Reasons why we dislike Activision

[soultrain117]

I was reading another forum posting on a growing population anti Activision gamers http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.266044-Activision-Co-Founder-Says-Anti-Activision-Sentiment-is-A-Little-Bit-Strong

So I thought it might be fun to turn this into a game. First pretend you are Activision trying to defend itself and respond to the person above you. Then list a reason why you do not like activision.

So I start I guess. I hate Activision because they killed what could have been a 20 year franchise(guitar hero) in four years by milking it and thinking it was perfectly fine to publish 6 music hero games in 2 years. O wait did I say 6 I meant 14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Hero#Oversaturation

I should note I dont really hate Activision just annoyed with them lately. And yes they do need to find someone that can manage PR same with EA

 

[MrGalactus]

We did it because the public wanted the music games, then they stopped wanting the music games for whatever reason. Market saturation you say? Impossible, look at the profit margins!

They're a profit machine, not a company of artists. Games to them are a product, not a service. That is why I dislike Activision.

 

[Oxford The Cat]

Activision will always get a free pass from me because of the awesomeness that was SiN.

 

[GiantRaven]

They're a profit machine, not a company of artists. Games to them are a product, not a service. That is why I dislike Activision.

We're a publisher, not a developer! What reason do we have to care about the game over the return we get for funding it? We are a business, after all. We need to make a profit and without our prior investment, where would the big budget blockbuster games be?

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The idea of taking cutscenes out of a game and selling them as a movie. That is dumb.

 

[Sharalon]

I don't hate Activision, but I do think that they are evil. If Activision was a person he would sell his own child, lie about it, and sell a juicy kidnapping story to a newspaper.

 

[Jack of Spades]

Buying out Game Developers that gamers trust and then having those developers shell out crap game after crap game or they have the developer milk their fan-base of all their money with half assed DLC and in-game content.

 

[Netrigan]

KABOOM!

I was never any good at it.

I'm an old-timer, I still have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that Activision turned into the enemy. It's like if Superman became a serial killer.

 

[xchurchx]

Well they make some ok games and all but when they sacked the guys at IW for missing a deadline i thought they kinda went to far

 

[Savber]

I dislike Activision because they seem to value profit over innovation. It's a quantity over quality business model and the gaming industry has suffered with the multiple Halo or COD clones saturating the market. That said, I UNDERSTAND why that's their position and I enjoy their games when they prove to be engaging and fun. So, it's a love-hate relationship.

 

[MrGalactus]

How come nobody is continuing the game?

 

[Johnnyallstar]

I think the over-saturation of the market is what did it in. The desperation to be one step ahead of Rock Band at every corner killed Guitar Hero, and now there's the Power Gig thing which was the first piece of any of that stuff that appealed to me, being 0a pretentious guitar playing sonofabitch.

Also, their talks of charging extra for using multiplayer servers for their CoD series. Yes, I'm well aware of the needs for cost, and actually argue for MMOs that decide for subscriptions, but being the first FPS to make that charge...... well, good luck with that.

Also, some of their community actions have really pissed people off. The entire Infinity Ward deal has really soured some people's mouths for Activision, and the way Activision has handled it, I can't blame people.

Worst of all, they seem to have levered EA out of the Evil Empire seat, and sat their fat tooshies in it. Activision used to produce interesting stuff, but it seems that EA is jumping for the new, interesting IPs, while Activision is shoveling out the SSDD.

Now, I must go and wash my mouth out with something strongly alcoholic because I said EA wasn't so baaa.... wasn't so baaaaaaa. Wasn't the Evil Empire anymore.

 

[pyrosaw]

They beat the death out of franchise's. See also Square Enix.

 

[Blind Sight]

Activision: Well clearly the individual above me is a sheep, and I have no problem being an asshole to a sheep. EDIT: That was a response to Johnnyallstar.

I dislike their attempts to rationalize their actions as 'just business'. The problem with this logic is that a business image is actually important to maintain, and the fact that they largely ignore customer complaints and talk down to their consumer base ensures that they will remain hated.

 

[AetherWolf]

They killed Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot.

Spyro will forever be a shitty cash cow, and Crash went out after a stream of mediocre games...

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--

They beat the death out of franchise's. See also Square Enix.

 

[V TheSystem V]

Wasn't Bobby Kotick quoted to have said he wanted to 'take the fun out of gaming' at one point?

 

[nipsen]

..well.. they went from publishing a lot of very good titles from many different studios.. Bloodlines for one, though that was not exactly neatly supported.. Still, it was and still is a very good game that shows developers doing a great job conveying a story, with amazing depth and interesting lore.

And then they've turned into something that kills every individual studio while making sure they push out iterations of games already made. EA does the same thing. Microsoft. Sony..

And what else is new.

 

[noble cookie]

Because they make money, not games.

 

[carnege4]

How come nobody is continuing the game?

Funny fact:

They just read the title and comment.

 

[sylekage]

Activision basically takes all their games, and destroys them. They try to milk in for all its worth in too short a time, then blame it on someone else.

Imagine, someone using their credit card and maxing it out, in say, a day. A week letter they get the notification saying they need to pay it back. Said person replies with "You shouldn't have given me the credit card! I can't pay this back! I'm gonna disappear forever"

Activision and guitar hero right there, with the guitar hero franchise dissapearing

 

[Hiphophippo]

Wasn't Bobby Kotick quoted to have said he wanted to 'take the fun out of gaming' at one point?

No. It was out of game development. It was also taken out of context and only available in text.

Fact is, people will root for any company until they make a, totally arbitrary, amount of money after which they've sold out and are only in it for the money. The same applies to any business.

It's stupid, but so are people. Calling Activision "evil" is such a ridiculous thing to do. If you don't like their games, don't buy them. But don't call them "evil" because they are a billion dollar business with investors who want to turn a profit.

That's just idiotic.