EA trying to fix something by replacing it with something worse? I'm SHOCKED!
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EA's on a roll!: New PvZ 2 update
- Thread starter Rodney McKay
- Start date
EA trying to fix something by replacing it with something worse? I'm SHOCKED!
Wow, didn't know that. His side would be interesting to hear.
SeventhSon
Member
It's (sort of) interesting, because it highlights EA's business strategy so very clearly. They had a solid and very popular game in PvZ. They then took it apart in order to shoehorn microtransactions into it. This led to a massive backlash and they patched the worst of it out. Now they're back and are trying to sneak some of it back in, while everyone is focused on the DK controversy. If this is successful and doesn't receive too much negative attention, they will most likely re-introduce more.
Games truly are just products to EA. Vehicles for microtransactions and little else.
SolidSnakeUS
Member
I think this should be posted here:
http://imgur.com/IySQ5N3
Ummm, that's pretty damn illegal to not have the ability (or clearly visible) unsubscribe.
http://imgur.com/IySQ5N3
Ummm, that's pretty damn illegal to not have the ability (or clearly visible) unsubscribe.
badcrumble
Member
Oh DS3 did a bad job of getting you to actually *engage* in microtransactions, for sure. But the fact that basically everything in the game was totally fungible into everything else meant that you were constantly chock-full of everything you needed instead of selling your best ammo/healing to get more power nodes like you did in DS1/2. Ironically, the microtransactions in DS3 made the game too easy instead of impossible to complete without them.
I really wonder what EA's shareholders think of EA's reputation. It seems like they don't care, or at least not publicly stating it. If that shareholder lawsuit doesn't change EA's management practices, nothing will.
FreddieQuell
Member
They seriously have the unsubscribe link in german? Wow.
JackDebian
Banned
That demon from Dungeon Keeper should really be EA's new official mascot.
"The Devil made us do it!"
"The Devil made us do it!"
mysteriousmage09
Member
This shit is ridiculous and anyone that supports/defends this are just as bad.
Exactly. If I designing their monetization, I would've recognized that this was a very risky design change to make--and if I were to make it myself, I certainly would've done it prior to launch and not after.
We don't have access to their market data, and monetization design is very data-driven, so I can only assume that they're doing this because they see more gains than detriment.
I work with guys on a daily basis that come from all corners of the game dev community (yes, PopCap and EA included!), and if there's one piece of dissonance between the "truth" and what's publicly known, it's always rumors surrounding why someone was let go or fired. The person who was let go or laid off is inevitably going to have a different perspective (usually tinged negatively) compared to everyone around him. Some of it's due to clarity in retrospective; many times it has to do with why he was fired in the first place--such as being completely unaware of what behaviors led him to be fired. So everything should be taken with a grain of salt.
There are definitely legit horror stories of workplace abuse out there (I've lived in one!), but a unreliable narrator is always going to be a part of it. Unfortunately, most of the public generally tends to side with the small guy, so even when sources fail to corroborate, it often seems like a conspiracy theory. There's generally an assumption of competence when someone is let go but speaks out, but oftentimes it's the opposite. I don't know anything about the guy you're referencing to--just speaking in very, very generalized terms.
This particular case comes off as damned shady, from the public point of view. They axed fifty jobs at once while simultaneously hiring a bunch of other people, and the head of the studio had this to say:
You're right to say that there are always two sides to this sort of story, but everything about this one smells like management mandating a business shift that some of the creative staff didn't like.
ChiliManiac
Banned
Maybe if we start supporting activision who really doesn't do much of this over EA do you think they'll get the message? 
Maybe if we start supporting activision who really doesn't do much of this over EA do you think they'll get the message?
Activision already makes more money than God. I don't think that's going to solve anything
And this is a year gaming side Microsoft is a serious contender too. I still think if we're going this route though that Microsoft is more worthy for misdeeds that were seriously considered and aren't off the table for future generations, and the fact they tried this stuff in games you actually bought, but EA sure as hell has trouble properly responding to criticism in a meaningful way. At least Microsoft got that much right.
EDIT: Also worth keeping in mind for that train of thought that EA seems to be going for the "industry standard" in regards to mobile. It sucks mainly because they're a more prominent company, and that they keep doing this with beloved series.
onlyindreams
Banned
Hate to break it to you but EA is a business and investing hundreds of millions of dollars into something means they're going to need to find ways to sell that product. Games with a budget are not and will never be "art".
As has been mentioned several times before in threads like these, there are different ways of dealing with microtransactions. Some games do it well and some games don't. It is possible to design a game with microtransactions, without having it ruin gameplay and alienate (some of) the fans.
I'm not opposed to microtransactions or F2P in general. I'm opposed to the sledgehammer approach, where you squeeze a franchise dry, toss it aside, and then move on to the next one.
speculawyer
Member
I've downloaded the game and I was thinking about playing it.
And then I read this thread.
No thanks.
And then I read this thread.
No thanks.
I'm pretty sure most of the games people consider as classics are high-budget.
StevePharma
Member
Seems PvZ is dead to me now.
Fuck everything.
I wanted a proper outing of PvZ2 on console/PC/Vita but now, no thanks. Unless someone would heavily mod a PC-version MAYBE.
