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Assassin's Creed: Unity microtransaction shop wasn't fully live in retail copies

Cornbread78

Member
I guess Ubisoft wants to take EA's title of "Worst Company."

EA just got dethroned.


Seriously, that's so blatantly anti-consumer it's not even funny.



OMG yes and they aren't going to apologize or explain shit on how they screwed everything up so bad.

Let's review:

-Parity to avoid debates
-Review embargo
-Performance issues like crazy
-PS4 version trashed (marketed with MS)
-Hidden microtrano actions


Am I missing anything here? Damn Ubi, just embarrassing and really questionable and unethical behavior here. Has anyone contacted the BBB, this might be a good case review for them abut sketchy businews practices..
 

fernoca

Member
Why would co-op work but not the other features? Wouldn't they all be tied to the same server?
Different. For example, the Estore on PS4 is tied to PSN, and you couldn't buy credit until Grace Chen flipped the switch...a few hours ago.

Plus you can buy everything in game, by actually...aying the game. Or just pay money and have it faster.

Like didn't someone in here spend $150 on Best Buy gift cards with the $7 GCU, to be set until like 2040? People, even in here do with their money whatever they want. :p
 
God damn. I was ready to jump on the shit train, but those screens and tweets clearly point to the OP title being misleading. Not being able to purchase them or see prices is not the same as hiding.


Edit: glad to see it was fixed.
 

wachie

Member
Without the prices, as it is suggested it appeared in the review build, that is still shady shit.

Put up microtransactions without the possibility of being laughed out of the room for asking players for $99 after a $60 purchase. Own up to that shit. Nah, it's a day one surprise via reviews, including the ridiculous prices.

Fuck Ubisoft.
But GAF is jumping on this occasion, poor Ubisoft.
 

Nibel

Member
Has anyone seen CrossingEden today? I want to know how he's doing.

Possible climbing around in the OT.

I am considering that, but there's nothing else for me that day. Played GTA already, dragon age I've never played and don't want to jump in so late. I might end up just not buying it. Ubisoft doesn't deserve my money.

You disagree with their policies yet you are ready to pay them full price for their next title because in a world with gaming options with seemingly no end there is nothing else for you to play than a formulaic designed FPS that pulls the usual strings?

I'm not saying what you should to with your money, but this is the kind of behaviour that leads to them doing this in the first place. I apologize that I quoted you - because there are several others who think this way - and hope you don't feel offended by any of this, but this has just some negative connotation that irked me.

In the end, people will buy FC4 in masses, so whatever.
 
People sure dont read more than the title huh?

I am not defending micro transactions, they are really bad, but come on. Also, well if reviewers were able to finish the game with no micro transactions they must not be all that important.

Still will wait to buy this game until its like on sale or cheap used though.
 

mid83

Member
God damn. I was ready to jump on the shit train, but those screens and tweets clearly point to the OP title being misleading. Not being able to purchase them or see prices is not the same as hiding.


Edit: glad to see it was fixed.

Yeah. As much negative garbage as there is about AC:U, I hate to see people run with something that isn't exactly true.
 
God damn. I was ready to jump on the shit train, but those screens and tweets clearly point to the OP title being misleading. Not being able to purchase them or see prices is not the same as hiding.


Edit: glad to see it was fixed.

I'll defend the word hidden. It was not immediately obvious they were tied to the specific items and it could have/should have been clarified. Like I said earlier, incompetence at best, hiding at worst.

The current title is still true, and helps everyone though.
 

Vodh

Junior Member
OMG yes and they aren't going to apologize or explain shit on how they screwed everything up so bad.

Let's review:

-Parity to avoid debates
-Review embargo
-Performance issues like crazy
-PS4 version trashed (marketed with MS)
-Hidden microtrano actions


Am I missing anything here? Damn Ubi, just embarrassing and really questionable and unethical behavior here. Has anyone contacted the BBB, this might be a good case review for them abut sketchy businews practices..

Cut them some slack. They're just trying to raise enough money to be able to afford the exorbitant prices of female animations.
 
All this people who say "Im not buying this!" instead of taking 10 seconds in reading the OP.

Its clearly a server issue, just the multiplayer was working before the game release.

Shame on anyone who buys this crap.

Shame for what? I bought the game and lot of my friends too, we plan to have a great time. Videogames are for fun.
 

legacyzero

Banned
Why should the server for microtransactions work when the game isn't even released? This also proves you can perfectly play the game without any microtransactions.

