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EA: all our games will have micro-transactions

I must say though, some of you who will instantly take a black and white stance on this and boycott the company completely are amazing. Never change.

When all their games will now have microtransactions, it is kind of hard not to take the middle ground no?

...

I still can't quite wrap my head around the whole thing. Why would I pay to speed up a process in a game I purchased? I'm not in any hurry. If I'm not enjoying the game, why wouldn't I just stop playing? If I am enjoying it, why would I speed towards the end?

Guess I'm a single player dinosaur or something.
 

Fruitster

Member
Cheers EA, I didn't need any other reason to avoid buying any games that your company is involved with, but once again you've delivered.
 

nickcv

Member
Some things are only obtainable through microtransactions. I don't mind the whole "Pay to unlock" stuff since you would be able to unlock the stuff through game progress.

unfortunately most of the times to encourage the purchase they make normal unlocking a pain in the ass...
 

Dance Inferno

Unconfirmed Member
i4UN1OkpaSr9d.gif

Oh no, not fat Betty. Now I know you're really pissed.
 

Dead Man

Member
As long as you can still obtain everything in a regular fashion (read: not F2P elongated "if you don't pay, have fun spending your entire life unlocking this stuff" drivel) then I really don't see why this is a bad thing. It generates more money for the industry and provides players short on time and with an expendable income a way to gain streamline their gaming.

I must say though, some of you who will instantly take a black and white stance on this and boycott the company completely are amazing. Never change.

By the way, you could buy power and items in Tales of Vesperia. Are people boycotting Namco Bandai now? The hypocrisy is astounding.

The shill is strong with this one.
 

epmode

Member
I haven't bought an EA game in a few years and I don't see a reason to start now. This is one company that I'd love to see go under. Here's hoping!
 

angelfly

Member
$70 MSRP + microtransactions in everything = Not buying any EA games next gen
unless Mirror's Edge 2 is actually announced :(

EA continues down the path of trying to nickel and dime as much as they can.
 

DaBoss

Member
unfortunately most of the times to encourage the purchase they make normal unlocking a pain in the ass...

I edited my post since I misread what you said, but I guess you figured out what I meant.

Well in F2P games it would be hard to unlock stuff, since it encourages you to pay to play. I never played Assassin's Creed 3 yet, but I remember hearing about microtransactions to unlock some stuff that can help players and you can just ignore it if you are planning to unlock everything through game progress.
 

Axspell

Neo Member
"but guis, EA are only our for whats best 4 u, now pay to race again in RR3 or wait 3 hours lol"

When all their games will now have microtransactions, it is kind of hard not to take the middle ground no?

The shill is strong with this one.

Please, don't be daft or treat me as daft. I am under no illusions that this sets a potentially dangerous precedent for the industry if the model is misused. But for now, it's being implemented in a completely appropriate and rational way that exists only to satisfy both parties involved in the exchange. At the moment I've seen absolutely no negative impact whatsoever on parties not involved in the transaction (i.e, you).
 

SteveWD40

Member
Please, don't be daft. I am under no illusions that this sets a potentially dangerous precedent for the industry if the model is misused. But for now, it's being implemented in a completely appropriate and rational way that exists only to satisfy both parties involved in the exchange. At the moment I've seen absolutely no negative impact whatsoever on parties not involved in the transaction (i.e, you).

YSzO1NI.gif
 

Mxrz

Member
could you please give me an example of no BS microtransaction?

Of the ones I've played, League of Legends, DC Universe aren't too bad. LoL is mostly skins and ip/xp boosts, and DCU gave you the core game for free, and treated new-content as mini-DLC. There's a couple more MMOs that were virtually saved by it.

It doesn't have to be pay to unlock this gun, but seeing as this is EA. Eh.
 

Eideka

Banned
Great news. I can't wait until they make ressource management tedious to favor this kind of business model.

Gotta love next-gen.
 

Seep

Member
£5 for bullets before the round starts.

I'll probably only get BF4 so I'll just stab people instead.
 
Everyone, why are you so surprised ?!, come on we should have gotten used to it by name, EA got a way to screw us, they just love to do so.


I wonder how good Dead Space 3 is performing, I for one didn't buy it yet, waiting for a huge price drop, and nope I am not sorry EA.
 

SteveWD40

Member
Of the ones I've played, League of Legends, DC Universe aren't too bad. LoL is mostly skins and ip/xp boosts, and DCU gave you the core game for free, and treated new-content as mini-DLC. There's a couple more MMOs that were virtually saved by it.

It doesn't have to be pay to unlock this gun, but seeing as this is EA. Eh.

