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lord_of_valhalla

Online passes - a rant.

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14 Comments
by
lord_of_valhalla
, 09-10-2011 at 02:27 PM (2156 Views)
Sorry, I just need to get this s**t off my chest, this whole online pass has been getting to me and really making me hate everything about gaming and the way it's going, so I might as well get all my thoughts down and hopefully move on, who knows. For anyone who doesn't know, online passes have been brought in for all sony published releases, and require the user to put in a one time use code on the from the box to access any online features. EA are also doing this with some of their games, Battlefield 3 for example. The justification from Sony for this is that they and the developers get zero money from the resale market, and so the online pass helps they get some money from this. Personally, I disagree with this and believe this is just a cash grab by publishers to get more money out of the consumers, and also shows bigger problems in the way gaming is going. Developers and publishers realise that online gaming is huge, and it's actually making up a large part of what constitutes a game, in ever increasing amounts. If this wasn't the case, why would they feel the need to cut off the online portion of their game? They know the loss of the online portion is possibly going to force people to buy new, or buy the online pass and either way, they get the money. Another argument I have heard for the introduction of the online passes, is that it helps with the ongoing cost of keeping servers online, and that original sales pay for this, but resales do not; again, this argument is weak. Currently a sale is made and that effectively is your online pass, you own the game. Having the disc entitles you to play it online. When you sell the disc you lose that right and the new owners gains it. Only one person ever has the disc at any one time, so the server load is exactly the same. No one is getting two server slots, as like previously mentioned, the discs aren't copied, but resold. It is a similar argument in defence of the rental market. The rental retailers pay for those games and can only rent each disc out to one customer at a time, so it is not like Sony is losing out on the server end and getting overloaded with people who haven't paid for the game. This move by publishers has further confirmed the idea that they want ever increasing control over what you do with your media, and just like when the hacking scandal broke and the PSN was down, the idea that this console isn't yours, it is Sony's and you can only do with it what they want. By not allowing you to properly sell what is rightfully yours to whomever you please without the recipient incurring further charges, they are clearly stating that they are in control and not you. A further point in why this whole saga stinks, is the lack of online trials. Granted, we have only seen one game so far (Resistance 3) but that did not contain even a trial for the online play, not one minute of it, not even the co-op. You're only option was to download the public beta and play a heavily limited version of the online. Other games may not have a public beta, and may not have a trial, only time will tell, but I hope they do see some sense and give consumers something back.

This leaves gamers with a dilemma: do you now buy the game new that you may have rented first, or do you skip it completely? I for one have not decided yet. My heart says skip the games, sell my console and make the move to PC asap (I want to make the move to PC next year anyway), but my head says buy the games new, but just buy less games.

</rant>

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  1. saskbob's Avatar
    What you say about PC doesn't really jive with the rest of your argument, on PC you cannot rent nor sell your games that you have bought, in many cases you cannot even play the campaign without first signing into the service. I do understand why a guy would be mad though as I've wanted to lend stuff from EA to buddies like NHL 11 and BFBC2 and they have no online access. I think Resistance 3 made a bad move because they needed to sell people on their online, they hadn't built the reputation for a must play multiplayer experience and so they've shot themselves in the foot in terms of word of mouth. With Battlefield and COD, people know what they are getting and they might be pissed, but they are going to buy new or pay $10.
  2. lord_of_valhalla's Avatar
    Pretty much all DRM and other restrictions on PC games are removed by the community in a week or so. Obviously though, you may not have access to official or dedicated servers without an online pass. You cannot rent, but I was referring to other means, but trying to be subtle.
  3. saskbob's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by lord_of_valhalla
    Pretty much all DRM and other restrictions on PC games are removed by the community in a week or so. Obviously though, you may not have access to official or dedicated servers without an online pass. You cannot rent, but I was referring to other means, but trying to be subtle.
    Well have fun, all that business is a pain in the butt and gets you nothing but problems in the end. I personally love PC gaming and steam, playing games outside that system would suck.
  4. Randum's Avatar
    I'm pretty upset about this whole movement of console games with this "online pass" or "one time online code" garbage. The whole reason I enjoyed the console on top of my PC gaming was accessibility, ease of use, and lets face it, buying used games really helps save on the wallet.

    Now with this new method in place, I know I won't bother buying some games because I'm not ready to drop $60 on whatever the title is, and if I buy used, I know I have to shell out another $10-15 to play online. Lets also point out both PSN and XBL now have monthly fees for their "Full Online Experience" your price to pay online just went up on top of your ISP costs...

    No matter how you spin it, its more of a hassle to the consumer. i.e. I pick up a new copy of resistance 3, I go to my brothers place to show off the game. Not only do I have a mandatory install, so its no longer a quick showing of the game - but we can't play online because you can only use that online code once. It used to be as simple as dropping a disc in and playing, now, not so much.

    Its annoying and the only thing that can prevent this is people not buying it. I don't think the game publishers realize how much the used game sales can help future sales. I can't speak for everyone but I guess I dont understand. If I know I won't buy game XYZ at $60 but you know what, I'll get it used at $40 - if they take away that ability, I'll never play game XZY and chances are I won't buy the sequel. Also, I probably will not be turned on to what other titles that publisher offers.

