Unlike my normal curmudgeony type self, this topic comes up again and again these days as developers and publishers work to release titles and recoup the development cost of said titles. The MMO market does not have this problem as much due to the monthly subscription mechanism, but if thier fees are low and growth is high - they can easily enter this state, but I digress. The latest implmentation of this concept of in-game ads to help pay for the game development comes from those lovely folks over at EA in Battlefield 2142. The original posts related to this all spoke of spyware and a scanning of browsing habits - but that has since been clarified to being the capture of an IP address. This can be done today and is most likely done already if you are surfing the web without some obfuscation tools, and again I digress.
Now I have already stated my love for this series, and this probably will not stop me from purchasing the game and playing. But as Trent brought up to us today, the overall cost structure seems flawed given that we are already paying a premium price for the game. Furthermore, he was not even warned that they would be performing this IP capture due to the mechansim by which he purchased the game (via the EA downloader). This is then combined with the simple fact that EA only provides a small number of servers with the rest provided by third parties. So the question is, why am I paying $50 for a game that will be recieve supplemental income via ads? Furthermore, what ads will I be subjected to? The whole situation starts to take on a stink that I would rather not think of. I mean Anarchy Online has a free mode that is totally ad sponsered and I can accept that. This all makes me question if I should invest in the game at all...
Posted by Tim at Thursday October 19, 2006 - 4:50 PM | TrackBack (0) | Category: Crunchy Curmudgeony Goodness, Editorial | © 2006 Gaming Signal
Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this topic Tim. I had to leave early today. In fact I'm replying from my phone right now. 
I will reply in more detail later.
Posted by Trent on Thursday October 19, 2006 at 5:32 PM
I couldn't agree more. I won't be getting the game until this weekend (and I hope I can find a cheap place - $50 is a lot!) but I think this sucks. I'm paying for the game at top dollar, I'm paying for my own broadband, and individuals hosting games are paying for the servers. What exactly am I getting for these ads?
I'm personally OK with advertising if it increases realism (seeing actual places like Burger King in Need for Speed, for example) but having billboards in 2142? Not exactly realism there.
Posted by Scott on Thursday October 19, 2006 at 7:26 PM