I don’t know about you chaps but I absolutely detest the modern approach companies have with their franchises and games.
I remember you’d get the game on disc and that was it. Or maybe a expansion to go with it which improved it 100%
An example would be say the mortal kombat games, you used to be able to have all the characters or Unlock them. But now you gotta pay up to 100% the game if you want everything.
There’s a lot of people who seem to expect games to keep getting updated. Growing up, if I bought a game (with my mom’s money of course), that game was complete, for better or worse.
Now kids seem get upset because I don’t want to add new characters to a shitty little game I released 5 years ago.
I’ve hated them from the moment they started. I was looking forward to it before any game had it, thinking it would be like getting well made mods for like fifty cents or a dollar. But then it ends up being a color swap for $15 and shit. Low effort, and expensive for what you’re actually getting.
Let me just go back to being able to drop a file into a folder and now I am Spider-Man, like I could do in Quake.
Give me back reasonably priced expansions that were like an entire sequel for half the price of the base game instead of $30 for a single dungeon.
And while we’re at it: give me back server executables and a browser so I can host my own shit and find good, moderated places to hang out.
The best approach is to play games that respect their customers by having no microtransactions, or a fair monetization.
Most games that respect these criteria are indie games. The devs of those games deserve your money more than any AAA company, and their games are often just as fun as those you played when you were younger years ago.
I played CrossCode a few years ago, and it’s been the most fun I’ve had in years. I don’t know about arcade fighting games, but surely there must be an alternative.
One thing that kills me are the “its just cosmetics” fellas. While I agree that is is the least worst option for micro transactions but for most games the drip game is half the game. I want to look cool and I want those looks to represent I did something in game.
Microtransactions annoy me, sure. But the season pass, live service, bullshit stuff pisses me off more. It’s just a step towards what I hate about apps on my phone these days. There are so many apps that require a subscription but have no recurring fees or content updates. I’m talking calendar apps, or apps for taking notes, etc.
Ubisoft guy recently implied he wants to take things this direction but it’s not that far off with their games already.
My main issue that upsets me (which from what I understand isn’t much of a thing anymore which is good) is on-disk DLC, forcing you to pay extra to unlock content that is already on the disk you already own. Oh, wait, that leads to another annoyance: the idea that you don’t even own the copy of the game you paid for and is in your hands, you just own a license the publisher can change or revoke at any time or else you can’t play anymore.
Any kind of microtransaction or paid content is a real turn off for me nowadays. I really couldn’t care less about your loot boxes, battle passes and “games as a service” so I will just play something else.
Lots of the DLC crap was stuff you unlocked by playing in the past. I remember playing DoA 2 and unlocking costumes, DoA 6 has like 2000 bucks worth of DLC costumes or some crap lol
Calling it “up to” the full price of the game is being pretty generous. I’ve been really annoyed by Square Enix since they got into the DLC/microtransaction game, because their pricing is always way, way off. It started with Theatrhythm on the 3DS I think. The game had like maybe 50 songs you could play out of the box, but you could buy a ton more at 99ç a piece, which easily cost a lot more than the game itself if you wanted everything.
Some of the skins for Dissidia NT are crazy. First you gotta buy the game, then you gotta buy the character, then you gotta buy a skin and the skin is like $20 for no reason. Unbelievable.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think Square Enix has ever done microtransactions with a shred of dignity.
FFXIV handles it “okay”, in that you get a large portion of glam in game and the cash shop stuff is largely excess. There are a few cases where it would have been better to have the reward in game, but for the most part I feel like I can play the game without needing to buy anything.
The impression the community gets is the cash shop is a begrudging feature that SE higher ups mandate to keep cash flow going (because XIV is funding most of SE’s other projects)
What really rubbed me the wrong way with ffxiv’s monetization past the regular subscription was the additional retainer service.
I know it’s not a large benefit to have, even if one’s main focus is on crafting/AH gameplay, but it still annoys me to no end that I could be more efficient by forking over an extra 2USD up to 6 times (iirc) PER MONTH. This means to max out one’s efficiency, one has to nearly double their monthly sub. Ultimately this was one of the many small frustrations with that game that lead to me dropping it, despite overall liking it.
I miss cheats, there are times I just want to be in god mode without having to download dubious trainers.
Besides that I agree with everyone, micro transactions, loot boxes, games as a service, always online are an instant “no buy”. Also DRM. If it’s not on gog I don’t buy it.
Do they sell a good product at a fair price? Do I know what’s in it and get what I’m paying for? Is it future-proofed such that what I bought won’t disappear if the seller turns off their servers? Does it refrain from using shady tactics to manipulate me into buying something I don’t want?
