This one was missed a few days ago, but is worthy of a post - C&VG reported that a producer of the upcoming Battlefield 2142 from Dice/EA has sworn that this new title will have 'less bugs'. It is very interesting to see them actually acknowledge this as a major problem for the community like this, though I remain completely unconvinced that EA will change their 'ship on the due date, not when it's ready' attitude for the Battlefield franchise.

I'm beginning to think that the whole BF2 game (an its retarded "pay for a patch") is nothing more than a covert broadband beta test for Battlefield 2142

I'll believe it when my s*** turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbert

pfft, after two games its f***en to late you gay c***s.

this is probably a naive question but would a boycott of hosting of battlefield related games get anywhere?

last edited by Captain America at 14:21:50 07/Jul/06

i am not giving EA one more red cent.

my love cup for them is empty \_/

would a boycott of hosting of battlefield related games get anywhere?

As much as I'd like to say yes, the reality of it is "no".
Unless you could get the majority of gamers to boycott the initial purchase of any future BF games it just isn't going to happen. ISP's who didn't host games would fast become an ISP to avoid as it is this service which attracts many gamers to use a certain ISP in the first place.

There is however, a real need for gamers everywhere to unite under a single banner across many differing gaming platforms and let Companies like Ubisoft & EA (as a quick example only) know that this "pay for a content patch" path they are trying to force upon us is not what we, the consumer, want. Again, as much as I'd like to say that the boycott of Staforce protected related products and it's subsequent dumping was due entirely to gamers everywhere uniting and saying "bugger off with this root crap" that it was more than likely the class action law suit filed against them that tipped the odds in the gamers favour.

Someone explain to me this "pay for patch" thingy. Whats with that? I have no idea it was happening and no idea what it is.

Greazy:

It's really more like "pay for content"

EA have started doing it with BF2 by charging $10 USD for a couple what are nothing more than add-on packs which contain one or two new vehicles (if your lucky), another weapon or two (again, if your lucky) and two or three additional maps.

All of which are nothing more than the equivalent of a mod as you can't use these "addons" in a vanilla game. Remember once upon a time in the not so recent past, you could expect to get this from a new patch which also addressed major game bugs instead of not only fragmenting the gaming community yet ignoring the resolution of major game issues ~ y'know, things like "stability motherf***er.. Can you say stability?") Well, EA can't.

The worst part is that they aren't the only company who is looking into doing this as well. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfare is another case in example with it's X-Box Live. Although I don't know the exact details as I don't play FPS on consoles, apparently you can purchase another map or scenario (whatever the case may be) for a fee.

Another game which is using a slight variation on this sordid method is HLSource: SIN

You purchas individual chapters instead of a complete game. You have to ask is this because they figure that they can bleed more money out of a gamer this way or that they don't have sufficient cash to develop the game in it's entirety and they think that this is a good way to fund devlopment of a game.

If the latter is the case which a small up and coming developer is making use of then good on them and I'll support their effort. However if it's a company like Activaision, EA or UBISOFT then they can die in a fire as you know that it is because they have figured out how to squeeze more money out of a player for an overall title.

I'd just like to see developers spending more time on resolving existing issues rather than trying to distract me with the latest bright shiny object in the hope that I have the attention span of a short sighted gnat and forget the whole thing that pissed me off in the first place.

Dice/EA has sworn that this new title will have 'less bugs'.

http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~boldajis/images/lostlol.jpg