burn through a big game fairly quickly. You keep your saves, and if you want to play through again, maybe make a new character, rent it again at a deeper discount, maybe 70% or 80% off (since you've already rented once). Doesn't this seem more reasonable than double/triple/quadruple dipping? I don't like the way the industry is going, not at all. Imagine receiving an email (we know you sold that copy of Ultima IV, and we want our five bux...." Not cool at all.
 
(because, after all, they get absolutely nothing from second-hand sales)

This isn't entirely true. Most retailers encourage trade-ins to use as credit toward buying a newer game, to help increase their inventory. Thus increasing the sale of newer games also, when those people wouldn't normally buy that game cause of the cost.

This online pass thing is going to bite them in the butt. $5 bucks is a good price to charge, and slightly raising DLC works too. But $10 is slightly too much.

Also you have to account for the fact that second hand retailers are ALWAYS pushing for preorders, which also cause increase sales in new games. By requiring online passes, you are punishing the businesses that promote your products before they are released.
 
[citation][nom]DarkBlue21[/nom]So are you saying that you don't mind if the government listens to all your phone calls, use cameras to monitor your every move? I mean so long as it is protecting the country it is fine right? And if you are doing nothing wrong, then don't sweat it right? Come on, don't give up your privacy just because it can help prevent pirating and hacking. But nevertheless, Origin isn't gathering information to stop pirating or hacking (or at least to my knowledge), it states that it is there to gather information for marketing purposes.I'm not talking about Co-op, I'm talking about me not ever playing the game anymore, and just handing it down to somebody.Honestly, if you're buying the game on PC, you should expect it to only allow one person to play. And again, I'm not talking about the Co-op experience, I want to give this game to someone when I don't play the game anymore. And because of online passes, the game that I pass on will require extra $ to pay for an online pass.You are pro huh, having a high kill ratio? But I'm guessing you didn't contribute to your team very much.[/citation]

Like I said, not sure how much info EA can actually get from your PC through origin. That would determine how much I care about the subject. I have a feeling you're talking about file scans to see if you have 3rd party programs (IE Aimbot, wall hacks, etc) in your files. Maybe you can elaborate how the type and nature of the information origin can obtain from your PC. As of right now, to me it doesn't look like it does anything steam doesn't already do in terms of privacy. From your post it sounds like the same thing google does for advertising. Sounds to me like all they do is a scan for game titles / hardware so they know if you like RPGs they can display RPG ads, or if you use nvidia cards it can display ads for newest GPU. That's far from privacy invasion.

Your not getting my point with the co-op thing. You say I should EXPECT to only play 1 game per PC in the same household. Yet I'm telling you that for a long time it wasn't like that, and consoles still allow for 1 disk sharing in the same household. Why should I EXPECT to buy the same game 4 times for the same house? Aside from it not being an original standard of conduct, consoles don't make you do that. Just saying that PC gaming over the past 10 years has become less and less family friendly. Why hate on EA for something no where near as bad as what other PC game companies have been doing for years.

I can get high KDR while arming Mcoms, dropping kits, reviving and being a team player. In fact high kills is very important to helping the team as well in BF. Makes for a lot less resistance at the flag points and mcoms. Derp.


 
[citation][nom]alidan[/nom]give us the server software, and let the gamers finance the servers themselves. we tend to do this with games we like when given the chance. well lets see here.this is dureing the beta, so it may change- no in game browser for games, this means i have to launch the game every time i want to play a new server... i dont make friends in game, i go to a server, play there a bit, and go to the next once that server dies out or hits a map i despise, but haveing to relaunch the game EVERY TIME I WANT TO PLAY A DIFFERENT SERVER, or get kicked off the current one for lag, i cant handle that- the game isnt on steam, where everyone is in the pc space, and is forceing origin, something that when i played the beta for bf3 was a horrible experiance across the board... i dont like that- foriceing online pass, basically a way to f the used gamers. you know, i have gone into this allot, but at the end of the month, if you have even 100$ left over after bills and saving some as an ugh oh stash... you are LUCKY... not everyone has that GREAT JOB that allows you to only need to work 40 hours a week... my dad needs to put in over 60 a week and is making over 30$ an hour and lives... its hard to explain... not how i would expect someone who works that hard and makes that much to live... its really bare minimum... i have friends who also work 40+ hours whose spouse also works 40+ and they still cant afford anything nice. if you really cant understand peoples frustrations with this publishers crap, please don't comment saying they have nothing to complain about... because there is a hell of allot.[/citation]

All your points are invalid. Oh the horror! of having to wait at a loading screen for 10-15 seconds every few matches. lol

Your advocating a Steam monopoly, which is bad no matter how you look at it. Origin worked 100% just as well as steam, even during the beta. The only thing that was a bit buggy was battlelog, which I'm sure they're going to have in near perfect working order by launch.

You gripe about cost, but nothing says that you can't wait a few months till the game goes on sale and buy a new game at a discounted price. Also, no one said how much the online pass would cost. Might just be a few bucks, so you're getting way ahead of yourself, and this is a much better alternative then charging a monthly subscription to maintain servers.

I don't understand people's frustrations because they're all ridiculous and unwarranted. Like a bunch of children who want everything for free in life. Tough shit. Get over it.

 


PC gaming is NOT family friendly. It assumes every player is actually familiar with the game and owns it. They either play it through the Internet or a LAN party (though, lately the devs are killing the LAN completely). PC gaming is NOT about passing by the friend's house, seeing "a cool game" and immediately playing it; that's why where such a big market for consoles and I'm really happy I'm not part of one. I don't want to be playing co-op with someone unless they are into this game as well and know how to play it well.
 


You're either stupid or trolling. WAIT for a few months after ME3 or BF3 is out?! Frankly speaking, are you nuts? ME3 wait is long enough as it is, and if you wait for too long on the new FPSs, the server activity goes down. It would be a good idea for BF3, because then there would also be new AMD cards which would allow you to max out the game for cheaper, but for ME3, no wait is possible.
 
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