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[dex3108]

Which begs the question - why put it in at all? As a design director your life is spent ensuring players don't get bottlenecked in certain places, that people never run out of resources when they really need them. Why complicate that?


Bob Roberts: Yeah, in the game you earn resources at a regular pace and the systems are tuned to that so you don't need another option. At the same time, it's there as a player choice. It's there, from my perspective, for people who are protective of their spare time and scared when a massive game comes along that they're not getting to see the full experience.

It's the same design philosophy as us adding in difficulty modes. So we now have Easy mode, and we've added Hard mode at the other end of the spectrum. Frankly the Nemesis system comes to life when you are dying loads, so you could see Easy mode as a system which makes the game less enjoyable if you are the type of player who really should have put it on Hard. It's putting more control in people's hands - saying, you know how you play best, you make that choice.

The ideal for people who set it to Easy is if they are just finding things too punishing, not because they don't want to die. We'd rather you die regularly to get the full experience of the Nemesis system.

And much more at the link below.

http://www.eurogamer.net/amp/2017-0...oper-discusses-games-controversial-loot-boxes

 

[Savantcore]

It's there, from my perspective, for people who are protective of their spare time and scared when a massive game comes along that they're not getting to see the full experience.

People should realise that there isn't a deadline for playing a game.

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Read the OP. Lol, what bullshit. You could just implement an even easier mode. You are under WB and they want to make as much money as they can. Stop trying to bullshitting people with excuses from a decade ago.

"Our game is not worth playing so here you can buy a shortcut", is what you are saying.

Edit: I literally never ever heard of a person or read about it that said, "I have no time so I will buy this to get through it faster". Like, never.

 

[d9b]

"How can I twist and sugarcoat this without admitting that it's just pure greed..? 🤔"

 

[Plumpbiscuit]

It's there, from my perspective, for people who are protective of their spare time and scared when a massive game comes along that they're not getting to see the full experience.

Remember when free cheat codes were a thing? If people wanted to get to the "good stuff" fast you would put in a cheat code or unlock it in-game, or even share save files.

Now instead of digging out your cheat notebook, it's digging out your debit/credit card and giving them unnecessary money.

This industry now, disgusting.

 

[Ridley327]

Instead of directly addressing the question about the loot boxes, the interviewee spins the question right into talking about how great their new Easy difficulty is.

Paramount could use a man with that kind of talent these days.

 

[Sesuadra]

Read the OP. Lol, what bullshit. You could just implement an even easier mode. You are under WB and they want to make as much money as they can. Stop trying to bullshitting people with excuses from a decade ago.

"Our game is not worth playing so here you can buy a shortcut", is what you are saying.

this. in the past it was called a "cheat". enter it and you get unlimited money or become invincible.

and now you can buy it..lol.

 

[matrix-cat]

I guess I feel bad that this poor guy has to peddle this shit in order to keep his job. Assuming he hasn't drunk his own Kool Aid.

 

[sublimit]

What a load of bullshit.

 

[lazygecko]

You're not really gonna get anything fruitful out of a discussion like this. Their job here is just to cover for design decisions made on the business side.

 

[oti]

Which begs the question - why put it in at all?

Because it makes money. Warner Bros. is a company. Their goal is to make money. Video games are goods, developed and designed to make money.

This question is stupid. The answer is obvious, but they just wanted to get any sort of answer out of them.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I'm not sure how loot boxes would help a player see the full experience?

If it's to get better gear to do harder things wouldn't difficulty settings be the answer to that?

 

[jelly]

They aren't going to say anything different. I understand that.

 

[Some Nobody]

People should realise that there isn't a deadline for playing a game.

And yet, this site is full of players complaining that games are "too long" and have "too much content" because they just want to finish it and move to the next game.

 

[Dynasty]

Putting it in basically is an admitance the game itself has too much filler and is grindy or the game isnt fun enough to keep some people interested throughout the entire game so they offer you a way to skip content.

 

[N3DS]

Bullshit lie to fool people who have never heard of cheat codes.

 

[Maximo]

What a load of shit.

 

[Deeke[VRZ]]

This is fine. WB has spent more money advertising/marketing Shadow of War than any other game in its history (at least according to WB). That takes serious investment.

With lootboxes WB shareholders can recoup their investment over time, publisher gets more money to invest into new IP/new games/new Middle-earth projects, devs update the game for free, game has longer tail and can last 1-2 years with steady stream of content.

