EA going P2W

[goh]

You can expect to see more microtransactions like those found in Dead Space 3. According to Electronic Arts CFO Blake Jorgensen, the company has decided to build some aspect of small convenience payments into all of its games going forward.

Presenting at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, Jorgensen talked about digital sales of games and content. "The next and much bigger piece is microtransactions within games," he said. "We're building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way, either to get to a higher level, to buy a new character, to buy a truck, a gun, whatever it might be, and consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of the business."

Jorgensen did note, though, that the success of the microtransaction model is very much based on the game itself.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/78003/ea-including-microtransactions-in-all-games

[pietasterp]

Re: EA going P2W

Sign of the times, I guess...it will eventually be the model for all games unless/until it fails.

[LambertandHam]

Re: EA going P2W

My big gripe is if you start selling things unobtainable in game normally, or start shorting things(say credits in ME3's multiplayer), so you have to buy things to stay competitive. Otherwise you end up getting gunned down in Battlefield 3 by a level one who has better guns than you, because he bought the "time saver" pack.

I'm reminded of this Penny Arcade comic.

[mrclutch]

Re: EA going P2W

Ugh. What a shame.At this rate Madden will only let you start a Franchise with the Browns for free and you will have to "pay" to use teams like the Patriots. It is what it is I guess.

[TracerBullet]

Re: EA going P2W

Ugh. What a shame.At this rate Madden will only let you start a Franchise with the Browns for free and you will have to "pay" to use teams like the Patriots. It is what it is I guess.

They aren't stupid enough to do this.

It's just going to be pretty much what LambertandHam just stated. Crap for lazy people.

[Knight165]

Re: EA going P2W

They aren't stupid enough to do this.

It's just going to be pretty much what LambertandHam just stated. Crap for lazy people.

That's what everyone says when a new fee is introduced for something that used to be free....until the "furor" fades and it becomes the norm.

-Tolls on bridges were only going to be for a few years....
-Nobody will pay for extra T.V. when they can watch for free
-and so on and so on.
There are tons.

Welcome to the new/old world.

M.K.
Knight165

[Hooe]

Re: EA going P2W

Microtransactions are here to stay, yes, but they can't be made in such a way that a pay wall separates a gamer from the appeal of the game.

Take the Madden example. The baseline appeal of Madden is playing as your favorite NFL team and competing for virtual championships. If EA put a pay wall between NFL fans and their favorite teams beyond the $60 cost of entry, the entire product fails because consumers revolt at such nickel-and-diming. The core appeal of the game can't be blocked by a microtransaction, otherwise you stop some portion of your customer base at the pay wall and lose customers.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the various pay cheats that were in Madden NFL 10 - progression bonuses, unretire a player, etc. - get introduced into future Madden games, however, despite Josh Looman's insistence that there'd be no pay cheats in CCM. The mode is simply ripe for their addition. If the mode comes to require pay cheats, however, I'm done with it.

Even the most successful microtransaction-based games allow complete gameplay without having to pay. Zynga games are the foremost example; it's possible to play FarmVille and Zynga Poker (their two most popular titles) and engage in the entirety of each game's features without paying any money. However, a player who does pay money has more options, or can play for a longer duration of time. That's the furthest I think we'll see it go; it wouldn't surprise me to see alternate versions of complete games which are downloaded for free but then become pay-to-play, a la an arcade machine. Example, a free version of Madden which excludes complex modes such as CCM which requires $1 to play a game with some sort of factory-default configuration.

[Sandman42]

Re: EA going P2W

I'm more worried about their newfound trend of paid DLC that should have been in the game in the first place. See Javvik and the Leviathan DLC in Mass Effect 3 and the upcoming Dead Space 3 DLC that supposedly tries to fix/explain the ****ty end to that game.

The pay to win stuff I'm fine with. If people don't have the time and want to shell out $40 to unlock stuff in Battlefield or buy cards for Ultimate Team then that's fine with me.

[Knight165]

Re: EA going P2W

They have it right now....in my favorite game....

Don't want to actually play and progress through RTTS?....buy points and build up your player up right away.

The gaming industry a fertile industry for $$ in micro-transactions.

99 cents here and there adds up to big bucks.

M.K.
Knight165

[LambertandHam]

Re: EA going P2W

I'm more worried about their newfound trend of paid DLC that should have been in the game in the first place. See Javvik and the Leviathan DLC in Mass Effect 3 and the upcoming Dead Space 3 DLC that supposedly tries to fix/explain the ****ty end to that game.

The pay to win stuff I'm fine with. If people don't have the time and want to shell out $40 to unlock stuff in Battlefield or buy cards for Ultimate Team then that's fine with me.

I'm with you on the DLC bit(especially the Dragon Age: Origins way of leading you into DLC). In fact, unless I really want a game, I simply wait for the GOTY version. Season Passes seem to be here to stay as well.

[TracerBullet]

I'm more worried about their newfound trend of paid DLC that should have been in the game in the first place. See Javvik and the Leviathan DLC in Mass Effect 3 and the upcoming Dead Space 3 DLC that supposedly tries to fix/explain the ****ty end to that game.

The pay to win stuff I'm fine with. If people don't have the time and want to shell out $40 to unlock stuff in Battlefield or buy cards for Ultimate Team then that's fine with me.

I think that's as bad as it will get, the Javvik thing . Which still sucks pretty bad, but it won't ever be to where basic offline features won't work like franchise in sports games. Only F2P games would dare think of that in my opinion.

[pietasterp]

Re: EA going P2W

I don't know, I would never say "they won't do 'x'" or "they would never do 'y'"...They will do everything possible and push the envelope as far as possible, until they see the point of diminishing returns (revenue), and then dial it back just a bit from there and that becomes the new baseline. Then, after people are used to that new baseline, they'll start pushing the envelope again....

I get it: it's a business. I believe in markets. They should do whatever their numbers tell them they can to make money. I just don't have to like it.

[Cusefan]

Re: EA going P2W

They have it right now....in my favorite game....

Don't want to actually play and progress through RTTS?....buy points and build up your player up right away.

The gaming industry a fertile industry for $$ in micro-transactions.

99 cents here and there adds up to big bucks.

M.K.
Knight165

for me, Time is money. I work 55+ hours a week so I just do not have time to be patient and grind out a great player in RTTS or NBA 2k, I spend $5 extra and my player wont suck. fair trade in my book.

[Knight165]

Re: EA going P2W

for me, Time is money. I work 55+ hours a week so I just do not have time to be patient and grind out a great player in RTTS or NBA 2k, I spend $5 extra and my player wont suck. fair trade in my book.

I'm not against it...unless it starts becoming the ONLY way to get certain things.

...and in multiplayer.....it's not right IMO....to be able to make such an unbalanced advantage just because of extra $$$

M.K.
Knight165

[ItsOrangeBaby]

Re: EA going P2W

I'm with you on the DLC bit(especially the Dragon Age: Origins way of leading you into DLC). In fact, unless I really want a game, I simply wait for the GOTY version. Season Passes seem to be here to stay as well.

I still think season pass should be limited to multiplayer content only, since you really have no idea what you get from a single player season pass.