Playing games on a hard drive featuring extensive required patches...
Playing games on a hard drive featuring extensive required patches...
Am I the only one annoyed by this? Can't they sell a game that works out of the box? Case in point...I bought Battlefield 4 Premium. I installed it and I believe it was 21 GB....it requires around 35 GB to be downloaded off the internet. The missing parts that have to be downloaded are way bigger than just about any game you'll ever buy on disk. My internet is pretty slow and this is a big deal to me. I can understand needing to download patches so your game meshes with other players online but having to download the entire game even though you bought it on DVD is ridiculous.
With BF4, not every part of the content was included on the DVDs released. The game wasn't fully available when those discs were made. Battlefield's Premium DLC came out gradually, often taking a while to arrive. On the packaging, you'll usually see instructions about downloading a certain amount of data before it's ready.
A DVD reaches a certain size limit, but BluRay offers much more, up to 50GB. It’s clear DVDs can’t keep up anymore, especially with bigger games and ongoing updates. The storage just isn’t enough anymore. "Inserting disc number 5" on BluRay helps address the storage problem, though there are still challenges like day-one patches, general updates, and extra content such as DLC. Production starts long before shelves appear, so fixes aren’t always immediate. I’m sorry for your frustration, OP. Hope ISPs provide better, faster internet solutions worldwide.
The issue lies in EA's approach—they aim to release Premium content before it's fully available. They can't create disks with missing material, which is frustrating. Physical media still has some value, but it's largely outdated now. Often it results in older discs with outdated product keys, and your game rights remain linked to platforms like Steam or Origin. I'm not sure where to purchase physical PC games anymore.
I understand... patches aren't the main issue here. The 25 maps are what matter most—they've been available for years. They could simply be stored on a disk. I know it's not ideal, but if DVDs are getting lost, consider selling the games on a USB drive. Origin is always the slowest I've encountered in downloads, and I have to lower my PC's clock speed to avoid blue screens when using anything faster than 2GHz. GoG and Steam function well, along with around 1,000 other programs, but Origin keeps crashing after just a couple of seconds.
The additional maps in BF4 are special DLC files. Do you prefer purchasing the BF4 disc for $20 and the Premium version for $40, or the Premium edition DVD set for $80? Also, it seems DVDs are gradually losing popularity compared to digital downloads. Game distributors aren't producing new physical copies as frequently anymore. If you buy the game a few years after its release, you're likely getting one of the original versions. Plus, improvements in graphics, more detailed models, and higher demand for larger maps are all reflected in the size.
I paid $14 for BF4 and $15 for the Premium upgrade, though I’d probably spend much more on the disks. I’d ask someone to send me copies of the DLC—maybe waiting an extra week is better than downloading. Right now I’m stuck with Naval Strike and China Rising; I might finish loading them this morning but it’s still a hassle. At least the bad reviews about Batman have made me delay that download for a while.