It seems as though this era of mobile/tablet gaming has brought to us a new fad in free-to-play games that try to pillage you with micro transactions. I would have been fine if this type of gaming stayed with the tablet gaming platform, but the last few years it has infiltrated even dedicated gaming devices. In my humble opinion, I feel these types of games are similar to the old 25 cent arcade machine games. Where their only goal is to get every last cent from your proverbial wallet. Typically, these games lack depth and substance. So the question remains, will this sad era in gaming ever end???
I don't think it will end, it will just evolve. Like what you said, from the 25 cent arcades up to what it has become today, it's not going to go away since it's a business and we all know that if something is putting money on peoples pockets you can be sure that it would just revolve and evolve. But the great thing about it is that you're not tied in to these kinds of things. You can just ignore them and try to find the games that are worth it. If you know that a game is just trying to lure you in with micro-transactions then you're free to just remove it from your phone or just not buy/play the game on your console or PC.
It will end, like every other trend died before. It's just a question of when. Once something new comes to mobile gaming, people will eventually abandon f2p as it is now and jump ship to the next thing, the same way they jumped from J2ME apps to more expensive smartphone apps to the ecosystem we have now.
I don't think it'll end. Even disc based games drain your wallet by having DLC that you have to pay for. So it's like when you buy the game disc, you're only getting 40% of the game and then you have to pay for all the downloads that come down the pipe.
Yes! This is another major issue with the gaming industry today. Back when DLC first came out, it was only to "add" to your game. Plus, you never had a day-1 DLC option. Some of today's DLC is content that is already on your disk, but has to be "unlocked" by buying it. Sure, some companies still do DLC properly, (Nintendo and Elder Scrolls:Skyrim come to mind) but most companies are trying to suck you dry. I personally think it is disgusting. Some people say, just avoid these free to play games and you will be fine. I would be fine with that type gaming was only for tablets and Facebook games, but sadly enough you are seeing that structure used in more "traditional" games. I can only do my part by never paying a dime to these products.
I don't think it will end, and I personally hope it doesn't just because I like having free things to download and experience., even if a lot of them turn out to be scheme centered. It's a new business model and it works so it will probably last for a long time as long as people keep paying. There are others who do it the right way anyway so I don't mind that much.
So what you're saying is that you want free games with no transactions and no way for developers to make money from hundreds of hours of development time and upkeep? I'm assuming you wouldn't be willing to pay $6.99 to $14.99 for smartphone and tablet games. Free to play isn't going anywhere because it's been around for years and has proven successful. Microtransactions are a multi-billion dollar industry right now.
I actually enjoy all me free apps. Granted I don't play to many games, but prefer apps I can use and have a function in my daily life.
I doubt it, as long as it is raking in more money than traditional paid games such a system will be here to stay. Just by comparison Candy Crush yielded much more revenue than many other paid games over the past few years.
It's not a sad era for gaming. Actually, gaming is more widespread nowadays unlike before when gaming was only considered as an activity for nerds. Free to play games have opened the gates to new audiences. You can now see both young and old playing Candy Crush or Temple Run on their phones. That's because of free to play games. It made gaming accessible to all. It's a great time for gaming! Will the fad end? I hope not.
I doubt it. It's too much of an easy cash grab for companies. First, they get paid by the advertisers since they run ads in their games. Secondly, they get money off the microstransactions. And the worst part about it is, the microstransaction is just extra. The fact that people even played at all gives them cash because of the in game ads.
Are you against game developers getting money? Are you against free games? Before, only those who had budget to buy games got to play. But nowadays, almost anybody who has a mobile phone can play games and that's for free. If you don't want devs to make money then don't play their games. Then again, it's a give and take relationship. We play their games and they make money. If they don't make money, then we won't have any games to play with won't we?
I'm not against them earning money. I AM against them abusing the customer to make said money. You're saying back in the day not everyone could afford to play games. Which is somewhat true. And now anyone can do it, which again is also true. But look at the other side of this. Now, instead of give you full games, now you get a barebones product where most (not all) developers take every little thing and charge you for it. Many of these things they charge you for were free things you got just by beating a game. Nobody is saying they shouldn't make money. But I'm not going to excuse when a developer takes something worth no more than say $5 at best and they charge you double or more for it.
It will just grow. Everything that brings money will just stay or develop into something new. These free to play games are a really smart way to make money. You give away something for free and you tease the players to buy things to be able to progress or further the experience.
Freemium is absolutely terrible. I rather pay $5 than to have to wait time for the energy to come back. I was really mad when I saw Dungeon Hunter 5 had energy. It is still one of my favorite apps but I wish they would just charge me a couple dollars. I really like what cap km has done, they have made Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, a great game from the PSP, and redid the graphics. They don't have energy or anything so it's great. Most of the games I play com from gift cards I get from other apps like perk tv so I relly don't have to pay full price. The only downside to this app is it costs a lot, $15. I cant really say it's worth that much to other people, but if you played the game a while back and you see it on the AppStore, you are probably going to pay whatever they ask for it.
I imagine it will eventually end, but likely be replaced by new models of structural game design that could be better or worse. As far as the proliferation of freemium games is concerned, it's only this way because of vast financial success. People are paying a lot of money into this structure. There is a great demand for casual games. The quality of said games should rise as more thoughtful and well done titles are released, thus increasing the casual user's expectations for these titles. The iOS store for example is slowly improving as more titles of a higher standard are being promoted and released.. that said, the current nature of most freemium titles is very exploitative of the consumer.
From a money making perspective, why would these companies stop making these games? Games like Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, Hay Day, etc., are all very simple games that are entertaining, but have meticulously calculated how to get as much money out from an individual as possible. Yes, you have wait X amount of time for new lives, or whatever, or you can pay now! I feel like these games prey much on children who don't actually have to pay their phone bill or who don't really understand how money works. As long as companies keep making money, these games will exist. Even if they stop being so lucrative, I would imagine games would still provide payable content, because it adds no extra cost or overhead to the developer. Worst case scenario, if the app stops making money from additional content, they will introduce adds in order to get their revenue. Get rid of the adds for only $2.99!
I only play the free games and will not spend a penny for extras. The only time I play games on my phone is if I am trying to pass a few minutes of time and I would not consider myself a gamer. The people who drive me crazy are the ones that will sit there glued to their phones all day...like my fiance. He will play his phone games for hours and it just seems like a complete waste of time.
I don't see it ending any time soon. There's way too much money in it for developers to just let it fade out. So you will see it for years to come that's for certain.
