Star Wars: Battlefront's Season Pass Will Include Four "Epic" Expansions

[StewShearerOld]

Star Wars: Battlefront's Season Pass Will Include Four "Epic" Expansions

Star Wars: Battlefront's DLC season pass will include four expansions packs that will add in new items, vehicles, locations and play modes.

<a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/161247-Star-Wars-Battlefront-Expected-to-Sell-13-Million-by-March-2016>Star Wars: Battlefront releases tomorrow and while some have expressed disappointment with the latest incarnation of the franchise, others are chomping at the bit to get their hands on it. Hoping to give these same eager gamers incentive to advance purchase the game's DLC, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/electronic%20arts?os=electronic+arts>Electronic Arts and DICE have recently revealed the contents of Battlefront's season pass.

According to a posting on the <a href=http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/season-pass>official Battlefront website, the game's season pass will grant players access to "[four] epic expansions packs" that will include "20 new pieces of tech," four new heroes and villains, 16 multiplayer maps "featuring new locations" and an exclusive "Shoot First" emote. The season pass will also grant purchasers two weeks of exclusive early access to new DLC packages when they become available. The season pass is already available for pre-school and costs 49.99. The first DLC package for the game will release "in early 2016."

Speaking personally, while I am looking forward to Battlefront (Amazon confirmed that my copy shipped this morning), I'm not entirely sold on buying its season pass. Setting aside the fact that it's another 50 dollars to lay down on top of what I just spent buying the game itself, there's something about spending money on something I don't know the precise contents of that just rubs me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, when the DLC packs actually arrive and deliver new goodies that I want, I'll happily fork over some cash to pick them up then. Until then though, I think I'll survive.

Source: <a href=http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/season-pass>EA Star Wars





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[Ukomba]

Epic, like exclusive Victory emotes, pallet swapped costumes, and expedited weapon unlocks. Maybe even a super special hat. All for the low low price of $120. Be sure to binge yourself on the game too, before the servers become ghost towns and you can only play horde mode over and over.

 

[Aerosteam]

The next term in the gaming industry that would lose all its meaning will now be "expansion pack".

Fuck.

 

[fix-the-spade]

You know, if the four expansion were going to be of the same quality as Battlefield 3, with consistent themes, interesting and useful new unlocks, maps polished to within an inch of their life and released steadily over two years, then I'd pay it in a heart beat.

On the strength of Battlefield 4 and Hardline, I'm assuming that these will be farted out as quickly possible by a secondary studio and released on time whether any underlying issues with the game are fixed or not. If this game suffers a rapid fall off in interest post release I wonder how Disney are going to respond. First The Old Republic and now this, it's like EA are trying to sabotage their own deal.

I suspect this one won't end up being free like the Titanfall one did, since it's Star Wars somebody somewhere's going to buy it.

 

[cricket chirps]

"The season pass is already available for pre-school and costs 49.99. The first DLC package for the game will release "in early 2016."
*cough typo cough*

 

[thewatergamer]

Uh huh, people don't like the word DLC so you know what? Let's call them "expansions" instead, that sounds much better, also map packs in a multiplayer only game ARE NOT GOOD are you trying to kill your game? Actually you probably are, that way you can pop out a sequel next year and have everyone buy that...

 

[Deathfish15]

"This is not the Star Wars game that you are looking for."

 

[tippy2k2]

Question for those who have played Battlefield games (I'm going to assume this will be just like those since it's the same studio and setup):

Does all that DLC stuff (like the guns and tech) usable against people who do not have it? I'm still getting the game either way...probably but right now, I'm just dipping my toes in the game and have no intention of getting DLC. In past BF games, are players who do what I do getting curb stomped because DICE releases some badass super gun as DLC and if you don't have the DLC, tough titty?

I have EA Acess, which allowed me to try the game early and I loved it. I just don't know if I'm going to continue loving it once I have a few weeks/months into it (especially since I can't seem to convince anyone I know to buy the damn game with me. Normally I wouldn't buy a multiplayer game with no one else but I'm getting a pretty sweet deal from Best Buy for the game).

 

[Synigma]

Stop giving these people money until they deliver something worth giving them money for! Make them work for the money and you'll get a better product for it.

I have loathed the concept of a 'season pass' since the first time I heard it applied to video games. How the hell does something like this even catch on? "we're probably going to make something, give us money now and we'll share it with you. You haven't even played our game yet... but trust us, you'll love all of it."

