How to kill a brand

I fired up Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit yesterday and was forced to download the Super Sports Pack.  After heading to the career mode to see what was added I noticed a flood of "new" tags all over the map.  Since I'd already completed most of the events this must mean that they added quite a bit of content. 
 
Well, no, as it turns out.  All of those tags weren't referring to new events, they actually meant that there are new cars available to use for those events.  And by available they mean in the store, for $2.99 a piece.  And when they say it's for that event, they mean that it is in the same class as cars in that event, not necessarily that you can actually use it in that event. 
 
So now I have no easy way of telling which tracks have events I haven't finished yet, and which ones just support cars I don't own.  Apparently unhappy with Activision taking all the "evil empire" mindshare, EA has decided to ram their paid content down my throat so hard that the career mode has become almost unusable.    
 
Congratulations EA, you've managed to take a game that I love and turn it into something that has me wary of buying any of your products in the future.  I'm not talking about some kind of boycott or protest to prove a point.  I just mean that the idea that EA is able and willing to take a dump all over a product after I buy it is kind of a turn off. 
 
I hope it as worth it.

I fired up Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit yesterday and was forced to download the Super Sports Pack.  After heading to the career mode to see what was added I noticed a flood of "new" tags all over the map.  Since I'd already completed most of the events this must mean that they added quite a bit of content. 
 
Well, no, as it turns out.  All of those tags weren't referring to new events, they actually meant that there are new cars available to use for those events.  And by available they mean in the store, for $2.99 a piece.  And when they say it's for that event, they mean that it is in the same class as cars in that event, not necessarily that you can actually use it in that event. 
 
So now I have no easy way of telling which tracks have events I haven't finished yet, and which ones just support cars I don't own.  Apparently unhappy with Activision taking all the "evil empire" mindshare, EA has decided to ram their paid content down my throat so hard that the career mode has become almost unusable.    
 
Congratulations EA, you've managed to take a game that I love and turn it into something that has me wary of buying any of your products in the future.  I'm not talking about some kind of boycott or protest to prove a point.  I just mean that the idea that EA is able and willing to take a dump all over a product after I buy it is kind of a turn off. 
 
I hope it as worth it.

Where in this does the brand being killed come in?

They've definitely damaged the game by doing this but I don't think this one little update kills the entire NFS brand.

Equally frustrating is the way EA deliver their game updates. Why is there no option in the EADM to look for updates for all EA games installed on a PC?
 
I've not played NFS:HP in a while so I haven't seen the latest update. I might give it a look at some point, after the Steam Sale I have a lot of new games to try out!

Sounds like EA to me. Every time I read about them doing something that makes me think good about them, it always seems to be followed by two or three articles that makes me shake my head in disgust at them.

I kinda miss EA bash threads, make it feel like the 90s again. I've always found how EA deals with DLC really clumsy but wouldn't go so far as to say they're ruining franchises for me.

" They've definitely damaged the game by doing this but I don't think this one little update kills the entire NFS brand. "

Ultimately EA are a business and have to make money. That is just one way they can make money and whilst it is not the greatest way of doing it, it does not necessarily 'kill the brand'. Especially because it is one of the best Need for Speed games available at the moment.

So now I have no easy way of telling which tracks have events I haven't finished yet, and which ones just support cars I don't own.

NfsHP's UI is incredibly confounding. There's a logic to it, but that logic is steeped in madness.

As to killing the brand; NFS should have been dead along time ago. I do think it sucks that EA is starting to use the Freemium model for a game I payed $60 for. It's very distasteful.

" Congratulations EA, you've managed to take a game that I love and turn it into something that has me wary of buying any of your products in the future. "

" @Gamer_152 said:

" They've definitely damaged the game by doing this but I don't think this one little update kills the entire NFS brand. "

I was under the impression the NFS brand was all but dead before Criterion resurrected it by making it Burnout. Not to say if the nickel and diming is bad - I don't like it... You're probably right, but that franchise was a gnat's ass away from being another Road Rash.  "

" I fired up Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit yesterday and was forced to download the Super Sports Pack.  After heading to the career mode to see what was added I noticed a flood of "new" tags all over the map.  Since I'd already completed most of the events this must mean that they added quite a bit of content.  Well, no, as it turns out.  All of those tags weren't referring to new events, they actually meant that there are new cars available to use for those events.  And by available they mean in the store, for $2.99 a piece.  And when they say it's for that event, they mean that it is in the same class as cars in that event, not necessarily that you can actually use it in that event.  So now I have no easy way of telling which tracks have events I haven't finished yet, and which ones just support cars I don't own.  Apparently unhappy with Activision taking all the "evil empire" mindshare, EA has decided to ram their paid content down my throat so hard that the career mode has become almost unusable.     Congratulations EA, you've managed to take a game that I love and turn it into something that has me wary of buying any of your products in the future.  I'm not talking about some kind of boycott or protest to prove a point.  I just mean that the idea that EA is able and willing to take a dump all over a product after I buy it is kind of a turn off.  I hope it as worth it. "

" @BlaineBlaine said:

" @Gamer_152 said:

" They've definitely damaged the game by doing this but I don't think this one little update kills the entire NFS brand. "

I was under the impression the NFS brand was all but dead before Criterion resurrected it by making it Burnout. Not to say if the nickel and diming is bad - I don't like it... You're probably right, but that franchise was a gnat's ass away from being another Road Rash.  "

That market is undoubtedly larger now there's a more critically accepted game like Hot Pursuit out there but I still believe the series was a fair way from becoming another Road Rash. "

" @Gamer_152 said:

" @BlaineBlaine said:

" @Gamer_152 said:

" They've definitely damaged the game by doing this but I don't think this one little update kills the entire NFS brand. "

I was under the impression the NFS brand was all but dead before Criterion resurrected it by making it Burnout. Not to say if the nickel and diming is bad - I don't like it... You're probably right, but that franchise was a gnat's ass away from being another Road Rash.  "

That market is undoubtedly larger now there's a more critically accepted game like Hot Pursuit out there but I still believe the series was a fair way from becoming another Road Rash. "

Possibly. I don't know. Remember that Road Rash sold well and had generally good reviews up until Jail Break. It's not like a steady slide of Sonic, it was abrupt.  There is a market for racing games, but with Forza and GT taking a segment and Burnout slapping a death grip on the arcade-y racing... to me, it's not inconceivable to say that NFS was walking on a razor edge. "

That genuinely sounds pretty game-breaking. 
 
Edit: I'd considered picking this up when it became slightly cheaper, but unless this is fixed I probably won't.

The whole time playing Hot Pursuit I had this nagging feeling that I should be on a bike hitting some dude in the face with a chain.  This is a shitty move on their part, but if they come up with some well implemented Road Rash DLC they can advertise it wherever the hell they like.

" Where in this does the brand being killed come in? "

" @TheOccupant said:

" Congratulations EA, you've managed to take a game that I love and turn it into something that has me wary of buying any of your products in the future. "

But you will buy them anyway. "