4 ms·

* very strict deadlines decided by publishers years in advance * incredible passion making the workforce exploitable and more tolerant of abuse * explosive re

* very strict deadlines decided by publishers years in advance * incredible passion making the workforce exploitable and more tolerant of abuse * explosive revenue growth bringing in scammers, hucksters, and MBAs * incredible passion from consumers who will buy the same game over and over * the advent of gambling in the form of microtransactions * the consolidation of the industry to a handful of big publishers * incredible technical complexity * exclusive rights on media like star wars or sports like basketball giving some publishers a complete monopoly in some cases

Apocryphon 4y ago
Many of the problems and potential of abuse as present in the entertainment industry, with none of the organizing to protect workers.
- walrus01 4y ago
  isn't this literally supposed to be why screenwriters, actors and others are unionized in the hollywood system? and all the behind the camera IATSE members.
  - mort96 4y ago
    Yeah, and the exact same reason why the lack of unionization in VFX is such a large problem. Unions work.
extrememacaroni 4y ago
+1 for "incredible passion from consumers". I've never seen a mass of customers so easy to fool as gamers are. Imagine a washing machine company releasing broken products, and the average joe going "yup, I really want another washing machine from this company after seeing this ad which showed something I like, even though the last time I bought some they were barely working and only half washed my clothes, please take my money". If bethesda/microsoft announced Fallout New Vegas 2, everyone would lose their shit and preorder instantly. Also it disgusts me how happy everyone seems when a company announces that they won't do microtransactions. If the company has a history of keeping promises and releasing games without mtx, sure, it's warranted. But otherwise? Are you an idiot? They'll update the game half a year after you and the other fools bought the game and introduce microtransactions then. I wish there were laws that clearly defined what monetization in a game means and forbade developers from changing monetization schemes during the lifetime of a game, I just can't trust cloud-enabled games nowadays that promise a non-mtx non-p2w experience. It's worthless promises if you can change your mind down the line after I invested time and maybe money in your game. First get the money from the gamers who think they're really smart for "supporting games with fair monetization schemes", then when they're exhausted introduce mtx and go after the whales for the big bucks. Fuck this industry, you don't even know what kind of product you're buying anymore. People waiting for "a full review of Diablo Immor(t)al to figure out how much money you need to spend to get a good build" - what's the point? By the time the review is out blizzard probably already changed the sliders and everything's different. Although from what I hear about the game, the only way they could change them at this point would make the game better, so there's that. $100k (that's one.hundred.thousand.dollars.) to get a fully equipped build. Jesus christ. Go back in time to when Diablo 2 is released and tell the gamers that soon they'll have to pay one hundred. thousand. dollars. to get a fully equipped build in the latest Diablo. They'll just cry and jump out the window. An even sadder thing is if you told them the latest Diablo will be a mobile game, they'd think "what? you can play Diablo anywhere like with a Gameboy? That's freaking amazing dude!" ugh. But you need to tell them this before telling them about having to choose between a nice house and a cool armor for their barbarian, burst that bubble properly. I hate this. My comment here is the incredible passion from consumers, you can see it live now, you're welcome. The incredible passion from developers is also me still being interested and working on gamedev crap even though I wish I could just turn back time instead.
- cudgy 4y ago
  Why must players have a “fully equipped build” to enjoy the game? If a player only cares about skins and other bling, are they playing a game or are they building a showcase to display to their friends?
  - extrememacaroni 4y ago
    Geez man, we got to the point where if you’re poor in real life you’re also poor in the game, and you’re fine with that I guess. When the opposite could so easily be true if not for greed. You can not care if you want, I think it’s just a lame thing in general to do so.
    - cudgy 4y ago
      I agree that it is lame, but one can still play the game for free without having the latest gear.
  - ansible 4y ago
    A lot of the Asian MMOs are pay-to-win, and it wouldn't surprise me that more Western game companies are moving in that direction... it is very profitable.

Apocryphon 4y ago

Many of the problems and potential of abuse as present in the entertainment industry, with none of the organizing to protect workers.

walrus01 4y ago
isn't this literally supposed to be why screenwriters, actors and others are unionized in the hollywood system? and all the behind the camera IATSE members.
- mort96 4y ago
  Yeah, and the exact same reason why the lack of unionization in VFX is such a large problem. Unions work.

extrememacaroni 4y ago

+1 for "incredible passion from consumers". I've never seen a mass of customers so easy to fool as gamers are. Imagine a washing machine company releasing broken products, and the average joe going "yup, I really want another washing machine from this company after seeing this ad which showed something I like, even though the last time I bought some they were barely working and only half washed my clothes, please take my money". If bethesda/microsoft announced Fallout New Vegas 2, everyone would lose their shit and preorder instantly. Also it disgusts me how happy everyone seems when a company announces that they won't do microtransactions. If the company has a history of keeping promises and releasing games without mtx, sure, it's warranted. But otherwise? Are you an idiot? They'll update the game half a year after you and the other fools bought the game and introduce microtransactions then. I wish there were laws that clearly defined what monetization in a game means and forbade developers from changing monetization schemes during the lifetime of a game, I just can't trust cloud-enabled games nowadays that promise a non-mtx non-p2w experience. It's worthless promises if you can change your mind down the line after I invested time and maybe money in your game. First get the money from the gamers who think they're really smart for "supporting games with fair monetization schemes", then when they're exhausted introduce mtx and go after the whales for the big bucks. Fuck this industry, you don't even know what kind of product you're buying anymore. People waiting for "a full review of Diablo Immor(t)al to figure out how much money you need to spend to get a good build" - what's the point? By the time the review is out blizzard probably already changed the sliders and everything's different. Although from what I hear about the game, the only way they could change them at this point would make the game better, so there's that. $100k (that's one.hundred.thousand.dollars.) to get a fully equipped build. Jesus christ. Go back in time to when Diablo 2 is released and tell the gamers that soon they'll have to pay one hundred. thousand. dollars. to get a fully equipped build in the latest Diablo. They'll just cry and jump out the window. An even sadder thing is if you told them the latest Diablo will be a mobile game, they'd think "what? you can play Diablo anywhere like with a Gameboy? That's freaking amazing dude!" ugh. But you need to tell them this before telling them about having to choose between a nice house and a cool armor for their barbarian, burst that bubble properly. I hate this. My comment here is the incredible passion from consumers, you can see it live now, you're welcome. The incredible passion from developers is also me still being interested and working on gamedev crap even though I wish I could just turn back time instead.

cudgy 4y ago
Why must players have a “fully equipped build” to enjoy the game? If a player only cares about skins and other bling, are they playing a game or are they building a showcase to display to their friends?
- extrememacaroni 4y ago
  Geez man, we got to the point where if you’re poor in real life you’re also poor in the game, and you’re fine with that I guess. When the opposite could so easily be true if not for greed. You can not care if you want, I think it’s just a lame thing in general to do so.
  - cudgy 4y ago
    I agree that it is lame, but one can still play the game for free without having the latest gear.
- ansible 4y ago
  A lot of the Asian MMOs are pay-to-win, and it wouldn't surprise me that more Western game companies are moving in that direction... it is very profitable.