330°

Dragon’s Dogma 2 releases to mixed user reviews, as microtransactions criticised

Players can pay to edit their character, resurrect the dead and other actions.

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videogameschronicle.com
AdonisIsBeast460d ago

Who cares as long as it’s optional

phoenixwing460d ago

paying to edit your character is kind of crap as far as microtransactions go

Xristo460d ago (Edited 460d ago )

I hate any/all MTX in a paid game (especially a full-price game)... but know that you can spend in-game currency (RC), which you get from killing mobs, to completely remake your character.

phoenixwing460d ago

@xRisto how much did it change the gameplay though? Changing your character would have probably not cost any rc if they weren't hellbent on getting money by making it inconvenient

koga88460d ago

You can literally edit your character using in-game gold, dropped from monsters or obtained from selling items, as soon as you reach the first main town. You can even use Rift Crystals obtained from other people using your pawn or dropped from monsters to change your entire character or Pawn. It's paying to avoid doing something that is literally in the game.

PRIMORDUS460d ago

They are lucky there using Denuvo or their game and all future DLC etc. would be for free. 🤣

phoenixwing460d ago

@koga you completely missed the point i was making but go ahead and act like i'm being the wrong one

lucian229459d ago

you can pay ingame currency though; why are ya so derp

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 459d ago
Crows90460d ago (Edited 460d ago )

Capcom cares quite a bit....hence why it was kept from reviewers and initial impressions.

As far as optional...yeah...ALL mtx are optional. That's not the problem. The miss the mark entirely.

Heck buying the game is "optional" too.

The fact that they were hiding this is scummy as hell. I was going to buy this day 1 or day 3. Now I'm reconsidering the purchase entirely because as the reviews point out...there are certain design decisions which have not changed but funnily enough seem to be remedied by these mtx...

In other words they may have left certain features in the game in order to monetize them. So the mtx affected the development of the game in a negative way.

garos82460d ago

I'm certainly not buying it anymore. It has affected at least one sale from me. I'll pick it up second hand

peppeaccardo460d ago

Very close to buy the game at a discounted price but not anymore.
Bad business practice and hence they do not get my support/money !

warriorcase460d ago

It wasn't kept fromreviewers s though. Twitter reviewers are saying there was mention of mtx's in the reviewers guide

-Foxtrot460d ago (Edited 460d ago )

STOP. USING. THAT. SHITTY. EXCUSE

God damn man

Look how DLC changed after Oblivions horse armour, within 10 years most developers took the absolute p***. What was said then aswell? “It’s only optional who cares?” Now look where we all are.

There’s no half measures with these things, when will people realise this.

jwillj2k4460d ago (Edited 460d ago )

Oh it’s gonna get worse. Ng+ locked behind mtx, “cool downs” preventing you from playing for more than 3 hours at a time unless u pay the mtx for unlimited access, main campaign bosses, in-game music, certain dialog, difficulty modes, certain npc interactions, all locked behind mtx, etc.. etc. gonna end up being like the NBA 2k games eventually paying for cross overs and shit… They gon get mid-evil on our asses.

OMGitzThatGuy460d ago

I can guarantee most of the items you can buy with mtx and ingame currency wouldn’t exist in ANY paid form if the main goal wasn't monetization. If the goal is to give idiots who are willing to pay for basic game features as mtx a way to do things faster then the only ones the mtx hurt are the non paying players as you are now locking features behind a grind that you chose to put in the game that you are essentially admitting to creating some type of time sink. I have never heard of a game locking basic character editing behind a ingame paywall, it’s usually just an option.

Chard460d ago

Takes two to tango though - unfortunately people buy this garbage which incentivises the behaviour. It's an inevitable outcome of the profit motive

thorstein460d ago

@Mario

Yes. And so are resurrection "Wakestones." You can find them but they're rare.

victorMaje460d ago

Buying the game is now very optional too. If you don’t know why then you don’t get it.

shinoff2183460d ago

Because it's only a door way. That's why we care. We've already seen some shit since Mtx was introduced.

Rimeskeem460d ago

1. DD2 is an ARPG with 8 different playable classes
2. There is no multiplayer aspect to the game
3. You can only have one character (have to pay for more)
4. You cannot delete the character unless you go into the game files
5. The game is $70 dollars upfront

Having to pay for more character slots in a game that *features* 8 playable classes is pretty much not optional for an ARPG.

Angyobangyo460d ago

Judging from steam reviews, gamers care. Not plastic gamers. Why didn’t Itsuno mention such MTX would be available in-game? Why weren’t the MTXs there for review copies?

