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Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning online pass unlocks seven quests

New copies of 38 Studios' fantasy RPG come bundled with code to download House of Valor faction questline; studio says it was "always intended" to be DLC.

Electronic Arts and 38 Studios are giving gamers an incentive to pick up a first-run copy of the fantasy role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. An online pass included with new copies of the game unlocks seven House of Valor faction quests inside the gameworld.

The world of Amalur is a little larger for those who purchase a new copy of Reckoning.

The world of Amalur is a little larger for those who purchase a new copy of Reckoning.

A new copy of the game for the Xbox 360 provided to GameSpot includes the online pass, and a statement to Joystiq confirms that first-run PlayStation 3 copies will also sport the pass. Downloaded versions of the game for the PC will include the content by default.

It was not made clear if the House of Valor questline will become available as downloadable content for those with a secondhand copy of the game. As of press time, EA had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

Writing on the game's official forums, 38 Studios community manager "Muse" noted that the House of Valor quests were not included on disc and then taken out.

"The House of Valor content was not in the finished game/disc at one point, then removed. It isn't there and we're locking you out of it. The House of Valor was created as stand-alone content, and was always intended to be the first DLC. Instead of holding onto it and charging for it later, we opted to give it to everyone who purchases the game new, for free, on launch day."

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is not the first EA-published title to sport an online pass. New copies of Battlefield 3, Dead Space 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and several EA Sports titles all included onetime-use codes to download additional content.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is due out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on February 7. For more on the title, check out GameSpot's latest preview.

310 Comments

  • kathulos

    Posted Jan 31, 2012 10:19 am GMT

    I don't see what the problem is. 1. You buy a new game, the developer gets money for making you a new game. They can now make the sequel to your new game. For some reason this is not good enough. They add in some free bonus content in hopes that it pleases you.

    2. You buy a used game from Gamestop. It's $5 less than the new game, but all of the money goes directly to Gamestop, who paid a fraction of what they're charging you. The developer gets nothing, and you get someone's leftover that may or may not even have a manual or case. How is this even an issue? It's not like they're locking features out of the game, they're just trying to get you to support them instead of a faceless corporation who is screwing gamers on a daily basis (in the form of absurdly low trade-in values and absurdly high used game prices). Several game studios have gone on record stating that the used game industry is hurting them more than piracy. If you care about games, buy them new. If you don't care, but them used. Either way, quit being a bunch of tit-babies complaining about free stuff.

  • tevic

    Posted Jan 31, 2012 8:14 am GMT

    Too bad... What about future retro-gamers in 10 years time ? What will they do if they've got one X360 console, the game on disc, but MS is not online anymore for the 360 ? Answer: a truncated game.

    It may seem a silly question, but i'm playing right now GBA and PS2 games, and I'm very happy 100% of the games are on the physical cartridge/disk.

  • jamyskis

    Posted Jan 31, 2012 6:49 am GMT

    @Spacerac:
    That's pretty much how I feel. If I buy a single-player game, it is a product and therefore subject to the same laws of commerce as any product. That includes resale. It is unfair to force the customer to continue to be dependent on the publisher's whims.

    If I buy an online multiplayer game, however, I don't really have a huge problem with online passes, because access to the multiplayer servers is a service and the publisher has ongoing costs for this, so it's not unfair to expect every user to pay a fee.

    But yeah, locking out single-player content is unacceptable. There is no reason for it except sheer greed.

  • ZOD777

    Posted Jan 31, 2012 12:35 am GMT

    I don't think some people realize how much money is being made on games. This industry is outselling major motion pictures now. You know, the ones that pay 20-30 million dollars to top name actors and actresses. Activision Blizzard Inc. has around 12,000 employees. Selling 16 million copies (which was only the first 16 days) of a 60 dollar game equals roughly 1 billion dollars. If you divide that among the employees thats still 83K per person. And that was only MW3. (Yes I know that doesn't include shipping/labor/production/adv/etc.) Indie game developers and sadly THQ as of late are really the only companies you should really feel sorry for. The rest are fat cats. Look at what the top execs at Activision are pulling in. Now tell me you still feel sorry for them when you buy a used game. Get over yourselves people. There is nothing wrong with buying a used game. I suppose we should all stop handing down wedding dresses, stop going to garage sales, and quit buying used cars too. Executives deserve more leer jets and rolex watches with diamonds.

    http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=ATVI

    @Spacerac Are we really going to play semantics?

