Precisely, there's a lot of people laughing at EA in this thread and dropping comments like "they can't be serious" but who's laughing all the way to the bank? Hint: Not us.Magmarock said:
EA: Dungeon Keeper Failed by "Innovating Too Much"
- Thread starter IanDavis
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Nothing about this game was innovative. Even in terms of it's "screw the customer over with a pipe wrench" pay wall system was copied from numerous other games. It even wasn't done that well, in terms of "evil money making machine." The magic Candy Crush trick is to get people not to notice how much your spending on removing the paywalls.
That is it, I refuse to buy any more EA games (not that I have ever bought that many to begin wiht) until they stop their idiotic, self destructive, horrible business practices.
Actually, they aren't even innovative in that sense. A lot of games that came before Dungeon Keeper have the same pay walls, the same systems were the whole game is either wait or play, and expecting you to buy on name recognition.Therumancer said:
TL;DW: Star Trek Trexels is not even a free to play game consists of one kind of mission: have various rooms to due "research"(timer) to unlock a planet, then build (timer) and send a probe that scans the planet (timer) that MIGHT unlock one single quick time event cutscene where you press crystals that fly up on the screen, but most of the time just gives you a wall of text explaining how the mission went.
You can also spend "dilithium" crystals to buy premium rooms, probes, and the characters from the original series. You don't, technically, have to pay for the dilithium, but you can only get it VERY rarely in a boring "click the screen" minigame.
Just more proof that Gibeau is a huge idiot. He is the same guy who thought that a mandatory online component in all EA games was a great idea, thereby causing the SimCity fiasco and by extension the cuts made to The Sims 4.
EA could easily solve a lot of their problems just by giving that empty suit the pink slip as quickly as possible.
EA could easily solve a lot of their problems just by giving that empty suit the pink slip as quickly as possible.
To be fair, EA and Ubisoft have been leaders in the industry of completely pissing people off. Just when you think their PR has hit rock bottom, their think-tanks blast themselves a completely new basement.
That being said:
I give DK Mobile three months before they make the "difficult" decision to pull the plug and refund absolutely nobody because they're too busy rolling around naked in a pile of money.
That being said:
The Sims Social, SimCity Social, Pet Society.
I give DK Mobile three months before they make the "difficult" decision to pull the plug and refund absolutely nobody because they're too busy rolling around naked in a pile of money.
A stark, gloomy concrete hall, bits of the walls already crumbling and a section of roof collapsed onto the corpses of a dozen programmers, helplessly chained to the ruin of their workstations. The corpses are fresh, pungent, but haven't been removed - Management considers such expenditures, in this financial climate, to be an excess. Those who survived, the hundreds of starving, emaciated drudges who keep at their work, hopeless and grimly accepting of their fate, continue clacking away at keyboards surrounding the grisly scene.
In the corner sits Management, or rather, floats in an ocean of his own flab. It's a grotesquely obese, naked Donald Trump, whose sunken, pig-like eyes view his employees with suspicion and contempt. Surrounded by a vanguard of rabid copyright lawyers wielding clubs, he is untouchable, and free to fart openly and hurl abuse as well as stones at his employees, squealing in self-satisfaction. He manages to hit an employee in the head, who recoils in pain and pleads again for release. Management shrieks in a shrill, eunuch voice: "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!" A lawyer clubs the poor wretch to a pulp, who dies, spasming.
Dungeon Keeper Mobile is released. People hate it, it doesn't work, it's a total failure. Management snorts at the news, in a flash of rare introspection which strikes his corpulent form with quivers of terror (actual thinking has long ago become like poison to his atrophying mind), causing him to panic briefly. Is my sty to fall? He thinks to himself. Will I no longer be free to act like a spoiled animal in open sight, shoving money into my open maw while my serfs starve and grovel?
He knows what he must do. His hand is raised, slowly, torturously - it's a monumental effort for Management, who lost the ability to even crawl around after the release of The Sims 2. A thousand thousand eyes watch the motion, terrified, knowing what is about to happen. A sausage-like finger unfurls from the balled fist, pointing at a few dozen programmers. Mythic Entertainment, or rather what is left of it after the last purge.
