|
|
Post by Null0x00 on Nov 18, 2017 19:06:56 GMT -5
It does kinda surprise me that there has been such big furore about lootboxes recently, when this shit has already been going on for years and years. Maybe we just finally reached the breaking point? Yes, because now we are getting games that are literally "pay to win" such as with the star cards in Battlefront 2, the drops in CoD: WW2 and the orcs in Shadow of War. Before it was just cosmetics like the skins in Overwatch and the unusual hats/strange weapons in TF2 which was bad enough, but now games are actively encouraging players to gamble with these awful micro-transactions economies in order to remain competitive. It's not even about skill anymore, more than who has invested the most money in order to win. |
|
|
|
Post by zellsf on Nov 19, 2017 9:35:52 GMT -5
Pushing pay to win mechanics is a long term strategy for EA. I don't think this controversy is anywhere near large enough to have any impact on it. EA likely even expected and planned for a controversy this scale.
|
|
|
|
Post by caoslayer on Nov 19, 2017 12:10:39 GMT -5
The thing is that the multiplayer mode with unlocking based in loot boxes have been used by EA since Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda also featuring it.
I through was a great thing because all the multiplayer new content was free and frecuent and random unlocking is something good for the comunity because allows variance because otherwise everyone goes to the meta... although I hate the fact I never got to unlock the Krogan Warchief.
And nobody said nothing about them.
I think that the difference now is that those games the focus was the single player content and MP was 'optional'.
|
|
|
|
Post by X-pert74 on Nov 19, 2017 15:54:12 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by GamerL on Nov 19, 2017 19:32:05 GMT -5
Nobody does PR disasters like EA, hopefully now that this one is getting so much mainstream media coverage they'll change their ways.
|
|
|
|
Post by akumajobelmont on Nov 20, 2017 1:28:16 GMT -5
Nobody does PR disasters like EA, hopefully now that this one is getting so much mainstream media coverage they'll change their ways. Not a chance in hell, I'm afraid. The EA's and Activision/Blizzard's of this world will never, ever change. Business is ruthless, and business is money. Anybody looking to a corporate entity to do the right thing is kidding themselves. Some wear the sheep-skin better than the other wolves, but they're all out for the dollars. It's a sad state of affairs, for sure  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2017 4:22:43 GMT -5
I very, very rarely drop money down for DLC. It has to be something like the Dark Souls 3 DLC - actually feeling like expanded content rather than stuff clearly cut from the game on launch.
This pay to play/have a huge advantage style of thing is repulsive and I find it amazing people are stupid enough to support such a practice.
|
|
|
|
Post by akumajobelmont on Nov 20, 2017 5:29:59 GMT -5
I very, very rarely drop money down for DLC. It has to be something like the Dark Souls 3 DLC - actually feeling like expanded content rather than stuff clearly cut from the game on launch. This pay to play/have a huge advantage style of thing is repulsive and I find it amazing people are stupid enough to support such a practice. Yeah, DLC is a funny thing with me. I very, VERY rarely drop money on DLC either. Exceptions are probably some of the Mass Effect stuff, a few smaller games on Steam (RedOut, the Starpoint Gemini series etc...) and things like tracks and extra characters in Mario Kart 8. People often compare DLC to things like Expansion Packs but they forget that along with a ton of new content in the expansion packs of old, there were numerous fixes, rebalanced systems and the like that came with those - things that people tend to just patch in now via. updates. The old packs could come out a year or two after the main game release, not on day one or a few weeks after launch. Of course, that's generalizing a bit, but still. Personally, I don't want games as a service. I want variety. I want to play a bit of this genre, a bit of that genre, and sometimes it's just nice to have memories of a certain experience, rather than have it hammered home until your sick of it. Replayability, for me, is more an organic thing. I can go back to SEGA Rally, the older Diablo games, stuff like that whenever I feel the itch. If I'm grinding at something, it's going to be by choice, not because that's what you have to do to not spend any extra on a game. So far, Cyberpunk 2077 and Monster Hunter World have distanced themselves from the whole loot box thing. PR moves or not, it's heartening to hear. They're guaranteed purchases for me. Not that they weren't on my radar to begin with, they were, because I really dig CD Projekt Red and the MH series. Had they fallen foul of the same garbage though, I'd have just as soon cut them off. But I'm happy they're not  |
|
|
|
Post by X-pert74 on Nov 22, 2017 1:44:26 GMT -5
1:43 -
Oh my gosh. That's a bold comparison to make, but I can't really disagree with it. I don't think Disney will be happy to hear this association with their media property. I'm happy to see this is snowballing into a real pushback against lootboxes in gaming.
