EA explains Battlefield:BC's pay-to-play weapons

104 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Mar 24th 2008 9:30PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

After initially seeing EA's explanation about its pay-to-play DLC weaponry in Battlefield: Bad Company on MTV's Multiplayer, it was time for a nice walk around the block to inhale some crisp spring air and exhale some vexation before sitting down to write about it. The publisher states that five of the DLC weapons in its upcoming FPS will be "free," and the other five will be bundled with the game's "Gold Edition." For gamers who don't want to buy the "Gold Edition," the weapons will be available to purchase through PSN and XBM -- no prices are currently attached to the weapons.

EA states that the pay-to-play weaponry in B:BC will not unbalance the game and that "more weapons offer players more choices but do not create an advantage/disadvantage for players who do not opt to buy new item." Wait, what? Paying extra money for weapons other players don't have doesn't change the game experience? We had hoped EA had given up on its dubious microtransactions, but we're sure consumers will vote using their wallets if they agree with EA's tactic.

Tags: battlefield-bad-comp..., battlefield-bad-company, dlc, ea, microtransaction, microtransactions, mtv, pay-to-play

Source

(Page 1) Reader Comments

F1: Mar 24th 2008; 9:40PM

...

Snipermonky: Mar 24th 2008; 11:10PM

While you sit there with your mouth shut the rest of us will voice our opinion on the matter. This micro transaction stuff is getting out of hand.

Ignatius: Mar 24th 2008; 11:20PM

Nickel and dime, nickel and dime, nickel and dime.

Hammer a nail, hammer a nail, hammer a nail.

Bleu: Mar 25th 2008; 11:03AM

What is sad is that idiots will actually do this. I cant believe they are gonna charge for guns to be played in the game......WOW! Anything to make a buck, I dont support EA for many reasons and this one just adds to the long list.

Chase: Mar 29th 2008; 3:51PM

I will not be buying Battlefield: Bad Company. I would rather not encourage companies, like EA, to continue exploiting us gamers with these dubious microtransactions.

AoE: Mar 24th 2008; 9:40PM

Thank you for pointing out that at the end of the day... it's whether this stuff sells or not that encourages EA to continue their microtransaction experimentation.

So seriously, if you don't want to see EA doing more and more of this in the future? Don't encourage them! Writing angry comments in response to blog posts about their shenanigans is all fine and well, but EA's not looking at blog backlash, they're looking at the money rolling in.... Please keep this in mind the next time you're thinking about purchasing a bit of cruddy DLC like this from EA... and remember if you make the purchase, you're just encouraging them.

Matt_M: Mar 24th 2008; 11:02PM

I'd go even further- if you buy the game itself, you're contributing to the mindset that it's okay to not ship a game with a complete feature set.

GreyFox: Mar 25th 2008; 12:44AM

Couldn't agree more with both of you.

bobartig: Mar 25th 2008; 1:00PM

Wait up, Matt, you shouldn't talk about 'a complete feature set', because a game with DLC ships (whether you feel entitled to it or not), is shipping with more features than the same game without. DLC is a feature, requiring additional development time and resources. Its just not one that you like.

Einhanderkiller: Mar 24th 2008; 9:42PM

Needs more :facepalm:

Wubbytoes: Mar 24th 2008; 9:46PM

If it doesn't affect the game at all, then what the hell is the point of this ridiculous DLC besides nickel and diming the consumer? Stupid EA.

ApolloIV: Mar 24th 2008; 10:49PM

You act like you didn't see this coming. But it's true EA is a money whore and i am afraid of what they will do to beloved franchises they have now bought with their fucking house of gold.

eugene: Mar 24th 2008; 9:46PM

It's obvious that the crew behind Lumines had some sort of communicable mental disease, first it spread to the team behind the latest Ace Combat and now these guys have it. I heard this is actually a very old and ancient disease that goes by the name of greed.

The only cure, for people to ignore and boycott their schemes.

shoeshine: Mar 24th 2008; 9:47PM

I honestly don't see what the big deal is. Forza 2 charges for new cars, Halo 3 charges for new maps, Rock Band charges for songs. So what if they charge for a gun? Don't buy it if you don't want it.

ScottyGEE32: Mar 24th 2008; 10:10PM

These guns will most likely be included on the actual disc. You pay to unlock them. These maps from Halo 3 or these cars from Forza are developed after the game is released.

The poor thing by EA is that they are going to earn money by simply locking out users who didn't shell out to buy an extra edition beforehand.

If Halo 3 or any other game for that matter released a special edition which gave people more content than your disc and allowed them to use it against you unless you paid up, you'd be pissed.