People really like going crazy over nothing, don't they?

Because Ubisoft did not wish to be clear or transparent about a feature like this. A release day embargo is also evidence of this.
 

RetroStu

Banned
You know whats funny about all this?.
We live in the world of social media, information is impossible to keep from spreading anymore.
Do your bit guys, get spreading the word on social media and get it going viral. Make these fuckers squirm, there is nothing stopping you.
 

Megasoum

Banned
Because Ubisoft did not wish to be clear or transparent about a feature like this. A release day embargo is also evidence of this.

lol come on dude...

You know whats funny about all this?.
We live in the world of social media, information is impossible to keep from spreading anymore.
Do your bit guys, get spreading the word on social media and get it going viral. Make these fuckers squirm, there is nothing stopping you.

Make who squirm? All the "fuckers" in this thread who are clearly overreacting over nothing or Ubisoft for releasing a game?

Just making sure I understand you.
 
Looks like Ubisoft is going to learn what EA and Microsoft already learned. Adding exhorrbbant microtransactions to your retail titles just causes people to avoid your products.
 
Why dont the reviewers show their worth and change their scores! Make an example man

sometimes I wish GAF expanded to have its own metacritic-like review page for games. I very much prefer reading what forum users say.
 

Gray Matter

Member
Possible climbing around in the OT.



You disagree with their policies yet you are ready to pay them full price for their next title because in a world with gaming options with seemingly no end there is nothing else for you to play than a formulaic designed FPS that pulls the usual strings?

I'm not saying what you should to with your money, but this is the kind of behaviour that leads to them doing this in the first place. I apologize that I quoted you - because there are several others who think this way - and hope you don't feel offended by any of this, but this has just some negative connotation that irked me.

In the end, people will buy FC4 in masses, so whatever.

I know I'm part of the problem by even thinking about buying FC4, but I will most likely won't now.

Ubisoft has dug their own grave.
 

Tigress

Member
That happened a long time ago, EA is nowhere near Ubi levels.

Here's the difference. EA has been caught and gamers have been loud about how much they hate them. They're trying to reverse that image (not saying they are tryign to stop being bad cause from what I've seen, nope).

Ubi has been until this point being able to get away with the same stuff EA gets yelled at for for whatever reason (people paying too much attention to EA and not anyone else, maybe Ubi has been better about not making it as obvious - EA failed in their marketing to make people not notice). Ubi has been sneaking under the radar until this point. It isn't just MTs but look at Ubi's direction with all games. It's like they insist every game has to have a social aspect that ideally will force people to go online if they want to experience all the game (AC IV was a good indicator when they got caught where you couldn't get some stuff without going online and had to reverse it).

So now they felt they got their foot in the door they feel like they can open it wide open now. People have already accepted it as being inevitable, let's see how much more we can push it!

The solution? Stop buying games that do this sh**. These companies want and need money. If you deny it to them when they do crap that you think is scummy, they'll try to stop doing scummy stuff and try to do stuff that will get your money.
 

Phazon

Member
Let me just comment once as a reviewer of this game who has played it for over 25 hours since last friday.

The microtransactions weren't hidden, the server just wasn't up/live. You could see and read that the 'hacks' ingame were a microtransaction kind of thing. When you try to buy currency, it just gave you an error because the server wasn't live (and therefore it couldn't download the buying options and prices)

This has been a thing in a lot of games in the past. Hell, even a game like Bravely Default from Nintendo couldn't acces the microtransaction pricelist before official release. So it's not really something new or worth starting a controversy for imo. I thought most press would have figured basic stuff like this out by now, because it has been a thing for a long time now.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
All that Jeff was saying in the podcast was that the servers were down when he opened the in game store which is very common for unreleased games.

People need to stop seeing conspiracy theories everywhere.

So grey out the prices. They've greyed out things that weren't currently available in previous AC games so I know they know how to do it.
Unless they plan on changing the prices later.
 

mid83

Member
Let me just comment once as a reviewer of this game who has played it for over 25 hours since last friday.

The microtransactions weren't hidden, the server just wasn't up/live. You could see and read the 'hacks' ingame were a microtransaction kind of thing. When you try to buy currency, it just gave you an error because the server wasn't live (and therefore it couldn't download the buying options and prices)

This has been a thing in a lot of games in the past. Hell, even a game like Bravely Default from Nintendo couldn't acces the microtransaction pricelist before official release. So it's not really something new or worth starting a controversy for imo.

Please add this to the OP....

People are running off the rails with this conspiracy stuff.
 

Aaron

Member
People sure dont read more than the title huh?

I am not defending micro transactions, they are really bad, but come on. Also, well if reviewers were able to finish the game with no micro transactions they must not be all that important.
The unlocking system was designed to include microtransactions. The reviewers couldn't properly judge that system without knowing how real world dollars would impact those unlocks, compared to getting them 'free' in the game. Nearly every free to play game can be played through without microtransactions, but without seeing how that system works, you're not properly judging the game. You're doing a disservice to the people who want to unlock most stuff in a game, instead of just getting to the end credits.
 

kubus

Member
Let me just comment once as a reviewer of this game who has played it for over 25 hours since last friday.

The microtransactions weren't hidden, the server just wasn't up/live. You could see and read the 'hacks' ingame were a microtransaction kind of thing. When you try to buy currency, it just gave you an error because the server wasn't live (and therefore it couldn't download the buying options and prices)

This has been a thing in a lot of games in the past. Hell, even a game like Bravely Default from Nintendo couldn't acces the microtransaction pricelist before official release. So it's not really something new or worth starting a controversy for imo. I thought most press would have figured basic stuff like this out by now, because it has been a thing for a long time now.
Lol let it rest, I basically said the same thing on page 2 but people rather see another conspiracy theory than actually stop and listen to the facts.

Quoting you in hopes that people will finally read though.
 

UberTag

Member
So we're all going to cancel our Far Cry 4 pre-orders in protest, right?
What's that?
We're going to make excuses for Ubisoft instead because that game will be good?

You guys do understand that publishers will continue to perpetuate these practices to see what they can get away with and they won't learn that lesson unless we blacklist ALL of their games... EVEN the good ones that aren't affected by them.

Cherry-picking with selective boycotts won't work. Publishers will continue to abuse us with these kinds of deceptive micro-transaction/hinky review practices with their high-profile AAA titles and throw marketing dollars at the ones they choose to test out their strategies so it won't matter in the long run.

So it doesn't matter that Far Cry 4 will be good. Because the copies you buy will be an endorsement of more games like Assassin's Creed: Unity in the future.
 

Megasoum

Banned
Yeah?

You don't seem to clearly see that they didn't just RELEASE a game. But all the negativity around keeps adding up.

Here: Educate yourself.

I'm not saying there's a lot of bad stuff with that game. I never denied that.

All I'm saying is that the original OP/Title was misleading and making it sound like there was some kind of conspiracy when it was clearly not the case. But, since it's an Ubisoft game, people in here jumped on the occasion to shit even more on the game and Ubisoft without informing themselves first.
 

iNvid02

Member
Did a double take with original thread title, sounded like bullshit immediately. that would be instant law suit type shenanigans
 
Why should the server for microtransactions work when the game isn't even released? This also proves you can perfectly play the game without any microtransactions.

People really like going crazy over nothing, don't they?

Alright, I'll bite.

You're completely missing the point. Ubisoft intentionally decided to remove the micro-transactions from review copies because they knew it would negatively affect the perception of their game, and rightfully so. This thread proves why. They knew it was a bad/shady move and yet they did it anyway. In this case, "going crazy over nothing" is completely justified. I have a spine and don't like to be insulted, Thank you Very Much, Ubisoft.
 

Ducktail

Member
your first mistake was to trust ACTIVISION and UBISOFT in the first place...

do you trust EA also? just curious

To be fair, Bungie had a phenomenal track record and Ubisoft delivered some pretty awesome games, like Rayman and Black Flag.

And to answer your question, I can't even remember when I last bought an EA game. Dead Space 2 I guess?
 

RetroStu

Banned
lol come on dude...



Make who squirm? All the "fuckers" in this thread who are clearly overreacting over nothing or Ubisoft for releasing a game?

Just making sure I understand you.

To be fair, i wasn't just talking about this problem but more in general about the game (microtranactions, awful performance and glitches etc) and the current state of the industry in general.
All the shady shit and ripping off consumers, review embargo's meaning customers can't educate themselves about the game before buying, just all the dodgy stuff that goes on.
I'm sick of it all.
 

Tigress

Member
So we're all going to cancel our Far Cry 4 pre-orders in protest, right?
What's that?
We're going to make excuses for Ubisoft instead because that game will be good?

You guys do understand that publishers will continue to perpetuate these practices to see what they can get away with and they won't learn that lesson unless we blacklist ALL of their games... EVEN the good ones that aren't affected by them.

I realize this and fully share in your frustration. Most don't. You know what I get from gamers when I say I won't buy Dragon Age cause it's EA? "But it's a good game!" "You're going to miss out on a good game!" "Why would you punish the developer?! They put in a lot of work." My favorite response? "You're not punishing EA, you're punishing Bioware.". No, I'm punishing EA as they also get money from that sale, unfortunately Bioware gets punished in the crossfire as they are also reliant on the sale as well.

Yes, I realize that and it sux but unfortunately money towards Dragon Age goes to EA. And EA isn't going to stop doing crappy stuff until they actually hurt because of it. So the only way to get them to stop is to make our voices loud and clear. That we want them to stop pushing the crappy stuff or they get no money from us.

To me it's kinda like why you don't buy that poor pitiful puppymill puppy at the pet store. Sure, that poor puppy still has to stay in crappy conditions and it really sux for that puppy that really did nothing wrong. In fact, it may be the best dog in the world. But in the end if you buy it, that store buys another from the puppy mill and you perpetuate misery amongst many animals as the puppy mill is still making its money. In the long run you help perpetuate more misery by buying that puppy than if you don't. It really sux for that puppy but it won't stop unless people stop buying the puppies. yes, some puppies are going to get hurt. But more will and more will continue to do so if people keep buying them.
 
I'm not saying there's a lot of bad stuff with that game. I never denied that.

All I'm saying is that the original OP/Title was misleading and making it sound like there was some kind of conspiracy when it was clearly not the case. But, since it's an Ubisoft game, people in here jumped on the occasion to shit even more on the game and Ubisoft without informing themselves first.

I've defended my original wording and why I believe it to be true, but the title has been changed for the better regardless. I'm not trying to take a conspiracy and make a mess out of it. I believe they grossly mishandled the messaging and clarity of a disabled "feature" of the game for people reviewing the game. Whether that's an attempt at pulling the wool over people's eyes or simple incompetence is up to you.
 
mark my words : The Crew will be the same. In All betas had 500% auto repair speed and max auto repair rate. The game isn't doing that. It was play tested around microtransaction and the economy is very tight. It's really expensive to get your car around (fast travel cost money based on distance travelled) and enverything cost : repair in a shop, repair in the street cost more. Part cost tons. You have double money and some cars are double money only...

Hey, hey there. This actually isn't true in the slightest.
 

Megasoum

Banned
Alright, I'll bite.

You're completely missing the point. Ubisoft intentionally decided to remove the micro-transactions from review copies because they knew it would negatively affect the perception of their game, and rightfully so. This thread proves why. They knew it was a bad/shady move and yet they did it anyway. In this case, "going crazy over nothing" is completely justified. I have a spine and don't like to be insulted, Thank you Very Much, Ubisoft.

FFS.... They DID NOT REMOVE THE MICROTRANSACTIONS.

The servers were not up until very recently which means that when reviewers were playing the game over the week-end they couldn't access the store. This, btw, is a normal thing that happens with the vast majority of games coming out nowadays.

Ubi didn't hide anything, Ubi didn't participate in some kind of conspiracy to embelish the game.
 
Alright, I'll bite.

You're completely missing the point. Ubisoft intentionally decided to remove the micro-transactions from review copies because they knew it would negatively affect the perception of their game, and rightfully so. This thread proves why. They knew it was a bad/shady move and yet they did it anyway. In this case, "going crazy over nothing" is completely justified. I have a spine and don't like to be insulted, Thank you Very Much, Ubisoft.

They didn't. This misinformation is why I even posted in the thread. Because incorrect information spreads like truth.

Want to hate microtransactions, rock out. But they weren't hidden.
 

mid83

Member
Alright, I'll bite.

You're completely missing the point. Ubisoft intentionally decided to remove the micro-transactions from review copies because they knew it would negatively affect the perception of their game, and rightfully so. This thread proves why. They knew it was a bad/shady move and yet they did it anyway. In this case, "going crazy over nothing" is completely justified. I have a spine and don't like to be insulted, Thank you Very Much, Ubisoft.

Nobody removed anything. This has been mentioned by multiple reviewers in this thread by now.
 
Man this whole thing reads like a parody or some conspiracy theorist insane rambling, but its real. Hats off to Ubisoft this is more entertaining then any game they've ever made
 
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