Liminal Cat
Registered User
- Oct 11, 2011
- 80
- 26
Besides a few multi-player games here and there, I haven't seriously played any AAA games in quite a while. Returnal and to a lesser extent Death Stranding look interesting, though.
My girlfriend and I decided to go on the new Webkinz game just to see what it was like (flash dying forced them to remake it). This game has a $7 Battle Pass. I’m done.Playing Multiversus and Overwatch 2 recently, I can’t state enough how much I absolutely loathe the fact that the dumbass “Battle Pass” system has made its way into every f***ing game now. One of my biggest gripes with where we’re at. Multiversus has skins that cost $20 IRL, and idiots for some reason still shill out for some corny cosmetic in a mediocre game. What the f***.
My girlfriend and I decided to go on the new Webkinz game just to see what it was like (flash dying forced them to remake it). This game has a $7 Battle Pass. I’m done.
I'm pretty sure a lot of games use the terms interchangeably, I just call them all "battle pass" because "season pass" is a commonly used term referring to many different things, "battle pass" is the shitty system Fortnite popularized where you pay ~$10 or whatever they charge for the period of play and you get to unlock special, mostly cosmetic rewards.So mind my ignorance but what exactly is a "battle pass"? Let me preface it by saying I am an longtime gamer and an older (mid 40's) and I primarily play single player story driven games, I've seen the "season pass" DLC packages with many games and have purchased a few for some of my favorite games but what makes a "battle pass" different and something that is more necessary?
I'm pretty sure a lot of games use the terms interchangeably, I just call them all "battle pass" because "season pass" is a commonly used term referring to many different things, "battle pass" is the shitty system Fortnite popularized where you pay ~$10 or whatever they charge for the period of play and you get to unlock special, mostly cosmetic rewards.
Basically a battle pass is like a leveling system. For each level you unlock some sort of in game item, in most games they are only cosmetics. Most have free and premium tiers where the premium users get a lot more items. These live service games normally operate in "seasons", and a new battle pass comes out every season.So its like a subscription for a period of time to use cosmetic skins or funny hats? Does it have any real bearing on the gameplay itself is it a pay to win situation?
As someone who plays almost no online or online multiplayer I haven't seen much of this, sure there may have been times on games where I might have paid a few bucks to unlock characters like on WWE2K games or something but generally have only paid for actual extra content
It amazes me that so many people will pay extra for these things, but I suppose the games have trained and cultivated the younger generations to be used to doing so
Basically a battle pass is like a leveling system. For each level you unlock some sort of in game item, in most games they are only cosmetics. Most have free and premium tiers where the premium users get a lot more items. These live service games normally operate in "seasons", and a new battle pass comes out every season.
Here is an interesting one for the gaming industry, Blizzard as pulled access to all their games but Diablo Immortal in China, including WoW and Overwatch 2 as their agreement with Net Ease has ended and they have not come to a new agreement yet. The only game still available to Chinese gamers is Diablo Immortal as it is covered under a different agreement.
This is an interesting development. I'm no expert in this situation but I would think they'll have this rectified sooner rather than later? WoW and OW2 are pretty big in the Chinese market, especially OW2 with a huge chunk of their talent pool, and 4 of their Overwatch League franchises, being based out of the country.
It's in an awful state. The only good game recently is GOW and it's 70 dollars on PS5. Do you expect me to pay that much especially when I've not played a GOW game before?
People just suddenly have less money for entertainment which has led to massive layoffs at Meta, Amazon, Twitter... I can see console and game sales being down in the foreseeable future with all these rising costs. Those extra people needed to make games might find themselves unemployed very soon.Wait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.
If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.
Wait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.
If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.
And another thing every one these steam sales has shitty aaa games I ain heard of on sale while the good games are like 5 percent off. Wwe 2k...wow 55 dollars during winter saleWait for a sale then. Games have been 60 since 2005 with more and more people buying the special editions with their added levels or quests (i.e. shit that should've been in the game to begin with). The number of people needed to make a game nowadays has ballooned compared to back then.
If you're really bothered by paying the cost of a burrito more for the cost of a game after nearly 20 years of them being a different price then maybe get the ps4 version (it's still 60) or maybe gaming isn't for you anymore.
So mind my ignorance but what exactly is a "battle pass"? Let me preface it by saying I am an longtime gamer and an older (mid 40's) and I primarily play single player story driven games, I've seen the "season pass" DLC packages with many games and have purchased a few for some of my favorite games but what makes a "battle pass" different and something that is more necessary?
This has never been a valid argument. Software all the cost is in the creation of the product, not the product itself. Once a video game is made it costs practically $0 to make copies to sell. The cost of making a video game has gone up a lot compared to the 90's (which did have a physical cost when on cartridge) but this is offset by a lot more copies being sold, this is why something like Windows will cost $100 while an Autocad might cost $10,000, when Windows was far more expensive to develop.To whine about an extra 10 bucks for games is ridiculous, in 1990 Super Mario 3 was 49.95, so in 30+ years the cost of games has only increased by 20 dollars or 40%, which is far less than many other items
Based on the inflation alone, $50 in 1990 is worth $114 today
A happy meal at McDonalds was $3.19 in 1990, I paid 6.59 for one yesterday, just over double
Gas was $1.15 per gallon, I paid $4.09 yesterday, over triple the price
A Honda Accord was between $12,345 - $14,895, today they are between $26,120 to $38,050 again between double and triple the price
If anything we should be thanking the video game industry for being as generous as they have been by keeping prices relatively flat for so many generations
These AAA publishers are making billions of dollars, there is no justification for the $10 price increase other than the publishers wanting more money. And of all of them Sony should have been the last to raise their prices because they don't even need to give a cut of game sales to anyone.
Pricing has been relatively flat because distributions and medium costs just keep going down. First by going from expensive cartridges to disc formats (CD, DVD Blu-ray ect) and now going with digital distribution. As others have already pointed out; the video game market as grown by leaps and bounds since the 90s and they sell more copies than ever. It more than offsets the cost of making the games.To whine about an extra 10 bucks for games is ridiculous, in 1990 Super Mario 3 was 49.95, so in 30+ years the cost of games has only increased by 20 dollars or 40%, which is far less than many other items
Based on the inflation alone, $50 in 1990 is worth $114 today
A happy meal at McDonalds was $3.19 in 1990, I paid 6.59 for one yesterday, just over double
Gas was $1.15 per gallon, I paid $4.09 yesterday, over triple the price
A Honda Accord was between $12,345 - $14,895, today they are between $26,120 to $38,050 again between double and triple the price
If anything we should be thanking the video game industry for being as generous as they have been by keeping prices relatively flat for so many generations
Pricing has been relatively flat because distributions and medium costs just keep going down. First by going from expensive cartridges to disc formats (CD, DVD Blu-ray ect) and now going with digital distribution. As others have already pointed out; the video game market as grown by leaps and bounds since the 90s and they sell more copies than ever. It more than offsets the cost of making the games.
But sure, you can go ahead and thank them for not increasing pricing and even send them some extra money every time you buy a game so that you can truly show them how grateful you are.
It's just funny because accessibility combats piracy and that has been proven multiple times. I sure won't feel bad when they start crying over people starting to pirate more games because they have made things less accessible.Maybe I will send them some extra, I'm certainly not going to whine and stop doing something I enjoy over 10 bucks.