The Gaming Lounge: Beyond - Part 5

[Naked Shia]

Seriously? I want one!

 

[Nathan]

[YT]SRy8IzaQLI8[/YT]

 

[Nathan]

TotalBiscuit, the Cynical Brit, on the Topic of Pre-orders, after the the whole ALiens: Colonial Marines fiasco.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

I got Mark of the Ninja the other day. It is friggin amazing.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Last nights PS4 event humorously condensed into 3 minutes

[YT]0rJDn0jRnUQ[/YT]

 

[The Squirrel]

That was brilliant.

 

[The Squirrel]

EA will use microtransactions from now on:

The quotes come from a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference discussion we reported on earlier. Our previous coverage revealed that EA feels assured of its readiness for next-gen, promising some big things on the horizon.

OXM has since spotted another interesting quote from Jorgensen regarding EA’s approach to micro-payments.

Said Jorgensen, “We are building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way; to get to a higher level. And consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of business.”

Source

 

[Havok83]

I dont see anything wrong with it. Its what they've been doing with alot of their games anyway

 

[CoolCadaver49]

Ugh, that sounds so terrible. If it gets any worse than what they did to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer, then I don't see myself playing any EA games in the future...

 

[The Squirrel]

Yeah, I just got into BF3 so the thought that BF4 will be "pay to win" is saddening.

 

[Iceman]

I dont see anything wrong with it. Its what they've been doing with alot of their games anyway

In theory there's nothing wrong with it. In practise I think it might be used to make that part of the game that would cost through microtransactions more of a grind than it might otherwise have been to encourage purchases. If true everyone loses! (except EA)

 

[Havok83]

Ugh, that sounds so terrible. If it gets any worse than what they did to Mass Effect 3's multiplayer, then I don't see myself playing any EA games in the future...

I didnt think there was a problem with their setup in ME3 other than that the purchases were random. Besides you didnt have to use real money to buy anything. That was just to speed up the process as you got purchase credit just from playing the game.

Yeah, I just got into BF3 so the thought that BF4 will be "pay to win" is saddening.

They didnt say it would be and I dont think thats how it will be. Besides microtransactions already exist in multiplayer games and have been the standard practice for pretty much all of them this gen. I think the statement had more to do with single player experiences as while it exists, isnt as common.

In theory there's nothing wrong with it. In practise I think it might be used to make that part of the game that would cost through microtransactions more of a grind than it might otherwise have been to encourage purchases. If true everyone loses! (except EA)

The first thing I thought about was their single player games and how like in Burnout Paradise, you could buy a pack to unlock all the cars, saving you hours of doing it yourself. That makes things less of a grind and they've implemented that into other titles. Its not stuff that you have to use but its there for those that dont want to go through the hassle.

 

[Iceman]

The first thing I thought about was their single player games and how like in Burnout Paradise, you could buy a pack to unlock all the cars, saving you hours of doing it yourself. That makes things less of a grind and they've implemented that into other titles. Its not stuff that you have to use but its there for those that dont want to go through the hassle.

Yeah, I just think it will mean seeing even more in game tasks that require a grind (and aren't currently present or natural) that can then be saved by purchasing microtransactions. More expense for those who can afford it and are willing to pay for things that might not have been present without the opportunity for the company to make money from it. Also more grinding in general for all those who have no intention of ever paying for these things.

I already don't like on games like Gotham City Impostors (a game at which I'm truly terrible t that when you see a high rank you already believe that's it's paid up rather than earned.

Edit: From the developer's point of view it makes perfect sense though!

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

So far EA has walked the line on microtransactions more or less fine.

Everything that is accessible via microtransactions in ME3's MP is accessible to somebody who doesn't pay a cent and just plays the game. They've also made it easier to get the stuff that you want lessening the "random" factor.

DS3 let's you buy resources for the crafting mechanic but playing the game proper will net you all the resources you will ever need and you can new game+ all of your gear and stuff further lessening the need to do so.

If we are going to have microtransactions, then these kind of mechanics are fine - especially since there is no competitive edge to be gained by them. Whether or not they manage to keep walking the line remains to be seen.

 

[CoolCadaver49]

I didnt think there was a problem with their setup in ME3 other than that the purchases were random. Besides you didnt have to use real money to buy anything. That was just to speed up the process as you got purchase credit just from playing the game.

Right, I think that system is okay at best. It's tolerable. I'm saying anything worse than that is intolerable (especially in regards to singleplayer).

