The consequences of 2.1 for BioWare/EA: my predictions

[Master-Nala]

While your predictions may indeed turn out to be correct in the short term, I think things will be very different in the long term. People don't forget things like this and will continue to take part in it only in the absence of something else. The way EA are treating us here, engenders no loyalty whatsoever. That makes their entire player base, both subs and F2P, very likely to up and leave at the first sign of something shiny somewhere else.

 

I've read nearly the same post, using nearly the exact same words in reference to:

 

SOE (EQ2, EQOA, EQ, DCUO)

Cryptic (CoH/V, Champions, STO)

and others...

 

Realistically, this will blow over. I'm more depressed about that than most. I think 2.1 is terrible for the players, but I think it's pure distilled genius from the standpoint of making EA money.

[AlrikFassbauer]

Kickstarter.. where good ideas go to die and players get fleeced of real dollars on the promise of special perks in an MMO that will never see the light of day.

 

it would be nice if it was not true.. but when you see people like Mark Jacobs using Kickstarter to launch DAoC2 you begin to doubt the model.

 

/2-cents

 

Why do they die ? Isn't is so that the majority of players never really liked "good ideas" ?

 

Realistically, this will blow over. I'm more depressed about that than most. I think 2.1 is terrible for the players, but I think it's pure distilled genius from the standpoint of making EA money.

 

I agree to that. It's almost "the Kotick way".

 

And that's the point where a "game" ceases to be an "game" anymore ... It becomes a "milking machine" instead.

Edited May 17, 2013 by AlrikFassbauer

[Turshek]

Both ME2 and ME3 delivered vastly improved gameplay and 30+ hours of content straight out of the box. ME3 fraked up in the last 15 minutes, but should that make the remaining 29+ hours bad?

As for DA2, I actually like the story and gameplay much more than in DAO. I did not like the recycled locations and cheap looking textures, but the story felt much more personal. However, for DA3, BW seems to be listening very closely to what fans want.

TOR also brought many hours of excellent fun. I never felt the need to buy more Cartel Coins (I only bought extra coins two times), I have cool looking gear assembled from pieces available for missions and non-CM reputation, I feel no need to play as a cat, and I am usually very careful about my character creation so i do not need to change the face every week

 

As for lies, Cathar were announced to be CM-exclusive long time ago. And I have yet to see a content (but I guess that comes down to what each person considers a content, I imagine it as something I can play, not how I look) that I have to pay Cartel Coins for. Paying for expansion packs seems normal to me, you always paid for expansion packs. And yes, RotHC is an expansion (10+ hours of playable content classifies as expansion pack, IMO)

 

I'm not saying all BW games since ME2 are garbage, that I didn't have fun sometimes or couldn't have fun with the ones I didn't play. I'm saying I think they have made mistakes in all thoses games and that thoses mistakes are big enough so I prefer to spend my money elsewhere.

 

It's just my feelings about what I was expecting for thoses games and what we got, if you are happy with what they do, good for you, I'm not anymore.

 

I could write long rants about all the things that imo are wrong in ME2, DA2 and TOR but after a while, what's the point ? Relationship between a company and its customers is based on trust, I don't trust them anymore to give me a product of good enough quality for the money I would pay.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Turshek

[Lung_Tien_Lien]

This is true. I accept their mercenary attitude at face-value with a genuine grin at their brazen honesty. But I also don't feel like a beloved player: I am simply a customer, and truly nothing more. That's fair, I can accept that.

 

However, it doesn't engender a sense of loyalty. You are absolutely correct: the second a new MMO that's more appealing to me than SWTOR appears, I'll simply dump this and move on because I have no sense of loyalty built up. I'm being milked hard. I'm OK with that, but if someone offers a better deal, I'll be gone without a thought.

 

"Sorry, it's just business" cuts both ways.

 

~~~

 

OK, great. But now, here's the problem: for all that heart-wrenching emotional outpour about how gaming makes me "feel", does it actually matter? Do companies really make that much more money off "loyal" customers who "love" them? Or do they watch those exact same customers go: "Sorry, found something more appealing" and drop them like a rock — even if they lavish their players with love and generosity?

 

I'm guessing the ultimate answer is: "Yes". People are too fickle. So BioWare / EA is probably doing the smart thing: accept human nature at face value, and get the jump on players, outmanoeuvering them for as much as possible before they naturally get bored and move on either way.

 

~~~

 

TL;DR: BioWare gains much more from raiding wallets than trying to inspire "friendship" or "loyalty" in a gaming community that generally only appreciates or enforces these concepts as a one-way street.

 

I think you nailed it with this and the OP. I really have nothing more to add, you also pretty much described my own attitude. I like this game, but if I find a new game that looks promising, I'm gone. It's also true that whether or not I leave won't matter at all, but I never had that particular illusion in the first place.

[Themanthatisi]

Kickstarter.. where good ideas go to die and players get fleeced of real dollars on the promise of special perks in an MMO.

 

Yeah, sounds like a game I am playing now, called TOR.

 

 

Gosh. An anti-independent post from Capt. Corporate. What a shock.

 

LMAO! You go girl!

Edited May 17, 2013 by Themanthatisi

[AlrikFassbauer]

Since EA is so much shareholderevenue-focused, it will focus on high-risk, high-revenue games and on sequels & prequels which still give a fair revenue.

 

What they won't be making at all for the PC platform, that is low- to medium-risc medium-revenue games. Because that would be boring.

 

And anything non-"action"- Because that's boring, too.

 

And boring is uncool.

 

And thus cannot be sold.

[Covaltage]

However, for DA3, BW seems to be listening very closely to what fans want.

 

What makes you think that? They claimed they were "listening to the fans" when they made DA2, and that game was more linear than Crash Bandicoot.

[Arlon_Nabarlly]

There's always tons of anger on the forums right after a patch for the first few days to a week. It's already starting to die down just like it does everytime. It's the internet, every minor issue is defcon one and everyone knee jerk reacts.