Modern gaming business practices

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Jez
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Jez » Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:00 pm

I have no difficulty with MTX in games as long as they have zero effect on gameplay. Elite and BF1 with purely cosmetic stuff doesn't get my goat up at all. In the case of the former I have spent further money to support a developer I enjoy. The latter didn't need any more money from me after paying for premium.

It's a choice.
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Lee
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Lee » Mon Oct 22, 2018 9:37 pm

I've totally lost interest in the latest games from the big publishers as they marked up the prices and doing dubious shit to the games. That and I stay away from anything from EA/Ubisoft/Microsoft needing another client to run the games.


But I have been engrossed in a lot of indie titles instead. There I don't mind that I paid say maybe £10 and found the game to be okay even with some nagging faults but I haven't spent 4 times that instead and left cursing about it.

Indies are really knocking out a lot of really good games that appeal to my sense in gaming and happy to snap them up.

Just gotten Project Warlord from GOG recently and enjoying it. Even if it has some weird performance issues but for £10 it's a steal :)
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Jez
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Jez » Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:31 pm

I'm wary about indy stuff, I don't really know why, it's probably a mash of little things. I suppose I dislike the general "theme" of a lot of them. They tend to be very graphically "90s" or older, top down sort of things.

I like stuff like Subnautica though which doesn't sacrifice good looks. I suppose that's not really an Indy title though.
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Achtung Englander
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Achtung Englander » Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:06 am

No one is holding you to anything. I am playing Inside and loving it. I am classifying that as Indie even though others will not. I don't care.
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Sly Boots » Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:26 am

Jez wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:31 pm
I'm wary about indy stuff, I don't really know why, it's probably a mash of little things. I suppose I dislike the general "theme" of a lot of them. They tend to be very graphically "90s" or older, top down sort of things.

I like stuff like Subnautica though which doesn't sacrifice good looks. I suppose that's not really an Indy title though.
I wasn't sure so I looked it up, but I would say Subnautica is definitely an indie reading this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subnautica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unknown_W ... ertainment

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Sly Boots » Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:57 pm

Interesting watch:



And a link to the BBC News article of a few days ago he references - number of underage children classed as having a gambling problem has quadrupled over the last two years to 50,000 in the UK (while 450,000 aged 11-16 are said to "bet regularly"), which is linked to the new prevalence of in-game and mobile gambling mechanics:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46286945

Shocking stuff.

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Raid » Tue Nov 27, 2018 3:49 pm

Awful though that problem is, I'm glad to see that the UK is at least keeping an eye on gambling mechanics in games alongside "traditional" betting and the like. It's clearly something that needs more scrutiny, and you can't do that unless you have the figures.

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Snowy » Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:25 pm

Special bonus points to inXile, devs of Wasteland 2.

Started a replay recently, and on firing it up saw a click through in the main menu for "Red boots, $49.99"...

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Sly Boots » Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:35 pm

:lol:

I enjoyed this when I played it on release, but for whatever reason I've not felt tempted to go back to it. I'd be interested to know if they sorted the endgame out a bit, was a bit buggy and felt a tad rushed when it first came out, but I understand patches may have improved that.

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Lee » Fri Nov 30, 2018 8:48 am

Snowy haha. I got the Red Boots as a backer in The Bards Tale VI :)

That's the FTC joining in debate about Lootboxes and gambling practices in games now.

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Snowy » Fri Nov 30, 2018 3:49 pm

So I should hope.

I saw something in the news recently from publishers saying they should self-regulate and not be legislated upon. I call BS on that, the utter lack of morals and scruples that they have shown in finding ways to wring money from their customer base is fucking disgusting, and self-regulation would always be the lowest common denominator they can get away with. Legislate the cunts!
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Mantis
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Mantis » Fri Nov 30, 2018 5:25 pm

The idea that any sector can be self regulating and not expect to be unscrupulous bastards is ridiculous. Oversight is needed because most companies would exploit everything they could just to make a bit more money regardless of the wider implications of their actions.

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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Mantis » Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:20 pm

Interesting piece from Eurogamer on the growing prevalence of gambling within gaming; this time aimed pretty squarely at unlicensed casino websites picking up large numbers of viewers via Twitch.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018 ... f-children

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Lee
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Lee » Thu Dec 06, 2018 10:19 pm

It does seem to be getting a lot of streamers playing them as well but I've always felt there is some sort of strings/deals in the backgrounds for it.
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Re: Modern gaming business practices

Post by Raid » Thu Dec 13, 2018 4:44 pm

Good grief.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018 ... ter-design
Dhalsim has little Capcom Pro Tour images on the skulls he wears as a necklace (those skulls, by the way, are those of village children that died during a plague, according to the Street Fighter wiki, which makes Capcom's decision to declare them ad space particularly grim).
I'm not a Street Fighter fan, in fact the most time I've spent playing with a Street Fighter character is Ryu in the new Smash Brothers, but it feels like turning characters with years of visual identity development into virtual billboards is spitting in the face of the series' fans. It would maybe be approaching acceptable if this were a free to play title, but it's a full-price game, and these ads were not part of that game when it launched meaning the ads have been forced upon paying customers without their consent. It's possible to turn them off, but doing so effectively halts your grind progression (itself apparently a major gripe with the game).

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