Kiryu1992460d ago

Who cares is how all this started. The many many excuses. Please keep defending these greedy publishers and unfair tactics. We be gamers are the problem

Horse armor

$10 online passes if buying a used copy

Cheat codes gone and are replaced by micro transactions

Unlocking stuff by playing games behind micro transactions and XP boosters

It’s only cosmetic

No one is being forced to spend even though publishers are literally making their games more grindy to force people to play

Full priced games have mobile game type micro transactions

$70 priced games because higher development costs while making record profits and laying off record number of employees

And to play the game early pay us extra $20-30 on top of full price

Release games now and promise to maybe fix them later only to abandon the game

Day one patches that make the games worst

If it’s your favorite game defend the publisher if it’s not hate on another publisher for similar content

459d ago
+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 459d ago
kenpachi460d ago

Must have picked up some EA crew to put this in the game

robtion460d ago

Yeah these are really bad ones. Directly impacting gameplay too. Super scummy move. I hope nobody buys them.

CrimsonWing69460d ago

Yet Helldivers 2 gets a pass? Y’know a GotY contender by the name of RE4 had them and so does Devil May Cry V. The funny thing is I enjoyed both of those games thoroughly without having to buy a single microtransaction.

What I do consider a valid complaint is not being able to start a new game or being able to edit your character. That’s kind of a seriously baffling decision, but then I think how I played Dragon’s Dogma 1 and I never edited my character and I just did a 100% playthrough on a single file and didn’t start a NG since. So, I don’t think these are really going to impact me, but I can see how it will others.

Crows90460d ago

Helldivers 2 is a live service game where everything is obtainable in game with incredible ease.

Not sure about re4 or DMC but nobody is giving anyone a pass ...this article is about dragons dogma 2...not those games.

What is valid are in game features made to supposedly force you to think carefully only to have a surprise online store offer solutions to built in problems for more money.

Goosejuice460d ago

Those same things they are selling can be found Ingame as well. U can buy the character editor through merchants with gold. Don't get me wrong..I dislike these mtx they are doing but you don't need to buy them to be able to get them.

CrimsonWing69460d ago (Edited 460d ago )

Oh my bad, I can’t bring up games with microtransactions that nobody had a sh*t fit over. My mistake.

I love how people move the goalpost.

Crows90460d ago

@goose
@crimson

All mtx sucks. I'd rather helldiver's not have them because it makes me wonder if the rate at which you collect materials. That said. The games features are all fully enjoyable and aren't affected by the mtx.

That's not the case with dragons dogma 2...they left in place features that are supposedly part of the challenge of the game only to let you buy your way out very conveniently. I didn't look through all of them but I've heard some are rare but can be purchased with more money now. Even more so in a game about managing weight load there's a tent, I believe, that you can pay more money for that weighs less than your typical tent...not all sure on all the mtx and I'm aware that you can purchase many through in game vendor but they're incredibly useful mtx that are obtained much more slowly in game...or even a limited amount of them.

Instead is selling fast travel...just let us don't for free....or instead of selling cosmetic changes...how about letting us do it for free...

Nothing in helldivers comes close to this abomination

Angyobangyo460d ago

One is a single player game and one is a live service game. One is $40 vs$70. And most importantly, one game is there to spread democracy.

Ironmike459d ago

It's not incredibly easy for certain things in helldivers though u still have grind quite bit but u ate correct in saying u can eventually get enough medals to purchase stuff

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 459d ago
Moegooner460d ago

Read your comment again and maybe, just maybe you might realise how dumb it was.

CrimsonWing69460d ago (Edited 460d ago )

What was dumb about it? That I pointed out the hypocrisy?

garos82460d ago

It was extremely scummy that capcom hid this from reviewers. I have no doubt this game is good but these type of microtransactions don't sit well with me. They've lost a sale from me

Lionsguard460d ago

I was going to pay full price to support this game because I've been waiting for it for forever but I think I'll wait until I get it for free from Epic or a Humblebundle monthly.

Redemption-64460d ago

I am not defending Capcom, as I am not a fan of MTX in single player games. I do however belive they were open to reviewers about having MTX in their game. The reviewers just decided to leave that part out. Which is very disingenuous. There are some companies that get away with these things. Image if this was done by EA, Ubisoft, or even Activision? I am positive those defending Capcom, would have had their pitchforks ready if the companies listed above did this

anast460d ago

That's why reviewers can't be trusted. In fact, they are not reviewers at all. They get free codes to talk about stuff they don't understand nor care about.

