Artless Gamer

BF:BC 2

Our first Gripe of the Week isn’t really that much of a gripe. At least not for me. For a couple of days, now, people have had access to this new Battlefield Bad Company 2 trailer. And just like in the previous version, they gift early buyers of the limited edition with unlocks that normally have to be earned by playing the campaign or rising in ranks in multiplayer.

The issue I may have with this is why my fair chance in the game should be compromised by a couple of gamers that essentially bought themselves a better chance at dominating the battlefield. Everyone scoffs at the lame kids who buy WoW accounts in order to jump right into their overpowered level 85 character – they get called names, get harassed, reported to Blizzard and shamed on the forums.

“Level your own character, loser.”

How is that any different from people who get very useful unlocks from the get-go without having to earn it, just because they bought a limited edition of the game? The only way it is different from buying WoW accounts on eBay is that the developer encourages it. But that is just marketing. It doesn’t make it one bit more legitimate or acceptable.

These days consumers want to get paid to buy your product. So give them something extra for buying your game and they’ll gladly fork over the money. That’s how you acquire customers these days and the gaming industry isn’t the only industry that works this way. Nobody is to blame, here. Except the consumer, perhaps.

Personally, I don’t have that much of a problem with it. I get pwned no matter what kind of gear I have available and I will gladly earn all these unlocks regardless if some players had it before me just because they bought some special edition with the developer’s golden booger smeared on it. As a matter of fact I will try to get a limited edition of the game, because I am one of those people who never even got to level 60 in WoW and I probably would have bought an account off eBay weren’t I such a pansy and afraid of being banned.

Popularity: 32% [?]