So disappointing to hear that Forza 5 and Crimson Dragon, easily two of my most anticipated Xbox One launch games, are burdened by some pretty egregious free-to-play-esque paywalls that hinder progression. Crimson Dragon has actual dragons, items and stages locked behind in game credits which you could grind for, or pay real money. Forza 5 has cars hidden away behind in game money. According to the Eurogamer review, playing for an hour can net you 100,000 credits. But considering some cars are worth 1 million credits or more, it sounds like a pretty serious grind. But hey you can always pay real money...
I don't have an issue with that being in iPhone games, where the game itself is
free and if you like it enough you can pay money towards it (to an extent, I certainly feel that Candy Crush's later levels are purposefully designed in such a way that you simply can't beat it without purchasing powerups). But I find it rather insulting that not only does this exist in full retail price games (Crimson Dragon is a downloadable game worth $20, Forza 5 being worth $60!) but it has an impact on the design of the game. Knowing full well this was going to be in there means the game designers made a clear decision to cordon off the game and have it be monotonous in such a way that having to pay real money to speed up progression is the better option. It hinders or blocks any sense of progression I can have with the game and removes any sense of accomplishment from playing it. I want to feel like I earned that car through some skillful driving or that I reached this stage in the game because I was continually getting better at the game. That's gone if I have to pay real money to achieve that, just because grinding for 10hrs for one item or stage of many just simply isn't worth my time, playing the same levels over and over again nor do I even have the time now in my life to make that kind of commitment.
It's simple, you either:
- Have those games free and add in the free to play stuff, possibly prompting $20 or more to completely remove those barriers, the F2P transactions and then just make it be a game as you would expect.
- Have those games set at the retail price and don't include that F2P stuff at all.
This issue didn't bother me so much when it first started creeping into EA Sports games I didn't care about but the fact it's now showing up in games I have an interest in and in a series which I really like, does give me cause for concern about how some of these games will be made in the future and what impact that will have.
Rant over.
Topic: The Gaming Postwhoring Thread (Read 1004847 times)