This is Mack, for Pixel Enemy, here to talk about in-game business practices and just
how awful they can be, particularly when combined together to be especially offensive.
This video could be a little long and ranty, so we'll dive right in.
These are the top five worst in-game business practices.
Loot boxes have been a very hot topic, as of late.
I'd say that they are the trending topic in the world of video game controversies,
and for good reason.
However, for this video, I'm separating the two kinds of loot boxes, as one type isn't
so bad, while the other just outright sucks.
Up for discussion here then are those loot boxes which only offer cosmetic rewards.
Stuff that only affects the appearance of assets within the game.
They give no stat boosts or exclusive advantages.
They just look cool and that's what makes players want them.
Many gamers are perfectly okay with cosmetic loot boxes, and think they are the lesser
evil when it comes to in-game business practices.
And, while I'd agree with that, I'd still like to point out that they aren't perfect.
Random drops on which you can spend real-world money will never sit right with me.
However you define the term "gambling," the fact that you're investing cash into
an unknown reward, of which you can sometimes receive duplicates, is taking a big risk of
chance for money.
And that just doesn't feel right in a $60 title, especially if that title also has a
season pass and other paid DLC.
Pre-ordering a game, unless you absolutely *need* a limited edition version that may
well go out of stock, is never a good idea.
Even if you trust the people behind the title, there's no real reason to blindly put down
cash without seeing the finished product.
Pre-order figures are huge to a publisher, as it shows them how many players are guaranteed
to make the purchase, regardless of what condition the game is in.
Don't give them the excuse to pull effort away from the game's launch.
Make them earn every cent by demanding a solid release and then making the safe purchase.
Call me cynical, but not pre-ordering is a good way to avoid disappointment and wasted
cash.
Of course, the temptation is sometimes too difficult to fight.
Pre-order incentives that promise additional content in exchange for a little blind trust,
and other titles that allow a few days early access, have begun to convince more gamers
to put down the cash.
The worst examples of pre-order bonuses for me are when they feature content taken from
the base game.
For example, missions that are gated from normal buyers, or bonus multiplayer maps available
only to those who pre-ordered.
Worst still, are pre-order characters in fighting games.
Sure, they mostly become available to buy individually at a later date, but only those
who pre-order have the bonus characters available to play with at launch.
Map packs have been the standard, expected DLC for multiplayer shooters for the last
decade or so.
After playing the core maps for a few months, things can get a little repetitive, and new
maps can help freshen things up.
In a franchise like Call of Duty, where there are so many players populating every map and
mode combination, map packs aren't so bad.
Where they quickly descend into a hellish evil is in those games with smaller player
counts.
Map packs often split the player base into groups of those with DLC and those without
DLC.
The example I always use when talking about how destructive map packs can be is Crysis
3.
The game was already suffering with low player counts in multiplayer, and then came The Lost
Islands map pack.
Playing on both Xbox 360 and PC, I saw how that map pack ripped the community in two.
Even in larger games, like Battlefield 4 and now Battlefield 1, maps packs have split up
the community and now many playlists remain unpopulated.
So in a huge game, they aren't so bad.
But in the other 99% of titles, they are super crappy.
Season passes usually include the aforementioned map packs, combined with some kind of early
purchase bonus (similar to those seen with pre-order incentives).
That mixture results in a particularly stinky mess.
Aliens: Colonial Marines immediately comes to mind here.
Those who pre-ordered got burned with bonus content for an awful game, and those who bought
the season pass got treated to map packs for a woeful multiplayer, and a single, decent
bit of single-player content.
Even when a season pass can seem like a good deal, like with Fallout 4's pre-price hike
pass, it can turn out to be so not worth it.
If you have tried playing any of the DLC content on console, you'll know that it is a stuttery
mess.
Season passes are sold on hype and are all too often not worth buying.
While loot boxes with cosmetic rewards took the number five spot on our list today, it's
the pay-to-win loot boxes that claim number one.
I consider pay-to-win content anything that offers any kind of gameplay advantage to players
who invest more cash.
With loot boxes, sure the results are random, but the player who pays more has a bigger
chance of getting better loot.
The first time this truly annoyed me in a game I played regularly, was in Black Ops
3.
At launch, supply drops weren't so bad, and I'd have easily given the game's multiplayer
experience a solid 9/10.
I thought it was superb.
But then the game's loot boxes started filling up with exclusive weapons.
People were running around dual-wielding crossbows, badass new assault rifles and SMGS, all with
their own advantages and all found exclusively in Supply Drops.
More recently, we've seen Star Wars Battlefront II stir up controversy with its Star Cards,
and the act of giving certain players an advantage over others has caused hate to drown out the
love gained by the no season pass and free maps and modes.
Pay-to-win is the absolute worst in a multiplayer game, and should be entirely avoided, especially
in a $60 title and in the form of random loot boxes.
And so those are the top five worst in-game business practices.
Do you agree with my choices?
Or is there something worse out there?
Let me know in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this video, hit the "Like" button, and subscribe, if you haven't already.
This has been Mack, for Pixel Enemy, goodbye.
For more infomation >> ¡Te explicamos cómo tener un Halloween de manera segura! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 4:29. 
For more infomation >> 류화영 티아라 왕따에서 주연으로|KT-KR - Duration: 3:09. 
For more infomation >> Video: Money coach tells how to save money on the latest gadgets - Duration: 3:15. 
For more infomation >> ¡Alerta por el abuso de analgésicos entre los jóvenes! | Un Nuevo Día | Telemundo - Duration: 7:40. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét