Playstation plus rant

I've had it.

The Playstation Plus IGC has been mostly garbage all year long, and this month's lineup basically has a demo as one of the PS4 games (Part 1 of 6? Really?).

It seems every single game uses P2P for online anyway, so that doesn't even justify the cost.

What am I missing? Is the service anything other than a moneygrab at this point?

They did it because they could. I feel like Xbox Live started charging money because they could use that money to keep their online infrastructure solid. PSN still lags far behind Xbox Live I feel. In everything from download speeds to general stability. Its a shame, but you don't really have much of a choice if you want to play online.

I don't like to complain, but yeah it's really been very bad this year, and this month is real garbage, though I will be playing SSX a little bit again..

I cancelled my auto-renewal last night. The majority of the PS+ games have been rubbish and Decembers games were the last straw. I've almost never used my PS4 to play online, so it's kind of just a money sink.

Well, firstly, Kings Quest is AWESOME. It's amazing. And while it says 1/6, it's not really. It's fully stand alone adventure that lasts about 5 hours. It has a beginning, an emotional middle and a defined end. It's bigger, longer and more in depth than Kings Quest 1 by a measure of like 10. So, don't knock it until you have tried it.

Secondly, Playstation Plus on PS4 was NOT going to be Playstation Plus on PS3 for several years into the life of the console. Anybody who thought differently is just kind of on the wrong page. What, you thought they were going to give away brand new AAA games for the price of the subscription? No. Just... no.

In a year or so it will get better and in a few years it will be back to the way it was on PS3. Giving out old games and downloadable games.

I cancelled my PSN subscription as soon as I got a PS4 and finished my time with Resogun. I knew it would be time to re-up in 2 or 3 years. I recommend the same to you.

@bananasfoster: People totally forget that the PS3 was full of indie and downloadable games at the start of the launch of PS+ there too. They only remember that great period well after the service was established and they could give away AA and AAA games monthly.

Or they never had PS+ at the very start and only ever heard great things about it.

Yeah, I bought my PS3 late in the life of the console because I owned a 360. I was blown away with all the "free" stuff, but it was all old stuff I simply hadn't been around to play. It was obvious the PS4 wasn't going to do that.

Plus, to me, the whole appeal of PS+ is getting/being forced to play games I wouldn't ordinarily buy. I know that king's Quest isn't going to be for everyone, but I'm thrilled to death at the number of people who are going to love it who would never interact with it otherwise. It really is THAT good.

I usually defend PS+'s IGC, but this month's offering STINKS. They all can't be winners, but we're at the point that we should be seeing retail games on PS+.

I'm still going to be paying for it either way because of Rocket League though.

@bananasfoster: Ssshhh. Go away with your reason and logic. Also Rocket League.

After Bloodborne I cancelled my PS+ sub. Mine had been running since it's humble beginnings but I just can't justify the price for myself anymore as 99% of my gaming time is spent with PC. I also hated how they kept calling the games you can download every month "free" since they're pay-to-play.

What?

They are rentals.

I think the only reason King's Quest looks like such a bad deal upfront is because their main competitor (Telltale) makes their first episodes free after (maybe) a year (also they just gave away a full season of Walking Dead this month, so it looks like an even worse deal in comparison), on top of the part where King's Quest's season pass is episodes 2-5 so giving away the first episode completely comes across as a demo/ad for the full game. Saying all that, the first episode is a decent chunk of game with really high production values, and just some good old fashioned heart.

I haven't re-upped in a long time though (they increased the price of the 3-month subscription which was the most convenient one for me), and I'll be skipping this month again too because 1 out of 6 games just doesn't work for me.

I was gonna buy a bunch of 3 month PS plus cards from Walmart (they're 10 bucks for Black Friday) but I'm not so sure any more. I don't play online games enough to justify it on that front, and the games lineup really has been very poor.

Just came here to say I'm happy with December's offerings. Games that I would not have bought and played if not for this service.

I actually like this month's lineup after the deluge of puzzle platformers and the like started to wear me down, but yeah, King's Quest is a bit suspect.

It's still a good service if, like me, you're mostly in it for the multiplayer/sales and like indie games, but I do miss the lineups of years past.

I'm not really sure why I keep subscribing when I don't play any multiplayer games online... on the bright side, I'm really enjoying my time with Ether One right now.

I kinda hate the obsession over "Value" and AAA games for this. id rather a game id never play without it then something I probably would buy myself. a good mix is...good though.

I totally agree on the kings quest thing. a single episode is kinda bullshit.

