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| Image courtesy of joystiq.com |
At one point, EA was considered the Evil Empire of the Gaming World for buying up smaller developer houses (like Origin and Bioware) and running them into the ground and mistreating their employees enough for them to file a class action lawsuit. In the years since then, EA started to focus on making good games and paying their employees their fair share.
Then Activision became the Evil Empire of the Gaming World to the point where the CEO's name, Bobby Kotick, became synonymous with being a shit-eating douche-bag in most gaming circles. They fucked up and fucked over the Guitar Hero franchise and then went on to fuck with the Call of Duty franchise.
And now, EA has once again found itself crowned with the Corny Shit Crown of Command that comes with being Evil Empire of the Gaming World with their latest shenanigans involving the upcoming game Battlefield 3. First of all, let me get a kind word out to DICE, the guys who are actually developing the game. They are actually doing what they can (according to an insider) to keep EA from screwing their customers over; however, it's not DICE's call.
EA is releasing a pre-order only DLC package called Physical Warfare, which will include a couple of levels that you can only get if you pre-order the game including the very bonerific, fan favorite Strike at Karkand level from Battlefield 2 redone for this game as Back to Karkand.
Also, certain weapons and equipment won't be available to you as a player unless you pre-order the game. To drive the stake a bit further the selection of those weapons and equipment that you will get depends upon which store you pre-order from. Shitty move.
Some of the "exclusive items" include a flash suppressor for a sniper rifle and an anti-personnel flechette round to be used with the DAO-12 weapon. So, if I pre-order and you don't, I have a leg up on you already because you can't see my muzzle flash when I snipe you. Sucks, right?
This sort of piecemeal distribution of games sucks camel cock and is quite possibly the shittiest thing the gaming industry can force us as consumers to be a part of. But, we have a choice. As much as I hate to say it because the Battlefield franchise is very near and dear to my gaming heart, if this bugs you as much as it really should, please reconsider your pre-order and cancel it. There is an online boycott of Battlefield 3 until EA decides to change their tune and I have not only voiced my opinion but have gone ahead and cancelled my release-day-delivery pre-order. I haven't pre-ordered a game in a VERY LONG time but I was so excited about BF3 that I really wanted to get my hands on it on Day One. My pre-order will stay canceled until this gets sorted out. Will it work? It did when EA tried some similar bullshit with the first Bad Company release.
Almost forgot: want to know one last thing that sucks about how EA is handling Battlefield 3's release? They are pulling their support of Steam and have withdrawn all new games from the service, including BF3, in an attempt to force the EA consumer to use their proprietary pseudo-Steam service called Origin.
Wear that Corny Shit Crown of Command well, EA. It suits you.
UPDATE: General Manager of DICE, Karl Magnus Troedsson, has responded to the pitchfork carrying fervor that the Battlefield 3 release news has generated on the Battlefield Blog. May I just say: WHEW
So maybe this is stating the obvious, but all of us at DICE are here because of our passion for games and the passion to bring you the games we too love to play. I always knew our pre-order offers for Battlefield 3 would be open to misunderstandings. This post is an attempt by me to answer any questions you have.
I would like to start by clarifying that the Physical Warfare Pack is a time-based exclusive. If you do not pre-order Battlefield 3 at a retailer carrying the Physical Warfare Pack, don’t worry. We will unlock the contents of the Physical Warfare Pack for free to all Battlefield 3 players later this year.
The Physical Warfare Pack will be available as a pre-order bonus all over the globe. Right now, the UK is the only country where it has been announced, but stay tuned to get constant updates on where you can pick this up in your country. And remember, if you do not pre-order, you will still get access to this content at a later date, free of charge. If you do pre-order, you will get access to it from day one.
For Battlefield: Bad Company 2, many in the Battlefield community were very vocal about wanting additional, new maps to expand the multiplayer experience. With Battlefield 3, we want to make sure we can increase your library of maps quicker than we did for Battlefield: Bad Company 2. We also want to give you something special for pre-ordering, as pre-ordering is basically your way of saying you believe in DICE and Battlefield 3. When we announced that everybody who pre-orders Battlefield 3 would get an entire future expansion pack at no extra charge, I knew we had created a very generous pre-order offer.
Back to Karkand is a massive, themed expansion pack available a period of time after the base game, developed by a separate team here at DICE -- the same team that brought you Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. If you played Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam, you have a pretty good idea about the scope and ambition of our expansion packs. This is so much more than just four remixed maps.
If you pre-order Battlefield 3, you will be able to play Back to Karkand at no extra charge as soon as it is released, but it is not day one DLC and it is not on the base game disc. We think it’s a sweet deal, and it’s available to everyone everywhere. If you do not pre-order Battlefield 3, you can still buy Back to Karkand separately and play it as soon as it is released, the very same date as anyone who pre-ordered. In other words, there is no segmentation of the community when we launch the base game.
There are more pre-order offers for Battlefield 3 out there, and in order to try and avoid any confusion we will return within the next couple of weeks to detail all of them as well.
As always, post any questions you have here, in our forums, on Facebook, or Twitter. We are listening and value your opinion.
Cheers,
Karl Magnus Troedsson
General Manager, DICE
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