10 Video Game DLCs That Burned Their Fanbase
8. Ultimate Shortcut Bundle - Battlefield 3
Across many genres, grinding is simply a part of gaming - as frustrating as some may find it. Whether it's endlessly repeating World Of Warcraft's fetch-quests or fighting the same wolves over and over in Final Fantasy VII's overworld so you don't get stuck in Wutai at too low a level to continue the sodding game, it's a game mechanic that despite its repetitive nature is deliberate and ultimately rewarding.
The same goes for online first-person shooters, where racking up kills against all the other 12 year olds would yield the best weapons and attachments. The guy who keeps splattering you with Akimbo 1887s in Modern Warfare 2? You may hate him, but he put the work in to earn those shotguns.
From Battlefield 3 onwards, EA began capitalising on player impatience by offering the "Ultimate Shortcut Bundle", where for not much less than the price of the game, players could simply pay to have all weapons and abilities unlocked for them from the outset. This practice enraged many Battlefield fans, as it meant that players with some more cash at their disposal could simply jump the queue, easily winning matches without having earned it. The Ultimate Shortcut Bundle perpetuates a class war between players rather than a good old-fashioned violent one.