"MONEY!! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!" comes the hoarse, squealing call. The lawyers savagely flood over the programmers, beating, kicking, biting. They die screaming, their still jerking bodies torn apart, manacled arms and pieces of skin flying around. A lawyer takes a severed leg, the bone sticking out of one end, takes a huge bite out of it, and begins to chew, chittering gleefully to himself as the carnage unfolds around him. The bloodbath ends as the last mutilated corpse of the Mythic crew is torn from its restraints, pieces of her still fused to the chair, but mostly just strewn around the blood-slicked floor.
A door opens, and through it flocks another dozen wailing bodies, their eyes vacant, knowing a new eternity of thankless drudgery and eventual execution awaits them. They are chained to the Mythic workstations, none resisting, knowing it is truly futile. The bodies of the previous employees aren't even touched; they will be left to rot as a warning. Through it all, the fat monster in the corner shrieks "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!"
In the corner sits Management, or rather, floats in an ocean of his own flab. It's a grotesquely obese, naked Donald Trump, whose sunken, pig-like eyes view his employees with suspicion and contempt. Surrounded by a vanguard of rabid copyright lawyers wielding clubs, he is untouchable, and free to fart openly and hurl abuse as well as stones at his employees, squealing in self-satisfaction. He manages to hit an employee in the head, who recoils in pain and pleads again for release. Management shrieks in a shrill, eunuch voice: "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!" A lawyer clubs the poor wretch to a pulp, who dies, spasming.
Dungeon Keeper Mobile is released. People hate it, it doesn't work, it's a total failure. Management snorts at the news, in a flash of rare introspection which strikes his corpulent form with quivers of terror (actual thinking has long ago become like poison to his atrophying mind), causing him to panic briefly. Is my sty to fall? He thinks to himself. Will I no longer be free to act like a spoiled animal in open sight, shoving money into my open maw while my serfs starve and grovel?
He knows what he must do. His hand is raised, slowly, torturously - it's a monumental effort for Management, who lost the ability to even crawl around after the release of The Sims 2. A thousand thousand eyes watch the motion, terrified, knowing what is about to happen. A sausage-like finger unfurls from the balled fist, pointing at a few dozen programmers. Mythic Entertainment, or rather what is left of it after the last purge.
"MONEY!! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!" comes the hoarse, squealing call. The lawyers savagely flood over the programmers, beating, kicking, biting. They die screaming, their still jerking bodies torn apart, manacled arms and pieces of skin flying around. A lawyer takes a severed leg, the bone sticking out of one end, takes a huge bite out of it, and begins to chew, chittering gleefully to himself as the carnage unfolds around him. The bloodbath ends as the last mutilated corpse of the Mythic crew is torn from its restraints, pieces of her still fused to the chair, but mostly just strewn around the blood-slicked floor.
A door opens, and through it flocks another dozen wailing bodies, their eyes vacant, knowing a new eternity of thankless drudgery and eventual execution awaits them. They are chained to the Mythic workstations, none resisting, knowing it is truly futile. The bodies of the previous employees aren't even touched; they will be left to rot as a warning. Through it all, the fat monster in the corner shrieks "SHOW ME THE MONEY!!"
Goddamn EA.
That is like saying that Mass Effect 3's endings were innovative, or Battlefield 4's launch was innovative. You cant just fuck up and then blame it on the consumer saying that we "weren't ready". If you stick your fingers into a beloved franchise and then you change one little thing, people are not going to be happy, granted, but if you stick your grubby little fingers into a beloved franchise, fuck it up, and then blame it on the consumer, then everybody is going to hate you.
That is like saying that Mass Effect 3's endings were innovative, or Battlefield 4's launch was innovative. You cant just fuck up and then blame it on the consumer saying that we "weren't ready". If you stick your fingers into a beloved franchise and then you change one little thing, people are not going to be happy, granted, but if you stick your grubby little fingers into a beloved franchise, fuck it up, and then blame it on the consumer, then everybody is going to hate you.
