EA’s future games will all feature microtransactions

@50 Haha, wish I could take credit for it, but that’s a favourite phrase of http://www.theregister.co.uk/ along with other delightful ones as pay-by-bonk and such

it sucks to be a gamer these days, doesnt it?

Maybe I can’t change it JM. And really I am not on a crusade to change it. I am just excersing my rights to complain. Maybe in the long run nothing changes. but that doesn’t mean I have to shut up and paint a smile on my face. It also doesn’t mean that I will continue to support EA, MS or whomever else thinks I am a mindless wallet for the plucking.

One of the funny things about this industry is that fortunes can change over night in the blink of an eye. While I, and others, enjoy EA games. We don’t need them to survive. Or even need them to be a gamer. EA games on the other hand, absolutly need us as consumers. Collectivly we have real clout. Will people stand united?

No, not likly. But they will bitch and complain. Having an impact or not isn’t so much the point. People vent. Trying to stop people from venting would be as fruitless an adventure as one gamer trying to change the industry.

Clearly I am not alone, and clearly these actions and tid bits are upseting. You can’t stand in the face of that. Can’t tell people they have no right or cause to be upset, and can’t expect them to not vent about it.

I fucking hate gamers. Everyone moans about it, but when the time comes everyone will buy the games anyway.

If no one buys the games they’ll stop doing it.

But that’s never gonna happen.

@53 “but that doesn’t mean I have to shut up and paint a smile on my face.”

“You can’t stand in the face of that. Can’t tell people they have no right or cause to be upset, and can’t expect them to not vent about it.”

You’re right about that. But you are absolutely wrong in your repeated implications that I have been doing this. Just as you were when you made the same assertions yesterday.

On the contrary, I have been engagind directly with people and furthering the discussion. I have backed up my perspective with data and evidence – not just in this topic but in yesterdays. At no time have I ever tried to stifle this debate or its participants.

“Collectivly we have real clout.”

We’re in agreement then.

“Will people stand united?”

No. Because not enough people care to make any meaningful difference.

@54 That’s a bit strong but its certainly succinct.

JM

@54 I wait and buy the games I bought Battlefield 3 for $9.95 at a SEARS in the discount bin cause no one buys games from there So yea fuck E.A. and their game passes

Felt great I was playing their product and using their online servers for just $10. It made the playing experience that much more enjoyable….ahhh I love fucking over big corporations like E.A.

I thought I would leave this here:

The article there is the same as here.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-02-27-all-future-ea-games-to-feature-microtransactions#comments

But, the response from someone like this was worth noting. I thought.

Michael Levine
President

PILEATED PICTURES

Top Comment First off, I never post here, like …ever. I am an industry veteran of over 20 years and worked at LucasArts “back in the day” on everything from MI2, X-Wing, Dark Forces, Full Throttle, The Dig and many more.
I applaud you all for speaking up about this. Funny, as I don’t see a single post saying “Oh boy, micro-transactions! Yay, this is what I have been waiting for!”
This has been a sore spot for me as of late. Having broken from AAA games years ago to make online games and now fully in mobile, my team has been living in the F2P world for longer than most. Let me be clear before I say what I am about to say – and that is, I have no gripe with the concept of Free. None whatsoever. I also don’t have a problem with micro-transactions, when done in a way that is not annoying or obtrusive to the player or game. However I now strongly feel this current flavor of F2P, is basically like a cancer. Its grip, driven by greed, is spreading like wildfire to all forms of games. And here is the funny thing – when you talk to almost any game designer – they agree with me on everything I am saying here. This is NOT being driven by creativity, which drove this industry for decades – this is being driven by SUITS, who are NOT thinking long term. I wish people and companies would wake up!! But I admit, its a temptation hard to resist. We do have F2P apps in the app store. But what this has taught me, is it’s bad on every level – it’s bad for games, its bad for players and its going to be bad for business. You can already argue it is. Look at Cliff B’s article. Listen to what people were saying at DICE. This industry is facing a massive crisis. Consoles are in trouble. For every one Clash of Clans on mobile, there are 1000 games making only pennies a day.

This current flavor of F2P, is not even about game design. Don’t believe anyone who tells you it is. It’s about psychological manipulation. It’s about pushing people to their edge – to the point where they are just frustrated enough to think about buying something, but not enough to hate the game/publisher/developer. And that is a very fine line. (And yes I am generalizing, there are of course a few bright lights out there but they are becoming harder and harder to find). F2P, in its popular incarnation, completely fundamentally changes the progression and flow of a game. And lets be real, most mobile games are THRILLED if they convert 3% of their players to someone who pays. A hardcore console game – maybe 5%? I am not sure but its not more than that I would bet either. So what are we doing? We are educating a generation that games should be FREE. And we are designing games to MILK money from those dumb enough to pay. We focus in on these “whales” and every ounce of effort goes into getting them to pay us more, and more and more …. . These people are not the most into the game per se – they are the ones weak enough or have enough income to give into buying items rather than “really playing”.
And here is the truly sad part – I don’t see any going back. This is similar to what happened to the music industry – but that was driven by technology. What is this driven by? Crap – we didnt have to do this. Looking at Mobile, where my company, HappyGiant is focused – didn’t Angry Birds and Where’s My Water teach people you can make money on paid games still? What about The Room or TellTale’s The Walking Dead series? You can still make money on paid apps. Or do Free in different ways, like League of Legends, where it doesnt affect the gameplay (as much at least).
Do people agree with me? I am curious to hear what others think. Let the hate posts begin (joking, I think most will agree. The ones who don’t – ask em where they work!!)
Well — I just wanted to get this off my chest. Thanks for listening! (-:
–Mike
[link url=""]www.happygiant.com[/link]