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...Ya know, I'm probably wrong

It's funny. After a year of planning, strategizing, and thinking of ways to start this blog off right, I naively assembled a post that, at the time, emphasized all the activist thoughts that enveloped my mind and soul. It was glorious; I felt like I had actually made a difference in the gaming blogosphere. Hell, the entire gaming community.

Foolish.

If only I had listened to Jeff Gerstmann. If only I had listened to Leigh Alexander and Justin McElroy. It wasn't until reading Luke Plunkett's rant on Kotaku that I realized my big debut was just a big waste of time. Sad face :(

So a few days pass, the unrest grows louder, the petioning[sic] and emails continue, then...and then the darndest thing happens. EA announce the guns are coming for free (something I'm sure they were going to announce down the line anyways). Your complaining and crying and petitions worked. They'd seen how angry you, the consumer, had become, and rather than shout "let them eat cake", have instead said "here, cake's on us, sorry for the trouble". In other words, VICTORY.

What?! The boycott worked?! Sure, it's true. All the whiny bitches on the internet (including me) successfully convinced EA to remove charge from Gold Edition guns in Battlefield: Bad Company. But does this really mean anything? I mean, gamers could have just as easily not purchased the DLC if the found it to be an unfair system... And, really, it's up to EA to decide what EA wants to sell.

We're years on from stuff horse armour and "key codes" and paying-for-cheats and EA are still lacing their games with extortionate DLC, so it's obvious there are people are out there who are not only buying this content, but buying it in sufficient quantities for EA to keep on doing it.

They're the ones you need to be going after. Not EA. This is a free market. If something sells, EA will keep selling it. If something doesn't sell, they won't. Simple stuff. Clearly, DLC is selling. And you can hate and vent and write and bitch and moan all you like, EA won't stop selling it just because it makes you angry. You weren't buying it anyway. But if the people who are buying it stop buying it, well, that'll get you some results.

Sigh. Whatever. Here's to better, more productive posts in the future.

P.S. I still think the WiiWare Crystal Chronicles setup is bullshit.

Among Bad Company

[A response to all the Battlefield: Bad Company hubbub and those who refuse to resist.]

The real problem here is what we're asked to call "additional" or "extra" content. Bad Company's in-game guns are pixels. Pixels arranged alongside development of the actual game. There should be no reason why I'm not acquiring this content at the forefront of my game-buying experience. Instead, these guns were removed for the sole purpose of selling them at the game's release for a supplementary cost.

Imagine seeing a film in theaters, a complete film delivering the complete message that the filmmaker wanted you to see. But then, at the release of the DVD, distribution companies decided that some of the scenes in the complete film weren't really that necessary in the first place. Additionally, this half-assed version of the film would sell for the same rate as your standard DVD set. You'd then be given the option of purchasing the complete film (the one seen in theaters) at additional charge. And finally, an ultra special, super fantastic Gold edition that features all the deleted scenes and includes behind the scenes featurettes and cast & crew commentaries; all for a low low price of blankety blank blank dollars. It'd be hard to work up an adequate argument for this type of business scheme. Not necessarily the complete film vs. the ultra special, super fantastic Gold edition: this scheme already exists today (see Lord of the Rings), but forcing consumers to pay for what should be a complete film at standard price is pretty ridiculous.

What would I approve of? EA should release Bad Company as it was meant to be: the original directorial vision. And then, after a couple months or so, EA has my permission to release whatever additional content they desire. If they want to release an ultra special, super fantastic Gold edition right at the beginning, the extra content should focus on Behind the Game documentaries or exclusive artwork or even cool Battlefield collector's statues.

I am in full support of SarcasticGamer's Bad Company boycott. And though Joystiq may be right, boycotting the game might seem a little extensive when you can just boycott the DLC itself, I'm kinda sick of companies attempting to sell gamers, in the words of SG, an "incomplete game."

Represent:


Note: I am not against all DLC. Just the frivolous kind that should be in my game at the very beginning. Ergo, I think the WiiWare Crystal Chronicles setup is bullshit.

This is a Test

testing 123
it's tricky I'm picky baby, but I just spotted you
doin' your thing, g-string, shoe string point of view, hey
lend me ya body, you got me in a zone
bet a million in a half past, i can make you explode
you don't wanna brave the cold, you wanna Diddy Combs
i can take you on outer-limits away from home