EA , Square Enix, Microsoft and Namco Bandai in a nutshell (Worst things for a Game Company to do)

[Booster]

http://www.dorkly.com/post/65536/ho...acebook.com&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=july

What do you guys think the worst thing for game companies to do? I mean BESIDES create Minecraft with it's 100's of flaws and Microsoft allowing Rareware to live?

 

[finalark]

I actually don't think Square is too bad about that. Aside from their mobile outings, of course. Plus the only Namco series I really play is Soul Calibur, which they release and then just kind of forget about. Like, I think we had one piece of DLC for SC5 that wasn't additional clothes for the character builder. And I don't think there's actually very many incidents of MS doing that with their first party titles.

But yeah, I think that DLC is a good idea in practice but becomes problematic once companies start chopping pieces of the game out in order to make it DLC. I also agree with pay-to-win being bad, since it creates unbalanced games and quickly becomes like TCGs where, in a casual environment, it's more about whoever dropped more money on the game rather than skill. I really don't know why people freak out when they see the words "subscription fee." To be blunt, $15 a month is actually pretty cheap if you have a decently paying job. And if you really can't afford it because you're a poor college kid, then you probably shouldn't be investing time into an MMORPG anyway.

 

[Booster]

I actually don't think Square is too bad about that. Aside from their mobile outings, of course. Plus the only Namco series I really play is Soul Calibur, which they release and then just kind of forget about. Like, I think we had one piece of DLC for SC5 that wasn't additional clothes for the character builder. And I don't think there's actually very many incidents of MS doing that with their first party titles.

But yeah, I think that DLC is a good idea in practice but becomes problematic once companies start chopping pieces of the game out in order to make it DLC. I also agree with pay-to-win being bad, since it creates unbalanced games and quickly becomes like TCGs where, in a casual environment, it's more about whoever dropped more money on the game rather than skill. I really don't know why people freak out when they see the words "subscription fee." To be blunt, $15 a month is actually pretty cheap if you have a decently paying job. And if you really can't afford it because you're a poor college kid, then you probably shouldn't be investing time into an MMORPG anyway.

Let's talk about a notorious (For me atleast) game called Tales of Xillia made by Namco Bandai. Each costume is $3 which is bull**** and prepare for a text wall, but this isn't a rant text wall, this is a full list of DLC for Tales of Xillia and that DLC works in Tales of Xillia 2 but it has it's own so we're going to count it all as one big DLC

A.) Milla has 15 costumes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_djgAViEEs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsHEASl7zBk

In order of appearance:
1. Original outfit (Free)
2. Spirit form (Free)
3. Casual style
4. School outfit / BGM
5. Swimsuit
6. Maid
7. Tales of Phantasia - Dhaos / BGM
8. Tales of Destiny - Stahn Aileron / BGM
9. Idolmaster 2 / BGM
10. Color variation
11. Star Driver
12. Santa outfit
13. Sports outfit
14. Tales of Graces F - Asbel Lhant / BGM
15. Songstress / in the second video linked

B) Leia has 10 costumes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrQf6SQmJmU

In order of appearance:
1. Original outfit (Free)
2. School outfit / BGM
3. Swimsuit
4. Maid
5. Tales of Eternia - Farah Oersted / BGM
6. Idolmaster 2 / BGM
7. Color variation
8. Star Driver
9. Santa outfit
10. Sports outfit

C) Elize has 10 costumes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_3PQ03gYLQ

In order of appearance:
1. Original outfit (Free)
2. School outfit / BGM
3. Swimsuit
4. Maid
5. Tales of Phantasia - Mint Adenade / BGM
6. Idolmaster 2 / BGM
7. Color variation
8. Star Driver
9. Santa outfit
10. Sports outfit

D) Jude has 12 costumes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SurGQU_9HE

In order of appearance:
1. Original outfit (Free)
2. Medical outfit (Free)
3. School outfit / BGM
4. Swimsuit
5. Butler
6. Tales of Destiny - Leon Magnus / BGM
7. Tales of Phantasia - Cress Albane / BGM
8. Color variation
9. Star Driver
10. Santa outfit
11. Sports outfit
12. Tales of Vesperia - Yuri Lowell / BGM

E) Rowen has 9 costumes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDSNHCNn-QM

In order of appearance:
1. Original outfit (Free)
2. School outfit / BGM
3. Swimsuit
4. Butler
5. Tales of Destiny 2 - Barbados Goetia / BGM
6. Color variation
7. Star Driver
8. Santa outfit
9. Sports outfit

F) Alvin has 10 costumes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m5K8UZopAI

In order of appearance:
1. Original outfit (Free)
2. Casual outfit
3. School outfit / BGM
4. Swimsuit
5. Butler
6. Tales of Symphonia - Kratos Aurion / BGM
7. Color variation
8. Star Driver
9. Santa outfit
10. Sports outfit

Note: BGM means that battle music changes when equipped. School set has same music for everyone, the rest are all costume specific!

And now for infos on DLCs:
I.) Jude's Yuri and Milla's Asbel outfits come as preorder bonus for ToX2 game. Included with that one is also Ludger's Emil costume for ToX2. Yuri and Asbel outfits are usable in both ToX and ToX2.

II.) Jude's Cress and Milla's Stahn costumes are preorder bonus for ToX. Both outfits are usable in both ToX and ToX2.

III.) Milla's songstress costume only comes as DLC code with special edition of Ayumi Hamasaki's FIVE album. Even after more than a year codes are still valid, and they don't appear to have an expiry date. The outfit is usable in both ToX and ToX2.

IV.) ToX2 DLC includes a sports set for all nine playable characters in ToX2. However, sports outfits for ToX crew are compatible with ToX as well. So you can have Jude as football player, Elize as gymnastic wonder, and so on.

V.) All DLC costumes for ToX are compatible with ToX2.

VI.) Ingame costumes you obtain for Milla, Jude, and Alvin, plus color variations are obtainable in ToX2 by completing character episodes in that game.

VII.) I'm pleasantly surprised that US version got Idolmaster 2 costumes.=D However, it's very unlikely we'll get Star Drives costumes, much less Milla's songstress costume. Still, I nabbed her costume in order to show it to you girls and guys.

So I hope this little wall of text clears up any questions you may have about the costumes. (Copied and pasted from a Gamefaqs board and altered slightly for forum usage), I lost track of how much DLC Nam**** Bandouche shoe horned in for ONE GAME ALONE!!!

 

[#HBC | Acrostic]

It looks like a cosmetic addition. Why does it even matter. The only people who would blow off money on each set are people who feed into the corporation's ideology that their consumer base is a bunch of aesthetic oriented perverts who play the game with ulterior motives rather than enjoying the game for its actual game play.

 

[Booster]

It looks like a cosmetic addition. Why does it even matter. The only people who would blow off money on each set are people who feed into the corporation's ideology that their consumer base is a bunch of aesthetic oriented perverts who play the game with ulterior motives rather than enjoying the game for its actual game play.

But $3 PER costume is despicable, even by EA standards...to think Namco did this before EA...

 

[#HBC | Acrostic]

But $3 PER costume is despicable, even by EA standards...to think Namco did this before EA...

It's not. Because $3 is the price you pay for an aesthetic addition. Watching the polygon in a different color set yet having the same skills, abilities, and movements means that it's a cosmetic addition. There's no story added content that is being kept away by DLC, there is no additional characters, it's purely cosmetic and not exemplary of the comic you linked in the first post because that's not an example of how DLC keeps people away from actual game play.

 

[Booster]

It's not. Because $3 is the price you pay for an aesthetic addition. Watching the polygon in a different color set yet having the same skills, abilities, and movements means that it's a cosmetic addition. There's no story added content that is being kept away by DLC, there is no additional characters, it's purely cosmetic and not exemplary of the comic you linked in the first post because that's not an example of how DLC keeps people away from actual game play.

So you support this highway robbery? In most games you normally pay less then that and you get more costumes as opposed to one ****ing costume.

 

[#HBC | Acrostic]

So you support this highway robbery? In most games you normally pay less then that and you get more costumes as opposed to one ****ing costume.

The games I used to play mostly only had one set standard of dress for all characters. There were no nurse outfits or summer wear that I would even bother dressing my character to **** off to while ignoring the core point of playing the RPG game which was to play a game for its story telling elements and not its dating sim-esque additions. I don't consider it highway robbery because these purchases are optional. The company isn't taking out its large corporate **** and gesturing at you to come suck it. In this case you can enjoy the game without needing to play Barbie Dolls with the characters.

I don't know what type of 'costume' games you're playing however if it was a game about costumes then I would understand why you're upset that you don't get to dress up your characters. However, having played some volatile f2p games i.e. Maple Story that introduced kinks every step of the way to make you spend cash i.e. Gachapon, white scrolls, Amoria Quest for apples, and cubes you needed to be at a certain proficiency for people to want you. If you couldn't deal a certain range of dps or hps, then it wasn't surprising that you were dropped and they looked for a better party member. I can say that in some of the games I've been playing that things have gotten much better. For instance, I play League of Legends where all the game related mechanics can be bought with in-game currency and the only thing that you need to shell out cash for are costumes. That's a perfect system to me.

You shouldn't need to purchase costumes to enjoy the game. If you do then the game isn't very notable in the department it is supposed to excel in. At the same time it isn't extortion for the company to focus on making profits in an area of the game where it won't affect actual gameplay unless the visuals are intentionally made crappy and ****-tier in order to prevent you from enjoying the game and requiring that you buy alternative outfits to appreciate the characters you play.

 

[finalark]

I'm going to have to side with Acrostic on this one. IMO there's nothing wrong with making a few completely optional aesthetic DLC that has no impact on the game. It's not like they're holding the game's ending hostage or making your party gain exp at painfully slow rates unless you pay up.

 

[Minato]

Yeah. Basically Namco has a lot of DLC that's rather expensive, but they're usually DLC that's for cosmetic purposes, no matter how silly they can be (like interface). There's a lot of DLC in each game, but they're not the kinda where you need to feel obligated to get every single one like some games. It's more of a pick and choose.

 

[Zora_of_Ylisse]

Capcom has really been screwing the pooch these last couple years. Making all attempts to abandon their mascot, blaming fans for them canceling games, etc.
And Ubisoft with their "Female models would double our workload" bullcrap.
Though I don't think anything will ever be as bad as Microsoft when they first revealed the Xbox One. The most anti-consumer thing I've ever seen, that.

 

[Twewy]

But $3 PER costume is despicable

Tell me, do you happen to play Team Fortress 2?

 

[κomıc]

Well, have ya'll seen Sims 4? If not... There's a thread on NeoGaf that goes over EVERYTHING wrong with what Maxis is doing. Removing pools, toddlers, schools, careers(?) and other staples of the Sims series since the first. And they had the audacity to send out a survey that consist of DLC plans that even include pools as a DLC expansion.

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

If you spend money in a tales game, you better be sure you want that skin.

Or you are like me who got them for free since a friend got me credit with Sony and got all the stuff for Xillia. That also works.

 

[Booster]

If you spend money in a tales game, you better be sure you want that skin.

Or you are like me who got them for free since a friend got me credit with Sony and got all the stuff for Xillia. That also works.

Obviously I'm not bat **** insane enough to pay $3 for one skin, besides Tales of Xillia isn't that great I still prefer every other Tales game before it

 

[#HBC | Red Ryu]

Obviously I'm not bat **** insane enough to pay $3 for one skin, besides Tales of Xillia isn't that great I still prefer every other Tales game before it

What's the issue?

If people want it, I did, they can buy it for what they want. They aren't forcing a final fantasy 4 sequel where they sell the game in parts, you get the complete game with other things on the side you can pay.

I know people say league of legends is pay to win, it's not. Because you can buy skins/runes/etc.

Or you just unlock them overtime like anyone with patience does. You can't play ranked til lvl 30 anyways which is done on purpose so people learn the game before they jump into that.

Now, do they have a clever way to make money that works because of impatience and want for personal image? Yes, but it only works because people are willing to buy it, and if they want it let them.

The comic you posted seems to imply that gaming is getting worse from the new ways people make money. Which is false since the good games and companies don't make it a requirement.

Pay to win is more like, these characters are on the disk but we locked them off so you have to pay more for the full game, we remade the game for $40, 6 months later. aka what Capcom has been doing recently.

Nothing from tales or league really does this unless you are lazy and/or must have that skin.

