Jimothy Sterling said:
Reasons To Pass On Season Passes
You were promised an episode on season passes, in the wake of Jimquisition complaing about downloadable content. There is a season for all things, and that season has come to pass.
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Jim, I agree with your premise, however, I want to use your line of "Customer Choice" in this context.
I think the issue isn't just that company's offer pre-orders or season passes, but the consumer also needs to do research. Most season passes are available for the lifetime of the game, and after playing it, he/she may want to buy all the DLC at the reduced price. For example, someone who enjoy's a first person shooter with a group of friends may know that they want all the new maps as they come out, and would like to save some cash. Or someone finishes Bioshock Infinite, and decides they trust the team at Irrational to come out with great content (as history has shown), and save some hard earned money on the upcoming content.
If someone buys a season pass BEFORE playing the game, then it's a buyer beware type situation, the same as pre-ordering is. I've been burned before, and decided not to pre-order things unless I have a lot of research in it or is part of an existing franchise I already know and love.
I think my main issue is this the on-going theme as game publishers and developers as "greedy and horrible". I wholeheartedly agree that there have been miscues, bad ideas, and a lot of dirtbags out there, just like anything else on earth. I think it's more then fair to call them to the carpet, but also understand that there are really good people out there as well doing what the love, making a fine product and selling it a fair price. Capitalism isn't a bad system, it's what allows us to have hobbies and even careers in video games. You have to call out and punish the assholes and credit those who do the right thing and/or go above and beyond, and realize that every questionable decision may not be out of greed or malice, but just a good intention that went the wrong way.
I know alot of what you do is for laughs and to be edgy and I'm not asking you to change a bit of that, I just would like to hope that you do understand some of these things in the long run.