So as mentioned last week my choice for this weeks post is, about how with the current industry trends and the increasing popularity of the gaming market. Are we as gamers being ripped off by both the industry as a whole and invdividual companies to better there profit margins and increase there share holder happyness.
So where to begin, one of my pet peeves at this moment in time is the trend of games that only offer multiplay content, still retailing for the same price as other games offering both multi and single player content. (To define, single player content must be actual new content not merely playing the multiplay with bots, Also the "campaign" has to actually have a meaningful story and take longer than 3 hours.) Its not that i am against selling games with purley multiplayer game modes, for many game this would make a lot of sense. (looking at you COD) However to then retail these games for the same price as other tripleA titles, and attempt to justify, that playing the game with bots is a single player campaign is absurd. The qaulity of your product shouild define its price not what the price of the items next to it are.
Briefly pausing here the above point applys doubly to the MMO market, so many subscription based MMOs ultimately fail and have to move to a free to play model or a hybrid between the two. the common logic seems to be that as people £8 per month for WoW that they will then pay the same for another MMO. by charging the same money they are saying that there brand new game offers the same level of content and polish as ten years of Wow its absurd. Also if they priced themsleves a bit cheaper they would appeal to more people purely on a monetary basis. Or at least provide a encouragement to try the other product.
So we reach cash shops and real money transactions, for many people the bane of modern gaming. My personal opinion is that if you want to spend extra money for in game items so be it. I have bought pets and mounts for Wow and a skin for HoTS. (though i bought the skin on half price sale, i feel at the moment skins and heros are just a little to pricy in HoTS) it is your money and if you want to buy six hundred sparkle ponys so be it. However the massive revenues that can be levied by micro transactions, (See EAs yearly financial reports.) has lead to an increase in the sheer ammount of items that can be purchased for real cash. There are many occurances of games being releasde that contain masses of content locked behind pay walls, yet as mentioned before the game still retails at the full price.
micro transactions can play a important role in enabling a safe system that allows people to spend there money if they choose to without fear of fraud. They should be either mandatory pay walls in content, or games where literally everything in the game can be pruchased for real money. Simply to generate bigger revenues for the company. Far to much content that is locked into micro transactions is overpriced, i problably wouldnt buy a skin for a hero for £7-8 but at £3-4 i may even buy two.
Finally the straw that broke the camels back. Releasing games wich are broken and barely playable, or that require massive day one patchs just to get the game working. Since when has it become acceptable to release games that appear as if they have been barely tested. For example AC unity outsold Blackflag by a lot, this depsite the fact the game was unplayable at lauch. Yet nothing is changing games companys are pushing ahead with more yealry releases. We the paying public are funding this, Quality brings loyalty and Loyalty should bring Quality.
The only way these issues will ever change is if we the audience take a astance we need to stop filling corporate pocklets for broken or rip off content. Because everytime we go out and buy, games that havnt been properly tested our paying over the odds for content. We only reinforce that there is a market for poorly constructed low qaulity, over priced produce. Howe many trailers do we see at E3 and other conferences that end up looking nothing like the game on release. The Quickest and simplest way of putting our point across is buy withholding our money, to many companies now a days have forgotten how they got to where they are. We are not bottomless pits of cash, that need to be milked for all we are worth.
Overall i tried to avoid picking on specific comapnies or games where i could and focus more on industry trends in general. Fundamentaly i feel that we are in a slump in creativity not just in Gaming but also in Movies and Tv to. But if we continue to fund and support this rehashed, repeated, remade, reworked content, it not only encourages companies to not change. But also it makes it more difficult for those companies and individuals that are tryting to create new content to get there work out there and funded.
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