Yeah, when f2p is done right (TF2, Dota 2, LoL, PoE etc...) it's fine, I actually like the model in the right hands when long term player retention is the focus. EA are all about short term cash grabs, they don't want you playing their games for more than a year because the annualised sequel will be out by then and god forbid we don't all buy that as well.

RR3 on iOS might be outside of most peoples arc of what is "gaming", but the IAP in that, even after the changes is up there with Korean MMO's, loaded with timers and pay to play.
 

CTLance

Member
Oh EA, you never cease to amaze me.

oG3obdk.jpg


Seriously, I can understand smalltime stuff on a case by case basis, but a blanket statement just makes me laugh in disbelief.
 
Step 1: Create arbitrary roadblock
Step 2: Charge consumer to overcome roadblock
Step 3: Profit

If they really gave a shit about the consumers experience, there wouldn't be a roadblock in the first place.
 

Ding-Ding

Member
The way EA are going I wouldn't be surprised if they started a swear jar with microtransactions

Gamer - "Fuck it"
EA - "That will be 25pence"
 
Please, don't be daft or treat me as daft. I am under no illusions that this sets a potentially dangerous precedent for the industry if the model is misused. But for now, it's being implemented in a completely appropriate and rational way that exists only to satisfy both parties involved in the exchange. At the moment I've seen absolutely no negative impact whatsoever on parties not involved in the transaction (i.e, you).

What do you think of the Real Racing 3 implementation? I would argue that it contradicts your assertion that it is being implemented in a completely appropriate way.
 

tineladia

Neo Member
Of the ones I've played, League of Legends, DC Universe aren't too bad. LoL is mostly skins and ip/xp boosts, and DCU gave you the core game for free, and treated new-content as mini-DLC. There's a couple more MMOs that were virtually saved by it.

Lord of the Rings Online (and to an extent D&D online too) are decent examples of microtransactions done OK too. I'm hesitant to say "right", but if F2P is the only option then the way they do it is the "least worst" IMO.

I actually like some EA franchises, but if they're shoehorning microtransactions into single player games then I won't be buying any more.
 

Orayn

Member
Of the ones I've played, League of Legends, DC Universe aren't too bad. LoL is mostly skins and ip/xp boosts, and DCU gave you the core game for free, and treated new-content as mini-DLC. There's a couple more MMOs that were virtually saved by it.

It doesn't have to be pay to unlock this gun, but seeing as this is EA. Eh.

The way LoL, Hawken and MechWarrior Online do microtransactions is terrible, since they lock up nearly all of the game's substantive content behind either unreasonable grinding or a paywall. It'd be better if they offered a one-time unlock like Tribes: Ascend now does, or at least some sort of season pass that would give you all the new content for some number of months at a steep discount.

Dota 2 and Path of Exile have the right idea: Keep the microtransactions game mechanics completely separate.
 

Fistwell

Member
How will they microtransaction Fight Night?
$.50 for temporary online stat boost.
$1.25 for exclusive branded trunks/gloves.
$5.00/$10.00 for week/month long dble benefit from training.
$2.50 to erase 5 Ls from career.
$10.00 to unlock Legends of Boxing pack of playable characters. Ali! Mayweather! Rocky! That blonde Russian from Rocky 4! Balrog! Effin Guile!
$10.00 for Exotic Location pack of arenas. Box inside a petting zoo! Aircraft carrier!
$2.50 to (temporarily) unlock Secret Special Unblockable Haymaker for your favorite boxer.
$4.99 to put the ref in your pocket for your next online fight. Be a ball buster! Literaly! Ear munching!
$2.50 to unlock automatic evade for your next online fight. "Bitches can't touch me!"
$1.50 to unlock Iron Guts for your next online fight, body blows have no effect. "Come at me bro!"
$2.50 for exploding gloves. One hit kill, your opponent ceased to exist due to severe head explosion trauma on contact (disposable item).
$3.50 to play as annoying monkey. Throws bananas, make opponent slip.
 

V_Arnold

Member
EA: I see no games in your upcoming portfolio that I would want to buy, even for $5 or less.

Edit: actually, I once bought Burnout Paradise for 3.49 on steam. Busted :(
 

Dead Man

Member
Please, don't be daft or treat me as daft. I am under no illusions that this sets a potentially dangerous precedent for the industry if the model is misused. But for now, it's being implemented in a completely appropriate and rational way that exists only to satisfy both parties involved in the exchange. At the moment I've seen absolutely no negative impact whatsoever on parties not involved in the transaction (i.e, you).

You are a sophisticated shill, no doubt. You cannot actually believe that this is done only to benefit both parties, and if EA thought there was no benefit to customers they wouldn't do this.
 

dave_m123

Member
Yet another reason to avoid EA games unless they are dirt cheap bargain prices and games that can be completed without all the bullshit DLC they are going to release for it.
 