  • Asseen0nTV

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 11:13 pm GMT

    @100proofsoco

    You should have your 6 year old cousin explain economics to you and the 5 people who agree...

    Your logic would make sense if they only sold 1 copy for at least what their expenses were. That would never happen, which is why it is mass produced. They make their money off of new sales. They make no money off of used sales. What you fail to take into consideration, though, is for every used sale there is 1 less new sale. Here's a simple math problem and we'll use small numbers since numbers are arbitrary in this case: ..Say, 10 people were going to buy this game at $60 a piece and, say, it costs $600 to make it(I know it's not even close to accurate..). Now out of those 10 people, 7 buy it new and 3 decide that they'll wait to buy it. While they wait, those 7 people are having a great time and all is well, but 3 of those 7 people eventually go buy Halo 10 or Final Fantasy XXIV x2 vs. vs. and they decide to trade this game for another one of those. Now those 3 that were waiting can finally go buy it used so they themselves can go have a good time. ..So, did the people who made the game in this problem the game make their money back? You now probably want to argue the fact that my numbers weren't proportionately accurate, but did you also take into consideration that meanwhile there were worthless douchebags that live in their mother's basements that had stolen and pirated the game while those 10 people were being responsible?

  • JunoWalker

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 6:01 pm GMT

    @ XBoxGuy1537: Why not get both as the Darkness will be awesome but short and Kingdoms will be Epic and oh-so long??

    I plan on getting both of them as well as Resident Evil on the 3DS. They all come out the same day... gunna be really broke till late April or early May.

  • XboxGuy1537

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 5:54 pm GMT

    Meh, I'll pass o this one. I'd rather get Darkness 2 on the same day.

  • megakick

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 1:29 pm GMT

    End-user license agreement? So it might not be his or her right to resell...

  • joeborg14

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 1:17 pm GMT

    If this is gonna be on Steam, I would get it for PC!

  • Scarab83

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 12:01 pm GMT

    http://penny-arcade.com/2012/01/30

  • tretre32

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 11:46 am GMT

    @100proofsoco But what seems to have breezed right over your head is that this potentially NEW customer is buying a USED game which is not being counted as a profit for the game deveoper, only gamespot etc. So when people wait and get the game used, and think its the best game ever and wonder why there is no sequel, REMEMBER THAT. Buying used games might be economical for you, but its slowly killing the games industry. And not supporting great new IP's that give you hundreds of hours of gameplay, ONLY leads to a gillion generic 1st person shooters that sell millions of copys for only 5-6 hours of gameplay. Damn when the F@%K will people wake up.

  • Nodashi

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 10:40 am GMT

    Yeah, the companios chain was also not intended as "default" in Skyrim.

    Those guys really think consumers are THAT stupid?

  • Vambran

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 10:13 am GMT

    You buy the game new and get a bonus. If you don't buy it new you have to pay for the bonus. I see no problem here. Support the games industry and buy new games only.

  • snugglebear

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 9:22 am GMT

    I've had my preorder in for a while now, so this is just gravy. I could care less about EA, but I plan to support 38 Studios.

  • Bangerman15

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 9:18 am GMT

    the demo for this game was freakn epic, im gonna buy it NEW and day one for sure, the 7 quests is just a bonus to me but judging from the demo it deserves my purchase, plus it's gonna be on steam

  • King_Jeremy_77

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 8:53 am GMT

    I'm online and already planned on buying it new, so it doesn't bother me.

  • dlCHIEF58

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 8:30 am GMT

    @stan_boyd

    Though similar, there is one difference between Rage and KoA:R - the Sewers in Rage is actually on disc while the additional (not locked out) content for KoA:R is downloadable, not on the disc, and was always planned to be additional DLC for the game.

