Mass Effect 3's multiplayer tied to Online Pass

@houstons85

You would rather give Gamestop your hard earned money than BioWare?

I think you have your priorities backwards sir.

@houstons85 Don't do that.

@Huey2k2 Like houston, I'd rather pay $20 for it if they're going to add on a game mode not really directly tied to the SP, then made to tie into the SP so that you have to play it.

This kind of convoluted and contradictory type of game making does not need to be rewarded.

@Huey2k2

why is it that people here think Gamestop is the only place to buy used games?

Have you never heard of craigslist or ebay? should we all just throw our games out when we are done with them? maybe EA should start a trade in program.

@Huey2k2 His priorities look good to me. Consumer rights vs extra bit of vidya-gamey entertainment.

F all these online passes. I will never buy one new. And I'm going to deliberately buy these publishers' single-player games used, too, and maybe use the money saved there if I break down and decide I want a "pass." (BTW, thanks Bethesda for telling me I'm not really missing much if I don't go in the sewers in Rage, now I won't feel too left out when I buy your DRMed SP game used, either)

P.S. GameStop isn't the only place that sells used games.

@houstons85
I'm not buying used. I'm just waiting for a price drop. I have a new rule when it comes to games that has been good so far. I spend a maximum of $60 on a game including DLC. Sure, it means waiting on many titles, but it's better than paying $60 for the game at launch then $30 to complete the game. This way I'm still supporting the games and developers I like while also sending a message about how much I'm willing to spend on a single game.

@End User

you are aware that by deliberately choosing to buy only used games without online passes you are actually screwing yourself over right?

...

@Godmars

What you just described is exactly what this isn't. It can be used to enhance the single player, but it is not integral and you can play the single player completely self contained and still do, see, and accomplish everything there is in the game.

@Ryuk How so?

I will either:

1) Forgo whatever part of the game is "locked," and deal with it.
2) Buy a pass, which will cost me less than the difference between a new and used copy.

I just wish I knew of a dedicated hacker group that was working on cracking these "passes," in which case I would donate to them the new/used price difference.

What I want to know is, can I get the game new but WITHOUT the multiplayer, and get it for 10 bucks cheaper? I'm not going to use that part of the game anyway, and apparently they've separated it neatly, price and all.

HAH, who am I kidding? That would be way too consumer oriented!

@Ryuk

I am sorry to correct a death god, but, speaking with ones wallet is the best thing a human that wants to protest can do.

@Lucky48 Do you have some kind of breakdown regarding how much money actually ends up in the hands of "the dev" in each of those two scenarios? Do we know whether or not royalties are paid on sales of online passes?

It is up to "the devs" to work out their own publishing contracts. They should stop letting publishers jerk people around with these passes. I don't care if it's the developer or the publisher that feels the pressure, so long as someone starts to figure out that this "war on second-hand" is going to alienate customers.

@houstons85 If it wasn't a Mass Effect game, I'd probably wait and buy it used from GameFly. It's cheaper, I'm not giving gamestop my money, and the game includes and codes that come with the game, such as multiplayer passes!

@End User

Why buy the game in the first place? If you like the Mass Effect series, why not support the very people who gave you that entertainment?

@Huey2k2

we all share the same HATE for gamestop and its shaddy bussiness but guess what people with COMMON sense would never buy anything there in the first place

Just because we all hate gamestop does not mean that we have to bend over and let this companies screw us up with this kind of anti consumer measure.

in the long run it will affect us and believe me it will affect them too

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/4568-Online-Passes-Are-Bad-For-Everybody

@End User I love how people today give away consumer rights. It's absolutely crazy how people don't think. I wonder if they buy all their college books new, too.:P

@Huey2k2 He could buy it used from a different shop.

@Lucky48 I haven't bought a pass for anything yet, myself. And I don't consider the game "evil," but I do consider pass-lock system to be anti-consumer.

@(Unverified) I would support the people that "brought me the entertainment" if they hadn't partnered with a publisher that "sold me the entertainment" that wants to restrict my consumer rights.

Should I repeatedly patronize a theater that has tacks sticking out of their seats? Imagine that every theater had tacks sticking out of their seats. Should I keep paying the theaters because they're showing movies by filmmakers I admire? It's mainly (so far) the big publishers that are doing this pass crap. This is a way of applying pressure from the bottom (consumer refusal to buy new) and pressure from above (devs that notice consumers' refusal to buy) to potentially influence the publishers in the middle that are engaging in these practices.

@making11s

I'm going to assume you never bought an expansion pack in your life, then.

@shadowghost21 It's fine, we Shinigami aren't perfect. I just didn't understand I thought you meant you were going to purposely buy it used and miss out on the pass even though you could afford to buy it new! I couldn't get behind your thinking

@making11s
THIS. I just wait to buy the game new at a reduced price. The price of video games (even new ones) depreciates over time. The game releases in March; I can wait until the summer, or even until the holiday sales in 2012.

