the direction pc gaming is heading...

[x-st]

Jim Sterling did two videos about this topic

Spoiler: Jimquisition

Microtransactions/unlockables in full price, triple AAA games is something that I won't ever be able to get my head around. It just smacks of greed....paying full price for the game and then having paid for content tacked on to make the game less painful to play. The free to play model has it harder though because of the difficulties of creating items that people want to buy but don't have any impact on the game beyond cosmesis. They have to generate enough revenue to keep the game viable. From what I've read, Marvel Heroes appears to have completely messed this up after David Brevik left, and Path of Exile seems to be adept and maintaining players good graces.

If I'm enjoying a game and feel that I've had a good time then I may well "tip" the developer/publisher so that more good things keep coming from them....obviously this is especially true in free to play games. I liked Dead Space 3 for example which had microtransactions shoe horned in, but they had no impact upon my game...nothing was that essential and you could get the content without any investment of your own time at all (play game - send out mini robot foragers - continue playing game - they come back...no player input or grind). Anything that creates a soft pay wall to remove tedium I'm dead against.

 

[Ayahuasca]

It's getting silly, I think mobile gaming opened their eyes to how much money people are willing to pump into trash titles just to get an edge.

 

[robmol]

Agreed. I'm a bit ashamed to say it but I recently bought a PS4 to play some of the exclusives as there's literally nothing that interests me on PC since The Witcher 3. I know overpriced DLC happens on consoles too but Last of us, Horizon and perhaps Unchartered is more than enough to keep me occupied for a while until something decent and story driven comes to PC. Maybe in the Xmas sales I'll get some DLC for my PC games when the price is a bit more reasonable.

 

[KNiVES]

Microtransactions/DLC is a gaming problem not just a PC problem and it's really unfair to brush the platform like that.

The majority of transactions occur on console. Let's not forget that Oblivion on the 360 kickstarted it all with seemingly inoccuous horse armor, and the practice was encouraged by the integrated Xbox Live/PSN platform, long before Steam and Origin were capable of accomodating the ease of such transactions inside of games.

I will cede that it's no longer possible to stem the rising tide of transactions in games by simply voting with your wallet; for every person who doesn't buy a thing ingame, there are literally thousands more who will. There is a reason Rockstar had released a game every single year up until 2013 with GTAV and its incredibly profitable shark card microtransactions, and since then, nothing.

PC gaming itself is in incredible health, Divinity Original Sin 2 is a massive statement of intent for example. There are some extremely effective versions of existing console games on the immediate horizon with more care and polish than would be expected in recent years. So yeah I basically agree with the general premise of the thread regarding transactions, but attributing it as solely a PC problem and contributing to its non-existence imaginary decline is wrong and misleading.

 

[Gregster]

I am quite happy paying for DLC as long as it brings a worthwhile addition to the game. I played a game many years ago called Shot Online (online golf) that cost me thousands with stupid "pay to win" boxes. I learnt my lesson with that game and won't be buying into anything like that again.

 

[eekfek]

Just buy good games, do your homework wait for reviews. DLC, if it's good buy it if not don't.

There are too many good games out there and not enough time, that's the problem.

 

[cheesyboy]

Just buy good games, do your homework wait for reviews. DLC, if it's good buy it if not don't.

There are too many good games out there and not enough time, that's the problem.

That's a bit head-in-sand, unfortunately. We're getting to the point where otherwise good games are being butchered for these dodgy pricing structures. NBA 2k18 is, apparently, a very good game. Except for this pay to win crap polluting it.

See also destiny2, shadow of war, and whatever racing game it was that had you paying £50 for a *rare* car that would otherwise take about 150 hours (!) of play to earn

 

[x-st]

See also destiny2, shadow of war, and whatever racing game it was that had you paying £50 for a *rare* car that would otherwise take about 150 hours (!) of play to earn

The Shadow of War example is particularly egregious with the orc gleefully rubbing his hands together in the universal gesture of fleecing someone. Part of the problem is that gamers as a whole don't vote with their wallets and tend to aquiesce to poor practices, just to satisfy the "need a new game" itch. The library of good games over the past 10 years is immense (so long as you're not put off by older graphics) so there will always be something to play if you're on the fence about dodgy business practice.

 

[Tombstone]

DLC is one of those things which several years ago nobody had ever heard of, now every game in existence seems to have it. Another one like that is Early Access, unheard of a while back and now every game seems to have early access

 

[StarShock]

The micro transaction gambling stuff is really worrying. There's a reason kids aren't allowed into casinos. And gambling addiction is very real. I hate to think how many of the so called "whales" are either kids using pocket money or their parents credit cards or people with some level of gambling addiction. My nephew managed to spend a hundred quid or so playing something on my sisters ipad.

It seems to be getting worse and the publishers implementing it seem to be actively targeting vulnerable people. Sooner or later someone is going to notice and we'll se government stepping in, and god only knows how that's going to turn out.

