So this is a continuation of my rant from the news post about BF3 having an online pass (here News/sid=2583.html)

Why do I have an issue with this? Multiple reasons...

First off, if you're already buying a brand new copy of the game, you shouldn't be crying about this because new copies include an online pass for free.

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Part 1 - Dedicated servers and why they cost money

Games like Battlefield 3 offer dedicated server. Why? Because they want to offer a better gameplay experience. Not like the shitty client based hosting you experience in other games (IE: CoD (I'm not bashing CoD)) where the players often experience lag, host changes, and even the game completely ending. Dedicated servers allow the players to connect to the server as a host, that way gameplay will not be affected unless the server itself faces an issue.

These dedicated servers cost money. Not only does EA/Dice have to pay for the servers themselves, but they also have to pay for the internet, the hardware, the electricity for the datacenter, and the staff to manage the servers (and some other hidden fees).

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Part 2 - The reality of game retail

For those who don't know (if you live under a rock), not all of the $60 you spend when you buy a game goes back to the developer. In fact, the number is actually alarmingly low. About 30% ($18) of that $60 gets back to the developer. The rest all goes to the retailer, and other services like VAT.

Now that's assuming you buy a brand new version of the game, where the online pass is included for free. However, if you purchase a used version of that same game, 0% of that money goes back to the developer.

Part 3 - Why developers use the online pass

So now that you know that 0% of money from a used game goes back to the developer, think about this.

They are still using dedicated servers (which cost money) to host the gameplay. So basically you get to use their servers, which they pay for, even though they aren't receiving any of the money that you paid for the game. How is that fair?

Long story short, they offer a service to make your gameplay even better. All they ask is that you purchase a new version of the game (or an online pass) so that they actually see some of the money they deserve. After all, they made the game. Not gamestop.

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Counter Argument 1 - "But they made over a billion dollars from the game, they're greedy!"

First off, you obviously didn't read part 2 of the rant.

If the game sells 20 million copies (MW2 and black ops sold 20M-25M) copies, the developer will see around $360M-$450M$.

A game that size (AAA) takes anywhere from $20M-$100M+ to develop. Now I'm just guessing, but since a game like BF3 is such a massive game, made by over 100 people over the course of 2 years, so I'm going to assume it costs closer to $100M+ to develop it.

There are a bunch of other costs that they face which I'm not even going to list, but just know that the final number of profit the developer will make is nowhere near the "This game made $1 billion" that the press claims.

Obviously if a company is going to offer free dedicated servers for the life of the game (2+ years), they're going to expect that they actually see some of the money from the sale of the game, or an online pass.

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Counter Argument 2 - "Dedicated servers don't make that much of a difference, I don't need them"

First off, go search around for the amount of rage that was generated when it was announced that MW2 would not have dedicated servers for PC.

Then, go play BFBC2 for a few hours (or days), and switch back to a game without dedicated servers (like cod). Compare the gameplay (lag, host dropping, etc) and tell me that dedicated servers don't make a difference.

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If you made it this far, congrats. I hope you will see things a little differently now.

Also, here's a cat.

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