AAA games becoming "Pay to Win" monetary schemes.

[JulezRulez]

Have anyone else here noticed how in the last few years, more and more game publishers are churning out god awful "Games as a service" schemes, which enables them to release pre alpha buggy games in what they call "early access" yet still charge full price for it. Then, after that, they slap on tons of Pay to win crap like loot boxes (for more than just cosmetics). They did this with Fallout 76. They tried to do this with Battlefront 2. Hell, most of the Fifa games these days are Pay to win.

I miss the days when you'd pay full price for a game and get the full game, now it's just a boring grind gambling racket.

 

[yoyodude]

Most "pay to win" games are games that are free-to-play. You can beat any AAA game with a full retail price. The microtransactions are just optional.

 

[tvstrip]

Isn't there a bill in congress that's going to ban loot crates/etc for games marketed to those 18 & under?

 

[D-rock]

I remember back when you paid full price for a game everything came with it. Then even for a long time anything extra was either some expansion pack which is virtually unheard of concept as of now or was an extensive dlc sold well after the game was released. Sure there were hidden items in games that had to be discovered, but they didn't cost any extra and most normal average players could obtain all of them with just a bit of reasonable dedication and time. Back then the game developers put small extra things into their games because they were cool and the fans like them, not because it gave them an excuse to milk every last dollar from people gullible or weak willed enough to pay money for a new skin, color swap, or a hat to put on their character, let alone making them pay for some pay to win scheme.

 

[yoyodude]

Isn't there a bill in congress that's going to ban loot crates/etc for games marketed to those 18 & under?

Yup it's true. I doubt the bill will pass though.

 

[FreeOnes_Adam]

Once people stop actually buying in to this sorta thing, maybe we'll see them stop. They do it because its profitable and it works. I really dislike what its done to game development as a whole.

 

[spicytongue]

Most "pay to win" games are games that are free-to-play. You can beat any AAA game with a full retail price. The microtransactions are just optional.

You are wrong. Fallout 76, GTA online, and many other games give a genuine advantage to those willing to spend real cold hard earned cash.

 

[yoyodude]

You are wrong. Fallout 76, GTA online, and many other games give a genuine advantage to those willing to spend real cold hard earned cash.

It gives you an "advantage". Emphasis on ADVANTAGE. It helps and gives players a boost when purchasing microtransactions. It is NOT required to beat the game. People who say it's impossible to beat a certain game without DLCs are just lazy or can't beat the game because they just suck at it.

 

[FreeOnes_Adam]

Are we talking about mulitplayer or single player?

 

[D-rock]

It gives you an "advantage". Emphasis on ADVANTAGE. It helps and gives players a boost when purchasing microtransactions. It is NOT required to beat the game. People who say it's impossible to beat a certain game without DLCs are just lazy or can't beat the game because they just suck at it.

There is a difference between being lazy and not wanting to go through an absurd amount of grinding that was only put into a game for almost the sole purpose of heavily encouraging or maybe even being downright being required to compete with people that are willing to shill out money to get around it. A lot of games this isn't just about a little convenience either as the amount of work that's needed to gain even a few dollars wroth of equivalent microtransactions is stupid. I also find on an ethical level any competitive multiplayer game where somebody can pay money to get an advantage over those that don't wrong just on principle.

 

[Torre82]

It gives you an "advantage". Emphasis on ADVANTAGE. It helps and gives players a boost when purchasing microtransactions. It is NOT required to beat the game. People who say it's impossible to beat a certain game without DLCs are just lazy or can't beat the game because they just suck at it.

"Git gud" is not a valid response to DLC and microtransactions, mang.
/some people are so indoctrinated that they will shill for free. To their favorite, morally-corrupt companies.
You can absolutely beat every game, ever. After grinding for dozens or hundreds of hours.
The next guy can pay 40$ to unlock a couple movesets and level-up all the equipment...
(Mortal Kombat 11 reference)

And then no matter how many hours you spent grinding, this dude just wasted his parents' money to become OP to a player like yourself who has legit skill (allegedly) in their chosen games.
Day-one DLC, microtransactions to skip the grind, unfair advantages and players who 'casual-gamer-shame' make the whole situation worse.

I'm not calling the players wrong or incorrect no matter how hard you shill for the company.
But maybe you need to take a step back and realize that if governments are actually considering banning loot boxes and microtransactions..

..yeaaahhh.. then that shit might just be evil. Predatory, even.

/and to post some original content and not just bitch out someone:
So I played 'The Last Of Us' multiplayer.. and it was great. The single player campaign is epic, and multi was actually quite competitive.
But a little on the squishy side. (And I have thousands of hours put into counterstrike, so complaining about instadeath really isnt my thing. USUALLY.)
So I get on the PS store and plunk down 2.99$ for that combat shotgun... and all of a sudden these online games turn from competitive to shamefully easy.
I actually stopped playing the game, after that. I spent a few bucks to cheat, basically. That thing is OP as fuck.. I had a shotgun that absolutely WRECKED at short-to-medium range, and I didnt even earn it.

/when I play a match,
/any game, whatsoever really,
/and the balance is already so jank,
/EVERYONE CHOOSE THE LIGHT MACHINE GUNS
/But then you buy the gold plated SAW249'er with extended clip on the EA store for 6.99$, and oddly enough you are doubling your K ratio...

/maybe time to shill against these companies and contact my congressman to make loot-gambling and pay2win illegal. #JustSaying

 

[tvstrip]

Are we talking about mulitplayer or single player?

Key difference. Single Player should NEVER require DLC to clear, nor should it ever be on the disk hidden behind a paywall.

'casual-gamer-shame'

As an adult I've come go grips with the fact that online is filled with people with more time/money on their hands, and I've gotten over the need to chase those rainbows. If a whale is willing to help out in co-op or lead/carry my multiplayer team that's awesome.
But I couldn't give a shit if some kid thinks he's somehow superior to me because of a huge allowance mommy gives him.

 

[FreeOnes_Adam]

Key difference. Single Player should NEVER require DLC to clear, nor should it ever be on the disk hidden behind a paywall.

Yeahhhhh, I don't play online. One of the big reasons is the hackers and the pay-to-win bullshit. I am a single player kinda dude.

 

[tvstrip]

Yeahhhhh, I don't play online. One of the big reasons is the hackers and the pay-to-win bullshit. I am a single player kinda dude.

Me too. I like to play at my own pace. If it's a FPS I like to methodically line up my shot, instead of having to run around killing point-blank.

But I've gotten over the k/d ratio BS, and discovered I'm willing to put up with multiplayer BS if it gets me rewards I can use in my single-player game like Destiny. If there were no rewards, I'm not playing online.

 

[yoyodude]

How about this. If a game has DLC content, DON'T BUY IT. Maybe the developers will wake up and realize microtransactions are a bad thing. I guess they didn't learn their lesson since people still buy and support them because this has been going on for more than a decade. The way I see it is if a developer like Naughty Dog (one of my favorite developers) dishes out DLC content whether it's single or multiplayer I will buy it to support them. If more money comes to them then they will have more opportunities to make new games in the future.

 

[tvstrip]

One thing I LOL at is games that have actual mission/content DLC AND "timesaver" packs that can be used on that DLC.. So there are people who pay to spend more time on a game and then pay even more money to... reduce that time.