Paid content in videogames (DLC, loot boxes, passes, currencies, "surprise mechanics" and - new! - pay more or wait!)

Anything to do with games at all.
jawafour
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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by jawafour » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:54 am

Saint of Killers wrote:

twitter.com/llamasoft_ox/status/928272617399656448


:lol: . Jeff :wub: .

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Rax
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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Rax » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:56 am

To be fair, I dont think any developer has the goal of "maximising consumer spend oppertunities", theyre focused on making a great game. Its the publishers & share holders who insist on this kind of stuff being present to try and maximise their returns.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Saint of Killers » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:58 am

Good point.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by jawafour » Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:06 pm

Rax wrote:To be fair, I dont think any developer has the goal of "maximising consumer spend oppertunities", theyre focused on making a great game. Its the publishers & share holders who insist on this kind of stuff being present to try and maximise their returns.

I kinda see your point, Rax, and I guess it could be right in most cases... but I do struggle to agree when "excuses" are put up for this. I wonder just how far developers/publishers will go with in-game spending because it's ramping up at such a pace.

The big publishers now see in-game spending as a crucial pillar in their business. And, as it's business, I can understand that. But we've gone from "micro" transactions (pay 30p for this exta outfit!) to all-out rip-off (pay £59.99 - BEST VALUE! - for this gun to beat out your rivals!). Even the most greedy and frustrating approaches are waved through as, in the mass market, players won't know about these things until they've already bought the game.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Rax » Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:26 pm

jawafour wrote:
Rax wrote:To be fair, I dont think any developer has the goal of "maximising consumer spend oppertunities", theyre focused on making a great game. Its the publishers & share holders who insist on this kind of stuff being present to try and maximise their returns.

I kinda see your point, Rax, and I guess it could be right in most cases... but I do struggle to agree when "excuses" are put up for this. I wonder just how far developers/publishers will go with in-game spending because it's ramping up at such a pace.

The big publishers now see in-game spending as a crucial pillar in their business. And, as it's business, I can understand that. But we've gone from "micro" transactions (pay 30p for this exta outfit!) to all-out rip-off (pay £59.99 - BEST VALUE! - for this gun to beat out your rivals!). Even the most greedy and frustrating approaches are waved through as, in the mass market, players won't know about these things until they've already bought the game.

Oh im not making excuses for it, I was just pointing out that I wouldnt blame developers for the current state of things. This stuff is coming from the top down, its business people making business decisions, shitty explotative decsions and all theyre worried about is the bottom line.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Saint of Killers » Sun Nov 12, 2017 11:46 am

Slightly old but apt news (also v sad):

Perfect World shuts down Torchlight studio, cuts jobs at Gigantic’s developer

...

Perfect World Entertainment recently closed the Seattle office of Runic Games as part of the company’s continued strategy to focus on online games as a service. We’re grateful to the team for all of their hard work bringing incredible experiences like Torchlight, Torchlight II and Hob to life. Runic Games will remain a part of Perfect World Entertainment’s portfolio of studios, and its games will continue to be available to players, as we stay committed to supporting and growing Runic Games’ beloved franchises.

...

https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/03/perf ... c-studios/

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by jawafour » Sun Nov 12, 2017 12:03 pm

The desire for “games as a service” is understandable from a business perspective; if you can make it popular then the potential rewards are huge. But with many large publishers seeking to go down the same route at the same time, there are going to be big winners and big losers.

People only have so much money to spend and, if they’re regularly spending that on one or two games on a monthly basis, many other games won’t see a penny of it. If folk (effectively) subscribe to, say, FIFA Online and COD Online, then they’re unlikely to also regularly drop money on, say, Battlefront Online or Elder Scrolls Online.

Within six years or so, I foresee game subscriptions becoming standard for the “big” titles. You will be able to subscribe monthly, three-monthly, six-monthly or annually and this will include game updates. The updates will replace the current approach of a new version each year.

Potentially interesting (albeit expensive) if your fave games are the hits, but less so if your personal gems fall by the wayside. The winners and losers will become more extreme!

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Trelliz » Sun Nov 12, 2017 12:11 pm

jawafour wrote:Within six years or so, I foresee game subscriptions becoming standard for the “big” titles. You will be able to subscribe monthly, three-monthly, six-monthly or annually and this will include game updates. The updates will replace the current approach of a new version each year.


I disagree - making something into a subscription makes it look or sound like more money even if it would be the same as buying the new fifa every year. As with microtransactions and lootboxes, these things are more effective if you convince people that they are giving you money on their terms rather than demanding it up front. This is why there are very few pay monthly mmos still going.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by 7256930752 » Sun Nov 12, 2017 12:39 pm

jawafour wrote:The desire for “games as a service” is understandable from a business perspective; if you can make it popular then the potential rewards are huge. But with many large publishers seeking to go down the same route at the same time, there are going to be big winners and big losers.