  • dlCHIEF58

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 8:27 am GMT

    Quit calling it an "online pass" to fuel nerd rage as it is not. It is a bonus incentive code for additional content, not locking out on disc features such as multiplayer. The only online part is that the DLC is available online. This is not different than a pre-order bonus, except that it is actually something worthwhile (not crappy skins or weapons that add little to the game) and you don't have to pre-order it - just buy it new.

  • 100proofsoco

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 8:24 am GMT

    What people seem to forget is if I buy an EA game, then sell it to Gamestop, and John Q. Public buys it, EA has already made their money off that game. They did not lose out. I cannot break it down any simpler than that.

    My six year old cousin understands this...

  • damodar_thade

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 8:07 am GMT

    You can take your singleplayer game and online pass and stick em where the sun dont shine =)

  • stan_boyd

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 8:05 am GMT

    How come when Rage did this same thing everyone scream BOYCOTT? But people seem to be defending the action here. When I said it was no big deal since it was just the hidden sewers in rage that just had extra loot I got flamed. Here we have a questline being locked.

  • Spacerac

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 6:24 am GMT

    Well if it was truly created as stand-alone content, then I suppose that is not the same thing as Catwoman. I'd say that this isn't as bad since this wasn't advertised as part of the game like Catwoman was. It's also different because it appears to be dressed as added value, and not literally part of the game like how the story was changed from not having Catwoman in Arkham City. It doesn't exactly make it right, but it's still not as bad as Catwoman. I still have this feeling though, that they will keep pushing the boundaries of what is locked behind an online pass until it literally becomes "please buy new to play the other 99% of the game".

    And now I see that SolidTy already said what I said.
    Far as my stance on online passes; to me they are an annoyance, but blocking online multiplayer is something that I can live with. I can NOT accept locking single player content intended to be consumed as part of the main storyline. This new issue where it's extra quests... I suppose that's something I can live with.

    @ZOD777 It's not the devs, it's the publishers.

  • Suaron_x

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 6:09 am GMT

    Still won't buy it new EA, as I ain't paying $60 for a game that will be $20 or less within a year's time. At most the DLC is worth $5, but that's only if I want to continue playing the game. I'll let everyone else decide if the game lives up to the hype, before I even consider a purchase.

  • jollybest1

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 5:16 am GMT

    @Vangaurdius
    amazing isn't it ...geting the game though , full price preordered, played the demo loved it.....And really buying a game 200 hours vanila confirmed and some free stuff is that stupid ?????? Don't buy the game if you don't like it...but yah the human intelligence is going down stream , most of the gamers buy games because of hype and this little bone that companies give us (uuuu free stuff but the game could be crap)....I am in luck I loved the game seen gameplay played the demo can't wait

  • Vangaurdius

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 3:54 am GMT

    You know what this says to me? "We have zero confidence in our product so we're getting desperate." I'm strongly against passes. NO OTHER INDUSTRY complains about used sales. I'm beginning to wonder if developers also suffer from being self entitled little s****. Also, it's pathetic that this PR stunt is actually working. Ah well, should really lower my expectations of human intelligence. Anyways, I'll leave you guys to the "thumbs down, you horrible person, how dare you want to own a product blah blah blah... ate the last of the cinnamon toast crunch twice."

  • 187umKILLAH

    Posted Jan 30, 2012 12:42 am GMT

    The games gonna be released in about a weeks time, why did they not announce this earlier? Seven quests as DLC? yea right! It's basically a big F*** You to all offline gamers who pre-ordered this.

  • ZOD777

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 9:22 pm GMT

    This kind of thing, along with pre-order content is not intended to combat used copy sales. That is completely out of their hands. This is only intended to maximize profits. Developers are really greedy these days. I cannot believe all of the bonus content and DLC that is offered on games now. MMOs (not FTP obviously, still PTW though) are the most evil of the greed that exists among developers. I would never pay "rent" to play a game. EA is doing nothing that suprises me here. A used copy is only a used copy because someone beat the game (no replay value) or didn't like it. If I buy a car, get some use out of it, then decide to sell it, that is my right as the owner. I don't have to feel sorry for Ford not getting a piece of my sale, they already got my money. Besides, if there were more games that released in a working condition, more people might buy games new. I am tired of buying games that are almost unplayable for 1-2 months anyway.

