$50 for Battlefield 3 online play

also says "one-time fee" on Origin's page, if that confirms anything
 
I guess the wording they use is just ambiguous. It says "one-time fee" but then I see it described as "membership" and "subscription" some places. Why not just call it a "package"?
 
MavericK96 said:
I guess the wording they use is just ambiguous. It says "one-time fee" but then I see it described as "membership" and "subscription" some places. Why not just call it a "package"?
Click to expand...

I agree with you on this though.

If there is a second time, there must be another wave of DLC after End Game, which I doubt. So "one-time" is fitting for this "membership" i guess.
 
MavericK96 said:
I guess the wording they use is just ambiguous. It says "one-time fee" but then I see it described as "membership" and "subscription" some places. Why not just call it a "package"?
Click to expand...

Calling it a membership and subscription lets them change their mind next year and make it require renewal, obviously. ;)
 
Terrible thread is terrible. I wonder how thick the OP is to have to buy into that title and why does this need it's own thread? There's been insightful discussion about the Premium package under the unofficial BF3 thread.

Way to buy into FUD.
 
Why would anyone trust these fucks? I will maybe buy dlc after it comes out and is thoroughly reviewed by others. I can't afford $100 for a game thanks. Yeah I said $100 b/c right now, buy BF3 + premium = $100.

They should have allowed for a la carte at least. This $50 "one time fee" is bullshit without other options. No way do I believe this is the last monetizing effort for this game.

Allow us to pick and choose dlc and offer maybe a 10% discount to buy the bundle. $10-15 a pop is far more palatable than $50.

Sigh. I am getting to old for this shit.
 
Gaming is moving closer and closer to the subscription-model thanks to greedy fucks like EA and idiot consumers who eat this shit up.

Oh, and the trailer clearly says "Own all 5 expansion packs". So if you pay for this for a year, stop paying and lose access to the DLC, you've got EA for false advertising.
 
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Forceman said:
That's media company "own", not own own.
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Doesn't matter what EA says it means, as in countries that actually believe in that filthy communist ideal of "consumer protection", it is what the "reasonable person would consider it to mean" that will matter in court.
 
Plague_Injected said:
Doesn't matter what EA says it means, as in countries that actually believe in that filthy communist ideal of "consumer protection", it is what the "reasonable person would consider it to mean" that will matter in court.
Click to expand...

Too bad most of us live in the US then. :(
 
spaceman said:
I can't afford $100 for a game thanks. Yeah I said $100 b/c right now, buy BF3 + premium = $100.
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$60 + $50 is north of a bill. ridiculous in my book. it's like everything else in life; nobody wants to spend more on gas as well but nobody does anything to change things... in this area the companies cried about piracy to hike up prices (oil companies version of piracy is scarcity), community accepts it (oil - they increase and then lower so you at first are thankful and become adjusted), then they figure out the next model or strategy to bring in more profit - dlc, and most people lapped it up. this is just the natural evolution.

i don't see how they can justify any of it really; you want the stupid dlc then buy it... but instead they are looking at forcing the issue with the ability to play online hanging in the balance. a subscription is silly...
 
Banyan said:
$60 + $50 is north of a bill. ridiculous in my book. it's like everything else in life; nobody wants to spend more on gas as well but nobody does anything to change things... in this area the companies cried about piracy to hike up prices (oil companies version of piracy is scarcity), community accepts it (oil - they increase and then lower so you at first are thankful and become adjusted), then they figure out the next model or strategy to bring in more profit - dlc, and most people lapped it up. this is just the natural evolution.
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Eventually the only way to buy DLC will be through a pre-paid Elite/Premium/Season Pass where you have to pre-purchase a set number of DLC packages that are not even announced let alone detailed, which will allow companies to make even shittier DLC because customers have already paid for it and there will be no incentive to make a product worth buying.
 
Banyan said:
i don't see how they can justify any of it really; you want the stupid dlc then buy it... but instead they are looking at forcing the issue with the ability to play online hanging in the balance. a subscription is silly...
Click to expand...

You can play online regardless of whether or not you are premium. All premium equates to is getting all five of the DLC's for $50 with some added shit thrown in.

Online play has nothing to do with premium. You can continue to play BF3 online whether or not you pay the $50 for premium. Stop spreading misinformation.
 
OpStar said:
You can play online regardless of whether or not you are premium. All premium equates to is getting all five of the DLC's for $50 with some added shit thrown in.

