Are youtube drama creators killing gaming?

House

House

House

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The YouTube drama of the week cycle seems to have gone into overdrive this last couple of months.

Loot boxes being the latest cause of the week, with a side helping of season passes and the usual stuff.

How much does this negatively effect game sales?

I was talking to a friend from Xbox live last night and he was 100% "I'm not buying any games this year they are all trying to rip me off with loot boxes". He wouldn't listen to 3 other people in the party who have played the games in question, telling us we were "part of the problem" for buying games that were "designed to milk us like the fools we are".

Ok so this guy thinks the moon landings are fakes and the global Illuminati control world finance but hes not the only one expressing this sort of opinion.

Now while i do see the issue of loot boxes I really don't think its a bad as the YouTube hate brigade are making out.

Forza 7 and Shadow of war are not unplayable if you don't pay out for micro transactions, but if you listen to plenty of YouTubers the corporate greed is ruining gaming (PS donate to my pateron while i rant).
I wonder how many of them have played enough SoW or Forza 7 to accurately make that call?
I'm not going to deny myself playing 2 very good games cause they have loot boxes in them, they have zero impact in my enjoyment.

Starwars Battlefront 2? I have my concerns it appears by far the most toxic version but I will play my 10 hrs of EA Access trial and then make my own decision, my decision will not be made by some faux rage from a YouTuber after clicks.

One of them was going on and on recently about his switch and Zelda after making a show of "cancelling his preorder" cause it had some DLC practice he didn't like before it was released, people just don't seem to realise its all a show.

These people are stoking the fires of controversy purely for their own gain and people worked out some time ago, bad reviews get clicks, angry news reaction gets clicks.

YouTube content from anyone with half a subscriber base has become unreliable its either ranting BS or its a sponsored "Influencer" for EA or some other company.
 
Wouldn't say they're killing it but they're having a huge impact on the way their followers think, you hear many, many people now just reiterating what they've heard their subscribed YouTuber telling them, don't get me wrong there's YouTuber's out there who are helping the scene, but drama creates money and seemingly being as stupid as you possibly can, KSI for example, content isn't up there with the best, neither is his editing and personality wise seems a bit of a pleb but because he appeals to millions of fifa kids he's had massive success.
 
There are going to be some Youtubers whose manufactured drama is having a negative impact on gaming but the developers/publishers are having just as bad an impact with the direction a lot are heading these days :s
 
I actually think it's healthy that there's a visible public venue where these sorts of business decisions are put into the spotlight. The microtransaction model is really quite questionable in a AAA game released by a big publisher...these games are released at a normal premium price with DLC top ups, and if there's no objection to it then this is the way gaming will go. Whilst loot boxes/microtransactions might not be game breaking, there's a place for them (generally in the free to play model) and the recent furore is justified in my opinion and any impact should make these companies take notice.

Will these video's have an impact? Unlikely in the sense that people always want shiny new things irrespective of what they say (and especially if their friends have them) but these negative reviews are important if the end user/gamer still wants to have some input into the industry.
 
Developers need to stop doing stuff that gives reviewers something to complain about if they don't want to kill gaming, personally I feel that if they're going to include a shed load of paid DLC they should reduce the initial cost of the game, ordinarily the content being sold as DLC would be included in the game you paid £40-50 for.
 
x-st said:
I actually think it's healthy that there's a visible public venue where these sorts of business decisions are put into the spotlight. The microtransaction model is really quite questionable in a AAA game released by a big publisher...these games are released at a normal premium price with DLC top ups, and if there's no objection to it then this is the way gaming will go. Whilst loot boxes/microtransactions might not be game breaking, there's a place for them (generally in the free to play model) and the recent furore is justified in my opinion and any impact should make these companies take notice.

Will these video's have an impact? Unlikely in the sense that people always want shiny new things irrespective of what they say (and especially if their friends have them) but these negative reviews are important if the end user/gamer still wants to have some input into the industry.
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I was thinking of Quake Champions.

 
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That's my problem with things. Forza for example, let's just release the game, charge £50+ for it and then charge even more on top for content we took out to sell later. Titanfall 2 deserves praise for bucking this trend lately, especially when compared to other AAA titles in the genre, Battlefield and CoD being the worst offenders.
 
K1LLSW1TCH said:
That's my problem with things. Forza for example, let's just release the game, charge £50+ for it and then charge even more on top for content we took out to sell later. Titanfall 2 deserves praise for bucking this trend lately, especially when compared to other AAA titles in the genre, Battlefield and CoD being the worst offenders.
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Im not sure thats the case though with forza,

Loads of tracks, 700 odd cars can hardly be seen as "an empty bun" can it.
Now there are plenty of arguments to be made for churning out updates of last years game, the rubbish new Mods system coming from Loot boxes (which was in forza 6 BTW but has a slightly different, bigger impact this time round), car packs being money for old rope and what they did with the VIP pass before community pressure got to them, but i dont think its a shell of a game.

When the inevitable Expansion packs come for it they better include some substantial content, the 2 for Horizons 3 were worth the price as they added a lot to the game. Though i do feel the "ultimate" version of the game should have included them fromt he get go. I have never bought an expansion for a Forza Motorsport game cause they tended to be NASCAR or Porsche something i wasn't interested in and didn't see the value.

As for Micro transactions in the form of tokens? they have been in many of the past games (back to Forza Horizons 2 i think) paying for cheat codes/shortcuts is something i do not do but if people want to pay to skip then so be it.
The argument that they make games grindy so you need to buy them doesn't work on me, if its that grindy im not having fun i will stop playing rather than pay more... and i think most people are the same.