NOT buying the season pass will actually make them care about these expansions and only make them if they are worth making! Instead of crapping out whatever they can because they promised to do something or worse, crapping out content that was intentionally left out for this purpose.

 

[MiskWisk]

You know, in my time on the Internet, certain adjectives now flag up warning signs when they really shouldn't. Especially when it is someone describing their own product. The word "Epic" is one such.

In particular, it makes me think of "flashy but with little actual substance." To be honest, I think that describes EA to a T.

 

[Erttheking]

You know, I just don't get how announcing that you'll get to pay nearly the full retail price of the game again can be seen by anyone as a good thing.

 

[Loonyyy]

Question for those who have played Battlefield games (I'm going to assume this will be just like those since it's the same studio and setup):

Does all that DLC stuff (like the guns and tech) usable against people who do not have it? I'm still getting the game either way...probably but right now, I'm just dipping my toes in the game and have no intention of getting DLC. In past BF games, are players who do what I do getting curb stomped because DICE releases some badass super gun as DLC and if you don't have the DLC, tough titty?

I have EA Acess, which allowed me to try the game early and I loved it. I just don't know if I'm going to continue loving it once I have a few weeks/months into it (especially since I can't seem to convince anyone I know to buy the damn game with me. Normally I wouldn't buy a multiplayer game with no one else but I'm getting a pretty sweet deal from Best Buy for the game).

Yes. But, if the Battlefield ones are anything to go by, it doesn't matter a lot. The gear is generally the same sort of stuff. More rifles, more carbines, etc. Battlefront looks to have a much smaller array of weapons, and I don't know that that'll necessarily apply. In general, these games are tediously balanced, and most of the guns are quite boring variations on damage, fire rate, etc. Most of them function the same. I actually get sick of all the guns, since most of them aren't worth bothering with. I play each gun for the unlocks, because it gives XP, and then I'm done.

What is important is that the new maps will be played, and will be a part of the matchmaking. Potentially, not having maps and content can restrict your play to less populated servers, or the same few highlight maps from the original, or whatever DLC you have.

Stop giving these people money until they deliver something worth giving them money for! Make them work for the money and you'll get a better product for it.

I have loathed the concept of a 'season pass' since the first time I heard it applied to video games. How the hell does something like this even catch on? "we're probably going to make something, give us money now and we'll share it with you. You haven't even played our game yet... but trust us, you'll love all of it."

NOT buying the season pass will actually make them care about these expansions and only make them if they are worth making! Instead of crapping out whatever they can because they promised to do something or worse, crapping out content that was intentionally left out for this purpose.

The thing is, people are essentially being strongarmed into it. These games launch with a DLC queue down the line. Battlefield always has them, Bethesda games, etc. Paying for the season pass gets you all of it for a discount, and the individual DLC prices are annoying. Many people wait for Bethesda games, for the GOTY edition, to get all the content. That's essentially getting the game and the season pass. Personally, I'd be more interested in picking up Fallout 4 if I could grab the DLC, or if I had an idea of the total price of the game so that I could work out when I want to buy it. Instead, if I want it all, I'm going to have to wait for GOTY. Which is fine, a minor inconvenience, but if they're going to drop a whole load of DLC, and you know it'll cost less later, then it's not that bad picking up the pass.

In the case of the multiplayer titles, here looking at Battlefield, what this means is that you need the DLC to play on servers running all of the maps, otherwise you're limited to vanilla only servers, which are less common, or more often, servers running a limited list of the owner's favourites (So Operation Metro/Locker 24/7). And if you want to experience it, you need it at launch, because some of them have gamemodes attached that have a limited population life, and other modes that are less played will eventually drop off. If you pick it up later, you're going to miss out on most of the DLC, because people have gotten sick of the less good maps. So it makes a sense for a lot of people to buy the pass, because it costs them less. Especially if their friends are playing it. You get screwed if you bail out on the game before the end of it, but most people aren't thinking that far down the line.

They're an annoying sort of preorder, but the biggest problem is that EA has been trying to increase the price of their titles surreptitiously with their season passes. Where I come from, AAA titles drop at $100, and the pass is $50. They sell this idea as DLC, but the entire games have never, ever, ever been worth that much, and you really do need the DLC to play it for the title's life. The worst part is how EA labels it. They call it Premium, like it's a service, and put you first in the server queues. It's not a service, it's a price hike.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

You know, I just don't get how announcing that you'll get to pay nearly the full retail price of the game again can be seen by anyone as a good thing.

