Poll: Are We Entitled?
- Thread starter Toilet
- Start date
We're entitled to a game that isn't broken. This can include, but is not quite limited to:
Great big glitches that can happen even if you have fore-knowledge. Worse if they're glitches that completely break the game and you have to start over.
Piss-poor control layout (e.g., shooting and turning both done by a thumb on a controller). More commonly, poor character control makes for a game that's harder than it needs to be. And this leads us very nicely to...
Artificial difficulty. Enemies hitting too hard and/or too fast, while you don't have the means to dodge or defend. Maybe I just really suck at Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, but I'm getting knocked around way too much, for way too much damage.
In the same thread of thought, we have artificial stupidity. Getting the AI to behave can't be easy, but when we have allies and enemies running into walls, that's just kinda sad.
Also, we're entitled to not getting fleeced.
I'm going to completely ignore the Mass Effect 3 shtick going on for just a moment. Instead, I'm going to point out a racing game from just a few years ago. The game in question shipped with the absolute bare minimum of content, with virtually everything else being available via micro-transfer DLC. The problem being that the total cost of this DLC was over $1,000. Classy.
Let's get back to ME3. Okay, the From Ashes content was completed after the rest of the game was certified. I guess it was too late to get it on the disc. Why are we still paying for it? From Ashes is content that is so steeped in Mass Effect lore, to NOT have it alongside the game kinda takes away from Bioware's good reputation for superb story-telling.
But that's a sentimental argument, isn't it? Let's try something a little more pragmatic. I just double-checked, From Ashes is going to be available separate from the collector's edition for $10. Just a little much for my liking, given all the swag the CE has beside From Ashes, but I'll let it slide. However, the price, coupled with the sentimentality, and EA's tendency for actions that generally annoy gamers, and suddenly the fandom's entitlement outrage becomes a little more rational.
Great big glitches that can happen even if you have fore-knowledge. Worse if they're glitches that completely break the game and you have to start over.
Piss-poor control layout (e.g., shooting and turning both done by a thumb on a controller). More commonly, poor character control makes for a game that's harder than it needs to be. And this leads us very nicely to...
Artificial difficulty. Enemies hitting too hard and/or too fast, while you don't have the means to dodge or defend. Maybe I just really suck at Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, but I'm getting knocked around way too much, for way too much damage.
In the same thread of thought, we have artificial stupidity. Getting the AI to behave can't be easy, but when we have allies and enemies running into walls, that's just kinda sad.
Also, we're entitled to not getting fleeced.
I'm going to completely ignore the Mass Effect 3 shtick going on for just a moment. Instead, I'm going to point out a racing game from just a few years ago. The game in question shipped with the absolute bare minimum of content, with virtually everything else being available via micro-transfer DLC. The problem being that the total cost of this DLC was over $1,000. Classy.
Let's get back to ME3. Okay, the From Ashes content was completed after the rest of the game was certified. I guess it was too late to get it on the disc. Why are we still paying for it? From Ashes is content that is so steeped in Mass Effect lore, to NOT have it alongside the game kinda takes away from Bioware's good reputation for superb story-telling.
But that's a sentimental argument, isn't it? Let's try something a little more pragmatic. I just double-checked, From Ashes is going to be available separate from the collector's edition for $10. Just a little much for my liking, given all the swag the CE has beside From Ashes, but I'll let it slide. However, the price, coupled with the sentimentality, and EA's tendency for actions that generally annoy gamers, and suddenly the fandom's entitlement outrage becomes a little more rational.
Maybe I was talking about pirates with no boy/girlfriend.Crono1973 said:
I know eight or nine. They make me sad.
Yes, which kinda wrecks my first defense, doesn't it?Crono1973 said:
It's even worse when you realize that it's exactly what you think it is... you drive trains. That is all.Crono1973 said:
Things like this give DLC the bad name that it has. I hope no one spent $1700 to drive trains.lacktheknack said:Yes, which kinda wrecks my first defense, doesn't it?Crono1973 said:
It's even worse when you realize that it's exactly what you think it is... you drive trains. That is all.Crono1973 said:
No, but I can fathom a bloody guess. What makes you think you are, or indeed, would be that different? Do you have some inherant hatered towards money and success? I don't think so... Just because now you're on the recieving end of the transaction, is that what makes you so enlightened? Actually, yes; however, if you weren't, then you probably wouldn't think twice before releasing d1DLC.Vegosiux said:
And don't get me wrong, I am not saying you would do everything exactly the same way, all I am saying is it'll probably be within the same constraints, as in trying to squeeze as much money, without actually putting too much into it.
This is the point where I politely request that you do not make assumptions about how I would or would not act in a given situation. I believe myself to be better qualified to make that judgement than someone whose entire position depends on whether or not they're right about what they think about what I'd do.n00beffect said:
If you think the game is bad, why would you be so interested in playing it that you would pirate it?Toilet said:
Just to make it clear, I think the industry needs to improve, and I won't be buying Mass Effect 3. But that's the extent of my rights. It's their product, and they can charge whatever they like, and unless I pay what they ask I'm not entitled to their product. It sucks that I won't be able to see the conclusion to a series I love, but I have principles.
Believe it or not, THIS IS WHAT COMPANIES DO. It's how buisness works. If the companies didn't want to be bought, then they wouldn't have been bought. They were selling themselves, and EA was buying. That's the entire concept of Stock Trading.Zeel said:
You make it sound like EA is going around deliberately buying out these companies just to shut them down. What makes you think they'd last without EA's funding? Do you sit on the board for all these poor, pitiful companies? Heck, even Bioware must have had something to gain from EA purchase, or they would not have sold themselves. Do I feel bad for the people who get fired if their company goes under? Sure, but that's life. Whether a parent company breaks them up, or they go under do to their own failure, what does it matter? If you make bad games, you lose. Its a risk/reward system; the very nature of capitalism.
And before you start in with the "Fewer companies means worse games!" remember, EA (and others) tend to keep around the employees that show the most potential. So the people who made all the games you love? They are still making games. It's the employees, not the company name.
It happens in every industry. Idealism never, ever overcomes profit and the end of the day. Which is the way it SHOULD be, honestly. Artists are a notoriously fickle and unproductive group of people. Publishers aren't just there to fund them, they are there to keep them focused, and working towards a product that people will actually buy.Vegosiux said:
Well it'd be nice if they worked towards a product I'd actually buy, yes. I'm not saying idealism is the way to go, but shoehorning current FOTM elements into everything ("Multiplayer makes money! Add multiplayer!") isn't either.Ordinaryundone said:
As far as ME3 is concerned, I hoped for a quality SP RPG experience, not an action/shooter with "optional MP element developed by a different team" when said team could have been working on more SP experience for the resources allocated to them. And that's just one of my gripes.
In the end I'm getting my money's worth still - no game for no money. Sucks, but that's the way I'm going to make it unless some of my gripes are resolved with future updates.