Micro transactions in full priced games

^TANK^

^TANK^

^TANK^

Soldato
Joined
29 Aug 2005
Posts
15,553
I haven't owned a console since Gran Turismo 5 Prologue so I have been out of the loop for some time now and have realised a few things have changed between now and then.

Since I have pre-ordered the Ps4 I have been looking into games released at launch and games set to come out further down the line which have left me with a few concerns.

I am rather concerned to hear that some full priced games like Forza 5 on the Xbox One have microtransactions implemented which I think kind of takes the **** like many others do from reading the threads over at NeoGaf. I have no problems with the likes of War Thunder doing this as it is a free game to begin with and you don't necessarily have to purchase to complete the game.

Are there any games on the Ps4 with this microtransaction bull **** in full priced games down the line as I'll save myself £600 Thursday night picking up a launch Ps4 mega bundle with all the trimmings.

I really don't like the future of gaming and want no part of it if the future involves paying £50 to begin with and more in the game to fully enjoy it.
 
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theonejat said:
I believe the new Gran Turismo has been confirmed to have micro transactions in.

Edit: Link - http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-19-yes-gran-turismo-6-has-micro-transactions
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Well that's awful but doesn't effect me (not trying to come across selfish here) as I don't like the unrealistic penalizing systems set in place so wouldn't buy GT6 anyway for that reason alone. I'll be picking up Drive Club though so fingers crossed that isn't effected by micro transactions.
 
Not many will have microtransactions it's more of football/racing that has them on consoles unless I missed them parts of games but I play more single player games that multiplayer.

I don't see much microtransactions on ps4 anyway its mosly free add-ons
 
It's all well and good people saying ignore them, but this missed the point. Forza 5 has clearly been designed with micro transactions from the ground up, with the new pricing model and inability to drive any car from the start in the free play mode encouraging people to pump money in.
 
People pay so they do it. As I have said before I play a crappy facebook flash game as a time killer at work. One of the players has spent over $100,000 in the last 18 months to be the top player on the server. He's not alone either.

Until I started playing that game I had no idea people where that retarded with micro transactions. It's the future sadly.

I guess I'm just used to buying a game and the odd add on pack but I hate the way it's going. I detest free to play as well. Just let me buy the finished game.
 
its been a in this generation with things like extra character skins in LBP, Disgea and a few others... i sort of understand characters but day 1 extra characters are a bit of a **** take imo, i understand its sort of a non forced version of drm but its still less then the game should be

it just doesnt look good down the line for the likes of games collectors as so many games are released these days that require hefty day 1 patches in 10 years time playing a PS3 game is likely to be very difficult on an actual PS3 while people will still be able to play on PS2 and pre consoles for years to come
 
I don't mind micro transations as long as the content you can purchase can be unlocked via playing the game normally. And with realistic goals set. Not "play the game for 1000 hours to unlock this skin".

I don't mind those, but when it's the likes of Battlefield giving players all the guns the moment the game comes out. That annoys me, and is a reason I have not bought the new BF4, as much as I want to play it :(
 
^TANK^ said:
Well that's awful but doesn't effect me (not trying to come across selfish here) as I don't like the unrealistic penalizing systems set in place so wouldn't buy GT6 anyway for that reason alone. I'll be picking up Drive Club though so fingers crossed that isn't effected by micro transactions.
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You won't play GT6 because it has unrealistic penalizing systems but you'll be playing Drive Club which is a totally unrealistic game to begin with? Also, I'm not sure the 5 second penalty for driving into AI cars is even in GT6, it was only in the rally events in GT5 and the rally physics were **** anyway.
 
I'm totally against micro transactions in full priced games. I think it's a disgusting business practice by publishers.
Either make the game free or at a lower price and include them or give us ALL the content if it's full price.
No doubt most publishers would say they've had to put them in games because they've done away with online passes.
 
I'm not generally bothered by micro-transactions for vanity items. However what does grind my gears is the 'pay to win' mentality. Where it is kind of acceptable for a 'free' game, I think it's disgusting and unfair for gamers who pay full price for a competitive game and are on the back foot all the time because they can't / won't pay for more.
 
I also can't stand this business model on paid for games.

In one sense, I really don't care if it's there as long as most of that content is available through other means. It's when content is clearly 'held back' that annoys me.

By all means, put up a bunch of extra costumes/skins etc for £2.99 and if peopel want them, so be it - no harm done.



