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Game Industry

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Level 27
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So through the years there is a lot of new bullshit in gaming like;

Paying for DLC that adds content while you already pay 50 of whatever currency in most local stores. Some content is not worth it though like fancy things, but for example in DiRT3 you can pay for series of tracks... wtf!

Every goddamn game needs to have his own marketplace thingy, origin for battlefield 3, diablo III requires constant internet connection just like starcraft 2, left 4 dead and all others games from valve are locked into steam so you cannot sell them second-hand. Offcourse also microsoft with their GFWL. And on top of that the creators of RAGE are somehow creating a system that will block half of the content of their game when it is sold second-hand.

Lately a lot of game developers also seem to dissapoint... where you would expect old gameplay with just new features being added the creators suddenly seem to revamp a whole game that worked out perfectly in the first place! C&C4 for example... Or how about CoD where in UO (United Offensive) you had big maps and alot of freedom and suddenly it changed into a only-infantry kind of thing with thights spaces. Or Red Faction for that matter, which was first a free-roaming game bent on destruction has now become a boring linear shooter with well... destruction... but without freedom?

It seems like the whole nerdy underground has been taken over by the masses. And where the masses go cash has to flow so they make all kinds of systems to get our money. But don't think that i'm nagging about that, this is not a money issue it's about freedom. Back in the old days (no i'm not that old!!) you could go the store and buy a game (which were even to overpriced then but at least it was FUN!) and then have all kinds of free downloadble stuff they had made for fun or download a user-made mod.

Yes, even starcraft II btw... sucks for modding because the whole system that blizzard is so proud of makes new maps do not stand a chance unless they stand out and promote themselves.

Am i just nostalgic, dumb or have i become more of a critic when playing a game? I feel like someone started to build walls around their games and because of that everyone else is forced to do that too.

ALSO TAKE IN CONCERN THE LATEST DIABLO III THING!!!
 
Level 34
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The DLC gets to me. Bioware releases games and DLC for it together. The point of DLC is to add things after the game has already been released, not rip people off by not including things in the game. Money grabbing dicks.
 
Level 27
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Exactly it's really not like they make that shit afterwards.

Developers are slowly taking away our freedom, and the less we do about it the more they are going to come up with.

The games i last bought for PC were, BLUR, Shift 2: Unleashed and DiRT 3. All of them have an login system, but BLUR online on PC is probably dead compared to Xbox (maybe also there i don't know) and Shift 2: Unleashed did not work with my steering wheel while it's a pretty new steering wheel. DiRT 3 is the only one i didn't sell but it still has DLC crap on GFWL. I'm lucky i buy it cheaper than for 50.

The only game i am wiling to pay 50 euros for at the moment is The Witcher 2.
 
Level 14
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Thing is in the old days everything was straight-up. You bought the game, you received the game and later you would download patches which would fix and balance the game.

Now-a-days.... it's like you said. Every company tries to make you pay extra besides already paying for the game itself. And like Gilles said, some companies do not just add new content on their DLC.... it was content created before the release date.... but they decided to make it into a DLC and charge separetly for it. I believe TotalBiscuit talks a lot about DLC on his Youtube channel.

But somehow, companies have understood that in most casses, it's just better to ask less money from their customore but more often. For example, it's better to make a full game now which sells for 50 euro, and than release numerous DLCs for 5 euro a piece (i dont know the actual pricings...but it's just an example) rather than release a full 50 euro game now, and than release an expansion pack for 30 euro after 14 months.

The problem really happens, when a company just sells a meidium game full priced, and than through DLC that game gets better, in a significant way.

Or when they have the full game in front of them, and than they say "Yeah, this thing over here which is done already and is planned to be in the full release... remove it and make it a DLC".
 
Level 22
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Lately a lot of game developers also seem to dissapoint... where you would expect old gameplay with just new features being added the creators suddenly seem to revamp a whole game that worked out perfectly in the first place!

Well, they can't please everyone. There are plenty of people who keep whining about how some developers always do the exact same thing for each game. And when developers revamp their games, you'll have other people whining about how they shouldn't fix what ain't broken.

The DLC bothers me as well (most of the time), but there have been other problems in the past as well. People only remember the good stuff. So, yeah, I would say partly nostalgic. ;P
 
Level 14
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They aren't aiming to please customers.

They are aiming to get their money. And the way they go about it is rather shitty if you ask me.

I've been observing games and gaming companies. We had Blizzard at one point, who were making all these amazing games filled with good graphics, with good stories, good cinematics. But then they released SC2, which does have good graphics, but the story and cinnmatics... please... they do not compare to either SC1 or Wc2, Wc3. Point is Blizzard choose to make SC2 more comercial, to increase sales and thus make more money.
What I am trying to proove is that, for example, Blizzard realised that they can sell a game if it has good enough graphics and gameplay, and that they can forget about an epic story, and the immersive factor for the player. Thus prooves that Blizzard, who for me untill SC2 was one of the companies who I thought gave a damn about actually making epic games in all aspects, that they were doing epic games because at the time there was no alternative to better market your game. Now, there are tons of ways, they already have a fan base which is growing without them strugling much, so they stopped in making masterfull games, and now are just making comercial games.
 
