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Which publishers or devs are in your black book?
- Thread starter ShinMaruku
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Doctor_Thomas
Member
Capcom
Ubisoft
Activision
They continue to disappoint with poor games or practices.
It's not a bad thing to have standards, which some people seem to forget. By buying games from publishers who make bad or broken games, you are approving of their actions and allow them to make poor games or choices.
Ubisoft
Activision
They continue to disappoint with poor games or practices.
It's not a bad thing to have standards, which some people seem to forget. By buying games from publishers who make bad or broken games, you are approving of their actions and allow them to make poor games or choices.
daninthemix
Member
This. Basically every decision Ubisoft has made about or within the Assassin's Creed series grinds my gears.
And the arrogance! Forcing us to watch a 25 minute end credit sequence? What a feculent little company.
TheDarkTriforce
Banned
I do not support Sony because of their business practices. I can't mention all their bad practices now but their latest is how they treat the PlayStation Vita and their PlayStation Vita customers. First they act like the PlayStation Vita is a AAA blockbuster game machine and now we can be happy when we get indie games (which is not meant in a bad way) and even Sony does not care about the PlayStation Vita anymore!
You guys must either have way too much money or way too much free time, then, because at the $60 asking price for video games these days I don't know how you guys can afford it. Hell, I'll drop an author over a few bad books and most books these days you can get first run for like $15. I can't imagine continuously buying shit over and over again only with "oh well maybe they'll get it together next time..." as a response. Just seems like blind, sheepish consumerism to me.
Just because I'm not explicitly boycotting a publisher doesn't mean I buy shit games. I judge on a game by game basis. I'm not rushing out to buy Ubisoft DLC Bloatfest 7 but I'll still buy a Ubisoft game if all impressions I got of it look good, which is usually their more budget releases.
You could argue I'm boycotting Activison because I don't think I've bought a game from them in over a decade but in reality its just that they haven't made any games I care about. If they ever put something good out I'll buy it.
None.
Fuck missing out on games I want to play just because I'm grumpy.
Too much money or enjoy my hobby, can't decide which.
$60 for multiple hours of entertainment isn't that much anyway.
I can't remember the last game I never got my moneys worth from.
Fuck missing out on games I want to play just because I'm grumpy.
Too much money or enjoy my hobby, can't decide which.
$60 for multiple hours of entertainment isn't that much anyway.
I can't remember the last game I never got my moneys worth from.
gigantor21
Member
None.
"I'll never buy from (evil publisher du jour) again!" is one of the emptiest threats on the Internet. Lack of interest is a much more potent threat to publishers than anger, I've found.
"I'll never buy from (evil publisher du jour) again!" is one of the emptiest threats on the Internet. Lack of interest is a much more potent threat to publishers than anger, I've found.
VibratingDonkey
Member
I guess West Games, Muxwell, Sergei Titov etc. People like that.
Those who are scammers, opportunists, dishonest, otherwise shady and dubious, and/or just ridiculously incompetent.
And the Hatred team, Running With Scissors and Daniel Vavra. People like that.
Those who just rub me the wrong way. Be it by supporting hate movements or by leaning full force into the tackiest marketing shtick, or both.
I'd write up those who try to profit off of clones on mobile and garbage on Steam, but I can never remember their names (except Muxwell's, cause it's such a stupid one) and they probably just change them between releases anyway.
Those who are scammers, opportunists, dishonest, otherwise shady and dubious, and/or just ridiculously incompetent.
And the Hatred team, Running With Scissors and Daniel Vavra. People like that.
Those who just rub me the wrong way. Be it by supporting hate movements or by leaning full force into the tackiest marketing shtick, or both.
I'd write up those who try to profit off of clones on mobile and garbage on Steam, but I can never remember their names (except Muxwell's, cause it's such a stupid one) and they probably just change them between releases anyway.
Winterfang
Banned
Devs are hard to pinpoint since they change people under the same name. But if I knew for sure that the version of Bioware that did Sonic Chronicles is working on anything. I'll bail the fuck out.
Yep. This.
