General Gaming Thread

[RPS]

8 minutes ago, Forked Out said:

I'd be willing to pay a bit more for individual games if I knew that everything involved in that price was included in game and I wouldn't have to pay extra for other things later on down the line.

I don't think it is one or the other, I think it would be a combination of more crunch, smaller scope on games, and more expensive games. I also do not believe it would be a "bit more", but probably a 10$ or 20$ increase. 

There are also lots more negatives that would likely be a result - less games being made, less types of certain games being made (mainly, online games that require some much infrastructure to keep going), potentially less risk taking from publishers who prioritize surefire successes.

I have no issue with monetizing games after they released. However, the content and the method of monetizing that content should be ethical. 

[Bobfoc]

There are plenty of big games (and even more small ones) that get by fine without microtransactions, and without increasing the prices of their games.

[Colly]

Given that we only really see them in major studio produced, usually annual iterative, online games, would it really be a massive loss for there to be a few less of them? 

[apsham]

2 minutes ago, Colly said:

Given that we only really see them in major studio produced, usually annual iterative, online games, would it really be a massive loss for there to be a few less of them? 

The issue here is that you don't get to pick and choose what you lose. A lot of studios are supported by larger ones, and while they are the ones that get to innovate - a dramatic shift in the industry isn't going to mean that there are less iterative or online games - it probably means that those smaller studios making interesting games are going to go kaput. Making one of those iterative games is a (nearly) guaranteed way to make money. If EA were to say no more to loot boxes - we wouldn't lose Madden or FIFA - we'd lose the Jedi Fallen Orders and the like.

[Colly]

That's fair, but I still think something more transparent than loot boxes is the way forward, and frankly I'm very pleased at the Lords decision.

[apsham]

1 minute ago, Colly said:

That's fair, but I still think something more transparent than loot boxes is the way forward, and frankly I'm very pleased at the Lords decision.

Oh yeah, straight up no arguments there. The stuff that happens in sports games right now is probably the worst examples of it.

It's odd but the best example I can think of here is NBA Live 19 versus the 2K games - because in a weird round of turnabout, when EA came back with Live they made their games VERY enjoyable and easy to play without microtransactions. I spent a fraction of the time I did with Live than I did with 2K and got more accomplished with my character and had a hell of a lot more fun doing it... but of course, they only did that because that was the one thing that they could go into their design with and have something over what 2K does.

I'm interested in seeing what happens with the WWE games going forward - as before they crashed and burned and took a year off, taking a massive amount of fan feedback - they were clearly inching towards having an egregious amount of VC needed to do anything in those games.

[BuddyAwesome]

The way Madden does packs in Ultimate Team is pretty straight forward. Albeit in my opinion far too expensive. It's a hard thing to decide because not everyone will ever be 100% pleased. 

[Mad Jack]

3 hours ago, RPS said:

That seems like negligent advice. 

It's more that for years and years certain games were a fantastic escape from that - Call of Duty being a noted example, with its engaging story and excellent, largely microtransaction free multiplayer and fun gimmick modes like zombies.

And then they added loot boxes which plummet to the earth and land on Omaha beach that you then open in-game, whilst others watch. Video games used to be a potential escape from problem gambling - and then publishers decided they needed all the money in the world, rather than just some of it.

[apsham]

NBA 2K21 is going to be +$10 on the next gen consoles and they will NOT be doing the free upgrade path that most other games are doing.

This kind of sets the idea in motion that it will be the new norm for games going forward, and of course - 2K21 doing it kind of throws the idea of "up the games cost, and we can lessen microtransactions" a bit out of the window.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

2 hours ago, apsham said:

NBA 2K21 is going to be +$10 on the next gen consoles and they will NOT be doing the free upgrade path that most other games are doing.

Now see what I heard was worse. I read somewhere that they were doing a free upgrade, but only if you bought the $100 super premium whatever version that they've locked Kobe Bryant as an extra player behind.

[apsham]

Fuck that is scummy.

[Forky]

I'm pretty much done buying anything for PS4 at this point. I have a pretty extensive back catalog to get through that will keep me busy long past the release of the PS5 so anything I want to get new can wait till then, especially since most games that come out now are going to receive the PS5 treatment anyway.

[Chris2K]

To add to the NBA2K21 madness, the release date is September 4th, which is:

a) Potentially 6 weeks before the current NBA season ends

b) Proof that the changes to the game are so minimal they can still easily make their usual release date despite the COVID delays everyone else is suffering from.

 

The sad thing is I still play 2K20 every day, and own it on both XBOX and PS4, so I'll probably buy 2K21 on launch day.

[Forky]

The Assasin's Creed games need to get away from the ship battles. I hate them. Which sucks for me since the next one is based on fucking Vikings!

[JasonM]

7 hours ago, Forked Out said:

The Assasin's Creed games need to get away from the ship battles. I hate them. Which sucks for me since the next one is based on fucking Vikings!

The only game that really got it right was Black flag because it was also appropriate for the time period it was set in. But it got tedious really fast because there was so little variance to the battles because it was always the same loop where you're whittling away meatwalls of ever increasing tankiness.

It's one thing that really killed my enjoyment of Odyssey because traveling and sea battles were just taking too much time from exploring.

Also ironically, wreck diving was one of those enjoyable experiences, and it was frustrated by you getting pulled off course by yet another ship wanting to mess with you.

[OctoberRaven]

15 hours ago, Forked Out said:

The Assasin's Creed games need to get away from the ship battles. I hate them. Which sucks for me since the next one is based on fucking Vikings!

TBF, Vikings weren't really known for actual naval fighting, their ships were pretty much transports, so maybe there won't be?

[Forky]

Not being a history buff myself, did the Peloponnesian War have much in the way of naval battles?

[gunnar hendershow]

26 minutes ago, OctoberRaven said:

TBF, Vikings weren't really known for actual naval fighting, their ships were pretty much transports, so maybe there won't be?

Yeah Vikings by and large didn't have these huge open naval battles. Mostly transports as you said. They were also largely agrarian, which a lot of people forget or don't like to talk about because it ruins the whole "raid and pillage" visual they like to have about Vikings.

24 minutes ago, Forked Out said:

Not being a history buff myself, did the Peloponnesian War have much in the way of naval battles?

Yes, many the war's most pivotal battles were at sea. Including the climactic battle where Sparta destroyed Athens' fleet. 

[OctoberRaven]

29 minutes ago, damsher hatfield said:

Yeah Vikings by and large didn't have these huge open naval battles. Mostly transports as you said. They were also largely agrarian, which a lot of people forget or don't like to talk about because it ruins the whole "raid and pillage" visual they like to have about Vikings.

They were also huge on the arts, to the effect where they would settle arguments by composing insulting poetry to each other, like a rap battle.

[Bobfoc]

UFC 4 has just been announced, and it's coming next month. I know it was a badly kept secret for a long time, but that's still a short gap between announcement and release.