{"id":717,"date":"2016-05-30T17:19:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T15:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/?p=717"},"modified":"2016-05-30T17:19:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T15:19:03","slug":"the-fifth-rule-of-game-buyers-club-always-talk-about-game-buyers-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/the-fifth-rule-of-game-buyers-club-always-talk-about-game-buyers-club\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fifth Rule of Game Buyer’s Club: ALWAYS talk about Game Buyer’s Club."},"content":{"rendered":"

This is long and ranty.\u00a0 But I feel that it is important.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You guys absolutely got the industry you wanted.<\/p>\n

We got here through slow degrees.\u00a0 Like the proverbial frog in the pot – although, it didn’t actually seem that way to begin with.\u00a0 So, very quickly, let’s talk about the divide between modern games and how they monetize and older games and how those raked in the money.<\/p>\n

In the bad old days, a game was a once-off experience – for the most part.\u00a0 You bought the game, it had absolutely all the content on the disk and off you went.\u00a0 This wasn’t absolutely universal, of course – even back then we had what were known as “Scenario Disks” and added content through content builders – Things like the Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures construction kit.<\/p>\n

But if you bought a game you would be assured of ALL the content.\u00a0 At least until a scenario disk\/expansion pack rolled around.\u00a0 There was no messing around with day one DLC [a misnomer, but we’ll get there] or very many “added content exclusives.”\u00a0 The game you took home was – generally – the same game your European friends took home on the day of release.<\/p>\n

Then, Bethesda cracked open the door through Horse Armor and everything changed.<\/p>\n

But it’s important to realize an important thing about this whole fiasco:\u00a0 we can’t go back.\u00a0 We can’t stuff the genie back into the bottle.\u00a0 But we can<\/em> maybe make executives think twice about fleecing us.<\/p>\n

\"Game<\/a>
A game embargo? So the press can’t tell you how bad the game is? Who’d have thunk it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, if Horse Armor is the divide between the Modern Industry and the Ancient Industry, then we maybe need to talk about everything the modern industry does, because a lot of it is not good for you as a customer.\u00a0 Like Blizzard says:\u00a0 “You might think you want vanilla servers, but you really don’t.”<\/p>\n

[Don’t worry, Blizzard, I’ll take aim at you in a moment.]<\/p>\n

In summary?\u00a0 You might think you want DLC, but not the way the industry packages it now.\u00a0 [or “free to play” games.\u00a0 Or “shortcuts that would have been “cheat codes” in the Before Times.]<\/p>\n

So, the way the modern industry works is that it creates a game.\u00a0 And as it creates the game, it cordons off bits of the game to sell you later as “Day One DLC.”\u00a0 This would<\/em> have been part of the experience.\u00a0 But executives and advertising people have decided that, no.\u00a0 Instead of buying the game for $60, you need to buy it and slap on a little extra along the side so that the game actually costs $80.\u00a0 In some cases, this is just a flat-out bit of extra stuff – more content that you can go and grab from their servers.\u00a0 In other cases, it’s a bad lock-in mechanism called a Season Pass.<\/p>\n

See if this sounds OK to you:<\/p>\n

The executives\/advertising want you to buy a game – sight unseen – they want you to put money on the table<\/em> when you haven’t actually seen a drop of game play.\u00a0 Then, they want you to add more money to this pile, keeping you trapped to that purchase in a season pass where you may not actually like the game.\u00a0 This is not good for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

The only people who win here are the executives, who pat themselves on the back for a sociopath-like “job well done.”<\/p>\n

Rule 1 of Game Buyer’s Club:\u00a0 Don’t put money down when you haven’t seen the game in action.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Early<\/a>
Stardate 30 May, 2016. These games want me to pay to beta test them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This – loosely – ties into pre-orders.\u00a0 Pre-orders exist to suck you into a purchase when you’ve never seen the game.\u00a0 This has spiralled out in all kinds of weird directions that I shouldn’t even have to touch on, but we’re at that train-stop, so I may as well.\u00a0 Pre-orders now come in all sorts of shapes and sizes that you should TOTALLY AVOID.<\/p>\n

The buy-in beta?\u00a0 Don’t do that.\u00a0 If you have to pay money to get into a beta then what you’re actually doing is paying the studio to do a job they should hire people for.<\/em>\u00a0 I can’t even stress this enough.\u00a0 You are selling your time to do a job that the studio used to actually hire for.<\/p>\n

