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When will consumers of online gaming, stand up for themselves?!
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All that the charts shows are the gradually "average" price increase of the few successful suppliers. "average" highly susceptible to interpretation due to differences in cost and quality, but lets ignore that.
Does it show the price of the "average" suppliers? those who went out of business?
Looking at the price of the tip of the iceberg and drawing conclusion for the entire iceberg? Shame on the journalist. There is no need to startle, unless there are no other suppliers of games, no other forms of games, and no other forms of entertainment.
Look at the top line of Mercedes in the past 2 decades, how much have prices gone up? Do we need to revolt or storm their factories?
Did you even read the graph properly enough to ascertain what numerical data it was, in actuality, displaying for you?
From general impressions here, many already have. I see many "not playing anything now, looking for something good" posts.
What I find most disconcerting about these are the expectations. High poly highly detailed world, fluid animations, in depth questing, buildable player housing, large community, awesome pet system, endgame other than raiding or pvp, in depth crafting system... and the list goes on. It's especially bad for the sandboxers, but even the recent PVE subscription games have also been one let down after another.
In general, the industry is doing a poor job. Perhaps the single shining light in the darkness has been Rift. At least they manage to get released with most of the target design features implemented and hold a playerbase more than 2 weeks.
What's there to tell a player looking for {insert list here}? It's pretty much either lower your standards a bit or just keep waiting. People expect new and revolutionary, and lately we're lucky to get something that isn't a bug-ridden mess*.
* overstated for presentation of a concept. There are some games out there that have done reasonably well.
Ok sir let's back up a bit, you posted this link in relation to a poster stating that "these companies were making excellent profits with the old model" I'm trying to find out how he can say that and what your link has to do with the profit margin of the games he referenced maybe you can point that out for me sir?
Yes he is lining up games on the horizontal axis pretending that they somehow show a spectrum, which they cannot.
Yes he is lining up maps as if maps are the same thing.
He is plotting DLCs across maps+games as if that is a comparative measurement index.
He is then saying costs are going up, these few games are milking us, and this looks bad.
As if every other game on earth is able to do the same.
And I will be surprised if this kind of pretentious statistical analysis is accepted by an intelligent reader.
The old model being, "You buy the box and you get the entire game", no microtransactions trying to nickle and dime you along the way. Now this article describes how a game in another genre is becoming more heavily saturated with additional purchasable content much like the shift in many mmorpgs today where the old model of simply buying the game and getting access to all the content is being left behind. In both genres of gaming the pricing shift is more focused towards selling you additions after your initial purchase. It's a pretty simple comparison from my stand point.
It simply shows a trend where you initially are paying the same price for less from the same company while they continually up the amount of post purchase content. While this is only one game this is happening in many different games albeit not using the same pricing structure.
I think it's one thing to say I'm not playing anything right now and another to make multiple posts a week in hopes of convincing others that the way you play is the right way and that they somehow need (you or me) to save them from themselves.
I feel the same way in many regards and I recall bringing this up a few times in the past, why can't we as gamers come together on the issues we all know we can agree on such as lack of game quality from this industry then see about working on issues that are going to be more middle of the road such as this issue is.
So basically you took all those lines to say "it says nothing about Turbine/LOTRO or Funcom/AOC???
As far as changes go EQ was preceded by only a few older mmorpg's but SOE is notorious for expansions and EQ has been getting them for quite some time so where is the change? That's one of the first mmorpgs and they have been using the practice of charging more for extra content for as long as I can remember.
As for the article I could present a counter argument that games in general provided a certain amount of playtime to it's users and that many of these games with DLC are still providing similar amounts of playtime they just have ways of keeping us paying for that game for a year until the next installment comes out instead of it sitting on the shelf after a week until you trade it in for the next installment.
The only way to voice your discontent with the recent crop of games, as has been over stated on these forums, is to not be playing anything right now like many and more of us have begun to do. Well, the only thing you can do that these big development companies give a damn about at least.
It says something about the industry... It needn't apply specifically to them (Turbine/Funcom) and in this case it does but you're blinded atm and refusing to see the clear as day link between developers, in general, pushing more post purchase content down your yam. LoTRO has plenty of garbage you can throw away RL cash on (and more coming) just like CoD has plenty more extra maps that could have all been included in the purchase price but that doesn't pay the developer as well.
It is not a trend, it is not a continuous dimension with meaning intervals. It is a bunch of hand picked discrete non-comparable objects, deliberately lined up in a way to create a vision illusion. Price in terms of dollars is an acceptable axis, list of selected games, top line, the most expensive, is not.
