Forget those dev's and their publishers, we need a CD Projekt Blue, a CD Projekt Green, etc.
I love CDProjeckt and I love Bioware so I think we should always celebrate games not exclude them on bias.
The bioware you love no longer exists, the original dev team has already left or been fired, this is just a name.
I am well aware of that but I am talking about the type of narrative heavy games they make. I think that style has not changed even after the doctors left.
Season passes are essentially loot boxes, it's a gamble and you never know what you're going to get when you buy one. As for artists not creating their own work, it happens all the time, Warhol and Basquiat are just two recent artists who employed this tactic. Once you get famous enough as an artist, you don't have to create artwork anymore, you simply pay others to create it under your name. Imagine paying one hundred million dollars on a painting and finding out Joe Schmoe made it.
Regardless, it's EA/ware and they'll always find a way to take advantage of their target audience, season pass or not. This simply tells me they've found another way to manipulate consumers.
A peasant like me won't be able to tell. I live in Italy and years ago my then boyfriend my husband now took me to all the famous museums and churches and after about the third church everything was blurring together and the museums were a dead bore as I have very little appreciation for art or history for that matter. He was aghast when he discovered how uneducated I was. Well I was always into numbers and have no idea about the abstract and I dislike classical music. So even if some Joe Schmoe did it I could not tell the difference.
Hmm I forgot to check if I can run this game on my i7 370GHz,16 Gig RAM and GTX 770 yet..... eek it might run poorly.
Season passes are essentially loot boxes, it's a gamble and you never know what you're going to get when you buy one. <snip>
Regardless, it's EA/ware and they'll always find a way to take advantage of their target audience, season pass or not. This simply tells me they've found another way to manipulate consumers.
Season passes are not loot boxes. Season passes - as operated by EA - are pre-orders. Are you seriously comparing e.g. (WoW) Legion say to a loot box? People pre-ordered it after all!
With a loot box you (supposedly) know what you might get, what you don't know is what you will get. You are gambling on what you might get.
With a pre-order - which is what a season pass is - you "know exactly" what you will get, what you don't know is how good it will be.
Now to be clear I often suggest that people wait before they buy especially if they are unsure. Howeever if a person knows they like the game and are going to play it and have confidence in EA's track record of delivering decent DLC - which they have been doing for some time now - then you can probably feel confident about getting a season pass.
Customers - that is the players - benefit directly (usually) by getting the content "for less earlier" - if they wait they might get it cheaper still of course.
The company - EA in this case - benefits directly by being able to plan for guaranteed sales. They can commit to keeping a team employed for a year or 18 months - helping reducing staff turn over; they can commit to developing some content that might take several months to finish rather than lots of quick stuff.
So customers benefit indirectly as well since this will probably result in "better" DLC.
This whole its EAware they are evil is drivel. Judge them on what they have been producing for the last few years. If its justified I will be shoulder to shoulder with others manning the barricades and wielding the pitchforks. It isn't. If you feel aggrieved get over it. We have far to few big game studios to be tryingto pull them down.
"Companies are not our friends. If they could release a $.10 GIF and pass it off as the next Call of Duty, they would."
I've said this a couple times around the forums. The relationship between producer and consumer is inherently adversarial. And we gamers are all too often caught up in the hype ourselves that we forget that and perform mental gymnastics to justify to ourselves whatever fleecing is included with the game we like because hey, if they make things that bring us such joy, there's no way they could also be trying to screw us outta every last dime they can, right?? /sarcasm
I like the article, though I'm skeptical that Andromeda's example will be well followed.
I agree. But I think this article itself provides some clues as to why gamers allow themselves to be fleeced and go back for seconds.
Nothing wrong with the quote you pulled out. That IS the rational sensible way to look at it.
But often we are fleeced because we think more like this:
"It’s an opportunity for fans to support their favorite studios with a little extra cash..."
It's quite simple: if we act like fanboys and "support our favorite studios with a little extra cash" the fleecing will never end because if they can fleece us, they will.