Sanctusone460d ago

I mean it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes...one of the items you get from deluxe edition was in game items.
1500 Rift Crystals - Points to Spend Beyond the Rift (A)
Which honestly I figured they kept a similar mtx system like DMC5 and the optional red orbs.

Lionsguard460d ago

1500 Rift Crystals doesn't mean anything. The first game had Rift crystals too, you just earned them by people hiring your Pawn and you get it from certain quests.

anast459d ago (Edited 459d ago )

A reviewer's job is to point out the obvious of a product as though they were the consumer. This means reviewers, to do their actual job, would need to review the complete game: the edition they are reviewing, how they got the game, technical aspects, story, and monetization scheme. Since, it is obvious that MT's are a part of the game, it would need to be reviewed. This way people can be informed, so they can decide if they want to play this style of game/monetization scheme.

For example, AC Origins was bad with Mt's. I had to farm side missions or pay to advance the story. This was after I already did close to 25 or more side missions. While I was grinding there were constant reminders that I could pay to ease the grind. I would have never bought the game if it were reviewed properly.

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660°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

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theverge.com
1d 17h ago Replies(1)
1d 17h ago Replies(1)
Obscure_Observer1d 16h ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

1d 16h ago
pwnmaster30001d 16h ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

1d 16h ago
Obscure_Observer1d 16h ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

Terry_B1d 16h ago

Yeah..its super annoying.

blacktiger1d 15h ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30001d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole1d 10h ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1d 10h ago
Tacoboto1d 16h ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing691d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif1d 14h ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing691d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif1d 13h ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein1d 13h ago (Edited 1d 13h ago )

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 13h ago
-Foxtrot1d 15h ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast1d 15h ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts1d 15h ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto1d 14h ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 14h ago
LoveSpuds1d 12h ago Show
Profchaos1d 12h ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo1d 3h ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

TheExecutioner23h ago

Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.

Sonic188123h ago(Edited 23h ago)

Are you and Anast the same person?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 23h ago
1d 16h ago
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140°

Sony Faces Class Action in the Netherlands Over Allegedly Inflated PlayStation Store Prices

Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation in the Netherlands has filed a class action against Sony for inflating PlayStation Store prices.

dveio1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

My personal opinion:

Manufacturers and publishers have indeed inflated the industry.

From $700 million development costs for games like Call of Duty, to digital (store) prices for games and DLCs, online multiplayer fees on consoles (why can you play Helldivers 2 online for free on PC but not consoles?) or still preventing sell/lend digitally purchased games.

Sometime in the future, this bubble will collapse.

They should know better, but they just can't help themselves and suck even the last penny out of our wallets.

BeHunted1d 13h ago

Because Sony knows people will be forced to pay those prices for single player and multiplayer games, not everyone prefers PC gaming. Sony also has a monopoly on PlayStation digital games. In 2019, they stopped allowing retailers and game key sellers to sell PlayStation digital games, making them available only through the official PlayStation Store

anast1d 15h ago

The Dutch gov. wants a piece of the pie.

Eonjay1d 14h ago

They should be suing the individual publishers increasing the prices to $80 instead of suing the store. There are plenty of publishers still selling game for like $50 with much success (like E33). But this proves that the publishers are the ones setting the prices.... so again nothing changes because they aren't even going after the main offender. How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD? Sony being the number one store in the market doesn't mean that publisher have to charge us an arm and a leg. Again the industry is laughing at us because consumers never get real representation. Just these fake platitudes that are meaningless.

BeHunted1d 13h ago

"How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD"

Because Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly, I can purchase Call of Duty at a huge discount from CDKeys or other gaming retailers. The only way to purchase digital PlayStation games is through the PlayStation Store.

djl34851d 11h ago

Weird, I swore GoW, Stellar Blade, Horizon Zero Dawn, TLoU, etc. were on the steam store....uh.....

BeHunted1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

@djI3485

I'm talking about PlayStation games that you can only purchase on PlayStation. I can purchase Steam and Epic games from 3rd party retailers and key stores.

"Sony to stop selling full-game download codes at retailers"

https://www.videogamer.com/...

Killer2020UK1d 13h ago

About time. There is zero fair reason why digitally distributed products that you cannot recoup any value when you want to dispose of them, should be priced higher than that of physical copies that entail all of the costs and the benefits of owning.

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50°

Spook-A-Boo — Game Overview • VGMM

Spook-A-boo is a silly ghost-hunting game where you and up to 3 friends explore different levels, hunting down ghosts in a game of hide-and-seek.

Read Full Story >>
videogamesmademe.com