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Battlefield: Hardline - EA expects you to pay double full price for dubious "features"


ThermoNukePanda

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We've officially entered the generation of expected DLC and missing features with the upcoming release of EA's newest entry into the Battlefield series of games. 

 

Battlefield: Hardline is slated to be released March 17th, 2015 with the retail price of $59.99.  While this is considered normal pricing for games this generation, EA is offering an additional "Premium" mode at a cost to those interested in the amount of $59.99 on top of the retail pricing.  Effectively this doubles the cost of the game. 

 

So what's included with your total tag price (excluding taxes) of $119.98? 

 

  • Masks: Which according to whatever theme the mask is gives you some sort of gameplay benefits (hopefully not borderlining on Pay 2 Win).
  • Gun Bench: Offers stat tracking for weapons, as well as allows you to customize their appearances.
  • Competitive Play: Allows access to Battlefield Hardline Premium exclusive ladder and tournament games (so standard scrubs can't compete).
  • Legendary Status: Pretty much this is just "Prestige Mode" from Call of Duty, except you have to pay for it now.

 

Also included within the "Premium" DLC is a two week early access for the four annouced upcoming add-ons for Battlefield: Hardline.

 

  • Battlefield Hardline: Criminal Activity: Players have to make a name for themselves in fast-paced, highly-destructible new maps littered with small-time crime jobs. Available summer 2015.
  • Battlefield Hardline: Robbery: Take down the opposition head on and progress through key locations with major cinematic action. Available summer 2015.
  • Battlefield Hardline: Getaway: This is frantic, high-speed chases that immerse players deeper in the heist. Available fall 2015.
  • Battlefield Hardline: Betrayal: There is a rat in every operation and players will have to find out who to trust. Available winter early 2016.

 

 

Most dubious of all this however is a tiny little thing that reads "Priority position in server queues".  Yup, you read that right.  Given the track record of EA's Battlefield previous releases (which haven't exactly gone the smoothest), if the servers are overloaded and you've only shelled out for the standard pricing you can expect to be frustrated as those who've spent the ridiculous $119.98 are allowed to play while you and your party are stuck on searching/loading screens.

 

I played the beta for this and in actuality enjoyed myself, but knowing this information ahead of time has absolutely swayed my intentions from purchase to rental.  I understand the need of businesses to make money but this is borderline robbery and shady to the highest degree. 

 

ThermoNukePanda is not impressed.

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Eventually these military FPS developers are going to piss off enough players that they'll stop buying their games. However, these big companies (EA, Acti etc) are on top of it. They are not stupid or naive. They can research any segment of their games at anytime and see where trends are hiking or falling.

 

In short - they would not do this if it had a chance to fail. Gamers are all talk. They say they're going to "vote with their wallets", but they either don't, or they can't put up enough numbers to make a difference.

 

No one likes to admit it, but we all have a role in this happening. One only needs to look at EA and SimCity. That was the unicorn. That was most everyone coming together and getting some heinous act undone.

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Very true about voting with wallets, but when it comes to shooters like CoD and Battlefield the general "audience" tends to be incredibly skewed towards the younger end of the generation scale.  I think the only reason that SimCity was successful in being a "unicorn" as you put it was because the audience for that genre is definitely towards the other end of the spectrum. 

 

Lil kiddies will make their parents pay for the extras without batting an eye or realizing what they're doing.  A more mature audience is going to take a step back and say, "Wait, what!?"

 

Just my opinion.  I'm pretty pissed about the extra cost.  I was kind of looking forward to playing this with friends.

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Yeah, that's exactly the difference. Adults like MrsBE weren't going to take being bent over and they demanded their money back from EA. Young adults and teens typically aren't going to go out of their way for something when they can just bitch about it on Twitter.

 

This is what I meant about these big companies knowing what they're doing. They have all the data they need. I think it still needs some working out, as witnessed by EA and SimCity, but I also think they might have thought that demographic wasn't going to revolt as much as they did.

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  • 2 weeks later...

As PK said, they'll keep doing whatever they need to do based on their research.  Big companies are in it to make money plain and simple. The more they make with the least amount of work the better.  Not that the people behind the games don't love what they are making, but the company is still in it for the money.  So, as long as people are buying they will be making these deals.

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