Rage Cuts Single-Player When You Buy It Used

[camazotz]

Okay....not to redact my last statement, but over here: http://www.nohighscores.com/node/1385
It seems pretty clear that this is not a lock-out of the single player mode like Escapist is reporting, but more or less a lockout of one region....tantamount to a DLC area, and that it will be purchaseable. I still think it stinks for the used market, and will still wait until Rage is dirt cheap on Steam in the not too distant future, but it's not quite the single-player lockout that the article is making it out to be, going by other news sources.

 

[suitepee7]

I'm confused. What triggers the 'used' part of the game that locked the part of single player? I mean, if you let your friend borrow the game, will it immediately lock up that part and never let you have it again? If you create a new profile or start the game anew, will it lock up and throw away the key of that section as well?

I've never been aware of a used game store randomly doing something to the CD that would magically trigger this.

you probably have to register the game online with a unique code, making each machine the deciding factor. alternatively, it would be linked with your online account (PSN id or XBL account)

so, yes, if you borrowed the game off a friend, unless you also borrowed his account details, it would be locked out, until you purchased it yourself on your own account.

 

[Sneezeguard]

Anyone else find this title very misleading? I know your suppose to have a title that grabs peoples attention but, when I read that title I thought the game would have no single player when bought pre-owned. I had to read the article to realize it only meant the some single areas would be missing if you bought it pre-owned.

 

[JohnDoey]

(Whistles) That's a pretty gutsy move there id. I always buy whatever game I want brand new because I'm worried about a used copy being damaged in some way, but to cut out the single player? Hm...not sure how I feel about that. Multiplayer I can understand, but single player...coming from someone who loves single player over multiplayer, this sounds like a dangerous slope, although they haven't fallen down it yet.

Its pretty much the same as Dragon Age's Dlc character thing and it seems piece of the game.the core experience is left intact and they are just blocking a optional small

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

the title is deceptive.

I read it thinking 'whoa, they're cutting out singleplayer? what a dick move', now i see its one piece of one part of one level that isn't even a main part of the game anyway.

Still not cool to cut stuff like this, but no where near as bad as you made it sound.

 

[Traun]

A new copy is 60$, a used one is 55$. I don't see your point.

not all the time. if i don't buy a game on release, then it's probably because something better is out at the time, and i would rather buy that new. by the time i come to purchasing the other game, it would be down significantly from used stores. as i'm from the uk, a new game is around £40, and used is normally near abouts the £20-£25. so money can be a big difference preowned.

My point is that Game Retailers have created a whole industry around selling as much second-hand copies as humanly possible. Second hand has always existed, up until several years ago no one cared. Why do they now? Because retailers are being extremely hostile against publishers.

Here's the thing - the second hand market is causing massive losses to publishers, let me give you an example between our industry and the book one.

Recently A Dance with Dragons came out - 30$, I have two stores nearby - Barns & Nobles and a local one.

The local one reduced the price with 30% - everyone is happy. The store gets more customers and sales, the customer receives a great product for a cheaper product and the publisher sales his product.

A win-win situation all around.

Here's what happens when a new game comes out.

Gamestop orders enough copies for the pre-orders and several for the store. The idea is that soon these copies would be bought out and customers will be forced to buy used. In fact sometimes Gamestop would put brand new copies as used ones.

The customer saves a negligible amount, the retailers hogs up all the money and the publisher is left on dry land.

While bookstores have their own way of encouraging used book sales they don't try to cut in the pay the first week, or hell - the first month of sales. This is why book publishers are reluctant to go digital - they have a great relationship with retailers.

On the other hand thanks to Gamestop schemes the used game sales could, and have gone on occasions, to nearly 50% of all the copies sold.

In gaming used game sales aren't "hey I sold my own copy of the game", it's a industry in it's own right. It's large, it's massive and it's trying to squeeze as much as possible.

 

[McNinja]

So basically, anyone who buys it a month or two later (it's not going to go below $50 in used game stores for a while unless it's a terrible game) will get shafted on a separate part of the campaign. Huh. Interesting. So basically if I can't shell out an extra ten dollars to buy a new copy, I miss something. I don't know why people even buy used games a month or even weeks after the game comes out, because if it's only ten bucks cheaper, you can stand to wait until you have an extra ten bucks. Ask a friend, take out a mortgage on your house. I have never gotten a used game (that I didn't return the next day), and the game I did buy was a very single-player focused game. This isn't really a problem for me, but I suppose someone with constantly limited funds would have trouble buying new. And saving their money. Gotta pick your battles.