Online play has nothing to do with premium. You can continue to play BF3 online whether or not you pay the $50 for premium. Stop spreading misinformation.
Click to expand...

You can play online without paying $50 for premium, until you can't.

Try thinking a few steps into the future and you can easily see why people are worried and suspicious.
 
I would have rather they just made mod tools and downloadable server software. But I'm guessing that shareholders are breathing down their necks about the abject collapse of SWTOR and so they're pointing to this as a promise to produce more money in the near future.

Paying money for unreleased content that they have no contractual obligation to release?
Sounds like a perverse version of Kickstarter.

This isn't a slippery slope; it's a goddamn cliff and people are jumping right off it.
 
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As much as I hate DLC -- I'll probably jump for this. Mostly because the content looks good, and I just got my 60 dollar refund from Diablo3, so I'm really not "out" any money.

For as much as I've played BF3, Back to Karkand and as much as I *will* be playing all the upcoming packs, $100 dollars grand total is pretty small price.

We are talking on the order of 25 to 30 cents an hour. I have 230 hours in the game so far and we still have what? 4 more DLCs to go?

Not defending the move to DLC at all - I think 99% of it is pure crap. BF3 is the one area I have a soft spot for.
 
spaceman said:
They should have allowed for a la carte at least. This $50 "one time fee" is bullshit without other options. No way do I believe this is the last monetizing effort for this game.

Allow us to pick and choose dlc and offer maybe a 10% discount to buy the bundle. $10-15 a pop is far more palatable than $50.
Click to expand...

What you've described is literally exactly what they are doing. All separate, the 5 expansion packs (which you WILL be able to purchase individually, at your discretion) will be $15 each. If you were to purchase each of the expansion packs individually, it would cost $75 total.

The premium service gives you all that content, PLUS a great deal more (including a new knife, weapons, weapon/soldier camo, assignments, dogtags, and server queue priority). All of that for $50, $25 less than it would cost to purchase all the expansions individually. For those that can afford to pre purchase all the expansions, the premium service is an excellent option and it will save them money in the long run. For those that prefer to buy the expansions on an individual basis, that option is available too, so you can wait for reviews or whatever before deciding to purchase. The system rewards those that are willing to take a gamble and throw down money on unreleased content, and it also allows for players to purchase individual DLC at their own pace without screwing them with exorbitantly high prices.

For those complaining about the price, let me refresh your memory. Battlefield 2 came out during the summer of 2005 for $50. The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was released in November 2005 for $20. The next two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury, were released March and June 2006, respectively for $10 each. That brings the total cost of all of BF2s DLC to $40. Also bear in mind that Special Forces was a standalone product, making it completely fragmented from BF2 Vanilla.

The premium pack promises to offer MUCH more content than the BF2 expansions did (20 maps, 20 weapons, 10+ vehicles, 4+ game modes, 30+ assignments, etc), and at a similar cost. That sounds like a win to me-I'll personally be upgrading to a premium account when I can afford to. My only qualms with the service are as follows: first, I already paid for Back to Karkand when I preordered the limited edition of BF3, which is a minor annoyance (although the preorder cost was only $42, so it's still hard to complain). Second, I am afraid that 5 separate map packs are going to fragment the BF3 community. It's going to be hard playing matches with friends, especially if they do not have all the content that you might. Finally, I am afraid that after the novelty dies down, most servers will revert back to Vanilla rotation (which is what seems to be happening after the B2K release). Only time will tell how things go.
 
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m3ta1head said:
What you've described is literally exactly what they are doing. All separate, the 5 expansion packs (which you WILL be able to purchase individually, at your discretion) will be $15 each. If you were to purchase each of the expansion packs individually, it would cost $75 total.

The premium service gives you all that content, PLUS a great deal more (including a new knife, weapons, weapon/soldier camo, assignments, dogtags, and server queue priority). All of that for $50, $25 less than it would cost to purchase all the expansions individually. For those that can afford to pre purchase all the expansions, the premium service is an excellent option and it will save them money in the long run. For those that prefer to buy the expansions on an individual basis, that option is available too, so you can wait for reviews or whatever before deciding to purchase. The system rewards those that are willing to take a gamble and throw down money on unreleased content, and it also allows for players to purchase individual DLC at their own pace without screwing them with exorbitantly high prices.

For those complaining about the price, let me refresh your memory. Battlefield 2 came out during the summer of 2005 for $50. The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was released in November 2005 for $20. The next two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury, were released March and June 2006, respectively for $10 each. That brings the total cost of all of BF2s DLC to $40. Also bear in mind that Special Forces was a standalone product, making it completely fragmented from BF2 Vanilla.

