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New Tomb Raider to have literally (using word correctly) hundreds of microtransactions
According to this report on PC Gamer, the new Tomb Raider that's coming out soon (Xbox first) is to have hundreds of DLC.
Essentially 300+ of these are "cards". The cards essentially confer either graphical/cosmetic changes, or gameplay changing stats (Bullet resistance, etc). There will be two types of cards - "foil" and "common". Foil cards are permanent (or at least reusable) and generally offer stronger effects while the common ones disappear.
These 300 are the ones that are going to be offered on launch day - with "even more" being released in the weeks that follow.
The justification for such things? It's the increasingly familiar excuse. "Oh, you can buy these things with in-game credits. Using real money is just an option."
What they always glaze over is that buying these things with purely in-game credits (in ANY game that does this kind of tactic) is designed to be tedious and time consuming. And why is it DESIGNED to be that way? To encourage people to open their wallet. In other words, the fact that you can get a couple things bought in-game without a credit card is simply there to placate people. As an argument to hold up when people try to get vocal over this nickel and diming tactic.
It's the same kinda thing as what's happening with Metal Gear Solid V, and there were many games to do this before that. (Just about all of the Disgaea games started doing this once the game(s) were on a system that supported DLC)
This is the natural extension to buying bonus stats or bonus gold DLC which are very much done the for the same reasons with the same detrimental effects on game design. In the stats/gold issue, certainly you never needed to buy them. You got stats when you leveled up, and you could in some games level up into the thousands (Disgaea) so stats would eventually become abundant, and you get gold all the time right? But levelling, particularly at the start is tedious as hell and time consuming like you wouldn't believe as you redo level after level after level since you're too weak to do anything else. And for some reason the gold you get each fight just seems a bit on the low side compared to the effort put into it, requiring you to redo even MORE battles just to get enough money to upgrade your equipment.
Once you clear the game a time or two, your levels end up being pretty high and equipment fairly decked out and you fight things strong enough to gain multiple levels with one kill. But at that point you're already way past end-game. Most people buy the stats and gold at the beginning when they actually NEED it. And why do they need it? Because the game was designed to MAKE you need it. So you'd open your wallet.
I don't doubt that these 300 card microtransactions are going to be on-disc lockouts. The additional cards are probably going to be patched with a software update when you try to start the game, or as a "compatibility" pack for you to download (for free - I would presume) from the store. (No other approach would really make sense since these are suppose to be obtainable purely in-game as well.)
Oh yeah, there's also going to be a season pass with "3 major updates" selling for 30 bucks. Price of the game is 60. So to get the full game experience you're putting down 90 bucks minimum. (assuming you're buying new mind you.) And that 90 bucks won't be buying you access to the 300+ perks. You'll have to forfeit a healthy lifestyle or open your wallet to get those.
As it states at PC Gamer, these details are only confirmed for the Xbox launch - the PC launch doesn't even have a date yet. However with no information to the contrary, there's no reason not to expect it to infect the PC version as well. The publisher's "no comment" stance on the PC version might be that they're waiting to see how it boils over with the Xbox crowd, or maybe they're still not sure how to force PC gamers to pay for things they normally just mod in themselves. (Like "big head" mode. Yep, that joke mod is also a card.)
Essentially 300+ of these are "cards". The cards essentially confer either graphical/cosmetic changes, or gameplay changing stats (Bullet resistance, etc). There will be two types of cards - "foil" and "common". Foil cards are permanent (or at least reusable) and generally offer stronger effects while the common ones disappear.
These 300 are the ones that are going to be offered on launch day - with "even more" being released in the weeks that follow.
The justification for such things? It's the increasingly familiar excuse. "Oh, you can buy these things with in-game credits. Using real money is just an option."
What they always glaze over is that buying these things with purely in-game credits (in ANY game that does this kind of tactic) is designed to be tedious and time consuming. And why is it DESIGNED to be that way? To encourage people to open their wallet. In other words, the fact that you can get a couple things bought in-game without a credit card is simply there to placate people. As an argument to hold up when people try to get vocal over this nickel and diming tactic.
It's the same kinda thing as what's happening with Metal Gear Solid V, and there were many games to do this before that. (Just about all of the Disgaea games started doing this once the game(s) were on a system that supported DLC)
This is the natural extension to buying bonus stats or bonus gold DLC which are very much done the for the same reasons with the same detrimental effects on game design. In the stats/gold issue, certainly you never needed to buy them. You got stats when you leveled up, and you could in some games level up into the thousands (Disgaea) so stats would eventually become abundant, and you get gold all the time right? But levelling, particularly at the start is tedious as hell and time consuming like you wouldn't believe as you redo level after level after level since you're too weak to do anything else. And for some reason the gold you get each fight just seems a bit on the low side compared to the effort put into it, requiring you to redo even MORE battles just to get enough money to upgrade your equipment.
