Battlefield 3 will require a browser plugin

So, I've been beta testing the new upcoming hyped PC game, Battlefield 3, and got pretty miffed when I found out about how the system works.

Everything, all game menus, are done within your browser of choice using a browser plugin. Installation of the plugin is required if you want to play the game, no matter what browser you use.

• If we ignore all the privacy and potential tracking issues with this...
  
• ...what about the security issues? We've just broadened our browser attack surface yet again.. imagine a few months from now some poisoned Google battlefield 3 links pointing to malicious sites loading up this plugin, are we going to be updating this every month incase we feel like playing it at some point?
  
• Another issue is that it only comes in 32bit flavour. Flash x64 is releasing in October, Java x64 is available, and for whoever actually uses Silverlight, a 64bit plugin is coming with the next major release. So, 64bit browsing is now fully plausible, until this plugin comes along. I need to switch to 32bit IE just to play this game, and back to 64bit IE when I'm done.
  
• The final issue... the ideal world of "pluginless browsing" takes a step further away from us.

Ultimate failure or what?

 

I want to see how long this lasts, actually. ~ Snipped as per TOS ~ gamers off is an entirely different world from ~ Snipped as per TOS ~ off the privacy/security folks. Gamers usually win these battles. You're right though that this could open up a pandora's box of security issues. I have to say though, that many of the anti-piracy mechanisms already built into many popular games, almost are rootkits and such themselves.

As far as plugin-less browsing, it's still my opinion that we have a long time left before that happens. You have to remember that websites that have used Flash, and even Java for years, have to change over. There are millions of these sites, and not every webmaster is in a hurry to start from scratch. It also doesn't help that, as far as streaming content, we're headed right back to the 90s again with the wars of who supports what codec and such. Some still want to hang on to H264, some dropped it and refuse to support it, others want the other choices.

We may end up at a point where, if they don't agree with each other, where we're using different browsers for different websites, and not just the old IE vs everyone else issue we're used to.

 

As one who played BF from the get-go, and all versions since, I have a serious dislike to the whole browser thing - on many different fronts.

IMO it is more about creating a facebook type of feel for the "social" part of the game. I have never done any social network stuff, but it is what it seems like to me.

Oh, I just unlocked a pistol. Now I joined a game. Now I unlocked a new raspberry beret as an apparel accessory.

The plugin and all other factors don't help it any. But then I have a feeling many who play the game won't be that concerned about anything but the game, so it won't matter in the end.

Sul.

 

It gives me the feeling EA are pulling strings here to add a whole lot of negatives to a game I only had positive feelings for.

I really don't understand why they can't use HTML5 or a plugin everyone already has, Flash, which is coming in 64bit flavour.

 

For once I can actually agree with you

 

I can't say how much I dislike plugins. I really hate them
Using Flash with a plugin is one thing (I have a choice there), but this