That the game industry is following the current leader, all the time, and have done for so long now. That is why every single game from big corporations, like Activision-Blizzard, like EA, like Bethesda, like Ubisoft, ect, are putting all of their money into half-baked game projects with a hefty amount of microtransactions.
As you say
What we do need, is for Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring to be looked at as the leaders of the industry. Feature-complete games.
You are correct, we do not need more CRPGs or Souls-like games to release. We need games that are not half-baked and oversaturated with microtransactions seeking only the maximummest (I am so inventive with words) of profits.
Baldur’s Gate 3 also shows that even for a niche project, good game design philosophy will net you a profit still without filling it to the brink with microtransactions.
Executives, developers and people who do play video games need to realise this.
The sooner they do, the sooner we can get rid of microtransactions.
If that is what you took from my post, you must have poor reading comprehension.
My post in no way tried to defend Blizzard or any developer. While I did reference the cost of making games…the main point was that they will attempt to maximize PROFITS to appease their shareholders. I mean, that is literally what I said.
Oh i agree, we should rid of microtransactions, especially in single-player like… those have NO business being there, and they exist little more then just being cheated in just to screw with the publishers, lol.
As for feature complete… i mean Cutting Room Floor exists… But i digress.
But other then that… Can i ask, what is wrong with people buying games that isn’t Balder’s Gate or Elden Ring?
Because… a lot of the people seem to think “these games are the standard, and if they don’t follow up to that standard, then these games are poop”? Like… are people not allowed to enjoy or buy anything because somebody decided “this game is the standard”?.. Even something that isn’t feature complete?
I have no interest in Balder’s Gate 3, and didn’t care for Elden Ring (Not the genre’s themselves, i’ve enjoyed South Park and Remnant: From the Ashes). The latter game personally, the 2 hour steam refund window didn’t let the game click in with me. For $60, that’s too much money to keep a game i’m wildly unsure about.
I also believe they are legally obligated to maximize profits for the shareholders.
So at this point they can not just remove microtransactions, because doing that would be intentionally lowering the potential profits.
So with above in mind - it is now up to the players to try and lessen the profits that is gained from microtransactions, primarily by not buying into these games that have a severe amount of microtransactions.
Personally I wish I had no bought Dragonflight and subbed for WoW again, that was a mistake, afterall, I never purchased Shadowlands, but benefit of the doubt for blizzard won… eh. Atleast I learned.
People enjoyed Baldur’s Gate 3 even in its early access. So I can’t really say no even though I want to.
The hope is that it makes people look at games with microtransactions at them with a huge deal of skepticism, and even better not buy those games at all.
Personally I am more forgiving when it is online games that provides servers though, gotta earn money in some way to keep the servers running.
It really is just microtransactions and half-arsed projects.
Not to be trite but… we can also not buy into the microtransactions.
And for single player games, you can also just cheat them in, because as i’ve said, no business being there.
If that’s what you genuinely think, then by principle, i can’t agree with you any further on this if you genuinely think people can’t enjoy games you deemed to be not okay then.
This is the Drama i’m talking about that i want players to avoid. You genuinely think people shouldn’t enjoy games you deem to be bad. And this is something we already have enough of, thanks to politics.(Cough cough, Hogwarts Legacy)
I may be anti-Microtransactions, but i never go a step further and go (Explicit or implicit) “NO! YOU CAN’T ENJOY THIS GAME BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS, OR ELSE YOU’RE A BAD PERSON MORALLY SOMEHOW!!”… Because that’s basically insane.
If people want to enjoy games you hate, let them enjoy it. I mean people enjoy FF14 all the time, despite the fact i disliked it.
Unless … you’re saying people should pirate them as a way to get around all of that.
Because the standard they just made with baldurs gate 3 should be the standard by all AAA companies. They should look to make a game for the fans not for the shareholders.
Does not cut into profits enough I am afraid, which is the entire problem.
The existence of the microtransactions already did enough damage as it is, in AC: Odyssey, the EXP gained was still lowered due to them selling boosts on their store, as an example. In AC: Valhalla, good looking armor that could otherwise have been gained through exploration or an interesting questline, thus it is cutting out content, and it still lessens the amount of variety you have for equipment.
Genuinely? No… as a matter of fact, I don’t care all too much if you do enjoy a game that is bad, for all I care, you can go ahead and play and enjoy Overwatch 2. But if you try to sell me a game and tell me it is good, I will look at what kind of games you do consider to be ‘good’ and I will probably brush it off then. I would feel a little dirty.
I will keep arguing that you SHOULD NOT enjoy it, for obvious reasons that I already explained. Whether you do enjoy it or not I don’t really care about. If the game industry continues the way it does right now, it’ll only get crazier as I get older, and as I get older the less caring I become to the point that >I< no longer play video games as a hobby.