This applies equally to Kickstarters, Greenlight and Early Access.\u00a0 All of these methods of “financing” exist to separate you from your money in a moment of emotional weakness.\u00a0 The internet seems to have fallen head over heels for Tim Schafer, a guy who – habitually – overpromises and under delivers.\u00a0 Spacebase DF-9?\u00a0 You can still buy it.\u00a0 It’s still an unfinished wreck.\u00a0 Double Fine Adventure [And\/or Broken Age] – was Kickstarted to the tune of 3 Million Dollars.\u00a0 Try saying that in a Doctor Evil pinky-in-the mouth voice.\u00a0 Because that’s exactly how it turned out.\u00a0 And it wasn’t enough for Tim Schafer, either.\u00a0 He had to carve Broken Age in half and sell you separate pieces, asking for more <\/em>money along the way because he blew through the three million dollars.\u00a0 Right now, he’s “under financing” Psychonauts 2.\u00a0 On his own platform.\u00a0 Where he can put the money anywhere he likes.\u00a0 It doesn’t necessarily even need to go to Psychonauts 2 development at all.<\/p>\n

To put this into perspective:\u00a0 Notch approached Tim Schafer about that game.\u00a0 Tim wanted “about $2 Million.”\u00a0 Then they got into closed talks.\u00a0 And it turned out that the game was really going to cost $18 Million. \u00a0And that was in 2012<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0 So I think you can take his current “guesstimate” on Fig with a giant grain of salt.<\/p>\n

And Tim Schafer’s only the tip of this iceberg.<\/p>\n

Rule 2 of Game Buyer’s Club:\u00a0 Buyer Beware.\u00a0 You don’t know when a “beta” is a scam.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Oh, Rare. I would snap up a copy of Rare Replay so fast, your head would spin…if only it wasn’t console exclusive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, let’s say – for the sake of this argument, that the game actually makes it out the door.\u00a0 You buy it.\u00a0 But where do you buy it?\u00a0 The modern industry wants you to hunt for “the best version.”\u00a0 So they sell a slightly different version at Target that includes the black vest and neon camouflage.\u00a0 Then there’s the other version with the extra songs and one new class at Best Buy.\u00a0 Exclusivity is terrible.\u00a0 No one wins.\u00a0 Do you seriously want to chase down every version of the game that has now been split into tiny pieces through executive meddling so that you can have the One True Version?\u00a0 And remember – each version costs a slightly different amount.\u00a0 And since we’re talking about – largely AAA games, we’re talking about a varying amount based around the $60 mark.\u00a0 So if there are three versions of the game, then you’re paying $180 to have a “complete experience.”<\/p>\n

Count that up.\u00a0 You meant to spend $60.\u00a0 You ended up chasing down three versions.\u00a0 You spent $180.\u00a0 I’m not even counting the cost of the fuel into this equation.\u00a0 Or the fact that you would have to spend money either via your ISP bill reserving a copy or through a phone call to a store clerk making sure they keep a copy for you.\u00a0 It is obscene.<\/p>\n

And this gets even worse when you factor in platform exclusives.\u00a0 Executives do this so they can drive sales of a particular platform – whether that be a console or a mobile version or the like – it’s all set up so that you are forced into a purchase you possibly didn’t want to make.\u00a0 You have to buy the game and<\/em> a console you may not necessarily want.<\/p>\n

Rule 3 of Game Buyer’s Club:\u00a0 Exclusivity is stupid.\u00a0 Platform exclusivity doubly so.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
!!!!!!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it doesn’t stop.\u00a0 Even when you have the game in your mitts, executive meddling has made sure to add extra purchases on top of an already purchased game.<\/em>\u00a0 These folks are double-dipping left and right.\u00a0 I mentioned Blizzard, up top?\u00a0 Well, let’s talk about Blizzard, because they’re committing multiple sins all in one go.<\/p>\n

Blizzard’s current new kid on the block is Overwatch.\u00a0 Overwatch is a game you can buy that [get this] only<\/em> has a multiplayer version.\u00a0 That part’s still sort of OK, I guess.\u00a0 It costs $40.\u00a0 Which is silly for a multiplayer game only.\u00a0 But on the plus side…you get all the characters.\u00a0 This is streets better than it’s nearest competitors which insist on forcing purchases on you for each character you’re interested in.\u00a0 [Every MOBA ever, pretty much.]<\/p>\n

