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Assassin's Creed: Unity microtransaction shop wasn't fully live in retail copies
- Thread starter SteveWinwood
- Start date
That Kotaku review does still say that they were being really dodgy about the microtransaction stuff.
GrantDaNasty
Member
If I understood correctly, the microtransactions page is tied to some Ubi storefront server, which was down before the launch, hence reviewers did not see what the "hack points" amounted to in real dollars (I guess because the pricing structure is built to be dynamic, hence why they don't just have static values attached when "offline").
DAYMANvsNIGHTMAN
Neo Member
Fuck man it jus gets worse and worse for ubi. I'm more worried about far cry 4 now cuz I'm super pumped for that. Please ubi don't fuck it up like ACU.
Seriously. Up until this point I still viewed EA as the worst company but this puts Ubi over the top. They are no longer trying to copy EA, they're trying to beat them. I'd say they are up there with Gameloft. Which in a way is good, it means I'm not even tempted by their games cause I know they won't be good (unlike EA where I am sad I am missing out on Dragon Age. I totally don't care about AC Unity. Only even got AC IV cause I wanted something to play on my PS4 I got on launch day. Traded it though and don't regret it).
I should have known, they've been more succesful at doing the same crap EA has without getting a bunch of ire thrown at them. Maybe just cause they are smaller and don't affect as many games?
GoodCoffeeJoey
Banned
Ubisoft you sly dog.
Nialrot
Member
MHWilliams
Member
No, but I didn't try. The options weren't hidden though. Not working and "hidden" are two different things. AC Initiates wasn't working for most of my playthrough either.
Kotaku even took a screenshot for its review. That's how it appears in the game. You go to "Estore" and it's the first option there.
100 percent explicit? No, but seeing as we've been around this block a few times I guessed pretty quickly. When the in-game price is 25,000 and the Hack currency price is 800, I tend to go "hurm, microtransactions."
SteveWinwood
Member
Game is live. We know it has these micro transactions. Part of this thread was spurred from a journalist not being able to distinguish if they were in fact real or not thus the "hidden" part. It was not completely clear.
No, but I didn't try. The options weren't hidden though. Not working and "hidden" are two different things.
Kotaku even took a screenshot for its review. That's how it appears in the game. You go to "Estore" and it's the first option there.
100 percent explicit? No, but seeing as we've been around this block a few times I guessed pretty quickly. When the in-game price is 25,000 and the Hack currency price is 800, I tend to go "hurm, microtransactions."
The "hack item" specifically did not have any indication it was in fact tied to the pay currency that was in the game though. It has caused confusion and some thought it was a joke, I'd say that not being upfront entirely about what it was is incompetence at best and hiding at worst. "The DLC store is not operational for this item currently but in the future you will be able to buy enhancements to your game here" is a better message for a review copy than "SERVER ERROR 197560374-4739".
GIANKRATOS
Member
No seriously, this is disgusting.
Reviewers didn't get "special game copies" that had the microtransactions taken out in order to deceive them or something like that, they're the same as the retail copies everyone else has. The day 1 patch was also live since at least saturday so that's not it either.
The servers simply weren't up yet until very recently, so during the time reviewers were playing the game, the option to "hack" (buy) items just led to an error screen, iirc. People who got the game early also had this. In any case it was clear to me that the hack option basically meant paying real money, the option just didn't lead anywhere and thus prices weren't visible either.
That doesn't excuse the blatant abuse of stuffing the game with microtransactions, but the situation was different than what this thread suggests. There's a lot of things wrong with Unity but this is not one of them.
The servers simply weren't up yet until very recently, so during the time reviewers were playing the game, the option to "hack" (buy) items just led to an error screen, iirc. People who got the game early also had this. In any case it was clear to me that the hack option basically meant paying real money, the option just didn't lead anywhere and thus prices weren't visible either.
That doesn't excuse the blatant abuse of stuffing the game with microtransactions, but the situation was different than what this thread suggests. There's a lot of things wrong with Unity but this is not one of them.
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
NegativeCero
Banned
Nope. This is getting returned immediately when it gets to me.