 

[USSR]

Oh.

Well fuck you.

And your game.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I don't personally have an issue with this, because I can see why they do it. But personally, I still think that if they're gonna do this kind of thing to games, they should do it to the multiplayer, rather than the main part of the game that you wanted to buy it for in the first place.

 

[MordinSolus]

And this is going to stop modders from unlocking the content how?

You know, it'll stop them...from uh...getting underground with it's...firewall?

 

[duchaked]

well...I guess I wasn't interested anyway :/

 

[ImprovizoR]

Next time I want to buy a used Mercedes, I'll call official Mercedes dealership to ask them if they're gonna cut my brakes if I don't give them a piece of that action.

This is fuckin' stupid. Used games market should be no different than any other market for used stuff. This kind of behavior can only increase piracy. There should be a law against this.

A giant flaw in your analogy is that if you're going to an official Mercadies Dealer to buy a used car then you're still giving money to Mercadies, if you're buying a used id game from gamestop you're not giving anything to id. So they make no money for their hard work, instead it's gamestop getting it for doing little more than storing it.

There's a difference between breaks, and what game developers typically do. Brakes are needed for a function. You not having access to certain multiplayer maps,or parts of single player does not effect the overall experience. You can still play the game, however if you want to play the maps the company simply wants something for their hard work.

The analogy stands. I didn't say that I'd buy the car from official Mercedes dealership. I said that I'll call the official dealership to ask about cutting the brakes on my used car. As for brakes being necessary for car to function, again, the analogy stands. It's not important which part of the car it is, it's important that they're cutting something they shouldn't. You're going into details instead of looking at the bigger picture.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Man, I don't usually complain about the titles of these threads but... really Escapist? Its not cutting off single player its cutting off a single area. That's hardly the same thing.

It sounds as if the sewer level (lol, sewer level is always the worst) is going to just be cut off. That sounds similar to how some titles offer the deluxe package with a bonus area but instead now its include in the new standards package. That sounds similar to pre-order goodies or even other in the box codes. This actually doesn't seem too far removed from other schemes like this. Of course that's not going to keep people from blowing it out of proportion.

 

[moosek]

This isn't solving the problem. It's part of the problem.

What's the problem (I guess you're asking), games are $60. $60 can buy a lot of other stuff.

 

[Vault101]

so If I DO get it new copy..will I still have to download anything? I'm rather confused

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Umm... they are actually "locking" parts of the single player for used copies? Thats new... not to good, but new.

It's exactly the same as any other day one DLC scheme, but seemingly without the option to purchase it separately if you do buy it second hand. At least with other systems the publisher/developer can get some money from used sales if they choose to buy into the day one stuff.

Eh, it seems every anti-piracy measure or DLC announcement nowadays results in a few people complaining and threatening to cancel their pre-orders, and the rest just going 'meh'

Also, what the hell escapist?

Used Rage Has No Single-Player

Clearly not true, and you've stated as much in the article. What's with the sensationalist journalism?

 

[Inkidu]

And this is going to stop modders from unlocking the content how?

You know, it'll stop them...from uh...getting underground with it's...firewall?

Obviously, you're not a golfer.

And wow Bethesda, next you'll be pulling this tactic on Skyrim and locking out Dragons.

Why do I think this is all id. Bethesda's usually pretty damned cool about stuff like this. Like the rewards for buying a new New Vegas were just some clothes or a gun. Heck, Oblivion for PC had no DRM when I bought it. Yeah, I think id is just using Bethesda to publish the game.

That said: Shut up, shut up, shut up! We don't want to give them any ideas!

 

[Piecewise]

If you buy it used, you ain't supporting the developers, just like the pirates do. Don't see anything wrong with it, as long as this new little feature doesn't affect the legit buyers.

Oh fuck that. I bought it, it's my property, if I want to sell it to a game store and they want to sell it used to someone else, thats their fucking business. Should I have to pay royalties to authors everytime I buy a book on amazon or they'll tear out half the pages? Should I pay furniture companies for the couch I bought at a yard sale? Why should game developers be different?

 

[Bakuryukun]

but wait...what happens when the game is only available aftermarket a long time from now? This seems shortsighted.

 

[UnmotivatedSlacker]

So lets say I was late to the party and didn't know about it or I just wasn't able to get it new for whatever reason, this is basically a screw you to those types of people.