Gaming companies ripping us off: when did this become OK?

[the_green_dragon]

Hello Fellow Escapists,

I was recently complaining about tactics used by game companies to try and squeeze more money out of us. The multiplayer locking out unless you enter a code (Space Marine, Dead Space 2 ect), the "sewers" mission on Rage and the Catwoman section in Batman. Also riot game's League of legends charging 6300 in game points for every new character. (this is about 42 winning games at 45 minutes a pop, a long grind if you have a full time job/study)

I'm very against these tactics but recently I've found that more and more people are thinking that these tactics are OK because these companies are bussinesses and they need to make money. One of my friends said to me, "they're rewarding the player for buying new not punishing the second hand players" (WTF it's the same thing I said!!) I keep hearing it's supply and demand, you don't HAVE to buy it. Its Capitalism so it's alright?

Now thats what I'm starting to get annoyed about, WHY is it ok for them to start doing this? and when are people going to say, hey, thats not cool!

Will it be if the new player bonus is the end cutscene?
Will it be if they start charging more and more for games?
When do we draw the line?

Will it be OK for internet companies to start doubling their charges? Will it be ok for Oil companies to charge more? All in the name of business?

Heres an Example: EA games saw (For the quarter ending December 31, 2005 THE QUARTER!!) $1.27 Billion in sales , but they feel they need to lock out multiplayer for Dead Space 2?
Bethesda Softworks made a profit of $300 million from Fallout 3. 300 MILLION in PROFIT, but they need to lock out the sewers for second hand gamers.

Sorry for the rant but god it pisses me off.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Well 'ripping off' is Relative. I suggest you research the games that came with the Odyssey, though if you want a more tangible example the ATARI 2600 version of Pac Man was considered abysmal and Atari's reply could be summed up as "WHO GIVES A SHIT YOU DONT HAVE TO BUY IT"

So it would seem that the answer is "since we started gaming"

I'm not sure if appalling board games were created. I do remember there being one called Judenraus but while the theme was offensive I can't tell if it was a bad game or not as I've never had the chance to play it.

EDIT: Nevermind, as I post I remember an awfull Fonz-licensed board game - So yes, since board games.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Business is business mate, they will take your pants down and aim for penetration as soon as you look away.

It's up to the consumer not to pay for shit they don't want pulled on them, it is the only way this will go away.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

As Mr. K says, the only way to really speak to developers is with your wallets, and I suppose well written e-mails expressing your disappointment to the developer/publisher, but the moment you actually buy the game that e-mail becomes moot, whatever issue you had with the game clearly wasn't big enough to stop you from buying it.

That said, AAA game development is a very expensive business and one failed game can be enough to get your studio shut down for good, and at the same time second hand sales bring in no revenue for them at all, a second hand sale is pure profit for the retailer, who already took a profit from the game in the first place when they sold it new.

So when your very existence as a studio is at risk, you can't entirely blame them for taking measures to discourage second hand sales, or to put in methods to ensure they'll at least get some money out of you in the form of having to buy the content you couldn't get unlocked since the code that was included with the game was already used. In some cases it's not so much exploiting gamers as struggling for survival.

Now I don't entirely approve of these methods as there must be better incentives out there to buy games new, but I can't entirely blame them either.

 

[D Moness]

Heres an Example: EA games saw (For the quarter ending December 31, 2005 THE QUARTER!!) $1.27 Billion in sales , but they feel they need to lock out multiplayer for Dead Space 2?
Bethesda Softworks made a profit of $300 million from Fallout 3. 300 MILLION in PROFIT, but they need to lock out the sewers for second hand gamers.

Easy answer do NOT buy second hand games.
Also before you go and complain about release prices (and unless you live in australia(or another country that asks an absurd price) you do not even really have a reason to complain) do not buy it on release day. Just wait until the go down and you still have all the access codes or wait for the game of the year edition that contains all DLC's.

 

[Lukeydoodly]

You realise that LoL is a free to play game yeah?