    The people that wait for the price to go down, or buy used copies aren't concerned with the extra content or they would buy the game new. This is just another gimmick to get some of those individuals to spend more money, plain, pure, and simple. Sometimes it is also an indication that the developer is not very confident about reviews and sales after the game is on the market. Thank god there was a demo for this game. PASS.

  • dono14

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 8:10 pm GMT

    What's with EA and all of their annoying passcodes, well at least this time it isn't one of their ridiculous online pass codes, **Cough Battlefield 3/Mortal Combat cough**

  • GuillermoX

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 5:10 pm GMT

    "Instead of holding onto it and charging for it later, we opted to give it to everyone who purchases the game new, for free, on launch day."

    Whoa... EA allowed this?

  • todis522

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 3:25 pm GMT

    I don't think people realize that there are a lot of options (retail) where you can wait a couple of weeks, and the game will go on a weekly sale. This way you can get the game new, at a cheaper price, and still get the online pass. I've been doing this for about a year and have saved so much money on new games just by sales.

  • megam posted Jan 29, 2012 2:45 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    megam

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 2:45 pm GMT (hide)

    If the developers/publishers want to discourage used game sales, they're going to have to do better than this to reward their customers who buy new. There is no reason for me to buy a game new for some side quests if the developer is just going to release story-related DLC down the road (e.g. Mass Effect 2). I'm better off saving $10-$15 and paying for the story-related DLC when it comes out.

  • zakaweb

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 12:59 pm GMT

    I'm going with it's an incentive for people who buy new. If you buy it used you are not entitled to any say on what the company does. You know up front what the deal is. You may not like it but why should they care when you are doing nothing for them and the hard work they put into making it. Why should they listen to you whine now when you aren't their customer anyway. What are you going to do when in the near future when used game sales are severly restricted, whine or threaten to quit gaming all together. The industry is not going to let used gaming continue at it's current level. They are completely within there rights to do what they are doing and I believe more is coming. I doubt if the majority of the people having a stroke over this are not kids who depend on their parents for money.

  • SopranosFan

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 12:48 pm GMT

    In my opinion this is the best way to deal with second hand sales. Reward the people that buy it new without punishing those that want to buy it used. This way if I miss this game and in a few years I can't find a new copy I can still play the game. Yest it may be missing a small part but as long as it isn't integral to the story it isn't that big of a deal.

  • rld2

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 12:31 pm GMT

    @Darktruth - Well, they are not doing that at all. The game is complete and the additional content is 7 quests and about 2 hours of gameplay. With the game being confirmed to be over 200 hours of gameplay on a SINGLE playthrough, that equates to a little less than 1%.

    Also, they are IN NO WAY are "holding a gun to your head". The game works and you get complete functionality. Now, if you want the 7 extra quests (when there are supposedly several hundred quests already), then you either have to buy the game new or pay for DLC once it's released. If you don't want it, then you don't need to get it.

  • Scarab83 posted Jan 29, 2012 11:59 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Scarab83

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:59 am GMT (hide)

    ITT: Butthurt pirates and PawnStop fanboys.

  • Darnasian

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:58 am GMT

    @Lhomity

    Never said it's sensitive and never felt this way...
    I just like to argue with people on conceptions they might not get...
    I like to think out of the box...
    Oh and BTW Darnassian is not just their natal language...this is how their race was called thousands of years ago in The Lore...they were Darnassians...just like how the High Elves were Thalassians...

  • tclvis

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:45 am GMT

    It's not an "online pass." It is an extra questline in DLC designed to reward retail purchasers.

  • megakick

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:25 am GMT

    They been doing this since DLC became profitable.

  • muzza93

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:23 am GMT

    Slightly off topic: When developers make DLC, and they have it completed before the game even releases and they dont just put it on the disc is just wrong, that means they are just keeping some of your game, charging you full price and selling the rest to you later.

