CliffyB: Microtransaction is Not a Dirty Word, EA is Not The Bad Guy

[bug_of_war]

Team Fortress is free, and not a story based shooter. I don't want to pay 60 bucks for something to have a character or a menu pop up to 'helpfully' remind me I can buy more ammo and guns (Or all the quests they cut out).

And even if games are cheaper now than before, that still doesn't change the fact they're very expensive. Games are cheaper, but gas, rent, and textbooks are more expensive then ever. So yeah, I can say Scum Bag EA for shoving micro-transactions in my face after shelling out full price for a game. And I can say Good Guy Valve for always making quality games (Even if they take a while), not nickle-and-diming-me (Although these days it's more like five-and-ten-dollaring me) and constantly doing sales and allowing me to keep my hobby at all.

While I agree EA shouldn't put micro-transactions in all their games, I don't think it's a horrible thing. I'd be pissed if the MTs were compulsory and I HAD to buy them, but I don't, and if Dead Space 3 is any example, then I actually have quite a bit of faith in EA. As for the argument "TF2 is free, not $60", who cares how much money it does or does not cost, in the end you choose how much you spend on the product you enjoy. I know people who have spent (and I am serious) over 100 dollars on TF2, buying hats, paints, weapons, and other crap. So while it starts off free, they spend more money on the game than if they waited for a period of time before buying the game and all it's DLC/extras. For example, Mass Effect 3 (currently $40 brand new in South Aussie retailers) and ALL it's DLC would actually cost less for me to purchase right now then when it first came out.

So yeah, EA aren't scumbags, they're morally questionable, but Valve isn't the golden cherry either. I can't return my games on Steam, I have to go through a long tedious process to proove my game is faulty just to get my money back and then get told they wont do it again. So please people, stop assuming that EA is going to force the money out of your pocket and into theirs, with Dead Space 3 as an example of how they're using MTs we can assume they're not going to screw over the consumers. Hell, you guys give them bad enough reps as it is, they can't afford to go out and actually become the monster you claim they already are.

 

[Callate]

Demonstrating how Valve has left TF2 customers on xbox out to dry with practical ZERO new content?

The updates released on PC and planned for later release on Xbox 360 include new official maps and game modes, as well as tweaks to classes and new weapons that can be unlocked through the game's achievement system.[88] The developers attempted to negotiate with Xbox 360 developer Microsoft to keep the Xbox 360 releases of these updates free,[89] but Microsoft refused and Valve announced that they would release bundles of several updates together to justify the price.[90]

-Wikipedia

I'm sorry was TF2 released separately in stores at a separate price point? No, it wasn't.

Yes, yes it was.
[link]http://www.amazon.com/Team-Fortress-2-Pc/dp/B00140S21O[/link]

Until it went FTP, you could buy it at my local Target for $10.

 

[rob_simple]

I get the feeling that this is a storm we're just going to have to ride out. At the moment, I am mostly find with EA's way of doing business, because I buy the games I want and don't bother paying for the extra stuff unless I want it, too.

I can definitely see there coming a time when they push their luck too far, though, (something like releasing a full price game that you have to wait a set amount of real-time hours to keep playing unless you pay money to recharge your character on the spot) and that is, hopefully, when everyone will stop buying into it.

Cliffy B does raise a point, though, that I've repeated to the point I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall: if you have such a huge problem with how a game is being distributed, or the practices a company undertakes, then stop buying their games.

Don't buy the game and then piss and moan when they pull this cloak and dagger shit with cutting missions out and selling you health upgrades.

 

[Dendio]

I agree with everything Cliff said. Some people really do give EA a hard time over things they'd look the other way for if valve did it. I also agree that if you love a product, you'll throw money at it. I love mass effect and while I never bought the gamble packs, I have spent some cash I normally wouldn't have on guaranteed gun packs for single player.

 

[Baresark]

I consider it a sad day when I agree with old Cliffy B, but he is making perfect sense. Everyone is all butthurt that EA is talking about having microtransactions in all there games, but if it's like they did in Dead Space 3, there is no harm. They aren't restricting the game at all, but they are making more resources available for the people interested in not working for them. There will be something to complain about when they start restricting the game into needing additional transactions.

