Battlefield 3 Update Includes Paid "Shortcuts"

[Weaver]

Thus, the situation devolves into (unless I'm missing something):
A) Buying the unlocks gives the player an advantage over similarly levelled players.
B) Buying the unlocks does not give the player an advantage over similarly levelled players.
C) Buying the unlocks "levels the playing field for new players" against veterans.
D) Buying the unlocks doesn't level the playing field against veterans.

If (A), you're paying for an advantage other players don't have, which I think most people agree is bad form for a competitive game.

If (B), then buying these packs is absolutely pointless and is a cash-grab by EA to essentially milk money from players who don't know better.

If (C), I feel it's ridiculous a new player should be automatically made equal with long time players. You, yourself, have already dismissed this claim.

If (D), Then there is no point in paying money for these.

You're missing something.

"levels the playing field" does not mean "grants the same amount of skill"

Currently, new players have both less skill AND a badly tilted playing field in favor of the older players. This means that the game will get no new players other than masochists as they will quickly find they not only don't have the skill to beat veteran players, but even if they did it wouldn't matter because they'd have a significant disadvantage in firepower.

With this, it levels the playing field somewhat so that only the skill difference remains.

But it will grant new players who buy the packs an advantage over other new players who don't.

This is also assuming all new players see paying $40 to do that as an enticing and entirely fair transaction. I've still yet to see a good argument of how paying $100 for a game is supposed to be seen as a lucrative honeypot to lure in new players.

 

[Kaytastrophe]

While I personally wouldn't pay for this service (to be honest I am not a big multiplayer gamer) but I always hated how you only had a few generic weapons available when you first joined and you have to play for x amount of hours before being able to get good weapons. It also sucks when you want to play against someone and don't have equal footing in terms of weapons (especially if playing with friends who've been playing more). (going to sound like an old man here) But I preferred the old multiplayer styles where there were weapons scattered throughout a level available to all players (i.e. golden eye). To me that was more friend when all players were on a level playing field and had to find their weapons. As I said though, I am not a big online gamer, but that's my opinion on he topic.

 

[josemlopes]

All attempts to argue with me are pretty much invalidated by the simple fact that the unlocks are functional rewards people work to unlock, and are seen as worthwhile bonuses which is why people pursue them. It is wrong for someone who has not done the work to be able to obtain the perks by paying real money... period.

Yet it is right for someone who whilst being new to the game may be forced to spend several hours playing a game just to achieve an unlock that allows them to perform a certain task? Of course having never played the game you won't be able to understand this example but here goes.

Anti- tank is a wanky role to play in the game, the anti tank weaponry is next to useless unless you have the Soflam (unlockable) lasing a target at which point you can usually get a Javelin (unlockable) kill. On the other hand being an Assault with C4 is a very effective way to take on a tank, having the C4 does not turn you in to an effective Tank killing machine, you still need the timing, the skill and the ability to sneak in unspotted lay the C4 and get away without blowing your self to bits.

The new guy who just joined has all these skills but because he hasn't played for 20+ hours he hasn't yet unlocked the C4, AND that's what all the perks in BF3 are like, none of them give you a huge advantage over another player they allow you to do the role you choose more effectively, you want to be a sniper then they allow you to be a more effective sniper but if you do not have the raw skill and ability you are still going to suck against someone who has the core weapons but knows what they are doing with them.

ALL the unlocks are like this save for one, the USAS12, even then the effectiveness of this weapon is limited to CQC.

Why the fuck would a new guy be an anti-tank sort of class? He is a new guy, just let him learn the map while getting some kills with his assault rifle. He probably can't even control the recoil and you expect for him to be able to use a javelin with the help of a soflam.

When you see a guy in level 2 it probably means that he still doesnt know what the fuck he is doing, even if he had the best weapon in the game he would still not know what the fuck he was doing.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

without actually having played the game it is batshit retarded to think it is fair or qualified to say that the paid shortcut breaks the game in any way.

Now, you have a problem here; either you are saying I haven't played the game, which is incorrect, or you are saying my boyfriend hasn't and is suggesting the paid shortcuts break the game, which I never said and you would have no way of knowing.

Feel free to go into another rant (the last one was pretty funny) in an attempt to avoid the problem.

It's clear to me now that you are either incapable of reading, or are unwilling to do so. I can only assume now you're just trying to argue for the sake of arguing, and I'm really not interested. So honestly, have fun not reading.

And as a footnote, for the record, I explained to you precisely what I said. I didn't give you a multitude of options as to what I might have said. There was no ambiguity in what I said. What I said is based purely off what you have told us.

Ah. You went with the latter option and decided to avoid the problem and give me another paragraph of nothing.

Would have been easier to just own up to being a fanboy and jumping the gun when you saw my comment. Not reading someone's post fully is a lot better than whatever it is you're doing now, lol.

 

[-Samurai-]

well it's not as if suddenly getting the weapons makes the people have any more skill

Exactly.

If I ran out and picked up the game and unlocks today, I'd have some nice, higher ranked guns to use.

I wouldn't know choke points, popular routes, snipe spots, camp spots, glitch spots, general line-of-sight from certain points, vehicle or weapon behavior, or have the knowledge of any vehicle or weapon tactic on any map.

I'd get my ass handed to me.

 

[LiquidSolstice]

without actually having played the game it is batshit retarded to think it is fair or qualified to say that the paid shortcut breaks the game in any way.

Now, you have a problem here; either you are saying I haven't played the game, which is incorrect, or you are saying my boyfriend hasn't and is suggesting the paid shortcuts break the game, which I never said and you would have no way of knowing.

