the direction pc gaming is heading...

Surfer

Surfer

Surfer

Soldato
Joined
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Glasgow
I'm a tad concerned in the direction pc gaming is heading in.

This video by PGP pretty much summed up my opinions. I was vehemently against DLC back in the day...still am really. But things seem to have gone to **** with a lot of pc games these days. Every year the line of whats acceptable seems to get pushed back...



Seems to me we...consumers are treated like brain dead ***** Its like we are not the customer but the product.
 
Surfer said:
Seems to me we...consumers are treated like brain dead ***** Its like we are not the customer but the product.
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Let's be honest, that is exactly what the average consumer is.

Don't get me wrong if people want to pay for skin crates or whatever that is their choice and I don't hold it against them. I do want to see more transparency in the item drop rates like Korea(?) is forcing via legislation. I would also suggest any game that has such features automatically be an 18 game. We don't allow under 18s to gamble online but apparantly it's fine within the realms of a game. Seems like a loophole to me that should be closed.

I don't really mind DLC obviously would prefer if it didn't exist but I do understand the need to raise funds in order to continue supporting a game after initial sale(long term). If DLC consisted of a genuine upgrade to the current experience with new maps/stories whatever then great. I quite like rainbow six's model where it isnt necessary to purchase you'll just have to wait longer.
 
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Hate the direction PC gaming is going in general - things that games got right in like 1995 even top developers seem to struggle with. Personally I don't mind DLC and other paid content but it needs to be implemented right and hate the locking out of modding - even today I enjoy dabbling with a bit of quake 2 modding - in many cases with the right integration they can utilise it to additionally monetise the game if they are concerned about that aspect.
 
Paying for DLC is one thing. I can see and make a choice on a definite outcome. But paying for random loot crates where you arent paying for X item (or card e.g. fifa ultimate team) you are paying for the chance only to get the item..... absolute madness imho....its gambling not even disguised its blatant.

And then theres devs who make something free and part of the game to start with but then see how much of a cash cow it could be for them...they release an update that takes it away lol and puts it behind a paywall technically .. Bethesda paid mods anyone? The mod scene in their games is huge thousands and thousands of mods. And now they want a piece of the pie...(without creative effort on their part ofc)
 
Surfer said:
Paying for DLC is one thing. I can see and make a choice on a definite outcome. But paying for random loot crates where you arent paying for X item (or card e.g. fifa ultimate team) you are paying for the chance only to get the item..... absolute madness imho....its gambling not even disguised its blatant.

And then theres devs who make something free and part of the game to start with but then see how much of a cash cow it could be for them...they release an update that takes it away lol and puts it behind a paywall technically .. Bethesda paid mods anyone? The mod scene in their games is huge thousands and thousands of mods. And now they want a piece of the pie...(without creative effort on their part ofc)
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Yeah I definitely won't pay for the chance of something personally - IMO loot crate type stuff is fair game if people want to pay for it - but developers should stick with mechanics that allow people to do it via gameplay as well - there is no shortage of people who are happy to pay to shortcut stuff like that.

Nothing worse than developers taking something away like that - I quickly stop buying from publishers/developers who do that :| I'm not against a system for paid for modding though - the developer did make the game and platform in the first place and a lot of great stuff can come out of mods - until it gets stupid price wise :|
 
Yeah it's a legit issue.

I don't suffer from it myself - don't even wear a hat in TF2 - but it's a system that takes advantage of the fact that many people do have addictive personalities. It's absolutely gambling, and should have serious restrictions on its use.

18+ restrictions on lootbox and pay-2-play type cow-clicker games should be mandatory, and there should be the same self-exclusion and helpline regulations that gambling vendors have to face.

Even aside from that moralising, it's a damned shame that such nonsense has to infect and unbalance proper premium games.
 
As someone mentioned above, I have no problem paying for additional content.

I remember buying Undead Nightmare for Red Dead Redemption and I put that down as one of the best. It brought something a bit different to the game and I felt it was well worth the price.

It's rare you see anything like that now. Rockstar themselves have stopped with large scale expansions like that in GTA 5 and give you tidbits of content for free but with a caveat that new missions, vehicles and properties require tremendous amounts of in-game cash that can "coincidentally" be purchased in game via Shark cards.

Rocket League is another title that I enjoy that I didn't mind purchasing the odd car like the Batmobile but now they have loot crates that must have a purchased key to open and could most likely contain a bunch of crap.

In my opinion THAT is a form of gambling and children have full access to it.
 
Gaming in general is going down the crapper, especially for the AAA market. I'm playing less games each year as a result of mediocrity and bad business practices. Oh, and it's nothing to do with age, i've spoke with a few mates about this and many feel the same way regarding the industry just now. I know a couple that have packed gaming in altogether. I don't blame them.

