Penny Arcade

People seem to like Warframe's model, but has anyone added up what you'd have to pay for Platinum to buy all the content, even if you still had to grind in-game to build it all? I'm sure it's less than the hundreds of thousands of dollars for Diablo Immortal's legendary gems, but that's not the yardstick I'd prefer to measure monetization by.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 27th 2022 at 11:28:27 AM

I don't mind the occasional fun reskin, and I've bought a few for various AC games, but yeah, rampant DLC microtransactions are a real drag.

Yeah, you really shouldn't have to take out a mortgage or two to buy the stuff in a videogame.

Do you want me to give an in-depth explanation of how Platinum, the player market, and playing free works in Warframe? Because I can, but it's probably off-topic.

The short version is that Warframe's market is more complicated than just "how much would it cost to just buy everything outright." Even if you ignore the cosmetic stuff.

I'm not really that interested in the details, just noting that, from my experience with my son asking me to buy him content, there's plenty of opportunity (and encouragement) to lighten your wallet in Warframe. Just because it's not as bad as other games doesn't mean I'm in favor of it.

Brain Worms

Oh no, Gabe is now writing WH40K fics. He may be lost to us.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 28th 2022 at 7:10:29 AM

That's less a Warframe problem and more a general "free-to-play" model problem.

Exactly. You've got it. Gold star!

Buying literally everything in Warframe probably wouldn't require you to take out a mortgage on your house and hold a yardsale and get a second job...but that's a super low bar.

And it's telling that Diablo Immortal fails to clear that bar.

Dragging this back on topic: That's not too bad for fanfic. I've seen some fanfic that has forced me to hit my knees and thank God for copyright laws.

Esbie Ememm

Is this more streamer drama that I'm out of the loop on?

Edit: Oh, I see. SBMM is "skill-based matchmaking", the practice of using a player's statistics to match them with similarly skilled players to make games more competitive and to prevent high-skill players from driving poorer players out of the game through frustration.

I don't find myself being terribly sympathetic to the complaint that good players "just want to dominate noobs". As a fairly noobish PvP'er myself, this is part of what keeps me from wanting to engage in such games.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 31st 2022 at 8:03:16 AM

The comic isn't sympathetic to them either. Heck the comparison made to a male lion is very on point. Since a big part of being a male lion is fighting other male lions for dominance.

It's the only thing they're good for, really.

Ironically, male lions are basically there to look impressive while the females do all the work of hunting and raising cubs.

Well, they can hunt on their own if they really have to (solitary lions are a thing), but in prides they usually save their energy for fighting other lions.

The analogy to "pro gamers" is pretty apt there, to the point of actual irony. They strut around fighting each other for symbolic victories while everybody else does useful work.

The male lions' main purpose such as it is revolves around mating and fighting off rivals for mating. Which means they do have to stay in shape so they can fight off other male lions.

They can participate in a hunt, but they're mostly stuck patrolling their turf killing off hyenas and dealing with male lions looking to challenge them.

A male lion that is too chickenshit to fight other male lions isn't going to be passing on their genes to the next generation.

Edited by M84 on Oct 31st 2022 at 8:10:15 PM

The streamer's complaints makes some sense from a business perspective. They make their money by looking like good players on stream. Being matched only with players around the same skill level will make them look middling, which means there'll be fewer viewers and so less money.

So yeah, it definitely makes sense to just not stream that particular game. It's just kind of funny that he revealed that his entire business model revolves around pubstomping.

IOW, someone needs to tell him "GIT GUD NOOB".

Speaking of "git gud", Deathsnacks.

Is this true? Does Modern Warfare 2 really let you listen to each player's hot mic as they die? If so, wow. I could see that being a meal of schadenfreude for weeks.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 2nd 2022 at 8:02:54 AM

A Malevolent Banquet

Listening to Warhammer 40K audiobooks at the dinner table is rude, Gabe.

He could at least use headphones. Still rude but at least no one else has to listen.

at least he's not trying to paint his models at the table

A Hem's Worth

At least Gabe and Tycho can find agreement in their mutual horror over The Witcher replacing its star.

Hérissons Sans Frontières

According to Gabe, most Sonic games have aimed for a passing grade. This one shoots for the stars!

I love the title, translated: "Hedgehogs Without Borders".

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 9th 2022 at 9:24:58 AM

The Looker

In which Gabe steals a meme to prove a point.