General / Off-Topic When micro-transactions goes bad: An EA tale..of greed!

Memnoch · Feb 1, 2014

I just finished watching a YouTube video regarding a "Free to Play" mobile game called Dungeon Keeper. Sounds good right? But no, this isn't a port of the original game that many of us loved playing all those years ago. No, this is a re-imagining by those people at EA. I would like to describe them otherwise but I don't want to upset the mods! Below is a link to the video:

WARNING: This video contains some very strong language. NSFW etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpdoBwezFVA

I know some of you may not like this bloke but bear with him because he has a very important message for players here, and I hope that Frontier also take this message to heart and see this as an example of how MT should not be done.

There have been many heated discussions over how they should or should not be done with the general consensus being that as long as the MT are cosmetic there are no objections: ship decals and the like.

Here however we have proof positive of what many of us have said before and which others have denied and this is that MT can and will fundamentally affect the design of the game in such a way as to almost force players into buying MT to play the game at an acceptable pace. In this video it is explained that to break one single block it will take 24h real-time to do so!! As he points out, this isn't slowing down gameplay, it is outright stopping it.

I am trying to see how Frontier could possibly design things in such a way, having a mechanism that could slow down progression enough to warrant something like this and fortunately I can't think of one and I hope they never do either.

Give me decals, not a handbrake!

EDIT: Added a disclaimer for swearing in the video, just in case.

Asp Explorer · Feb 1, 2014

EA, F2P, mobile game appealing to children, mummy's credit card....

Profit!

And that is why it needs to stop.

Memnoch · Feb 1, 2014

The only way this will stop is if the buying public stop funding this kind of thing. I really cannot understand the mentality of someone who would pay any money at all to play these games, and yet mobile gaming is rife with them. The developers have realised they are almost a license to print money. Only recently Apple have had to hand over tens of millions of dollars because of in-app purchases. But it was Apple that allowed them on to its platform in the first place!

I only hope that this kind of thing is curtailed before it further infects the PC marketplace. I don't know how it would be done but I would even like to see some kind of legislation put in place to limit these practices but I fear this will have to be driven by the public refusing to participate.

deusx_ophc · Feb 1, 2014

yes, mt done bad and in the hands of the wrong developers (read publishers demands) can kill a game or make it near unplayable for a lot of gamers.

you can however do a lot of good stuff with mt, too. you can sell sidegrades, naming rights, customs mods... tons of things that will not affect the nitty gritty of the game design/functionaliy.

specially in a universe as large as ed

trust the braben, he will not prostitute his own love child

edit: ea = the devils spawn

jedt · Feb 1, 2014

deusx_ophc said:
edit: ea = the devils spawn

i think you are being a bit harsh on devils there....

Asp Explorer · Feb 1, 2014

Personally I find the whole thing disgusting, but it's a free market and people make their own choices.

If little Jimmy wants to spend all his pocket money playing Click Adventure on his crapphone - that's up to him. However, is little Jimmy legally bound to the contract? Does his mummy pay for it for him? Is his craptunes account in his name or his mums? Is it his or her credit card?

If little Jimmy gets annoyed with his new game on his shiny phone, he can simply click the attractive buttons to make the nasty horrible annoying go away. Simples! Little Jimmy will be very happy until he has to click the money buttons some more.

Mummy will be overjoyed at the high-score he attained on Credit Card Bill Ultra Level

However, is she liable for those costs? Contract law varies, and I'm sure a charge-back wouldn't be out of the question. The answer to this would be two-part authentication of MT purchases to the card owner's phone that isn't the one little Jimmy has.

P4UL · Feb 1, 2014

OMG I hate EA so much...

If EA made ED then every single one of those 100 billion stars would be a DLC extra. The game would start with like 100 stars and if you wanted more you gotta pay extra. PLUS you would need to be always online to play single player. Then the server would go down so you couldn't even play the single player mode...

Then after a few years they would close the server down and you are screwed.

But that's ok because by that time they would have already released ED 2015, ED 2016, ED 2017 etc... with minor star name changes etc..

Stoo · Feb 1, 2014

asp explorer said:
mummy's & daddy's credit card....

Profit!

And that is why it needs to stop.

+100000

Stoo · Feb 1, 2014

To think, many years ago I nearly started working for EA doing game graphics.

Their ethos has changed a lot in 25 years

Memnoch · Feb 1, 2014

So from an ED frame of reference we are probably safe from the horrors presented in that video. But can anyone think of way that Frontier could make "fair" money from MT that would not make the game OP and does not include simple cosmetic stuff?

I'm pretty sure we are in a safe hands here but you never know...

P4UL · Feb 1, 2014

There is a reason why EA has won 3 golden poop awards for being the worst company in the world 3 years in a row!

The problem with EA is they take over perfectly good companies and flush them down the toilet.

Westwood was AWESOME!!! The C&C games were legendary.. until EA got their hands on it.. now it's RIP.

