Cliffy B Defends Microtransactions

GR - "In a recent post he weighed in on the recent microtransaction conversation that’s been ablaze in all schools, office buildings and shopping malls worldwide."

[knifefight]

Yeah hey, you're not in the game industry anymore and even when you were, no one cared what you thought, Cliff. Most of us still don't.

[Gazondaily]

You clearly cared enough to post on here. What is the logic behind your post? I think you're just jumping into the Cliffy B hate-bandwagon for no good reason. The chap was instrumental in the way Unreal Tournament and Gears of War turned out. He wasn't just floating around in the background.

Also, did he say anything wrong in the article?

“Those companies that put these products out? They’re for profit businesses. They exist to produce, market, and ship great games ultimately for one purpose. First, for money, then, for acclaim.”

“if you don’t like them, don’t buy them”

What he is saying is common sense. In fact, many of you on here have said the exact same thing. For those many sheep on here who couldn't be bothered to form an opinion of their own, how about you actually read the article instead of reading a sensationalist headline and throwing your toys out of the pram?

[ElectricKaibutsu]

“if you don’t like them, don’t buy them”

I can agree with Cliffy on that point.

[hiredhelp]

Nicely said im not much of a fan of him myself i have my own oppinion but he is a dev So thry know the buisneess.
And frankly comments like yours knifefight rather childish. Lke saying a guy worked in a job for 10 plus years was known but now hes retired or no longer working ATM we should all not care...

[EbeneezerGoode]

The problem isn't about additional DLC/TRANSACTIONS it's about stuff purposely held back from a $60 game making the game LESS good value, less complete than it used to be.

Not all devs cheat us like that but more and more are trying to these days... anything they can leave out they WILL - then charge you later on for even MORE money - total price of the 'complete game'? closer to $100. $100 for the same 'complete game' you once paid an already VERY HIGH $60 for.

I don't mind Cliffy - big fan of unreal series etc here BUT telling us not to buy them if we don't like is arrogant and missing the point. So when the industry folds because more and more people refuse to buy half complete games for full price and paid DLC/add ons then what?

He's not looking at it as a gamer/customer and that is a flaw for any so called gamer's spokesperson.

[fsfsxii]

Then companies should do justice and make great games and great add-ons and then i'll think of doing microtransactions.
This guy is getting out of hand with his annoying opinions.

[MYSTERIO360]

Cliffy B is right if you don’t like them, don’t buy them. But the problem with micro-transactions is that a lot of these transactions are applied to the multplayer aspect of retail games. This ruins the steady leveling up process as players can buy extra powerful weapons and gear without earning it. If MT ends up in games such as COD for weapons and Killstreaks pack the game would be near unplayable.

[Blackdeath_663]

@ElectricKaibutsu
regarding the "if you don't like them[micro-transactions],don&# 39;t buy them" that is not always a valid argument. what happens when games are built from the ground up with miro-transactions in mind and companies make the game impossible to complete without with out buying these micro-transactions (keeping in mind you already paid 60 bucks for the damn game). what happens when they make weapons bought from micro-transaction so much stronger just to make you buy them. what happens when devs make resources so hard to find in order to make you spend money in micro-transactions. we see this on the IOS platform time and time again but those games are free so it sort of makes sense. but having people spend money on micro-transactions even when the paid full price for the game is absurd.

[knifefight]

RE: "You clearly cared enough to post on here. What is the logic behind your post?"
The logic is that I added my comment to a discussion thread in which people discuss things by commenting. My bit? I think it's dumb. I expressed this. Typically called a "conversation," such exchanges can often contain varying view points. They are different from a "circle jerk," in which everyone stands around agreeing with each other.

Re: I think you're just jumping into the Cliffy B hate-bandwagon for no good reason."
There's a hate bandwagon now? Why? He's just another guy like you or me. I don't need someone else's opinions to validate my own. ;)

[ElectricKaibutsu]

@Blackdeath_663

I think I misunderstood Cliffy's comment. I thought he meant don't buy the games at all. That's what I agree with. I think micro transactions ruin the multiplayer of some games. I refuse to buy games like that and I hope others do the same.

[3-4-5]

He's only defending it because they made the choice to go with them on his next game, and their profit is going to depend on it.

[ATi_Elite]

MicroTransactions in PC F2P games are OK as long as it's not Pay 2 Win!

But EA charging you $60 bucks for a Game then filling it up with microtransactions is totally GREEDY!

EA is run by Shareholders and they are running EA into the GROUND!

EA it's in the game (If our shareholders say so)

[Bladesfist]

Agreed, micro transactions are not a bad thing if they are done right. I love being able to play Planetside 2 for free. I most likely would not have picked it up if it was £30. But without that barrier to entry I have spent more than £30 on it.

[DigitalSmoke]

Go f*@& yourself Cliffy B, dirty sellout.

[CapsLocke]

Lol, Cliffy B going down for this!

[Megaton]

You can see his de-evolution as an Epic employee through the Gears franchise. Add-on content was always free from Epic up until that point. When Gears released, they battled with Microsoft to allow them to release free maps. When Gears 3 released, it had a season pass and disc-locked content. I'm sure it's only going to get worse with whatever he chooses to do next.

