3 ms·

Assassin’s Creed. Go play the latest ones and tell me that Ubisoft doesn’t have a team devoted to “retention”. It’s game on top of game on top of game. The m

Assassin’s Creed. Go play the latest ones and tell me that Ubisoft doesn’t have a team devoted to “retention”. It’s game on top of game on top of game. The main missions are spaced out in a way that they are not too close or too far apart. The “collectables” (an insult to the word) are spaced between “oh look at that” and “wtf, this region isn’t 100% yet, where the hell is that thing!?”, achievements are an absolute abuse of psychology to keep you playing long after the game stopped being fun, the loading screens, the “quick” travel, the “crafting” and component systems that have you doing the least fun repetitive tasks usually involving the decimation of wild animals. The grind is out of control. Seriously, go play Outer Wilds, then play an AC or other grindfest. The only non-abusive games that are left are indies. It isn’t Alex Jonesy to rip apart modern video games for their exploitive tactics.

justanotherjoe 3y ago
I actually think 'playtime' is a great metric for game developers to optimize for. It incentives a lot of good design decisions. But like you said, also incentives a lot of bad ones, especially if your decisions are made by suits, like Ubisoft, who doesn't have any respect or faith in people.
- SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
  The MBAification of the world man… it’s all suits. Your farmer’s market stall gets big enough and you eventually get a suit telling you to “run lean” and “net30, we can push that to net60”, etc
djtango 3y ago
On other gaming boards "Ubisoft" has become a catch all phrase for describing when said game has descended into hollow unfun busywork to pad out the game / ensnare players in that hamster wheel. Most recently FFVII Rebirth's critics have described the game as going "full Ubisoft" which definitely resonates. I've found that while I am very susceptible to that loop of chasing loot etc a game sticks when it's mechanically fun (YMMV) which is why Monster Hunter and Souls/Elden Ring are my kryptonite. Ditto for Destiny which had quite fun gunplay

justanotherjoe 3y ago

I actually think 'playtime' is a great metric for game developers to optimize for. It incentives a lot of good design decisions. But like you said, also incentives a lot of bad ones, especially if your decisions are made by suits, like Ubisoft, who doesn't have any respect or faith in people.

SV_BubbleTime 3y ago
The MBAification of the world man… it’s all suits. Your farmer’s market stall gets big enough and you eventually get a suit telling you to “run lean” and “net30, we can push that to net60”, etc

djtango 3y ago

On other gaming boards "Ubisoft" has become a catch all phrase for describing when said game has descended into hollow unfun busywork to pad out the game / ensnare players in that hamster wheel. Most recently FFVII Rebirth's critics have described the game as going "full Ubisoft" which definitely resonates. I've found that while I am very susceptible to that loop of chasing loot etc a game sticks when it's mechanically fun (YMMV) which is why Monster Hunter and Souls/Elden Ring are my kryptonite. Ditto for Destiny which had quite fun gunplay