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.
What rustles your jimmies lads?
Thank you!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you go by standard inflation, games purchased in 1998 would now cost over $100. And, given reduced visuals, those games needed much fewer people to finish.
Selling games for $100 is one idea, and some publishers have even shifted that way. But, that’s not so fair for low income gamers (especially since even since 1998, the minimum wage hasn’t really gone up).
The solution they came up with is changing the entry fee, and giving semi-pointless extras on top. What I’ve generally seen is that the things games sell within them are in no way “Half the game’s content”; usually things more like skins and cosmetics. Levels, story, and gameplay items are very commonly accessible to everyone. There are expansion packs, just as there were in 1998, that usually represent significant development efforts, new voice acting, and new levels.
Skins are not “nothing”, so I understand the frustration of having them unavailable, compared to old days when they were unlockable by doing a kickflip between the schools in Tony Hawk or something. But in those old days, games effectively cost $100. Which would you prefer?
$100 games. I know I’m the minority in this as I have the income for it, but I subscribe to the “buy once, cry once” mentality where I’d rather pay a large up-front cost for something and just have it be mine with all the bells and whistles it comes with. I detest this nickle and dime bullshit modern gaming has become.
Which is why I’ve also given up on “AAA” games from corporate publishers and stick to indie games from indie developers. I’m sure even if the AAA publishers started charging $100 for games, they’d still nickle and dime you just because they can.
That’s definitely a fair opinion - just unfortunate that enough people wouldn’t agree, or wouldn’t be able to afford $100 games, that that will probably never happen.
The other issue is that developers these days keep working on games after their release - often using information gained related to launch reception.
One other thing I think people forget about older games is that they made a lot of sequels. They have the assets for a mid-sized game and a lot of unused ideas, so to put out more content they remix what they have in new ways for a shorter development cycle. That kind of thing now becomes more suitable for an expansion pack; but whichever way it’s sold, the timeline for its release would never have made it to the first game’s production deadline.
Its more about DLCs, then microtransactions but the two are very similar.
Okay lets say its a Steam Sale and they have publisher highlights. Lets saaay…Ubisoft or EA or one of these big corporate publishers.
Huuuge banners::Sale up-to 85% off
So since I am a patient gamer I start browsing and look at some 8-10 years old AAA titles I didn’t bother to pay full price for at relese. Like some older AC, Ghost Recon, or something for under 10 EUR/USD. Cool, then you click on it and what I see?
THATS ONLY THE FUCKING BASE GAME!?!?!! They still sell 3 premium editions with the DLCs and the one with all the content is something like 25-30 EUR/USD. With 85% off. So the full price is still something like 100+ EUR/USD. Fuck this artificially inflated price, I’m not paying that much for a decade old fucking game.
While other publishers roll all content into a complete edition or even release free remasters with all content included for considerably lower price for their older titles these greedy fuck publishers still trying to sell us exclusive content from a decade ago. Fucking boils my blood.
Agreed. I want to get the full game for my $50-$70. I don’t want to pay $100+ to get the full game.
Microtransactions are a cancer to gaming IMO.
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.
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.
