Jim Sterling (The Jimquisition)

At least the pokemon anime won't get sued, because Brock uses frying pans...as drying pans!

Jim thinks lootboxes are gone (for now).

To put it simply: "A battle has been won, but not the war."

There are still games that will stick to the loot box model, under the pretext of "it's just cosmetic." Besides Activision-Blizzard's online games (Destiny 2, Call of Duty: WWII, Overwatch) and Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) switching to cosmetic-only loot box drops, there's also the "free-to-play" games and mobile games—the latter two sometimes including items that affect gameplay.

What's important is that gamers remain knowledgeable and vigilant so that opportunistic game publishers won't prey on consumers again with their sleazy methods.

And yes, it's always the player's choice to demand a good and enjoyable game that doesn't resort to predatory monetization practices being thrown at the player every minute or so.

edited 9th Apr '18 10:33:02 PM by IncognitoNinja

I've always thought it was incredibly shitty for a $60 game to engage in predatory monetization schemes like microtransactions and loot boxes. Which is probably one reason I haven't bought a AAA game in years, aside from Divinity: Original Sin 2.

This is why I'm glad Nintendo isn't really doing this. The last ~$60 game I bought was Kirby Star Allies, and that sure didn't have loot boxes that had to be purchased with real money.

Heck, the only Nintendo game I've played with microtransactions (not counting Nintendo Badge Arcade) was '"Bravely Default'', which sold drinks that replenished your SP (which you needed to use the Super Mode). However, SP regenerated on its own (albeit at a somewhat slow rate), and with proper strategies, you didn't need to use that Super Mode even against the toughest bosses the game had to offer.

And Bravely Default, being a 3DS game, wasn't a full AAA $60 either.

$60 AAA games using microtransactions. The worst elements of both AAA games and Free-to-play games combined. It's like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, except instead of getting peanut butter in chocolate and vice versa, it's getting shit in...um, shit.

edited 9th Apr '18 11:51:31 PM by M84

I want the gaming industry to collapse and burn in a blazing inferno.

I don't,an industry collapsing means lots of people losing their jobs,and the economy take a hit too

No thanks

I'm half joking. I am incredibly disillusioned with the video game industry, and the culture that surrounds it.

edited 10th Apr '18 5:40:22 AM by Kakuzan

There’s a reason I didn’t get Injustice 2 until the complete edition came out.

Still, the backlash is finally becoming tangible with dollars and threats of legislation. People are taking notice.

I want the AAA gaming industry to get their shit together since otherwise the government will need to step in. And that won't be good for anyone since the people who write policy don't really get videogames. Though it seems that according to Jim, the industry heads also don't get videogames.

I also want indie developers to get their shit together too for the same reasons. And yes, a lot of them are also shitty.

But most of all? I want gamers to get their shit together and grow the fuck up. Be more understanding. Don't be so damn gullible and vulnerable to hype. Don't get so damn angry over every little thing. Do get angry over actual problems like monetization schemes and loot boxes.

edited 10th Apr '18 6:19:01 AM by M84

I remember reading once that many of a CEO of publishers come from the service industry like fast food and retails. Naturally, they aren't going to get video games.

Not necessarily. There are plenty of transferrable skills when you get to upper management of big companies.

However it makes a lot of sense that they are pushing the whole ‘games as a service’ business model due to that.

You don't have to get video games as a publisher, you need to get how publishing and PR works. That aside, the shitty working conditions in many parts of the game industry don't help either. It's why many programmers would tell you to just go to IT rather than become a wage slave to have your name on the credits.

That is not the case, the publisher will decide the pricing model and a lot of other things about the game. Devs have even gone on record saying that it wasn’t their choice adding micro transactions and other things to their games.

A Dev is paid a flat fee to produce a specific game according to the way the publisher lays out and they have full control on much of it. There have been cases where a dev will pay that money back and split from the publisher over creative differences then seek out another or self publish the game.

It’s why a lot of these self published games like Divinity Original Sin 2 and Warframe have completely fair pricing models, sin 2 has no micro transactions at all and Warframe is FTP but so fair with its transactions that at times it’s kinda weird.

If you read a lot of Blizzard’s Blogs and interviews they will talk about fighting marketing guys on not adding pay to win mechanics in Overwatch.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:20:39 AM by Memers

That is part of my ill-worded point. So I'll apologize for that. There is a lack of homogeny in terms of how both teams think, the designers are thinking of one thing, then the producer says something else entirely. Coupled with the mentioned crappy conditions, it is no surprise many of the industry questioned if it was even worth it. Of course, a good publisher-developer relationship should find a mutual ground and work from there.

Not that self-publishing is a safety net. You must have a really damn good planning to get by in addition to the PR. Original Sin 2 already had a budget before Kickstarter, and it served as an additional step to polish everything around.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:32:23 AM by UltraWanker

Original Sin 2 had a budget cause Original Sin 1 was so successful.

In general Kickstarter is the way to go for self published games but not cause of the money from backers but from gauging interest, if they get the interest they can get the bulk of their money from soliciting other companies but keep creative control. Of course that is assuming they get responses from those solicitations, not get buried in stupid stretch goals or worse.

Oh yeah Hellblade Senuas Sacrifice is another self published game.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:37:03 AM by Memers

Which is one reason Jim for one is annoyed by Inafune and his abuse of Kickstarter. A few very publicized fuck ups can ruin things for everyone.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:36:03 AM by M84

Like the Mega Man thing that came out a while ago.

By that you mean Mighty No.9 right? That's what I was referring to. Well, that and Red Ash <snerk>.

At least Mighty No 9 came out, even though it wasn't what was promised, there have been much MUCH worse Vaporware. not Jim but a video on it.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:43:43 AM by Memers

The hype, which Inafune encouraged, made it worse. And of course there was his soliciting of other publishers AFTER reaching the Kickstarter goal, which kind of goes against the spirit of Kickstarter. There was also the sheer gall of starting more Kickstarters for Red Ash before Mighty No. 9 was complete. And that infamous Deep Silver trailer. Oh, and the rewards were messed up too — even the manuals for the boxes.

It's perfectly understandable that even if the bare minimum of actually making a playable game was achieved, people would feel betrayed and wary of Kickstarter projects in the future.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:46:23 AM by M84

Reminds me of Unsung Story. Now that's a colossal mess that practically buried itself as far as the public is concerned.

edited 10th Apr '18 7:46:20 AM by UltraWanker

Youtuber Yong Yea claimed it's an even worse Kickstarter clusterfuck than Mighty No. 9.