Re: The "other game thread"

by **Nithel** Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:45 am

Now this right here, pre-release DLC that matters, there is absolutely no demand for Nithel.

You're talking about a company that has a marketing and research division of enormous proportion and you believe they didn't do a single market research whether there would be a demand for their product and its byproducts?

Do you have any evidence to back this up that there is no demand and the DLC won't sell a single copy? This is not meant as a sneer, it's a genuine question.

EA, they might aswell be the devil.

It's usually the villainisation that irks me. They're trying to make a profit which is the base need of any company. They're exploring markets where consumers are -willing- to spend money in. If you disagree with their policies/DLC, don't buy it. The moment you buy it, you endorse that your demand/need for that product was high enough to pay their price.

And in the end, games are luxury product. They're items you don't need in your life. You definitely always are left with the choice whether to buy or not. It's not mandatory. Unlike bread.

by **Dharum** Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:48 am

Muzjhath wrote:Contemplating if i should buy some credits to unlock the sentinel class with the better prim. weapon, or just bite down and grind.

And, having to aim, and actually calculate in a "Hmm, that guy -should- land ... THERE!" *fires* "YES!"
That is just. Awesome.

I would not use credits/gold directly to unlock anything, not atleast any of the new weapons (they are almost 10 dollars if bought in gold)

I originally bought gold with like 14 euros and then got the 30 day booster which has served me pretty well during this month. I've got all classes unlocked and most of them around 70% completetion.
Personally I don't mind placing some money on the game. It's worth investing to during the beta (since you get life time VIP account)

I'd recommed unlocking Raider, Technician and perhaps Sentinel (easily the hardest class to be good with) and then going for Survivalist and Safety Third perks. Atleast Survivalist.

Also I will pirate ME3 just to see how it ends, I cringed at the demo and I doubt I can get trough the game without few beers.

by **Aldric Essalus Helmfrid** Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:54 am

Nithel wrote:
Now this right here, pre-release DLC that matters, there is absolutely no demand for Nithel.
You're talking about a company that has a marketing and research division of enormous proportion and you believe they didn't do a single market research whether there would be a demand for their product and its byproducts?

Do you have any evidence to back this up that there is no demand and the DLC won't sell a single copy? This is not meant as a sneer, it's a genuine question.

EA, they might aswell be the devil.
It's usually the villainisation that irks me. They're trying to make a profit which is the base need of any company. They're exploring markets where consumers are -willing- to spend money in. If you disagree with their policies/DLC, don't buy it. The moment you buy it, you endorse that your demand/need for that product was high enough to pay their price.

And in the end, games are luxury product. They're items you don't need in your life. You definitely always are left with the choice whether to buy or not. It's not mandatory. Unlike bread.

They're exploiting their market, don't polish a turd. I need to go so I can't sit here and argue it out but the bottom line is that EA have cut this, an integral part of the story, from the game so that people will have to pay extra for it. Your argument for saying you condone this is they need to make money? Do you know who EA are? They're rolling in it. Regardless, they can make money without exploiting their market, -many- companies do it.

by **Lavian** Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:04 am

Ah well, alot of pirating incoming, as if we never saw that one coming.

Yeah true, EA are marketing for all the money they can milk, it's their way yadayada, but for platforms like Steam they're doing a very good job for the most part to not screw the fanbase over with their own market strategies, and my god does it make them rich regardless.

by **Lini** Thu Feb 23, 2012 11:52 am

Eira wrote:...but for platforms like Steam they're doing a very good job for the most part to not screw the fanbase over with their own market strategies...

Yeah, they've got Origin for that.

<.<
>.>
What?

by **Halya** Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:55 pm

Nithel wrote:You do know that the entire reason DLC like that exists, is because there is a big demand for it and people willing to pay the price?

Companies are not charities people. Get over it.

And if we don't like them doing it, we don't have to buy their things.

If people want to see businesses change their behavior, you do one simple thing. You stop giving them money. You're right, they aren't charities. They want us to give them money.

I haven't bought an EA game in over 3 years because I hate the way they go about business, purposefully trying to damage the quality of games other companies produce, inflating their prices far beyond the general rate of inflation anywhere in the world, and so forth. If people keep buying things from companies that do this, then others will adopt the methods, and every consumer in the market comes out of the process with less coin in their pocket, for worse products. As a consumer, you fight this by realizing this, and not giving them your money until you're happy with what's being sold.

by **Eowale** Thu Feb 23, 2012 1:20 pm

Lyniath wrote:I don't remember EA being so retarded and evil.
*shrug*

Lmfao, are you serious? They are the sort of the obvious evil corporation in a childs TV serie that tries to stay secretish but fails miserably. Atleast Activision openly admits that they are fucking morons.
Also, at that, the CEO of Activision Bobby Kotick was made the Director for the Coca-Cola Company. Inb4 Call of Cola: Modern Flavour 5.
Source

Lini wrote:
Eira wrote:...but for platforms like Steam they're doing a very good job for the most part to not screw the fanbase over with their own market strategies...
Yeah, they've got Origin for that.

