Well, this discussion would go along the lines of the digital download games one, but I think this issue is more frightening for the coming future, as it does not only mean digital download/distribution, but also means a crappy-get-your-ass-kicked game unless you spend a motherload of $ on loadouts, items, etc. This might seem like a great strategy for them companies making money, but what the hell, I personally think it's just a pain in the ass and an instant turn off for any game. I remember playing TF2 back in the day for example, never a big fan of it but was fun nevertheless, and now that it's "FREE" to play, if you don't cash out buying items and weapons, you get your ass kicked by anyone with a bigger, more expensive weapon. Now since Battlefield Heroes and some of those "free" chinese MMOs, a lot of this games have surfaced, and yet lots more are to come. There are a lot of free to play games coming out this year, to name just a few "big" titles: Firefall Microsoft Flight Neverwinter Tribes: Ascend Gettysburg: Armored Warfare MechWarrior Online ...etc. I could go on, but I'd like to know what you guys think about this...
I'm playing the beta of Path of Exile for a while now and would recommend it to anyone who liked Diablo. They said paying won't give you an advance, i truly hope that'll be the case. edit: still closed, but open soon and invites are given out a lot already: http://www.pathofexile.com/
They really turned TF2 to shit with the item thing and free to play. People care way too much about stupid hats that don't affect gameplay at all. I played a few of the free to play games (Spiral Knights, Champions Online and Crimecrap or whatever) during the Steam sale and they were terrible. It's pretty obvious they're using the same model as Facebook games do to make idiots pay money for little things (Spiral Knights even has the dumb "energy" system that most "games" on FB have). That being said, holy shit, a new Mechwarrior game? I HAVE to play that, even if it's the worst free to play crapfest ever!
Runescape has a nice f2p balance, You can do ALOT in the game before you'd even consider wanting members. I hope Fallout Online is one off payment instead of monthly, Would ruin the game for me.
Uh, no. I had alot of fun with some friends back in the day at Castle Wars and Pest Control and some of the other group games.
I looked it up, and apparently way back when I tried Runescape those didn't even exist. I'm sure the main game is still a soul-crushing grind, though.
It is for most skills, you can have alot of fun though when doing it with friends, Slayer is good when you have friends to do it with.
I went to a conference some time ago and its was full of these fucking assholes from the social media industry who are moving into games, talking bullshit about MAU, DAU and all that crap. Those are the fuckers who are making these games, they get some starving coders in vietnam and do these cheesy-ass counterstrike and warcraft clones. Heres the thing: americans arent getting any richer, more and more I see people renting rather than owning. This shitty free2play model? that was invented in China ages ago, because nobody had the money for a console or a PC and they had to go to cybercafes, so free2play was the only way. Now that even a $50 games its out of reach for many poor indebted bastards, and those socialgaming assholes know that which is why they hire shrinks to design the "game mechanics" to turn the game into a cheap drug: all unending bullshit task and almost no fun, so players cant stop using it because theres no end, and they start paying for the bullshit powerups because thats the only way to advance. So of course big corporations see this, see the money zynga and other full-of-crap companies make and they want a piece of it. If you thought Steam and Onlive were going to kill gaming, think again...
People will still spend money on games. A good game is a good game. A bad game is a bad game. People enjoy Farmville. So what? It doesn't matter to me. If every company stopped making high budget games today, I would still be good for many, many years with the ones I already don't play. But they won't. There is a market for the free play games, why not exploit it? Business is business.
Except that companies have realized that with social gaming they can make a game for a pittance, and never cut the price since its "free", besides with all the items in games these days they can make a ton of cash just from charging you for the kind of stuff you had to play to get. Its like phones: now any smuck can get a portable pmp+internet device for $100, but with contract he'll be paying $2000 a year on fees that hardly enhance the device, and its way more money than what the device costs Meanwhile electronic companies are moving to that model because thats where the money is. PDAs and PMPs are dead and with those bigass padphones on the pipeline soon enough tablets will also be dead (as in cheap but with a dataplan contract)
And there is still an option to buy the phone outright. Sure, it'll cost you, but its an option. One that I use, and save thousands of dollars over the typical life of a phone. So long as there is a market for full-fledged game, they will get made. And if they pad their profits with social gaming, so what? If / when the bubble bursts, they will move onto the next thing. Gaming will survive, it isn't going anywhere. And again, if the game is fun, it doesn't really matter how much it costs.
Hasn't Fallout Online just been killed by a court ruling? http://www.destructoid.com/interplay-s-fallout-mmo-is-done-as-bethesda-wins-battle-219333.phtml
Played Battlefield Play4Free, but was annoyed at jumping between the web browser and the game. But that's not exclusive for free online games... Also, as a sidenote, I hate this "Fixed that for you" quote crap.
Project Blackout (Point Blank in other countries) was addicting for me, I ended up spending money on the game cause I enjoyed it so much, later on however I got bored of it and now only play it here and there. It's a counter-strike clone with women and easier movement, and don't expect your shots to kill straight away, it works with p2p technology which is really old in games multiplayer games today. Check it out though
Hate them all. I'd rather pay £29.99 or whatever and get everything from the get go and have only my skill unlock the better equipment (so never ) The second I see something which offers in game purchasing (iOS titles are perhaps the biggest offenders) I immediately ignore them.
Aw fuck, I thought Bethesda were taking over? (A good thing as interplay haven't been good for a while now).
