I honestly think that if they put some effort into a decently complex rpg mechanics system with worthwhile, choice heavy, varied, and significant, non-child proofed character progression they will get a much bigger draw. Destiny and Division have the litest and most insignificant character progression systems possible and I don't see how chasing their markets is going to benefit everyone. Bioware has a chance to draw in a much larger audience if they just are adult enough to exclude children and stupids and try and include the people that see Division and Destiny as boxes of rocks covered in fancy smancy glitter.
And for me at least, I that ME:A was just too bland and politically correct. Mechanically, I think ME:A was superior to ME 1-3. But everything about it just screamed SAFEPLACE!!!! I disliked the main character and couldn't make him look like anything besides a typical non-threatening Canadian on his way to a How Not to Be Offensive to Progressives Class. To me, it was like if 24 was done in Canada with some scrawny and wimpy YouTube star putting his wits against a threat as terrifying as a slightly tipsy Mounty. And if the wimpy star can't stop the slightly tipsy Mounty something awful like an unlawful ticket may be given to someone. And along the way there will be tons of virtue signaling and people being woke to see why they should think correctly.
After the latest remarks from EA saying that the lootbox drama was all over-reaction and that the stock is doing just fine, number one (the point on the list, not dr. Evil sidekick or the bodily function) seems me a bit farfetched.
While I'd LOVE to be wrong, the suits at EA ***ONLY*** care about money and making the quarterly report look sweet. Why? Because thats the way suits get promotions and bonus packages.
Not to mention that this is NOT the old Bioware. EA corrupts/warps, distorts everything they touch. If this last loot box stunt hadn't blown up in their face, in such a massively public fashion, their next stunt would have been even worse.
As it is, they are just waiting for things to cool down before they go back to business as usual.
This is EA you're talking about. Don't get your hopes up. EA isn't going to focus on Story at all, they are gonna focus on what makes them money. And "linear, single player games aren't what we (consumers) want anymore".
Two things
1. "they are gonna focus on what makes them money" and???...of course they are they are a business first.
2. "And "linear, single player games aren't what we (consumers) want anymore". Well that is an opinion but not a fact.
I hope we see enough backlash and boycotting to kill EA for good. Making an example out of the greedy, predatory cash shop cancer that brings them to their knees and makes anyone else think twice about pulling the same shit.
"You CAN'T buy ships for RL money." - MaxBacon
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
I hope we see enough backlash and boycotting to kill EA for good. Making an example out of the greedy, predatory cash shop cancer that brings them to their knees and makes anyone else think twice about pulling the same shit.
Besides some mmorpgs cash shops are never in games I play. Is the issue cash shops or the markets people belong to that make cash shops lucrative? And I don't mean this to be directed at you but people that make these games possible, but if your problem can be solved by just buying games from a different markets with different values (and much better markets in my opinion), is there really a problem?
I absolutely love when big console games that have 95% of their budget going into superficial nonsense and not gameplay, systems, or mechanics or games that no adult should ever even kind of sort of ever want to play fleece their customers with loot boxes, cash shops, or costume DLC. I am a huge supporter of this and want it to continue forever so poor taste will always come with a hefty tag.
While i applaud the work EA did to promote the same benefits to all it´s employees. As publishers i have no pissing confidence left. They have a marketing dept that is either run like a sack of rocks or a upper management that is so... .. . Well... Dumb that they should be fired and then held liable against the shareholders for ruining the brand.
In short
Anthem for me has played it last note long before it is released. EA saw to that.
Well currently the best game in this genre BY FAR is Warframe imo. Having played all but Anthem I can attest that while Warframe wasn't always a contender at all, it used to be the worst of the bunch Imo, it now has the most content, the most effort put into each avenue of the game, and the Best Story and Lore by far as well(If you have not played up to the second dream please do not try to rebut this.).
Considering EA is the publisher, I can almost guarantee Anthem will be dead in the water before it even gets out the gate due to horrible monetization and/or being rushed out the door with minimal/unpolished content.
We will see, but my vote is that Anthem will sell pretty big with a bunch of false hype and then a month later everyone will be saying how bad it is.
If you are a fan of this genre, do yourself a favor and give Warframe another chance or if you have not already tried it, give it at least 12-24 hours so you can learn why it's so awesome though. It is not a noob friendly game, similar to Dark Souls you need to Wiki some shit or ask a friend... but it's so worth it.
Warframe and Dark Souls are my current favorite IP's.
Feels like a Watch Dogs 2 launch. Unless I see something that's really different than what's been done lately, it's a wait for the sale thingy. If even that. Better be a dame good weekend trial.
Even a great weekend trial can be deceptive. Case in point - Destiny 1. I was incredibly impressed during the beta. Great combat. The strike was fun. The open world was refreshing.
Little did we know that the beta represented about 20% of the vanilla game. There weren't enough planets to explore. There were only a few Strikes with repetitive design. Etc.
LOL dunno about you guys but I remember open beta for defiance played with a few friends and we had a blast with what was available so we all preordered i still regret giving $60 for that game
I have learned to never pre-order or make day-one purchases on anything that falls under the EA banner. It's always safer to take the wait and see approach. I use that though with any game I'm interested in. I never get disappointed that way.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
I wonder at what point EA realises that showing their brand with an upcoming game will not have a positive effect anymore, but probably a negative one?
They never own up to mistakes, because they are too busy juggling numbers for their shareholders and doing damage control PR. Would be nice if those shareholders would realise how EA's attitude towards customers hurts their sales.
Only thing I expect at this point is no loot boxes. The rest seems to be Warframe'ish, what is cool nuf if done decently.
I like the idea of being able to get around in a warsuit like Iron Man. Just hoping the monetization system isn't off-putting. I can deal with smaller-scale multiplayer even, if that also includes flying around and stuff. I prefer TPS games over FPS ones.
Only thing I expect at this point is no loot boxes. The rest seems to be Warframe'ish, what is cool nuf if done decently.
I like the idea of being able to get around in a warsuit like Iron Man. Just hoping the monetization system isn't off-putting. I can deal with smaller-scale multiplayer even, if that also includes flying around and stuff. I prefer TPS games over FPS ones.
Oh the MP is surely not MMO, of course, we talk Destiny 2 as one MMO now so anything that has people on it on this new trendy "match-making" format that seems to be becoming the new standard.
But it can get meh if they just try to cash in too much on the same formula, it will get diluted.
To me Cosmetic items means that Social gamers carry the load of paying for games. Because Killers gamers don't buy Cosmetic items. Killer gamers buy so called P2W (aka items designed for or wanted by Killer gamers) only. The Killer gamer community must choose an item they will buy and not claim to buy, to support their play time. Or Welcome back Subscriptions.
Pardon any spelling errors
Konfess your cyns and some maybe forgiven Boy: Why can't I talk to Him? Mom: We don't talk to Priests. As if it could exist, without being payed for. F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing. Even telemarketers wouldn't think that. It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
I'll go one further. It's a triple A game, we're going to be paying top dollar for it already. I don't want to see any microtransactions that aren't cosmetic only. I'd like to see none at all but fat chance of that.
It's time to stop supporting games and publishers who combine revenue models. Either we pay for the box, or its free with a shop. Not both.
This is EA you're talking about. Don't get your hopes up. EA isn't going to focus on Story at all, they are gonna focus on what makes them money. And "linear, single player games aren't what we (consumers) want anymore".
That's why Visceral's Star Wars game was cancelled, and the studio closed (FUCK YOU EA).
Players have no problem with linear, single player games. The success of DOOM, the two Wolfenstein games, and quite a few more prove that well-done SP games can be incredibly popular and profitable. The real problem is you can't monetize the crap out of them with loot boxes, and EA doesn't like that one bit. Since they can't or won't just come out and say that, they try to fob everyone off with a bunch of BS.