None of you fine people deserve to be exposed to my thoughts regarding Dungeon Keeper.
How do we contact Frank Gibeau?
No, wait. That's exactly what EA wants me to do. Frank Gibeau's entire job exists to shield EA's leadership from ever having to acknowledge, listen to, or deal with its customers.
How do we contact literally anyone else who works at EA?
*speculatively does a few random google searches*
How do we contact Frank Gibeau?
No, wait. That's exactly what EA wants me to do. Frank Gibeau's entire job exists to shield EA's leadership from ever having to acknowledge, listen to, or deal with its customers.
How do we contact literally anyone else who works at EA?
*speculatively does a few random google searches*
EA annoys me. Because due to them constantly pulling awful shit like this it makes me really want to just flat-out not buy stuff from them. Which would normally be fine given most of their stuff seems to be endless sports games and fuck sports games, but then they had to go and be the ones publishing the new Dragon Age game, so I'm fucked.
So it's our fault? Isn't this what a narcissist thinks?
This is basically a stone throw away from saying "sorry you were too stupid and jealous of our genius!"
This also smacks of "we will try this again in the future".
This is basically a stone throw away from saying "sorry you were too stupid and jealous of our genius!"
This also smacks of "we will try this again in the future".
Oh they're totally going to try it again, after leaving just enough time that they can convince themselves that we've all forgotten about this time. Because as has been demonstrated, EA seems to be genuinely surprised that we're even sentient sometimes.Stabby Joe said:
(I mean 6m23s to 7m, in case the start and stop point don't work)
Okay, I'm pretty sure with they mean they innovated in monetization and marketing, rather than gameplay. Because those drones don't understand how to talk about anything else bt monetization and marketing. But even then it is a giant load of bullshit. Their innovative monetization is the already infamous cowklicker modell just turned up to eleven in terms of sheer spite for the consumer. And the marketing is the well known exploitation of well recognized brand names. I can not fathom how anyone at EA could think anyone would buy such a statement, but I think I give them too much credit if I presume that anyone in EA's PR department has even some vague understanding of how humans think.
Okay, I'm pretty sure with they mean they innovated in monetization and marketing, rather than gameplay. Because those drones don't understand how to talk about anything else bt monetization and marketing. But even then it is a giant load of bullshit. Their innovative monetization is the already infamous cowklicker modell just turned up to eleven in terms of sheer spite for the consumer. And the marketing is the well known exploitation of well recognized brand names. I can not fathom how anyone at EA could think anyone would buy such a statement, but I think I give them too much credit if I presume that anyone in EA's PR department has even some vague understanding of how humans think.
Hmmm... I agree with most of what people are saying here, but let me pick you up on this specific point.Therumancer said:
Right now I'm playing through "Fallout: New Vegas"'s DLC, which costs about ten dollars in total, and has so far offered about two days' worth of play (in total, I mean - not "I've been playing it on and off for two days)? And I'm not halfway through it yet - I've finished "Dead Money" and am about a quarter-done with "Old World Blues".
Look, there's nothing wrong with DLC if it's done like this. It doesn't take away from the original game, it doesn't add to what you might term "necessary" lore, it's not stuff that's been deleted from the "finished" product to be sold separately at release. I played "Fallout: New Vegas" through three times in total before spending a cent on DLC, and had an experience that was worth every penny I'd paid for it and more. "Fallout: New Vegas" is in my opinion a great game, whether you have the DLC or not. But each piece of "New Vegas"' DLC has its own (fairly expansive) map, enemy types, situations, characters, even weapons and perks. This stuff is WORTH the money I paid for it. Hell, I'd say I got my money's worth a while back, and I'm not even half done with it yet.
My point: THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS TYPE OF DLC. It's like buying a whole new game, except there's no risk to it, because I already know I love the mechanics, art style, humour and world-building of "Fallout: New Vegas". All this DLC is doing is giving me a ton more of it.
