260°

Battlefield 3 Not on Steam so EA Can Offer ‘Best Possible Experience’

Ironhammers writes: If you’re a PC gamer and have the slightest bit of interest in Battlefield 3, you’ve probably heard about the ongoing debates and rumours over why it’s not available to pre-order on Steam. If not, you’ve likely at least noticed that it’s not in the Steam store. Well, EA have made several little comments about the reasons behind this, but now the Battlefield 3 Community Manager, Seeson Mahathavorn, has said it’s so that EA can ‘provide players with the best possible experience’.

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Pandamobile4639d ago (Edited 4639d ago )

Well I guess that's that. Oh well.

I wonder if this will have any impact on Valve's policies.

saladthieves4639d ago ShowReplies(5)
MAJ0R4639d ago

Valve's policies aren't that strict, anyway I'm not buying the game now

Pandamobile4639d ago (Edited 4639d ago )

You guys are acting like you can ONLY buy it from Origin.

There's dozens of places where you can buy it that aren't Origin. The amount of melodrama on N4G about this is insane.

Did all of you skip Starcraft 2 because it wasn't on Steam?

MAJ0R4639d ago

the point is that there not putting it on steam because they want their Origin to be a success when we all know it will have the same fate as GFWL

they also don't wana give people options, doesn't mean I won't play the game though :)

vickers5004639d ago

I'm not buying it either. Unless it comes to steam. There are PLENTY of games I am looking forward to, and I am excited about all of them equally as much as battlefield, meaning BF3 can wait unless those greedy f*cks at EA learn their lesson about not trying to take down the most widely loved digital distribution service of all time and trying to replace it with their bullsh*t trashy "we delete the stuff you paid for after 2 years of not playing it, even though you paid full price for it" origin bs.

I like all my games centralized into one place when it comes to PC gaming, and I'm not switching over to something else just because EA are greedy little morons.

Pandamobile4639d ago (Edited 4639d ago )

Believe what you want. Valve's the one that removed Crysis 2 and DA2 from Steam, not EA.

BF3 not being on Steam is a joint effort from Valve and EA. If EA really want Origin to succeed that badly, they could have completely barred other distributors from selling BF3. If that were the case, then yeah, I'd suspect EA of being underhanded like Activision-Blizzard and forcing users into only buying digital goods from them; but BF3 being on D2D, Impulse and every other major digital retailer shows that that really isn't the case.

I've played the BF3 alpha. I've seen how deep it's integration is with the Battlelog service. I can completely understand why it wouldn't work well if that was trying to run under Steam.

You guys are really being stupid about this whole situation.

I'm probably the biggest Valve/Steam fanboy on this website, but a game not being on it is not going to impact my desire to purchase it, and it shouldn't impact yours either unless you're completely OCD and can't handle buying games from places other than Steam.

radphil4638d ago (Edited 4638d ago )

@Pandamobile

What the hell happened to "voting with your wallet" on this site?

It's now turned to "people being stupid".

Some people like to go DD, but not get strongarmed into their choices.

For me I'm getting my game through physical retail, but still, calling people stupid just because they choose not to get strongarmed into their choices is kinda fickle.

evrfighter4638d ago

just get it retail man.

EA wants to see some bloated sales numbers on Origin. But don't be a statistic for their DD sales meeting. Just go retail. who cares if you have to install Origin. Point is you have the physical copy in case they delete your game and you they gotta split up the sale between all the middlemen by going retail.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4638d ago
GSpartan7774639d ago (Edited 4639d ago )

I have given you a bubble for practically every single one of your comments because you are the only person here actually making sense in what you say and not following a mindless hivemind.

Key thing of what you have said "If EA really want Origin to succeed that badly, they could have completely barred other distributors from selling BF3."

This is quite true now that I think of it. I myself thought they were trying to push Origin but now that I look at it, it really makes no sense for them to have it on other DDs. There has to be something regarding Steam that we either don't know or choose not to believe for EA not releasing it on Steam. Because at the end of the day, sales are what matter right? The more digital distributions the better. And there are some EA games still on Steam except for the last few games that were removed.