CharmingCharlie
Member
I have a very long list 
Usually a publisher or developer has to fuck up several times before they get added to the "no buy list". Top of the list is Ubisoft. I refuse to touch anything by Ubisoft I find that makes my life infinitely easier as a PC gamer. Next up is EA for pretty shoddy practices towards the PC platform and the fact I cannot stand Origin (in before the "whats wrong with Origin" if you like it fine, I don't). Activision isn't on the list bizarrely enough I just never buy anything from them cos their shit sucks balls.
Now Developers I personally avoid are Rockstar because of their overall contempt for the PC market. I also now avoid anything from Bioware after that god awful Mass Effect 3.
Usually a publisher or developer has to fuck up several times before they get added to the "no buy list". Top of the list is Ubisoft. I refuse to touch anything by Ubisoft I find that makes my life infinitely easier as a PC gamer. Next up is EA for pretty shoddy practices towards the PC platform and the fact I cannot stand Origin (in before the "whats wrong with Origin" if you like it fine, I don't). Activision isn't on the list bizarrely enough I just never buy anything from them cos their shit sucks balls.Now Developers I personally avoid are Rockstar because of their overall contempt for the PC market. I also now avoid anything from Bioware after that god awful Mass Effect 3.
Insomniac Games are temporarily in the black book after Sunset Overdrive not because it was exclusive but because it is one of the worst game I played and below their usual standard. The music and the forced unfunny humour severely detracts from the game that the gameplay can't make up for.
Activision has been in it for years. Destiny was the first game since the PS2 era that I bought.
Konami for not releasing Suikoden III in Europe. I won't buy Metal Gear games or Castlevania games. The last game I bought eas Suikoden V. Suikoden I and Suikoden II on Vita will be the exception in February.
Activision has been in it for years. Destiny was the first game since the PS2 era that I bought.
Konami for not releasing Suikoden III in Europe. I won't buy Metal Gear games or Castlevania games. The last game I bought eas Suikoden V. Suikoden I and Suikoden II on Vita will be the exception in February.
BibiMaghoo
Member
Not all games are equal, even from the same dev and publisher. They can make a stinker, then follow it up with the best game they have ever made. Blacklisting a dev or pub ensures you will never get to play that fantastic follow up game, just because you bought a bad one at some point?
That makes little sense. Games are expensive yes, but each needs to be judged on it's own merits, not the merits (or lack of) from a game made 5 years ago, or the name of the publisher on the box.
Machinehead
Member
I don't blacklist companies, but I didn't buy games with online passes, I buy games with season passes only after complete edition/heavy discount, games I really want with performance issues I buy for VERY cheap, and I never, ever buy games day one anymore. I wait for extensive impressions from GAF members I trust.
OttoSporteman
Member
This + Gearbox after Colonial Marines (but I will dive in Borderlands 3 anyway)
AmaterasuOni
Banned
I'm with you, bro!
GiantEnemyGoomba
Member
None. The closest is Ubisoft, but I love the Far Cry series and won't stop myself from playing those games.
legacyzero
Banned
Ubisoft.
I know there's a lot of "If I like the game, I buy it" going on in here, and I respect that. I used to be that way with Ubi games. But Ubisoft is the only company to constantly burn me with every purchase.
- Withholding information from customers until after launch (like features)
- Buggy launches
- Terrible PR (Animation budget for female characters, 1080p debates, etc)
- Terrible Monetization practices.
It's a shame, too, because they just happen to have compelling IP. I'm a HUGE Far Cry fan, and because of how they treated the Far Cry multiplayer community, I boycotted the game. I'm not one to usually do that sort of thing, but this is a repeated activity from Ubi that I just couldn't stand for anymore. A terrible company. When even EA looks like a better company, you know you done fucked up.
I know there's a lot of "If I like the game, I buy it" going on in here, and I respect that. I used to be that way with Ubi games. But Ubisoft is the only company to constantly burn me with every purchase.
- Withholding information from customers until after launch (like features)
- Buggy launches
- Terrible PR (Animation budget for female characters, 1080p debates, etc)
- Terrible Monetization practices.