<.<
>.>
What?

LOOOOOOOOOOOL.

Spoiler:

by **Nithel** Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:24 pm

Halya wrote:

If people want to see businesses change their behavior, you do one simple thing. You stop giving them money. You're right, they aren't charities. They want us to give them money.

As a consumer, you fight this by realizing this, and not giving them your money until you're happy with what's being sold.

Halya said it better than I ever could. But yeah, I mainly meant this.

Don't like their business, don't buy their business.

by **Halya** Thu Feb 23, 2012 2:41 pm

So, anyone been playing Crusader Kings II? I've got to say, its probably my favourite Paradox release yet. Especially on release quality.

by **Dharum** Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:12 pm

Halya wrote:So, anyone been playing Crusader Kings II? I've got to say, its probably my favourite Paradox release yet. Especially on release quality.

Played it for few weeks quite alot. Quite fun but also suprisingly easy sometimes, best game I played was with Di Salernos, where around year 1220 my King of Sicily + Italy was also the Emperor of Holy Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire (inherited the claim from his grandmother) Started out as 1 province Count. Now I'm waiting for mods to come out.
Easily the most polished and stable Paradox game released yet, but overall I find that it runs out of content faster than EU3/Vicky2
Locking Muslim nations out from the very beginning and then immediatly asking if people had "intrest" for expansion focused on them was pretty silly and common move from Paradox.
Paradox is my third favourite developer so always worth giving them some dosh.

by **Halya** Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:45 pm

I think the two biggest balance issues right now are assassinations and mercenaries/holy orders. Mercenaries are just too fast to arrive, and holy orders are... Well, free and indestructible. I hired the knights of St. John as Navarra, and didn't disband them until I had all of Iberia.

by **Amaryl** Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:02 pm

I personally really like the Idea of DLC, its a great way to prolongue the life-time of games, make a decent profit, without spending an entire new gaming budget on a new title (since make no mistake the budgets required for AAA titles are huge)

But unfortunately the market has shifted from: We can extend support for a product our gamers love, and expand on it bit by bit for a nice price
to
We design a game, with DLCs in mind and mapped out at the start of the development process, making the game complete once you've bought the DLCs.

Instead of the 8 hour game for 50 bucks with the ability to prolong that for 15 bucks.

The new model seems to be: you get the first 5 hours of gametime for 50 bucks and you can buy last 3 for, 30 bucks extra.

Since make no mistake: most of the content of the DLCs in games like BF, MW, Total war, etc, is already in the code of the game that you buy and install, its just not unlocked.

Obviously the second part is more profitable, since the market both buys the 3/5th of a game for full price, and enough people buy the DLCs as well.

What Irks me is that the DLC model is still marketed as my first example. While everyone knows its not true. Bobby Kotick has even confessed in an interview that they're going to be exploring all the possible options to make more money and not better games (like paying a monthly subscription on FPS shooters)

Does it produce better games? I don't think so. Does it rake in more profit? damn straight and you can't fault publishers and developpers for that

We as consumers have the option to do something about it, and that's simply to Not buy It AND not pirate it. since developpers do look at piracy numbers...

but gamers are an entitled group of son of a bitches that complain that the cake is covered in cow-dung, but they still continue eating it.

by **Samian/Bismack** Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:24 pm

Free alpha of this starts today, hoping to get on a ship with some bro's and cause some scenes.

by **Vaell** Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:46 pm

Steam aren't exactly a "Friendly company" they're just the most conveniant due to their low prices.

They don't employ many staff so the customer service is incredibly poor, you're only entitled to 1 refund and that takes looking through the terms and conditions to the small print when you bring it up to them. Most people don't even know you can get a refund!

by **Muzjhath** Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:03 pm

Tbh, when it comes to good will with their games Valve is most defenatly the "Good guys" in the AAA games industry.

by **Lyniath** Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:07 pm

Well steam is the main thing keeping PC gaming afloat right now. PC sections in stores are minuscule, if even existent, and other similar digital distribution services are well... Origin.

by **Halya** Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:09 pm

There are other digital distributors, and if you want them to be able to throw their weight around, buy things from them.

by **Muzjhath** Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:22 pm

There are over ten other digital distributors. Most of them supposedly better than Steam.
I can't say if it's true since I've yet to use them.

by **Lyniath** Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:13 pm

"supposedly" as in...
"Something other than the mainstream, therefore hip and cool and clearly better". People like to glorify alternatives, but Steam is the biggest and therefore going to have the largest selection.

by **Dharum** Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:57 pm

CD Projekt is the best bro-developer there is, and Good old Games is amazing.

by **Eowale** Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:07 am

To hell with what is 'hip' and 'mainstream', I just want my fucking games without any shitty complications.

by **Dharum** Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:19 am

Oh just saw the Prototype 2 pre-order DLC announcement.
Props to Activision, besting even Bioware.

55 DLCs if you pre-order now.

55.

FIFTY FIVE
"Free content" if you pre-order for 60 euros.

If you don't, enjoy getting them at a total of 160+ euros

Very Happy