Microtransactions

[Diddums 4,346]

When I first heard about these, I thought "excellent", the ability to buy cosmetic goodies for a few pence or a pound here or there would be excellent. Whether it was a hat in TF2, a camo pack in BO2, or a shortcut kit in BF4, it just made perfect sense. The only downfall it would have is that some folks wouldn't be able to afford them, but that goes with the territory.

 

When WoW started with "microtransactions" I thought it was awful. It started off with a pet or a mount for the game, which although I disagreed with and never paid for, was definitely a success for Blizzard as everyone seemed to have one eventually. They must've made a killing.

 

The mount was I think... £15? Something like that. Now that on it's own is taking the "micro" away from transaction. You could buy the base game for that price, or even an expansion pack. Hell, you could buy multiple games for that price. Yet here you paid £15 for a horse.

 

And that's the point I started disliking microtransactions. The problem with them is that gamers will fork out cash for anything. I can guarantee you that if Blizzard released a gold covered horse for £1000 tomorrow, you'd see them all over the place within a month. Now there's nothing wrong with that, if someone wants to spend a grand of mommy & daddy's hard earned on a horse that's up to them, but what about the rest of us, who can't be bothered paying so much but want might also want something nice on the cheap?

 

Well, that's where the cheaper stuff comes in. There are loads of other mounts and pets on the store, which are great. The problem is that once people start spending larger amounts of in-game items, some companies take this as "oh they will pay, charge more then" which gradually filters down to the rest of the playerbase, so many of us end up paying much more than we should for something which is effectively just a horse with a different colour.

 

Now you can also buy a character boost to max level for $60. Yes, sixty dollars. This is somehow marketed as a "microtransaction".

 

I'd like to know how they class a sum which can feed a family for a week as "micro".

 

These are great in theory, but as usual once greed starts settling in it all goes pete tong very fast.

[tronic44 3,642]

The idea itself is good, if people want to spend £2 on a camo or skin or get a new walking stick for their wizard (sounds WoWlike) then why not. My issue with these transactions are when you are able to buy something that's a game changer, when they released the ripper it was all that anyone used but they created a gun that was OP compared to a lot of other guns. This probably forced a lot of people to buy it, mainly out of frustration id guess. I wouldn't be surprised if futher down the line you'll be able to buy MOABs.

 

The idea that you could spend anything over £9 and it still be classed as micro is laughable but in all fairness to them i think it would confuse a lot of people if they had different names for different transactions. Over half the people i play against in cod probably get confused between up and down, so by sticking to microtransaction it's makes it easier, for all the dumb asses out there.

 

Either that or they're lazy and can't be fudged to change it

[J4MES OX4D 10,035]

I was quite excited when I first saw this being introduced to gaming but now publishers/devs just seem to exploiting and enticing people to any old shit. 

 

The worst thing is this 'Pay to Win' culture that has been cropping up. It's affected WoW Hearthstone quite massively where players who are willing to buy content that adds up to hundreds over time win over and over against players who haven't dipped their hands in their pockets. Whilst high-flying on the leaderboards; they want to keep their streak and position so they then have to keep buying items which get more steep in price and before they know it; it's cost them dearly.

 

Another thing I hate about gaming is 'Early Access'. You pay essentially full whack for a game that isn't even fit for purpose and shouldn't be on Steam. Most of these are stupidly overpriced anyway for games that aren't even in beta form. I know you have the choice as to whether you support the game but stumping up 100% of the cash at the risk of the dev taking their foot off the gas or you getting bored by the time the game is finished; it's just seems a flawed concept but Steam is plagued with this shite in its droves. You should be able to give let's say 25% of the game RRP and if you want the finished article, you pay the remainder or withdraw and lose your 'deposit'

 

I hate DLC culture, I hate pre-order bonus culture, microtransactions are becoming massive, early access is stoopid and people just keep getting sucked in to this modern practices. 

 

I hope AW's microtransactions is more than just camo and tacky crap. I wanna see maps, weapons and perhaps DXP tokens or summat. I ain't interested in buying fucking facepaint, a hat or shorts for fuck sake!!

[tronic44 3,642]

Shorts? .............

 

 

 

.......i might be interested