ZehDon
Gold Member
What? Every brain-dead AAA blockbuster game released to retail had a budget, and every obtuse indie darling had a budget. Hell, any game you point as "good" had a budget. In my opinion, this idea that people working for a profit cannot produce art really needs to go away. The vast majority of the greatest works of art in human history were commission jobs.
What we're seeing here is an industry where the biggest guys are reaching the limits of attainable quarterly growth. Growth, not profit or budgets, is the issue. As publically traded companies, the world's largest Publishers need to secure substantial growth, year on year, quarter by quarter. If they made a new game that somehow managed to sell a copy to every living human on earth, next quarter they would need a game that somehow sold more copies, even though that is technically not possible. They're reaching the ceiling of what the industry can sustain in terms of return of investment, but they're not learning and changing tact.
The industry has left them behind. GOG, Steam, Desura; Publishers are all but irrelevant as the industry marches towards a future driven by the consumer. One where the Developers can self-publish and interact with their fans without the need for a Publisher at all. At its core, this crap is about the bubble that a focus on growth produces, and how that bubble ends. The video game industry hasn't had a massive systemic crash for decades. How long can the industry churn out CoDs, FFXIVs, BF4s and the garbage that infest mobile platforms before people literally just give up them?
NullPointer
Member
Good point, but you know they'd just try to sell us half the previous year's game for twice as much.
Boss Riovane
Member
Thanks for the heads up about PvZ2. Now in the process of deleting...
JimmyRustler
Gold Member
It seems EA is really beyond salvation. Shame, I was really looking forward to Mirrors Edge 2 but since buying it would mean for me to support this company I'll pass.
EA once asked: "Can a Computer Make You Cry?"
Now they make people cry with their decisions. It's a real shame.
http://chrishecker.com/Can_a_Computer_Make_You_Cry?
Now they make people cry with their decisions. It's a real shame.
http://chrishecker.com/Can_a_Computer_Make_You_Cry?
The one I've got is in Spanish.
I think his point is that even nice guys can be unreliable narrators or show job incompetency.
Maybe you should actually spend some time reading ITT. The issue is a little more complicated than that.
badcrumble
Member
It's more like it should be a paid game and also it should not be a shitty game.
ShockingAlberto
Member
I would have gladly paid $15 for a game like PvZ1. In fact I did, it was called PvZ1.
Like the hat?
Banned
I would pay $25 for a sequel to plants vs zombies
I wouldn't pay a dollar to unlock the used lawn mowers or whatever in this game.
I bought plants vs zombies one five different times because I love the game so much.
I wouldn't pay a dollar to unlock the used lawn mowers or whatever in this game.
I bought plants vs zombies one five different times because I love the game so much.
thelatestmodel
Junior, please.
When I get to the end of Plants vs. Zombies, I literally just go back and start the Adventure again, because it's way more fun than Plants vs. Zombies 2. That pretty much says it all.
Between PC, iOS and Vita I've paid a premium for PvZ1 three times. I've spent about $3 on PvZ2, to unlock the jalapeno. That's probably the only IAP I'll make in PvZ2 (in it's current state).
dorkimoe
Member
there is a difference between micro transactions and taking away a vital part of the game in an update to make more money....
in my opinion micro transactions should not change the way you play the game..completely
speculawyer
Member
That article about how these freemium games nailed it . . . . they are no longer designing games, they are designing scams. I just can't bear the thought of "playing" something which is designed as a system to get people involved and extract as much money as possible from the "players" (marks). I am willing to pay good money up front for a game that is designed to be so entertaining that I am willing to pay money to obtain it.
Nicktendo86
Member
Yep BBC says they have updated the game and changed it back. The backlash must have been pretty big, not downloading again they can fuck off.
Too late. Game is off my ipad and iPhone and I won't be touching it again.
I wish EA never got their stinking hands on PvZ. The first game was amazing, a really fun take on the tower defence genre, great art, fantastic humour and the music was amazing (what's Laura Shigihara up to these days?). So EA, how do you feel getting voted Worst Company of 2014 as well? You certainly seem to do everything in your power to not let anyone else win.
King is a big contender though.
King is a big contender though.
Same here. Off both my iPad and iPhone. I actually enjoyed the game up until this last update.
I'm curious how much money they've made off this game compared to PvZ. I mean they could have sold millions by having it priced at $5 or $10 and released it on PC along with mobile platforms. I just don't get it. Unless of course they've made insane amounts with the f2p model. I know they get tons of revenue from simpsons tapped out.
RedNumberFive
Banned
Same here. I loved the first game, and would have gladly paid for the sequel, but EA had to come in and mess up that relationship.
Chairmanchuck
Member
Just trying to finish the first world "again"...
I played it when it came out and the boss was piss-easy.
Now I play it again in the updated version and he almost seems impossible without buying shit....
I played it when it came out and the boss was piss-easy.
Now I play it again in the updated version and he almost seems impossible without buying shit....
Like the hat?
Banned
I was finally doing fine for a while, everything was feeling like pvz1, only a little harder.
New update came through yesterday, and now I can't beat hardly any stage.
New update came through yesterday, and now I can't beat hardly any stage.
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