But then Blizzard insists on doing something dumb.\u00a0 The worst part?\u00a0 The internet is rushing to their defence.\u00a0 And it makes no sense, because it is – again – terrible for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, in Overwatch at each level up, you get access to a loot crate.\u00a0 Loot crates don’t contain any game altering things.\u00a0 You get skins, voice emotes, spray tags, player icons, video clips and poses.\u00a0 So, everything is cosmetic.\u00a0 But you can also buy the loot crates from the Blizzard store.<\/em>\u00a0 Let’s just call a spade a spade.\u00a0 They’re gamble-boxes.\u00a0 You can’t buy the skin you want.\u00a0 You have to spend – at very least $2, get two boxes and pray.\u00a0 You might spend only $2 and bam!\u00a0 skin unlocked.\u00a0 Or you might spend $5000 and not ever even get that skin.\u00a0 So, you paid $5040 for your “complete game.”<\/p>\n

And Blizzard is terrible about “microtransactions.”\u00a0 When I read the word, I automatically think:\u00a0 “this shouldn’t cost more than $1.\u00a0 It’s a “small” transaction.”\u00a0 But because the industry has never sat down and hashed out what constitutes Micro, Blizzard has gone to absurd lengths to push the envelope of what their player-base will accept.<\/p>\n

I played World of Warcraft for a long time.\u00a0 Each time that game has an expansion cycle, the expansion costs $60.\u00a0 $60 generally gets you into the door for the new content, gives you lots of new shiny stuff to play with and is – often – a reasonable-ish deal.\u00a0 [I say that, but the quality of World of Warcraft expansions has been cliff-diving for a while now.\u00a0 Witness the all-out disaster that was Warlords of Draenor.]<\/p>\n

Alongside the new expansions, they often offer mounts and pets that you can buy from the Blizzard Store for real money.\u00a0 This is already problematic:\u00a0 you can’t find this stuff in the game world.\u00a0 You have to destroy your sense of illusion, insert a credit card and continue after your transaction has been processed.\u00a0 But that’s not even the end of the issue.\u00a0 Blizzard’s mounts cost $25 [!] – there’s even one that’s $30<\/a> [!!]<\/p>\n

Maths.\u00a0 Because maths is important.\u00a0 Remember when I said that an expansion gives you lots of toys?\u00a0 And new stuff to do?\u00a0 Well.\u00a0 $30 being a new mount means you get one item.\u00a0 <\/em>One.\u00a0 And it cost you half<\/em> of what a new expansion would cost. [!!!] [Technically more.\u00a0 Legion is going to sell for $50.]<\/p>\n

Rule 4 of Game Buyer’s Club:\u00a0 “Microtransaction” is a misnomer.\u00a0 Don’t buy “microtransactions.”
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>
I don’t often ask this, but I’m going to ask it now. Please share this article with your friends. We need to keep talking about what the industry is doing. We can’t stop it, exactly, but we can fight back against the dirtiest of practices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gaming industry’s price gouging is an utter mess.\u00a0 But you guys got us here.\u00a0 You voted with your wallets.\u00a0 You wanted<\/em> this.\u00a0 But hopefully this particular article makes you pause and think and take stock.\u00a0 We can’t put the genie back in the bottle.\u00a0 It’s way too late for that.\u00a0 But we can make the sociopathic executive-types pause and consider us.\u00a0 They will never see us as anything other than money.\u00a0 Or pirates.\u00a0 But we can have each other’s backs.\u00a0 We can stop pre-ordering.\u00a0 Or falling for exclusives.\u00a0 Or buying stuff for money in games that we’ve already spent money on.\u00a0 And maybe that’ll slow them down a little.<\/p>\n

Rule 5 of Game Buyer’s Club:\u00a0 Talk about Game Buyer’s Club.\u00a0 Spread Game Buyer’s Club far and wide.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Some images courtesy of Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is long and ranty.\u00a0 But I feel that it is important. You guys absolutely got the industry you wanted. We got here through slow degrees.\u00a0 Like the proverbial frog in the pot – although, it didn’t actually seem that way to begin with.\u00a0 So, very quickly, let’s talk about<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,124],"tags":[264,265,266,206,167,267,268,269,270,271,272,171,273,274,275,276,277,278,279,280,281,282,283,284,285,286,287,215,288,289,290,291,292,293,294,242,295,296,297,298,299,300,301,302,303,172,304],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":723,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions\/723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/greywolfe.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}