EA: Consumers 'enjoying and embracing' microtransactions

[BloatedGuppy]

Remember what they did with Mass Effect 3 ending controversy? They used it to promote ME3 as one of the most controversial games ever. They don't give a crap about what consumers think. So until people stop buying their shit, this is what they'll keep doing.

They did?

Can you point me to one of those promotions? Not doubting you, just...surprised. EA/Bioware both seemed pretty unhappy and uncomfortable with the public reaction ME3 was receiving. I don't recall offhand any "Play the most controversial title of the year!" ad campaigns, but I might have overlooked them.

On micro-transactions:

Done well, I have no real issue with them. ME3, for instance, had their stupid mystery packs, but those were purchasable with in-game currency, and in-game currency was easy to come by, so you could shop up plenty of unlocks just playing the game normally. That was a-ok. FTP games like LoL seem to have struck a good balance, or BTP like GW2, selling primarily convenience items and cosmetics. All alright. Is it my preferred business model? No, but I find it tolerable in such incarnations.

You can take it too far, though...obviously. Anything pay to win is BAD. Anything content lite with scads of stuff jammed behind a micro-transaction wall is BAD...games like Sims 3 and The Secret World flirted with this line. Anything with built in tedium to drive you into the micro-transactions just to make things palatable is VERY BAD.

 

[Freaky Lou]

Yeah EA, people absolutely love paying for things they used to get for free... just keep telling yourself that

They don't like it, but they keep doing it. From a business perspective, yes, consumers enjoy and embrace microtransactions.

 

[Nathan Josephs]

hey ea :LOL no.

 

[DoPo]

Remember what they did with Mass Effect 3 ending controversy? They used it to promote ME3 as one of the most controversial games ever. They don't give a crap about what consumers think. So until people stop buying their shit, this is what they'll keep doing.

They did?

Can you point me to one of those promotions? Not doubting you, just...surprised. EA/Bioware both seemed pretty unhappy and uncomfortable with the public reaction ME3 was receiving. I don't recall offhand any "Play the most controversial title of the year!" ad campaigns, but I might have overlooked them.

It was actually something along the lines "This game has made the most people talk about it". I'll try and find the ad in question - it was some poster or banner or something.

EDIT: found it

So it's "fan reaction", actually.

 

[IronMit]

They are now using the same business strategy as paintballing...going to give you limited ammo and then charge you when you are at your least price sensitive

 

[Nazulu]

More like; consumers 'tolerating or ignoring' microtransactions. And they'll only put up with it as long as you have decent franchises under your belt, so don't kill them all you stupid pigs.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

ive bought most mass effect 3 dlc and loved em. Im very happy to see it continue to get support 1 year later

Before EA, BioWare supported NWN for around 5 years or more, with patches, fixes and content updates. You're not getting "support" 1 year later, they're trying to get more money from you 1 year later.

 

[RJ 17]

What he meant to say is "EA stockholders are enjoying and embracing the huge amounts of revenue microtransactions bring in" because no doubt they're making a fortune. The sad thing is, a lot of people have conceded defeat and allowed this practice to continue... few gamers are doing anything to stop the tide.

Well I didn't have to look far for someone to state the sad truth already. We all hate microtransactions as a general concensus, but so long as there's lazy gamers out there who'd rather buy their way to victory in a game's campaign rather than earn their way to the end, microtransactions will continue to be a thing. If no one bought them, they wouldn't have caught on and would have been a failed practice.

I partially blame Japanese gamers for this seeing as how, to my understanding, the microtransaction deal got most of its traction from mobile games in Japan. The success stories being so great that laws had to be made to regulate just how much can be spent on "micro"transactions at a time had to be made. How are the Big Developers supposed to ignore data like that?

Remember what they did with Mass Effect 3 ending controversy? They used it to promote ME3 as one of the most controversial games ever. They don't give a crap about what consumers think. So until people stop buying their shit, this is what they'll keep doing.

They did?

Can you point me to one of those promotions? Not doubting you, just...surprised. EA/Bioware both seemed pretty unhappy and uncomfortable with the public reaction ME3 was receiving. I don't recall offhand any "Play the most controversial title of the year!" ad campaigns, but I might have overlooked them.

It was actually something along the lines "This game has made the most people talk about it". I'll try and find the ad in question - it was some poster or banner or something.

EDIT: found it

So it's "fan reaction", actually.

Basically it's the practice of taking in negative feedback and spinning it to try and make the people that gave you said negative feedback (i.e. the gamer community) think that it's actually a good thing.

Technically speaking, ME3's ending DID provoke a larger fan response than any game in history...they just failed to mention that said response was the fans wanting to riot in the streets and burn down every building associated with EA and Bioware.