By not being an "early adopter," I will get the game around $20-30 new, hence *with* the online pass. I already have enough games to play, and I don't need to be the f*rst to play it. I'll leave the boycott campaigns and griping to the fanboys.

@DeadRabbits

Dead Space 2 has the same thing

@DeadRabbits if you think the multiplayer is not worth 10$ then dont buy the code and save youself some money, im not. it was a bit silly to expect anything else since ME2 had its stupid cerberus pass shit which i only found out about AFTER buy it used. :( i share your sadface

@DeadRabbits

To be perfectly honest, if you weren't planning on buying the game new EA doesn't really care what you think anyways.

People seem to forget that buying used puts no money into the developers pockets, and why should they give the same experience to people who aren't giving them any money?

Frankly if I was a developer, I would do the same thing.

@DeadRabbits

...what exactly makes you think it won't?

The nerve of some people, indeed.

@Huey2k2

Yeah well, poverty sucks, we all want to play games but have no money, so it's not like anyone poor would have bought the game brand new anyway. I really don't see why developers moan about it, yes it prevents them making money, but that's ASSUMING that those very same people who bought it used would ever have bought it new. There are reasons I buy the occasional used game: 1) its late and the multiplayer is probably dead anyway by then 2) There really isn't that much difference between new and used except that I save a little cash (retail game stores do this all the time, its a bit of a con but its a legal con, simply mark the new as used JUST because they opened the box and there are a couple of other reasons.

Fact of the matter is there isn't a game I bought used that I would have ever bought new had that been the only option, if I really thought a game was worth buying new (Like I have or will do for Battlefield 3, MW3, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Saints Row 3 and Fifa 12) then I would do so. Till then, I have no frets about my used copy of Tekken 6 :/

@Spunky Monkey 190906

Video games are a hobby, if you can't afford the hobby because you don't make any money, maybe you should consider finding a new one.

Seriously, games are not a necessity in life.

@Oli Hanshi

You should've done your homework if you got burned on the Cerberus code, it was pretty widely publicized on the internet how it was supposed to work. It sucks, to be sure, but you can't blame the whole thing on EA.

@Huey2k2
The devs already got their money when someone bought it new. It's like buying a used car. The factory already sold the car and was compensated. The only thing you're buying with an online pass is I guess server space, but I don't think that costs them $10... not that it matters because DAY ONE PURCHASE!!

@Huey2k2 GAMES NOT A NECESSITY IN LIFE!?!?!? BLASPHEMER!!!!

@Fugaku except that once you buy a Taurus you don't drive on roads Ford has to maintain. The pass is included in the game. If you buy it new, it doesn't affect you. If you buy used, but want to use ea's servers then pay them $10

@Fugaku

...

2 people purchasing it new is greater than one person buying it used, thus greater revenue, thus more money to finance future titles in franchise or future titles from studio.

Why is this such a hard concept to understand? Why do people think they're doing some kind of self righteous work by refusing to buy a game new cause developers want to encourage new sales to boost their revenue?

@Fugaku IP's are NOTHING like physical properties so your car example holds no truth. Physical properties degrade overtime and once made the manufacturer doesn't have to provide anything other than whats on the warranty No to mention that most products go through a couple of hands before deterioration is extremely bad.

@livewyre718
True. That's what I said.

@Xcrucio
I'm just saying it's not HURTING the devs to buy used other than server space (unless you buy from Gamespot. Then you hurt EVERYBODY).
Actually, no matter where you buy it from (if it's retail), you're buying it "used". Best Buy or Fry's buys the disk from the publisher, and then sells it to you. That's what retail is.

@Huey2k2

That's besides the point, once there is no law stating that used games are in fact illegal, why SHOULD I invest in something brand new unless I think it is WORTH that? In the same way I would refuse to pay full price for a meal at a restaurant that I didn't particularly enjoy. We moan about the developers making the games and how they deserve that money but so should car manufacturers when you buy a used car yet so many young people buy used cars not always because they NEED one but simply because they WANT one, or clothes makers when you buy from retail outlets outside of that brand making most of the money, again, not always because the individual NEEDS that clothing, simply because they WANT that clothing.

Like you said, gaming is a hobby, not a necessity and therefore I have no obligation (unless I feel I wish to) to buy the game brand new, especially if its almost a year+ old with a dying or dead multiplayer mode (which instantly removes some of the value of the game), to support who? The developers? If I thought that developer was worth supporting I WOULD have bought the game brand new in the first place in the same way that I buy music from the artists I enjoy and ignore ones I don't. Developers aren't supporting me so that I can buy more of their games. You put value on the things you think are worth that expense, saying that, there is a difference between illegally downloading and buying used, at least when buying used it is legal and someone gains that money, even if it isn't the developers.

