id Software wont force you to purchase an online pass if you buy RAGE used, instead you’ll miss out on some extra content, to which you can purchase if you really want to. Creative Director Tim Willits explained their solution for first-time buyer incentives to Eurogamer during a preview of the game. Apparently there will be hatches all over the environment that will be accessible to all first-time buyers.
“If you bought the game new, that would be open for you,” he explained. “You still have to download it, but you don’t have to pay for it.
“Those hatches are all over. Most people never find them. But as soon as you do, you’re like, oh. And then you start to look for it. That’s our first-time buyer incentive.
“But as you can tell, most people never even see it. I can tell you, some people will buy Rage, download that, and still never set foot in those things. They just won’t. I think that’s fair. It’s cool. It’s outside the main path. We’re not detracting from anything. But I know some consumers, when you can’t avoid it, then you get a little touchy subject.”
In my opinion that’s a much more effective way of dealing with second-hand sales. Forcing second-hand gamers to pay extra just to play online can be a little cheeky, but this way you’re not exactly forcing something upon them; they can still fully explore the main game, but just have to pay a little extra should they want to see the premium content. It’s a pretty creative way to deal with the on-going issue of second-hand game sales. Let us know what you think.