Lazy_Sunday4638d ago

This will have ZERO impact on Steam's policies. Just hopefully I'll have two places to get better deals instead of one.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4638d ago
TheDarkness4639d ago

LoL "Best possible experience" My ass

joab7774639d ago

Its their biggest money draw ever and as such the biggest draw to origin. Its how they stake their claim. Its also one of the biggest reason so many console gamers chose consoles, everything is in one place, friends, trophies/achievements etc. Someday, hopefully consoles will swallow the PC whole and offer their own services and we can b done w this. Actually, i think if Microsoft or Sony signed a deal w valve to run steam on their next Gen console, it would b a step in the right direction. Well, hopefully it doesn't backfire on ea. There is alot riding on battlefield 3. Next year we will get west and zampellas new IP on origin only, i assume. We have Microsoft v Sony, origin v steam and activision v ea. Lets see how everything aligns.

bumnut4638d ago

It would be more accurate if they changed the word 'experience' for 'profit'

Kamikaze1354639d ago

They want to offer the best possible experience on a program that's clearly under beta rather than on a program that's been out for years and has millions of registered users? This just proves how stupid EA is.

Pandamobile4639d ago (Edited 4639d ago )

The game has no interaction with Origin unless you buy it through Origin. Origin won't even need to be running to launch Battlefield 3 when it comes out.

Everything is done through Battlelog and Battlelog != Origin.

Kamikaze1354639d ago (Edited 4639d ago )

Well if that's true, that only makes EAs seem even dumber. Why sell it through Origin and not Steam when you need an entirely different service to even use it? Mass Effect 2 is available through Steam, yet the DLC is purchased elsewhere and nobody complained.

Also, Battlefield 3 is available on D2D...EA is just full of it, lol.

Pandamobile4639d ago

Mass Effect 2 was on Steam before Valve changed their policy.

Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 came out around the time when Valve changed it, thus, Valve removed it.

What it sounds like to me is that EA was doing things their own way, without regard to Steam's policies and after they've nailed out all of their online features and plans they sort of realize that this doesn't fit in with Valve's policy of not letting the developers supersede Steam's system by going over its head with the patching system and in-game DLC purchasing.

I really doubt EA is purposely keeping Battlefield 3 from Steam. They've had a good relationship with Valve in the past, and good sales results with their games on Steam.

It's not like they're keeping it from every digital store except for Origin. You can still buy it from Impulse, D2D, Gamersgate, etc.

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70°

Why Are Steam's Recommendations Dogpoop?

Blindfolding myself and clicking a Steam page at random would serve me better recommendations than Steam’s algorithm

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
UltimateOwnage8d ago

Hmm, not sure I agree with that. The recommendations I get are usually pretty good, but then again I have pretty large library of games on Steam and hundreds of them in my wish list, along with lots of curators I follow for it to build recommendations off of. On occasion it will throw me a random FIFA game or something I've never bought or shown interest in, but mostly its decent IMO.

80°

5 Best Metroidvania Games on Steam (March 2024)

Dive into the best Metroidvania games on Steam, from hidden gems to top-rated classics, and embark on unforgettable adventures!

jznrpg18d ago

Skul is a metroidvania ? It’s on PS+ soon I’ll check it out. If it’s good I’ll buy a copy physically if they have one

Nacho_Z18d ago

If Pseudoregalia is one of the best I'd hate to see what the worst look like.

330°

Dragon’s Dogma 2 releases to mixed user reviews, as microtransactions criticised

Players can pay to edit their character, resurrect the dead and other actions.

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videogameschronicle.com
AdonisIsBeast26d ago

Who cares as long as it’s optional

phoenixwing26d ago

paying to edit your character is kind of crap as far as microtransactions go

Xristo26d ago (Edited 26d ago )

I hate any/all MTX in a paid game (especially a full-price game)... but know that you can spend in-game currency (RC), which you get from killing mobs, to completely remake your character.

phoenixwing26d ago

@xRisto how much did it change the gameplay though? Changing your character would have probably not cost any rc if they weren't hellbent on getting money by making it inconvenient

koga8826d ago

You can literally edit your character using in-game gold, dropped from monsters or obtained from selling items, as soon as you reach the first main town. You can even use Rift Crystals obtained from other people using your pawn or dropped from monsters to change your entire character or Pawn. It's paying to avoid doing something that is literally in the game.

PRIMORDUS26d ago

They are lucky there using Denuvo or their game and all future DLC etc. would be for free. 🤣

phoenixwing26d ago

@koga you completely missed the point i was making but go ahead and act like i'm being the wrong one

lucian22925d ago

you can pay ingame currency though; why are ya so derp

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 25d ago
Crows9026d ago (Edited 26d ago )

Capcom cares quite a bit....hence why it was kept from reviewers and initial impressions.