 

[Booster]

What's the issue?

If people want it, I did, they can buy it for what they want. They aren't forcing a final fantasy 4 sequel where they sell the game in parts, you get the complete game with other things on the side you can pay.

I know people say league of legends is pay to win, it's not. Because you can buy skins/runes/etc.

Or you just unlock them overtime like anyone with patience does. You can't play ranked til lvl 30 anyways which is done on purpose so people learn the game before they jump into that.

Now, do they have a clever way to make money that works because of impatience and want for personal image? Yes, but it only works because people are willing to buy it, and if they want it let them.

The comic you posted seems to imply that gaming is getting worse from the new ways people make money. Which is false since the good games and companies don't make it a requirement.

Pay to win is more like, these characters are on the disk but we locked them off so you have to pay more for the full game, we remade the game for $40, 6 months later. aka what Capcom has been doing recently.

Nothing from tales or league really does this unless you are lazy and/or must have that skin.

Part of the fun of other Tales games for me was unlocking the costumes, but thanks to Xillia and Xillia 2 you now have to pay $3 EACH to get them, not that I know anyone who would do that, Tales of Graces f had it right: You can get several costumes in the game, BUT still have some you can buy with money.

Xillia only has a few costumes you can get in game and 2 of them are unlocked by beating the game as either Jude or Milia, which is disappointing

 

[Twewy]

Part of the fun of other Tales games for me was unlocking the costumes

unlocked by beating the game as either Jude or Milia, which is disappointing

This confuses me.

 

[Minato]

This confuses me.

To be fair, I did have that problem with Xillia as well. It's more fun to get costumes during your playthrough instead of after completing the game. And there were only two that you could gain in the middle of your playthrough. ToX2 fixed this though.

 

[LIQUID12A]

Tell me, do you happen to play Team Fortress 2?

The sad thing is that most miscs and weapons on the Mann Co Store can be bought outside the MCS for much less ridiculous prices.

Here's a big *bleeping* offender:

Cow Mangler 9000 + Righteous Bison in store: $17.48

Cow Mangler 9000 + Righteous Bison with anyone else: 1 scrap or 2 random weapons.

 

[Booster]

To be fair, I did have that problem with Xillia as well. It's more fun to get costumes during your playthrough instead of after completing the game. And there were only two that you could gain in the middle of your playthrough. ToX2 fixed this though.

Does Tales of Xillia 2 fix the grade system too? I don't want another broken Grade System like in Vesperia, but the Grade System in Xillia 2 is broken too but in a VERY different sense.

 

[Minato]

Does Tales of Xillia 2 fix the grade system too? I don't want another broken Grade System like in Vesperia, but the Grade System in Xillia 2 is broken too but in a VERY different sense.

Nope. While I think ToX2 is a way better game, some flaws carry over.

Like in ToX1, linking will still turn your partner into an AI, even if you were playing with friends. The secret dungeon needs linking too, so you can't really do that with 4 people. Grade System is like the first game. What sucked in the first game is that you couldn't buy everything with max grade, I'm not sure if ToX2 fixed this. I'm sort of fine with how grade was handled as long as they give you enough though.

The game is still worth it though. You get costumes periodically for the main character among other ones. They even let you use the 3D models of some ToX1 and ToX2 characters that aren't playable.

 

[Booster]

Nope. While I think ToX2 is a way better game, some flaws carry over.

Like in ToX1, linking will still turn your partner into an AI, even if you were playing with friends. The secret dungeon needs linking too, so you can't really do that with 4 people. Grade System is like the first game. What sucked in the first game is that you couldn't buy everything with max grade, I'm not sure if ToX2 fixed this. I'm sort of fine with how grade was handled as long as they give you enough though.

The game is still worth it though. You get costumes periodically for the main character among other ones. They even let you use the 3D models of some ToX1 and ToX2 characters that aren't playable.

That sounds pretty awesome, but I'm saving up for a Wii U Though I'm a contradictory asshole who has kept saying he won't buy the next Nintendo console since Gamecube xP

 

[Twewy]

The sad thing is that most miscs and weapons on the Mann Co Store can be bought outside the MCS for much less ridiculous prices.

I really hate how inflated the key prices have become. It's actually more cheap to buy the keys with real money.