Quote (BlakeXeal @ Sep 7 2023 11:03am)
Whales essentially ruin any voting a normal person can do with their money on a game. All it takes is one whale to replace hundreds, or even thousands of players potentially, depending on the monetization options a game has. This is why games will just have to be straight up boycotted in the future. Don't give them an inch. Boycott as soon as the information leaks about monetization structure being predatory, and the game itself being shit.
One thing whales don't like is when the game has no population. If they can't show off all their gear they are much less likely to purchase extravagantly on a game. D4 is on track to have no in game population due to word getting around, as well as the product speaking for itself and having almost no replayability. It's what the game deserves when the devs had almost no experience and they just copy work from the most recent iteration.
Games are becoming increasingly predatory adding more and more monetization. Battle passes are renamed to things like hero's pass (runescape) in order to try to change the opinions of players on something that is known to be garbage. Let's start using early access to our advantage so we can judge a game, then make a decision. I used to hate the idea of early access charging extra, but now I realize it's an opportunity to gauge a game's true value before wasting money. It's a double edged sword for developers because while they are charging early access creating two tiers of gamers, the haves and have nots, they are also giving a free sneak preview to anyone watching streams for extra intel.
I agree with all your points. For early access though I’d say yes to free or low cost early access (really beta testing) and NO to 3-days early play “digital deluxe” version.
And look if a $25 recolored skin on a char you can barely see in a game that is fundamentally flawed in basic RPG concepts makes you happy, keep buying. Just know that from my perspective you look like a victim, and I hope as a fellow game lover that you won’t help the industry keep this crap in the business meta.