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, when f2p is done right (TF2, Dota 2, LoL, PoE etc...) it's fine, I actually like the model in the right hands when long term player retention is the focus. EA are all about short term cash grabs, they don't want you playing their games for more than a year because the annualised sequel will be out by then and god forbid we don't all buy that as well.

RR3 on iOS might be outside of most peoples arc of what is "gaming", but the IAP in that, even after the changes is up there with Korean MMO's, loaded with timers and pay to play.
Pretty much this. They rarely fix their broken crap too. Huge game breaking bugs in NHL and they rarely do shit since they're already working on the next one...with the same damn bugs in it. I pumped in a ton of hours into NHL 2011 and 2012 only for my season to freeze and lose all that progress.
 

Jamie OD

Member
No surprise here. All of EA's games in the last 2 or 3 years have DLC.

On a side note I've been listening to old episodes of 1Up Yours and just finished the moment when the cast freaked out about the Oblivion Horse Armor DLC. Man, oh man does it sting when I hear Luke yelling at us to not become guinea pigs for the DLC experiment or else this almost exact stuff would happen.
 
Everyone will do this, everyone is already doing this, and this is why I am not the least bit excited about another generation of consoles. The more I think about it, the more I think I am simply done with new participation in this hobby.
 

Axspell

Neo Member
What do you think of the Real Racing 3 implementation? I would argue that it contradicts your assertion that it is being implemented in a completely appropriate way.

I actually haven't read into Real Racing 3's implementation. I'd be completely open to looking into that. Could you explain it for me? (And seriously, thanks for actually attempting to enlighten the topic at hand, as opposed to just shutting me down for being a contrarian -- I really appreciate it).

You are a sophisticated shill, no doubt. You cannot actually believe that this is done only to benefit both parties, and if EA thought there was no benefit to customers they wouldn't do this.

Of the examples I've seen, it has had no negative effect on those who wish not to purchase the goods for sale and play the game as normal. The example above may yet disprove that, but I'd wager they are in the minority. Example: my friend purchased Battlefield 3 on the PC the other day after having played it on console for a year. He didn't feel like he wanted to go through the unlock treadmill all over again, so he seriously considered simply purchasing the quick-unlock packs and getting everything right there and then. I do not see the problem here, as it exists in its current form.

And yes, I am aware of the potential for perverting such models going forward.

But keep on ringing that alarmist "shill" button. I suppose that's the easier route, right?


Can we not forget the part where EA's microtransactions are actually doing good things for the industry? The bevy of free Mass Effect 3 multiplayer updates would like to say hello. Like, just saying. There are examples out there providing reason to not always completely overreact and haphazardly smash the "I HAET DIS COMPANY" button ad nauseam.
 
Step 1: Create arbitrary roadblock
Step 2: Charge consumer to overcome roadblock
Step 3: Profit

This is my concern. It doesn't seem like their games have been designed to hinder your progress unless you stump up the cash to progress but i'm wondering how long that will last?

I'm not a whale and i doubt i will be if i haven't found a game i want to spend extravagantly upon yet. I'm sure people who don't purchase a couple of games a month are more likely to go for it than us.
 
Back in my day cheat codes were free.

And don't go blaming acheiments / trophies for this change. They could always disable the ability to earn them once the codes are active.
 
As long as they don't nerf the non DLC paying costumer to make it harder to reach those things without paying I'm cool with it.


I have no problems at all with people paying for early unlocks. And ofc, cosmetic stuff.
 

raphier

Banned
$.50 for temporary online stat boost.
$1.25 for exclusive branded trunks/gloves.
$5.00/$10.00 for week/month long dble benefit from training.
$2.50 to erase 5 Ls from career.
$10.00 to unlock Legends of Boxing pack of playable characters. Ali! Mayweather! Rocky! That blonde Russian from Rocky 4! Balrog! Effin Guile!
$10.00 for Exotic Location pack of arenas. Box inside a petting zoo! Aircraft carrier!
$2.50 to (temporarily) unlock Secret Special Unblockable Haymaker for your favorite boxer.
$4.99 to put the ref in your pocket for your next online fight. Be a ball buster! Literaly! Ear munching!
$2.50 to unlock automatic evade for your next online fight. "Bitches can't touch me!"
$1.50 to unlock Iron Guts for your next online fight, body blows have no effect. "Come at me bro!"
$2.50 for exploding gloves. One hit kill, your opponent ceased to exist due to severe head explosion trauma on contact (disposable item).
$3.50 to play as annoying monkey. Throws bananas, make opponent slip.

I can't believe that would even be legal.
 
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