    What else is wrong is when you buy DLC to find out its only a 100Kb download, and was actually only a key, so you already bought the content, you own it but its an extra fee ontop to use, and they punish people who try access the content without the key. Thats like if you buy a house full price, but 1 room is locked unless u buy a key that costs around 10% of the price u payed for the whole house, and if u try open the door a different way your punished, even though u bought it already. Greed at its finest. kingdoms of amalur were almost guilty of this, but now its "FREE". Game does look awesome though.

  • muzza93

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:09 am GMT

    Anyway i do plan on getting this game new, but i just bought a car so i guess ill be trading in my old games to pay for it. Its ironic, they make online passes to sell new copies and try to hurt the used game market, but they would get no money from me if it wasnt for the used game market since im trading in.

  • darktruth007

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 11:05 am GMT

    So basically they put a gun to your head and say - hey give us your money now or we'll only give you 95% of the game instead of the full hundred. Treating your customers like cash-cows instead of people - way to make a good first impression.

  • muzza93

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:52 am GMT

    @shiss27

    I wouldn't consider myself a casual gamer. I will accept the online pass BS and reduce my pre owned spending when Australians stop getting ripped off. You said i pay $60 retail for new games, wrong! In Australia new games are $100, our dollar is worth more than the US dollar, so to do an estimate, a new game in Australia payed in US dollars would be $110 USD roughly. So thats why i dont care about them cos they dont care about us, they rip us off. You know the Call Of Duty Map Packs? Yeah $15 USD, $23 Australian dollars, & ITS DIGITAL! total rip so realise there are other countries in the world besides the US. You have it sooo cheap over there, too bad your like 3 trillion bucks in debt. Good luck with the American colonies on the moon mate.

  • mothboy

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:40 am GMT

    1. LOL @ the WoW nerds having a cat fight.
    2. this games looks very promising, I should probably download the demo.

  • muzza93

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:35 am GMT

    @Lhomity

    No point arguing with you because your too stubborn, no flexibility whatsoever, even tho i had valid points, you are way to biased to bother arguing with. Im from Australia, a new game costs $100, in America a new game is $60 even though our dollar is worth more than the US dollar so we get really ripped off, thats why i hate the devs crying about used games, i would feel more sympathetic if our new games were $60. ($60 US dollars would only get you roughly $55 Aus dollars btw) I would gladly buy new games more often if they stopped ripping us off.

  • SciFiCat

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:35 am GMT

    @megakick: The first-sale doctrine is a limitation on copyright that was recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1908 (see Bobbs-Merrill Co. v. Straus) and subsequently codified in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. ss 109 . The doctrine allows the purchaser to transfer (i.e., sell, lend or give away) a particular lawfully made copy of the copyrighted work without permission once it has been obtained. This means that the copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a particular copy ends once ownership of that copy has passed to someone else, as long as the copy itself is not an infringing copy. This doctrine is also referred to as the "right of first sale," "first sale rule," or "exhaustion rule."

    Selling his used games is not a luxury, IT IS HIS RIGHT!

  • soapman72

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:08 am GMT

    Hope this game lives up to the hype

  • rld2

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:04 am GMT

    Aken - I hit submit too soon...Besides that, the source of that quote was the head of the company that made Heavy Rain (if I'm not mistaken), and NOT someone from 38 Studios or anyone in any way related to Amalur.

  • rld2

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:02 am GMT

    @Aken - All of those are straw man arguments. Not only that, but who are you to determine how much someone should make? Maybe someone will determine that you need to take a 33 to 50% pay cut or that 33 to 50% of your employer's customers decide that they no longer need to pay for your services.

  • megakick posted Jan 29, 2012 10:01 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    megakick

    Posted Jan 29, 2012 10:01 am GMT (hide)

    Art, music, movies and games are copyrighted intellectual property, your rights are on the bottom in small print. Selling houses, cars or your bicycle is a different story. Comparing Apples and Oranges. Selling your used game is a luxury not a right.

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