|
|
cacao
Junior Member
Posts: 69
|
Post by cacao on Nov 22, 2017 20:24:37 GMT -5
That is a bold comparison but I can't disagree with it either. That's ultimately what it is. I very, very rarely drop money down for DLC. It has to be something like the Dark Souls 3 DLC - actually feeling like expanded content rather than stuff clearly cut from the game on launch. This pay to play/have a huge advantage style of thing is repulsive and I find it amazing people are stupid enough to support such a practice. Yeah, DLC is a funny thing with me. I very, VERY rarely drop money on DLC either. Exceptions are probably some of the Mass Effect stuff, a few smaller games on Steam (RedOut, the Starpoint Gemini series etc...) and things like tracks and extra characters in Mario Kart 8. People often compare DLC to things like Expansion Packs but they forget that along with a ton of new content in the expansion packs of old, there were numerous fixes, rebalanced systems and the like that came with those - things that people tend to just patch in now via. updates. The old packs could come out a year or two after the main game release, not on day one or a few weeks after launch. Of course, that's generalizing a bit, but still. Personally, I don't want games as a service. I want variety. I want to play a bit of this genre, a bit of that genre, and sometimes it's just nice to have memories of a certain experience, rather than have it hammered home until your sick of it. Replayability, for me, is more an organic thing. I can go back to SEGA Rally, the older Diablo games, stuff like that whenever I feel the itch. If I'm grinding at something, it's going to be by choice, not because that's what you have to do to not spend any extra on a game. So far, Cyberpunk 2077 and Monster Hunter World have distanced themselves from the whole loot box thing. PR moves or not, it's heartening to hear. They're guaranteed purchases for me. Not that they weren't on my radar to begin with, they were, because I really dig CD Projekt Red and the MH series. Had they fallen foul of the same garbage though, I'd have just as soon cut them off. But I'm happy they're not I rarely get DLC either unless it truly is in the vein of the expansion packs of old in terms of the amount of content. It has to add something substantial to the game and not just things that should be in the base game to begin with (if the issue really are download sizes now that so many games are distributed digitally, just make it an optional download that people can get whenever). The only exceptions to my rule are when DLC is included in a sale or if it's a developer I really really want to support, which is sort of rare where DLC is concerned. Agreed with not wanting games as a service. I'm tired of feeling like I barely have the right to the copy I've paid for where stuff like Steam is concerned, let alone feeling like I need to constantly pay up just to get the full expertience of the game. By that point I just lose interest or stick with whatever's already free or included. By the way, I'm not surprised EA is so bad with this kind of thing right now. I used to be an enormous fan of The Sims until the TS3 era when stuff/expansion packs just started getting ridiculous. |
|
|
|
Post by cj iwakura on Nov 23, 2017 8:45:47 GMT -5
Pushing pay to win mechanics is a long term strategy for EA. I don't think this controversy is anywhere near large enough to have any impact on it. EA likely even expected and planned for a controversy this scale. This is well out of their reach now. Global politicians have latched onto this. The house of cards is crumbling. |
|
cacao
Junior Member
Posts: 69
|
Post by cacao on Nov 23, 2017 16:07:22 GMT -5
Pushing pay to win mechanics is a long term strategy for EA. I don't think this controversy is anywhere near large enough to have any impact on it. EA likely even expected and planned for a controversy this scale. This is well out of their reach now. Global politicians have latched onto this. The house of cards is crumbling. Exactly. I'm not sure how they'll get out of this mess (if they even do) with their pay-to-win model intact now that the problem is being framed in terms of gambling laws. At the very least, I think we'll probably end up seeing much tighter regulations of microtransactions. |
|
|
|
Post by Feynman on Nov 24, 2017 19:55:03 GMT -5
There definitely need to be some regulations regarding lootboxes and such. Those things function in the same way as slot machines and the like, and deliberately so. They are specifically designed using the same psychological principles, and are intended to create and exploit addicts (aka "whales"). This kind of thing is already super scummy even when it's targeting adults, but many of these games have kids as a major audience, and that's super messed up.
|
|
|
|
Post by GamerL on Nov 25, 2017 7:30:37 GMT -5
Good fucking riddance to the whole pile of trash, I despise publishers like EA and Activision and I hope the government cracks down on these fuckers hard.
Just play games that are single player focused, fuck multiplayer, seriously, it’s the most overrated aspect of video games by far.
This is why I can’t bring myself to play Overwatch, I dig the characters as much as the next guy but it has lootbox type stuff as well, right? It’s also why I never got around to playing Destiny despite buying it, the whole thing of multiplayer games these days make me uncomfortable..
|
|
|
|
Post by zellsf on Nov 25, 2017 12:20:33 GMT -5
This is well out of their reach now. Global politicians have latched onto this. The house of cards is crumbling. Exactly. I'm not sure how they'll get out of this mess (if they even do) with their pay-to-win model intact now that the problem is being framed in terms of gambling laws. At the very least, I think we'll probably end up seeing much tighter regulations of microtransactions. I'm not that optimistic. Though I think this setback is larger than EA's worst case predictions, I'm still thinking we'll see Battlefront II's pay to win system being the norm for AAA publishers in 10 years. So happy AAA games don't interest me. |
|