 

[MatParker116]

I have no problem with the Catwoman/Cerberus Network/Sewers thing. Multiplayer lockouts are much different story however

 

[krazykidd]

Easy question, it became OK when people started buying it. The first time DLC came out it was a test , it worked , people forked over more money so they continue making DLC for games . Right now gaming companies are trying to figure out the limit , how much they can get away with . I hate to say this but , vote with your wallet . They will stop when it stops working or being profitable simple as that . But gamers unfortunatly cannot band together , it's impossible . With all the millions of gamers out there it is impossible to boycott anything ,because unlike oil , gaming is a hobby , not a necessity . I personally never buy DLC , ever , because i'm against it , but i won't codemn someone else for buying DLC . It's everyones choice , do they want to play the unfinished game ( me ) or do they want to bend over , take it like a man and pay extra money for the finished game ( DLC) . I vote with my wallet as everyone does.

EDIT: as an example , i bough deadspace 2 new for 20$ , i got the online code in the game , but refused to use it out of principle , i do not condone this ,. And even if it is free , i will not use it

 

[Bucky01]

i dont really care about it unless its DLC that should have been in the game in the 1st place ( res. evil 5 multiplayer and the like) and i do as the people above have done and voted with my wallet. and if you REALLY think your hard done by this, then come to Australia. we pay $100 atleast if its a new release so we are hit harder by this tactic than you are (hell i even saw CoD4 still at $60 the other day)

 

[VoidWanderer]

Heres an Example: EA games saw (For the quarter ending December 31, 2005 THE QUARTER!!) $1.27 Billion in sales , but they feel they need to lock out multiplayer for Dead Space 2?
Bethesda Softworks made a profit of $300 million from Fallout 3. 300 MILLION in PROFIT, but they need to lock out the sewers for second hand gamers.

Easy answer do NOT buy second hand games.
Also before you go and complain about release prices (and unless you live in australia(or another country that asks an absurd price) you do not even really have a reason to complain) do not buy it on release day. Just wait until the go down and you still have all the access codes or wait for the game of the year edition that contains all DLC's.

I'm with D on this one.

The only companies that profits from second-hand sales is the video game retailers. If the publishers and developers do not get paid for making the games, why should they bother?

For a better explanation, and I hope you realize there is more to the world that a minor inconvenience go to the penny arcade website and look at Extra Credit's video on Project Ten Dollars.

 

[cryogeist]

i think it's called companies making more money so they can make more games and thus more money... i don't know i don't pay attention to this stuff

 

[Dott]

Downloadable Content.
Am I the only one who loathes whatever game company does this?
It makes me feel like I'm purchasing a half-completed game, which was sent to the stores just to satisfy customers with the release date. Then they release the rest of the game progressively as they finish more bits of it. Just look at Fallout 3/New Vegas.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Will it be OK for internet companies to start doubling their charges? Will it be ok for Oil companies to charge more? All in the name of business?

Firstly, they do do that, that's what business is.

Secondly, games are, by definition, not as serious as oil or the net. You are under no obligation or pressure to buy any given video game, and there's many more than one rival game you could buy instead.

If people don't like aspects of various games, they can stop buying, it doesn't hurt them in any way.

 

[D Moness]

Easy answer do NOT buy second hand games.

If we all took that advice gaming retail would die overnight and you'd be left with no hobby.

Wonders why there are so many gaming retailers out there that do not sell second hand games and still exist.
Plus people are talking about gaming publishers being greedy but stores that buy your second games for 5 to 10 dollar and selling it for 20-30 dollars now that is greedy.

 

[Dott]

Downloadable Content.
Am I the only one who loathes whatever game company does this?
It makes me feel like I'm purchasing a half-completed game, which was sent to the stores just to satisfy customers with the release date. Then they release the rest of the game progressively as they finish more bits of it. Just look at Fallout 3/New Vegas.

I'm fine with *some* DLC, but only when it's in the form of expansion packs. To sum it up Oblivion/Morrowind (ignoring horse armour) = good, Fallout 3 = bad.

But I'm generally opposed to just about anything the gaming companies do in terms of DRM, DLC, and online passes. Seriously, screw that. Destroys any longevity for the game.