It's one thing to say that they're not our friends. It's quite another to act like it.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
If they are removing season pass it's probably because they have the numbers/data. They can see that a lot of people will not pay double the price for a complete experience. Instead we just wait for the game and the season pass to get very cheap. These companies can see when a huge number of people do that, they make less money. They have to take a less greedy approach if they want to make more money without screwing up consumers.
Season passes are terribly anti consumer, but If they come up with a worst replacement for season passes, we will just keep waiting for the games to get way cheaper to buy the complete experience. They are the ones losing money for being anti consumer.
<snip> And of season pass? Never, cause Bioware have exclusive on DLC's. They don't have season pass cause dont worth do discount, they charge fullprice... brace youself for more than 10 dlc's at full price and no discount cause almost never bioware points have discount.
If they opt not to go the season pass route could that be because "the Mass Effect brand is strong"? I don't think so. The BF brand is easily strong enough; it has had season passes. The Star Wars brand is strong enough; it has season passes. So I don't think it is down to brand.
I suspect they simply haven't decided / haven't firmed up the plans yet. It may be for example that they are thinking about a mix of stuff like The Sims. There are "content" packs - some are large and some are small - and there are "fluff" packs. Probably not really suitable for offering as a "season pass".
So - assuming no season pass we can expect: DLC gets reduced at $X. At some time in the future there are some "flash sales"; then DLC gets reduced to maybe 66%X. Or has $5 or $10 discounts. And downstream you might get a 4 DLC bundle at a 50% discount. We do know this yes?
Could be that they have one or two DLC already near completion, but are going to take a wait and see approach with how the game is actually received once released. There has been lots of changes this past year or so with Bioware including the shakeup in management at the highest levels.
If things go well they may begin working on other DLC and have one or two ready to go. If it's not received well, they may just scrap the DLC altogether expect for maybe one or two that push the game where they wanted ME: A to end. Not having a season pass will give them more options and not tie them down.
They won't have finished DLC. If they have made it they won't be shy on letting people know about the great things to come.
Content can be thought of as being made on a production line. As more and more EA studios have adopted the Frostbite engine however they have probably moved towards the UbiSoft model. UbiSoft have had a common engine for years which has allowed them to "smooth" peaks and troughs in workload by involving multiple studios in the development of a game.
So traditionally you would expect the people at the start of the "production line" to be working on new ME:A DLC and for them to have some part finished DLC. Then again they might be working on new content for SW BF.
<snip> Season passes are terribly anti consumer, but If they come up with a worst replacement for season passes, we will just keep waiting for the games to get way cheaper to buy the complete experience. They are the ones losing money for being anti consumer.
Season passes - the EA ones being talked about here - are basically DLC pre-orders.
I make the distinction because Activision introduced a season pass for CoD and you got .... well basically nothing but a special chat channel if memory serves with as much new content as WoW was producing for the sub at the time: nothing.
And there is a risk in opting to go with a pre-purchase. The company having a track record helps but there are no guarantees.
Downstream there won't be a "cheaper" season pass but there might be a bundle at a reduced price; ESO's 4-DLC bundle for example. From a company perspective it is all about financial modelling. They might not be losing money (they only ever get one go so they never know of course). And selling super cheap may sound very consumer friendly if they go bankrupt in the process .... comes down to value at the end of the day.
''Mass Effect: Andromeda Should Mark the Death of Season Passes''
Amen!
Will only happen if a) people stop pre-ordering and b) people stop subscribing - i.e. stop paying in advance for content not yet delivered. Adopt a "no content no money; no money no content" approach. And yes the latter part means people do have to pay for content!
Season passes aren't going away. They're too much of a money source for companies and a way to boost day-one sales, something that's become the be-all/end-all of how successful a game is. It's a fundamental problem with the industry that won't go away until it's replaced by something worse.
"Companies are not our friends. If they could release a $.10 GIF and pass it off as the next Call of Duty, they would."
I've said this a couple times around the forums. The relationship between producer and consumer is inherently adversarial. And we gamers are all too often caught up in the hype ourselves that we forget that and perform mental gymnastics to justify to ourselves whatever fleecing is included with the game we like because hey, if they make things that bring us such joy, there's no way they could also be trying to screw us outta every last dime they can, right?? /sarcasm
I like the article, though I'm skeptical that Andromeda's example will be well followed.