There IS, on the other hand, something very very wrong with asking players for extortionate amounts of money just to "not wait". There's something wrong with games that call themselves "free" and then charge seventy-nine dollars for a "best value" gem pack that does nothing except stop some loading times. There's something wrong with a game that has no failure state and offers no challenge, just tries to sucker you into an "experience" and then makes you pay to continue with it.
I'm saying this because some people seem to regard DLC as this great universal evil. And often, I agree, it is: it's disgusting to take content that clearly should be in the game, then charge for it separately and call it an "extra". But let's remember what we're really fighting against here, ok?
If this is EA's definition of "Innovation" then I am REALLY REALLY WORRIED for Dragon Age Inquisition.
Ahh, I get it. You innovated by changing Dungeon Keeper from a GAME into a sophisticated form of consensual robbing. Right. I understand now.
In other news, how full of shit can one human realistically be? Find out after THESE messages!
In other news, how full of shit can one human realistically be? Find out after THESE messages!
You're describing two distinct entities though, enormous new map section with added content ala Dragon Age: Awakening? That's more along the lines of an Expansion Pack. I can get behind paying for that.TheMadDoctorsCat said:
Individual costumes that cost $5 a pop or pretty much any free-to-play game on a phone where free means "You get a level"? Those are DLC. Basically, if you can define it as an expansion pak to the game I'd call it that rather than DLC. If it's clearly just a single level with re-used assets or a bonus character it's DLC and you have no excuse to have not included it.
Except that's not entirely correct anymore. At one point and time, yes it was just an "expansion pack", however that term applies primarily to the days when to get additional content one had to buy a separate hard copy of something to add to the game. Also, expansion packs were rarely, if ever, used for console games back then since installing something wasn't really what consoles did.CaptainMarvelous said:
During those times, in order for an expansion pack to be made and marketed it needed to have enough substance to justify it. Nowadays that just isn't the case. Developers can add as little or as much as they want and simply allow people to download it instead of jumping through all of the hoops they used to. On top of that, TheMadDoctorsCat said he paid about 10 dollars for all of the Fallout DLC, so I have to ask you, when was the last time you were able to buy what was called an "expansion pack" for 10 dollars that wasn't on discount, clearance, or outdated? Because for me, I remember expansion packs were generally 30 and up.
So no, what you are trying to define as an "expansion pack" is DLC. Expansion pack is an outdated term that, for the most part, no longer applies to today's games. You would be correct in saying the other stuff, like the 5 dollar costumes is DLC but that's the thing, it is all DLC, since DLC is simply, as the name states, downloadable content.
Can DLC be misused? Of course. Does that mean it is inherently bad? No. I have seen enough DLC done right to believe DLC is a good thing overall, even if some companies grossly misuse it.
You can try to distinctly classify it in your mind however you want, but to say it is not DLC is just plain wrong. A burger from McDonalds and a meal at a fancy restaurant are very different, but in the end it is still called food.
What really worries me here is that while one executive did indeed apologize, no matter how empty the gesture is nor how sincere it is, there is a counteractive force that seems to insinuate that this format of a game billed as 'free-to-play' will be based off of in-game transactions meant to exploit a growing 'instant gratification' culture. With this in mind, my fear is that the prevailing element will be the latter, and that after the controversy dies down and the game is forgotten, more games like it will appear using a similar Free-To-Play/$-boosts will be more and more popular in an industry that is not anywhere near it's peak.
---main point end---
However, I think that the idea of in-app or in-game currencies with real money are not genuinely bad, it is the way in which the developer and publisher use them and market those systems to be the good or evil that is self inflicted. With that being the case, EA clearly mishandled it, yet similar system that can provide boosts and premium items and bonuses that are exactly that--bonuses--then they are a generally good system.
---main point end---
However, I think that the idea of in-app or in-game currencies with real money are not genuinely bad, it is the way in which the developer and publisher use them and market those systems to be the good or evil that is self inflicted. With that being the case, EA clearly mishandled it, yet similar system that can provide boosts and premium items and bonuses that are exactly that--bonuses--then they are a generally good system.