 

[Iceman]

I guess I'm not trusting of the motives behind this movement. I expect artificial grinds to be added to games just for the sake of being able to milk them for microtransactions. Who knows if the guy who initially designed the ME3 MP didn't expect unlocks to be a lot quicker & the microtransaction guy came in and said NO we need it to make much longer so at least there is a milking opportunity. t: (I don't think that happened, just an example of how it might happen in future). The incentivisation on the company's side is to make all things take longer & purposely turn a fun thing into something boring so that people will take the shortcut that makes them money. I have some friends who are pretty stretched for cash as in they often can't afford games that they are anticipating & even then they've put money into microtransactions for some random arcade game. I think it's preying on the weaknesses of the human mind rather than just trying to help us out by giving us options.

 

[Havok83]

well the motive is clear; its to earn money. They are a business after all

 

[Soapy]

If they're going to implement microtransactions, then I want them to lower the price of their games. Of course that's about as "silly" as wanting Microsoft to remove ads from their premium service that I pay for.

 

[Iceman]

well the motive is clear; its to earn money. They are a business after all

That's not what I mean. Of course everything is motivated by money but usually a company is making a trade with you for your money that looks like a good deal. As in we will work for 3 years on developing this game and spend X amount on great staff & production budget to make this game good for your 60 dollars. I think this will turn into a money for nothing con. If the original intention was to have a big grind regardless then providing a financial shortcut is giving us an additional and fair no-obligation option. But if opportunities are created (as would be incentivised as this becomes wider...EA announcing it for all games whether relevant to them or not) for games that previously had no grind then the motives of providing opportunites to save time for money are not really true as the only reason for the thing taking so much time is so they can charge you for paying your way out (& all non payers suffer).

To Spidey: In Gotham City rank means unlocks that lead to better weapons and you can pretty much buy your way up the ranks.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Theres nothing wrong with micro transactions(at least in the way EA has handled it so far). If ya want to buy the stuff have at it, if ya dont, then continue playing the game. It changes nothing.

 

[Havok83]

Theres nothing wrong with micro transactions(at least in the way EA has handled it so far). If ya want to buy the stuff have at it, if ya dont, then continue playing the game. It changes nothing.

This! Pretty much most games these days have micro transactions anyway. All those preorder bonuses for like extra costumes, weapons, stat enhancing equipment, maps, etc which end up for sale are all forms of micro transactions and all the publishers are doing this. It's harder to think of a game released these days without any form of DLC. I'm drawing a blank as only those old HD collections come to mind

 

[jacobed]

If they're going to implement microtransactions, then I want them to lower the price of their games. Of course that's about as "silly" as wanting Microsoft to remove ads from their premium service that I pay for.

Never ever understood this complaint, there is literally one advertisement on each tab. Literally one and its the smallest block tucked away in the corner

 

[Master Chief]

If they're going to implement microtransactions, then I want them to lower the price of their games. Of course that's about as "silly" as wanting Microsoft to remove ads from their premium service that I pay for.

There was talks of them wanting to raise the price of games to $70 because with next-gen here, production costs are going up. lol, all they have to do is dip into their advertising budget and they'll be fine.

Anyway my 2 cents on the whole thing: Microtransactions have the potential to mess with game balance so they shouldn't be placed in single player games, especially full priced single player games. Cosmetic stuff is perfectly fine, like the personality bot pack and even suits, but they're not gonna go down that road since they're turning in a nice profit from people paying $5 a pop for more game resources. All that DLC does is edit a line of code. It's nuts. I'm not going to tell someone not to buy it if they want it but it's nuts.

The gaming industry found the line that can't be crossed when it comes to DLC with on-disc content and launch day content, and even then they're willing to cross that line in special cases so this news doesn't surprise me. Microtransactions are accepted because they're optional.

Never ever understood this complaint, there is literally one advertisement on each tab. Literally one and its the smallest block tucked away in the corner

The video and music tabs, yeah, if I pay for a Gold subscription I'd like to remove those from my dashboard, thanks.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Those ads aren't intrusive. It's just complaining for the sake of complaining. I'd understand if you couldn't check ur friends list or start a game without an ad playing beforehand, but as it stands now it's just a soundless(unless clicked on) image on ur screen. Get over it.

 

[Master Chief]

Those ads aren't intrusive. It's just complaining for the sake of complaining. I'd understand if you couldn't check ur friends list or start a game without an ad playing beforehand, but as it stands now it's just a soundless(unless clicked on) image on ur screen. Get over it.

I did get over it, I switched to PC where I don't have to deal with that bulls**t.