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[creatchee]

http://screenrant.com/gears-of-war-4-microtransactions-controversy/

A day one patch boosted the credit earnings from versus multiplayer and reduced the price on one of the packs, but left everything else unchanged. You can play play all 50 waves of Horde mode over a span of hours and still not be able to afford the cheapest in-game pack for that mode. But you can pay real money and get those cards and those bonuses and be a stronger player in that mode and save that time and effort. All it takes is some of that real money. Don’t worry about the purchase price of the game. They know you’ve spent $60 or $100 already. The microtransactions are totally optional! Except they’re not if you want to have the highest damage weapons and in-game buffs for Horde mode. So, just spend. The alternative is grinding with little reward or progression so it’s better to open your wallet. Spend!

That’s the devs talking.

I have to say that I'd be hard pressed to point to another full priced game that has had a $10.00, 25.00, and $100.00+ bundle of randomized cosmetics and boosters dropped within the first week - all of which will not even come close to giving you every item available in the game even if you were to eliminate repeats. It's like the Forza 5 launch, but way worse because at least you got to choose what you were buying for real money in that situation, even though you could technically spend more. Both featured insane amounts of grinding (even after initial adjustments) to get what you want.

The Coalition and Microsoft need to reevaluate their microtransaction policies and make things more reasonable. I understand that we are just numbers to them, but at least create an environment where we can pretend that we're not.

Craft me for 2400 scrap if old.

 

[xkramz]

At least it's cosmetic items and it isnt pay to win.

 

[kingofthedead45]

At least it's cosmetic items and it isnt pay to win.

Not if you play horde mode actually.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

The new e-sports pack is especially ridiculous.

If you want to get all the exclusives from it you have to spend $100 ($10 each) at a minimum, but that's assuming you don't get a single duplicate which is pretty much impossible. People that have gotten everything have spend over $500 in some instances.

The economy of Gears 4 is in a pretty sad state currently.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

Yikes.

No sale from me then.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

At least it's cosmetic items and it isnt pay to win.

But it's still random shit for real money. There's no choice or skill. It's fucking gambling, i have no idea how it's allowed.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Yeah, I really hate this. Fortunately, I only bought Gears 4 for its campaign.

 

[Haines]

I was suprised when yet another pack ( esports) was added today.

I will just use in game money on them but i absolutely hate this whole whale hunting in a big game like gears.

It just goes to prove that in the end they want all your money, all of it,

 

[wapplew]

The cost of modern AAA.
You want games bigger, longer, prettier, more content for same $60, better accept that and let whales fund part of it.

 

[JambiBum]

Guess you forgot about overwatch and their loot box bundles, however, since the credit change update I get operation packs pretty quickly now and it doesn't take much longer to get elite packs if I want one. There's also the fact that you can turn anything into scrap and craft whatever you want with it. Horde bundles are only 400 credits which is like 3 vs games depending on performance. Before the credit update I would have agreed that the grind was too long. Now not so much.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

After seeing CS:GO sprays and Deus Ex MD microtransactions, I'd say microtransactions in general are out of control.

 

[BigTnaples]

Yeah, I mean, I usually have no problem with micro transactions (I just spent 60 bucks on loot crates in Overwatch) but the Gears 4 system kind of sucks.

I even bought and loved every piece of horse armor.



I mean, I spent 5 hours in horde mode, and couldn't get one single pack for my efforts..? That's not cool.

Hoping they will fix it, because otherwise the game is great.

 

[Giftofgab24]

But it's still random shit for real money. There's no choice or skill. It's fucking gambling, i have no idea how it's allowed.

Because games that cost $200 million to make need additional revenue streams to make profit and keep developers working. It's a pretty simple concept. i couldn't care less about cosmetics and the horde booster packs are a lot cheaper than the cosmetic ones so I have no issues with it.

 

[Toki767]

I imagine they'll probably loosen the grips on what playing the game actually gives you like they did with Forza 5, but yeah, micro transactions in these games shouldn't be too surprising. It's essentially free money for them.

 

[Sojgat]

After seeing CS:GO sprays and Deus Ex MD microtransactions, I'd say microtransactions in general are out of control.

They've been out of control in this franchise since Judgment.

 

[EatinOlives]

Overwatch, Mankind Divided, and now Gears 4. This has been a real shit year for microtransactions in full-priced games.

 

[LAA]

Yeah bizarrely I was drawn into the esports pack thinking you got all that was on the image, but no I think I got 2 weapon skins from it, the rest still has randomness applied.
Feel especially ripped off from that, £8 for that.
I have to say I do like how horde uses cards/class skills. Thought it would be more like H5, which I'm not the biggest fan of as they're one time use and it's gone after that. Would have been better being like 1 time match use instead, just makes me never use the higher level cards.
At least with horde being a co op game, people being able to get more powerful by paying it of benefit to whatever team they're in, though yeah I still agree you can't afford packs enough regularly.