No no they would get naive people to FUND that 0.10 cent .gif for 100 million,THEN they would sell it off as the next COD/Landmark.Of course they would display that ,gif using the Unreal logo/engine and announce that .gif would be attainable on all platforms including mobile.
Sadly however that .gif would never be fully released,it would always be in development stage only those willing to pay $150 would have access to that .gif and you get a free hangar to display it in.
Then if ANY and i mean ANY negative talk comes out about our amazing .gif we will simply claim Derek Smart is behind it all.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
If a piece of content is garbage in your mind under a season pass scheme it sure as hell will piss you off as a full price DLC talk about nickel and diming. These days baring a few exceptions I can't really tell the difference between season pass crap or DLC crap other than, price. For both types these days it typically smells. So if I'm stupid enough to get nickel and dimed for crap I'm gonna bitch about later anyway, I'll take the cheaper option and go with season pass for 2k Alex.
EDIT in case it wasn't overly clear I'm not a big purchaser of either option:P. I probably spent more on coffee last week than I did either option last year. Dev studios closing left and right but Starbucks is doing just fine. Wonder why.
Personally i understand devs need to sell stuff to make money,be it the game,dlc's or whatever but i have always had a pet peeve about using retarded terms like "seasons pass".
I know what a season is from an immersive aspect,Winter,Summer yeah you know.
It reminds me long ago of MU online and Diablo,not sure who was the first numbnuts to start using that terminology in a rpg.I think somebody has been watching too much tv.
So if i put my self into the role of a character inside a living world,how on earth do i EVER come up with "seasons pass" ? Are we role playing a fan that goes to watch football games or wtf?
Yes sir folks ,over here on channel 5 we have the latest season of Dofus,please get to your seats,the season is about to begin.....but first a word from our sponsor....have you played the latest version of Cow CRAFT or the new season of cloneZ sky Z uber Z spacecraft lorecraft weirdocraft?There is so much to laugh at in this industry,too many bumbling idiots making games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Season passes are essentially loot boxes, it's a gamble and you never know what you're going to get when you buy one. As for artists not creating their own work, it happens all the time, Warhol and Basquiat are just two recent artists who employed this tactic. Once you get famous enough as an artist, you don't have to create artwork anymore, you simply pay others to create it under your name. Imagine paying one hundred million dollars on a painting and finding out Joe Schmoe made it.
Regardless, it's EA/ware and they'll always find a way to take advantage of their target audience, season pass or not. This simply tells me they've found another way to manipulate consumers.
In a way, yes. By not having a season pass the game have gotten loads of positive articles and will sell very well. And all that by not adding something that wouldn't really work in that type of game, the only one earning anything on season passes in a singleplayer game is Piratebay.
"Companies are not our friends. If they could release a $.10 GIF and pass it off as the next Call of Duty, they would."
I've said this a couple times around the forums. The relationship between producer and consumer is inherently adversarial. And we gamers are all too often caught up in the hype ourselves that we forget that and perform mental gymnastics to justify to ourselves whatever fleecing is included with the game we like because hey, if they make things that bring us such joy, there's no way they could also be trying to screw us outta every last dime they can, right?? /sarcasm
I like the article, though I'm skeptical that Andromeda's example will be well followed.
A lot of companies are treating consumers more like employees that have to pay them. Increased prices, decreased services. On the good side this company does try to redo some content when the fans disapprove. That final party DLC in ME3 given out free was pretty enjoyable.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Mass Effect doesn't have a "Season Pass" because they don't need to discount anything.
The brand is strong enough to sell everything at full price...
Yep, but at least on pc I pick up some really good deals after the game has been out for awhile especially during holiday sales. A fully patched discounted game which often includes DLC's in their game of the year additions is worth the wait.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Mass Effect doesn't have a "Season Pass" because they don't need to discount anything.
The brand is strong enough to sell everything at full price...
Yep, but at least on pc I pick up some really good deals after the game has been out for awhile especially during holiday sales. A fully patched discounted game which often includes DLC's in their game of the year additions is worth the wait.
