DICE community manager, Daniel Matros, has recently confirmed that players will need EA’s Origin client in order to run Battlefield 3 when it launches this October. So far this has only been verified for retail copies of the game, though it will likely apply to digitial ones too, DICE confirming last week that Battlefield 3 won’t be launching on Steam.
Part of EA’s motive for establishing the Origin service is to allow easier to access to its players and products, whereas using other online outlets presents numerous barriers for the publisher.
Just to confirm, this is only for the PC version of Battlefield 3, Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 players will be able to run the blockbuster FPS via XBL and PSN without additional requirements (bar the online pass.)
Source: BF3blog
Forrest_01
So the online pass has been confirmed for BF3 then?
I mean, its somewhat to be expected due to it being EA i guess, but i wasn’t sure if they would simply take the ‘VIP’ route as they did with BFBC2.
david24
Not exactly. Thay said that a online pass or something similar is nessaery for the servers as essentialy they aren’t getting any money but are still paying to create server space. Although he also said that he did’t expect it to be a online pass but something different. My moneys on a VIP code similar to that of bfbc2
david24
The article’s been linked at the top of the page.
Forrest_01
Ah yes, i had seen that now that i think about it – It was just a bit ‘wooly’ in the article about what the online pass would actually be.
As you said, i was leaning more towards the VIP way of doing things as i think that worked out quite well.
MayContainEvil
Sweet! Looks like I’m buying it again. For PS3. Really wouldn’t buy it if I needed the constant internet connection, as my internet connection is anything but constant.
Smallville2106
So with Origin on PC’s do you have to be constantly connected to the internet?
Severn2j
I don’t think you do, but the problem for me is that I already use Steam and Impulse as download services, now I have to add another one? I wouldn’t be surprised if pretty soon you need a separate download service for each publisher’s games.. And all just so that EA can harvest your profile information and sell it to marketing companies. What happened to the good old days, where you could just buy a game and play it without having to hand over your personal information?
Severn2j
Oh, almost forgot, I also use GOG.com’s downloader service as well, although thats less intrusive than the others (i.e. doesnt sit in the background taking up resources), but its still three, without adding Origin to the mix.
MrSpeedyGonzales
EA are seriously taking the piss with this Origin. I know they’re trying to take on steam, but what the don’t realise is that people like Valve/Steam and generally don’t like EA/Origin. Valve actually gives the customer what they want, cheap prices, lots of sales and additional extras. EA just charges £40 what ever the game is, and you get crappy extras in return.
I hate aggressive marketing campaigns which are so blatant.
hazelam
steam or origin, it’s all the same drm that locks entire games to a single user.
a practice i don’t believe is even legal.
Smallville2106
If it wasn’t legal then they wouldn’t be doing it.
Forrest_01
Tell that to the rioters!
hazelam
yeah, because no company ever does anything illegal, do they.
http://www.tabberone.com/Trademarks/CopyrightLaw/FirstSaleDoctrine/FirstSale.shtml
hazelam
this is all a fiction i suppose?http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1780075.stm
yogdog
Companys will do anything if they think they can get away with it…
colmshan1990
Enron has absolutely nothing to do with DRM.
Absolutely zero parallels can be drawn, and your point about businesses that in fact do carry out illegal actions becomes irrelevant when you realise that most of those businesses hide their illegalities, and the rest get shut down rather sharpish.
Whereas DRM and online passes are not, in fact, illegal.
The Doctrine of First Sale has no bearing on DRM or online passes either, as the company and licensing agreements always state you get a license to play software, not the ownership rights of the software. That’s always been the argument, and is especially fair for games with online components, which are a continuous cost to provide, especially as sales always decline with time, but the server costs remain the same.
The Lone Steven
Doesn’t Origin requires a interenet connection at all time in order to play any games? I have heard nothing but bad things about origin. I would have thought that they would use on of the biggest and well known companies for their biggest game of the year. I didn’t even know Origin existed untill a few weeks back.
I can see BF struggling due to Origin’s reputation. :(
I wonder what the specs will be for BF3. I bet it will require an alienware or a supercomputer to run. :(
DJ Judas
It’ll run perfectly fine on a pretty modest setup if you’re willing to sacrifice some visual bling (that will probably make it easier to play anyway ;)
Severn2j
From the EA Origin FAQ:-
“Q: Do I need to be online to play my games?
A: You don’t need to be online to play your games, unless the specific game requires it for multiplayer components.”
DJ Judas
I don’t particularly mind having to launch origin to play, that I can deal with. What I’ll have a problem with is if the server browser is only available through an internet browser, that will feel so detached and un-intuitive.
MrTwP
I really dont like origin, if I buy the game it will be for ps3, with origin once you have locked the game to a single user, you still have to use the disc to play each game you own. That’s one of my favourite things about valve, once you activate the game you no longer need the disc.
yogdog
Not a fan of Steam, but at least I can play games offline (if I set it to offline mode before my internet gets turned off, which is a severe hinderence) and not need a constant internet connection, and I don’t need the disk to play the games. I have an origin account which I set-up to play the Alpha, but I won’t be using it as I do Steam until those issues are addressed. Hell, I only use Steam as I’m forced to by Total War games.
I see that EA are using BF3 as a tool to try and start to rival Valve on the PC digital download market, but I’ll be taking the PS3 version for now. Not impressed.
fillip2k
I can see why people might be a bit annoyed at the whole “oh look EA is trying to steal our money and why don;t they just play nice with steam”
But have people forgotten the massive hoohaa there was a bout steam when it launched. People hated that service they thought it was the beginning of the apocalypse or something from what I remember. Also these low low prices and sales are relatively new thing to steam, so surely if EA get their act together and make a compelling service that they are obviously spending money on setting up and end up heading in a valve like route isn’t that good for us?
More competition?
wick15
EA are shooting themselves in the foot with this. Steam is the biggest gaming client on the PC. I can see their logic. EA think BF3 is so big that everyone on PC will get Origin for it. As far as I can see though they are going to be losing out on sales. Oh well, I will still get it through Origin. Don’t like it though.
UKZ-N3M1515
I think you completely contradicted yourself here,
“EA think BF3 is so big that everyone on PC will get Origin for it.”
“Oh well, I will still get it through Origin.”
I think the ‘hardcore’ PC gaming community who enjoy there annual fix of Battlefield will complain and make do with Origin despite how bad or good it is, i think its a smart move to get people into origin, though (i know nothing about origin) they wont buy whatever games they sell for downloads when steam is a much better, cheaper option.