Hopefully the game industry crashes due to the expectation of increasing profits before I get that old and sour though.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an amazing game, but honestly… I think we’d start seeing a lot of Developers at AAA studios dying to try and make the same kind of game, just because of how most AAA studio’s are run. If you think crunch now is bad, just imagine Blizzard trying to force the WoW Devs to deliver a BG3 type expansion in only two years. BG3 took 5 years to make, had 400 Devs, and ridiculous amounts of money, all on top of Dungeons & Dragons.
BG3 should certainly raise the bar, but not at the expense of the developers.
Sorry, I guess you didn’t say making games was expensive. Oh wait, you did.
You were defending them, idk what part of trying to justify this behaviour isn’t defending them, but that’s the internet for you I guess.
I do not think anyone have ever expected single player titles to retain players after a year.
Except people who only play online games, of course.
This is quite a recent thing too with newer generations of gamers, thinking that a game HAVE TO last forever. It is okay to have a beginning and an end.
Idk how good AC modding scene is, given how pretty good FC’s modding scene is, but… these things can be modded back in since their single-player.
I know to you, it sounds like i’m making excuses and it shouldn’t be like that, and trust me, there’s a reason why i’m not gonna go past Unity here, unless the new Assassin’s Creed really does bring the series back on track. I’m simply saying, we can just essentially cheat those in.
… I wasn’t just talking about Overwatch 2. I’m talking about any game that isn’t BG3 or ER.
Infact, i’ve never cared much for Overwatch when it was 1, to begin with. Yea, it was fun here and there, but… it ain’t no Tf2.
…Nowhere i’m saying “Oh the games i think, are objectively good”.
I’m talking about subjectivity, as in liking games. I’m simply asking, “are we not allowed to subjectively enjoy games you deem to be bad?”, that was the question.
I didn’t say “Enjoy the microtransactions and feature uncompeteness”, i said “Enjoy the game”.
Why did you misconstrue that? And contradict this comment of yours immediately after?
You seem to think i’m talking about the objective quality of the games. I’m talking about people SUBJECTIVELY enjoying things. Subjective Enjoyment ≠ Objective Quality.
Why are people disallowed from subjectively enjoying the games you deem to be bad? THAT WAS MY POINT. You claim to not care if people enjoyed them or not, but then turn around and continue to argue they shouldn’t subjectively enjoy the games. Which is it?
…Actually, if you don’t care, why then argue against people enjoying games then?
I only used Overwatch 2 because it is overwhelmingly bad, appearantly. Never played it myself, probably never will. I already felt like the first Overwatch game went in a wrong direction, so I am not surprised by Overwatch 2.
I like to think that there are objectively bad games. I don’t like Rockstar games that much, as one example, but I can recognize that the single player ones are very good indeed. I also tried to play the Witcher 3, but it just couldn’t grip me, but again, I can recognize that it is actually a pretty well designed game.
Even, despite my strong hatred for EA, Star Wars: Fallen Order I can recognize as a good game. But then the studio showed its EAness with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, which was objectively a bad game.
But many people are not me, and will indeed look at games that are not really for them and think: “Bad game!” heck, many people are currently looking at Baldur’s Gate 3 and calling it a bad game simply because they find turn-based combat boring.
I did not misconstrue it.
What I wrote was not supposed to be read as if it had some underlying messaging.
It is a straight up: “No, I do not think that you should enjoy a game that has microtransactions in it.”
It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy objectively bad games. Granted, some are impossible to enjoy some… /sideeyes Ride to Hell
…but it can be done.
Oh i agree that the people who called Baldur’s Gate 3 a bad game because it’s turn based combat, are absolutely wrong. It’s a genre like any other, has good games and bad games. And Bg3 is a good game. Is it fine to not like BG3 and prefer something else, even if it’s objectively bad? Yes.
And why can’t they?
The people who buy the games with MTX, are not the same ones who buy the game for the MTX or buy the MTX. They shockingly, play the game for the game it has. Even if objectively, it’s not good.
And i’ve noticed you kept on ignoring this but… are you suggesting people to pirate games to get around this? I mean, you keep mentioning profits as an ovbious reason. So are you implying that piracy should be the only way for people to enjoy these MTX Feature-less games?
I think we all know why we play WoW; Because it was a fun game with Orcs and Human bashing their heads in, and some nice looking cutscenes, and some easy to learn gameplay. Is WoW an objectively Good game?
Not these days, no, but--
Wait a minute, why you’re still on WoW then? WoW has been like this for a while now.
That’s how people used to break up with people. Then that other person changes their top song to “Still Lovin You” by the Scorpions and the cycle continues.
WAS 