Feel free to go into another rant (the last one was pretty funny) in an attempt to avoid the problem.

It's clear to me now that you are either incapable of reading, or are unwilling to do so. I can only assume now you're just trying to argue for the sake of arguing, and I'm really not interested. So honestly, have fun not reading.

And as a footnote, for the record, I explained to you precisely what I said. I didn't give you a multitude of options as to what I might have said. There was no ambiguity in what I said. What I said is based purely off what you have told us.

Ah. You went with the latter option and decided to avoid the problem and give me another paragraph of nothing.

Would have been easier to just own up to being a fanboy and jumping the gun when you saw my comment. Not reading someone's post fully is a lot better than whatever it is you're doing now, lol.

Wouldn't it have just been easier to say what I posted was above your cognitive ability and that you needed a proper explanation? Also, I like how you admitted you didn't read the post fully.

I guess if you're going to put on a dunce cap, you might as well shoot yourself in the foot while you're at it.

As I said before; you're either unwilling or incapable of reading and understanding words. You're purposefully ignoring what I said, trying to reduce my position to a different one (fanboyism) and attacking that instead.

Isn't that called....oh what's the word, something to do with straw, I think...

 

[Ickorus]

I dont see a problem with this.

So long as all the content in the packs can be unlocked normally, its a nice grey middle ground.

I agree with Kouriichi, it appears to be just what it says, a shortcut, so long as they don't start releasing overpowered weapons only acquirable by spending real money (à la APB: Reloaded) I have no problem with it.

 

[Chanel Tompkins]

Eh. As others have said, so long as it's a system of either patience or cheaping your way to the guns with money, what does it matter? Yes, it sucks for the people who can't afford to be cheap, but having the best guns does not a good player make.

 

[paislyabmj]

I thought this kind of stuff only happened in F2P games but any way, I guess there is nothing tooooo wrong with it as long as the stuff can still be unlocked for free but for a massive non F2P blockbuster it is pushing the line a bit. personally I prefer the halo model were the only thing you can buy is map packs and the only thing you gain by levelling up is purely cosmetic but hey that just me.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

You already said you don't play BF3, so how do you know your 'your paying to obtain a level of power that is only supposed to be in the hands of people who put in the time and obtained the mastery of the game.'? It's not an MMORPG where the latter weapons are automatically the best. Different people have different styles and use different weapons to suit them. When I play recon (sniper) I use a Semi-automatic rifle with a medium range scope, so the last unlock for that class - a large single shot Anti-Materiel rifle - is of no use to me. It's not 'better' but 'different'.

I think a lot of people here are missing the point - BF3 isn't like an MMORPG, or really like CoD were certain unlocks are vastly superior to others. I believe on paper, or at least to the best of my knowledge, the FAMAS is currently the best weapon in BF3, yet it is far from the most widely used weapon. It is a short range rapid fire weapon, it doesn't suit a lot of playstyles.

The vehicle unlocks certainly make a tank/heli/plane better, but an enemy dies just as good from a M16 as he does from an AN-94.

And we have a winner!
I will however argue that the M98B sniper rifle is a much more superior sniping weapon since it has little drop off as compared to other sniper rifles in the game.

 

[Freyar]

As far as "funding the war effort goes" cute line, but in the end people already paid $60 for this. This is an example of the industry getting too greedy, with the greed undermining the integrity of the games.

I think it?s fair to say that we?re looking at that. Like all other companies, we?re looking at how we can maximize our investment in this and get the most out of our investment and get more people playing this product. That may take us to different places, but we?re not really talking about where that is yet.

We're seeing a lack of fair multiplayer games, turning in favor of lucrative pay-for-advantage games. We see this with the free-to-play market, we see this with Call of Duty's Elite package, we're seeing the fundamental business model change towards caring about improving profit margins at the expense of creativity and fairness in multiplayer.

It's a sad time when I see that Ben Cousin's perception [http://www.slideshare.net/bcousins/paying-to-win] regarding "Equipment Advantages" is deemed appropriate by a majority of developers these days.

 

[Mr Jack]

I don't really see this as a problem. The initial weapon unlocks for each class are well balanced, and often the best general purpose weapon available. My favourite support weapons are the starters for example. Many players swear by the M16A4, as it has a good balance of attributes, and a rapid reload time. However, you will lose at close range to an F2000, and at long range to a G3A3. What the unlocks grant you is specialisation. If you care enough to be arguing the point, have a look at these figures: http://symthic.com/?s=bf3&sb=timetokill. One of the most common complaints on the forums is that the weapons feel very similar, make of that what you will.

What will make a difference is the vehicle unlocks. Until you unlock flares in air vehicles, you have no defence against heat seeking missiles (aside from advanced manoeuvres, which will take time and skill to learn), which veterans have easy access to. I maintain that the game would be improved by granting the first few unlocks for vehicles as well, to allow the same kind of specialisation to occur in the vehicles as they do with infantry.

As others have said, the weapons and unlocks are rather unimportant as a whole, and skilled players will beat unskilled players regardless of weapon. I think this is a good way to lessen the difficulty for new players, where games are filled with people who has spent several hundred hours learning how to play.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

I'll stick to my SKS and run around shooting everyone and generally being more help to the team than the wookie sat at the back with his M98B making 'awsum' headshots.

That's why I run M98B with a Holo and Straight Pull Bolt.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

Far as I can tell, you start with the best weapons. The only stuff you're missing are the tools to create an invincible death machine out of a helicopter. Seriously, if I don't have IR flares and you have heat-seeking insta-kill rockets, how am I ever going to level up my helicopter?