Battlefield Fans Don't Like Freebies

[Andy Chalk]

Battlefield Fans Don't Like Freebies

It turns out that Battlefield fans complain less when they have to pay for DLC than they do when they get it free.

You've probably heard the phrase, "You can't give this crap away," but while it's normally the sort of thing uttered by retail electronics employees trying to unload cheaply-made USB hand warmers, it's also a very real problem for DICE, the studio behind the Battlefield franchise. The company took "a lot of flack" when it released Battlefield: Bad Company 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-Bad-Company-2-Pc/dp/B002NIP2SM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1316025453&sr=8-6] maps as free DLC, yet got an almost unanimously positive response when it put out a slightly larger map pack and charged for it.

"I know it sounds weird, but people got really upset with us. People said, 'If you're giving it away, why couldn't you give it away earlier?' There were a lot of complaints," Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietman [http://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-3-Limited-Pc/dp/B002I0HJZO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1316025493&sr=8-3] expansion, on the other hand, which cost 1200 Microsoft points, earned a far more positive response. "It was a bigger pack and we charged for it, but everyone saw the value, and everyone enjoyed the game," he said.

Consumers have a much easier time seeing value in bigger expansions that cost money than they do in small freebies, Bach explained, although he pointed out that DICE will nonetheless continue to put out free DLC in the future. "It's just fascinating," he said. "Consumers are not used to getting things. There are no free lunches, and people get very suspicious when they get something for free."

First among the freebies for the upcoming Battlefield 3 will be the Physical Warfare pack, a preorder bonus that will eventually be given to everyone. But even that seems to be rubbing some people the wrong way. "People say they don't want to pre-order, so again we just have to say, 'Okay, what do you want?! What can we give you for free? We'll give you a hundred dollars if you play our game!'" Bach said. He presumably later clarified that DICE will not actually give people $100 for playing Battlefield 3.

Battlefield 3 comes out on October 25 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.


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[Eri]

People whine and ***** about everything they possibly can, it's no surprise they ***** about free things.

 

[Lillowh]

NO NO NO! We weren't complaining about free dlc you idiot. Many people loved the maps you gave for free. The problem was that ONLY 1 of the DLC packs actually had new maps. You had 1 piece of free dlc for Battlefield Bad Company 2, the 3 maps (2 maps from the original bad company, and one map blatantly ripped from campaign and just put borders on each side, but we still appreciated them). The rest were just you guys giving what wasn't even a patch(you didn't have to download the so called "VIP Map Packs") where all you did was add on your end the ability to play the disk maps in different modes that you held them back from on release. We weren't complaining about the dlc being free. We were complaining about it being shit.

 

[Lord Honk]

Y'know, to go off on a tangent, I don't really care that much about DLC, paid for or free, if it doesn't add to the game in an important way. If the game stands on its own, sweet, I got my money's worth. If it doesn't, DLC won't (or will rarely) alleviate the problems of the game.

I won't ***** about free stuff, don't get me wrong, but this article just brings more attention to the fact that games must have extra stuffs to bolt on. I'm contempt with just buying a good game, that will be all, thanks.

 

[Sicram]

The free maps in BC2 were just remakes of already existing maps with different modes. Except for two maps from BC1 which, if I remember correctly, were pretty positivly taken seeing as they weren't already maps from BC2. Well, then we also have that one which was from single player and got remade for MP which was neat.

Vietnam was more of an expasion than just maps. Decent difference there.

 

[CD-R]

God I can't count the number of times I wanted to reach through the internet and strangle someone when they complained on the Bad Company 2 forums about the free map updates "not really being new maps just the single player maps made into multiplayer form."

Hey know what I like about the "new maps that are just the single player maps made into multiplayer form"?

NOT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM YOU DUMB f#$$#S!!!!

Still I am happy they are going to continue the free dlc despite the Jackassery on the Battlefield forums.

 

[jackanderson]

What...? I don't even...? What is...?

 

[JeanLuc761]

I will never understand people's aversion to pre-ordering games. There is absolutely zero consequence to putting $5 on a game before it comes out and nabbing the free stuff that comes with the pre-order. If it turns out you don't want the game by the time it comes out, then simply cancel your pre-order and get a refund or put the money towards something else.

Complaining about free stuff just boggles the mind.

 

[AJax_21]

I actually liked the remade maps more than Vietnam, it was still a pretty good expansion. But yeah, I never got the complaining from some Battlefield fans. Especially, regards to BF3 pre-order bonuses(which will eventually be available for free).

 

[Viral_Lola]

Who doesn't love free? Well, I guess free tapeworms would be an exception but is free dlc a bad thing?

 

[theriddlen]

Well, at least DICE's CEO didn't have to publicly apologize, like Nintendo when they lowered their prices.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

WAs it free across all platforms or just on PC? Because I can see people complaining about that. Anyway, I love free stuff! Particularly Battlefield free stuff!

 

[CD-R]

WAs it free across all platforms or just on PC? Because I can see people complaining about that. Anyway, I love free stuff! Particularly Battlefield free stuff!

It was free across all platforms provided you bought the game new. If you didn't it was like ten bucks.

 

[uppitycracker]

No, no, no, DICE You are fucking retarded and trying to spin this in a completely different direction.

They know DAMN WELL what the problem with the DLC for BC2 was. We were promised FREE DLC NEW MAPS, and what we got were recycled maps from different game modes. Why was that an issue? Because most people I saw on the PC were stuck in one game mode, so 99% of the time we were just shafted. And when we weren't, the recycled maps were so poorly optimized that they weren't fun.