As far as optional...yeah...ALL mtx are optional. That's not the problem. The miss the mark entirely.

Heck buying the game is "optional" too.

The fact that they were hiding this is scummy as hell. I was going to buy this day 1 or day 3. Now I'm reconsidering the purchase entirely because as the reviews point out...there are certain design decisions which have not changed but funnily enough seem to be remedied by these mtx...

In other words they may have left certain features in the game in order to monetize them. So the mtx affected the development of the game in a negative way.

garos8226d ago

I'm certainly not buying it anymore. It has affected at least one sale from me. I'll pick it up second hand

peppeaccardo26d ago

Very close to buy the game at a discounted price but not anymore.
Bad business practice and hence they do not get my support/money !

warriorcase25d ago

It wasn't kept fromreviewers s though. Twitter reviewers are saying there was mention of mtx's in the reviewers guide

-Foxtrot26d ago (Edited 26d ago )

STOP. USING. THAT. SHITTY. EXCUSE

God damn man

Look how DLC changed after Oblivions horse armour, within 10 years most developers took the absolute p***. What was said then aswell? “It’s only optional who cares?” Now look where we all are.

There’s no half measures with these things, when will people realise this.

jwillj2k426d ago (Edited 26d ago )

Oh it’s gonna get worse. Ng+ locked behind mtx, “cool downs” preventing you from playing for more than 3 hours at a time unless u pay the mtx for unlimited access, main campaign bosses, in-game music, certain dialog, difficulty modes, certain npc interactions, all locked behind mtx, etc.. etc. gonna end up being like the NBA 2k games eventually paying for cross overs and shit… They gon get mid-evil on our asses.

OMGitzThatGuy26d ago

I can guarantee most of the items you can buy with mtx and ingame currency wouldn’t exist in ANY paid form if the main goal wasn't monetization. If the goal is to give idiots who are willing to pay for basic game features as mtx a way to do things faster then the only ones the mtx hurt are the non paying players as you are now locking features behind a grind that you chose to put in the game that you are essentially admitting to creating some type of time sink. I have never heard of a game locking basic character editing behind a ingame paywall, it’s usually just an option.

Chard25d ago

Takes two to tango though - unfortunately people buy this garbage which incentivises the behaviour. It's an inevitable outcome of the profit motive

thorstein26d ago

@Mario

Yes. And so are resurrection "Wakestones." You can find them but they're rare.

victorMaje26d ago

Buying the game is now very optional too. If you don’t know why then you don’t get it.

shinoff218326d ago

Because it's only a door way. That's why we care. We've already seen some shit since Mtx was introduced.

Rimeskeem26d ago

1. DD2 is an ARPG with 8 different playable classes
2. There is no multiplayer aspect to the game
3. You can only have one character (have to pay for more)
4. You cannot delete the character unless you go into the game files
5. The game is $70 dollars upfront

Having to pay for more character slots in a game that *features* 8 playable classes is pretty much not optional for an ARPG.

Angyobangyo26d ago

Judging from steam reviews, gamers care. Not plastic gamers. Why didn’t Itsuno mention such MTX would be available in-game? Why weren’t the MTXs there for review copies?

Kiryu199226d ago

Who cares is how all this started. The many many excuses. Please keep defending these greedy publishers and unfair tactics. We be gamers are the problem

Horse armor

$10 online passes if buying a used copy

Cheat codes gone and are replaced by micro transactions

Unlocking stuff by playing games behind micro transactions and XP boosters

It’s only cosmetic

No one is being forced to spend even though publishers are literally making their games more grindy to force people to play

Full priced games have mobile game type micro transactions

$70 priced games because higher development costs while making record profits and laying off record number of employees

And to play the game early pay us extra $20-30 on top of full price

Release games now and promise to maybe fix them later only to abandon the game

Day one patches that make the games worst

If it’s your favorite game defend the publisher if it’s not hate on another publisher for similar content

SixFrvgz25d ago Show
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kenpachi26d ago

Must have picked up some EA crew to put this in the game

robtion26d ago

Yeah these are really bad ones. Directly impacting gameplay too. Super scummy move. I hope nobody buys them.

CrimsonWing6926d ago

Yet Helldivers 2 gets a pass? Y’know a GotY contender by the name of RE4 had them and so does Devil May Cry V. The funny thing is I enjoyed both of those games thoroughly without having to buy a single microtransaction.