I think the major factor that is usually overlooked in these threads is that apart from the subjective game offering, the service itself has not gotten any better. As it was said at the very beginning of this thread, the speeds and reliability have not gotten much better since they started charging money for PS+ and since the PS4 library is only now starting to slowly build up the games offered for that platform are usually smaller indie grabs.

So yah, they charged because they could, and as far as I can tell they haven't really justified that decision with a better end product.

I havent had many speed problems in the last few months. nothing like I used to get. download speeds have been going well.

@bradbrains: The last time I bought a full retail game on PSN, which was about two months ago, it was a terrible experience. Maybe it has gotten better, but it took me literally an entire day to download the whole thing and by the time I was ready to go I just went to sleep.

Also it's a real bummer that each time PS+ games are announced I always think the PS3 offering is way more interesting, but thats to be expected I guess since that console has been around for a while. I mean I don't know what the solution here is: I realize the PS4 is still relatively young and they can't just give away Arkham Knight for free. They don't have a huge back catalog to dip into either, which is why they've been service up a lot of Steam indie titles that made the jump over to consoles. So what can they do better? I dunno man, I'm a sucker so I'll continue buying a yearly and then not ever really making use it since I don't play online that often.

@humanity: yea that used to happen to me basically every time but its been pretty damn uncommon lately. most 40-50 gig games take only a few hours.

For me PSN is slower than the Nintendo service and thats just crazy. Live and Steam work super fast but PSN is the slowest thing ever. This is why I have decided that I don't care about PSN Plus. no games for me plus paying for slow online is just waste of my money. I would hope it will get better but I doubt it. Unless Sony again loses our credit card data and has to apologize for it.

If the people that complain get satisfied by getting fucking KNACK, then this is all fucked.

I just think it's weird they haven't really managed to get more of those "HD" re-releases/cross-gen games on offer. Like, I remember they put the PS4 version of Injustice up almost a year ago, but have they had anything other than that? It seems like such an obvious way to add perceived value to all the people demanding AAA's, without undercutting any big releases/exclusives.

I saw someone on the Playstation blog asking for Knack, and basically saying "I don't even want it because I know it sucks, but I don't want to buy it so I'm waiting for it to show up on PS+"

If anyone can make sense of that logic, please explain it to us humans.

Yes, kind of like a rental service, cept you're not as much in control since Sony is the one picking the games they let you rent. :3

A forum mod here @ giantbomb once called the "free PS+" games "complimentary" which also works.

I don't know why the narrative always shifts to Knack. Like we're all clamoring to get that game to justify our triple A appetites. People won't be happy when they put Knack on there, because Knack isn't a good game so why would they be? People want stuff like, Trials Fusion, AC black Flag, Need for Speed Rivals, Tomb Raider Definitive Edition - (what a perfect time to release it on PS Plus when your competition has the exclusive to the sequel, and it was released in January of 2014). You know, like 2 year old games that aren't half bad and aren't some phone port or an 8bit inspired procedurally generated dungeon crawler.

I'm fine with freedom wars. But if you don't care about online stuff you don't need it just for the games. They offer a lot for your money though regardless. Maybe only having a ps4 and not liking online stuff is a good reason not to get plus for now.

I think people are just wanting some fucking launch games after two years..

I guess? I mean, we do all realize that 1 episode of King's Quest is all that exists, right? The Walking Dead is like 3,4,5 years old? Sierra might be doing the same thing when they are at Telltale's point.

Personally, I only played 2 episodes of The Walking Dead because, yep, that's all they were offering for free on PS+ at the time. If you wanted the rest you had to buy them. So it was as much a demo as what Sierra is doing.

I thin that the known quantity with those adventure games is that they go down in price dramatically if you wait for the full season, or if you wait for years afterward.

You have to consider that Sony gave away stellar titles when it began pushing PlayStation Plus. Looking at the North American list, Far Cry 2, Infamous 2, Borderlands, Resident Evil 5, Vanquish, Demon's Souls, Sleeping Dogs, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Battlefield 3, and more were all free at some point. At this stage, Sony is fairly limited by 1) what becomes/remains available as a digital title, and 2) what they have not offered already.

It would be great if new subscribers got access to all previous games, too, but I am happy with the extra discounts afforded to PS+ members during sales.

I just want Killzone: Shadow Fall. As others have said, I'm not expecting anything great until 2017. PS+ wasn't much until around the time Street Fighter IV got put up, and then it was amazing for a long time, and then I got a PS4 and the discounts have been pretty good.

Your mileage may vary.

I mainly care about the PS4 games. I don't play my PS3 anymore, and rarely play my Vita. I'll probably play that Rocketbirds game some, though. The Gauntlet game seems fine, and should be fun to play with my cousin. I've wanted King's Quest ever since I saw the quick look, but never got around to getting it, so this month seems fine to me.

