What mirth about an insignificant typo.



Certainly, and I think it might not be gaming that's changed, but businesses in general. I mean, company bosses have always been money-grubbing bastards without scruples, same as shareholders, but these days, it just keeps getting worse, with companies producing junk assembly-line games aimed at the lowest common denominator and basing their game design on what sells rather than what is good. Then again, I hate the private sector and the free market economy with a passion so I might be biased.


The quality of games has skyrocketed if you refer to the technical aspects, yes. But in terms of content, I seriously doubt it. Take RPGs. You'll never see another game like the ones from, say, the Black Isle era. I don't mean in terms of graphics, but in terms of sheer storytelling. It feels like these days, I keep playing games with rehashed save-the-world plots and a combat system that has to stay as simple as possible just so the companies can also profit from the money of the Need For Speed-crowd. In the early days, gaming was expensive because it was a niche hobby - nowadays, it's expensive because it's become a mainstream hobby, and the big-money players are exploiting the free market system for all its worth. It's the same price as before, only the quality's diluted.

I don't actually agree that business has changed. I think everyone can agree that businesses primary goals are to maximize profits. How one goes about doing that is where the differences come into play.


You sound quite bitter and cynical but I don't share this view.

There are great games out there with awesome story telling. However I'm not sure you'll ever be able to find them because you urn for the "good ole days of gaming" back when storytelling was king. I think this has more to do with your life changing than the games. Sure there are a lot of junk games out there but if you're over 30, you know that this is nothing new.

People always talk about this or that game being the best game ever made and no other game will compare but come on, there will be other games that appeal to you and some may even capture your imagination like the ones of old.

Are you really so jaded that you can't just enjoy games for what they offer instead of holding them up to some idealistic standard of perfection?

60 bucks is nothing in Norway! In Norway most new games cost 500 kr, which is the equalent of 90 bucks. You guys should be happy. :teehee:

500? "Here" it's 600. Used games still considered new can cost as much as 529.

I'm not a fan of DLC because it gives Developers the excuse not to put something in the game that should be in there at the start. All DLC to me is, it's just a huge cash cow. Some DLC is good but others are really bad and are a waste of money.

DA2 is a huge example of this that game isn't complete but will be once all the DLC is released for it.

Production costs and inflation is what causes the rise in price as far as the U.S. goes. As to why we spend more than the U.S., I haven't the faintest.

I've become significantly pickier as far as games though but that's been since I worked for the game industry 10 years ago, compounded by increased pickiness about products in general.

Oh, I still enjoy games. And you're right, a big part of my perception is nostalgia goggles, but that doesn't change that in the old days, we didn't have to pay monthly to enjoy a game - as we will have to soon, or that games have become a mass-produced clone product fit for the lowest common denominator.

And don't call me jaded, I'm not calling you names either. I'm just realistic. A bit disappointed in the industry, yes, but not "so jaded that I can't".

Paying a monthly fee has never bothered me as long as it's justified. With MMOs, it's part of the deal and they continue to release content and provide fun. The dollars per hour are the best entertainment value on the planet so it's not a big deal at all. But people have been complaining about it since MMOs first dared to push that model out, yet people have flocked to WOW and other MMO titles so it's a model that actually works, even if we would prefer it to be free.

I wasn't calling you anything. It was a question.

I understand MMOs too, but pretty soon, it'll be single player games too - you'll no longer own the game, no, you'll be paying monthly to 'rent it'. That's where the business model is going, and that's my point. Mummorpugers, yeah, sure, it's logical, but not single player games!


It was a very tendentious one. Might as well have called it straight out

I've never bought a game on release before, excepting skyrim which I've pre-ordered. I don't think ￡50 is bad for the game and strategy guide (before anyone leaps on me I collect guides) which will give me hundreds of hours of entertainment, but I can't justify that much on a game I'll only play for a few weeks.

Now I tend to wait until games I really want are about ￡15-20 pre-owned before I buy anything, or borrow from friends to see if I like the game before I buy myself. Anymore than that I can't justify to myself when I can buy a weekly grocery shop for ￡20.

As for DLC, I just think it's wrong. I've already bought the game, I'm not shelling out another ￡20 for crappy extra content. The only time I got DLC is when a game came with a free code to download it. After playing it I can say with certainty I'd be pissed if I'd paid for it. Not worth it at all.

This is ridiculous, no it wasn't tendentious. That's your spin but it's not correct as it does not jive with my intent.

I don't know if this is quite what you're looking for in a reply, but i'll try. You mentioned something about developers trying to milk us gamers, which i dont think is quite appropriate - They take what they need to actually make the game, and a profit. I would also like to mention that i don't have any issue at all with todays gaming prices. :thumbsup:

Yeah I know that it's 600 some places, but where I live new games cost like 500 now.. sometimes they even sell new released games for 399

I dont mind paying for new content, but typically DLC offers very little content for too much money.

One thing I cannot stand is monthly fees in online games. If I buy a game, I should be able to play the content I've purchased whenever I want.

I think it "might" be a good idea to have brackets for the pricing of games.

or certain criteria to be met for games to be charged a certain value. Anycase, I think most can agree the "base" system is flawed. Especially with DLC content being in games and some not offering DLC content at all.

THIS!

whatever happened to

best possible product for the best possible price?






oh wait, what the [censored] am I saying.. it's the twenty-first century :facepalm:

I don't see why people complain about DLC so much, it's 10-15 bucks for added game content and you aren't forced to buy it at all.

The only time I have a problem with DLC is when it's on disk DLC

Well you know, Apple and other companies have shown that obsessing about quality, releasing a few very polished products can actually be more profitable than the strategies of just pushing out products quickly. Blizzard is another example.

Wish more companies would follow their lead.

All companies are trying to make the most money they possibly can all the time. If you think otherwise you are being fooled. :shrug:

Is this the same Apple that releases a rehashed iPhone/iPad every year for an exorbitant price, and the same Blizzard that milks their customers with tons of expensive expansion packs and paid DLC on top of a subscription fee?

I don't want more companies like them.

Expect this to apply to all games in the future, not just mummorpugers or other multiplayer-focused games. Even single player games will follow this business model - you'll no longer own the game, but will have to pay monthly fees to 'rent' it.


It'd be a good idea to have brackets for the prices of everything, but that's exactly the antithesis of what the free market economy is built on. Free market economy means letting prices be set by supply and demand with as little State interference as possible - if you implement brackets, especially in the US, expect cries of "COMMUNISM!" to fill the air.


That's absolutely true of course, but the more time passes, the more corporations wipe their boots with deontology and ethics. Again, this might be a personal feeling, but before, companies were occupied with making money, but also with being reasonable to their workers and consumers - nowadays, all that matters is the consumer's money. You can clearly tell things have changed when you look at a company's customer service. Before, if you as a customer, had a complaint and were wrong, you were told you were wrong and that the worker you complained against wouldn't be disciplined. Nowadays, you can act like a purple-faced child and kick your feet over something completely irrelevant, and the boss will still come out and say you're right, and scold his worker for being un-customer-friendly.

We get what we pay for, all of us do. And as long as we keep paying for it, we're going to keep getting it. That's pretty much all there is to it.

iGuess so.

:wink_smile:

On topic: You just need to know where to buy a game. The more hands that are involved before you get your game, the more it'll cost.

i expect to get 10 hours of use for every dollar i spend on a game. if i do not then i am unsatisfied, i rarely purchase games that i don't think will give me that amount of time.

its a standard i developed after playing morrowind.