EA destroys once great game studios, destroys potentially good games with bad decisions and extremely aggressive monetization, and treats consumers as though they are idiots. They are by far the most disgustingly loathsome company in the video games industry today.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
I'll go one further. It's a triple A game, we're going to be paying top dollar for it already. I don't want to see any microtransactions that aren't cosmetic only. I'd like to see none at all but fat chance of that.
It's time to stop supporting games and publishers who combine revenue models. Either we pay for the box, or its free with a shop. Not both.
I want a return to box fees too. It's complicated though. I found this to be a very interesting read.
It's really meaty, but it comes with some great questions and insight. I don't always agree with Raph but I always come away with items to process.
I've been saying this in other threads:
"On the other hand, this picture is actually far too rosy in another way: it doesn’t include any marketing costs. As a rule of thumb, you can say that an AAA game’s marketing budget is approximately equal to 75-100% of its development cost. So costs of getting an AAA game to a consumer’s hands are actually more like double. In mobile, it’s not uncommon to hear savvy shops set aside three to ten times the development budget for marketing, because the market is that crowded." - Raph
Nothing about marketing improves the gameplay experience, yet AAA publishers routinely spend the same amount hyping turds as they do trying to avoid releasing a turd of a game in the first place. This is why the trend of recent box+MT isn't a reflection of dev's making end's meet: the vast majority of AAA games will recoup their development costs and beyond- it's the marketing costs we're paying for when we get shoveled loot crate on top of cash shop on top of box price.
I get the need for marketing, it's the extent that it's become bloated that is the issue. No, Call of Duty didn't need to be pasted on a friggin' Pepsi box to ensure gamers realized it was being released. They don't need SuperBowl commercials. They're creating costs they don't need.
In specific to mobile, Raph mentions it's because the market is saturated. The marketing costs aren't legitimate; they're crutches used to support titles that otherwise would never make it in such a saturated market. It's an attempt by publishers to avoid the natural response of the market. Of course it isn't going to end well if it continues, but that's on the publishers for drowning projects in marketing just to get players in that they can milk via deceptive practices to earn a return. Natural selection, so to speak, should've been allowed to take its course.
EDIT- this, coincidentally, coincides with my point about regulation on the deceptive practices. Those practices are direct attempts by publishers and devs to avoid the natural balance of the market supply and demand through deceptive means.
Comments
And for me at least, I that ME:A was just too bland and politically correct. Mechanically, I think ME:A was superior to ME 1-3. But everything about it just screamed SAFEPLACE!!!! I disliked the main character and couldn't make him look like anything besides a typical non-threatening Canadian on his way to a How Not to Be Offensive to Progressives Class. To me, it was like if 24 was done in Canada with some scrawny and wimpy YouTube star putting his wits against a threat as terrifying as a slightly tipsy Mounty. And if the wimpy star can't stop the slightly tipsy Mounty something awful like an unlawful ticket may be given to someone. And along the way there will be tons of virtue signaling and people being woke to see why they should think correctly.
Not to mention that this is NOT the old Bioware. EA corrupts/warps, distorts everything they touch. If this last loot box stunt hadn't blown up in their face, in such a massively public fashion, their next stunt would have been even worse.
As it is, they are just waiting for things to cool down before they go back to business as usual.
Two things
1. "they are gonna focus on what makes them money" and???...of course they are they are a business first.
2. "And "linear, single player games aren't what we (consumers) want anymore". Well that is an opinion but not a fact.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/Besides some mmorpgs cash shops are never in games I play. Is the issue cash shops or the markets people belong to that make cash shops lucrative? And I don't mean this to be directed at you but people that make these games possible, but if your problem can be solved by just buying games from a different markets with different values (and much better markets in my opinion), is there really a problem?
I absolutely love when big console games that have 95% of their budget going into superficial nonsense and not gameplay, systems, or mechanics or games that no adult should ever even kind of sort of ever want to play fleece their customers with loot boxes, cash shops, or costume DLC. I am a huge supporter of this and want it to continue forever so poor taste will always come with a hefty tag.
