How microtransactions are destroying video games

[Monster 219]

Member when you turned on your video game and spent the next 20-80 hours exploring a new world or experiencing an interactive story?

I member.  

Now we get this:

1. All games must be a live service with a monthly fee.

2. Publish game half finished. Sell the second half of the game as "DLC" 

3.  Make game grindy AF, then charge real money to speed up leveling or buy necessary resources.

4. Phone games are almost exclusively pay to win now.  Great games out there, but if you don't spend hundreds or thousands, you're food for 'whales'.  

5.  The following is a chart for how Activision's matchmaking algorithm works.  Hint: it has nothing to do with matching equally powered players.

 

At what point do these monetization strategies backfire?  Or have younger people accepted they'll need to spend hundreds of dollars on AAA games? 

Edited March 4, 2019 by Monster

[GottaB 594]

I have ignored micro transactions since my buddy dropped $400 on madden pack a few years ago.

I might buy DLC in games I’m already into (Spider-Man) but not most things. It helps I don’t have a ton of time.

But yes, the micro transaction has killed the best part of gaming for me. That and paying to access online content (ps plus / Xbox live).

[UTDD 362]

23 hours ago, Monster said:

Member when you turned on your video game and spent the next 20-80 hours exploring a new world or experiencing an interactive story?

I member.  

Now we get this:

1. All games must be a live service with a monthly fee.

2. Publish game half finished. Sell the second half of the game as "DLC" 

3.  Make game grindy AF, then charge real money to speed up leveling or buy necessary resources.

4. Phone games are almost exclusively pay to win now.  Great games out there, but if you don't spend hundreds or thousands, you're food for 'whales'.  

5.  The following is a chart for how Activision's matchmaking algorithm works.  Hint: it has nothing to do with matching equally powered players.

imgur

 

At what point do these monetization strategies backfire?  Or have younger people accepted they'll need to spend hundreds of dollars on AAA games? 

You've seen some pushback, most notably on Battlefront (EA Star Wars game) which I believe had a material impact on that game and other releases.  You are now seeing developers be more sneaky and/or tweaking their loot boxes to only cosmetics or waiting until the game is out and then adding more stuff after reviews have been out.  But, the mobile market making so much money on microtransactions has absolutely impacted the console/PC game market now as the money is too good due to the small but very impactful "whales" that spend tens of thousands of dollars (and yes some absolutely do spend that kind of money) on this stuff.  Then you have a lot more people just spending 5-20 dollars here and there that adds up too.

[SimonBolivar 10,958]

My favorite developers, Paradox, are notorious for giving us half finished games then loading up a dozen DLC's to make their games truely great. You're looking at $100-200 each for EUIV, Stellaris, and the CKII.

[Texas_Rocks 346]

People actually spend thousands on on DLC for a single game? That’s beyond mind bottling.

[Gene Parmesan 4,006]

4 hours ago, Texas_Rocks said:

People actually spend thousands on on DLC for a single game? That’s beyond mind bottling.

I mean yeah if you are wealthy why not.  As for the average person they would probably be shocked if they knew how much they actually spent.  That's the beauty of microtransactions.  Each one is an insignificant amount so they don't register with you as a purchase, and before you know you've easily spent multitudes more than you would as a one time up front deal.

[elfenix 34,238]

6 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

My favorite developers, Paradox, are notorious for giving us half finished games then loading up a dozen DLC's to make their games truely great. You're looking at $100-200 each for EUIV, Stellaris, and the CKII.

steam sales 3 years after the game comes out is the way to go. 

granted i bought a paradox release (battletech) day 1, but so far it isn't as DLC'd as CKII.  there are 3 expansions/dlc scheduled, though, but at least we're not paying for mech packs or whatnot. yet.

wouldn't mind a clan expansion.

 

5 hours ago, Texas_Rocks said:

People actually spend thousands on on DLC for a single game? That’s beyond mind bottling.

people pay a shit ton of money for cosmetics. 

Edited March 5, 2019 by elfenix

[chikin23 384]

Kids at school (I'm a teacher) will drop $50 bucks a month on a game like clash of clans in order to keep up with everybody else. I guess it's no different than spending $50 on a new video game every month.

[Texas_Rocks 346]

That’s crazy, but I guess I can’t blame developers for chasing the $tooge$.

[Hawndoh 2,386]

The last three games I've logged over 100 hours in I've done so with no DLC or any money at all after the initial purchase. 