    Either way, I think they have now reached the point of being as greedy as possible. With the amount of DLC now available at launch, and this online pass nonsense - also lets look at this ridiculous aggressive release schedule, new COD/Madden every year now...

    I was watching a video for the new COD MW3, looks great, but you know what? 10 years ago, this would be a simple add-on pack on the PC for around $20 or it would be free. I understand everyone needs to get paid, and the costs are high, but I can't help but think they (publishers specifically) have crossed the line and they should see some diminishing returns soon. I already see my personal library shrinking, and I assume a fair amount of us on the boards here have changed our purchasing habits.
  5. lord_of_valhalla's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Randum
    I pick up a new copy of resistance 3, I go to my brothers place to show off the game. Not only do I have a mandatory install, so its no longer a quick showing of the game - but we can't play online because you can only use that online code once.
    I believe the codes are tied to PSN accounts, so if you set up your account on his console it would work, but you've then got the hassle of doing that.

    I couldn't agree more with the rest though. It's just a money grabbing scheme with little justification. Nothing of course is going to change until people stop buying them, but of course that will never happen. Most will value slight entertainment, even if they are making things worse, over long term changes in the market.
  6. BigC3's Avatar
    I know we've already discussed this before, but once they realise that it is more bother than its worth, it should die out.
    Every failure in life has its initial period where someone says "that will be a great idea", then it isn't.
    That's my view on it, anyway.
  7. saskbob's Avatar
    It will be interesting to see what happens. I know there is tons of angry tweets directed at insomniac and I don't think that the sales are that great. But then again look at EA, they've made 10-15 million they say, they sold 9 million copies of BFBC2 and they just sold 1.4 million copies of madden, both games with online passes. People really aren't rising against. Maybe it will affect used sales and gamestop or whatever will lower prices knowing that the consumer knows the online is gimped. Hard to say.
  8. Raonak's Avatar
    It's mainly gamestops fault.

    they sell used games for like 5$ less than new, and the average joe sees the cheaper price, and buys the used versions. more used game sales - less new sales. more profit for gamestop. less for devs.

    So i fully support the online pass- I hire games a lot, but i don't care about online for games i rent. so it doesn't effect me. I borrow games too. but don't care about online on them.

    I usually like supporting developers more than consumers anyway.

    Plus: resistance has no online trophies. Likely due to the online pass. (ie: platinum isn't possible for everyone) so as far as I see it. the more games that have this the better. I hate online trophies far more than inputting a random code.
  9. davidb69's Avatar
    I can tell you that EA has at least gotten better with it's online passes. Last year Madden 11 and NHL 11's online pass was only good on 1 users id, making a single disk game only useable online for me. Madden 12 didn't have this issue thankfullly. Do I have a problem with this? yes and no. I like EA Sports's take of giving you 7 days which is perfectly reasonable for rentals. Some games like Dirt 3 gives no free trial giving my rentals no testing of how good the game is online and on those games, i will take a pass.

    As someone who programs, I want developers to get the money, not resale companies.
  10. lord_of_valhalla's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by davidb69
    Some games like Dirt 3 gives no free trial giving my rentals no testing of how good the game is online and on those games, i will take a pass.
    This is my main gripe with Resistance 3, not even a trial for the online. The only way to test it out is to try the online beta, which isn't fully representative of the game and I doubt will be online for much longer.

    Quote Originally Posted by Raonak
    Plus: resistance has no online trophies. Likely due to the online pass.
    There is a trophy on co-op, but at least you can do that on local co-op if you have someone to play with.
  11. davidb69's Avatar
    I rather play shooters and those shooters not have online trophies. Co-op trophies are cool. I can't wait for my son be old enough to play these games with me. I say he's a few years away still to be mature enough to handle the content
  12. Randum's Avatar
    I would side with the developers, but why can't software be treated by buying and selling of other used goods? I think its their method of doing it that is most annoying. Everyone is scrambling to make that extra dollar. Games now release, and then make announcements on DLC from day one. I remember when DLC was an after thought, and it was right around the time you were going to shelve the game. For another $20 a year later, you can pump a few more hours of life out of an older game. Now its just a mere couple months later.

    Maybe I'm making too much of a leap, but imagine if you couldn't buy used cars? And you were stuck with the new one, and you couldn't sell it! How much would that suck!
  13. Raonak's Avatar
    I think the best way to do it would be the "exclusive" extra stuff.
    I remember a few games doing it;(ME2, I think socom4, maybe battlefield2?)

    basically all new versions come with code to download extra content. if you get it used etc. you won't get code.

    rewarded new game buyers, and didn't punish the others too badly;
  14. lord_of_valhalla's Avatar
    Yes, BFBC2 did that, which was good. If you bought an ultimate edition which still runs at about £30-35 you got all the dlc except vietnam, but if you didn't want to you could buy pre-owned or a normal version for a lot cheaper and just get the basic online. That I think is perfectly acceptable.