Or maybe they thought the 400 cupcakes - "Each one is a different color but they all taste the same" - was meant to show how much we loved them.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Not everyone that plays the game is anti-EA, anti-mircotransactions, anti-everything that isn't free. Only a small portion of the game community even comes to gaming sites.

 

[The White Hunter]

EA doesn't even have decent f2p titles(except I hope the new C&C), what the hell they're talking about? Are people really really buying the "cheat code" unlock packs for bf3 and ds3? -_-

snip

I now need a bottle of Whisky, thank you very much.

I don't know about DS3 but I can tell you that people bought the unlock packs for BF3 and Bad Company 2 (thats why every sniper on Bad Company 2 now seems to be level 4 and have the M95 with a spotter scope...)

 

[wetfart]

What he meant to say is "EA stockholders are enjoying and embracing the huge amounts of revenue microtransactions bring in" because no doubt they're making a fortune. The sad thing is, a lot of people have conceded defeat and allowed this practice to continue... few gamers are doing anything to stop the tide.

http://investor.ea.com/stockquote.cfm

Actually, EA's stock took a tumble in 2007 and hasn't really recovered since then. You can get some shares for $17 each currently. Also, EA doesn't pay a dividend so the share holder's aren't going to see any of the profits from micro-transactions.

So if EA's micro-transactions really bugs you, buy a share of stock and go to the share holder's meeting in July and demand your right to the floor. If people are willing to go yell at the EA board of directors and tell them to knock it off they may just learn.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

So it's "fan reaction", actually.

Heh. That's pretty clever spin, actually. Someone in marketing deserves a raise.

I love adding new content to the Sims, for example...

Sims store was fine in theory. In practice, the pricing model was positively iniquitous. For the price of a couple of end tables and a hair cut, I could buy a 6 month old AAA game in a Steam sale. And the core game was a bit bare bones, with a LOT of stuff walled off into the store. It's one of the more predatory micro-transaction models on the market, really.

 

[Tayh]

Valve releasing cosmetic hats for TF2 via microtransactions: Oh, those lovely rascals. Please, take all my money!

EA releasing cosmetic items(Sims3)/mystery packs(ME3) via microtransactions: OMFG EA IS THE DEVIL! BOYCOT! BURN THEM DOWN! RAAAAGE!

Ah well, it's the Escapist.
As long as they aren't selling advantages that cannot be obtained by ingame means, I will have no problems with microtransactions.

 

[TrevHead]

So the mainstream are retards? nothings changed there then.

 

[upgrayedd]

EA have never done anything like this...*Cough cough* SIMS *Cough Cough*

Oh well, It happens when the consumer is a hopeless moron, Luckily apart from Red Alert i dont have any attachment to EA.

 

[Woodsey]

Valve releasing cosmetic hats for TF2 via microtransactions: Oh, those lovely rascals. Please, take all my money!

EA releasing cosmetic items(Sims3)/mystery packs(ME3) via microtransactions: OMFG EA IS THE DEVIL! BOYCOT! BURN THEM DOWN! RAAAAGE!

Ah well, it's the Escapist.
As long as they aren't selling advantages that cannot be obtained by ingame means, I will have no problems with microtransactions.

You can get almost all of the TF2 items for free. It's much more about trading than it is buying. TF2 itself is also free, I might add.

And newsflash, Valve has built up goodwill because they've fucking built it up, EA haven't. This is not a difficult concept to comprehend.

 

[Giyguy]

"EA: Consumers 'enjoying and embracing' microtransactions"

the only things true with that sentence are "Consumers" and "microtransactions". yes, I'm including EA in the lie department. because they lie so much that they have BECOME a lie into themselves.

 

[Giyguy]

Exactly which microtransactions are we talking about?

Because I have nothing against the practise if it's implemented well.

It never is with EA. Expect the worst every time with these people.

 

[Tayh]

You can get almost all of the TF2 items for free. It's much more about trading than it is buying. TF2 itself is also free, I might add.

Same thing applies to ME3. Mystery packs can all be bought via ingame currency.
And as for Sims 3, there is already a large, EA-approved community which offers a far broader selection of minimods and items for Sims 3 for free.

And newsflash, Valve has built up goodwill because they've fucking built it up, EA haven't. This is not a difficult concept to comprehend.

That doesn't change the fact that, despite both companies doing the same business practises, one company is worshipped while another is reviled.

You'll have to excuse me if I don't sympathise with a group of people who knowingly and willingly choose to be subjected to DRM, third-party observation and control, and only love their Master all the more for it.