That said, microtransactions with mobile games are what has brought us here. So many mobile games restrict actions and games by requiring them to continue playing. We all know EA has a big concentration on the mobile market and this is a natural extension of that. But we shouldn't be angry till there is something to be angry about.

 

[Vigormortis]

Couple of things Cliffy:

When Valve launched Steam, it was an wholly new idea. A service no one had really attempted before. So, while it was fucking awful, and believe me I've been there since the beginning so I can attest to that, it was understandably so. However, Valve has since learned from it's mistakes and has been improving the service since.

EA, on the other hand, had services prior to Origin. Not to mention a wealth of industry experience under their belt and a host of other services, all of whom made their own mistakes, from which to learn and adapt. Yet, they're repeating the same mistakes. They're still "screwing up". That's almost inexcusable.

You really don't see the difference Cliff?

And another thing - comparing primarily cosmetic micro-transactions in free-to-play games to game-play altering "pay-to-win" micro-transactions in full-priced games, and claiming they are the "same thing", is as idiotic as it is ludicrous.

I mean, really? Come on Cliffy, seems like you've been hanging out on too many internet "hate" forums. You're spewing forth much of the same bullshit rhetoric and hyperbole we often see in places like that.

Me thinks you have too much free-time on your hands since "retiring". Maybe you should take up a new hobby. Golf perhaps?

Kudos on saying "vote with your wallet", though. However, it's, sadly, the only sensible thing you said. (though it may be sadder that you had to say it at all)

Only thing that I can say is Cliff will get much more support from this site after his claim

Oddly enough, it seems the opposite.

Hell, even people on these forums who often openly criticize Valve for anything are calling good 'ole CliffyB on his bullshit here. That's pretty telling, if you ask me.

 

[Beryl77]

Considering that you've demonstrated a lack of knowledge on the things I've mention I very much doubt that to be the case

Yeah, someone clearly has shown a lack of knowledge and last minute research but I don't think that's me.

 

[shemoanscazrex3]

The game industry is there to make money and so is human trafficking.

Those games cost so much to make because everyone is so invested in technology and not about making a better game. When a game like the walking dead is goty for so many sites, magazines, and individuals it clearly shows, having the best tech doesn't make the better game.

Now to stop buying EA games, well the problem with that is they're a publisher and you may want to support the developer but I do agree, vote with your wallet

Lastly microtransactions aren't bad, I won't pay for em but they're not bad. The problem is that like DLC games are being shipped seemingly incomplete just to get more money

 

[Madman123456]

This Gentleman might be delusional.
EA is the "bad Guy" because they have made this option to make money with free to play games and put it in a AAA title.
They say the Budget of the game was so big that they need either 5 million sales or some other thing to make more money.
In normal Companies, the People who calculated that Budget would've been kicked out. With EA, the Customer will have to deal with that.

With TF2, we have this rather old game that is free to play now and the items that have any influence on the gameplay can be found and/or crafted for free, you'll just have to play longer. You want the flaregun for your Pyro? You will get one eventually without paying a penny.

In Dead Space 3, there's this Bug that enables you to totally bypass the micro transaction thing. When there's some Bug in TF2 i expect them to eventually fix that.
With EA, i suspect some kind of play where they'd like People to think that they will eventually fix that bug, which might lead People to think that they better buy the game now rather then later in order to exploit this legal bug.

 

[Vigormortis]

It's not a semantics argument, it's about you basing your opinion of a company based on personal experience rather than looking at the situation objectively with you know a reasoned, mature perspective.

You mean much like how you do the exact same thing? How, in just about every argument I've seen you make about Valve, it's services, and it's games, your criticisms have been based solely on your personal experiences with them, or lack there of?

I'm suddenly reminded of cast-iron kitchenware, for some reason....

[sub]Feel free to quote me, but don't expect a response. I don't want to get swept up into another argument with you. I've countered your points in the past but you usually ignored them or straw-manned me. I'm not in the mood for it again.[/sub]