So ... Portal 2 has an item shop an, to be honest, that was a little unexpected.
Portal 2
Game » consists of 20 releases. Released Apr 19, 2011
Portal 2 is the sequel to the acclaimed first-person puzzle game, carrying forward its love of mind-bending problems and its reckless disregard for the space-time continuum.
Am I the only one who understands the implication of the shop?
" If the shop takes money from idiots in exchange for free co-op missions, I salute Valve. "Look at TF2 ... I actually bought stuff in that shop. Not because I felt there was something I absolutely had to have but because I played that game for about 750 hours
" They're probably going to use the money they get from shop items to cover the cost of making free DLC. And if so, that'll be a great business model. Everyone get's free extra content, those who want some extra cosmetic changes can pay for them. "This is the direction companies should be going with these kinds of microtransactions.
" I thought that was pretty obvious, honestly. It's just Mann Co. but in a co-op only game. "So... Mann Co-op then?
" @all: If this was more obvious than I realized I apoligize for the posting, but all I heard/read was a lot of hate for the item shop. "Same here, but I've put them in the same category as the people who went on Metacritic and gave the game ones and zeroes because they were pissed off about the ARG not panning out in anyone's favor or accusing the game of being a console port (lol the fuck wut?): fucking idiots.
They support their flagship products well and over a long period of time because it keeps people coming back to Steam. A lot of it is free in the sense you don't pay for it directly, but they know they'll more than get that money out of you sooner or later if they can just keep you using Steam long enough. They use post-launch support & content as a loss leader, and they've been very effective with it.
I wouldn't expect them to suddenly start burning people on Portal 2 support. Not because they're the only altruistic company in the world, but because they probably think (probably correctly) that they can make more money from giving that stuff away than from selling it.
"Look at TF2 ... I actually bought stuff in that shop. Not because I felt there was something I absolutely had to have but because I played that game for about 750 hoursValve have done an incredible job of making their userbase feel like they're being done a favour. Of course, they've also done an incredible job of turning a dime's worth of goodwill into a dollar's worth of dollars.and I felt like it's just fair to support valve with some money for the content they gave me during that time. I also bought some of the stamps that contribute moneyto the community map-makers. Does that make me an idiot?What if they manage to do the same with Portal 2? I would be one of those who gladly supports them from time to time for a service like that."
I wouldn't call you an idiot... maybe a little naive if you genuinely don't realise that you're behaving exactly how Valve expect you to behave.
I say more power to Valve. They're taking advantage of, if not creating a market, that's usually only found in F2P MMO games. They're selling vanity items. That's it. If you decide you don't need them then don't buy them. You won't miss out on anything. If you do decide you want them, then you have to pay up. I fail to see how Valve is doing anything wrong.
This is practically the same thing as the sparkle pony uprising in WoW. People lost their shit over that thing. Just like Valve, they didn't do anything wrong. They simply gave you the option to buy something you don't need. They might as well changed the announcement to "yo, you don't really need any of this crap, but if you want it then you know where to buy it."
It's not double dipping or any of that bs. It's the same as buying items for your Xbox Live avatar or hell, it's the same as buying extra channels for your cable subscription. You don't need any of that extra stuff. You are not entitled to it. It's there if you want it and if not then life will continue to go on.
But to answer the question, yes it does make sense OP. I agree with you.
What I find interesting about the Portal 2 store is how much I got for free at Day one. It's similar to TF2's design where the more dedicated players get free stuff while guys who don't want to wait have to pay for hats. Like the companion cube hat is unlocked if you can take it out of chamber 7, the Potato hat comes for those who bought the Potato sack and a Mann Co hat for those who have it in TF2.
Some form of DLC is obvious, but what i think portal really needs is user created content. The creativity of the millions of portal fans is bound to do more with the portal mechanics than the Valve team, no offense to them because their puzzles are awesome anyway!
" I thought that was pretty obvious, honestly. It's just Mann Co. but in a co-op only game. "
I'm still blown away that people complain about cosmetic DLC. It doesn't affect the game in the slightest and is created with the sole intention of making money. In other words it's not something that would normally be in the game and I don't see why people get so bent out of shape over the idea of an online store.
Uhh, well, Jeff brought up your exact point in the Portal 2 video they posted before the site crash. Anyone who watched that video--if they didn't before--now do understand the implication of the shop.Am I the only one who understands the implication of the shop?
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