I really don't see why it's that much of an issue. Like I said, I bought the game used, my money still went somewhere and I guess it went towards keeping those retail outlets in business, a business that could definitely use it with DLC becoming the new thing these days, so it still went to some good use at least, the alternative could have been me simply buying it off of a friend, to which neither the developer nor the retail outlets would get a single penny of my earnings.

Like I said, I believe (because I have yet to play it, but so far it looks like my cup of tea) Battlefield 3 was worth the £36 I spend to pre-order it, Tekken 6 sitting on a shelf on the other hand new for £30 or used for £15, I took used and a good thing too as I would have been pretty pissed off had I spend a penny over what I did pay for that game, certainly wasn't worth £30 to me.

If anyone should be talking about supporting developers, it would be me anyway, many of the games I have in my collections for all my consoles are rare and under-appreciated games that I bought new and not only that, bought again and again and again on any system I could play them on, Populous, Homeworld, Abe Series, Split / Second, Pursuit Force, Altered Beast, Cyberia, Fatal Racing, Dark Reign, Ico, SoTC etc, and yet, most of these developers died, yes, I guess it's sad, I would have liked sequels to some of them, but such is life, should I cry about it? Some things great start and never finish (like Populous) and some things less great start and never finish (like Final Fantasy ¬_¬). Just goes to show, not everyone will appreciate what you appreciate.

@Huey2k2

For the record, first, ignore the "poverty" thing, I'm not poor obviously, I was joking, otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you on a macbook pro, lol, I'm just stingy with my cash seeing as everyone is determined to take it from me, more reason to put my wallet first before developers.

Secondly, I love Mass Effect and have yet to buy an ME used so this was kind of an ironic topic to bring up my "used" debate.

And thirdly, buying Tekken 6 was an example of a game bought purely for the sake of nostalgia and the occasional bout against friends who love beat-em-ups, would I put it in the same value bracket as my Fallout: New Vegas for example? Nope. Fallout deserved my full payment.

@Spunky Monkey 190906

If you are broke and living in poverty, you should not own any gaming system to begin with.

@Fugaku

That's not really an accurate analogy. When you buy a new car, it begins depreciating as soon as you drive it off the lot. After a year of use and enjoyment, you'd be lucky to get half your money selling it used.

So by your logic, even more current used games should be greatly discounted, yet I still see current used titles going for a mere $5-10 less than a new copy.

@Huey2k2

they got the money already. both developers when they went GOLD, and publisher when they sold a game.....

There are not a single industry that get an extra income from a second sale of a product that they already sold in the first place

online pass its just bad for consumers buying NEW or USED

http://www.lensoftruth.com/feature-online-pass-bad-for-gaming/

@(Unverified)
All this screaming over the pass is moot. A million people are going to buy this game in the first quarter and invalidate every argument here because they simply want the game online pass or not. and EA will call it a success because it's not particularly stopping anyone from playing the game they bought.

People buy on day one because they want the game if they buy it at 60 bucks the pass means nothing to them, But even a new copy at 35 bucks a year later will still have the pass. Used is a different matter though, EA would say if you didnt care enough to buy the new copy (either at 60 or later at 35) then you simply dont care enough about the content. But if by some chance you do, just shop smart and find it used for less that Gamestop's bloated used price, that way the Online pass's price doesnt sting.

@Huey2k2

That's cool buddy, you go ahead and keep operating under the assumption that a game company that you choose to patronize (through DLC if nothing else) is correct in that they keep limiting functionality if you have the nerve to buy the game as anything but brand new.

Let me be clear I always buy new if the price is right. Everyone has a price point when it comes to certain things, and impulse buying is just as important. Games or other items I didn't even know I wanted, sometimes fall into my price range and I pick them up because it's an excellent deal. Sometimes that price point is attached to a used game.

All I'm saying is that the game companies need to adjust their prices and maybe find themselves okay with more sales and less profit margin. I know you'll say "OH WELL!!!! A GAME COMPANY'S JOB IS TO MAKE GAMES THAT MAKE THE MOST AMOUNT OF MONEY, SO THEY CAN KEEP MAKING GAMES!!!!" Sure you're right. However as many studies have been done, especially in the age of DD and Steam is that profit margins might be smaller when selling games for less, but the actual revenue coming in is like ridiculously higher when games are sold at discount rates.

So point being is that a if a publisher wants to make more money, make their games cheaper. That's all there is to it. The rocket-like success of Gamestop (I don't patronize them) should have proved that the market for discount games is significantly larger than the market for new games, and instituting these project 10 dollars or their similar ilk does nothing than to tarnish their image by saying "We don't like to compete"

@Acosta02

In a good "this is so awesome I'm going to faint" way or a bad "I feel like a college wrestler just slammed on the floor" way?

@killerjuice

In a "what a surprise!" way, but sarcastically.

@Acosta02
I am just ceilinged.

@Faenix

Agree, EA games coming with the online pass barely ranks as news anymore... it's basically EA's policy from this point forward and should probably be a given at this point.

I however, am a Mayor and make lots of money so I buy all my games new.