I have Gamefly, though, so I actually prefer getting digital only games instead of games I have already rented from Gamefly.

This free game stuff has never been that appealing to me. If I want a game, I'm going to buy it. I'm not just going to wait and hope it's turns up as a free game as part of these services. I pay for PS+ and Gold because I want to play online. Does that need to have it's own cost? No idea. I'm not an engineer. But I'm stuck with doing it for the time being.

It's a bad service. Sadly i'll have to renew for Dark Souls III

@grantheaslip: I dont know how serious some people are here but a lot of it is a joke absed on the sony blog where tons of comemnts saying they should add knack becasue its a triple A and a sony published title so their is no excuse.

I'd actually try Knack if they ever do add it; unlike most of the games they put on PS+...

@vod_crack: what makes you want to try knack, a game that was universally disliked rather than another platformer added to playstation plus. many of which have been very well received?

not a snide question. more curious

Is $50 dollars a year really that big an expense for people considering what you get? Yet people are okay paying $60 for a single new game. Even if you only like half the stuff they put out on PS Plus it's still a good value per gaming dollar. I pay only $35 dollars a year by watching deals online so it's an even better value.

I dunno, less than $5 for 6 games(regardless of quality) seems like a pretty good deal to me. If you get one game that you like every 3 months you're breaking even. Most of the good AAA games that hit plus on the PS3 I owned already so I appreciate all the smaller games that I may never have tried otherwise. Hell, I've probably saved more off the PS+ discounts than I've paid for the subscription, anyway.

12 month subs can easily be found between $30 and $40 (especially during BF). If there are four games I play in a year from PS+, it's made back the investment for me.

Add in the occasional online MP and the extra discounts, and it's a really solid deal if you play a lot of games on Sony consoles.

With PS+ and XBL it's the same fee for online that XBL always was. But nowadays you get some games to go with it. From that point of view it will never seem like a bad deal to me, it's much better than these services were back in the day. If you don't do any online play though I can easily see it not being worth it for you.

Also I enjoy what they've been offering for the most part. I already played Gauntlet on PC so maybe I won't put much time into it here. This year Rocket League alone has subsidized PS+ to cents per hour of game for me anyway.

@jesus_phish: yea mine is slow today. holiday means slower internet because servers are being hammered. not saying thats definitely whats happening but I wouldn't be surprised.

I love the IGC, sure some of the games could be "better" but I don't think I've seen a month yet where I'd say it's been a total bust for at least one of my Sony systems (3/4 & V) and I've been doing this since Quore.

I'll be honest...I think the people complaining about the lineup are babies. Reminds me of PS+ posts, "WHY ISN'T THE NEW COD ONE OF THE GAMES!?"

PS+ is not a bad service. I just feel the people complaining are entitled.

Yah but when you say "PS+ is not a bad service" do you actually mean that the entirety of the service is not bad, or just the selection of free games each month. Because PS+ as a service overall, multiplayer, downloads, etc, is not bad, but it's far from great or dare I say even good. It's essentially the same service you were getting on the PS3, except now they forced your hand and gave you nothing in return.

The PS3 offering this month is great. The PS4 seems decent but certainly not the most exciting. I think this year has been pretty good overall, although people's tastes will always vary. I always see people suggesting that they should include the launch titles - while I understand that logic, and they'll probably do it eventually, I don't think I'd choose to include any of those games. This year (counting only the PS4 games that I personally think were at least decent) we've had: Infamous FL, The Swapper, Apotheon, Transistor, Rogue Legacy, Oddworld NnT, Valiant Hearts, Guacamelee, Hohokum, Race the Sun, Unfinished Swan, Ground Zeroes, Skulls of the Shogun, Rocket League, Entwined, Lara Croft and the ToO, Grow Home, Super Time Force Ultra, Teslagrad, Broken Age, Super Meat Boy, TWD Season 2, Magicka 2.

I'd say that's comfortably worth £40. Certainly not all games will appeal to all people, but even if you only liked 10 of those 23 that would still represent pretty great value. There are certainly months where I look at the offering and nothing really grabs me, but taken over the course of a whole year it continues to be pretty good. Even on a purely monetary value level (which some people seem to argue) I'd suggest that a 2-year-old game like Black Flag is worth less than a newish indie release. (For the record I don't want to boil it down to "people hate indie games" because it's not that simple.)

This is usually where I'm at. I generally buy games I know I want either at launch or when they first go on sale, so it's rare for me to get one of those on PS+ unless it comes out for free straight away (such as with Rocket League or The Binding of Isaac Rebirth). I'm all about games that I might not ordinarily try out otherwise.