What I do consider a valid complaint is not being able to start a new game or being able to edit your character. That’s kind of a seriously baffling decision, but then I think how I played Dragon’s Dogma 1 and I never edited my character and I just did a 100% playthrough on a single file and didn’t start a NG since. So, I don’t think these are really going to impact me, but I can see how it will others.

Crows9026d ago

Helldivers 2 is a live service game where everything is obtainable in game with incredible ease.

Not sure about re4 or DMC but nobody is giving anyone a pass ...this article is about dragons dogma 2...not those games.

What is valid are in game features made to supposedly force you to think carefully only to have a surprise online store offer solutions to built in problems for more money.

Goosejuice26d ago

Those same things they are selling can be found Ingame as well. U can buy the character editor through merchants with gold. Don't get me wrong..I dislike these mtx they are doing but you don't need to buy them to be able to get them.

CrimsonWing6926d ago (Edited 26d ago )

Oh my bad, I can’t bring up games with microtransactions that nobody had a sh*t fit over. My mistake.

I love how people move the goalpost.

Crows9026d ago

@goose
@crimson

All mtx sucks. I'd rather helldiver's not have them because it makes me wonder if the rate at which you collect materials. That said. The games features are all fully enjoyable and aren't affected by the mtx.

That's not the case with dragons dogma 2...they left in place features that are supposedly part of the challenge of the game only to let you buy your way out very conveniently. I didn't look through all of them but I've heard some are rare but can be purchased with more money now. Even more so in a game about managing weight load there's a tent, I believe, that you can pay more money for that weighs less than your typical tent...not all sure on all the mtx and I'm aware that you can purchase many through in game vendor but they're incredibly useful mtx that are obtained much more slowly in game...or even a limited amount of them.

Instead is selling fast travel...just let us don't for free....or instead of selling cosmetic changes...how about letting us do it for free...

Nothing in helldivers comes close to this abomination

Angyobangyo26d ago

One is a single player game and one is a live service game. One is $40 vs$70. And most importantly, one game is there to spread democracy.

Ironmike25d ago

It's not incredibly easy for certain things in helldivers though u still have grind quite bit but u ate correct in saying u can eventually get enough medals to purchase stuff

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 25d ago
Moegooner26d ago

Read your comment again and maybe, just maybe you might realise how dumb it was.

CrimsonWing6926d ago (Edited 26d ago )

What was dumb about it? That I pointed out the hypocrisy?

garos8226d ago

It was extremely scummy that capcom hid this from reviewers. I have no doubt this game is good but these type of microtransactions don't sit well with me. They've lost a sale from me

Lionsguard26d ago

I was going to pay full price to support this game because I've been waiting for it for forever but I think I'll wait until I get it for free from Epic or a Humblebundle monthly.

Redemption-6426d ago

I am not defending Capcom, as I am not a fan of MTX in single player games. I do however belive they were open to reviewers about having MTX in their game. The reviewers just decided to leave that part out. Which is very disingenuous. There are some companies that get away with these things. Image if this was done by EA, Ubisoft, or even Activision? I am positive those defending Capcom, would have had their pitchforks ready if the companies listed above did this

anast26d ago

That's why reviewers can't be trusted. In fact, they are not reviewers at all. They get free codes to talk about stuff they don't understand nor care about.

Sanctusone26d ago

I mean it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes...one of the items you get from deluxe edition was in game items.
1500 Rift Crystals - Points to Spend Beyond the Rift (A)
Which honestly I figured they kept a similar mtx system like DMC5 and the optional red orbs.

Lionsguard26d ago

1500 Rift Crystals doesn't mean anything. The first game had Rift crystals too, you just earned them by people hiring your Pawn and you get it from certain quests.

anast25d ago (Edited 25d ago )

A reviewer's job is to point out the obvious of a product as though they were the consumer. This means reviewers, to do their actual job, would need to review the complete game: the edition they are reviewing, how they got the game, technical aspects, story, and monetization scheme. Since, it is obvious that MT's are a part of the game, it would need to be reviewed. This way people can be informed, so they can decide if they want to play this style of game/monetization scheme.

For example, AC Origins was bad with Mt's. I had to farm side missions or pay to advance the story. This was after I already did close to 25 or more side missions. While I was grinding there were constant reminders that I could pay to ease the grind. I would have never bought the game if it were reviewed properly.

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