Also, i fear for PC gaming, due to a combination of the above and Nvidia's ever expanding monopoly in the GPU space. It's not going to get better soon either as RTG are run by a bunch of incompetents.

Just think for a second what the gaming scene would be like on PC if AMD pulled out of the desktop market (no doubt some lunatics on here would love that) and went B2B model only, you'd see Nvidia up their prices higher than what they are now. With GPU prices already at lunacy levels at present, it would just get worse, much worse for the consumer. If this came to be, i wouldn't put it past Nvidia to sell a lower, mid-range GPU (like a 1060) for £400 if this happened. I do wish there was a 3rd entity in the GPU market at times as two isn't enough.

I'm already buying less games. Personally speaking, i think the best strategy is keeping what i've got just now until 2020/2021, by that time the picture will be clearer where the PC gaming market is going.
 
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Best games I've bought in the past 3 years have all been indy titles like Prison Architect, Rimworld and ARK. AAA gaming hasn't been AAA for many years to be honest.

Best example of that is the Total War series, been at least a decade since a good one IMHO.
 
Lazy devs, run by accountants.

DLC is a fine line as well, but yes the Golden age of PC gaming has long gone and content was better back in the day.

But paying for RNG loot box.....please

But i would love PC gaming to move away from windows at this point in time.
 
I don't mind paying for additional content, thinking of The Witcher 3 as a great example of quality additional gameplay that clearly wasn't removed from the original game in the first instance. I passed on the Resident Evil 7 DLC as whilst I loved the game, these were just gimmicky extras that could/should have been included in the game anyway. As I rarely play online games I haven't really came across loot boxes and the like however I bought Dead by Daylight last week and at first thought that the additional characters in the game that were locked would become available to me as I accumulated XP and levelled up. I've since learned that no, that isn't the case and that you have to purchase them. This, I have a problem with and whilst I quite fancy the idea as running around as Leatherface or Michael Myers, I won't be paying an extra £5 for the privilege - that's more than I pay for most games!! The problem does seem to be most prevalent in online gaming though doesn't it?
 
I can't imagine paying for the chance of loot boxes or cosmetic items in any game, although I can see how some people get sucked in. It's basically a scratchcard. Even buying shortcuts for class kits on BF is an alien concept to me. To be honest, there are times when I could have easily stopped playing BF, but have kept on longer than I would have just to try out a new gun which was only a few kills away. Right now, Origin is telling me it's €8.99 for a BF1 vehicle shortcut kit. That is crazy money, they must make a killing on on what is probably kids asking their mums to buy it for them. The only time I have spent money on in-game purchases was with FIFA Ultimate Team. It was a total waste because I am absolutely hopeless at FIFA and know nothing about football. Bit of a low point that to be honest.

I will probably buy the new BF1 DLC though, for example, but am trying to hold off until they fix the base game first.
 
I dont mind dlc so much, but as others have said it needs to be implemented right, like borderlands or skyrim where the dlc isn't needed, but that adds enough content to the game to justify the price (in both cases there is big dlc and small dlc but the important part is they're worth the price of admission)

I also dont particularly mind the option to pay for things like character/weapon skins that don't impact gameplay but just look good, but again needs to be priced appropriately.

Your right about the whole loot box malarkey, and in general i dislike any multiplayer format that allows "pay to win" and suchlike to occurr in terms of getting better gear through either money or experience (call of duty i'm looking at you), as it just ruins any fun to be had as a new player who doesnt want to pay to get ahead.

Whats more annoying is games being released with obvious bugs, sure market it as early access if needs be but too many games are reaching "final" release with problems that really should have been picked up in testing. Sure there's always going to be subtle stuff that can only be picked up once millions of players start doing their thing but there's a line.
 
I can't recall the last decent PC game I purchased - possibly unfinished Subnautica. I tend to play either modded Minecraft these days or exclusives on my PS4 Pro.

Origin was uninstalled years ago, and Steam I rarely fire up steam as nothing interests me. My favourite genre that is RTS and is practically dead.

Gamers are a fickle bunch and companies (Bethesda and Rockstar for example) know this - teaser trailers always get the best of you and so they're not scared to push the boundaries further as they know their new systems (preorder bonuses for example) will work. We all voting with our wallets sadly doesn't work because it's us, the gamers that are weak.

I look to game developers with proven track records like CD Projeckt, and those who made Yakuza, and Horizon Dawn to push gaming elements forwards but I still don't preorder. I feel saddened to know that the next Elder Scrolls or GTA will never be the same and I don't want any part of RDR2. I feel sorry for the next generation of gamers who will grow up never having seen full, non buggy games at release and seeing microtransactions being a norm.
 
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