A Plea for the Gaming Industry to Respect Gamers

[mindcycle]

Although the economy might not be in the thick of a recession as it once was, that doesn't mean things are going especially great for videogame publishers. Take Electronic Arts, for instance, which hasn't exactly set the world on fire with its performance as of late. The start of the next generation is an ideal opportunity to effect change that doesn't come along often, and it seems EA doesn't intend to miss it; just yesterday it revealed plans to proliferate microtransactions throughout each of its games. As EA and publishers in general attempt to do this (and try out other means for generating additional revenue), I hope they don't forget to treat gamers with respect.

I have no problem with downloadable content. I like having the option to play more of a game I enjoy without having to wait for the sequel. Provided the content in question is worthwhile and wasn't yanked out of the base game because it's something that they knew gamers would have to buy later, I'm perfectly okay with downloadable content continuing to be a mainstay going forward. After all, without it, we'd never have gotten something like Minerva's Den -- widely considered the best part of BioShock 2 -- and so long as games are released as complete experiences like they used to be, I don't see downloadable content as the plague that some do.

But it's always-online requirements that I find much more hostile. Take Diablo III, for instance. Blizzard liked to point to the benefits this requirement allowed for (persistent friends lists, server-side characters accessible from any computer, and the like), but it ignored the fact that this prevented a segment of gamers from playing the way they wanted to. This is not World of Warcraft where an online connection is critical to the experience; Diablo III can be played solo, but you have to connect to Battle.net's servers in order to do so even if you have no intention of ever taking advantage of an online feature. Considering the sales success of Diablo III and what's almost assured to be a big hit in Destiny, we've got the makings of a trend that's only going to become more prevalent, not less.

The bottom line is that the gaming industry needs to ensure it treats gamers with respect. It might ultimately view them as walking bank accounts, but that doesn't mean it can't shy away from some of the more anti-consumer practices out there. Take DRM, for instance: Far too many companies (which is to say, more than zero) place an emphasis on trying to block pirates from accessing their games rather than making the experience of buying and owning the game more pleasant. Instead of everyone putting effort into delivering a kick-ass boxed product, as some do, you have a company like Ubisoft that has, in the past, employed always-online requirements as a form of DRM that only punished legitimate customers once the DRM was cracked. It's the equivalent of the piracy warning you're subjected to when you boot up a DVD that can only be skipped on pirated discs, only far more detrimental. Paying customers shouldn't be treated like criminals.

Asking to be treated with respect is not that outrageous of a request. At the very least, doing so will avoid running the risk of scaring gamers away from the industry altogether. Beyond that, publishers might even find that treating people with respect is to their benefit. By passing up an opportunity to make a quick buck, considering things from the gamers' perspective, and delivering better games, they might find they instill a sense of loyalty that ultimately leads to gamers who are more willing to open their wallets. Perhaps the path to making money that seems to elude these companies has been in front of them this entire time.

I picked out some of the parts I think sum up the article the best and relate to PC gaming but i'd suggest reading the whole thing.
http://www.1up.com/news/publishers-should-respect-gamers

 

[SMOGZINN]

I picked out some of the parts I think sum up the article the best and relate to PC gaming but i'd suggest reading the whole thing.
http://www.1up.com/news/publishers-should-respect-gamers

If gamers want to be treated with respect they need to start treating their wallets with respect. First off STOP PRE-ORDERING. Next refuse to purchase games that blatantly do unethical things like day one DLC, hold back important updates to bundle with DLC, or completely misrepresent their game with reviewer demo's that are nothing like the actual game.

As long as gamers act like uneducated fanboi impulse consumers companies will treat them like the dupable disposable income they are.

 

[ImpulsE69]

If gamers want to be treated with respect they need to start treating their wallets with respect. First off STOP PRE-ORDERING. Next refuse to purchase games that blatantly do unethical things like day one DLC, hold back important updates to bundle with DLC, or completely misrepresent their game with reviewer demo's that are nothing like the actual game.

As long as gamers act like uneducated fanboi impulse consumers companies will treat them like the dupable disposable income they are.

Amen.

 

[Josh123]

Make sure to pirate the game too lol

 

[mindcycle]

If gamers want to be treated with respect they need to start treating their wallets with respect. First off STOP PRE-ORDERING. Next refuse to purchase games that blatantly do unethical things like day one DLC, hold back important updates to bundle with DLC, or completely misrepresent their game with reviewer demo's that are nothing like the actual game.

As long as gamers act like uneducated fanboi impulse consumers companies will treat them like the dupable disposable income they are.

While i'd like to believe that publishers would come to some of the conclusions in the article on their own, you're right, it's unlikely they'll do anything unless provoked by declining sales. It really is up to gamers to refuse to buy garbage, but given how "horse armor" type DLC is still selling like hot cakes I doubt it's going to change much.

