Wolfire Games Forums

Well...

Did the gaming industry kill itself while we weren't looking?

Update:
Dungeon Keeper mobile,

24 hours to dig one FUCKING block

Unless, you pay money...

Hilarious response by NerdCubed: http://nerdcubedactually.tumblr.com/post/75794059967

Phoenixwarrior141 wrote:Update:
Dungeon Keeper mobile,

24 hours to dig one FUCKING block

Unless, you pay money...

Hilarious response by NerdCubed: http://nerdcubedactually.tumblr.com/post/75794059967

It really isn't that hilarious. The video was better.
It's really just him going through a stupid interview and throwing mindless bitching in between every line.

Meh, it still verifies the point I'm trying to make:

Microtransactions are BAD

Phoenixwarrior141 wrote:Meh, it still verifies the point I'm trying to make:

Microtransactions are BAD

It doesn't counter the counterargument of 'micro transactions can be bad'.

My next game is going to have micro-Ts, and we're aiming for fair rules for it.

We're going to have the ability to throw money at Endo?
I'm interested.

Korban3 wrote:We're going to have the ability to throw money at Endo?
I'm interested.

Haha, thanks! I'm just a cog in the machine, though, so it's not going to be 'mine' specifically.

Microtransactions can be done well. DOTA 2 did them well.
League of Legends was a solid "Meh." in the microtransactions category.
And then there's most mobile games, who can just go sit in the corner of the "shit" room.

AmorphousGamer wrote:Microtransactions can be done well. DOTA 2 did them well.
League of Legends was a solid "Meh." in the microtransactions category.
And then there's most mobile games, who can just go sit in the corner of the "shit" room.

Pretty much this, yeah. Hopefully mobile games will increase in quality too. Are you guys familiar with Oceanhorn? A Zelda-like adventure game about a guy with a sword, a shield and a boat, 9$ for the whole game with no micro-Ts at all.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id708196645?mt=8
http://oceanhorn.blogspot.fi/

That's last November and their blog was created on Nov 2011, so if it inspired a new wave of high-quality high-price mobile games, we'll likely see that in a year or three.

If I may weigh in here on cosmetic micro-transactions.
Much as the same way an alcoholic hates alcohol, I hate these things. It encourages monogaming, which is poisonous to the industry, alá the way monopoly hurts real world economies.
I used to do a lot of TF2 trading, after sinking significant amounts into the cosmetics. Unusuals, high tier stranges, the works, and as I was building my sets, the result was even evident within the game itself.
I began with a soldier unusual, and strange rocket launcher. And ALL I played was soldier. Every time I went to play another class, I would pause for a moment and go 'eh...well. I did spend 30 bucks on my soldier-- I really should play him.' Other classes went unplayed until they were appropriately hatted and weaponed (with cosmetic 'strange' weapons).
And then after I had one for every class - sure, I was liberated within TF2, but I still felt guilty playing any other games.
I know this doesn't happen to everyone, but I've had friends even lately tell me they don't want to use a certain weapon on CS, because they don't have a skin (or a stattrak if they're a little more well off). So it's obviously some sort of trend, and something we should consider too.

We have a WINNAH

Phoenixwarrior141 wrote:We have a WINNAH

Would you stop that. Not only do you jump the gun, but you cheapen the idea of discussion.

APsychonaut wrote:If I may weigh in here on cosmetic micro-transactions.
Much as the same way an alcoholic hates alcohol, I hate these things. It encourages monogaming, which is poisonous to the industry, alá the way monopoly hurts real world economies.

What exactly do you mean by monogaming? Is it what happens when a person who keeps playing one game because he spent money on it, or is it what happens when a person keeps playing in a very specific inside one game so he can show whatever it is he spent his money on?

The first is called "customer retention", and it's nothing new, or unique to micro-transactions.

The second might be a new feature. Game mechanics causing players to favour specialization, in addition to and compatible with the usual specialization that happens due to player preferences. That could become a problem.

However, there are ways to work around that. I mean, TF2 and CS are both very specific games - what you buy is class-specific or encourages a certain type of gameplay, in a game where you are rather free to choose what you want to play with. They also have only a limited amount of player custimization without the unlockables. I mean, TF2 classes are superbly designed and play extremely differently from each other, but even in small games there will likely be 1-3 others playing the same class. If you want to stand out, the unlockable weapons or hats are pretty much the only way to stand out. In a game with more options, I think unlockables will be less important.

In an MMO, two characters of the same class can look totally different.

Similarly, in League of Legends (this probably applies to DotA2), two characters fulfilling the same role can have totally different visuals and even gameplay, AND there are less people in a singl match, AND the team metagame encourages you to practice several different character archetypes , AND there's only ever a maximum of one other player with the same character and he's on the opposing team so you easily view him as your personal nemesis.
Since there are so many more ways to stand out, unlockables are less important for separating you from the masses. They're more a mark of specialization. "This is my main character, look out!" If you can't play that character, you'll often get disparaging remarks - "omg has skin but can't play X".

Grayswandir wrote:

Phoenixwarrior141 wrote:We have a WINNAH

Would you stop that. Not only do you jump the gun, but you cheapen the idea of discussion.

If the world was so serious, I would not have started this thread,

Well, shit...

Edit: Second discussion is up.

GO TO THE NEW ONE

:viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25759