I will be boycotting this game because I don't want to play it.

It does not stem from the Back to Karkland map pack. It stems from the Physical Warfare pack that gives exclusive guns and items to pre-orders only from specific retailers that a developer has said would not be available after release.

I should read more carefully next time.

I hate shit like this, and you can add me to the boycott list.

(wasn't going to get it anyway, but it's the thought that counts)

Well you could always just rob the corpses of these "special guns" if you don't want to preorder. It's not like they're going to be overpowered or anything.

You can vote and share your distaste on the official EA forums here:
http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/615/6801802.page

Im probably going to rent this game first.

..because video game boycotts are effective.

Pre-order, DLC or otherwise, no game should give a competitive advantage to those that have paid more/paid first. Any multiplayer content should be balanced and open to everyone (or should not effect the gameplay, e.g. weapon skins) or if you want to give something as a pre-order incentive, make it single player only.

This is downright disgusting.

EA is just one big thick sandy cunt.

I'm boycotting this. There are games out there that deserve money more then EA does in any case.

Jim, I think you're missing the word "not" in the second graf:

"...meaning you'll be paying out for less content and are essentially "punished" for NOT wanting to commit to a game before it's released."

lol

The weapons in these pre-order deals is really a waste of time I usually find. The way the games are designed with a mass amount of weapons usually always end up falling into the same pattern. The second or third weapon open in the retail version you get is usually the weapon of choice and is upgraded to the max, until you hit one of the better weapons much later in the game during leveling up in multiplayer. The add on weapons are for bragging rights only. such as gold texture guns and so on.

The online pass system is the evil side of gaming, and should be abolished ASAP. these pre orders are just little things not worth getting upset about.

CoD, anyone? :P

Angry gamers boycotting battlefield 3 *until release day

Lets also boycott overpriced DLC *coughCALLOFDUTYcough*. Screw EA and activision for trying to screw gamers.

I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I see it as a bonus. If they want to award me for pre-ordering the game. Fine by me!

Wahhhh. It costs 5 dollars to place a preorder, and if you shop at any reputable retailer, you can get it back in whatever format you paid for it with.

Also, complaining about the online pass system? Hilarious. Get used to it, folks, I imagine every developer who enjoys money will adopt it, or a similar system, in the time to come. They feel like they have to get some of their money back from used game sales, and it's far, far simpler for them to just go with an online pass system and recoup $5-$10 per used game sale than it would be to pay off enough politicians to make used game sales illegal/more difficult. Does it suck? I'm of mixed feelings on that. On one hand, the internet tough guy in me want to go HEY F YOU GUYS STOP TRYING TO TAKE MY MONEY. On another hand, the used retailers could fairly easily maintain their sales in used games by adjusting their pricing models accordingly in regards to titles that require online passes to play.

Who knows how that's going to shake out? I won't be THAT surprised if EA caves and makes the Physical Warfare pack available for purchase, which would basically quash this attempted boycott (which is bound for failure anyway. It worked with Bad Company because nobody gave a f*ck about it, and people have been anticipating BF3 for a long time now). Sign a petition against it if you feel better about yourself afterwards, but from what we've all seen from BF3 so far, you're hurting yourself far more than you'll ever hurt EA by skipping out on it.

You can cancel your pre-order after the game has come out. I've done it MANY times. A game looks really good prior to it's release then it comes out and has shit reviews from almost everyone. For example, I just recently did this with Homefront, Metroid: Other M, and Brink. I don't see the big deal people have over pre-order bonuses. It cost a $5 deposit on the total price of the game to get them guaranteed at my local Gamestops.

Jim, some of your articles and reviews really get under my skin, but I am with you on this one. Any gamer supporting this kind of bullshit really needs to look at the bigger picture here.

The fact that EA hates the idea that I want to exercise my rights as a consumer - to buy used or wait to buy the game down the road - is something I find appalling and is exactly why I have waited to play games like Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition when they appear in the used bin.

When they don't do it with a game, I have no issue with them.

And keeping content exclusive as a pre-order bonus - it just shows they have no long term concept of game balance in the long run and have no intention of making this game anything other than another cash grab.

I remember inFamous tried something similar with Gigawatt Blades and other games doing that as well - eventually they made the content available and the smart ones did so far free.

So as nice as Battlefield does look, I seriously hope it fails. Not that I wish success for CoD MW3 or anything because that CoD Elite stuff his absolute bullshit as well. Both games can take a flying leap for all I care.

wah wah wah. I won't get a re-skinned shotgun or rifle that will have mediocre statistics. wah wah wah. I'll also miss out on a handful of pointless, useless ribbons associated with those guns that other people will get because they pre-ordered!

Ugh.

I do like the maps as a pre-order bonus though.

My main problem with this content is that from what I understand, it is only available in select retailers.

But in my country, retailers will not carry the PC version of BF3, and even if they did, they would most likely sell it for over $68. So I always resort to DD versions, which apparently aren't getting the extra weapons treatment.

Even though you may get exclusive guns, it doesn't necessarily mean you have an advantage.

well that's not gonna help the whole bf vs mw sales war...

but yeah, dlc like that is bull.

Oh no! Early adopters will get the first expansion pack for free as thanks for their support!

WHATEVER SHALL EVERYONE ELSE DO.

I think this sucks in theory; in practice, the preorder items are probably going to be more of a novelty than an advantage.

