Poll: Have the big companies gone too far?

[Katana314]

Pay to win is not related to piracy, but it deserves a mention. It is important that companies get money. If a game is free, then pay to win is OK. But Pay to Win on a subscription based game, such as EVE? Weapons which will be undoubtably better than starting weapons in BF3? Is that OK? To a degree, yes, as it still gives the customer choices within buying their games


EA makes it so that you get free DLC content if you buy it new- This is one of the better forms of DRM, as it makes it so that you still get the full game when you buy iy. Some companies make it so that you have to BUY some key aspects of the game, such as multiplayer if you buy the game second hand. but all of this can be justified to a degree, the publishers need their money in order to survive.

Believe it or not, the internet HAS been self-regulating.

There was a F2P FPS called WarRock that survived off paid weapons and such. It was pretty popular. Eventually, they started introducing weapons that were clearly far more powerful than the originals. Many MMOs do this to a minor degree, for instance giving an un-reduced advantage in an area that usually doesn't matter at all (grenade switch speed +10%!!!). But WarRock had clearly taken it too far. The game quickly became unpopular, and any new blood was quickly turned off by the degree of unfairness shown from paying members with full-auto recoilless magnum sniper rifles.

You are also making a completely unsubstantiated claim about BF3. Bad Company 2 also had pre-order bonuses, plus the M1 garand from playing previous BF games. Honestly, I never notice when I play. I bought the game a long time after release and kick everyone's ass with any gun I like. The guns are very much balanced, and usually people don't use those preorder guns that long. There is no reason to believe they majorly help, and DICE has even outright stated they try to make those guns "sidegrades" that are interesting to play, but not the weapon of choice for a professional match. Obviously, you have a case if the game comes out and our fears are, in fact, realized. Till then? Base everything off what facts you have.

Many games before REM:3D have been unable to do a "factory reset", often when there is nothing you'd really need to start over to get the initial experience - you can still choose to equip the most basic weapons, etc. It's usually just the programming team being lazy in some way. There is absolutely no reason to suddenly assume this is a new antipiracy method.

Here's what you don't get; anytime the change in quality of a game severely affects the fan base, it affects how many people buy it, and directly affects the sales numbers. Companies DO realize this. They're not the best at preparing for and avoiding it, but they also recognize when complaints come from a miniscule minority. If a company pisses off everyone, they have to do a 180; it's simple business.

 

[MaxwellDB]

Yes, they have gone too far, but that doesn't matter. Consumers will titter about it for a bit, then get right back to consuming. This is because gamers are undisciplined children.

Yay, future!