Never thought this pay-to-win horse shit would ever infect Halo. Shameful.
It's not in the arena mode, which is the mode that's actually supposed to be competitive.
Aren't all multiplayer modes inherently competitive?
Yes, in that they're adversarial and not cooperative, sure, but I meant "competitive" as opposed to "casual" a la CS:GO's distinction. Arena is going to be the ranked play-to-win mode, Warzone is more of a "get on with your friends and shoot some dudes with tanks" mode. Which is fine, but I think think's important to distinguish that REQ packs are cosmetic ONLY in Arena, which is "traditional" Halo multiplayer.
Also it's worth pointing out that they mean free map packs, which is worth it to me.
I see what you mean. I still find it to be an excuse more than a reason.
I don't know if micro transactions truly lead to the free map packs though. That's what they say but they probably say that because they're smart and know that people don't like micro transactions and need an excuse. I'd like to point out that Killzone: Shadow Fall had free map packs. They didn't have any micro transactions and they barely had a player base so it's possible to make free things for the fans without packing it will bullshit.
I think free map packs could certainly be in the realm of possibilities even without micro transactions for a series as big as Halo. This is one of the biggest franchises in history and these games are the equivalent to printing money. The funds for free map packs for their fans are almost certainly there from pre-orders alone.
In theory I liked it when they announced that they're offering up all of their DLC map packs for free since they added microtransactions in the game. Now, I think I got a little selfish and I really don't know if I agree anymore. I just don't know if it's really as simple as that. Also when I hear about the cards I feel like it's a bad idea. It's an extra excuse for losing teams for one. And to me, it reinforces that poisonous real world thought process that throwing money at something will solve your problems.
It's hard to explain and always seems to comes off as preachy.
I don't know at what point it will be okay with me honestly. How many free dlc maps would make up for micro transactions? 12? 15? 100? 3? I have no idea. I don't think it's that easy. I just can't quite swallow the talking point that "microtransactions bolster other content" when I still think they're exploiting those that are paying them.
They call their target demographic whales and not in the context of respect for the beautiful and magnificent sea creatures that are worth preserving and saving. They call them whales because this practice is reminiscent of poaching whales. There aren't a lot of whales but, boy oh boy, you sure can get a lot out of the ones you do capture and gut. But it's easy to forget that when you're not the one on the hook. Especially when you're getting shiny new free things.
@spraynardtatum: Well did you see them announce any DLC for this year? Is there a season pass on sale? As much as I don't like Kotaku they don't get that stuff wrong and it very much makes sense listening to what Bungie has been saying in interviews and seeing what is currently announced on the Destiny calendar.
I like Kotaku but they do get that stuff wrong sometimes. And even Kotaku is saying:
"This will likely involve big drops every few months until the fall of 2016 but could also include trickles of smaller stuff throughout the year.
It's not final verbage. "Source: Destiny's DLC Plan is Changing". Who's the source? Do they still work there? Maybe it's Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck or someone who wants to put fire under Bungies feet.
I would find this to be an improvement if what you're extrapolating is actually true. Substantial free content is exactly what this game needs. After a year of seeing what they've done and how well they've done with their bullshit I am skeptical. I don't see anything concrete about this being a replacement for anything. It would be a big act of goodwill and that hasn't been the trajectory of Activision or Bungie throughout Destiny's life cycle.
For anyone not paying attention I'll do the math for you:
If they keep up the scheme of 1 full game, 1 big expansion, one full game, one big expansion, etc. Destiny will cost an average of 50$ a year instead of the 90$ it was before this totally optional F2P costmetic stuff was announced. Yes, Kotaku is reporting those cosmetic items will actually pay for in between big releases DLC.
If the content is there you just got a ~40% price cut for the yearly destiny content. But whatever, the internet hatred machine doesn't stop for ''logic'' or ''rational arguments''. Keep on keeping on internet.
Kotaku is reporting and reality is not the same thing.
Our plan is to use these new items to bolster the service provided by our live team for another full year, as they grow and create more robust and engaging events that we’ll announce later this year. It has been, and continues to be, our goal to deliver updates to the game. Going forward, our live team is also looking to grow beyond vital updates and improvements to focus on world events, experiences, and feature requests.
That is from Bungies website. Where does it explicitly say that they are replacing the current 2 DLC 1 big expansion per full game? It will help "bolster the service" and "create more robust and engaging events" but where does it say that it's doing what you say it is doing? And what the fuck does that stuff mean in the first place? It's as elusive and cryptic as any Destiny marketing ever. They've left a ton of wiggle room in that wording.
What seems pretty scummy in a full-priced game is much more reasonable in something that is free-to-play.
Yep, and given that Destiny is currently running at about double the price of a regular full-priced game for a lot of people, that makes this about doubly as scummy too.
Double the price of a regular full priced game or more than that depending on if you got duped into purchasing their latest expansion "wrong". Sorry, just thought I could help further clarify the scumminess of Activision/Bungie.
I'm not defending it as I feel a bit burned buying the season pass and now the taken king is 40 when I could have not bought the season pass (I bought it late) and it's cheaper overall to just buy the entire game again.
But the game has been out a year and while yes it was/is lacking some things in that time people playing other yearly games (call of duty, forza, and madden) would have already spent another 60$. While I know I'm justifying it to myself with this logic and it won't apply to everyone but I do know many people I work with that have complained and not because they played Destiny but because they read the news and these people buy the same games every year.
At least with Call of Duty and Forza and Madden these customers are truly buying a new game when they spend another $60. Anyway you look at it your not buying Destiny 2 when you pick up Taken King at its most valuable price. You're buying content you've already bought. That's insane.
The business model rivals the depravity of deskjet printers and ink cartridges, where it's usually cheaper to just buy a new printer when your ink runs out. It's fucked up there and it's fucked up here.
I agree it's not a whole new game but in the examples I gave you are doing the same action over and over again with little stuff actually new to the game and in some cases it's worse (madden, hockey, and basketball games)
The entire game is more assuming you bought the season pass and I expect anyone already playing that buys The Taken King bought the season pass but it was DLC for the game and the other games I mentioned also have DLC you can throw money at that don't make their way to the next game. I know it's not really a 1 to 1 comparison but that is mainly because I see less gain year to year for the games I mentioned and it's 60$ every year and assuming Bungie sticks to a yearly expansion pack I think I would get more out of that than I would on other games. Though all that goes out the window if they do more DLC between the big high dollar expansions and all of them are as lacking as the first two.
I highly disagree. Especially with COD and Forza. You're getting so much more with those titles for your $60. The DLC for those games also doesn't lock people out of what they paid for if they don't buy it.
As for sports games, yeah, maybe Destiny is a lot like sports games. Which are sterling examples of horribly exploitative business models in their own right. But until sports games start throwing multiple sports in one title there really isn't much they can do to change that. Football (soccer) is still football (soccer). Baseball is still baseball. Basketball is still basketball. There is an understanding for the lack of content for those games. With Destiny they could literally put anything in the entire galaxy in the game.
Plus, if you're assuming that people who buy the Taken King bought the season pass than it is $10 more than the price of a new game after the first year. You're only buying 2 DLC's and an expansion (half of a game) for the price of a full game if you didn't buy anything until they all released. And there's a lot of evidence that next years expansion is going to be a full new retail release anyways.
It's bad business. It's obviously really really profitable business. But it's shitty and shameful. It's the defining game that can summarize the things that need to change within the gaming industry.
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