If the answers to all of those questions are “yes”, then it doesn’t bother me. For instance, Paradox games. Lots of people seem to feel like they need all of the content for a given game, but I don’t understand it. They released what they had for a full game at launch, and then while a large portion of that team can move on to prototyping their next game, a smaller team remains behind to come up with some goodies that you can modify that base game with to keep it fresh, if you’re interested. It’s low cost for them to improve the game at a systemic level, and if what they put out isn’t good enough, you can just not buy it and still play the game you already enjoyed. It isn’t any less complete just because they decided to attach more game to it, and this is far better for both parties than selling a sequel every year that’s the same as last year’s but with a tiny bit extra.
When it comes to cosmetics like Mortal Kombat’s, it doesn’t bother me that they exist. They’re horrendously overpriced, so I never even consider buying them, because they’re terrible value. There’s also the shop timers that would fall under “shady tactics to [attempt to] manipulate me”, so that’s not cool. Far worse though is how much of that game is arbitrarily tied to server checks, including a couple of unlocks in the base game. Also not cool is that they replaced Krypt with Invasions. The Krypt was a metroidvania-esque dungeon crawl, and while it too was designed to get you to grind a bunch or spend a bunch of extra money, it was actually fun to solve. Invasions is just bot matches but worse, and it’s tied behind server checks, because people like me used Cheat Engine to bypass the Krypt grind in MKX rather than spend $20 on Kombat Koins. I really enjoy MK, but they’re stepping right up to, and sometimes dancing over, the line.
Micro transactions, seasons passes, small dlc that are often poor money for value, in some cases in the past as well we’ve seen endings sealed behind dlc or things that clearly should have been part of the game but cut out just to make people buy them as dlc.
My most recent purchase of an expansion that really sticks out is probably Xenoblade 3 where you get a whole new story arc and it’s pretty big in terms of expansions.
Why does it stick out? Because it’s very well done and extremely good value for money.
I have no problem with developers continuing to create new content and give customers the option to buy it or not.
Loot boxes and gambling stuff and types of micro transactions where you are basically paying a fee to avoid artificial annoyance/grinding are a cancer on the industry.
I haven’t bought a game with microtransactions in several years, even if I was interested in the game. I know my resistance probably doesn’t accomplish much, but I simply refuse to support that business model. I don’t want to put up with pressure to pay “just a little bit more”. Day 1 DLC isn’t a guaranteed gamebreaker for me if I already really want the game, but it definitely reduces my interest and I’ve passed over several games before because of it.
I wholeheartedly support expansions so long as their content justifies their pricetag.
I know my resistance probably doesn’t accomplish much
It does. Besides not giving that game your time and money, you’re instead putting it in some other game that’s making what you want, and they probably need your time and money more to keep doing that.
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There’s a lot of people who seem to expect games to keep getting updated. Growing up, if I bought a game (with my mom’s money of course), that game was complete, for better or worse.
Now kids seem get upset because I don’t want to add new characters to a shitty little game I released 5 years ago.
I’ve hated them from the moment they started. I was looking forward to it before any game had it, thinking it would be like getting well made mods for like fifty cents or a dollar. But then it ends up being a color swap for $15 and shit. Low effort, and expensive for what you’re actually getting.
Let me just go back to being able to drop a file into a folder and now I am Spider-Man, like I could do in Quake.
Give me back reasonably priced expansions that were like an entire sequel for half the price of the base game instead of $30 for a single dungeon.
And while we’re at it: give me back server executables and a browser so I can host my own shit and find good, moderated places to hang out.
The best approach is to play games that respect their customers by having no microtransactions, or a fair monetization.
Most games that respect these criteria are indie games. The devs of those games deserve your money more than any AAA company, and their games are often just as fun as those you played when you were younger years ago.
I played CrossCode a few years ago, and it’s been the most fun I’ve had in years. I don’t know about arcade fighting games, but surely there must be an alternative.
One thing that kills me are the “its just cosmetics” fellas. While I agree that is is the least worst option for micro transactions but for most games the drip game is half the game. I want to look cool and I want those looks to represent I did something in game.
Microtransactions annoy me, sure. But the season pass, live service, bullshit stuff pisses me off more. It’s just a step towards what I hate about apps on my phone these days. There are so many apps that require a subscription but have no recurring fees or content updates. I’m talking calendar apps, or apps for taking notes, etc.
Ubisoft guy recently implied he wants to take things this direction but it’s not that far off with their games already.
My main issue that upsets me (which from what I understand isn’t much of a thing anymore which is good) is on-disk DLC, forcing you to pay extra to unlock content that is already on the disk you already own. Oh, wait, that leads to another annoyance: the idea that you don’t even own the copy of the game you paid for and is in your hands, you just own a license the publisher can change or revoke at any time or else you can’t play anymore.
Invasive, non cosmetic, overpriced microtransactions.
And also locking entire updates behind dlc like how paradox interactive did (and still kind of does)
Any kind of microtransaction or paid content is a real turn off for me nowadays. I really couldn’t care less about your loot boxes, battle passes and “games as a service” so I will just play something else.
Lots of the DLC crap was stuff you unlocked by playing in the past. I remember playing DoA 2 and unlocking costumes, DoA 6 has like 2000 bucks worth of DLC costumes or some crap lol
Unlocks and cheat codes are now DLC…
Calling it “up to” the full price of the game is being pretty generous. I’ve been really annoyed by Square Enix since they got into the DLC/microtransaction game, because their pricing is always way, way off. It started with Theatrhythm on the 3DS I think. The game had like maybe 50 songs you could play out of the box, but you could buy a ton more at 99ç a piece, which easily cost a lot more than the game itself if you wanted everything.
Some of the skins for Dissidia NT are crazy. First you gotta buy the game, then you gotta buy the character, then you gotta buy a skin and the skin is like $20 for no reason. Unbelievable.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think Square Enix has ever done microtransactions with a shred of dignity.
FFXIV handles it “okay”, in that you get a large portion of glam in game and the cash shop stuff is largely excess. There are a few cases where it would have been better to have the reward in game, but for the most part I feel like I can play the game without needing to buy anything.
The impression the community gets is the cash shop is a begrudging feature that SE higher ups mandate to keep cash flow going (because XIV is funding most of SE’s other projects)
What really rubbed me the wrong way with ffxiv’s monetization past the regular subscription was the additional retainer service.
I know it’s not a large benefit to have, even if one’s main focus is on crafting/AH gameplay, but it still annoys me to no end that I could be more efficient by forking over an extra 2USD up to 6 times (iirc) PER MONTH. This means to max out one’s efficiency, one has to nearly double their monthly sub. Ultimately this was one of the many small frustrations with that game that lead to me dropping it, despite overall liking it.
I miss cheats, there are times I just want to be in god mode without having to download dubious trainers.
Besides that I agree with everyone, micro transactions, loot boxes, games as a service, always online are an instant “no buy”. Also DRM. If it’s not on gog I don’t buy it.
Do they sell a good product at a fair price? Do I know what’s in it and get what I’m paying for? Is it future-proofed such that what I bought won’t disappear if the seller turns off their servers? Does it refrain from using shady tactics to manipulate me into buying something I don’t want?
If the answers to all of those questions are “yes”, then it doesn’t bother me. For instance, Paradox games. Lots of people seem to feel like they need all of the content for a given game, but I don’t understand it. They released what they had for a full game at launch, and then while a large portion of that team can move on to prototyping their next game, a smaller team remains behind to come up with some goodies that you can modify that base game with to keep it fresh, if you’re interested. It’s low cost for them to improve the game at a systemic level, and if what they put out isn’t good enough, you can just not buy it and still play the game you already enjoyed. It isn’t any less complete just because they decided to attach more game to it, and this is far better for both parties than selling a sequel every year that’s the same as last year’s but with a tiny bit extra.
When it comes to cosmetics like Mortal Kombat’s, it doesn’t bother me that they exist. They’re horrendously overpriced, so I never even consider buying them, because they’re terrible value. There’s also the shop timers that would fall under “shady tactics to [attempt to] manipulate me”, so that’s not cool. Far worse though is how much of that game is arbitrarily tied to server checks, including a couple of unlocks in the base game. Also not cool is that they replaced Krypt with Invasions. The Krypt was a metroidvania-esque dungeon crawl, and while it too was designed to get you to grind a bunch or spend a bunch of extra money, it was actually fun to solve. Invasions is just bot matches but worse, and it’s tied behind server checks, because people like me used Cheat Engine to bypass the Krypt grind in MKX rather than spend $20 on Kombat Koins. I really enjoy MK, but they’re stepping right up to, and sometimes dancing over, the line.
I hate what the gaming landscape has become.
Micro transactions, seasons passes, small dlc that are often poor money for value, in some cases in the past as well we’ve seen endings sealed behind dlc or things that clearly should have been part of the game but cut out just to make people buy them as dlc.
My most recent purchase of an expansion that really sticks out is probably Xenoblade 3 where you get a whole new story arc and it’s pretty big in terms of expansions.
Why does it stick out? Because it’s very well done and extremely good value for money.
I have no problem with developers continuing to create new content and give customers the option to buy it or not.
Loot boxes and gambling stuff and types of micro transactions where you are basically paying a fee to avoid artificial annoyance/grinding are a cancer on the industry.
I haven’t bought a game with microtransactions in several years, even if I was interested in the game. I know my resistance probably doesn’t accomplish much, but I simply refuse to support that business model. I don’t want to put up with pressure to pay “just a little bit more”. Day 1 DLC isn’t a guaranteed gamebreaker for me if I already really want the game, but it definitely reduces my interest and I’ve passed over several games before because of it.
I wholeheartedly support expansions so long as their content justifies their pricetag.
It does. Besides not giving that game your time and money, you’re instead putting it in some other game that’s making what you want, and they probably need your time and money more to keep doing that.