Publishers must stop pass-locking multiplayer modes

More and more games are locking entire modes for all but first-use buyers, and that can only have a crippling effect on gamers and developers alike.

[SybaRat]

I'm thinking jailbreak that mofo.

[Sadie2100]

Agreed, even though I really can't blame the companies for putting that stuff in. Gotta make money.

[Tanir]

exactly. people are going to pirate games, buy them used, and the devs still need to make money. so thanks to all these used game sales, DLC milking and Online passes were born.

what can u do lol

@Brish

Stop buying games with online passes on it? soooo basically people would stop playing online? and they would only buy used so Devs would only make money from the initial sales.........riiiight, lmao

do your part. How bout people wait 2-3 weks and get the game for sale brand neew (40$) instead of buying it used for50$.

u get the online pass included, save money and devs get money. everyone wins......sorta

[rezzah]

I don`t mind MP

But to place it on SP is very wrong.

It would be like putting a fee on sharing a pencil.

Edit: SP example is Kingdom of Am...(something): Reckoning.

[GamingTruth]

this is probably all rooted from microsofts pay to play online service, i mean if you really think about it

[ZippyZapper]

MMO's like Everquest. You know who owns that game?

[brish]

If people stopped buying games with online passes the industry will stop putting them in games.

Do your part.

[arnyftw]

So just stop buying games? Anyway although I do disagree with the concept of online passes, I dont really mind them because I buy all my games new, the people complaining are just the people who buy their games used and make the devs lose money, just wait till the price drops and buy your games. The only game I've bought on day one was Skyrim and that was worth it. (Anyway it was for a insane discount, got it for $60 when the average game is for $90+ here in europe). All my other games Fallout, Mass Effects, etc I've bought more than a year after launch.

[brish]

The problem I have with online passes is they affect me a person who only buys games new.

I can no longer bring a game over to a friends place to play because if I download my pass to their ps3 I can be banned for "game sharing" even if the game is only played from one disk.

I feel bad for people with children who have multiple ps3s because there is a limit to the number of consoles that a pass can be used on (2 for new games) which means some people have to pay extra so their kids can play.

The value of the game is less. If I ever chose to sell a game I can't sell it for the same price of a game without a pass. So far I haven't sold any of my games but that's not the point. The value of the game is less so why should I pay full price for the game?

If you read the TOS for PSN Sony reserves the right to disable an account for any reason. Since the pass is bound to an account I can lose the right to play part of a game I legally purchased new. I don't cheat, I don't hack, and I don't pirate but when I hear about Sony deleting accounts because they didn't like the account name so the people lose everything they bought this concerns me.

There are a lot of games I would have purchased if they didn't have an online pass. For example: Uncharted 3, Resistance 3, and the up coming Twisted Metal game.

Maybe when they go into the bargain bin I'll consider purchasing them but there is no way I'm pay full price for a game that restricts my rights to play it. Then again maybe I will have moved on to something else never playing any of those games.

[ChocolateGiddyUp]

Just buy used anyway. I found Battlefield 3 the other day $45 used with the online pass and all the DLC included. I think people sell passes relatively cheap on eBay, too.

I used to buy pretty much everything brand new, but I'm going used from now on for games that do this. I'd rather give my money to some guy on eBay or Amazon than EA.

[Kaos_Vll]

I agree, I passed on every game with a pass this year and I buy new, most times day one. Batman:AC was the last game I bought only because it was pre-ordered and learned it had a past after the fact.

These people have no foresight whatsoever. They will have only themselves to blame when pubs start to cut even more content out of games and abuse the dlc system even more.

Games today are released unfinished requiring multiple patches just to work correctly and yet people still defend this practice. They are more interested in shareholders than the people who really matter, us the gamer.

To continue to support this is only self defeating in my eyes, but hey as the saying goes you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it. By the time these people open their eyes it will be way too late. And lastly I do blame MS for this, as soon as other companies saw that there was those that will pay an extra fee just to play the entire game they already bought I knew it would just be a matter of time before others caught on and do the same and make it even worse.

[sllshrm]

Look at all of you agreeing to this...

Renting is just a form of piracy...and if people can give rentals an approving look same thing should happen to piracy..

Personally I'm good with online passes....either I'll buy the game or pirate it...no middle ground involved.

[Vortex3D]

Do pirates skip the online or contents that are locked by the online pass? I haven't seen anyone is able to unlock contents locked by online pass without the online pass code.

On PC, the key codes are often cracked by a code generator until the publisher figure out how to block the fake codes. Has this been attempted on the console by using an online pass code generator?

[SubZeroMaster]

dlc milking, an passes, will destory gaming

matter fact microsoft has been entertaining the though of making the 720 only play new games
WTF

quit being stingy developers, its bad enough i gotta buy the console+controllers+ur game+ psn point/xbox points+ and pay for xbox live, (if thats ur console of choice)....now i gotta pay u 10 more bucks, to play with friends, I MIGHT AS WELL BUY IT NEW,
ugh....An u wonder, why poeple say PC>EVERYTHING ELSE, an those who dont, either whine, or become pirates, n hackers

[Evil_Ghosty]

Don't think it has so much to do with combating piracy with console games. It is more the issue of developers not getting income from the sale of pre owned games.

It is a bit of a catch 22 however. I believe that developers should get paid for all games sold for their hard work so they can continue to make more games for us. With out them, what do we have?

Sure online passes can get annoying but it is a necessary device. It is also linked to the rumors of no 2nd hand games on the next gen consoles. You'll notice that all developers support the move, and so do I. The only problem with this is that if I wanted to lend my game to mate, I can't.

Only people that will suffer are those who are on a budget and rely on pre owned games to get their gaming fix. This is unfortunate, but I don't think there could be a balance, other than waiting for prices to drop on new games.

If they opt for this route however games should COST LESS, as they know they will make more new game sales in the long run. $79AUD should be the new $99AUD here in Australia, and I'm assuming the same $20 difference overseas.

[SubZeroMaster]

sure go ahead and fuck the consumer as hard as you can for the sake of money,
online passes weren't around on PS2, an Xbox, an those consoles did great

if not for used games, many people could not afford to be gamers

lets face it, developers are being greedy, inital sales arnt enuff,???? DEAL WITH IT, more than likely the game sucked,

also im guessing next gen games, will go from 60 bucks to 70

[Ulf]

I agree that online passes shouldn't be required for playing on the X360. MS should subsidize it under the XBL Gold fee.

The PS3 and PC, on the other hand, I can understand why they need to guarantee that they received income from everyone who is going to be on their servers. Can't have something for nothing, in the real world.

Honestly used retailers like GameStop should just plain include an online pass WITH their used sales -- that'd be a good way to dispose of BOTH the used games whining (from devs) AND the online pass whining (from gamers). Heck, they can afford to, given the colossal profits they reap from used sales.

The best part of GameStop including online passes would be that it may very well net them MORE profit. The only way to get an online pass, in that circumstance, would be to buy new (like now), or buy from them -- if you traded on eBay, or in a personal deal, there's no online pass, and thus people are going to find GameStop used games even MORE appealing than they do now.

[bahabeast]

if you buy the game brand new then you dnt need a $10 online pass, if i lived in america i would buy %98 of my games brand new its onli $60 and sometimes even lower. i dnt mind paying $10 for online pass if its a game i like and gonna play online alot im in bahamas where new games are $100 and used games are between $20-$60 you americans dnt know how good you guys gat it and still complain about everything. some games cost 30 million and more to make and alot of people has 2 be payed from the sales soo STFU and either buy it or dnt.