The premium pack promises to offer MUCH more content than the BF2 expansions did (20 maps, 20 weapons, 10+ vehicles, 4+ game modes, 30+ assignments, etc), and at a similar cost. That sounds like a win to me-I'll personally be upgrading to a premium account when I can afford to. My only qualms with the service are as follows: first, I already paid for Back to Karkand when I preordered the limited edition of BF3, which is a minor annoyance (although the preorder cost was only $42, so it's still hard to complain). Second, I am afraid that 5 separate map packs are going to fragment the BF3 community. It's going to be hard playing matches with friends, especially if they do not have all the content that you might. Finally, I am afraid that after the novelty dies down, most servers will revert back to Vanilla rotation (which is what seems to be happening after the B2K release). Only time will tell how things go.
Click to expand...

With gamers like this, who needs a PR department?
 
m3ta1head said:
What you've described is literally exactly what they are doing. All separate, the 5 expansion packs (which you WILL be able to purchase individually, at your discretion) will be $15 each. If you were to purchase each of the expansion packs individually, it would cost $75 total.

The premium service gives you all that content, PLUS a great deal more (including a new knife, weapons, weapon/soldier camo, assignments, dogtags, and server queue priority). All of that for $50, $25 less than it would cost to purchase all the expansions individually. For those that can afford to pre purchase all the expansions, the premium service is an excellent option and it will save them money in the long run. For those that prefer to buy the expansions on an individual basis, that option is available too, so you can wait for reviews or whatever before deciding to purchase. The system rewards those that are willing to take a gamble and throw down money on unreleased content, and it also allows for players to purchase individual DLC at their own pace without screwing them with exorbitantly high prices.

For those complaining about the price, let me refresh your memory. Battlefield 2 came out during the summer of 2005 for $50. The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was released in November 2005 for $20. The next two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury, were released March and June 2006, respectively for $10 each. That brings the total cost of all of BF2s DLC to $40. Also bear in mind that Special Forces was a standalone product, making it completely fragmented from BF2 Vanilla.

The premium pack promises to offer MUCH more content than the BF2 expansions did (20 maps, 20 weapons, 10+ vehicles, 4+ game modes, 30+ assignments, etc), and at a similar cost. That sounds like a win to me-I'll personally be upgrading to a premium account when I can afford to. My only qualms with the service are as follows: first, I already paid for Back to Karkand when I preordered the limited edition of BF3, which is a minor annoyance (although the preorder cost was only $42, so it's still hard to complain). Second, I am afraid that 5 separate map packs are going to fragment the BF3 community. It's going to be hard playing matches with friends, especially if they do not have all the content that you might. Finally, I am afraid that after the novelty dies down, most servers will revert back to Vanilla rotation (which is what seems to be happening after the B2K release). Only time will tell how things go.
Click to expand...

WTH, someone with actual sense in this thread!? Sir, we don't take kindly to "logIc" around here! :)
 
I will buy it. Nothing is more entertaining than trolling people by ramming a buggie into a tank stacked with AT mines on the hood! I miss BF3 :(
 
Not a bad deal if you were going to get them anyway. I like season passes personally.
 
m3ta1head said:
What you've described is literally exactly what they are doing. All separate, the 5 expansion packs (which you WILL be able to purchase individually, at your discretion) will be $15 each. If you were to purchase each of the expansion packs individually, it would cost $75 total.

The premium service gives you all that content, PLUS a great deal more (including a new knife, weapons, weapon/soldier camo, assignments, dogtags, and server queue priority). All of that for $50, $25 less than it would cost to purchase all the expansions individually. For those that can afford to pre purchase all the expansions, the premium service is an excellent option and it will save them money in the long run. For those that prefer to buy the expansions on an individual basis, that option is available too, so you can wait for reviews or whatever before deciding to purchase. The system rewards those that are willing to take a gamble and throw down money on unreleased content, and it also allows for players to purchase individual DLC at their own pace without screwing them with exorbitantly high prices.

For those complaining about the price, let me refresh your memory. Battlefield 2 came out during the summer of 2005 for $50. The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was released in November 2005 for $20. The next two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury, were released March and June 2006, respectively for $10 each. That brings the total cost of all of BF2s DLC to $40. Also bear in mind that Special Forces was a standalone product, making it completely fragmented from BF2 Vanilla.

