Battlefield 3 Close Quarters/Premium

[RetroMartin]

In case nobody has realised (or cares!) BF3 has released its premium service which is akin to COD's Elite subscription except for once EA have been savvy about it - it's a one time fee of £39.99 (more or less in other parts of the world) and grants all 4 announced expansions (plus the last one if you don't already have it) early access to all of them, loads of other extra stuff (and technically if its JUST the expansions you'd save 1p, everything else is a bonus)

I am currently downloading the new Close Quarters expansion, so hopefully will be running around with that shortly (after a few internet connections and a supposed 9 hour wait for the download to finish which culminated in 3 restarts and a more respectable 30 minute download lol) I decided to opt for Premium with my friend who also plays as we both know we'll download all the expansions.

So...anybodies thoughts, worries, shits to give or otherwise?

[The Beans]

Just not interested. It's crap like this being layered on top of the games that has made me realise I'm stopping with this generation of consoles and just not moving to the next.
Nearly all of Microsoft's E3 presentation dealt with the "integration" of non-gaming censored I'm just not interested in at all.
Nintendo's mini conference concerning Miiverse is more of the same bollocks.

I just want to play games without seeing a dashboard full of censored or being nudged into paying for a stat website and map packs.

If any company out there would like to come in with a traditional games console that plays games without pissing around with social networking and online media retailers and clean up my disposable income for years to come then feel free.

[samhain81]

day 1 purchase for me

[IronMaidenRule]

Not been on BF3 for a good few months, as the fun factor wore off once my mate stopped playing it online, might have to revisit it though, the Close Quarter trailers do look good.

[RetroMartin]

Just not interested. It's crap like this being layered on top of the games that has made me realise I'm stopping with this generation of consoles and just not moving to the next.
Nearly all of Microsoft's E3 presentation dealt with the "integration" of non-gaming censored I'm just not interested in at all.
Nintendo's mini conference concerning Miiverse is more of the same bollocks.

I just want to play games without seeing a dashboard full of censored or being nudged into paying for a stat website and map packs.

If any company out there would like to come in with a traditional games console that plays games without pissing around with social networking and online media retailers and clean up my disposable income for years to come then feel free.

I agree to be perfectly honest, I just signed up for this one cos it suits me perfectly. BF3 is more then just map packs as well, it has new weapons and vehicles and stuff to - now that isn't to everyone's tastes but it's a bit better then ruddy COD!

[Freestyler]

EA are actively testing a Games-as-a-Service business model, using you guys as guinea pigs.

Not trying to be offensive, but the general FPS crowd are the easiest to shill money from (not counting nutters who heavily invest in Cash-Shop MMO's) because you're usually the first to defend Bad Practice by the Publisher of your favourite Game.

I'm not saying this is a shill or a scam, I'm saying EA are using one of its most popular games as a test-bed for what's inevitably to come. THQ already tried it with Saint's Row 3 after all.

[slacey1070]

Over 2gig download this morning and the premium service at 4000msp. I reckon this could kill a game that seems to me at least to have dwindling on line players. I've never got as much fun out of this as I did bc2, but I've pegged away with it and put a lot of hours in. I doubt ill bother with this, which is good cause I can enjoy all the games I've not played as much as I should have.

Don't agree with not going to the next generation because of it though. We don't know what the next gen will be like, so why make prouncements about it now?

[The Beans]

Over 2gig download this morning and the premium service at 4000msp. I reckon this could kill a game that seems to me at least to have dwindling on line players. I've never got as much fun out of this as I did bc2, but I've pegged away with it and put a lot of hours in. I doubt ill bother with this, which is good cause I can enjoy all the games I've not played as much as I should have.

Don't agree with not going to the next generation because of it though. We don't know what the next gen will be like, so why make prouncements about it now?

Goodness me, I didn't know the direction this generation is now taking would be entirely dropped when the next generation begins, therefore giving us a complete blank page and an entirely mysterious and completely unpredictable new generation of complete newness unlike anything that has gone immediately before!

Once more there is hope! Thanks slacey1070!

[slacey1070]

Why write off a generation because of what a couple of big players do? Heard of indie? Picked up anything that isn't from the big players?

Writing anything off 2 years before you see it makes no sense.

I dont like the direction ea and Activision are going, but they aren't gaming in total.

Give your crystal ball a polish and look again.

[RetroMartin]

Eh, I'm unlikely to continue doing this sort of thing with future consoles. Likelihood is I won't even get a next gen console for a while after. However considering I knew I'd get all the expansions for this game (the first time I've done so for a game since the early 2000's) for me it was quite worth it. However I do not bother with subscription services or anything like that except for MMO's (and I've done that for a grand spanking total of two MMO's)

[The Angry Jock]

BF3 is a broken piece of sh•t, I won't be going back to it, definitely not paying any more money to play it.

Won't be going back until Bad Company 3 appears.

[The Beans]

Why write off a generation because of what a couple of big players do? Heard of indie? Picked up anything that isn't from the big players?

Writing anything off 2 years before you see it makes no sense.

I dont like the direction ea and Activision are going, but they aren't gaming in total.

Give your crystal ball a polish and look again.

It's not just the direction the big publishers are taking. It's also the direction the actual platforms are taking overall. Which I made clear in my original post.
It isn't the games. It's the change from dedicated games console to media and social networking hub. A change that can be easily foreseen. The subscription services offered by EA and Activision are just one part of this.

[Elgin_McQueen]

I'm gonna get it cause of simple logic, ALL the upcoming DLC at a cheaper price than buying them seperately, would be stupid not to. So why is it there's something about the whole thing that is putting me off? Like it says, I'm saving money, and, they throw in a few bonuses, new dog tags, camo and early access to everything, it should seem like an awesome deal, but for some reason it doesn't.

[khisanth]

I have the Close Quarters expansion all loaded up but doesnt seem to be any servers up yet.

I think the DLC is pretty expensive, but I will probably get them over time

[Freestyler]

Why write off a generation because of what a couple of big players do? Heard of indie? Picked up anything that isn't from the big players?

Writing anything off 2 years before you see it makes no sense.

I dont like the direction ea and Activision are going, but they aren't gaming in total.

Give your crystal ball a polish and look again.

I still genuinely;y hope that Xbox Live picks up and even the more obscure games get a decent online presence. As it stands unless it's a big release it's often virtually impossible to get a game going. I know you can always get a group of friends together for a match, but still, whatever happened to just sitting down and thrashing some random scrubs?

Bringing out these kinds of "Pay to Play" models forces the playerbase to commit even further to those big hitters (in terms of time spent) robbing an audience for potential online games even further. Then again isn't it that every game seems to ship with an (otherwise completely unnecessary) online mode the real problem? With audience-splitting a direct result?