EA selling stat points for NHL 11

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

So I was just frequenting TA when I saw this news article:
http://www.trueachievements.com/n1691/ea-willing-to-sell-you-156-dlc-items.htm

For those of you who don't read it basically EA is planning to sell stat boosts on the XBL and probably PSN marketplaces for MSP or the PSN equivalent.

This is for there upcoming game NHL 11.

They are selling them for specific player types and they are non transferable.

For example you can buy 1 for a goalie but it can only be placed on a goalie.

This is a similar vein to the BFBC2 shortcut packs which unlocked weapons for you for a fee.

The response in there is one mainly of hate... but I have to think is it so bad?

EA are trying to make money, now EA have become, in my opinion, one of the better publishers out there and they often venture into new IPs and bring out great results (Dead Space).

So for people who just want to play the game casually, not really put the work in but with too much money for their own good. EA are catering to them and making money which they can put towards better DLC and generally better games.

So what does the Escapist think?
Am I understanding this well or are EA just money grabbing bastards?

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

They just want more money of course.

 

[Lord Devius]

I'd hope that they're trying to make as much money as they can on games they can nickel-and-dime people on so they have more money to make more new games that are different...

...but it's EA so it's likely just greed.

 

[Googenstien]

Doing it in Madden and probably anything else EA now too

 

[4484448444844484]

I like it except that it costs money; I think having to unlock things is dumb anyway. However, I will never be caught anywhere near a hockey game.

 

[Thunderhorse31]

Wow you ninja'd me on posting this by 3 minutes. Anyway, this is absurd, cheats in games used to be free. How hard would it to be to include goofy stat-boosting cheats for use in personal play, but disable them in multiplayer? Oh right, it'd be pretty damn easy, but it also wouldn't make EA any lunch money.

 

[the lapalminator]

ea can go fuck themselves, first the nba jam/nba eliete bullshit now this!?!?!

im buying nba 2k10 and thats that! ea can go fuck themeslves for this season

 

[Wicky_42]

Read an article once about this idea of simply 'buying' the content of a game, rather than going through the hassle of earning it. It's like micro-transaction DLC that you can actually get without having to pay, if you put the time in. That's all cool with me cos I'm cheap

That said, once you trivialise the effort that used to be rewarded by unlocks by letting people just buy the stuff you take away some of the feeling of success that one gets by working hard for something - it takes away from the experience somewhat if anyone with loose purse strings can be running around with max-level gear from the get-go.

Of course, on the other side of things I'm so far behind on my TF2 unlocks that I can't bring myself to play with the boring starter weapons, knowing that there's so many cool toys out there that may randomly be awarded to you but which everyone else seems to have already. I don't want to spend full weeks basically grinding games in TF2 to play with the engineers unlocks - hell, I don't have the Heavy, Spy, Medic... well, any but all the pyro and scout unlocks, and that's an awful lot of content I don't have access to. Which sucks. So I can see the attraction of these buy-in schemes.

All in all, I'm for the inclusion of the feature providing it's basically a paid shortcut. Otherwise it's either basically paid DLC or like those 'free' web games where the premium content is the only competitive option.

EDIT: of course, the sort of stat boost here is much more like a 'free' web game with premium content, only of course you've already paid for the game. So it's a normal, complete retail game with additional premium content, basically worse than I could have predicted. Go EA!

 

[flakemunchar]

I really hope this stops soon. Bugs the hell out of me that skill can be countered with money.

When it comes to the Battlefield unlocks that's time vs. money, and while that's not really "wrong" it's a pretty stupid thing to do. Playing and unlocking is a part of the game. If you dont enjoy it, just move to another game.