(And, yes, Bioware Points will hurt sales even if DA:I doesn't use them for its DLC. Read on!)
It seems everyone who plays Bioware games on the PC hates Bioware Points. Everyone, that is, except the folks at Bioware, who have shown no interest in getting rid of the things. But I'm hoping that that could change, if the company can be made to see how they stand to lose money if Bioware Points still exist when Dragon Age: Inquisition is released.
There are two classes of problems with the Bioware Points system: ethical and economic. I'm gonna go ahead and focus on the latter category, partly because I don't think that the ethical case against selling funny-money in regular denominations for irregularly-priced products needs to be belabored, but mostly because I'm sure that Bioware/EA will be more readily moved by an appeal to their bottom line. (Granted there is some overlap between the ethical and the economic there, as anti-consumer practices can hurt customer loyalty and depress sales. But never mind that now.)
The most pertinent characteristic of the Bioware Points system is that, in practice, DLC sold through it never, ever goes on sale: “Kasumi – Stolen Memory” (ME2) always costs the same $7 that it did in 2010; “Omega” (ME3) always costs the same $15 that it did in 2012; “Mark of the Assassin” (DA2) always costs the same $10 that it did in 2011; and so on. (The Bioware Points themselves seem to go on sale in a brief window once every several years, but that's close enough to “never” in my book.) Bioware Points are a de facto embargo on DLC discounts.
Now I am NOT arguing that developers are not entitled to a fair return on their labor. But such a rigid pricing system prevents Bioware from engaging in the profit-maximization strategy of “price discrimination,” where a seller seeks to find the maximum price that each customer is willing to pay, and then sell it to that customer at her own maximum price. With digitally distributed games, this discrimination is temporal: sell your game high at launch to the die-hard fans, then bring the price down over time for the holdouts (with intermittent sales to target even more reluctant buyers). This pragmatic sales strategy is why you can often find ME2 on sale for $5 on Origin, even though it remains as great a game as it was when it launched at $60 — it's just sound sales strategy. But no such profit maximization is possible with the Bioware Points system as it currently exists, with its rigid pricing.
So the fact that DLC sold in Bioware Points never goes on sale has already cost Bioware/EA oodles of money. But the cost to their bottom line gets even worse when you consider the effect that this system has on sales in story-based franchises (i.e., the only stuff Bioware makes). And this is where the effect on Dragon Age: Inquisition becomes apparent.
To understand the detrimental effect of Bioware Points on profits in franchises, consider my own experience with the Mass Effect series. Like so many computer/video gamers, I am something of a completionist: I like to finish a game before I start the next one in a series. And I consider any story-driven DLC to be a prerequisite for “completion.” (I'd call my attitude idiosyncratic, but completionists are so common in gaming that that word doesn't apply.)
The first Mass Effect had nothing that I would consider story-driven DLC, so I had no qualms about proceeding straight to the sequel. But Mass Effect 2 DOES have significant story-driven DLC — thirty-one dollars' worth, in fact. Now, I would have liked to have bought Mass Effect 3 when it came out, but I would've had to spend that $31 on the ME2 DLC first. So, reasoning that they HAD to discount either the DLC or the Bioware Points eventually, I waited for a sale. And waited. And kept on waiting. And what could have been $60 of revenue on EA's quarterly report (plus whatever I would spend on the discounted ME2 DLC) became less and less. Finally I got ME3 for free as compensation for the Great SimCity Launch Debacle — Bioware completely priced themselves out of that sale.
And the same hazard exists for Dragon Age: Inquisition. DA2 has almost as much story-driven DLC as ME2 (twenty-seven dollars' worth, unless you snagged the Signature Edition), so a subset of completionists will put off their purchases of DA:I indefinitely, waiting for a DA2 DLC sale. So, again, what could have been a ton of $60-$70 preorders/purchases instead becomes a ton of $5 sales, or even nothing.
You may be inclined to say that this is all my problem; that I should either pay the full price for the DLC, or not buy the sequel. Quite right, it is my problem. But the point is that it is also Bioware's problem. As I said, the completionist trait runs strong through the gaming population. (Just look at folks' achievement pages if you have any doubt.)
So here's what Bioware/EA should do, if they're looking after their own self-interest:
- Eliminate Bioware Points. Convert all outstanding Bioware Points to credit on the Origin store.
- Sell all Bioware DLC through the Origin store. Have sales when appropriate, such as just before a sequel comes out. Not only does this let completionists catch up on the series so they feel comfortable buying the sequel at launch, but it also creates marketing buzz.
With these two simple reforms, one of the failings of the third installment of Mass Effect can be avoided in the third installment of Dragon Age. As for avoiding the other failings of Mass Effect 3, well, I can't help you there. Ask someone who's played it.
(Too lazy; didn't read: An inflexible pricing system on DLC hurts profits, both by depressing sales on the DLC itself, AND by discouraging completionists from preordering/buying the subsequent sequel (e.g., DA:I) for full price at launch.)
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