DLC in the form of skins and similar largely cosmetic things with little to no impact on actual gameplay is all right. An example is Dawn of War 2, which does have a lot of DLC, but none of it expands the game particularly much. There's some wargear you can buy, but it becomes redundant mid/late-game in the campaign. There's a Tau Commander for The Last Stand. That's about it, none of the other DLC for this game has any actual influence on the game itself beyond making your units look different, which should, truth be told, probably be free to download, because a lot of people made such modifications for the first Dawn of War games. Hell, some even added new races, which people are working on for Dawn of War 2 even as we speak.

Downloadable content is a pitiful, desperate measure taken by a game company that is probably losing customers. I myself was naive enough to recently buy and download the DLC for Fallout: New Vegas, and I honestly regret it. It's over with in about a day's gameplay, which just makes me sad, though Lonesome Road featured some very interesting level design, and I found that particular part better than the normal New Vegas.

I thought WoW's "buy the game, then pay to play" thing was stupid, but I've come to be enlightened that there are much worse things.

 

[veloper]

Easy answer do NOT buy second hand games.

If we all took that advice gaming retail would die overnight and you'd be left with no hobby.

Wonders why there are so many gaming retailers out there that do not sell second hand games and still exist.
Plus people are talking about gaming publishers being greedy but stores that buy your second games for 5 to 10 dollar and selling it for 20-30 dollars now that is greedy.

More like resell for 50 to 55.
That gamers cannot skip the middleman in this modern age of fast communication is the most damning proof of gamer stupidity.

 

[Bishop99999999]

Sadly, it's hard to argue that video games are some sort of right, like healthcare or something. Games are entertainment, and demanding that companies make our stupid bullshit cheaper is...well it's hard to come up with a catchy chant for it.

 

[RoBi3.0]

Hello Fellow Escapists,

I was recently complaining about tactics used by game companies to try and squeeze more money out of us. The multiplayer locking out unless you enter a code (Space Marine, Dead Space 2 ect), the "sewers" mission on Rage and the Catwoman section in Batman. Also riot game's League of legends charging 6300 in game points for every new character. (this is about 42 winning games at 45 minutes a pop, a long grind if you have a full time job/study)

I'm very against these tactics but recently I've found that more and more people are thinking that these tactics are OK because these companies are bussinesses and they need to make money. One of my friends said to me, "they're rewarding the player for buying new not punishing the second hand players" (WTF it's the same thing I said!!) I keep hearing it's supply and demand, you don't HAVE to buy it. Its Capitalism so it's alright?

Now thats what I'm starting to get annoyed about, WHY is it ok for them to start doing this? and when are people going to say, hey, thats not cool!

Will it be if the new player bonus is the end cutscene?
Will it be if they start charging more and more for games?
When do we draw the line?

Will it be OK for internet companies to start doubling their charges? Will it be ok for Oil companies to charge more? All in the name of business?

Heres an Example: EA games saw (For the quarter ending December 31, 2005 THE QUARTER!!) $1.27 Billion in sales , but they feel they need to lock out multiplayer for Dead Space 2?
Bethesda Softworks made a profit of $300 million from Fallout 3. 300 MILLION in PROFIT, but they need to lock out the sewers for second hand gamers.

Sorry for the rant but god it pisses me off.

It is all about choice. You can choose to buy the game new, or you can choose to buy it used. If you buy it used you have the choice to buy the add-on content or not. To my knowledge there hasn't been any project 10 dollar like add-ons that couldn't also been purchased as DLC. That is the point of new game unlockables 1.to give players a reason to buy new, and 2. to make some kind of money off the second hand market. Remember Publishers do not make any money off a game when it is resold.

I don't particularly like games that use multi-player as the "add-on" since that accounts for a large chunk of the game. Of course you would also have to consider that Multi-player also represents the largest on going costs for any game. As game companies have to pay to maintain servers and what not. So it is understandable why companies would want to get money for that part of the game when second hand games are sold.

This isn't a black and white issue. Most things in the world aren't. I personally don't mind it as I will buy game I want badly new and games I will eventually get around to playing used I get a go deal or when I get around to wanting to play them. If the new game add-on is good enough to warrant purchase I will, most of them aren't, multi-player (in most cases) and Catwoman excluded.


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Also to people complaining about DLC in general. I love DLC and want more of it.