Indeed, bet he'll go nuclear when he sees this thread.
legacyzero
Banned
Ubisoft has been strangely sketchy on FC4 as well. Went from my most anticipated game, to a no-buy.
People on their forums are simply BEGGING them for more information about key features like the Map Editor and how it relates to the game's Multiplayer and they simply refuse to talk about it. SEVEN DAYS UNTIL RELEASE
http://forums.ubi.com/forumdisplay.php/742-Far-Cry-4-General-Discussion?
Usually, when Ubi is quiet about something, it means it's not good news. For example: Splinter Cell conviction, and the removal of Spies Versus Mercenaries "Because casuals couldn't get into it easily". It took them (IIRC) until just a few weeks to launch to admit that it wasn't in the game.
It doesn't say that at all.
if this is true... and its a big if..
I'm almost 100% gonna go indie. The only games i've been playing recently are Sony games, older games and PC indie games...
I'm kinda already there. Nintendo and Sony first party/exclusives and indies are the bigger portion of my collections now.
harrypmgaga
Member
blankempathy
Member
I knew Assassin's creed Unity would be a buggy unoptimized mess but damn Ubisoft's managed to fuck up the fuck up. So much anti consumerism.
Astral Dog
Member
In a way, Ubisoft are the true victims,of this, this monster known as the AAA gaming market,poor Ubi.
Uno Venova
Banned
So you could tell there was microtansactions but just couldn't see pricing? So by hiding, you guys mean.... 'couldn't connect to the store yet'?
isn't that the entire crux of this thread? that it is in the retail copies but not the review copies?
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
That still doesn't change the fact that there are MTA in a 60 retail game.
Glitchesarecool
Member
It's Ubi, what were you expecting?
Randomizer
Member
Well there it is, Ubisoft just dethroned EA as the worst publisher and developer in gaming. Hopefully today has opened some people's eyes. Ubisoft have been on my shit-list for a while but this is some next level shit. Some of the most abhorrent anti-consumer practises I have ever witnessed in this industry, absolutely disgusting. The only Ubisoft games I'll buy from this point are from Michel Ancel.
keltickennedy
Member
I feel sorta bad for some of the devs. Watched the live stream today and when the "hacking" stuff was brought up it seemed like even they don't know the full extent of it and that things were completely locked out will the companion app. A least it "seemed" that way. Maybe studio 7 of the 10 were the ones in charge of the ass pounding.
UnluckyKate
Member
mark my words : The Crew will be the same. In All betas had 500% auto repair speed and max auto repair rate. The game isn't doing that. It was play tested around microtransaction and the economy is very tight. It's really expensive to get your car around (fast travel cost money based on distance travelled) and enverything cost : repair in a shop, repair in the street cost more. Part cost tons. You have double money and some cars are double money only...
SteveWinwood
Member
It wasn't made clear at all if "hack item" was actually a micro transaction, or a mini game for the app, or anything really. Some thought it was a joke.
From my post higher up: The "hack item" specifically did not have any indication it was in fact tied to the pay currency that was in the game though. It has caused confusion and some thought it was a joke, I'd say that not being upfront entirely about what it was is incompetence at best and hiding at worst. "The DLC store is not operational for this item currently but in the future you will be able to buy enhancements to your game here" is a better message for a review copy than "SERVER ERROR 197560374-4739".
FunkyPajamas
Member
Perfect Blue
Banned
josecitoxnyo
Member
That happened a long time ago, EA is nowhere near Ubi levels.
Chocolate & Vanilla
Fuck Strawberry
It's like every possible bad decision they could have made, they actually did make.
I mean what are the odds that you fuck up this many times in one sitting?
I mean what are the odds that you fuck up this many times in one sitting?
There is no such thing as a "Review copy"... The journalists got a normal retail version of the game.
The store servers were simply down until very recently which is 100% common with pre-release reviews. There is nothing fishy going one, nothing special that didn''t happen already with 100s of other games in the past.
The only thing happening here is GAF being its normal self and jumping on a cheap occasion to bash Ubisoft.
Even if it's just this, it still means reviewers couldn't judge how expensive or extensive the microtransactions were, which is why they're barely mentioned. That aspect of the game was essentially ignored in reviews, but the game was designed with them in mind.