If you wait long enough you'll get it for free as Origin just did with ME2. Only problem is that waiting thing.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
...simply not trying to fleece them is somehow noteworthy.
How sad is this though?? Remember when NOT doing greedy things was considered the norm?? Pepperidge Farm remembers..
What's more sad is that the Internet has given us a whole lot of knowledge and we choose to receive that knowledge in a negative way. How is it that people LOVED to see expansions. You NEVER heard about companies being greedy 20 years ago. In fact, I remember being excited about my Diablo 2 expansions. So do people genuinely believe that there were no expansions planned for Diablo 2? Do they think that none of these expansions were planned? If so then it only serves to show that information simply feeds ignorance.
Personally, I think that season passes are a GREAT value. I bought the Destiny one and for 30 bucks, I got an extra 10 hours of story and plenty of grinding. For the Witcher, I got an extra 50 hours of gameplay for 30 bucks. If a company was truly greedy, they could simply re-use their engine, slap together another few missions and sell it to you as a sequel, just like they did in the NES days.
If you think Mass Effect Andromeda isn't going to have any DLC you're fucking crazy! The only difference is that they have one of the few properties who likely make MORE off selling DLC individually. I would welcome a Season Pass for Andromeda because the DLC's coming anyway, so give me a discount on it if I buy it upfront.
Mass Effect doesn't have a "Season Pass" because they don't need to discount anything.
The brand is strong enough to sell everything at full price...
Yep, but at least on pc I pick up some really good deals after the game has been out for awhile especially during holiday sales. A fully patched discounted game which often includes DLC's in their game of the year additions is worth the wait.
If you wait long enough you'll get it for free as Origin just did with ME2. Only problem is that waiting thing.
Yep, but it's worth it for me. It's also saved me from buying a lot of games that weren't all that was said they would be.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
The amount of complaining and crying about this is astonishing. Mmorpg themselves cry "I remember when a company not being greedy didn't make news" umm you are making it news by fanning the flames with your FAKE NEWS ARTICLE!! They sure cater to the negative people on this site.
These companies are here to make money not cater to a bunch of babies crying about spending money on a video or crying because others spend their money how they see fit. You guys can cry all day until you are blue in the face. It won't stop the fact people will buy season passes, will pay money for DLC, people will buy whatever they want. One statement that's said a lot in discussions like this is "speak with your wallet" that's exactly what people do and they sure don't listen to you guys...give it a rest.
Mass Effect doesn't have a "Season Pass" because they don't need to discount anything.
The brand is strong enough to sell everything at full price...
Yep, but at least on pc I pick up some really good deals after the game has been out for awhile especially during holiday sales. A fully patched discounted game which often includes DLC's in their game of the year additions is worth the wait.
If you wait long enough you'll get it for free as Origin just did with ME2. Only problem is that waiting thing.
Yep, but it's worth it for me. It's also saved me from buying a lot of games that weren't all that was said they would be.
Yes waiting is a good idea but not for me though so I will probably buy it quick. DLC I will wait for the reviews before I buy and I seldom buy any DLC for guns or outfits I prefer the mods people make for that.
Some game I don't mind waiting for like a year or so others I buy if I want to play immediately. Mostly I just wait saves a lot of $
I don't Understand the Complaint on Season Passes. The Game schedules a set number of expansions or dlc Lets say 4 dlc's usually sell for $14 each or get the season pass that gives you a discount so you save maybe $5 and get some cosmetic stuff just because you bought the pass. ALL games have DLC that they charge you for. so people get mad because they let you buy it early for a discount. THIS game is saying no to a season pass and will make you pay full price and this is a Good Thing? I don't get all the negativity. if you want to pay full price for DLC, Don't buy the Season Pass.
GameByNightHardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, MemberRarePosts: 811
...simply not trying to fleece them is somehow noteworthy.
How sad is this though?? Remember when NOT doing greedy things was considered the norm?? Pepperidge Farm remembers..
What's more sad is that the Internet has given us a whole lot of knowledge and we choose to receive that knowledge in a negative way. How is it that people LOVED to see expansions. You NEVER heard about companies being greedy 20 years ago. In fact, I remember being excited about my Diablo 2 expansions. So do people genuinely believe that there were no expansions planned for Diablo 2? Do they think that none of these expansions were planned? If so then it only serves to show that information simply feeds ignorance.