Even if they delivered twice the base content with all the dlc combined I'd still feel short-changed. From what I've read and seen, the game does not deliver ?59.99 worth of multiplayer content (if it had a more substantial single player component, it MIGHT have made the cut... but I struggle to see this game holding onto its community by the time the last DLC drops and the "complete edition" gets released).

Too few game modes, too few maps...

Another Evolve basically.

 

[Damian Porter]

The next term in the gaming industry that would lose all its meaning will now be "expansion pack".

Fuck.

It already lost its meaning last generation.

 

[Synigma]

*snip*

I understand the draw of the cheaper DLC... and if it was like 20$ and you get a free expansion later then I might understand... but it's 50$ and what you're going to get is up in the air. If you're lucky you might get a full expansion, but it might also only be only 30 mins of content or just maps and skins or some other piecemeal game content. I just don't trust most companies to make it worth it... especially not EA!

And I get the need to keep up on maps/gamemodes; that's probably the single reason that makes sense to me. But you can just buy the DLC when it comes out if it's a map or gamemode that catches on. And then there are some games that are just not worth playing without the DLC, I get that too but in that case I argue that it's not worth buying then UNTIL the GOTY version comes out.

What I'm trying to say is that I see the rock and hard place that these gamers are stuck in... I'm just advocating that they stop diving into the new thing. Don't ever pre-order, just buy the DLC as it comes out (and only if it's actually worth it)... just make them offer you MORE if they want to pull this crap.

 

[Loonyyy]

*snip*

I understand the draw of the cheaper DLC... and if it was like 20$ and you get a free expansion later then I might understand... but it's 50$ and what you're going to get is up in the air. If you're lucky you might get a full expansion, but it might also only be only 30 mins of content or just maps and skins or some other piecemeal game content. I just don't trust most companies to make it worth it... especially not EA!

And I get the need to keep up on maps/gamemodes; that's probably the single reason that makes sense to me. But you can just buy the DLC when it comes out if it's a map or gamemode that catches on. And then there are some games that are just not worth playing without the DLC, I get that too but in that case I argue that it's not worth buying then UNTIL the GOTY version comes out.

What I'm trying to say is that I see the rock and hard place that these gamers are stuck in... I'm just advocating that they stop diving into the new thing. Don't ever pre-order, just buy the DLC as it comes out (and only if it's actually worth it)... just make them offer you MORE if they want to pull this crap.

Yeah, it's a massive dick move, I'm just trying to make clear that especially in the case of Battlefield, they're doing their best to force you to get it. It's really not so much something that's the player's fault. EA are doing their utmost to screw their players, and manipulate them into picking up their DLC.

For instance, in Battlefield, during peak, a lot of servers will run close to capacity, and that's good, you'll get some of the best play on there for the larger modes. But getting into them often means queuing. Premium, the season pass, included a queue jump. Premium members go to the front of the queue. When I was playing it around launch, it was incredibly annoying. You could get up the queue, and then the queue gets longer, and people have pushed in in front. And I figured I'd get the premium bonuses, but not the DLC, from having Premium on Battlefield 3. Nope. In fact, Battlefield 3 preorders came with some DLC, that they later shipped as part of Premium, so you got doubly fucked there if you bought it at release. If you want to play all the maps, you need them at their launch too, otherwise, you'll end up buying content that you can't play, because people got sick of it. And you can rely on the average poor taste of the Battlefield community to win out-Operation Locker/Metro 24/7. Everywhere.

I'm not a complete stinge, a Battlefield game, over a 2 year or so life, is worth about $100 AU, triple A pricing. But I'm not paying $150. The one thing that their Premium bid does is ensure that I don't pick it up until I see it for half price on a cdkey site, or Greenmangaming.

Obviously, Bethesda's games are a different story. I like having any sort of metric to work out the total cost. I figure there's going to be about 5 DLCs, and they say they're starting them next year, and I guess they'll be priced similarly to Skyrim's. So unless there's a ridiculously discounted Fallout 4 already, it looks like I'm in for a long wait.

 

[Elijin]

Damn pre-schoolers getting early access.

 

[Dragonlayer]

At least space battles and Galactic Conquest mode will be worth looking forward to, amongst all the "epic" weapon camouflage schemes and emotes.

 

[Something Amyss]

"The season pass is already available for pre-school and costs 49.99. The first DLC package for the game will release "in early 2016."
*cough typo cough*

Or a Freudian Slip.