Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 2:26 pm
Psychopath defends EA.
Wrong. Just fucking wrong on every single level that matters. I can Google and rattle off a list of a thousand games that would be labeled "quality" that cost under $1M.
Because no other programmers live anywhere else in the world and game development can only be done in the the most expensive cities.
You're pissed that EA's got a bad rep or that Valve has a good one? Which is it? Is it Valve's fault that EA's biz decisions and PR surrounding them make Valve look positively genius by comparison?
So if microtransactions let other people twink in a competitive multiplayer environment and I take offense to that, your response is, "Go fuck yourself and play another game." Do you let people get an extra card in draw poker if they chip in another $10 to the pot? Once you start letting cash compensate for skill, you turn off lots of players that jump in the game world specifically to test their skill, not their fucking credit limit.
This analogy isn't even in the fucking ballpark. WoW is a MMOG. It's hard to prevent "cash for twinks" when your in-game currency has exchange rates comparable to real, physical bank notes from actual countries. Shit like Madden NFL 20XX doesn't need "pay $5 to access the premium teams" feature.
When I talk about nostalgia for the "good ol' days," the act of pumping quarters into a machine is not included. My living room != video arcade.
To produce a high quality game it takes tens of millions of dollars, and when you add in marketing that can get up to 100+ million.
Wrong. Just fucking wrong on every single level that matters. I can Google and rattle off a list of a thousand games that would be labeled "quality" that cost under $1M.
Another factor to consider is the fact that many game development studios are in places like the San Francisco bay area, where the cost of living is extraordinarily high.
Because no other programmers live anywhere else in the world and game development can only be done in the the most expensive cities.
I’m going to come right out and say it. I’m tired of EA being seen as “the bad guy.” I think it’s bullshit that EA has the “scumbag EA” memes on Reddit and that Good Guy Valve can Do No Wrong.
You're pissed that EA's got a bad rep or that Valve has a good one? Which is it? Is it Valve's fault that EA's biz decisions and PR surrounding them make Valve look positively genius by comparison?
If you don’t like EA, don’t buy their games. If you don’t like their microtransactions, don’t spend money on them. It’s that simple. EA has many smart people working for them (Hi, Frank, JR, and Patrick!) and they wouldn’t attempt these things if they didn’t work. Turns out, they do. I assure you there are teams of analysts studying the numbers behind consumer behavior over there that are studying how you, the gamer, spends his hard earned cash.
So if microtransactions let other people twink in a competitive multiplayer environment and I take offense to that, your response is, "Go fuck yourself and play another game." Do you let people get an extra card in draw poker if they chip in another $10 to the pot? Once you start letting cash compensate for skill, you turn off lots of players that jump in the game world specifically to test their skill, not their fucking credit limit.
No one seemed too upset at Blizzard when you could buy a pet in World of Warcraft – a game that you had to buy that was charging a monthly fee. (How dare console games have steady cycles of buyable DLC!)
This analogy isn't even in the fucking ballpark. WoW is a MMOG. It's hard to prevent "cash for twinks" when your in-game currency has exchange rates comparable to real, physical bank notes from actual countries. Shit like Madden NFL 20XX doesn't need "pay $5 to access the premium teams" feature.
People like to act like we should go back to “the good ol’ days” before microtransactions but they forget that arcades were the original change munchers. Those games were designed to make you lose so that you had to keep spending money on them. Ask any of the old Midway vets about their design techniques. The second to last boss in Mortal Kombat 2 was harder than the last boss, because when you see the last boss that’s sometimes enough for a gamer.
When I talk about nostalgia for the "good ol' days," the act of pumping quarters into a machine is not included. My living room != video arcade.