Plus I'd like to think the more money Shadow of War makes, the more developers get paid. So I'm fine with optional loot boxes in the long run.

 

[robotrock]

the question got begged

 

[_Ryo_]

Lol. A load of bullshit excuses. Try again. The only answer is you want to take advantage of, and manipulate players for large amounts of money.

There is no reasonable excuse for microtransactions in a full priced, single player game, period. The only exception is cosmetic skins that have absolutely zero impact on gameplay.

If you think players should have to pay to progress faster and spend less time playing, it means you do not believe in the quality of the game and just want more money. I'd respect publishers a lot more if they'd just be honest and admit it.

 

[Marvel]

Lol, whatever.

I'm waiting for a sale now.

 

[Emperor_Uriel]

You're not really gonna get anything fruitful out of a discussion like this. Their job here is just to cover for design decisions made on the business side.

Exactly. I'm sure nobody is more pissed about these choices than the developers themselves, who spend years fine tuning an experience just to have the whole narrative around it dominated by a shady last-minute scheme.

 

[Pennywise]

Read the OP. Lol, what bullshit. You could just implement an even easier mode. You are under WB and they want to make as much money as they can. Stop trying to bullshitting people with excuses from a decade ago.

"Our game is not worth playing so here you can buy a shortcut", is what you are saying.

Edit: I literally never ever heard of a person or read about it that said, "I have no time so I will buy this to get through it faster". Like, never.

MMORPGs attract these kind of people.
Different situation though.

Here it's just a shitty excuse.

 

[saktrop]

Fancy words but even a toddler wouldn't believe that excuse lol it's all about that mulah.

 

[Duffk1ng]

1. Force developer to put micro-transactions in game
2. Force developer to take the flak for it rather than you
3. ???
4. Profit. A lot

Ah, games industry.

 

[Danjin44]

And yet, this site is full of players complaining that games are "too long" and have "too much content" because they just want to finish it and move to the next game.

This biggest issue right here. People are such hurry to finish the games as fast as possible.

Honestly I rather play fewer games but take my time and complete enjoy the game rather than halfassly play 100 games. I don't undrestand how can anyone enjoy games like that?

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Fancy words but even a toddler wouldn't believe that excuse lol it's all about that mulah.

Yeah, but if the staff working on the game tell the truth "Warner bros told us we could either put them in or they'll replace all the top staff in our studio until they have someone who will", that'll be the end of his/her job.

 

[Carcetti]

Pure obfuscation. There's no rational reason to have loot boxes in a full-priced single player game other than pure fleecing.

 

[TatteredHat]

Haha, I understand his hands are tied as this is probably a decision made by his higher-ups but what a load of bullshit.

Loot box regulation can't come soon enough.

 

[The Cartographer]

This is fine. WB has spent more money advertising/marketing Shadow of War than any other game in its history (at least according to WB). That takes serious investment.

With lootboxes WB shareholders can recoup their investment over time, publisher gets more money to invest into new IP/new games/new Middle-earth projects, devs update the game for free, game has longer tail and can last 1-2 years with steady stream of content.

Plus I'd like to think the more money Shadow of War makes, the more developers get paid. So I'm fine with optional loot boxes in the long run.

This is nothing more than emply optimism

The bolded part is pure wishful thinking.

 

[Fury451]

You're not really gonna get anything fruitful out of a discussion like this. Their job here is just to cover for design decisions made on the business side.

.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

If I was a gameplay designer I'd just be straight:

"Look, we need additional revenue. We don't dare to price the product more, so we're look at additional revenue streams. Because lootboxes are the standard we're jumping on that too."


And look- Let's all cut the fucking crap. They are not going to stop. So let us have a discussion about what additional on-going ways of buying additions to the game post-launch that we'd be happy about.

Which games actually have microtransactions that are worth something. Which games actually has a cash shop that doesn't come at the expense of the core game. Those are the discussions we should be having because we're never going back to a time where you only pay for the game. Games will continue to be services.

So the community at large needs to communicate and vote with our wallets to what sort of microtransactions systems we like.

10 years ago, the world discovered that not all Free 2 Play was trash. In the early 2000s that was about the case. People looked at Korea and said "It's going to be like this in the west too". Then in the late 2000s, some games discovered that what bothered people was Pay 2 Win.
So we saw free 2 play games that advocated for no skill advantage. And the community severely punished and went ham on games like ArcheAge and Evolve when they strayed.


The community has a lot more cloth than it often things. The only reason why we have lootboxes is because they are super succesful. There has to be better ways at doing it.

