Do we, as gamers, lack the will power to stand up to buissness pratices which are questionable? Yesterday, I was talking to a co-worker who is also a gamer and I told him about my thoughts about where gaming is heading and the publishers/developers practices like dlc already on the disc, putting one time codes for items that used buyers won't get unless they pay for them, and just recently, the price hike of xbox live. My co-worker just said "It's just the natural evolution of gaming, what can we do about it?".
That got me thinking, what will it take for gamers to actually do something about these practices? Can we really do anything about it or is my co-worker right? Personally, I think we need to at least try to do something because if we let these companies continue to head down this direction then we will be paying extra to see the ending of the game or paying to unlock the next level! Maybe it won't be that extreme, I hope not, but I do know if we continue to let them do these types of practices then we could see the next gaming crash.
So, what can we do about it? Petitions won't work because the developers/publishers won't take them seriously. There are a few ways that can hurt those who do these practices. One way is to not buy these games in question or just wait until they are in the use gaming bin. What about the games that withhold content from used gamers you ask? simple, just don't buy the code for it. As for xbox live, If you can't live(no pun intended.....really) without playing online, I suggest you buy all the live cards you can because this hike only takes effect on Nov. 1 of this year.
what are you thoughts about this? can we really change these practices or are we doom to take it and ask for more?
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Nice read, and I agree. Things at the moment are going in a dodgy direction right now and I think the problem is that these things were always likely to happen. (XBL price-hike, Sony and EA looking into online pass options, etc)
But perhaps the bigger problem for us that we think that these things are unavoidable and that no matter what we do, they will always happen at some stage.
"Do we, as gamers, lack the will power to stand up to buissness pratices which are questionable?"
Yeah I think a lot of us do. The first time I took any sort of stand against any company that I disagreed with what it was doing was a few months ago when I stopped playing Modern Warfare 2 and sold it on the spot. They had just announced their first online map-pack and it was priced at around €15 (I think?), but more importantly contained a map that was in a previous game of the creators over 2 years ago. Now you can take issue with the company themselves, the prices for their map-packs or the people that follow them like sheep, but that one, single map was the last straw for me. Actually trying to sell off something that was in a previous game of your own, and for extra profit is just disgraceful and I couldn't sit and just go on with it anymore.
Thing is, did me stopping playing MW2 make any sort of difference or impact? Of course not. There are millions and millions of people still playing that game online, day-in, day-out, and there are millions of people that have bought and that buy their DLC packages. I think they sold over a million of their first pack in less than a week? That's pretty incredible, and scary to think about considering that many people are willing to pay that much just for maps for an online segment of a game.
But the thing is, us gamers that care about how the game industry treats us, and us gamers that care about what we do as people interested in the same ideas don't matter. If we stop buying the games of these companies and the "DLC" that these companies make for outrageous prices, or if we stop buying the DLC that is clearly content that was just taken straight out of the full game so that they could release it at a later date for extra money, it probably won't make a difference, because there are millions of other people that will just continue to follow, and the difference between the money they lose out from us that stop buying from them, and the profit they make from the people that buy their higher-priced games and DLC will probably still be a large profit to them.
(Sorry for the essay answer lol)
tl;dr : We should try stand up to companies more, but there are always people that will follow and buy everything that these companies put out no matter what, which makes our efforts futile.
I've seen this happening all over the place. Specifically, Activision. Universal complaint from the fanbase about overpriced maps, and lack of community support from CoD developers. Yet, when I sign on PSN/XBL all I see them playing is MW2. Same goes for those who wanted to boycott Starcraft II because of the lack of LAN support. Or even the people against L4D2 releasing so soon after the first game.
It's much easier to complain, than it is to follow through. And for the most part, complaining comes from general interest in a game, and chances are you will end up purchasing that game regardless. It'd be nice to see Activision sell 3 copies of GH/CoD, so they can actually take time with their franchises, or 5 copies of Madden. But, the average gamer isn't concerned with the gaming industry or its business practices. The only thing they care about is whether or not a game is coming out.
Personally, I have a spine. If for whatever reasons I plan not to buy a game, I simply do not buy it.
It's a real shame to see the people who treat gaming as a passion rather than a pastime suffer because of 12-year old kids playing a game like CoD. I don't think we lack the willpower to boycott these companies, we just know that it will be worthless for us to try because there will be no support from others. Like Nate-Dog said, there are millions of other people supporting companies like Activision who take advantage of casual gamers. One thing that makes me upset is that some game developers now turn to CoD gameplay mechanics to implement in their own games just because they think it will sell. At least there are some games that try and be different and offer a great experience (Heavy Rain, Infamous, LBP, Limbo, Flower, etc.) for us gamers who treat gaming as a passion rather than a pastime.