Personally, I think that season passes are a GREAT value. I bought the Destiny one and for 30 bucks, I got an extra 10 hours of story and plenty of grinding. For the Witcher, I got an extra 50 hours of gameplay for 30 bucks. If a company was truly greedy, they could simply re-use their engine, slap together another few missions and sell it to you as a sequel, just like they did in the NES days.
If you think Mass Effect Andromeda isn't going to have any DLC you're fucking crazy! The only difference is that they have one of the few properties who likely make MORE off selling DLC individually. I would welcome a Season Pass for Andromeda because the DLC's coming anyway, so give me a discount on it if I buy it upfront.
I think the reason perception has changed from the "expansion" days is because of the inundation of bite-sized content drops. In the past, you didn't get "DLC" as often as full-blown expansion size and quality additions. Today, those kinds of additions are the exception instead of the rule. There are companies, particularly in the RPG world, that deliver quality add-ons. Looking at the wider industry, this is hardly the standard. It's a mixed bag, which means that even if you've personally had good experiences, all it takes is one bad $15 add-on and the entire savings of that Season Pass is negated.
Comments
Regardless, it's EA/ware and they'll always find a way to take advantage of their target audience, season pass or not. This simply tells me they've found another way to manipulate consumers.
Hmm I forgot to check if I can run this game on my i7 370GHz,16 Gig RAM and GTX 770 yet..... eek it might run poorly.
With a loot box you (supposedly) know what you might get, what you don't know is what you will get. You are gambling on what you might get.
With a pre-order - which is what a season pass is - you "know exactly" what you will get, what you don't know is how good it will be.
Now to be clear I often suggest that people wait before they buy especially if they are unsure. Howeever if a person knows they like the game and are going to play it and have confidence in EA's track record of delivering decent DLC - which they have been doing for some time now - then you can probably feel confident about getting a season pass.
Customers - that is the players - benefit directly (usually) by getting the content "for less earlier" - if they wait they might get it cheaper still of course.
The company - EA in this case - benefits directly by being able to plan for guaranteed sales. They can commit to keeping a team employed for a year or 18 months - helping reducing staff turn over; they can commit to developing some content that might take several months to finish rather than lots of quick stuff.
So customers benefit indirectly as well since this will probably result in "better" DLC.
This whole its EAware they are evil is drivel. Judge them on what they have been producing for the last few years. If its justified I will be shoulder to shoulder with others manning the barricades and wielding the pitchforks. It isn't. If you feel aggrieved get over it. We have far to few big game studios to be tryingto pull them down.
Nothing wrong with the quote you pulled out. That IS the rational sensible way to look at it.
But often we are fleeced because we think more like this:
"It’s an opportunity for fans to support their favorite studios with a little extra cash..."
It's quite simple: if we act like fanboys and "support our favorite studios with a little extra cash" the fleecing will never end because if they can fleece us, they will.
It's one thing to say that they're not our friends. It's quite another to act like it.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Season passes are terribly anti consumer, but If they come up with a worst replacement for season passes, we will just keep waiting for the games to get way cheaper to buy the complete experience. They are the ones losing money for being anti consumer.
I suspect they simply haven't decided / haven't firmed up the plans yet. It may be for example that they are thinking about a mix of stuff like The Sims. There are "content" packs - some are large and some are small - and there are "fluff" packs. Probably not really suitable for offering as a "season pass".
So - assuming no season pass we can expect: DLC gets reduced at $X. At some time in the future there are some "flash sales"; then DLC gets reduced to maybe 66%X. Or has $5 or $10 discounts. And downstream you might get a 4 DLC bundle at a 50% discount. We do know this yes?
Content can be thought of as being made on a production line. As more and more EA studios have adopted the Frostbite engine however they have probably moved towards the UbiSoft model. UbiSoft have had a common engine for years which has allowed them to "smooth" peaks and troughs in workload by involving multiple studios in the development of a game.