It's a shame, too, because they just happen to have compelling IP. I'm a HUGE Far Cry fan, and because of how they treated the Far Cry multiplayer community, I boycotted the game. I'm not one to usually do that sort of thing, but this is a repeated activity from Ubi that I just couldn't stand for anymore. A terrible company. When even EA looks like a better company, you know you done fucked up.
You know that it's possible to buy the games you want, without buying shit games and without boycotting specific developers or publishers. Mind blowing.
I haven't bought a game from ubisoft or EA in years. Mainly because they don't make games that I care about, but even if they did, I don't like the hoops they make you jump through (uplay, origin, season passes, etc etc) just to play a full game. Every time I played one of their games I felt like they were deliberately cutting content to monetize it or making me do things in an effort to nickel and dime me in some other way. Comes off as sleazy to me and I just don't like or support the practice.
That's not to say I don't like dlc or season passes, it's just that when they do it, I *FEEL* like i'm being ripped off. "This should have been in the base game and you're trying to charge me for it?" I basically don't buy games with sleazy DLC or publisher-based interfaces necessary to play the game. EA and ubi are the worst at this, but EA seems to be slowly crawling out of the hole they were in while Ubi keeps digging itself further down.
Exactly. Even when they DO make a good looking game... the thought of having to deal with their crap to play it discourages me from doing it.
Make a good game, make it easy for me to play it, don't nickel and dime me, and then we'll talk. Until then, there are PLENTY of other fish in the sea.
That's not to say I don't like dlc or season passes, it's just that when they do it, I *FEEL* like i'm being ripped off. "This should have been in the base game and you're trying to charge me for it?" I basically don't buy games with sleazy DLC or publisher-based interfaces necessary to play the game. EA and ubi are the worst at this, but EA seems to be slowly crawling out of the hole they were in while Ubi keeps digging itself further down.
Exactly. Even when they DO make a good looking game... the thought of having to deal with their crap to play it discourages me from doing it.
Make a good game, make it easy for me to play it, don't nickel and dime me, and then we'll talk. Until then, there are PLENTY of other fish in the sea.
ShinMaruku
Member
Perfectly valid. I'm the same for elder scrolls games.
I want to know why it's stupid, in practice it is very rare that bad actors change their practices unless something significant happens, in this industry that is very rarely going to happen. It is highly unlikely.
Now this is a good post.
That is exactly what I would out into my black list as well games that don't hold my attention. When I see it's from them I just move on.I think putting them in the black book is informed. From trends and bad practices you can tell where their mindset is and you can make the informed action of putting them in the book
This is why I also just not only look at compelling ips but who is behind them. It could be a great premise but who is making it will waste it. Like Sonic and the black knight, if Sonic Team has convictions and iterated they could have made that a compelling little side franchise they could fuck with but they dumped it and made dumb shit like Sonic Boom...
I agree completelt there are many other games, I would never consider it something I'm missing out on. There are not enough hours in a day to play everything.
More post like these guys.
Apparently willpower is a superhuman ability for a lot of people. Is it so hard to wait until a game comes out for impressions? It's not about having a lot of money, it's about being an intelligent consumer. Boycotting certain companies is just embarrassingly stupid. Not in its immature reaction to being presented with a bad game, but rather the mindset that comes from that. If you're boycotting certain companies, then what your'e doing is giving others benefit of the doubt. That's how Destiny happened. Instead of stopping and saying "Maybe I should wait and see if this game is good before spending my money on this, let me wait it out a few weeks," too many people blindly bought into marketing and hype and ended up disappointed. Yet a lot of people here who are "standing for their rights as a consumer" either has games already pre-ordered or will in the future.
Also, there's something rotten with your thinking process if you correlate not participating in boycotting game companies with "I'll buy whatever and not research anything!"
How about we treat each game in a case-by-case basis? It's not hard unless, like I said, you have no willpower..or you like to roleplay Rosa Parks.
Summer Haze
Banned
Ubisoft.