 

[Giftofgab24]

I was suprised when yet another pack ( esports) was added today.

I will just use in game money on them but i absolutely hate this whole whale hunting in a big game like gears.

It just goes to prove that in the end they want all your money, all of it,

Of course they do. They're corporations with investors to please. Do you think they made a $200 million dollar game for shits and giggles?

 

[Jameson]

Everything is overpriced, but the microtransactions are pretty tamed compared to other games(NBA2K, Call of duty, U4/The last of us, etc)

 

[AusRoachman]

Sadly there is no punishment , only gain. Reviews don't mention them and thus metacritics dont change, whilst most players hate them there still appears to be people willing to poney up the cash.

Personally i have never spent a dime on micro-transactions in either mobile or console games, but obviously a lot of people do.

Didnt rockstar just proudly claim they have made half a billion dollars in microtransactions for gta5 ?

 

[Stilton Disco]

It's depressing that we're so used to this kind of anti consumerism that this is the first I've really heard about it, and no ones particularly up in arms about it in the wider gaming press.

 

[RPS37]

I really didn't like how limited the selection for character skins was in versus with just the vanilla version of the game and before getting packs.

 

[Yagharek]

The cost of modern AAA.
You want games bigger, longer, prettier, more content for same $60, better accept that and let whales fund part of it.

Or stop supporting gambling scams.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

It's depressing that we're so used to this kind of anti consumerism that this is the first I've really heard about it, and no ones particularly up in arms about it in the wider gaming press.

The press may not be picking up on it but the players are currently slamming TC and MS pretty hard over it. Both the official forums and the subreddit are letting them have it. Hopefully it's enough to force their hands.

 

[texhnolyze]

It's depressing that we're so used to this kind of anti consumerism that this is the first I've really heard about it, and no ones particularly up in arms about it in the wider gaming press.

There's no stopping the microtransactions in full-priced games train. Gamers' wallet have spoken, it's here to stay.

 

[Haines]

Of course they do. They're corporations with investors to please. Do you think they made a $200 million dollar game for shits and giggles?

Its a nice game. I will give them that. In the end i actually hope whales do bite, so i can olay the dlc fo free, if thats the business model

 

[Doomshroom]

Op says its bonuses and strongest weapon but the poeple in here say its just cosmetics?

 

[Chalupa Batman]

I have to say that I'd be hard pressed to point to another full priced game that has had a $10.00, 25.00, and $100.00+ bundle of randomized cosmetics and boosters dropped within the first week - all of which will not even come close to giving you every item available in the game even if you were to eliminate repeats.

Uncharted 4 says hello, although there are no dupes. This is nothing new and will never stop even if used game sales are eliminated or the PS5/Xbone 2 (if there is one) is digital-only. They're done the research and clearly enough people pay to make it worthwhile enough to offset the vocal minority/temporary internet damage to their reputation.

 

[Possumowner]

Yeah,its very annoying,i almost refunded mine on Pc.Kinda wish I had now

 

[Fracas]

As it doesn't affect competitive MP, I have no issue with this. Let people play the whale tax.

 

[SunDimension24]

Sadly there is no punishment , only gain. Reviews don't mention them and thus metacritics dont change, whilst most players hate them there still appears to be people willing to poney up the cash.

Personally i have never spent a dime on micro-transactions in either mobile or console games, but obviously a lot of people do.

Didnt rockstar just proudly claim they have made half a billion dollars in microtransactions for gta5 ?

Yep and don't be surprised when the next red dead game is announced and there a hefty amount of microtransactions in it for their online mode. As long as people pay for them, companies will keep using them.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Yep the credit payout is more like an insult right now. Multiply it by 10 and it's probably right.

 

[A.D. Skinner]

Only issue I see is that it is horribly balanced for people who mostly/only play Horde. Maybe if they upped Horde eaenings and made a Horde only pack which was slightly more expensive, it could balance it.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Gears of War 4 Microtransactions are Out of Control

Not surprising. That seems to be a trend this generation.

 

[ROUGE_BLOCK]

At this point I would be way happier with microtransaction systems if I could just buy the shit outright in them and bypass the fucking RNG systems. Such as the OP mentioned with Forza 5, you at least know what you are getting besides this slot machine crap.

Like have reasonably priced goods skins, weapons, characters etc. For a decent price, none of this slot machine shit. Then again Evolve did that with camo skins like the colour blue and whatnot for $2 and that system definitely was shit.