EG: Imagine if the gravity hammer was locked unless you got the legendary halo pack? Leaving 80%+ users without the ability to wield it while rich people smack you around with it. The game should be enjoyed by all, not simply because someone had enough cash to get limited edition copies

EA is dividing people by who has the most money to use features that were already developed and people who don't.

ScottyGEE32: Mar 24th 2008; 10:20PM

hmmm there may be wholes in my argument I'm thinking >_>

DangerMouse: Mar 24th 2008; 10:49PM

I'm not familiar with Battlefield games, but can you pick up the enemy's weapon? What happens if you haven't purchased that weapon? Do they ask you if you want to buy it before proceeding?

Or is it like the other games with DLC maps, where you can't play on servers with these weapons enabled if you don't have them?

Laggy: Mar 24th 2008; 11:00PM

In the PC Battlefield games you could pick up weapons you hadn't unlocked yet and use them for as long as you could stay alive or run out of ammo.
But like most FPS online games the life expectancy of a player is very short. So you had to quickly revel in the fact you've found a secret gun, then fire off a few shots, maybe kill 1 or 2 guys, then die.

NATO_Duke: Mar 25th 2008; 10:01AM

Yeah Mouse, I am sure you could pick them up and try them but as soon as you die they are gone again. You can do that with unlockable weapons in COD4 too. Its pretty standard in games with unlockable weapons.

Steve: Mar 25th 2008; 2:32PM

And here ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why they'll NEVER abandon microtransactions. Fucking people who support this shit by buying it should be beaten to death with their consoles.

blindspot: Mar 24th 2008; 9:49PM

Theres nothing that pisses me off more than this.

AoE: Mar 24th 2008; 9:56PM

well... it's better to be pissed off than pissed on. ;)

DangerMouse: Mar 24th 2008; 10:49PM

Unless you're into that kind of thing.

Mr.ESC: Mar 25th 2008; 2:50AM

I just watched a movie that pissed me off more than this oh and there was a guy that was pissed on in that movie so yes is better to be pissed off than pissed on.

Kyattsuai: Mar 24th 2008; 9:56PM

So, EA's in the midst of more DLC abuse, and the subtitle of the game is "Bad Company"? The jokes write themselves.

Microswirl: Mar 24th 2008; 10:03PM

Wha... oh right because EA is a Company... who is Bad... they do Bad things as a Company... they are, in fact, a Bad Company... El Oh El! That's puntastic!

P.S. FUCK EA!!!

Deuxhero: Mar 24th 2008; 10:01PM

What anime is the pic from?

Poisoned Al: Mar 25th 2008; 12:05AM

Who fucking cares?

Marry me Mario PSN: Killjebus: Mar 25th 2008; 1:17AM

Google Image Search

BPM X: Soul Eraser [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186]: Mar 25th 2008; 1:17AM

Apparently, Deuxhero does.

Nestea_Zen: Mar 25th 2008; 5:32AM

It appears to be Gunslinger Girl (I'm not sure). 12 episodes.
And I was about to give EA a chance.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=94076&page=2
Saddens me.
The only thing that is sure, is that whoever is going to buy this "extra" is a moron.

The Artist formally known as Jesus SSBB code: 0430-7963-559: Mar 24th 2008; 10:03PM

Can I buy a nuclear strike? I really want to see if everything really is destructible.

Einhanderkiller: Mar 24th 2008; 10:42PM

It isn't. From what I've seen, the game uses pre-determined breakpoints; the game just uses more than what most games use.

ChooChooCharlie (Brawl: 1504-5357-9285): Mar 24th 2008; 10:04PM

The fact that the guns are already on the "Gold Edition" makes me wonder if this is another one of those "it's already coded into the game, but were gonna have you pay to unlock it" sort of things.

Shmil (Brawl Code 2621-2310-1994): Mar 24th 2008; 10:10PM

well it is EA, and what you describe is somewhat unethical and mean, so the answer is yes

Shmil (Brawl Code 2621-2310-1994): Mar 24th 2008; 10:11PM

choco i added you to brawl

ChooChooCharlie (Brawl: 1504-5357-9285): Mar 24th 2008; 10:20PM

k, I'll add you

ApolloIV: Mar 24th 2008; 11:03PM

Oh shit! I was the combo breaker!

modified: Mar 25th 2008; 1:36AM

Whether the weapons are on the disc or not is pointless. The fact is they are trying to charge a premium for what should be included with the price of the game. If you actually had to download the data this would somehow be alright with you? You can't be serious.

ChooChooCharlie (Brawl: 1504-5357-9285): Mar 25th 2008; 1:48AM

No. Either way is bad. I just think it would be even shadier of EA if they were to charge you for content you already paid for and was actually on the physical disc.

Regardless, they're still evil moneygrubbers.