I'd boycott this game, but I'm not gonna lie...this is a day one purchase for me. I can't resist. I'll be curious to see if Gamestop, Target and Best Buy all have different preorder bonuses (bet they will).

I have it reserved, and I applaud the system of rewarding me for my commitment prior to it's release. But that absolute last thing I want is an uneven multiplayer experience. Forcing people to blindly pre-order a game just so they can stay level with the competition is absolutely disgraceful. Unless there is a multiplayer option where you are only playing against those with the same content as you, which would be absolutely ridiculous.

@Robfathah I bet devs would love the extra money except that the publisher gets all the money from the online pass system.

Also, the Physical Warfare pack is currently a UK retailer exclusive. They've said nothing of doing something similar in the US, other than the 1 x-pac for free.

http://www.battlefield.com/uk/battlefield3/blog/battlefield-3-limited-edition-physical-warfare-pack-available

Early supporters are rewarded. Nothing to see here, move along.

@RobsFatha and @Momscookies: Actually, putting down $5 for a game is reserving it so when it comes out, they have your copy and you pay the rest. Pre-ordering a game means you pay for the whole game upfront. You don't get a lot when you reserve a game, (CoD is giving posters to those who reserve, I think), but when you pre-order, that's when you get all the extra DLC and such.

@Kyakakin

Absolutely false. 5 bucks down at GameStop entitles you to ALL preorder bonuses. If you're going to lie, at least lie about something people can't call you out on.

That's is PURE bs... count me in!!!

While I agree that everyone should be treated equally, it's NOT THAT BIG A DEAL! Just go to Gamestop....put your $5 down, this will guarantee your "preorder exclusives" but on the day of release DON'T PICK IT UP. Simply wait for the reviews and if you decide you don't want it after that you can get your $5 back. Pre-ordering doesn't mean you HAVE to pick up the game the day it's released.

Seriously guys if you want to boycott one of the best looking games of our generation go ahead....but it's not that big a deal.

I'm OK with "buy new" DLC incentives, but pre-order DLC pisses me off. It does nothing but punish those of us who DO buy new, but can't always afford to do so when a game first comes out.

I totally agree... though I may end up putting down $5.00 on a pre-order and not picking it up on release day. I'll check their official forums on release day and if there are issues, I'll just cancel my pre-order and apply the money elsewhere.

Pre-order promotions are a marketing strategy to increase numbers, generate hype, and make the game go GOLD. Once its shipped all of them are limited edition. NFS:HP was like this, Crysis 2 was the same way.

If it was a vendor exclusive bonus then get angry, because those are contactual agreements. The bonus' are spread out and are most likely never to be released as individual dlc available to the rest of us.

I'm not pre-ordering, purchase it days later and I bet you money I will get the same limited edition bonus.

Just pre order, problem solved??

Did any of these people play BF:BC2?

It worked exactly like this for the game's VIP pack.

To everyone saying "It's not a big deal" etc, etc...

You are right, it is not a big deal, AT THE MOMENT! But supporting this kind of shit just makes them think it's OK to cut content out of a game for the sake of promised sales. How long before whole levels, or other actually decent content, are locked out to users that decide to buy their games from places not sanctioned by EA?

Right now it's just a gun and some ammo. But it will lead to bigger things being removed for the sake of a dollar.

People make the biggest deal out of these things, you really think there gonna give you the best gun in the game as preorder dlc, gtfo. They just want you to put $5 bucks down to entice you to buy the game new. Who cares about the preoder weapons when 2 days later your not even gonna use that gun ever again. Just like buying a car and getting a free upgrade to get you in the door. Gamers choose your battles seriously

"This game looks fantastic! I'm going to buy it for sure! Wait...I have to pre-order it?! BOYCOTT."

You guys are retarded. You'll miss out on a few guns - get over it.

Guys, we're talking about DICE here, who puts out the most balanced multiplayer experiences in the industry these days. I'd be very surprised if these "bonus weapons" *actually* result in a competitive advantage.

Also, why not talk about the pre-order incentive as a reward for pre-orderers, rather than punishment for those who aren't? The publisher is entitled to incent customers to pre-order, settle the fuck down.

DOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

Get over it people. I love how people are saying " we are being punished". Really. Punished? Really? How about some perspective people..it's a damn video game. Get over it. They want people to pre-order it, so the people who are are being rewarded. You don't like that I will have a gun that is just a tiny bit better then the gun you will get at lvl 1...then you probably suck at FPS's anyway.

I pre-ordered, will be getting it for 360. Probably getting it for PC as well so I can play with my PC games....i will pre-order that as well.

@falsnipple

Exactly. This happened last go-round on a game that was universally applauded for supremely balanced multiplayer.

Mountains out of mole hills, this.

Maybe Dice and EA should release those guns as dlc.... at the activision price of 1200 Microsoft points.

If its that big of a deal to people then they can pay for it :P

and bollocks is it punishing people... its REWARDING there loyal day 1 purchasers. Wouldnt be much of a reward or bonus if u could just download it the next day for a couple of bucks.

I'm not a fan of this. To me it's not a big deal, but it's being done more often and I think it's annoying as hell. Pre-order DLC is fine with me, but not when it's completely different depending on what retailer you go to. That's when it gets stupid. I'm just glad I'm not one of those guys that feels the need to go onto Ebay and buy every bit of store specific DLC. That sucks.