I dont know at this point, all I know is that I hate price gouging and I'm never giving my money to any of these systems, especially Halo 5 for that matter.

 

[BizzyBum]

Everyone on the official Gears forums and Reddit are calling TC out for this shit. Hopefully they remodel the system but if people pay why bother?

I'm not sure if it's still possible but apparently people were getting refunds from Microsoft regarding the eSports pack.

 

[Unfriendly TimeTraveler]

Think the only problem they have it showing off all of it within a week. A lot of games have this but they were added in one day while gears every day you played a new message of the day shows up telling you that you can spend money.

Luckily it's mostly only cosmetics. The horde perks are also included but horde packs only cost 400 credits.

Plus if the credit gain was a bit more it wouldn't be as bad.

 

[toastyToast]

Overwatch, Mankind Divided, and now Gears 4. This has been a real shit year for microtransactions in full-priced games.

I'd rather they weren't in Overwatch but you can completely avoid them and get what you want eventually (entirely cosmetic). The complaints about the last seasonal event were legit but now you can buy event items at a premium. Just to compare you get a pack every hour or so with Overwatch but with Gears, I've played horde for hours and I still can't afford shit.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

I spent $10 on the esports pack thinking I was gonna get a Kait skin. All I got were bounty cards and two esports weapon skins that I cared little for. Yeah, I'm not spending anymore money on this game. The only way to quickly get the legendary stuff is to destroy what you have so you can get scrap to create it. It doesn't help that they give you barely 80 coins for each match and the case you want the most cost 3,500.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Didnt rockstar just proudly claim they have made half a billion dollars in microtransactions for gta5 ?

Rockstars online isn't propped up by pseudo gambling though. You buy your credits and spend them on shit want. Its a fair trade.
MS is literally a con-artist with Gears 4. You're not allowed to pull this shit in the street with cups and balls, but a corporation can do it with skins jr a videogame.

 

[Lucifon]

It's actually one of the worst implementations of microtransactions I've witnessed in a long time. Not necessarily in terms of game impact but in terms of how poorly balanced the in-game rewards are versus paying real money.

I find it baffling when H5 got it so right that they would get it so wrong. The credit earn rates / pack earn rates need to be seriously adjusted. Not just slightly increased but pretty significantly.

 

[johnnydrama]

It's a generational trend with online games. Can't really get behind any of it, but they're making much bigger and prettier games and still charging you the same base price they were charging in 2005. Something's gotta give. I mostly play Gears 4 PvP so I'm glad the MTs are only cosmetic there. But yeah, not a fan of this trend.

 

[spazimoose]

Really disappointed that this is quickly becoming the norm for AAA games. I hope one day well all look back at micro-transactions and laugh, but the problem is definitely coming to a head. As long as a minority of players is willing to pay for those $100 mystery boxes this will continue to be a problem. I have a feeling this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

 

[aBarreras]

they need to give more credits, and not having those "for 24 hours only" bullshit, just put the fucking skin, and if someone buys it then redirect that money to the esport scene, easy as that, im not expending money on the possibility of gettin the skin i want, for 24 hours only.

the way to give more credits could be related tot he fucking medals you can earn, assigning different credit reward for some of those medals, like MVP or something

 

[takriel]

Jesus Christ. You cannot afford such anti-consumerism anymore, Microsoft.

 

[wapplew]

Ok, seems like the problem is not micro transaction itself but the balance of in game currency and too expansive.
I'm sure they'll do something about it.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Even just for the cosmetics, the prices are ridiculous and downright insulting.

Like, if you want to buy a single pack of five cosmetic items it costs you $4.99. It doesn't get any cheaper the more you buy either as they offer a pack of five of the crates for $24.99. I mean, you're actually paying $.04 more if you buy the pack of five. What the fuck is that?

Compare that to Overwatch where you can get two for $1.99 and they get cheaper as you buy in bulk.

The "just cosmetics" thing goes out the window for me when TC and MS are giving the middle finger to all the players.

 

[johnnydrama]

Jesus Christ. You cannot afford such anti-consumerism anymore, Microsoft.

Uh, pretty much every AAA publisher is doing this. Just look at Square Enix, WB, Activision, Blizzard. Hell, even Uncharted 4 has paid perks from what I gather. I may be wrong about the last part though.

 

[- J - D -]

Pay to Win (at Horde mode).

 

[Comfort Jones]

The cost of modern AAA.
You want games bigger, longer, prettier, more content for same $60, better accept that and let whales fund part of it.

Stop buying into this nonsense.

They were making a fine profit either way.