People only have so much money to spend and, if they’re regularly spending that on one or two games on a monthly basis, many other games won’t see a penny of it. If folk (effectively) subscribe to, say, FIFA Online and COD Online, then they’re unlikely to also regularly drop money on, say, Battlefront Online or Elder Scrolls Online.

Within six years or so, I foresee game subscriptions becoming standard for the “big” titles. You will be able to subscribe monthly, three-monthly, six-monthly or annually and this will include game updates. The updates will replace the current approach of a new version each year.

Potentially interesting (albeit expensive) if your fave games are the hits, but less so if your personal gems fall by the wayside. The winners and losers will become more extreme!

"Big winners and losers" is exactly how the industry is at the moment isn't it?

Hopefully subscription services will lead to more things like EA access which are incredible value for money.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by smurphy » Sun Nov 12, 2017 1:29 pm

Winckle wrote:I think loot crates that have non-cosmetic items in are a hard line for me. I will not buy a game with them in.

Is this too extreme a POV? I've not decided if this applies to single player games where you can buy in game items to get ahead, like Assassin's Creed Origins.


The trouble with it in singleplayer games is that being able to pay to skip content implies that playing the actual game is less than worthless. If playing a singleplayer game is more about the destination than the journey, why not just have a paid unlockable that skips you straight to the end credits?

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Tafdolphin » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:39 am

EA's response to the fact that Darth strawberry floating Vader is locked away this time and takes around $80 (or approx 40 hours of grinding) to unlock has become the most downvoted reddit post ever. It has close to 150 000 downvotes now. The 2nd most downvoted has 25 000.

https://www.videogamer.com/news/ea-resp ... -on-reddit

Here's the comment:

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https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsBattle ... d/dppum98/

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by BID0 » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:53 am

Commenting on a thread titled "Seriously? I paid $80 to have Vader locked?", the EACommunityTeam reddit account wrote:

"The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes.

"As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the open beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we're looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily bases, and we'll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding and of course attainable via gameplay.

"We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.

"Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can."

It's a fair statement but one which, in fans' eyes, was then completely devalued by a tweet from EA community manager Mat Everett's personal account:

"The armchair developers on this internet," Everett wrote. The tweet has now been deleted, but the message - and its responses - were archived.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017- ... -down-well

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Tafdolphin » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:54 am

Nice.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by KjGarly » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:02 am

Out of curiosity, was a fuss ever kicked up over the likes of Gears 4 unlockables? There's characters you can't craft that if you've missed because you haven't earned enough coins during the short time the packs were available then it's tough gooseberry fool till next time they put them back up. And the price of coins differs like Marcus Fenix pack was 400 coins per pack (Gears 3 and Biker Marcus unlocks + Bike Fenix weapon skins) were as the Queen Myrrah packs were 2000 coins each.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Tafdolphin » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:06 am

Sounds similar to Overwatch skins. I'm assuming the characters in Gears 4 are purely aesthetic upgrades?

For BFII they are selling star-cards that affect gameplay, meaning a £50 game is launching with a F2P model of play-to-win. It's absurd.

Last edited by Tafdolphin on Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Mafro » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:07 am

twitter.com/hanmik01/status/930008820713213952



Scummy as strawberry float.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by jawafour » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:32 am

Mafro wrote:...Scummy as strawberry float.

If that is true, it is indeed a scummy act. The frustrating thing is that most of the mass market won't know about these aspects until they have already purchased the game. At least folks here are aware of it and can make a decision on whether they're happy to support EA or not.

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Zartan » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:36 am

Mafro wrote:

twitter.com/hanmik01/status/930008820713213952



Scummy as strawberry float.

This is actually unbelievable, the sad thing is the whole outrage is from the minority on the internet, this game is still going to sell millions, and I bet the micro transactions will make a disgusting amount of money too. So no change will happen

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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by Mafro » Mon Nov 13, 2017 11:38 am

I wonder how many reviews will be updated to mention the change :simper:

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KjGarly
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PostRe: Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)
by KjGarly » Mon Nov 13, 2017 12:07 pm

jawafour wrote:
Mafro wrote:...Scummy as strawberry float.

If that is true, it is indeed a scummy act. The frustrating thing is that most of the mass market won't know about these aspects until they have already purchased the game. At least folks here are aware of it and can make a decision on whether they're happy to support EA or not.


Played a few hours via Origin Access and I enjoyed what I played of both the SP and MP. Will be getting it still but as a Christmas present unless I can find a cheap price for it on PC.

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