A Token Protest Against the Industry

[Ninjat_126]

I'm sure that everyone else here is getting sick of being screwed over by EA, or developers who cut support for your gaming platform, or lawsuits, or DLC. So I've developed a simple protest idea that should be rather effective if enough people join.

Don't buy games on launch day, wait for a few (2-4) months or until the price drops at least $20.

Sure, you have to wait a few more months to get the games, but think how companies would react to the abysmal day-one sales profits.

Now I can't afford to buy every game I want to, let alone buy them all on launch day. So this isn't affecting me. But seriously, it saves you money, is a fairly obvious gesture of disapproval and gives you time to catch up on some older games and cheap indie titles you haven't played.

Is anyone else willing to wait an extra few months to buy Battlefield 3/Skyrim/whatever? Or is it just me.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Don't buy games on launch day, wait for a few (2-4) months or until the price drops at least $20.

Games have hardly been doing this. Price drops have been occurring far less frequent if they do happen at all.

There's no way I'm waiting four months for Skyrim once it's out, I've already waited five years. Besides, Skyrim isn't supporting some kind of bullshit DRM, last I knew it was using steamworks, which is about the most tolerable form of DLC so long as Valve doesn't collapse after trying to divide by zero.

 

[Mr Thin]

I've been doing this for years, purely for monetary reasons. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a game... or the last time I paid more than $30 for a game, in fact.

There are some games that never drop in price *cough* Call of Duty *cough* or they do but the drop is negligible. I do not buy these games.

Honestly very few games these days are worth full price. I suspect, however, that Skyrim will be, and will probably be paying it as a result.

 

[Neverhoodian]

I often find myself waiting until prices drop, but it's more out of necessity than protest. Seeing as how I'm between jobs right now, I can't exactly run out and buy the latest game all the time.

I don't mind it that much, though. I'm a patient man, and I've never been that interested in buying the "next big thing," whatever it might be. Besides, I've amassed quite the collection of games over the years that I replay on a regular basis.

 

[Raddra]

I've been doing this myself, but unfortunately for every thinking man who does this there are 100 ravening fanboys who don't do any research, don't visit gaming sites of forums or anything (well, a ten percentile of those do and bash anyone who dares speak ill of their object of worship)

 

[Rawne1980]

If a game is coming out that i've been waiting for then i'm going to buy it.

Nothing to do with being a "fanboy" as people have the misguided impression it is. It's to do with me wanting the damn game and being impatient.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

So I've developed a simple protest idea that should be rather effective if enough people join.

Won't work.

I'm sorry to have to say this, but the moron brigade will buy millions of copies on release date no matter how badly screwed over they get. They're looking for what's been added, not taken away. And they outnumber us by 100:1.

Even if you got everyone on the Escapist to delay buying Skyrim by a week, it would have no viable presence on their sales figures and actually risk further development, putting the Skyrim's programmers jobs in jeopardy.

The only thing that would make a dent is Yahtzee. And he'd only reduce them by about 25%.

EA etc. have a captive market that loves shiny things. We're just the parasites who demand things like owners rights.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The industry is the willing dealer; gamers, the strung out addicts. The advent of multiplayer (and why now EVERY game feels the need to have some form of trivial, ad hoc MP aspect) means that now, pretty much every game is going to have a shelf life; it expires the day the next biggest and bestest title comes out or (thank you CoD franchise, you milking bastards) the yearly sequel, releaseing more of the same with different setpieces and "OMG ZOMBIES!" Sheesh.

Asking gamers to wait until a price drop is like asking someone to buy a months worth of groceries, but wait TWO months to eat any of it. In this respect, gamers are our own worst enemy. The need for immediate gratification gives developers and publishers control of both the supply and the demand. They can't release a full-retail title every four months, but they know gamers are clammering for "more of the same" on a weekly basis, so the easy solution is to mete shit out in the form of DLC, like they're doing us a favor, like a pimp kicking a whore out of his car, but letting her use his cell phone to fetch a cab before peeling out and agreeing to meet her back at the house where he'll put some ice on the black eye he just gave her. Hope you're proud of yourselves... Hey, I just realized why "zombies" are the big thing right now: they're relatable to the mindless hordes shuffling and pawing at the teat of the gaming industry.

Did no one catch on when the next big thing became to put future DLC ON DISC and making gamers pay to unlock the content weeks, months later? It's a cups scam, but they don't even have the decency or respect for our intellect to use solidly colored cups! They're using clear Dixie cups and we see the ball right in front of us the whole time, yet refuse to pick the right cup every time.

The only real solution is to support the ones within the industry that do things right: make great games with a focus on quality and fun, not just dishing out fixes for cold, hard cash. I buy games when I want to and never base it off of popular concensus; if I think a game will appeal to me, I'll pick it up when I chose to; having it day one is never a requisite. EA and the like will never learn because gamers could never form a unified front enough for their voices to be heard. How long have we bitched about EA? Have they gotten Better? No, they've gotten WORSE.