Everyone still remembers how the latest Sim City game ended up.. what a total disaster that was! I feel sorry for Maxis.

If ED sells really well, maybe EA will try to buy FD one day but I hope Mr Braben tells them to stick it!

Asp Explorer · Feb 1, 2014

Memnoch said:
So from an ED frame of reference we are probably safe from the horrors presented in that video. But can anyone think of way that Frontier could make "fair" money from MT that would not make the game OP and does not include simple cosmetic stuff?

I'm pretty sure we are in a safe hands here but you never know...

While I can definitely see cosmetics being idea MT stuff (and purely cosmetic, no advantage) I don't think the game lends itself to much else. Cash-for-credits could work, but that goes against my ethic.

Equipment upgrades have to be obtained through effort, so no danger there.

However, how about this. We already have clamouring guildies desperate for guild content. Why not make guildie tags MT's? Most popular - only 10 quid a go. If you want to rename or change guilds, well that's another 10 quid each. They want fast travel. Why not make that a taxi service for MT's? Best value - only 70 quid a pop. Explain it away by having an ultra-fast ship come to scoop you up to wherever you want to go to meet up with other guildies

jedt · Feb 1, 2014

Asp Explorer said:
While I can definitely see cosmetics being idea MT stuff (and purely cosmetic, no advantage) I don't think the game lends itself to much else. Cash-for-credits could work, but that goes against my ethic.

Equipment upgrades have to be obtained through effort, so no danger there.

However, how about this. We already have clamouring guildies desperate for guild content. Why not make guildie tags MT's? Most popular - only 10 quid a go. If you want to rename or change guilds, well that's another 10 quid each. They want fast travel. Why not make that a taxi service for MT's? Best value - only 70 quid a pop. Explain it away by having an ultra-fast ship come to scoop you up to wherever you want to go to meet up with other guildies

difficult isn't it? i would never buy cosmetic stuff... i understand that others would and that is their choice.

but your guildies idea looks good. no fast travel though.

Asp Explorer · Feb 1, 2014

jedt said:
difficult isn't it? i would never buy cosmetic stuff... i understand that others would and that is their choice.

but your guildies idea looks good. no fast travel though.

Oh I know - NO fast travel should ever be allowed. I just got carried away thinking about drooling guildies fighting over a taxi and spending outrageous amounts of money

Cmdr Eagleboy · Feb 1, 2014

EA has line of F2P games ridden by MT. It was policy line decided by current leadership and it shouldn't surprise anyone.

However, EA have lot of other problems. MT has been icing on the cake. Biggest problem is that they own lot of good franchises and developers hostage. If they would be just another big game corporation.

Also I would like to point out that free to play with MT are usually very controversial games. Playing them you already subscribe to face disappointment.

Yaffle · Feb 1, 2014

Asp Explorer said:
Oh I know - NO fast travel should ever be allowed. I just got carried away thinking about drooling guildies fighting over a taxi and spending outrageous amounts of money

Offer it, but the taxi will never arrive. When there are complaints respond with "he's just coming round the corner mate!" and hang up.

jedt · Feb 1, 2014

Pecisk said:
....

Also I would like to point out that free to play with MT are usually very controversial games. Playing them you already subscribe to face disappointment.

well, yes and no. i have played f2p games with mt and had a lot of fun with them. though after a while f2p ceases to mean free to play and becomes free to pay. gave up the last one i was playing to play swtor on the grounds that sub games are cheaper than f2p. then swtor went pear shaped.... back to playing new vegas or skyrim.

jedt · Feb 1, 2014

Yaffle said:
Offer it, but the taxi will never arrive. When there are complaints respond with "he's just coming round the corner mate!" and hang up.

usually its... i'll be with you in five minutes....

yes, you said that three hours ago.

deusx_ophc · Feb 1, 2014

Memnoch said:
So from an ED frame of reference we are probably safe from the horrors presented in that video. But can anyone think of way that Frontier could make "fair" money from MT that would not make the game OP and does not include simple cosmetic stuff?

I'm pretty sure we are in a safe hands here but you never know...

naming rights, ie you buy the right to name a planet like the ks offer. obviously not below that price but hey why not.

name space station, name ship graveyard, name trading outlet, name a bouy for GBP1, name whatever.....

as the game will live forever it will be a good argument and people will get hugely attached to their ed identity.

let the community add custom ships and custom jobs to their ships at a cost....

tons of stuff that i think are acceptable really...

ps. no to cash for credits ;p just outright buy
pps. regardless of the way they play this out, it will hurt if just because ed is held in such esteeeeeeem

Frank · Feb 1, 2014

Those 3000 five-star reviews, how can we trust them? Microsoft and EA have both been caught buying reviews. I can't trust any positive remarks about them.

They must be the greenest gamecorps ever. They have astroturfed the whole planet.