[pompombrum]

Don't want to hear anything about microtransactions from a guy whose last game he worked on included an awful lot of disc locked content including weapon skins, something not even Kotick would try charging for.

[Mkai28]

But how can we like them if we can't try them out? It's like buying a car without testing it out yourself. Cliffy needs to get busy doing something, he talks too much.

[isa_scout]

Agreed. He must be really bored right now. For a guy that said he needed a break from the industry he sure does talk about the industry a whole lot. Hey Cliffy, here's an idea if you can singlehandedly save the industry(not that I think it even needs saving) why don't you quit talking about it and be a man of action. It's easy to talk about things that need to change in the medium when you're not doing anything active in the medium huh.

[TheDivine]

Unless a game is FREE to play microtrasactions should not be there period. If you choose to sell skins, costumes, playable characters fine. Just make sure all of that is also unlockable. Maps should be free or if you must charge something like five maps for five bucks. The Fire Emblem dlc is awesome but way overpriced. I could swallow it for a buck a map and a bundle for half or 2/3 the cost but 2.50 a map is redic. Cod maps for 3 bucks a piece is crazy. Selling weapons and upgrades is fucking bullshit. Everything should be included. Add an expansion is fine but small little chunks for 7-10 bucks and small items is bogus. Won't buy DS3 on principal but I will buy it used for 15 down the road. At least il give GameStop some money instead of ea. someone's job will be secure if this keeps up and its not the dev. All my games will be used and I'm someone who buys new to support the dev and encourages others to. I get people to stop pirating and buy games. Not with this crap going on. If content is finished it should be on disk. All this is just crazy. Gaming sucks these days because its all corporations and business. It's become mainstream and everyone has dollar signs in their eyes. Nintendo was the last bastion of the old way and even they're jumping on the bandwagon (on a smaller scale with more quality for sure) but on the ride nonetheless. Guess il let my wallet do the talking and buy only full games from good devs.

[aPerson]

Personally, I would never spend money on micro-transactions, but think about this for a second:

All the free multiplayer DLC available for Mass Effect 3 was directly funded by people buying the time-saver packs to unlock weapons and characters.

If other games use this model to fund FREE content, then I have no problem with it. If you want to see an example of how not to do micro-transactions - look at Street Fighter X Tekken...

When publishers start locking serious content behind micro-transactions and make the gameplay grindy enough that people think the that cash investment outweighs the time investment, that's when there's a problem.

[Erimgard]

I don't think he was trying to "defend" them. He was more saying "What? You're surprised that a multi-million (or billion) dollar company is trying to get money out of you? Why are you still supporting them if you're unhappy?"

[Fez]

Fuck me this site is full of morons. DigitalSmoke, Kratos_Kills, knifefight and everyone who agree'd with them, read past the headline... and don't hold a grudge against someone you don't even know for the most petty of reasons.

[isa_scout]

It's easy to think that's all he's saying until you look at the games he's directed. Gears of War is just as guity as any other game series that practices micro-transactions and day one DLC. Why the hell should I have to spend money on a freakin weapon skin??? Its a skin for gods sake!!! Even COD doesn't charge for weapon skins and camo(dont get any ideas Acti)Wuh he didn't want us to buy his games? Yeah right. For the record, Uncharted 3 is even more guilty... It went from one of my favorite games to one of my most hated games; it's a hassle just looking at all the shit for sale. When a game like Uncharted has somewhere around the ballpark of $300.00 worth of just stupid shit you know there's a huge problem. Hoping Naughty Dog doesn't do the same thing with The Last of Us.

[Kran]

Yknow.

CliffyB actually blocked me from following his twitter cause I spammed him with criticism.

I stand by that to this day.

[Erimgard]

"spammed" being the keyword. Most people would. Now, if you were being reasonable and respectful, then that's a bit dickish of him, but if you're just constantly trash-talking it's not really surprising.

[Kran]

Basically I was telling him what he was doing wrong; how he tended to treat some gamers worse than others.

[Rynocirator]

Microtransactions should ALWAYS be an afterthought. Look at neverwinter for example, just before we start throw out any prejudice you have against f2p mmos, neverwinter, or mmos in general. Neverwinter was built from the ground up with the intention of giving a pay to play experience for free with no restrictions on content and, of course they need to make money so there must be microtransactions but every item in the shop can be bought with astral diamonds which you can obtain just by playing the game. The bottom line is that they made a game and then thought about money after...if people like the game they will spend money on it. Simple as that, focusing your game on profit first then fun later is always 100% a bad idea, I also think taking things out of the game to make as dlc on day one should be illegal.

[Saryk]

If I really like the game, i'll buy it and the DLC, if not I won't...........

[rezzah]

Micro-transactions...If you don't want it don't buy it, this is how some see this topic. |

However this point of view also exists: Parts of the game are held back for the purpose of making extra money. Where once you could unlock this extra gun by beating the game, you are now required to pay $1-3 dollars for access.

It can get even worse when parts of the story, missions, or entire levels are held back for purchase only.

Asura's Wrath is a good example of this.