 

[veloper]

I'm sure that everyone else here is getting sick of being screwed over by EA, or developers who cut support for your gaming platform, or lawsuits, or DLC. So I've developed a simple protest idea that should be rather effective if enough people join.

Don't buy games on launch day, wait for a few (2-4) months or until the price drops at least $20.

So I've been unknowingly been protesting against a dozen publishers all along?

That is great. I thought I was just being a bit more sensible with my money, but now I got the moral high ground too.

 

[Vault101]

I dunno...I dont really feel the need to protest against the industry

EXCEPT the annoying trend of tacking multiplayer onto everything...cut that shit out, but I only buy SP games anyway

 

[manythings]

Just you, junny sim.

One big problem, people want what they want. You could take any DLC pack and ask a thousand people who bought it "Was it worth it?" and unless it was fucking Horse armour plenty will say totally worth it.

Want to tip the scales back? Keep waiting but buy new. Gamestop is creating this situation, Day One DLC wouldn't exist with the used games portion of the industry.

I'm buying day one cause I want it day one. If I don't want it I can wait for years or just never buy it at all.

 

[Pearwood]

I do this anyway but more because I'm a tight bastard than anything else. Price drops usually happen after the first week or two so it's not like I have to wait long.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Here is a fun fact relevant to the topic, internet activism does jack shit.

You forget that the biggest piece of the market pie are people who couldn't care less if their games are FUBAR, they just want to see pretty lights flashing when they mash buttons and that fascination can come at any price.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

You do that...

I'll be here, buying and enjoying the games I want on day one.

Mmmm, Xenoblade Chronicles tastes so gewd!

Also, wild horses couldn't stop me from buying Skyrim on day one.

 

[zehydra]

Why Skyrim? There's no way in hell I'm not supporting Skyrim. Sure I disapprove of ONE decision (console first, PC second), but I'm not about to drop Skyrim.

 

[Robert Ewing]

I'm sorry, but If I buy a game, chances are I've wanted it for months, and have been following its development religiously. Even though 100% of the time I'm completely disappointed by the end product, I still want to go out and get it immediately. It's almost like, I've been waiting for months, I just want it on my PC.

 

[Hedonist]

What exactly is this "protest" supposed to show them?
For a protest to be effective, you need to show them a way they can so without screwing the gamers over. We should be spending money on games and developers that are doing the things we like. We need to use our wallets to encourage good behavior and punish bad hehavior.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I'm sure that everyone else here is getting sick of being screwed over by EA, or developers who cut support for your gaming platform, or lawsuits, or DLC. So I've developed a simple protest idea that should be rather effective if enough people join.

Don't buy games on launch day, wait for a few (2-4) months or until the price drops at least $20.

Sure, you have to wait a few more months to get the games, but think how companies would react to the abysmal day-one sales profits.

Now I can't afford to buy every game I want to, let alone buy them all on launch day. So this isn't affecting me. But seriously, it saves you money, is a fairly obvious gesture of disapproval and gives you time to catch up on some older games and cheap indie titles you haven't played.

Is anyone else willing to wait an extra few months to buy Battlefield 3/Skyrim/whatever? Or is it just me.

Regardless of whether or not this is a good idea, it?ll never ever work.

Some people just want their games at launch. Me? I wait until they patch the 2 or 3 game breaking bugs.

 

[otakon17]

You do that...

I'll be here, buying and enjoying the games I want on day one.

Mmmm, Xenoblade Chronicles tastes so gewd!

Also, wild horses couldn't stop me from buying Skyrim on day one.

Are you channeling Cartman? And I concur on your statement for Skyrim.

OT: Sorry, it just won't work. Sure they are some people that will do it, but there are tons of knuckleheads out there that jump on Madden every year without fail to cite an example. Many people have stated it before but a vast majority have waited YEARS for these games already.
Hell when I heard they pushed ME3 back to March 2012 I was pissed, I'm tired of waited to complete the best game trilogy I've ever played. And some have mentioned it already that many games don't really drop in price regardless of how long they've been out. Hell one I know of(The Orange Box) actually went up in price, from $20 to $30.

 

[teisjm]

I rarely get games when they're band new, i don't have time to play eveyr game i want to anyways, so might as well pick up the ones that have been out for half a year, and then get the new opnes once they've droppen in price.

As for BF3, after all the announcements of EA origin, and server lists beeing on a non-in-game website, i'll have to see whether it's worth playing at all before deciding on getting it, despite having been hyped about it a lot.

Probably gonna get infamous2 next month, even though it's been out for a while, and i've wanted it since i finished the first a long time ago.

Skyrim can't wait that long though, as it perfectly fits an empty spot on my wish list for christmas. If it wasn't for christmas, it'd probably get the could shoulder the first half year as well, in favor of cheaper games.