Level 22
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Yeah, some developers become more mainstream, but you'll have tons of smaller developers taking their place; like Wolfire Games, Housemarque, Thatgamecompany, etc. There have always been mainstream and indie developers, and it'll always be that way. Same goes for movies and music. So I don't really see the problem here (well, besides the point that there will probably never be a Warcraft IV :p).

I also think Blizzard has always been more on the mainstream side though (not saying that's a bad thing).
 
Level 34
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I pretty much stopped buying games, they're all shit now.
Now i can only find the joy in older games and indie-games sadly.
I've been wondering if games have gotten worse, or I'm just getting harder to please. Either way, I sure am interested in a lot less games these days.
 
Level 19
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At least Blizzard did say that Starcraft II could still be improved, so yeah we could tell them some stuff to focus on and they'd definitely fix it if it was approvable.
After all, they did make three of the most awesome games I've ever seen, they could use some extra help to improve them as well, considering the Starcraft II editor's improved and you can 'sell' the games, why not?
 
Level 24
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@Gilles:
Well i think the problem lies in the fact that the new generation of gamers are impatient and alot of money. Most singleplayer campaigns these days don't last longer than 5 hours, because they know gamers rarely finish games that last longer. I've even had trouble myself finishing several games because i found them pretty boring (GoW, DX:HR, GTA4). I think the quality of games are dropping because of the fact that gamers got more money in their pockets now to spend on games. The market is growing wider and so there will be new audiences to please. Thus the games will be shaped according to that audience.
 
Level 34
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I haven't played either yet, but HR doesn't really interest me at all. I was pretty disappointed with the trailers.
 
SC2 will get better, but at the cost of more money for the consumers...

WoW also, you buy the game, buy a subscription per month... (is the expansions also sold? or free for those who already own a copy of the original?)

and yeah, most games are released with little content then DLCs go for sale...

another game which proves to be pretty much money making racket would be EA's Sims3... the original has only 1 town (then extra contents are downloadable thru EA's shop)... then there comes the numerous expansions which you will also need to buy separately... and a lot of the sold contents need some of the expansions in order to work...

I haven't played any other EA games so I'm not sure about the others...
 
Level 27
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I actually think that Deus Ex was one of the way better games. The engine looked nice but wasn't too heavy on my pc and the overall feel was just right. Althought it did remind me of alpha protocol alot they're probably just alot in the same genre...

They should make an MMO with the DE:HR engine as a base that would be awesome. and this shooter-rpg thing actually works.. plus the time it takes is way longer than other games. Then again it is offcourse an rpg and those take longer to complete in general...
 
Level 14
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SC2 will get better, but at the cost of more money for the consumers...

WoW also, you buy the game, buy a subscription per month... (is the expansions also sold? or free for those who already own a copy of the original?)

and yeah, most games are released with little content then DLCs go for sale...

another game which proves to be pretty much money making racket would be EA's Sims3... the original has only 1 town (then extra contents are downloadable thru EA's shop)... then there comes the numerous expansions which you will also need to buy separately... and a lot of the sold contents need some of the expansions in order to work...

I haven't played any other EA games so I'm not sure about the others...

That's just how the Sims has always been. Not every expansion pack is worth buying, but you can sort out which expansion you want and which you don't.

For example I buy the base game, and then I can buy Pets (which introduces pets), Seasons (which introduces season) and World Adventures (which introduces holiday destinations), and ignore other EPs I don't like. I think this is a fair trade.

As for WoW, you need to buy every expansion. So it's base game+expansion+monthly subscription. I think to buy everything from 0 and pay for 1 year, I think you reach 100 euro easy.

If you guys want a game which is sold old school. Then that would be Torchlight 2. It's a HackNSlash game made by the guys who created Diablo1 and 2. It will feature multiplayer through internet and LAN, an Editor so you can mod it, singleplayer, and they said it won't have any Real Money Auction House, or any ingame benefits sold, neither customization benefits. It's quite awkward if you ask me, considering how games are sold these days. And the game is only 20-30$ if I'm not mistaken.
 
Right now, I got Town stuff for TS3, not so good... I really want to try out Night Life though, for the chance of having a vampire sim...

Torchlight II isn't out yet though... I played Torchlight I, and its really cool... the modding is pretty fine too... I just really felt that the characters are a bit lacking, and the fact that you're stuck with just one town (which is not the case on II anymore)... and Runic Games said that the retail price would be 19.99 USD...
 
Level 14
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Concerning the Sims, you should really aim at the most important EPs.

Town Stuff is not an expansion pack, it's a stuff pack. EPs and SPs are released once every 6 months with 3 months between them. SO its EP --3 months--> SP --3 months--> EP, and so on.

If you like TS3 you should check here and here, and my personal favorites here and here.


As far as Torchlight goes, well, I liked it actually. It also was cheaper then other games so the price was fair. The first release of Torchlight was more of a benchmark. They made a smaller product, made it function, and sold it. Once they reached this benchmark, they continued by working on TL2 which I think is the product they were aiming for.

TL1 was just for advertisement mostly, and make some money too.

I eagerly await Torchlight 2.
 
Level 5
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I think George Harrison says it best: "I don't want to leave her now, you know I believe and how." Sadly that's turned into a metaphor for everything.
 
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