Interficium
Banned
ShinMaruku
Member
THESE DAYS, RIGHT GUYS?!
You do realzie most people here probably popped in the ps1 -ps2 era.
THESE DAYS, RIGHT GUYS?!
Shit. That was nothing. I remember looking at NeoGeo prices and trying to figure out how they were worth hundreds of dollars each.
And? A false statement is a false statement. Considering inflation, gaming today is in the lower end in terms of price. These things don't become irrelevant because you were too young to remember them.
Crimsonclaw111
Member
I don't have a blacklist but certain developers and publishers I am much more cautious about buying their games.
Ubisoft, Activision, and recently the Dying Light developers are on my list of folks I don't care for, for various reasons.
Ubisoft, Activision, and recently the Dying Light developers are on my list of folks I don't care for, for various reasons.
ShinMaruku
Member
People always put things in the context of now, which is why regardless of how prices are now and yesterday it's irrelevant.
You make no sense. This statement is clearly alluding to the belief that games today are more expensive than ever. I fail to see how bringing up the fact that games were more expensive in the past is irrelevant.
Flame Lord
Member
Bioware
Gearbox
And maybe soon Ubisoft.
Not too hard since all these companies make is shit lately anyway.
Gearbox
And maybe soon Ubisoft.
Not too hard since all these companies make is shit lately anyway.
ShinMaruku
Member
I see no where were it says games today are more expensive as ever today. Also my point is to most people $60 is a good chunk of money regardless if it was around $75 to $80 long ago, the market and context are different now. And since when have people ever made sense? If sense was to be made half the grievances in society would be dealt with. But they are not because people are not rational actors.
R_thanatos
Member
Big Red Button Entertainment
Sonic boom is ... well .. this ..argh i can't ...
JUST NO , NO.
Sonic boom is ... well .. this ..argh i can't ...
JUST NO , NO.
I still don't think developer/publisher history can be discounted. If you have a PS3 and thought Skyrim looked cool, it would have served you well to reflect on the quality of Bethesda's previous PS3 ports instead of looking at Skyrim alone.
Pattern recognition is not childish or having a chip on your shoulder like others in this thread (not you) are suggesting.
EA. Time and again they simply screw consumers over and time and again they ignore the backlash;
I've managed to break away from Madden finally, and I'm trying my damdest this year to resist FIFA!
There's a difference between "holding a grudge like a child" and no longer wanting to support an anti-consumer publisher.
As a consumer the only way to change things you perceive as wrong is to vote with your wallet. There's nothing petulant about it.
Ding, ding, ding.
probably because time and again we cave and get roped back in the following year.
There's a difference between "holding a grudge like a child" and no longer wanting to support an anti-consumer publisher.
As a consumer the only way to change things you perceive as wrong is to vote with your wallet. There's nothing petulant about it.
Ding, ding, ding.
eXistor
Member
I don't have a black book, but anything Activision is pretty much guaranteed shit in my book. EA is also a "be wary" company and even more so Ubisoft, which has gone from respectable developer/publisher to an untrustworthy money-grubbing one. Gearbox have also squandered any goodwill they built up by releasing DNF and the whole Aliens: CM fiasco. Also their continued milking of Borderlands isn't very becoming.
Back in the day THQ and LJN were sure-fire misses. But if any of them make an actual good game, I'll buy it without hesitation. Dragon Age Inquisition, while far from great, was good enough for me to buy it day one. The first EA game in years for me.
I even bought 2 Ubisoft games last year: Child of Light and Valiant Hearts. Child of Light turned out to be a bit shit, but Valiant Hearts was great (not surprising since it's by Ubisoft's only competent studio).
Back in the day THQ and LJN were sure-fire misses. But if any of them make an actual good game, I'll buy it without hesitation. Dragon Age Inquisition, while far from great, was good enough for me to buy it day one. The first EA game in years for me.
I even bought 2 Ubisoft games last year: Child of Light and Valiant Hearts. Child of Light turned out to be a bit shit, but Valiant Hearts was great (not surprising since it's by Ubisoft's only competent studio).