It shouldn’t really hit you as any kind of surprise, but it appears EA’s Battlefield 3 might feature an online pass, at least in some capacity.
Speaking to Gamerzines, DICE’s Patrick Bach said that he “thinks” they are locking out players from online who don’t have a Pass (meaning you’ll need to buy the game new or grab a code from Xbox Live or the PSN Store).
“But I don’t think it’s an online pass,” he added, confusingly. “I think it’s our own back end. I’m not sure I want to call our system an online pass.”
[drop2]Bach doesn’t think that such as system would automatically give Activision’s Modern Warfare 3 an advantage, though.“The whole idea is that we’re paying for servers,” he said, “and if you create a new account there is a big process on how that is being handled in the back end.”
“We would rather have you buy a new game than a used game because buying a used game is only a cost to us; we don’t get a single dime from a used game, but we still need to create server space and everything for you,” he admitted.
“We want people to at least pay us something to create this because we’re paying for it. It was actually a loss for us to have new players. Hopefully people understand why. It’s not to punish people. To us it’s compensation.”
Online passes aren’t exactly rare anymore, Sony’s PSN Pass has caused much discussion here on TSA and whilst we’re not always happy with them, they do appear to be the future, if only for the rather honest reasons outlined by DICE above.
skibadee
this would have always been in the works so not even news to me still buying it day one.
Crazy_Del
Same plus I thought all EA’s game would get online pass 0_o
Anyway alreday have it on pre-ordered and as usual a day one purchase!
Totodile
da big newz 2 me, would be if CoD getz an online pass, den EVRYBODY will get talkin ;))
theturtleking
Nothing will put me off buying this game.
DR-DAVROS
Already on pre-order so no concern to me. I also don’t mind this online pass thing it sounds fair. Give it a few months after realease and I’m sure the pre-owned version will be less even after purchasing the pass. I just hope resellers explain that the pass will be missing and inform the customers of the additional cost.
Skyfire
Does activision even use dedicated servers anymore ? , may explain why they wont use an online pass system as for used sales all of their revenue must come from dlc
Ouninpohja
Battlefield 2 has an online pass pretty much already with that VIP code.
So there’s no change really is there?
These passes don’t bother me anyway,as long as it’s available with the game and not subscription based.
aphex187
This should not trouble most people who buy their games on day one.
aphex187
WTH!? why is my BattleLog Avatar for BF3 on here??????
aphex187
Aha! just realised and now i know after all this time how you guys have avatars! D’OH!
TROPtastic
Mind explaining it to me? ‘Cause I still have no idea :P
DJ Judas
The Battlelog uses gravatar as your default image, same as TSA.
tactical20
As long as its free when you buy the game new, I couldn’t care less.
ProjectJAY
This doesn’t bother me (I’ve already pre-ordered the game) but I thought BFBC2 did this kind of thing the best; they REWARDED players for buying the game new by letting them download new maps for free, instead of locking them out of certain content altogether. Wonder why they decided to change it…
david24
“But I don’t think it’s an online pass,” he added, confusingly. “I think it’s our own back end. I’m not sure I want to call our system an online pass.”
i’d guess instead of a online pass it’ll be more like the vip pass for battlefield bad company 2.
stanley1664
I don’t really give a hoot as I always buy new but can see how this might effect others… I just want to play this now, I mean now… Havnt played any of the BF so far… After the BLOPS fiasco with constant DC`s and pathes I got rid of that sharpish so havnt had a FPS fix for a while now.. I`m having panic attacks now having to wait a few months..
Kennykazey
If you’re in need of an fps, get section 8 prejudice. Fantastic value for money as 12 pounds get you a 5 hour long campaign, fun multiplayer and the possibility of a platinum (if you’re into that).