Battlefield 3's Pre-Order Firepower Upsets Gamers

[GeorgW]

Aw man, and there goes everything DICE has done lately to prove they're awesome! Why EA, WHY??

 

[ProtonGuy]

This is what the hobby, and community of gamers has been reduced too? Crying like school children on the playground because something is unfair. Good lord I've had it with this god forsaken industry full of self entitled brats who cry havoc of pixelated items. Screw it time to grab the D&D books and play games without all this developer drama.

 

[Vykrel]

i feel as though there is some missing information here...

are the pre-order bonuses unlocked exclusively through pre-ordering? or are they just day one unlocks from pre-orders, which can also be unlocked regularly through game progression by players who didnt pre-order?

and another kind of unrelated question: is the limited edition the same price as the standard edition, like ive come to expect?

 

[RYjet911]

I don't get why balance is an issue... The army who spends more money on better weapons has an advantage, simple as.

Yes, because this is real war and not a game.

But the game is a simulation of war...

No, Battlefield is not, nor has it ever been, a war-sim. Even if it was, saying that paying more money should grant you higher success rate in-game because that's realistic is one of the dumbest things I've heard in a long time.

It's not like I'm saying it should be the norm, I'm just offering potential explanations as to why it's not a terrible idea. People are only pissed because they don't want to have to spend more money on it, and are the kind of people who generally dislike the idea of DLC in general.

Where as I'm happy to generally contribute more for the added benefit of constant updates.

 

[binvjoh]

I have a feeling those guns are going to be pretty bad, at least if they don't want huge backlash at release.

And the argument "But a new player can pay for an advantage!" is pointless considering that you are also pit against people who have unlocked better weapons/tools already.

I think most of the arguements here are based less around the guns/tools themselves rather than the principle that rewarding people who purchase a game at a specific time from a specific distributor in a multiplayer environment generally sounds like a bad idea.

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

Gamers hate pre-orders because it requires them to leave their house and pre-order the game. Discuss.

Internet.
/Discussed

Is the limited edition the same price as the standard edition, like ive come to expect?

Yes. [http://t.co/aJTRgtr]

 

[Adzma]

Isn't the limited edition the same price as the standard one? Seriously what's the big deal here?

 

[brunothepig]

It's not clear... Are these exclusive weapons or do pre-orderer's just get earlier access to it? I have no issue with early access kinda stuff, but giving some people exclusive content doesn't sit right with me. Mostly because if I didn't pre-order the game, because I didn't have the money or I was unsure about the game or whatever, I might never get to play the content. And I might want to. Magicka solved that problem well by simply releasing the pre-order bonus as DLC.

 

[binvjoh]

It's not like I'm saying it should be the norm, I'm just offering potential explanations as to why it's not a terrible idea. People are only pissed because they don't want to have to spend more money on it, and are the kind of people who generally dislike the idea of DLC in general.

As I pointed out in my previous post, I find said explanation to be terrible as well.

 

[kurupt87]

Gaming is a meritocracy, it rewards/respects skill and effort because it has a level playing field; it should not care how big your wallet is.

I wish Publishers would stop trying to make gaming a pure capitalist money earner. FUCK OFF.

 

[fundayz]

I think most of the arguements here are based less around the guns/tools themselves rather than the principle that rewarding people who purchase a game at a specific time from a specific distributor in a multiplayer environment generally sounds like a bad idea.

Arbitrary outrage is arbitrary.

I understand why people are against this, but I doubt that a developer with DICE's experience would give such blatant rewards if they significantly affected balance.

I have a feeling that the pre-order guns are going to be roughly equivalent to the starting weapons, which would make them more of a vanity item rather than a gameplay advantage.

Also, if someone is so sure they're getting the game that they feel the need to complain just get the freakin pre-order already, it's not like it costs any more.

 

[hellflame]

I remember the pre oder bonus from BF2142; only thing that gun would do is get you hunted by everyone on the server.

until proven otherwise i recon the gun is just a reskin, and the suppresor and ammo stuff is just early access in the form of exclusive content.

 

[binvjoh]

I think most of the arguements here are based less around the guns/tools themselves rather than the principle that rewarding people who purchase a game at a specific time from a specific distributor in a multiplayer environment generally sounds like a bad idea.

Arbitrary outrage is arbitrary.

I understand why people are against this, but I doubt that a developer with DICE's experience would give such blatant rewards if they significantly affected balance.

I have a feeling that the pre-order guns are going to be roughly equivalent to the starting weapons, which would make them more of a vanity item rather than a gameplay advantage.

I'm just surprised a developer with Dice's experience even did this to begin with. They should have known that this would at least to some degree upset people, regardless of whether or not their reasons are valid. And if these guns are such a harmless addition to a players arsenal as everyone says they will be, then why not just put them in for everyone and avoid this entire discussion/outrage.

 

[irequirefood]

While I don't really think giving out extra guns is really fair on the people that don't pre-order, I would like to see a company introduce DLC for rank-ups...That cost $1000 the first time, and double in price each time you buy one. Companies make money from something hilariously over-priced if someone is stupid or desperate enough to buy it...

 

[CheckD3]

It's good marketing is all it is. "Hey, if you pre-order our game, we'll give you something you liked from the old game right off the bat" Why wouldn't a fan of the 2nd game preorder the game and get that gun they liked so much?

I could agree with the balance issue, but how do you know it will end up unbalanced before you actually play the game? Assuming it's going to fuck everything up is like Fox news calling Bulletstorm a rapist creating game, or Mass Effect a sex-simulator without actually playing it

 

[PettingZOOPONY]

The MG is probably going to suck anyways, and the DAO 12 is unlockable and the other 2 items take up slots for better perks anyways.

 

[fundayz]

I'm just surprised a developer with Dice's experience even did this to begin with. They should have known that this would at least to some degree upset people, regardless of whether or not their reasons are valid. And if these guns are such a harmless addition to a players arsenal as everyone says they will be, then why not just put them in for everyone and avoid this entire discussion/outrage.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm surprised that they would do this as well even if there are no balance issues.

And why not just give them to everybody if the guns are balanced? To push their pre-orders of course...

 

[Patton662]

Cancelled my preorder, I'm not buying an unbalanced and unfair game.

 

[Hitchmeister]

The thing about online balance is that there's a certain subset of the player base that will eagerly buy into an unbalanced advantage. It's probably not sustainable, but there are significant profits to be made in the short term by catering to these players.

Then again, a real genius marketer for these games, could come up with a mechanism that puts equivalent power in the hands of the player who didn't buy the pre-order before they quit the game and boycott it in droves. Which provides an opportunity for the next "advantage for extra cash" option. Repeat indefinitely for indefinite profits.

Just don't be fooled into thinking that a completely level playing field is truly desired by all (or even most) serious players.

 

[Skylants]

I'm okay with it =D

I pre-ordered the PWP at no extra cost (so it's still a ridiculously cheap £30).