 

[Omaeka]

It was fine when it was in stuff like PUBG, but loot crates in Shadow of War is kinda WTF lets be honest.

There are people defending it too, like if somebody with an hour a day for gaming wants to maybe accelerate the speed they progress through a game with some micros then that's kind of okay I guess, if it's done right.

But loot crates with RNG contents in a single player game that can give you anything from an iron dagger worth nothing to a sword of infinite pwnage that reveals the ending cutscene when you swing it in the air... That's ****'d up and that isn't a subjective opinion that is fact.

 

[eekfek]

That's a bit head-in-sand, unfortunately. We're getting to the point where otherwise good games are being butchered for these dodgy pricing structures. NBA 2k18 is, apparently, a very good game. Except for this pay to win crap polluting it.

See also destiny2, shadow of war, and whatever racing game it was that had you paying £50 for a *rare* car that would otherwise take about 150 hours (!) of play to earn

Quite the opposite of 'head in the sand' did you not read the 'do your homework' part ? Anyone who buys a game that turns out to be a duffer without looking into it before hand only has themselves to blame.

Buy the game on Steam, play for 1hr 59mins then decide if you want your money back.

 

[Ayahuasca]

The topic isn't about buying duff games on release though, it's about DLC or microtransactions being in nearly every title.

 

[Columbo]

Seems to me we...consumers are treated like brain dead ***** Its like we are not the customer but the product.

Publishers will always dip their toe in the water to see different ways of maximizing revenue streams. If successful its simply a case of rinse, repeat.
Unfortunately gaming these days is not a hobby for a lot of people, its a lifestyle that your average brain dead punter has to or must engage in rather than chooses to based upon budgetary constraints.

People spend their cash in line with that which means a whole lot of people wasting a whole lot of cash and giving the hungry publishers a license to get fleecing in new and more lucrative ways.

The worst offending pubs and devs design games to minimize the ability to progress, fragment portions of the game that really shouldn't and offer no actual end game to ensure that you can never actually feel 'complete'.
Enhanced progression, in game currencies, cosmetics and item drops and loot crates are all the cancer of gaming that will kill off gaming as we know as far I'm concerned and it can go and do one.

The minute Day 1 DLC and Season passes became the norm, punters were always opening the door to this kind of behaviour and we only have ourselves to blame.

As a PC gamer for 25+ years I like you am concerned of the direction that is being taken but the answer on a personal level is simple, don't engage with it.
When I've had enough I'll just turn my machine off and find something else to do but for now it pretty easy to find something new to play that doesn't involve any of the above trash.

 

[Hiijinx]

I blame the internet!

Used to be for new content you had to buy a full game expansion CD which added a lot of content, sometimes even a whole new game but now with high speed internet, CD's are slowly becoming redundant and DLC is the way to go.

On paper, there shouldn't really be a difference in the final product but I think its the simple difference between having it on a physical disc where it not only cost the developer time and money to produce, but consumers had to make the effort to order/buy it so it was generally of a much higher quality to meet expectations. Now, you only have to click a single button in game to get new stuff, a lot of it half assed and buggy because there doesn't need to have such thorough QA since they can just patch it later (or not..).

As for P2W wins... yeah. Absolute atrocity.

As with all mass produced stuff in history, it just doesn't seem to be built as good as it used to.

 

[Bug One]

I refuse to play games like this, or let my kids play games like that.

It's why I don't play MechWarrior.

 

[V F]

What do we do about it?

Write to our MPs? Haha

LOL!

I had to stop watching the video when he said the Government.

The topic isn't about buying duff games on release though, it's about DLC or microtransactions being in nearly every title.

Not followed the pattern of todays life, trending?

 

[Dis86]

I think a large part if the problem is the younger demographic that are now playing games with available transactions and the fact that their parents simply do not know how to say no. A friend of mine has a boy and a girl both under 8 who play some weird crap on their Ipad (an aside in itself as the two of them are like brain dead zombies when it's near them) and anytime either of them whinges about wanting something new on it, bam he buys it. But this is a guy who won't even buy himself new shoes if they're wearing out. My cousin was like this with Xbox games and still is in his early 20s. Any DLC he just whinges at my aunt until she pays for it. It's awful and utterly pathetic.

 

[V F]

I think a large part if the problem is the younger demographic that are now playing games with available transactions and the fact that their parents simply do not know how to say no. A friend of mine has a boy and a girl both under 8 who play some weird crap on their Ipad (an aside in itself as the two of them are like brain dead zombies when it's near them) and anytime either of them whinges about wanting something new on it, bam he buys it. But this is a guy who won't even buy himself new shoes if they're wearing out. My cousin was like this with Xbox games and still is in his early 20s. Any DLC he just whinges at my aunt until she pays for it. It's awful and utterly pathetic.

A new generation of addicts.

 

[Dis86]

A new generation of addicts.

Completely. But, starting earlier and with easier access.