 

[Maximilian]

If gamers want to be treated with respect they need to start treating their wallets with respect. First off STOP PRE-ORDERING. Next refuse to purchase games that blatantly do unethical things like day one DLC, hold back important updates to bundle with DLC, or completely misrepresent their game with reviewer demo's that are nothing like the actual game.

As long as gamers act like uneducated fanboi impulse consumers companies will treat them like the dupable disposable income they are.

Yup, its the same thickos that think EA hate is a "fad" and "the cool thing to do" The uninformed make for lousy consumers, ive bought my fair share of crap but those days are long over.

 

[darkewaffle]

I'm not sure what part of "fickle, melodramatic manchildren" deserves respect

 

[Newbian]

Shouldn't they make a plea on how to run a game website that people like without going out of business?

 

[mindcycle]

Shouldn't they make a plea on how to run a game website that people like without going out of business?

Wasn't really their call though, IGN bought them back in 2011 and I guess doesn't feel it needs any alternate views to their main games site.

It's sad though, I always felt the 1UP writers had a little more integrity than most what you'd find on the main IGN site.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Yup, its the same thickos that think EA hate is a "fad" and "the cool thing to do" The uninformed make for lousy consumers, ive bought my fair share of crap but those days are long over.

How could anyone even think it is a fad? Every time I look, BF3 is still ruined relative to what it should have been. It doesn't change, you see. Dragon Age 2, while I liked it, wasn't what it ought to have been as a follow up to DA Origins. These are a result of design decisions. And since EA owns these developers I can no longer say "it was the developer". Because they are the same.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

If gamers want to be treated with respect they need to start treating their wallets with respect. First off STOP PRE-ORDERING. Next refuse to purchase games that blatantly do unethical things like day one DLC, hold back important updates to bundle with DLC, or completely misrepresent their game with reviewer demo's that are nothing like the actual game.

As long as gamers act like uneducated fanboi impulse consumers companies will treat them like the dupable disposable income they are.

/thread


In this day and age there is absolutely no excuse for getting ripped off by 4th rate software.

 

[JoetheLion]

Yeah, SMOGZINN summed it up pretty good. But there are way too many fan boys and zombie buyers (take Apple for example, there are way too many people who would buy anything with Apple logo on it) who would just buy anything and are actually unaware or happy to be ripped off. Paying $40-50 dollars for 4-5 hours of unoriginal single player or "copypaste" sequels, both without actual ending, because you have to wait for 3 more sequels or several crappy DLCs? That's the gaming industry today, baby. And people eat it while it's still hot, so we cannot hope for any respect anytime soon...

 

[Kneedragger]

I don't understand the hype with preordering anyways. Lately the preorder bonus are crap. Plus I can just walk into Target and buy it no issues..

Day one DLC has really got me annoyed too.

 

[Maximilian]

How could anyone even think it is a fad? Every time I look, BF3 is still ruined relative to what it should have been. It doesn't change, you see. Dragon Age 2, while I liked it, wasn't what it ought to have been as a follow up to DA Origins. These are a result of design decisions. And since EA owns these developers I can no longer say "it was the developer". Because they are the same.

I have to assume they are EA employees (there are ~9000 of them according to wiki) or they just dont follow gaming as closely as i do. I mean im totally against a sheep mentality but i fully understand that theres usually good reason massive amounts of people love/hate something... Going against the grain just for the sake of it seems to be the kind of mentality the EA defenders (what few of them there are) have.

I don't understand the hype with preordering anyways. Lately the preorder bonus are crap. Plus I can just walk into Target and buy it no issues..

Day one DLC has really got me annoyed too.

Yeah, company of heros 2 was like that for me. I loved CoH 1 but im definitely gonna wait until the user reviews are in for CoH 2. The pre order bonuses were pretty lame IMO. Looks like its shaping up to be a good game but we shall see!

 

[PowerYoga]

THQ being dissolved doesn't lend a whole lot of confidence into "preordering" COH2 either. BUT I have high hopes for it.

 

[mindcycle]

I don't understand the hype with preordering anyways. Lately the preorder bonus are crap. Plus I can just walk into Target and buy it no issues..

Day one DLC has really got me annoyed too.

Preording leads to more day one DLC as most preorder bonuses are worthless DLC garbage like textures and whatnot. By preordering we're telling publishers we're excited about that garbage. So yeah, let's stop doing that..

 

[Midwayman]

I don't mind DLC. Not even day 1 DLC. I worked at a game studio and know the financial realities behind it. What ticks me off is paying for a game and they having the game sold to you essentially in a f2p model where if you want the 'full' experience you need to pay out the butt. For that matter, f2p charging $20-30 for one usable model is so painfully unfair its not even funny. Sad thing is people flock to them and even defend them in terms of 'time saved' never mind they created the artificial grind in the first place.