Why are gamers accepting micro transactions in Triple A games ?

TeaL3af · 14時間前

I think it's more that most gamers are willing to tolerate them if they don't totally ruin the game, rather than "accepting" them.

I hate that shit, but I'm not going to miss out on a game I want to play just to make a point.

Pitas · 15時間前

I feel part of it might be a shift in generational habits and what people have generally grown up with.

I've seen old subscription MMO's fade into Free to play (F2P) and mobile games just explode and with that, a lot of new consumers being brought to market, passively accepting these transactions as the default. I don't agree with the specific deus ex transactions from a moral or design stand point. However, I can understand that it may have not have been the most flexible decision made by square enix/eidos with the publisher probably asking how the game will provide better engagement metrics among as large an audience as possible and this being the answer as some users do just want a more relaxed game and being able to buy praxis certainly aids this goal.

entangledvyne · 15時間前

I'm assuming it's 1% of gamers spending 99% of the money on microtransactions. Or at least that's how it works in f2p games. No matter how much the majority of gamers don't care for microtransactions it doesn't make business sense not to have them.

I agree with you though. It seems shitty to say the least. Guess I can sympathize with having the gaming industry profitable and healthy though.

Swinns · 14時間前

It also has to do with the shifting to games as a service, non gameplay effecting micro transactions(cosmetics)allow devs to not fragment the player base with map dlc and instead give all extra maps and features out to everyone for free increasing the lifespan of a multiplayer game.

Look at halo 5, because of the req system we have gotten a LOT of free stuff and most of my friends haven't spent a penny over the original cost of the game. It allows the community to not be split everytime a $10-$15 dlc map pack comes out. And it encouraged 343 to build new systems to acomadate new reqs. Without it I doubt I would be rocking JORGES armor from halo reach.

iamclippingerror · 14時間前

I don't think a lot of us are if we simply don't use them, it's those who are paying for them that accept them

ChaoticGonzo · 12時間前

So many of us may remember the days when 8 bit and 16 bit games were "full price" at 60$ and amounted to little more than 8 hours of playtime without nearly the enormous production value of today's games. As an adult with a salary, a career and a family, the amount of entertainment offered for "full price" from a game, assuming I didn't buy it used or on a steam sale, is enormous. I come close to 60$ going to the movies with a small family these days, guess which activity I'm more likely cut out in the future if popcorn is the equivalent to "microtransactions" in a game? Most micro transactions don't seem to affect the game but seem to offer shortcuts and little extra bits to get out of your game, if that does you, great, and if supports a game you like, even better. If we really paid full price for what has been the "industry" standard MSRP for most games today, we'd probably be paying closer to 100$+ per game. As long as I'm not getting bombarded by ads within a game that break immersion or being FORCED to use a micro transaction rather than it being just an "option" then it doesn't bother me.

BLACKOUT-MK2 · 14時間前

It's less that I accept them and more that I tolerate it, at least assuming they don't affect the speed at which you progress in an attempt to strongarm you into buying them. Ultimately, we've been seeing microtransactions for years now even in AAA, just like pre-order bonuses and day one DLC and all that nonsense.

It's just a fact that they're not going away, and I don't want to miss out on a fun game just because someone else can play on 'Super Duper Easy' mode because they put down some extra money.

I don't like it as a practice, but there are so many practices that are sneered at by gamers these days (rightfully so) that if you shun every game that incorporates them then you just end up missing out on a ton of otherwise enjoyable experiences.

Mista_Wong · 14時間前

As long as it doesn't negatively impact the game then it's fine. If someone wants to pay money to rush through a game then let them do it.

HolyDekuTree · 14時間前

I think we don't really have a choice wether we accept it or we don't. There are always people buying stuff just because they dig it and think it's cool. Therefore it would take way to much to force the devs to cut that @!?* with the microtransactions.

B_Rhino · 13時間前

There's no "Full price" for games. If anything the 'real' price is more than $60 and people who buy microtransactions and DLC subsidize the cost for the rest of us.

Games cost millions upon millions to make, and sometimes they flop, so publishers have to alleviate that risk.

Gregoric399 · 13時間前

Well you said it yourself - it's a low effect on the game.

You can't just say all microtransactions are wrong or all microtransactions are okay just in principle - there are other things to take into consideration.

If people want to pay money to break the game for themselves then let them. Its their experience their potentially ruining.

Games are cheaper than they've ever been to buy and more expensive than ever to make. Something has got to give somewhere and publishers want to make money (above all).

I'd never buy any of the things in deus ex but why should I care if someone else wants to? It's a single player game and it does not affect me.

zurnout · 13時間前

Not everyone is as ideological about games as you are. People see a game they want they buy it. People see a gun in game that they want and it costs real money and they buy it. To many people gaming is about having fun, not something to be serious about.

ElricTheEmperor · 7時間前

The issue that no one wants to talk about is AAA game production has gotten incredibly expensive and due to how over saturated the market is right now it's also incredibly risky from a financial standpoint, but everyone will get pissed if they raise the price of the game to $70 or $80 game. So they need to add paid DLC and other microtransactions to make up that cost. It also gives devs job security. Lots of times devs are laid off at the end of production, and while this still happens a lot, having a lot of paid DLC allows companies to keep lots of devs around and give them something to work on until the company decides to start production on another game.

riverae512 · 13時間前

Because the flipside is every games price going up. Games have gotten more expensive to produce but not risen in price.

AWhiteBocs · 4時間前

As an active game developer, having shipped multiple AAA titles - it's all about the cost of development and still shipping a game for $60. Period.

People would really lose their mind if developers shipped their game with a price tag that would actually cover the cost of development based on average units sold. You'd see games being sold, for a baseline price, of something closer to $80-$100 a piece.

Before someone brings up CDPR's phenomenon in the Witcher 3 - that must have been the single most efficient dev cycle. Managing to make a profit off a game that must have had an insane amount of work put into it, is nothing short of incredible.

wasteoftime2 · 8時間前

Because it's usually inconsequential items that don't make a difference and people accept that people need to make money.

Also games are largely more expensive than ever to make nowadays and adjusting for inflation, cheaper at full price than ever.

Maek-ju · 3時間前

Because I see it as a consumer issue more than a publisher issue.

For me, I have no problem ignoring these microtransactions. I don't even feel any desire to visit the Store page.

If enough gamers were willing to ignore these microtransactions, companies wouldn't do them. But enough do them to make these worth the profit vs. the blowback.

If the consumers are willing to throw money at publishers for shitty things like this, then I'm not going to waste time and energy soap boxing about it. I'm just going to play my game, as long as the game isn't balanced around microtransactions.

Which Deus Ex isn't.

Now people whine about it being a slippery slope, but the thing is games have already went down that slope and have not recovered (unless they did a major overhaul of their system in favor of consumers). So I think the examples already exist out there to tell publishers that this is the line: do not make microtransactions actually affect the player's experience, unless they choose to let it.

MatterOfTrust · 12時間前

I don't accept micro transactions in single player buy2play games. But I also still want to play said games (especially something like Deus Ex). So, the only option for me to express my opinion is not to buy anything offered in the in-game cash shop. Hopefully, if enough people ignore the offers, it'll reflect on games in the future.

Dr_Ifto · 10時間前

Why not? Its the way the market is going. If they dont nickle and dime us, the market is going to go away. Do you want that? 60$ is not enough to recoup the cost of game development these days.

Diknak · 9時間前

Is the DLC free?
Is it F2P?
Does it run on dedicated servers?

If they are all "no", then I don't think it's justified. I assume Deus Ex is like the others where they aren't online or anything and they are just single player campaigns. Yeah, there shouldn't be microtransactions in there; same with games like Tomb Raider.

Soloyolo · 9時間前

Because I'm a grown ass man that can evaluate whether I want to buy whatever they're selling?

We all get it, but if you don't want it don't purchase the game, out just not buy into the practice.

Magnon · 7時間前

Games cost the same as they did 10 years ago meanwhile cost of producing games is massively higher. Something has to give.

higmage · 5時間前

I, for one, wish more games had options for DLC like "$0.99 for five levels of experience" or hard to find shit. I don't have a ton of time to game anymore, and certainly not enough time to grind. Many times I've gotten stuck in a game and wished I could pay a few bucks to instantly gain a few levels and get passed the stage I was stuck in. Few games have this.

bricardo · 5時間前

I have never bough anything of microtransaction. Not once. Only games, and dlc. Never even bought a playstation theme.

So, not all of us are buying into it. I think its the younger ones that don't really know the value of money who buy into it. And rich morons who don't care about the value of money, and enjoy throwing it down the toilet.

Mr_Smooooth · 3時間前

Still not acceptable, at least not to me. Is Deus Ex, Mankind Divided a good game? I'll never know because I adamantly refuse to pay any money upfront for a game to be nickle and dimed with micro-transactions after the fact. This is the same reason I'll never own Overwatch.