AND THEN we get the expansion? FINALLY 4 new maps? But we have to pay for them? Yeah, I know I stopped playing around then, and a lot of my other PC brethren did, as well.

So those douchebags are now trying to spin it like we were just impatient (which yeah, maybe a bit, but jesus christ they took forever to recycle those maps), when in reality we just felt like we were lied to. Way to piss me off even more, DICE. Really thinking of dropping BF3 off my radar, just so I don't contribute to yer bullshit any longer.

 

[teisjm]

I dunno whats up with people concerning the free map back for BFBC2, but as for the physical warfare pack for BF3, I and many others who wasn't happy with it, were under the impression that it was something only given to pre-ordering players, which by itself is perfectly fine, but not if they're getting power unachievable by others.
If they get otherwise unobtainable weapon skins, no problem.
If they get weapons, other people will get/be able to unlock later on (as i now see is the case) fine, no problem.
But if they, as was thought, gave power to the pre-order players, which other players couldn't achieve, or could only achieve by forking over more cash, that would be a problem.

The way gameing looks today, i'm impressed when companies add free stuff, as opposed to charging 10 dolloars for 4 new maps.
But if you're giving one boxer a pair of gloves with brass knucles fitted inside, you better give his opponent a set too, or the match will be screwed over.

I will never understand people's aversion to pre-ordering games. There is absolutely zero consequence to putting $5 on a game before it comes out and nabbing the free stuff that comes with the pre-order. If it turns out you don't want the game by the time it comes out, then simply cancel your pre-order and get a refund or put the money towards something else.

Complaining about free stuff just boggles the mind.

Now i've never pre-ordered games, so this is an honest question, not some smart-ass comment.
Does game-stores really give you your deposit back, if you change your mind?

CAuse in the case of BF3, i'm glad i didn't preorder, after hearing about the EA origin TOS (which is now changed to be less invasive, so i'll have to reconsider again) which basicly gave them the right to use a shitload of your computers rescources to probe for any data on your computer, and use it however they pleased.

 

[Croaker42]

I thought the first free thing you get from BF3 was a invasive game management system that will rape your PC for information.

OT; Yep people hate not having to pay for stuff... o.o

Hey know what like about the "new maps that are just the single player maps made into multiplayer form"?

NOT HAVING TO PAY FOR THEM YOU DUMB f#$$#S!!!!

Still I am happy they are going to continue the free dlc despite the Jackassery on the Battlefield forums.

/Well said.

 

[Irridium]

The "new maps" they gave away in Bad Company 2 weren't new maps though. They were the same maps the game shipped with, they just put all gamemodes on them as time went on.

They most certainly did not give away new maps for free. Something they said they would do, but didn't. That's why people complained.

 

[Beryl77]

Ok, if it wasn't obvious until now, it's official that humans are idiots.
As a long time Valve fan, I'm quite used to free DLC and under no circumstances would I prefer to pay for DLC, especially if they only include some map pack and a few weapons.

It's true what a teacher said once to me, "people will always complain, no matter what you do or don't do." Give ten people ten bucks and there will be at least one person among those ten people, who will somehow find a reason to complain.
It's just that stupid way of thinking that something which is free is worse than something you had to pay for. It's way to easy to trick people and make them give you more money.

Oh yeah, I refuse to read the last sentence, so give me my $100 Dice!

 

[Geoffrey42]

Executive Producer Patrick Bach is talking out his a**. The reason the reception to free DLC versus Vietnam differed was due to the issues outlined by Lillowh above. Gripes about the "free" DLC had more to do with them advertising "Hey look! Call of Duty charges you for maps, but we're giving them away for free!". It was obvious that they would've been universally derided had they chosen to make players pay for unlocked modes on pre-existing maps/assets, so their marketing department tried to turn the otherwise-hum-drum-pricing-decision into a selling point to rub in the face of Call of Duty. This blatant marketing newspeak is what angered people, not that they were getting the tweaked maps for no additional charge. Vietnam was an expansion: generally all-new assets. They got no guff for charging for it, nor complaints about its value, because nobody in marketing had the brilliant idea to shout from the rooftops "WE'RE CHARGING A REASONABLE AMOUNT FOR CONTENT! LOOK HOW FANCY WE ARE!!"

I will never understand people's aversion to pre-ordering games. There is absolutely zero consequence to putting $5 on a game before it comes out and nabbing the free stuff that comes with the pre-order. If it turns out you don't want the game by the time it comes out, then simply cancel your pre-order and get a refund or put the money towards something else.

Complaining about free stuff just boggles the mind.

Some of us prefer to buy games after we've heard whether or not said game is any good. At that time, we often like to get all the widgets that go with the product. When the publishers, retailers, and the plebes play this little game of "we know you're going to buy it anyway because you have no taste, but we want to make more money from retailers by offering various incentives to pre-order, so we're going to put all of these little irrelevant tchotchkes out as pre-order bonuses", it irks the rest of us. Yes, I know I said the tchotchkes are irrelevant, but that doesn't matter to my inner OC-completionist. How about retailers go back to competing on customer service, selection, and price, with retailer-agnostic products, instead of anti-competitive pre-order bonuses?

Disclaimer: I've pre-ordered BF3 from Direct2Drive because I've enjoyed BF1942, BF2, BFBC, and BFBC2, and was able to get it for $44 sans tchotchkes. Hyperbole regarding plebes above obviously applies to me in this case.