The premium pack promises to offer MUCH more content than the BF2 expansions did (20 maps, 20 weapons, 10+ vehicles, 4+ game modes, 30+ assignments, etc), and at a similar cost. That sounds like a win to me-I'll personally be upgrading to a premium account when I can afford to. My only qualms with the service are as follows: first, I already paid for Back to Karkand when I preordered the limited edition of BF3, which is a minor annoyance (although the preorder cost was only $42, so it's still hard to complain). Second, I am afraid that 5 separate map packs are going to fragment the BF3 community. It's going to be hard playing matches with friends, especially if they do not have all the content that you might. Finally, I am afraid that after the novelty dies down, most servers will revert back to Vanilla rotation (which is what seems to be happening after the B2K release). Only time will tell how things go.
Click to expand...

+1!
 
m3ta1head said:
What you've described is literally exactly what they are doing. All separate, the 5 expansion packs (which you WILL be able to purchase individually, at your discretion) will be $15 each. If you were to purchase each of the expansion packs individually, it would cost $75 total.

The premium service gives you all that content, PLUS a great deal more (including a new knife, weapons, weapon/soldier camo, assignments, dogtags, and server queue priority). All of that for $50, $25 less than it would cost to purchase all the expansions individually. For those that can afford to pre purchase all the expansions, the premium service is an excellent option and it will save them money in the long run. For those that prefer to buy the expansions on an individual basis, that option is available too, so you can wait for reviews or whatever before deciding to purchase. The system rewards those that are willing to take a gamble and throw down money on unreleased content, and it also allows for players to purchase individual DLC at their own pace without screwing them with exorbitantly high prices.

For those complaining about the price, let me refresh your memory. Battlefield 2 came out during the summer of 2005 for $50. The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was released in November 2005 for $20. The next two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury, were released March and June 2006, respectively for $10 each. That brings the total cost of all of BF2s DLC to $40. Also bear in mind that Special Forces was a standalone product, making it completely fragmented from BF2 Vanilla.

The premium pack promises to offer MUCH more content than the BF2 expansions did (20 maps, 20 weapons, 10+ vehicles, 4+ game modes, 30+ assignments, etc), and at a similar cost. That sounds like a win to me-I'll personally be upgrading to a premium account when I can afford to. My only qualms with the service are as follows: first, I already paid for Back to Karkand when I preordered the limited edition of BF3, which is a minor annoyance (although the preorder cost was only $42, so it's still hard to complain). Second, I am afraid that 5 separate map packs are going to fragment the BF3 community. It's going to be hard playing matches with friends, especially if they do not have all the content that you might. Finally, I am afraid that after the novelty dies down, most servers will revert back to Vanilla rotation (which is what seems to be happening after the B2K release). Only time will tell how things go.
Click to expand...

this is a well thought out post, nicely done.
 
m3ta1head said:
What you've described is literally exactly what they are doing. All separate, the 5 expansion packs (which you WILL be able to purchase individually, at your discretion) will be $15 each. If you were to purchase each of the expansion packs individually, it would cost $75 total.

The premium service gives you all that content, PLUS a great deal more (including a new knife, weapons, weapon/soldier camo, assignments, dogtags, and server queue priority). All of that for $50, $25 less than it would cost to purchase all the expansions individually. For those that can afford to pre purchase all the expansions, the premium service is an excellent option and it will save them money in the long run. For those that prefer to buy the expansions on an individual basis, that option is available too, so you can wait for reviews or whatever before deciding to purchase. The system rewards those that are willing to take a gamble and throw down money on unreleased content, and it also allows for players to purchase individual DLC at their own pace without screwing them with exorbitantly high prices.

For those complaining about the price, let me refresh your memory. Battlefield 2 came out during the summer of 2005 for $50. The first expansion pack, Special Forces, was released in November 2005 for $20. The next two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury, were released March and June 2006, respectively for $10 each. That brings the total cost of all of BF2s DLC to $40. Also bear in mind that Special Forces was a standalone product, making it completely fragmented from BF2 Vanilla.

The premium pack promises to offer MUCH more content than the BF2 expansions did (20 maps, 20 weapons, 10+ vehicles, 4+ game modes, 30+ assignments, etc), and at a similar cost. That sounds like a win to me-I'll personally be upgrading to a premium account when I can afford to. My only qualms with the service are as follows: first, I already paid for Back to Karkand when I preordered the limited edition of BF3, which is a minor annoyance (although the preorder cost was only $42, so it's still hard to complain). Second, I am afraid that 5 separate map packs are going to fragment the BF3 community. It's going to be hard playing matches with friends, especially if they do not have all the content that you might. Finally, I am afraid that after the novelty dies down, most servers will revert back to Vanilla rotation (which is what seems to be happening after the B2K release). Only time will tell how things go.
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Again, +1 sir...

