EA Looking At Other Games For Premium Subscriptions

[cherb]

Premium this, premium that.. subscriptions work.. but not in multiples. Only on REALLY big games. And only on MMO's.

NFS "Premium" in a regular game? I pass thank you kindly.

Certainly doesn't work "only on MMO's" seeing as Call of Duty Elite made Activision millions of dollars, and the same applies to Battlefield 3's premium services.

[slipn]

While I fully understand why a company would want to do this...I simply can't believe people are buying it up in the way that they are.

[Deleted]

While I fully understand why a company would want to do this...I simply can't believe people are buying it up in the way that they are.

It probably won't last long. The economy is generally unstable in pretty much every country in the moment and sooner or later more and more people are just going to give up spending out on the gimmicks spewed out by greedy gaming companies. Of course, the investors are to blame as they are very out of touch with what gamers want to see.

[Grraarrgghh]

While I fully understand why a company would want to do this...I simply can't believe people are buying it up in the way that they are.

This just doesn't make sense. I've bought dozens of expacs through the years for games. What does it matter that I'm just pre-ordering guaranteed expacs (at a 50% discount ffs) vs buying them when they come out?

"Diminished quality" is a bullshit rejoinder. I bought Secret Weapons Of WWII, I know what diminished quality looks like.

[Zamfix]

No, they don't complain for the sake of complaining. Most people are well within their right to complain because these sort of questionable business practices are detracting from the quality of products and make an already expensive hobby even more costly.

Good thing it's a hobby and not a requirement to live.

[Deleted]

Good thing it's a hobby and not a requirement to live.

Just because something is a hobby, that hardly means that we should all roll over and allow our wallets to be drained dry. It's bad enough that we're ripped off elsewhere with mandatory payments that seem to increase on a yearly basis.

[Grraarrgghh]

Just because something is a hobby, that hardly means that we should all roll over and allow our wallets to be drained dry. It's bad enough that we're ripped off elsewhere with mandatory payments that seem to increase on a yearly basis.

It's almost like costs are...what's a good word for it...

...

Inflating! That's a good one!

In all seriousness though, offering the xpacs up front at a discount isn't exactly a shady business practice, it's literally just one option for a consumer to pay by.

If you prefer, you can just buy them individually as they come out. No one is holding a gun to your head.

[Pony Soldier]

It's amazing what games have become these days.

[namelessone]

I actually didn't mind the premium service. if they are going to offer me ALL xpacs for a one time fee that would equal the cost of just 2 of those packs, well....ill take it anyday

The only problem with this approach would be if they come out tomorrow and say "Uh, guys, business isn't going so well here, so we are postponing all planned xpacs indefinitely".

[Kantor]

The only problem with this approach would be if they come out tomorrow and say "Uh, guys, business isn't going so well here, so we are postponing all planned xpacs indefinitely".

While that would bother me (and about 800,000 others) I don't think there is a risk of that happening. I am sure that money made on BF3 stuff will go towards BF3 development. If it took more money than what they made to pay for the development of the other DLC's, then they really are making xpacs lol. Also, EA is at a tipping point, i think, where if they make one more HUGE mistake, they really might sink. i don't think they would screw the playerbase over that badly. maybe postpone for like a week or two, but not indefinitely. ( although indefinite could be one or two weeks if EA didn't know the ETA till about a day in advance.

[Halicia]

In all seriousness though, offering the xpacs up front at a discount isn't exactly a shady business practice, it's literally just one option for a consumer to pay by.

If you prefer, you can just buy them individually as they come out. No one is holding a gun to your head.

Yes, as someone said earlier they aren't keen on paying before they play...

but offering this option for AAA games and expansions is a good move for a large publisher, in that they can mitigate some of the risk of a flop by shifting the risk to the consumers ahead of time.

Yes, it sucks if it turns to be total dreg, but if you were going to be one of those day1 buyers *anyways*, you've saved yourself some money.

Ideally, this would encourage big publishers to move a little from their 'safe zones' of expansions & proven franchises, but I doubt it would be used for little more then providing more accurate and stable income projections.