You seem to think I am fresh off the boat, I am not I was here before this game went live. Also I have seen prices of expansion and most mmo sell dlc at a lower price than the original game, please do not tell me WOW yadada never played that junk and never will nor try to tell me random sports game 2014 /2015 etc etc, they're not expansion but whole new games.
I will just quote something I said a while back:
FD pulled a fast one on people when they decided only alpha or premium beta didn't have to "rebuy" beta access.
People that bought standard beta bought beta access just like those that have alpha or premium beta, they just paid less because other things that have nothing to do with betas were not included. We should be allowed to beta test just like them IF we buy the non beta Horizons pre order.
Actually your wrong, WoW still has the original game running even though a little of the scenery has changed as the expansions rolled out. But in 90% or more, it still has the original game in place. The original game can be played from the beginning with a level 1 character levelling up the long way or you pay extra and start with a high level character. At the beginning of Mists of Panderia expansion it was made available to beta test to players who preordered the expansion months before it was officially released. Each of the WoW expansions have been pretty much a higher price than the preceding cost of the game. So you were paying around £50-£60 for the last expansion which was Warlords of Draenor.
Witcher 3's expansions while cheaper than the original game, give a lot less content for your money than the original. Also games like Witcher could almost be considered as expacs of the original game of Witcher, as can Fallout 4, Gta V, Guild Wars 2, Lotr , ad nauseum. But by touting them as new games (Same story) the producers can charge a great deal more each new version of the same game by not calling them expansions.
At least WoW doesn't stick a numeral after the title, tout up the graphics and sell them out as new games, but as expansions.
So WoW's funding is by shop and subscription. In this thread we have a dispute about providing income for ED that allows for future development with the way they sell the betas in advance. No real difference to others charging extra or asking for cash for early access to expansions like many others. The difference in this game is we get a chance to log problems before the expansion is fully released, although admittedly in WoW there are the PTR as in ED for free.
The bottom line of how ED operates is that it needs to generate income to survive. In my opinion they do it the fairest way by giving you the chance to opt in early by paying for this early access beta, which you can pay or wait for the full game, and as Agony Aunt said you choose to do just that, make your choice.
Oh yes, one last thing about the last Expansion in WoW. They made such a dogs dinner at the release of Warlords of Draenor they gave all players 5 days free subscription, something I never remember them doing in the past. So before we knock Ed by comparing them with the top MMORPG lets make sure that we don't gloss over the problems others have on releases.
Oh yes and I too was a standard beta player and could have bought the life time pass, and could have bought it again when they released the life time pass for pre ordering Horizons early enough, I chose not to, my choice, but I am not making bellyaching threads about having to pay an extra £10 to play the beta horizons. I just paid and got on with my game.
Gone are the days when games were designed and made by gamers FOR gamers, the bean counters are in charge now.