 

[UrbanRats]

It's the same design philosophy as us adding in difficulty modes. So we now have Easy mode, and we've added Hard mode at the other end of the spectrum.

Do you have to pay, to use Easy Mode? Then don't try to spin this into "it's to give more choice" bullshit.

Just be honest and say what everybody already knows.
You're just insulting people's intelligence with this shit.

 

[Prithee Be Careful]

Except nobody forces you to pay for difficulty modes (yet - don't get any ideas, WB). At best, they're exploiting the time poor.

 

[Seik]

This is fine. WB has spent more money advertising/marketing Shadow of War than any other game in its history (at least according to WB). That takes serious investment.

With lootboxes WB shareholders can recoup their investment over time, publisher gets more money to invest into new IP/new games/new Middle-earth projects, devs update the game for free, game has longer tail and can last 1-2 years with steady stream of content.

Plus I'd like to think the more money Shadow of War makes, the more developers get paid. So I'm fine with optional loot boxes in the long run.

The game's sales alone should be enough to recoup the investment if it's anything near a success. Also, nothing says that the money gained by these loot boxes will benefit the devs or content.

This is not fine.

 

[Ensirius]

I think he made things worse by talking to us as if we were stupid

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

I will be waiting for the reviews before buying, to make sure they are telling the truth about the game being balanced and not needing the crappy Loot Boxes to progress, without the game becoming a grind.

Shame though because I loved the first one and it was going to be a day one buy, until they decided to add in this shit.

 

[Egida]

Just be honest and say what everybody already knows.
You're just insulting people's intelligence with this shit.

.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

"Buy to beat" and "buy to platinum" should become a thing for all backloggery and trophy enthusiasts!

 

[Sinh_Magnus]

Can't you use cheatengine if you want to cheat in this game?

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Read the OP. Lol, what bullshit. You could just implement an even easier mode. You are under WB and they want to make as much money as they can. Stop trying to bullshitting people with excuses from a decade ago.

"Our game is not worth playing so here you can buy a shortcut", is what you are saying.

Edit: I literally never ever heard of a person or read about it that said, "I have no time so I will buy this to get through it faster". Like, never.

Well I have, but not lootboxes.

When it comes to single player games lootboxes are going too far.

 

[Skulldead]

I don't know how many copies of the game they have lost since the lot box announcement.... The whale will anaway balance more money for them then normal sold copy customer, this is even more discusting.

They are cute with there easy mode, the first game was way too easy, I can put a 5$ that this easy mode will me much harder/grindy then the previous game. No way they will forget their loot system to accommodate player.

 

[Eumi]

So it’s there for people who don’t want to waste time playing the game?

So you’re saying that your game would be a waste of my time?

 

[sublimit]

Do you have to pay, to use Easy Mode? Then don't try to spin this into "it's to give more choice" bullshit.

Just be honest and say what everybody already knows.
You're just insulting people's intelligence with this shit.

That would have earned them my respect but it would have been catastrophic for the game's marketing and the guy would have surely lost his job.
In the end money is obviously much more important for those companies than the respect of a few people.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

"Warner Bros. saw how much money Overwatch was making from Loot Boxes and mandated that we had to put them in."

 

[SchrodingerC]

's there, from my perspective, for people who are protective of their spare time and scared when a massive game comes along that they're not getting to see the full experience.

Aww, how nice of them to look out for players, in a totes non-predatory way.

'Easy mode' my ass.

 

[Ushojax]

"Why loot boxes?"

"Because we like money. *cough* I mean we want everyone to finish the game. By paying money."

If they actually cared about novice players they would follow what Nintendo did with the recent Mario games and the Super Guide/god mode. But there's no money in that.

 

[Stone Ocean]

If you earn stuff at a regular pace and don't need another option, why would I be worried about my spare time?

Unless "regular pace" is bullshit, of course.

 

[Rellik]

Lol, whatever.

I'm waiting for a sale now.

So you'll buy their game slightly later.

THAT WILL SHOW THEM!!

 

[Duchess O'Death]

It's the same design philosophy as us adding in difficulty modes.

No it's not. Difficulty modes are free.

"Why loot boxes?"

"Because we like money. *cough* I mean we want everyone to finish the game. By paying money."

If they actually cared about novice players they would follow what Nintendo did with the recent Mario games and the Super Guide/god mode. But there's no money in that.

Let's not use Nintendo as an example here.