Micro-Transactions is a paid game is shitty, it is unacceptable at least in my eyes, and is not something to be tolerated. It's one thing to offer DLC or expansion packs, but this is a whole different and much more dangerous beast.

predalien33 · 2時間前

I completely agree with you OP. With that said I have never pre-ordered a game and cannot remember the last time I spent full price on a game.

_E6qAhr5IxhgHwWjZQ- · 1時間前

It is completely unacceptable. It's the reason I still haven't played the last DeadSpace. I don't play games that do this.

drupido · 31分前

"Don't just boo, VOTE (with your wallet!)" we, as gamers, should stop bitching and start doing something about it. If you let it happen, or will happen.

zetaspawn · 15時間前

It's accepted because it doesn't hurt me if they include it, I have zero interest in them, but someone else might want them. I'm totally okay with someone being able to experience it in the way they choose. I gain nothing from it existing, but I don't lose anything from it either. if it makes someone happier to pay 20 bucks to make themselves overpowered, More power to them. Who am I to tell a company that they aren't allowed to cater to the kind of customer interested in that experience and willing to pay for it?

Norskov · 14時間前

I just dont care about it. It's not a feature I'm going to use, so it wont affect me. Some people might even enjoy, so good for them.

earwig20 · 13時間前

I'd love to say I don't buy games with microtransactions, especially pay-to-win features on principle.

But I love Deus Ex so I got it all the same.

To be honest I'm ~5 hours in and haven't noticed them. I only heard about them from a review and this post.

If they're this subtle and not in your face that's alright, but I'd rather these things were cosmetic only.

Meta0X · 11時間前

Oh, man... I might get a lot of shit for this, but here it goes.

I used to be like you. I was vehemently against microtransactions in full priced games. I was furious when they were added to Destiny. I actually stopped playing because of it.

But over the past year, I've had a lot of scenarios really mellow me out, and after deciding to do a little research, I came to a conclusion:

On average, games cost way less for the consumers and a fuckton more for the creators.

Think about it. Barring special and collector's editions, AAA gaming has consistently stayed at the 60$ mark since around the release of the Xbox 360. It has not risen to account for inflation, nor has it risen to account for the ever increasing cost of development.

It is not the gullibility of the consumer that has led to season passes, or DLC, or microtransactions, but the necessity to make more money to account for the rising cost of developing games with crazy graphics and complex gameplay.

This has led to some very, very shitty things. Yearly releases, stale sequels, games that live primarily off of said DLC/season passes/microtransactions.

But when you have a game that has them in there in a very harmless and unintrusive way (Mankind Divided, Overwatch, Destiny, etc.) that has also proven to be very high quality, maybe don't worry too much about evil business practices.

These things aren't inherently bad. The Fallout 4 season pass has delivered a great amount of content. The two bits of paid DLC for Witcher 3 were amazing and packed to bursting with content. The microtransactions in Overwatch and Destiny are very easy to ignore.

I'd rather have these things then to have base games start to cost 100$.

nullmiah · 10時間前

Games cost a lot of money and time to make. Each game is also a very risky investment. The cost of games has stayed the same for over a decade now ($60). Before that, they stayed constant for close to another decade ($50). Before that, the prices were all over the place (from $30 to $80). There has been price increases in everything since then. $50 in 1988 would be $101.71 in 2016. So even without taking into account the massive increase in development and marketing costs, video games are now a lot cheaper than they used to be.

Ubisoft stated in 2008: "PS3/Xbox 360/PC titles averaging 12 million to 18 million euros ($18.8m-$28.2m) to create for all 3 SKUs". They are even more expensive now and this cost doesn't include marking costs. That can add $30m or more.

CD Projekt has stated that the cost for developing and marketing The Witcher 3 was $81m. And this game was a massive success. Most games are not a massive success.

Let's do some math:

Witcher 3 cost: $81,000,000 / $60 (per game) = They need to sale 1.35m copies just to break even (and this doesn't include the costs of printing and distributing discs and making deals with retailers to shelve their products).

Ubisoft LastGen (PS3/XBOX360/PC) game cost: $28.2m (development) + $30m (marketing) = $58.2m / $60 (per game) = They must sale 970,000 copies to break even. They do not average selling that many games.

From here, there are 2 options:

Sale the game for more than $60
Come up with other options to increase the amount of revenue without raising the initial game cost. You also have to do it in a way that will not negatively affect game sales!

Do you have another idea for all these companies to keep making money?

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