A pox on EA Gaming (1 Viewer)

I have to say I rarely bag on software companies, but what EA is currently doing with their game division is just.. sick.



All of their games are now so tied up in in-app purchases that it isn't just a "oh, cool extras" you basically can't play the game without forking over a lot of money in in-app purchases.

This philosophy has basically killed Plants Vs. Zombies 2, a game I looked forward to but is pretty unplayable unless you are ready to keep forking out a steady stream of cash. Now, in the new versions of NCAA other sports titles, in order to play to win, you're going to purchase a lot in game.

Some will say "well, it's an easy way.." maybe, but you think planning a game in this way doesn't mean developers are encouraged to make the game tedious and overly difficult unless you go ahead and keep throwing out the $2, $5, $10?

There is a time at which the audience just has to say: this is stupid. Add on DLC is one thing. Required in game purchases to make a title playable is something just scummy.

Welcome to the world of "pay to win" gaming. I hope it causes a painful death to the companies pushing it.

I think perhaps we should take a moment to review this video clip...

Since this especially applies to sports games, why not just keep playing last year's game and save yourself $60 + DLC fees? If you don't like the DLC cost, don't buy the DLC or don't buy the game. It's a crappy practice but they'll learn.

It would be different if it was actually DLC. None of this "adds" anything to the game, it's just that you basically can't play the games without shelling out the money. Like most, I'll play previous versions, but it basically makes their new versions crippleware.

mattCR said:

This philosophy has basically killed Plants Vs. Zombies 2, a game I looked forward to but is pretty unplayable unless you are ready to keep forking out a steady stream of cash.

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I was concerned when pvz2 launched freemium. But they seem to have struck a good balance. I'm still playing Egypt, but don't need to buy anything to advance. My wife is working through pirates and hasn't needed to spend money to advance. So far I don't think we're being super patient, fighting instant grat to avoid spending money. To collect all stars and beat very single level, that will take money. But to play it through the main games seems readily done for free. It doesn't seem to be as ruthlessly money grabbing as candy crush or FarmVille

It seems to be a popular idea in gaming these days. I was playing Forza Horizon, and a message came up saying I could "fast travel" to anywhere. I was like cool I'll do that. Then it was stated that I needed five tokens.....that you have to purchase $1 per token. Seriously? That is not something I should have to pay for.

DaveF said:

I was concerned when pvz2 launched freemium. But they seem to have struck a good balance. I'm still playing Egypt, but don't need to buy anything to advance. My wife is working through pirates and hasn't needed to spend money to advance. So far I don't think we're being super patient, fighting instant grat to avoid spending money. To collect all stars and beat very single level, that will take money. But to play it through the main games seems readily done for free.It doesn't seem to be as ruthlessly money grabbing as candy crush or FarmVille

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It is definitely a shock when you first open the game up. But you can essentially acquire every plant and upgrade through the course of playing for free (I read in a review the snow pea is apparently the only one you need to flat out buy). FWIW, I'm just about finished with pirate seas (acquiring the randomly-awarded keys is slow going) and have done everything up to that point for free.

I dislike the idea of purchasing cheats because, frankly, I miss having them in games. Whatever happened to cheat codes?

Morgan Jolley said:

I dislike the idea of purchasing cheats because, frankly, I miss having them in games. Whatever happened to cheat codes?

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I'm of this mindset. Last game I played like this was Rainbow Moon. It's an RPG, so you expect to level build and grind, but the XP payouts were insanely low in order to tempt you into buying XP and Pearl packs to lever up your characters. IT kils the fun.

XP shouldn't be considered add on content. The game should be enjoyable out of the gate.

Of course the problem with older sports games from EA specifically is, they get dumped off the servers. So any cool online content, like playing against the current PGA standing in Tiger Woods, goes bye bye.

Oh, and paying for an "online pass" is complete bullshit to.

Pretty much all online passes have been eradicated now. EA and another company or two said they're giving them away to all gamers now and won't be including them in the future. My guess is that its easier to microtransact more money from gamers over time than charge $10 up front.

I hate micro transactions. It's not just EA that's guilty of micro transactions, they're just the most flagrant offenders. One of the biggest reasons for the increased use of micro transactions is piracy. It's just another way for publishers to make some money out of a title by releasing a game that is potentially only 50-75% complete and making the end user purchase add ons to make the game complete with teams etc.

All this EA hate and not one of you mentions the disaster that is Origin? That's the real EA problem right there.

Morgan Jolley said:

I dislike the idea of purchasing cheats because, frankly, I miss having them in games. Whatever happened to cheat codes?

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I'm on two freemium tablet games, one EA (Monopoly Bingo, don't laugh), and seems like the only purchase options are for those who want their power-up/cheats and want to use them NOW!
Otherwise, you basically play your allotted time/energy/cash/etc. for the day, and wait for your allowance of bonus fill-ups tomorrow. Which, as I recall, was pretty much what my mom enforced with computer games to begin with when I was a kid.

I've only had one game where the required level up had to be purchased to continue, and....they don't seem to be doing that any more. Wonder why.

Mobile gaming (non-3DS/Vita) is awful, in my opinion. The free-to-play design is automatically anti-consumer and pay-to-win is even worse. I think either completely free (perhaps with ads) or paid are the only two good options.Now, if it's something like "base game is free, expansions cost money" (I think Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft do this) then that's fine. But when a game makes you wait a day to "recharge" something OR pay $1 to get it now, then that's just awful design, period.

That's why you buy non-freemium games. Threes! killed a month of my life. Now I'm trying playing Eliss Infinity, an odd multitouch arcade game. Lots of quality games for low cost once you get past the freemium garbage.

The only F2P game that has gotten it right is Hearthstone. Truth.

I also dislike mobile games because they are endless. I mean, I have a soft spot in my heart for Tetris, Tetris Attack, Lumines, and a few others in that ilk. But generally now, I'd rather not start playing something that has no end and is based on the refinement of a skill that is only helpful in said game.
Preferably, a game is done within like 10-15 hours if its on a console, 2-3 if its on a phone, somewhere in between if on a 3DS/Vita.

Threes! (10 minutes. But is a puzzler for ongoing replay)Monument Valley (2 hours)World of Goo (20-40 hrs)Plants vs Zombies (constrained set of levels)The Room (10 hrs)Infinity Blade (can be played as an infinite grinder, but has a distinct path to accomplish)There are a bunch of games that aren't infinite puzzlers or twitchers.