What bugs me, is that the FUN aspect of unlocking things is gone from games. What about having to do a very specific (sometimes even silly) set of actions to unlock a certain scene which then granted you a bonus costume for NG+. I know a lot of the fun of that is removed anyway due to being able to find out how to do it via Youtube and the like, but I still want that fun sense of discovery in games.

Now all you get for most of that stuff is an achievement/trophy and you have to BUY the costume instead.


To me, they are digging their own grave. I used to happily buy and keep games growing up due to replaybility, and unlocks etc. Now, I outright refuse to keep them, other than maybe 1 or 2 stand out games (like Demon's Souls/Dark souls from this gen).
I buy it, play it, use Amazon trade-in to get 70-80% back 2-3 weeks later.


DLC and Microtransactions makes me spend LESS money on games, and trade more in to create MORE used sales. All my mates do the same. But clearly the increased revenue from these models are overcoming those who don't do it because it's getting worse all the time.


Surely the Xbox One annoucnement fiasco made people aware that consumers can very easily make a stand against companies if you don't agree with their business models/practises. Consumers have all the power, but 90% just willingly buy whatever is put infront of them without questioning it so :mad:
 
It's interesting that Forza 5 is receiving a lot of flack for micro-transactions when Forza Horizon had them as well. Nobody seemed to bother mentioning it then.

Personally, I think they're a terrible thing and I don't like their inclusion in games that are full price in the first place. If you want me to pay, give me something in return; new skins, weapons, cars, characters, maps, anything that someone has actually had to put time and effort into creating and therefore has earned money from as a result. Paying for in-game credits, points, unlocks or whatever else simply means you're paying for absolutely nothing. You're just giving money away, essentially, for the sake of activating a line of code in a game which increases a number on the screen.
 
Yes, MT's were in Horizon and Forza 4 before that but I sense that a combination of the below make this more prominent. I think since F3 the series has been getting increasingly greedy in nature even if it was a classic game and extremely well supported community.

  • MT's being priced much more aggressive in F5 (£32 cars at cheapest rate)
  • The grind potentially being made longer (this appears to be the contentious and hotly debated issue).
  • A new generation of Machines - where Forza is arguably the biggest first party game on the new machine.
  • Horizon probably not being as high profile or big seller as the established main series.
  • Lots of other features being stripped out, more than likely because they were short on development time.

My own thoughts were summed up better in another forum by someone else, who wrote; The moment you plop microtransactions into the mix there can be no trust in the design of the game, and without the trust that developer has honed you a balanced piece of entertainment—or at least attempted to—what's the point?

For me I had this recently when I game I really enjoyed (New Star Soccer, BAFTA winner last year) decided to drastically change its approach to IAP's. It went from being a fun game, which was too easy and I'd paid for the pitch, pro licence and some boots to support the developer to being a game where the balance is now - pay for a trainer, agent, skills degrade much faster, relationships degrade much faster all so you spend money on drinks to replenish energy. Even though I was on my second player, and had the maximum number of energy drinks I just lost interest and faith the game and let the developer know.

And finally the best suggestion in all the debate over the past few days I read was someone suggesting that any game that utilises IAP be automatically be classified as an 18 Rated game (or equivalent in other countries) and legislated for in a similar manner to gambling or adult material. Doesn't matter if it's collecting fruit, or blowing people up with weapons. The unlimited nature of IAPs, the similarities in the behavioural responses they are designed to trigger and the huge risk therefore they pose on weak-of-mind or children means they should be legislated for in a similar manner. Whilst the argument isn't full proof (clearly gambling isn't the same) it's the most common sense idea I've heard. Wouldn't stop publishers doing it but put some much needed rules around the practice and protection for the consumer.

I personally will probably be much more selective or careful of what I buy as I am with iOS games. Long-term it might just even push me towards spending more time with my PC and Wii U.
 
Don't see why people care so much, you can complete the game without the need for micro, if you want to micro you go ahead and do so. Generally it will make the game easier and I prefer more of a challenge.
 
cHk4 said:
Don't see why people care so much, you can complete the game without the need for micro, if you want to micro you go ahead and do so. Generally it will make the game easier and I prefer more of a challenge.
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The point being that MTs can dramatically alter the balance and potentially design/mechanics of a game more than any other payment model. It's also far worse than just affecting difficulty level, i.e. Real Racing 3 where you have to wait for repairs to your cars if you're not spending money.

Slightly questionable in a F2P game but extremely questionable in a $60/£50+ game (and in Forza's case already 1 paywall up in the form of DLC). Again as someone else said I'd rather the game isn't playing me...
 
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