I'm old enough to remember games like Unreal getting maps and support for years after release for free, but i also remeber real on disc expansions, some of which were worse than many DLCs,

Not all DLCs are horse armour, just like all DLCs are not Blood and Wine.

PS I agree titanfall 2 is an exceptional model but very much not what we expect these days, great game as well shame it was released to die.
 
I really don't get why full priced games are now coming with micro transactions, especially ones that push the game towards being pay to win. Loot boxes as well, in a full priced game is just madness. If they want loot boxes to be a thing, then give the base game away. It should be either or.
 
spoffle said:
I really don't get why full priced games are now coming with micro transactions, especially ones that push the game towards being pay to win. Loot boxes as well, in a full priced game is just madness. If they want loot boxes to be a thing, then give the base game away. It should be either or.
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Would be nice but they’ve realised they can get away with both, it triggers the same pleasure receptors as gambling so millions become hooked.

Take a look at EA’s profits from fifa points alone, it’s ludicrous.
 
spoffle said:
I really don't get why full priced games are now coming with micro transactions, especially ones that push the game towards being pay to win. Loot boxes as well, in a full priced game is just madness. If they want loot boxes to be a thing, then give the base game away. It should be either or.
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Blizzard got away with it on Overwatch and Hearthstone, EA on FUT and MUT, nobody complained about it for years.
Now the chickens have come home to roost and everyone wants a piece.
 
House said:
Im not sure thats the case though with forza,

Loads of tracks, 700 odd cars can hardly be seen as "an empty bun" can it.
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Okay I will admit that was a bizarre example when you look at what content is actually on the disc already but it does still annoy me. My head mostly still lives in the late 90's to mid 00's when the expansions packs which I bought were actually worth the money and were only 30% of the RRP for the main game. Season passes and stuff like that these days are absolutely ridiculous cost-wise, EA are probably the biggest villains for this, I mean 4 map packs for the annual BF game will set you back the same amount that the game cost in the first place which is ludicrous. Then you have all the stuff which is locked behind pre-orders, retailer specific items and it just gets silly. Loot boxes and such should really be prevented by gambling laws from being put into under 18 rated games.

I do like your point about the YouTubers ranting while simultaneously begging for donations on their Patreon. I'm probably turning into a grumpy old man but I hate the whole YouTuber thing anyway, the popular ones that I've seen are mainly either shills or retards trying to appeal to the common denominator and the good ones usually get ignored.
 
Publishers are doing a great job of killing gaming themselves, the YouTube drama just makes sure people know what's going on.
I think the most dramatic channels are just like trash mainstream news outlets, you can settle for the Daily Express or the Sun, or you can choose to find something more grounded in reality. :)
 
K1LLSW1TCH said:
.... I mean 4 map packs for the annual BF game will set you back the same amount that the game cost in the first place which is ludicrous. Then you have all the stuff which is locked behind pre-orders, retailer specific items and it just gets silly. Loot boxes and such should really be prevented by gambling laws from being put into under 18 rated games.

I do like your point about the YouTubers ranting while simultaneously begging for donations on their Patreon. I'm probably turning into a grumpy old man but I hate the whole YouTuber thing anyway, the popular ones that I've seen are mainly either shills or retards trying to appeal to the common denominator and the good ones usually get ignored.
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Premium on BF is a racket, always has been but the latest version is even worse, game is a year old and they are still only looking at map pack 3? BF1 died to me much quicker than the previous games as well. Buying map packs for a game thats not already out yet? makes no sense.
I would be ok with them selling me 8 new maps and some other content for £20 say like in the old days, I was day when special forces came out i liked it, then they trailed the EUro Forces model and it was down hill from there.

Loot boxes being gambling? not sure on that, i understand the feeling and it is an underhand sales technique but i dont think its gambling, its not like you pay and could get nothing, you are just more likely to get tat you dont want, as someone said it worked in my youth with football stickers in the playground. thinking about that now that was just as underhand and my folks must have hated it.

I am also firmly in the grumpy old man camp, and agree with your shills or lowest common denominator comment its a shame cause even the youtubers who used to be good are going down this path purely for views, they have gone "Full Clarkson" and become the caricature of how they started out, be that moaning about FOV and frame rate or harking on about a publisher they hate or diving in full on fanboi.
 
Not particularly fussed I accept micro transactions are part of gaming i don’t like rushed games and then buying dlc that was originally intended to be part of the game, Destiny 1 stands out for bad dlc that seemed cut from the game
 
Take a look at this story released 2 days ago as an example of why micro transactions are ruining games. Matchmaking being directly influenced to make people purchase loot boxes by fixing the matchmaking and putting bad players with sweats who have all the DLC weapons so they keep killing you with them. Thus making said bad players wish they had those weapons. Scummy AF, Activision denying they've used it yet but were granted the patent just recently...

http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/...chmaking-tricks-to-sell-in-game-items-w509288

Can't make it up. #rigged
 
That takes the **** though, it's just match rigging against you until you purchase the new loot boxes. Wouldn't even be able to get a fair game without spending money.
 
Best way to influence the devs and publishers is to not buy the game in the first place.
Second best way is to buy the game and ignore the micro transactions.

Let people decide how they want to deal with it. Oh and no, i'm not blaming youtubers (lol) for a problem that the greedy publishers have created.
 
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