So traditionally you would expect the people at the start of the "production line" to be working on new ME:A DLC and for them to have some part finished DLC. Then again they might be working on new content for SW BF.
I make the distinction because Activision introduced a season pass for CoD and you got .... well basically nothing but a special chat channel if memory serves with as much new content as WoW was producing for the sub at the time: nothing.
And there is a risk in opting to go with a pre-purchase. The company having a track record helps but there are no guarantees.
Downstream there won't be a "cheaper" season pass but there might be a bundle at a reduced price; ESO's 4-DLC bundle for example. From a company perspective it is all about financial modelling. They might not be losing money (they only ever get one go so they never know of course). And selling super cheap may sound very consumer friendly if they go bankrupt in the process .... comes down to value at the end of the day.
Amen!
No no they would get naive people to FUND that 0.10 cent .gif for 100 million,THEN they would sell it off as the next COD/Landmark.Of course they would display that ,gif using the Unreal logo/engine and announce that .gif would be attainable on all platforms including mobile.
Sadly however that .gif would never be fully released,it would always be in development stage only those willing to pay $150 would have access to that .gif and you get a free hangar to display it in.
Then if ANY and i mean ANY negative talk comes out about our amazing .gif we will simply claim Derek Smart is behind it all.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
EDIT in case it wasn't overly clear I'm not a big purchaser of either option:P. I probably spent more on coffee last week than I did either option last year. Dev studios closing left and right but Starbucks is doing just fine. Wonder why.
I know what a season is from an immersive aspect,Winter,Summer yeah you know.
It reminds me long ago of MU online and Diablo,not sure who was the first numbnuts to start using that terminology in a rpg.I think somebody has been watching too much tv.
So if i put my self into the role of a character inside a living world,how on earth do i EVER come up with "seasons pass" ? Are we role playing a fan that goes to watch football games or wtf?
Yes sir folks ,over here on channel 5 we have the latest season of Dofus,please get to your seats,the season is about to begin.....but first a word from our sponsor....have you played the latest version of Cow CRAFT or the new season of cloneZ sky Z uber Z spacecraft lorecraft weirdocraft?There is so much to laugh at in this industry,too many bumbling idiots making games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
What's more sad is that the Internet has given us a whole lot of knowledge and we choose to receive that knowledge in a negative way. How is it that people LOVED to see expansions. You NEVER heard about companies being greedy 20 years ago. In fact, I remember being excited about my Diablo 2 expansions. So do people genuinely believe that there were no expansions planned for Diablo 2? Do they think that none of these expansions were planned? If so then it only serves to show that information simply feeds ignorance.
Personally, I think that season passes are a GREAT value. I bought the Destiny one and for 30 bucks, I got an extra 10 hours of story and plenty of grinding. For the Witcher, I got an extra 50 hours of gameplay for 30 bucks. If a company was truly greedy, they could simply re-use their engine, slap together another few missions and sell it to you as a sequel, just like they did in the NES days.
If you think Mass Effect Andromeda isn't going to have any DLC you're fucking crazy! The only difference is that they have one of the few properties who likely make MORE off selling DLC individually. I would welcome a Season Pass for Andromeda because the DLC's coming anyway, so give me a discount on it if I buy it upfront.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
These companies are here to make money not cater to a bunch of babies crying about spending money on a video or crying because others spend their money how they see fit. You guys can cry all day until you are blue in the face. It won't stop the fact people will buy season passes, will pay money for DLC, people will buy whatever they want. One statement that's said a lot in discussions like this is "speak with your wallet" that's exactly what people do and they sure don't listen to you guys...give it a rest.
Some game I don't mind waiting for like a year or so others I buy if I want to play immediately. Mostly I just wait saves a lot of $
I think the reason perception has changed from the "expansion" days is because of the inundation of bite-sized content drops. In the past, you didn't get "DLC" as often as full-blown expansion size and quality additions. Today, those kinds of additions are the exception instead of the rule. There are companies, particularly in the RPG world, that deliver quality add-ons. Looking at the wider industry, this is hardly the standard. It's a mixed bag, which means that even if you've personally had good experiences, all it takes is one bad $15 add-on and the entire savings of that Season Pass is negated.