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  1. #1

    The New Gaming Industry Standard, Pay to Beta Test!?

    I remember when I bought a game a decade or two ago, I got a COMPLETE, UNBUGGY, POLISHED and FUN game! Not so, anymore.

    Since the introduction of the internet, games have become more buggy, incomplete, plagued with glitches, sloppy mechanics, paltry stories, content and quality. Why!? Because companies know they can make such games and IF they choose to, at a later time, fix the issues at their leisure. All the while getting big money from us gamers and USING US GAMERS as beta testers! Its sickening and lazy game making to say the least and UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICE at best!

    Too many times have gamers said, "well, give them some time they're working on it." or "It could be worse" or "Stop complaining". The sad fact is that every time someone says this, THEY are giving these companies a FREE PASS to continue their UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICE against US! Shouldn't the time to have worked on the game, been BEFORE the release? Every time people SETTLE for mediocre, they set the bar a little bit LOWER for future games! Examples: Destiny, Drive Club, NHL 15, Watch Dogs, Sims 4...All supposed "AAA" games right! And now Division!?

    Consumer trust is at an all-time low and if this continues, we will see another gaming market crash like we did in the 80's!

    Which leads me to some ideas that US as gamers can all do to help fix the gaming industry we ALL are so fond of!

    1) Stop Preordering!...Nothing says I don't care about the quality of the games I buy, like giving your money away before playing the final product. (I rent my games before I buy, because of this!)

    2) Vote with your Wallet! If you don't like something, then don't buy it or give them anymore money until they fix it. NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING lights a fire under companies mud flaps like a lack of revenue, to change for the better or fix things! PERIOD.

    Ubisoft...Although, you have obviously made a beta game, but seem to be making an effort to correct it, I have some suggestions for you as well.

    1) Don't lose sight of being GAMERS yourselves. Do unto others as you would have done unto to you. Make a game that you would REALLY be PROUD OF to call your own and WANT to play...and WATCH the money and LOYALTY roll in. Period!

    2) Although you have given us some rewards like Phoenix credits and crafting materials for issues with your game(thanks)...Don't give into greed! Don't let profit be your motivation for what you do and make. No one likes the Ferengi, except of course other Ferengi. Be the game maker everyone knows, loves and respects for what you make. Let your actions be your legacy!

    3) Be TRANSPARENT and HONEST with us and yourselves. Communicate with your player base, respect your player base and WE, will respect you!
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  2. #2
    Well, at least this game was actually released. I paid $99 for an EARLY ACCESS bundle to a game over 2 years ago now, and it's STILL IN CLOSED BETA. It shows no real signs of entering Open Beta or an actual release date, because DayBreak is riding the money train. They opted to cancel EQNext because why incur more development costs when you can keep charging people to play a Closed Beta? If you ever look at the full list of EARLY ACCESS titles on Steam and how long they've been there, you'll see where the real money is at.
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  3. #3
    See my #1 idea for gamers.
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  4. #4
    xIMayhemIx's Avatar Member
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    Bravo OP
    The game gets delayed for years so that it could have more/better content. And this is the best Ubisoft can do?? SMH
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  5. #5
    It's not an industry standard, it's lazy developers with no pride in their work. You don't ever see Blizzard games released until they are ready.
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  6. #6
    Fuz Fragstealer's Avatar Member
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    In all my years of online gaming, I've NEVER EVER played an MMORPG that didn't transition through bad design decisions and buggy code, just like The Division is doing now.
    It's not until your code hits the masses that you see if you have thought about all the effects of your design decisions.

    As for Blizzard's track record - it has it's fair share of blemishes.
    http://www.tentonhammer.com/articles...ld-of-warcraft
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  7. #7
    I remember buying games 20 years ago so broken they were almost unplayable and with no way to patch them you were just sol.
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  8. #8
    LonigusEze's Avatar Senior Member
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    He has a point and currently the new Homefront confirms it lol... Its such a bad game that even IGN gave it a bad review.

    The game devs are getting lazy and ppl still buy their games. The CHANGE has to start with the consumer.

    One example is also Fallout 4 and people might hate me for that, but I mean cmon... I think ATLEAST with the next fallout it is time for a new engine and a change...
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  9. #9
    Gamers are a diverse bunch these days. Add to this the fact that not every "gamer" is going to be "hardcore" enough to check a games forums for posts like these. I agree with a lot of what you're saying here (you're not the only one making this sort of assessment), but the only way companies will listen to these critiques is if millions and millions of people stop buying games. And I doubt that's going to happen in the near-future.

    But yes, stop pre-ordering, dont buy season passes, don't buy buggy games, and don't buy games with stale stories and stale gameplay. I think The Divisions only driven these points home all too well.
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  10. #10
    @OP: I fully agree!

    Originally Posted by Hoot_151 Go to original post
    It's not an industry standard, it's lazy developers with no pride in their work. You don't ever see Blizzard games released until they are ready.
    You did never play WoW?

    I played closed beta, open beta and on release. Well, i would've played, it just took me 32h to create an account and then the lag was absolutely epic. And the queues. And the quests - kill 10 goblins. - only problem - 50 other people had the same quest - and there were only 15 goblins.

    Ok, after a couple of weeks it settled more or less but the release was a huge mess. Still there were epic lag spikes with like not being able to do something for a minute and then the whole raid was wiped.
    Of course there was teleport hack in WoW. And gold seller spam like hell. And little chinese guys from chinese sweatshops who farmed all the ressources all day long. Until they found other ways to farm money.

    So Blizzard is not that flawless.

    That reminds me of



    Still Ubisoft sets new standards.
    No server area selection, just drop you into a random server.
    Mike Delta Mike.
    Best glitch in like 30 years of gaming - a skill allows you to visit all areas even if you're not supposed to be there - mobile cover.
    In other games it took hours to explore regions you weren't allowed to see, like climbing/jumping up mountains etc. - in TD all you need is a skill and a little bit timing.
    Client side game control for a multiplayer game (great job Massive, looks like all devs came directly from university and had no real experience).
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