Once you clear the game a time or two, your levels end up being pretty high and equipment fairly decked out and you fight things strong enough to gain multiple levels with one kill. But at that point you're already way past end-game. Most people buy the stats and gold at the beginning when they actually NEED it. And why do they need it? Because the game was designed to MAKE you need it. So you'd open your wallet.
I don't doubt that these 300 card microtransactions are going to be on-disc lockouts. The additional cards are probably going to be patched with a software update when you try to start the game, or as a "compatibility" pack for you to download (for free - I would presume) from the store. (No other approach would really make sense since these are suppose to be obtainable purely in-game as well.)
Oh yeah, there's also going to be a season pass with "3 major updates" selling for 30 bucks. Price of the game is 60. So to get the full game experience you're putting down 90 bucks minimum. (assuming you're buying new mind you.) And that 90 bucks won't be buying you access to the 300+ perks. You'll have to forfeit a healthy lifestyle or open your wallet to get those.
As it states at PC Gamer, these details are only confirmed for the Xbox launch - the PC launch doesn't even have a date yet. However with no information to the contrary, there's no reason not to expect it to infect the PC version as well. The publisher's "no comment" stance on the PC version might be that they're waiting to see how it boils over with the Xbox crowd, or maybe they're still not sure how to force PC gamers to pay for things they normally just mod in themselves. (Like "big head" mode. Yep, that joke mod is also a card.)
no subject
As the current top-most comment (sorted by "Best") on the PC Gamer article says, "If you buy one of those, you deserve a slap in the face." Yeah, I agree. Also, if you buy one of those, you deserve to have your money literally (also using the word appropriately) flushed down a toilet, because that is essentially what you're figuratively doing anyway.
Meh, for me to get the full game experience, I'll only be putting down at most $5-$10 or so in a few years, after the game inevitably releases a "complete" edition (or whatever frou frou term for it that they end up actually using, like "Game of the Year" or whatever) where all of that shit is included (as it should have been from the beginning, naturally), and then that "complete" edition gets an inevitable general price cut down to $30 or less all inclusive, and then that inevitable general price cut on the "complete" edition gets inevitably slashed again by an at least 75% off sale on Steam.[1] If it never does reach such a point, of course, then I simply won't be buying it, period. This, obviously, is assuming that I ever deign to buy the shit in the first place, which isn't at all a given. If anything, it's more of an anti-given that I'll ever be getting it, even if it does reach that point.
But then, I guess that technically wouldn't count as buying "new," would it. Hell, these days, to paraphrase that guy from above about people deserving a slap in the face, I'd say that if you buy any game anymore within 6 months to a year or however long from launch, while it still sits at such ridiculously over-inflated prices for chopped up pieces, then you also deserve a slap in the face. No, you're not "supporting the industry" when you do this shit. You're not being some sort of goddamn hero coming to the rescue when you pay full release date MSRP for a video game, I don't give a fuck how you try to justify it to yourself. What you're actually supporting is egregious greed when you fall for that shit. And, hell, if anything, I hold ever so slightly more respect for those who just say fuck it and straight up admit that they don't give a shit and just want to play the game now now now, compared to the holier-than-thou assholes who claim to be "supporting the industry" or whatever. Yeah, that last bit there was me going off on a bit of a tangent, but anyway... yeah... don't buy overpriced video games at launch, boys and girls.
[Jesus Hawkman Christ, LiveJournal. Okay, I'll split it into two comments, due to your asinine arbitrary limit of 4300 characters. God damn.]
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[1] - For reference, the current gen Tomb Raider game currently sits at $19.99 on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/app/203160/), with the "GotY Edition" sitting at $29.99 on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/sub/49783/). A 75% off sale knocks that down to $5 and $7.50, respectively (which, as far as I'm concerned, is still overpriced for the GotY edition, unless you just really like the multiplayer or some shit, which I don't give a single shit about). I got the base game back in 2013 for five bucks, and I didn't even bother with the GotY version for it, because the vast majority of the DLC for it is cruddy multiplayer junk or pointless skins or whatever. They did finally bother to release one (1) tiny piece of singleplayer DLC (http://store.steampowered.com/app/208812/), which is apparently an optional tomb that takes 5 to 10 minutes to clear, and which they're selling for $2.99. I might be willing to pay at most 75ยข for that... though probably not, since a lot of people in the reviews are claiming that it's broken anyway. Go fucking figure. Also, it should be noted that even though I do have the game on Steam, I have not yet even bothered to ever install it, let alone play it (though that is mainly because I'd already played the 360 version (http://kane-magus.livejournal.com/636586.html), due to borrowing it from a coworker shortly after it released).