0.. zip, zero, and NADA.
While i applaud the work EA did to promote the same benefits to all it´s employees. As publishers i have no pissing confidence left. They have a marketing dept that is either run like a sack of rocks or a upper management that is so... .. . Well... Dumb that they should be fired and then held liable against the shareholders for ruining the brand.
In short
Anthem for me has played it last note long before it is released. EA saw to that.
This have been a good conversation
Considering EA is the publisher, I can almost guarantee Anthem will be dead in the water before it even gets out the gate due to horrible monetization and/or being rushed out the door with minimal/unpolished content.
We will see, but my vote is that Anthem will sell pretty big with a bunch of false hype and then a month later everyone will be saying how bad it is.
If you are a fan of this genre, do yourself a favor and give Warframe another chance or if you have not already tried it, give it at least 12-24 hours so you can learn why it's so awesome though. It is not a noob friendly game, similar to Dark Souls you need to Wiki some shit or ask a friend... but it's so worth it.
Warframe and Dark Souls are my current favorite IP's.
Won't be touching this game. Trusting EA to care about gamers is just dumb. I don't care how the demo gameplay videos look. Its freaking EA.
Seaspite
Playing ESO on my X-Box
LOL dunno about you guys but I remember open beta for defiance played with a few friends and we had a blast with what was available so we all preordered i still regret giving $60 for that game
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
They never own up to mistakes, because they are too busy juggling numbers for their shareholders and doing damage control PR. Would be nice if those shareholders would realise how EA's attitude towards customers hurts their sales.
But it can get meh if they just try to cash in too much on the same formula, it will get diluted.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
I'll go one further. It's a triple A game, we're going to be paying top dollar for it already. I don't want to see any microtransactions that aren't cosmetic only. I'd like to see none at all but fat chance of that.
It's time to stop supporting games and publishers who combine revenue models. Either we pay for the box, or its free with a shop. Not both.
Players have no problem with linear, single player games. The success of DOOM, the two Wolfenstein games, and quite a few more prove that well-done SP games can be incredibly popular and profitable. The real problem is you can't monetize the crap out of them with loot boxes, and EA doesn't like that one bit. Since they can't or won't just come out and say that, they try to fob everyone off with a bunch of BS.
EA destroys once great game studios, destroys potentially good games with bad decisions and extremely aggressive monetization, and treats consumers as though they are idiots. They are by far the most disgustingly loathsome company in the video games industry today.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
"On the other hand, this picture is actually far too rosy in another way: it doesn’t include any marketing costs. As a rule of thumb, you can say that an AAA game’s marketing budget is approximately equal to 75-100% of its development cost. So costs of getting an AAA game to a consumer’s hands are actually more like double. In mobile, it’s not uncommon to hear savvy shops set aside three to ten times the development budget for marketing, because the market is that crowded." - Raph
Nothing about marketing improves the gameplay experience, yet AAA publishers routinely spend the same amount hyping turds as they do trying to avoid releasing a turd of a game in the first place. This is why the trend of recent box+MT isn't a reflection of dev's making end's meet: the vast majority of AAA games will recoup their development costs and beyond- it's the marketing costs we're paying for when we get shoveled loot crate on top of cash shop on top of box price.
In specific to mobile, Raph mentions it's because the market is saturated. The marketing costs aren't legitimate; they're crutches used to support titles that otherwise would never make it in such a saturated market. It's an attempt by publishers to avoid the natural response of the market. Of course it isn't going to end well if it continues, but that's on the publishers for drowning projects in marketing just to get players in that they can milk via deceptive practices to earn a return. Natural selection, so to speak, should've been allowed to take its course.
EDIT- this, coincidentally, coincides with my point about regulation on the deceptive practices. Those practices are direct attempts by publishers and devs to avoid the natural balance of the market supply and demand through deceptive means.
Check out my band if you like music.. www.myspace.com/icrime