For good or bad, this is how games are evolving. Unfortunately, us "older" gamers remember paying for a game as a single fee, choosing to rent / own a personal / clan server for our game, being able to mod / manage it within TOS (sometimes not though ;) ), and the developer or independent coders continuing the game with modding, expanding gameplay, spin-off's, and so forth.

Those days are largely in the past, and those companies who may still do this are and will continue to be overshadowed by corporations (EA, Activation, Steam). Companies saw that with WoW, people will pay for content, pay for access, pay for "perks" (real or illusioned). This has been active for years and years (I fondly remember making severe fun of people who would shell out $$$$ for WoW..... I now chew on my shoe) and all that has been done is that it's now carried over to FPS.. Yea... It sucks, but it's what is..

Be thankful that you have an option to pay for this... They could just drop you from certain maps that you have not purchased, and you would start all over again on another server. Those of us in a clan when these maps are released will end up purchasing them on general principal. Welcome to the future of online gaming, circa 2012.

And yes, I did purchase it. The hours and hours that I've played BF3 as a release once everybody is in bed asleep after working makes $50 rather small investment... Then again, that's my opinion only.
 
OpStar said:
You're prebuying DLC. Period. Everything else is crazy ass unwarranted paranoia.
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If I went back to 2004, when everyone was enjoying Desert Combat and a multitude of Unreal Tournament maps and skins, and told people that someday they would have to pay for maps and mods, they would have laughed in my face and said that it was unwarranted paranoia.

EA will charge people for whatever they can get away with, and it's really disgusting how many people are willing to reward that behavior. I know I'm in the minority when I say "Screw it. I'll stick with old games and indie titles."
 
I bought it. I was going to get them all anyway; this saves me some cash and I get some goodies. Hate me if you want :)
 
$50 to get into a server sooner so I can have bullets follow me around corners and kill me in one shot? SIGN ME UP!!!
 
fattypants said:
EA will charge people for whatever they can get away with, and it's really disgusting how many people are willing to reward that behavior.
Click to expand...

I don't like and understand this new pricing scheme either.

But

If you ever took part in designing and programming something as complex as BF3, I can guarantee you will be disgusted even more by how the average consumer thinks s/he is entitled to your work for minimal costs or even for free. It is within EA's right to charge for anything at the right market value, although I believe there are better and fairer ways to do so.
 
fattypants said:
EA will charge people for whatever they can get away with, and it's really disgusting how many people are willing to reward that behavior. I know I'm in the minority when I say "Screw it. I'll stick with old games and indie titles."
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No shit. EA is a business out to make money. Why the fuck shouldn't they charge people for additions to their game?
 
OpStar said:
No shit. EA is a business out to make money. Why the fuck shouldn't they charge people for additions to their game?
Click to expand...
I understand your point of view if you are an EA stockholder.

If you're a gamer who is old enough to remember Unreal Tournament, They Hunger, and Desert Combat, I don't.
 
It's a decent enough deal if you were certain to buy any and all DLC anyway.

It's the "extras" that put me off, most notably the queue jumping. I just can't support that sort of thing, not in a game where everyone has paid the price of admission. I'd expect that sort of thing from a F2P, but not a full-fledged paid BF title.

The cesspool that is the battlelog forums have become an even more special place now, though. That's gotta be worth something.
 
fattypants said:
I understand your point of view if you are an EA stockholder.

If you're a gamer who is old enough to remember Unreal Tournament, They Hunger, and Desert Combat, I don't.
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So you feel that this company personally owes you something?

Every one of us in here obviously loves our games, so much so that sometimes we actually feel that we are indeed owed something for our dedication and love for it. I don't like the idea of paying more for anything either, but the truth is that as much as I like the game, I am not inherently entitled to something like this. BF3 isn't a right, and it isn't something I need. It is always my choice to purchase or not.

I will be purchasing this however. My gaming budget doesn't get used that much. BF3 is pretty much the only game I've played in the last 6 months, and the only game I've bought for even longer.
 
I wonder if Premium will ever go on sale? That is my main concern. Overall the price is fair assuming you were going to pay for the DLCs anyways. My issue is the queue priority.

Realistically, they should release some maps for free as the game has a severe lack of content but we all know EA/DICE will never allow this.
 
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