Stardew Valley, 15 bucks and over 300 hours

Zelda BOTS, full price AAA game. Over 120 hours

Slay the Spire, 15 bucks over 200 hours. 

 

There are still great games out there that avoid the micro-gouging. You just have to go find them and avoid falling into the trap. 

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Hawndoh

[BrazilHorn 6,599]

This is one thing about The Division I have liked. Purchases are only for cosmetics. 

Weapon skins, outfits etc 

not gear. 

[Braff Zacklin 13,566]

On 3/5/2019 at 2:38 PM, elfenix said:

steam sales 3 years after the game comes out is the way to go.

Digital download sales are definitely the way to go. Cheaper, less buggy, and often available with all DLC (i.e., "Gold" or "Game of the Year" editions) within a couple of years of release.

Even if it's a franchise or title I know will be good, I'll wait until the price dips below $20. Sometimes, that means waiting three years, but it's often less than 18 months. There are so many games, and with so little time to play them, the waiting turns out not to be difficult at all.

[UncleCharlie 334]

I still play WoW and buy gametime with in game gold.  I'm a cheapskate even virtually.

[elfenix 34,238]

2 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Digital download sales are definitely the way to go. Cheaper, less buggy, and often available with all DLC (i.e., "Gold" or "Game of the Year" editions) within a couple of years of release.

Even if it's a franchise or title I know will be good, I'll wait until the price dips below $20. Sometimes, that means waiting three years, but it's often less than 18 months. There are so many games, and with so little time to play them, the waiting turns out not to be difficult at all.

plus you don't need the latest titan to play them

Edited March 7, 2019 by elfenix

[Capn81 372]

I mean yeah if you are wealthy why not.  As for the average person they would probably be shocked if they knew how much they actually spent.  That's the beauty of microtransactions.  Each one is an insignificant amount so they don't register with you as a purchase, and before you know you've easily spent multitudes more than you would as a one time up front deal.

Yeah. My buddy checked his debt card for all transactions from Ea/Microsoft for Madden two years back. He said he spent $200, and I bet him that it was around $500 for the year. He took the bet instantly. His total bill was over $1,700 on MUT packs.

[Michael Knight 12,977]

On 3/5/2019 at 9:27 AM, SimonBolivar said:

My favorite developers, Paradox, are notorious for giving us half finished games then loading up a dozen DLC's to make their games truely great. You're looking at $100-200 each for EUIV, Stellaris, and the CKII.

I've been collecting the EUIV addons when they go on sale below $10, its been a long long time

[Braff Zacklin 13,566]

On 3/5/2019 at 8:27 AM, SimonBolivar said:

My favorite developers, Paradox, are notorious for giving us half finished games then loading up a dozen DLC's to make their games truely great. You're looking at $100-200 each for EUIV, Stellaris, and the CKII.

 

On 3/7/2019 at 9:57 PM, Michael Knight said:

I've been collecting the EUIV addons when they go on sale below $10, its been a long long time

Incidentally, EUIV is currently on sale this weekend at Steam for 75 percent off.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Braff Zacklin

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2,652]

Just preordered imperator. Getting ready for some buggy half made Punic fest!

[atomheartbevo 89,659]

On 3/5/2019 at 9:44 AM, Texas_Rocks said:

People actually spend thousands on on DLC for a single game? That’s beyond mind bottling.

Some of the Train Simulator series have hundreds DLC packs that total around $4,000 or so.   

Which is still cheaper than buying HO/N-scale versions.   

And to be fair, the company making them puts a ridiculous amount of research and effort into it.  The fans are fucking psycho about them getting details right.  

[Grippe 310]

Commoditization of virtual property started decades ago, I can remember ppl paying thousands in USD for BoC's and other crap in EQ.

I'm glad I burned out on hardcore gaming after WoW came out, it can be a very real addiction and the opportunities to financially ruin yourself are much more rampant these days.

[wutang75 446]

The public humiliation I would suffer if I disclosed how much $ I spent a couple of years ago on Madden MUT would be unmerciful. I wouldn’t play that game again for anything (even thought it was super fun).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[MissingInAction 25,068]

Beginning to think i aged out of gaming at just the right time. I picked up asscreed Odyssey but have barely played. My dog and my fat ass require too much exercise/time to get any good at anything online.

Red dead 2 may have been my last foray.

Get off my fucking lawn.

Edited April 10, 2019 by MissingInAction