It is not statistics, it is "lies, damned lies, statistics". False conclusion does not make a good basis to discuss.
Since when is playing a video game supposed to be hard work? I think you are confusing "hard work" with "spare time".
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
You picked a few companies, non random and drawn conclusion about the entire industry? Can I take a look at you and draw conclusion about all men?
I am blind because I refuse to accept a unscientific conclusion? So is Galileo for refusing to believe the earth is flat.
LoTRO has plenty of garbage? That is a fact from which you can draw conclusions for everyone of us.
I do not object to you holding your views, but that view is not going to be an acceptable basis for any conclusion binding us, or commanding us to accept, or else be called blind.
CoD has maps the producer should give free? Who has the rights to decide what the producers should give? The constitution? or you?
This is one example of many. It's really hard to believe you are one of the 10% of people looking at that graph that, from reading your posts, approves of the idea of purchasing a game that has less boxed content than available DLC.
I hate to have to tell you but I'm not blind to that at all that's the way of business in general, no one is even interested in making a preoduct with short term value, if it doesn't keep them in your pocket most devs don't care about it whether it's a phone,tv or even a radio.
The difference is I don't think it's the job of players like you or the op to tell the rest of us when enough is enough every person gets to make that statement with their own checkbook and they shouldn't have to deal with people on mmorpg telling them they are "just too blind to see clearly etc" because we have a differing of opinion......
Discontent = need to stop buying?
I am discontented with most of the business deals on earth, I would like to have everything thing free, perfect, lifetime warranties and free tickets to the moon. So what?
Hell I have bought a few houses, eveyone of them having some issues here and there. Maybe I should spent my lifetime camping in the wild as protest to feeble builders. I should also fast, as food are seldom perfect, restaurants are never 100 free of insects, so I should never eat out.
Hell I should never have lived because the world is imperfect.
Like many of us, as if you have solid statistics on how many. Give it a break, I know you hate game producers for some reason, I heard the reasons and find the whole drama to be babyplay. Play what you want and leave the rest alone. Is it that hard?
You continually stated there was no basis for comparison even but now you're angry that I'm shoving my view point on you while I never did that and you painted me that way. I put up the link and said, "judge for yourself". The only reason I responded to you was because you insisted there was absolutely no comparison to be made between the two and have never tried forcing my opinion on you. I merely expounded my views of how it was, somewhat, of a valid comparison. Please continue to berate me for not being able to find a better link ;D!
I still don't see the basis for comparison especially in regards to what the entire post ws started on which was one poster telling us that two mmo devs were doing good before going free to play neither he nor you has answered how he would know this and your response was to point us to a link about a different type of game with different pricing all together.
I'm not berating you at all and the only problem I have with your posting came in the last post by telling me I'm blind to something as if you are in a position to make that determination if we can avoid statements like that we are fine.
I don't think it should be that difficult to see that I'm not blind nor are those who are against you in this debate we just see things differently than you do.
I think people just need to be responsible for how they spend their money. If you see compaines that don't provide payment models you like don't support those companies. If games are giving you less playable content than the downloadable they sell don't buy that game. When banks started charging all kinds of fees for checking etc there were banks that weren't. To me for every business, game and non game where there are companies you don't want to do business with there will be ones you do want to. Doesn't seem that complicated to me. The companies are out to make money, I know it seems to piss some people off but it's a fact. You just have to be wise about where you spend your money. You have to make the right decisions for yourselves.
Woot reason, nice reading.
I am playing Might of Magic 4-5, because it only cost $7 or so from GoG.com.
I wasn't responding to the entire post only the reply I quoted. Somehow that was lost on you. In regards to what that poster said it is a clear example of how post purchase pricing structures can lead to developer greed. What else would you call gamers paying for a game where the majority of the content comes from post purchases?
You do realize you just spent the last hour calling me a dictator for saying you needed to be more responsible in how you spend money while explaining the consequences of it right?
It is best for the industry the MMO throne remains an dusty empty seat never to be filled.
The poster said they were making good money before going free to play and again I'm asking how does he know this, how do you know he is right????
You don't but if he is it lends validity to your stance and maybe that's why you are reaching so hard for this and pointing to examples that are pretty thinly related?
I am!
Next mmorpg I buy wont have a subscription fee.
Im getting tired of paying 60 bucks for a game just to continue gaining access by shelling out 15 bucks a month.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing