Fee to Pay

Ike_009

Ike_009

Assassin of Accountants
It's time to talk about why "optional" microtransactions in games aren't really optional, and why they're especially gruesome in games we already paid for at retail.

The rise of "free to play" elements in games that are not free is going to become increasingly popular among major corporations, desperate as they are for "The Answer" to a splintering audience. While they are, on the surface, annoyances to be ignored, these fake freemium ideas change the way games are made and played, and that's not good for anyone.
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This weeks JimQuistion is about free-to-pay gaming. Is it really fair that games that cost $60 jumps on to the free-to-play microtransaction bandwagon? Thus I present this weeks JimQuistion
 
Watch the video, his big example is Deadspace 3. You pay a fee to get a game so you can pay more to play it, thus a fee to pay
 
Micro transactions in a full priced game is completely unacceptable. Jim hits the nail on the head with this video.
 
On topic, I honestly don't think that the model of fee (without the ARRR) to play is that bad, but I do think that the producers like EA has implemented it totally wrong. I don't mind to pay a reduced price for a base game and pay for things within the game, as long as those games does not make it impossible for me to play, complete or compete in multiplayer. But if you expect me to pay the full amount, I expect the full game.
 
DieGrootH@mmer said:
On topic, I honestly don't think that the model of fee (without the ARRR) to play is that bad, but I do think that the producers like EA has implemented it totally wrong. I don't mind to pay a reduced price for a base game and pay for things within the game, as long as those games does not make it impossible for me to play, complete or compete in multiplayer. But if you expect me to pay the full amount, I expect the full game.
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exactly what he said...
 
DieGrootH@mmer said:
On topic, I honestly don't think that the model of fee (without the ARRR) to play is that bad, but I do think that the producers like EA has implemented it totally wrong. I don't mind to pay a reduced price for a base game and pay for things within the game, as long as those games does not make it impossible for me to play, complete or compete in multiplayer. But if you expect me to pay the full amount, I expect the full game.
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I agree completely. That's why I refuse to buy any Capcom games. You pay full price and get the full game on the disc, only a lot of this content has to be unlocked with micro transactions.
I don't mind paying for DLC or extra's on any game I enjoy and have indeed bought a lot of DLC. I have a problem when I pay full price for a game and can actually see the content there on menus and such but get some prompt to purchase if I try accessing much of it.
Ubisoft had a better approach with the micro transactions on AC3 last year where you had the choice to buy all the games weapons and unlockables at the start if you were too lazy to earn them for free.
 
This:
Ike_009 said:
Watch the video, his big example is Deadspace 3. You pay a fee to get a game so you can pay more to play it, thus a fee to pay
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Main reason why I didn't bother giving Dead Space 3 a second look.
Away with pay for base game and pay moar for in game content
 
My issue with any kind of Free to Play game so far is that I haven't found a single one that I like. I can't explain what it is exactly but I've tried a bunch (granted, a lot of those were MMOs), but so far the only games I've found that MIGHT interest me is Loadout, Might Quest for epic loot and perhaps Dota2... although, I cannot confirm or deny those latter three since I haven't spent enough time with any of them.

As for micro-transactions and fully paid games, I have no problem with what they did with Mass Effect 3 where you can either purchase the pack using Bioware points or using in-game currency which is earned by completing multiplayer missions. On Silver, I think it takes about 2 missions to get enough currency to buy anything.

steaksauce said:
Ubisoft had a better approach with the micro transactions on AC3 last year where you had the choice to buy all the games weapons and unlockables at the start if you were too lazy to earn them for free.
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Can't you buy them with "Ubi-points" (which is earned by playing Ubisoft games) or whatever it is called as well?
 
Once again, I can't disagree with Jim.

Free to play is a great model, and my most expensive game right now is DotA2. It's free, but I enjoy it so much I have no reservations about handing my money over to Valve. In fact, I feel good knowing I'm supporting such a great project. Definitely not getting any of that psychological warfare Jim mentioned.
 
Ser_Bunnylot said:
Once again, I can't disagree with Jim.

Free to play is a great model, and my most expensive game right now is DotA2. It's free, but I enjoy it so much I have no reservations about handing my money over to Valve. In fact, I feel good knowing I'm supporting such a great project. Definitely not getting any of that psychological warfare Jim mentioned.
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I guess that's a successful Free to play model then. If it works then it shouldn't be a grudge payment to keep playing, however if your not impressed then it weeds out the weak games and keeps the game pool strong.

Its like an app I downloaded that included downloadable 3D models. They had 4 options to pay with the first being free, which I chose at first, however I was so impressed I actually paid for the last one, however if I had to pay I wouldn't have downloaded any.
 
He mentions good free to play games like Blacklight which I would agree is a great implementation of the model. It's a great game, just needs some SA servers.
 
Pooky said:
He mentions good free to play games like Blacklight which I would agree is a great implementation of the model. It's a great game, just needs some SA servers.
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yeah I stopped playing because the lag was killing me
 
ViperGTI said:
Can't you buy them with "Ubi-points" (which is earned by playing Ubisoft games) or whatever it is called as well?
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Probably but I can't confirm that. For some reason I can't access my UPlay account from my XBox. I do know that you can purchase outfits and skins with the Ubisoft currency though.
 
steaksauce said:
Probably but I can't confirm that. For some reason I can't access my UPlay account from my XBox. I do know that you can purchase outfits and skins with the Ubisoft currency though.
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As far as i know you can only buy certain things with the Ubisoft points you have earned from games. And atleast when i played, its was only items for games you have played. So for example you couldn't buy an xbox theme for assassins creed if you earned points in splinter cell. For me it was a good idea, poorly implemented. Maybe they've changed it since i used it.
 
Gir said:
As far as i know you can only buy certain things with the Ubisoft points you have earned from games. And atleast when i played, its was only items for games you have played. So for example you couldn't buy an xbox theme for assassins creed if you earned points in splinter cell. For me it was a good idea, poorly implemented. Maybe they've changed it since i used it.
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I don't know about cross-platform, but I've bought items for games using points earned from other games. Like I bought an item or two for Assassin's Creed III and FarCry 3 with points earned by playing Prince of Persia and previous Assassin's Creed titles.
 
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