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[IgotElbows]

No one should be surprised by this.

Literally since the first gameplay video where they showed off an Epic/Legendary item, it pretty much gave away there would be loot boxes.

 

[Boke1879]

Why are people acting surprised? Loot boxes / micro-transactions have been in the franchise for a while now.

And also nearly every major 3rd party title in the next 3-5 years will all have Loot Boxes / MT's heavily featured. It's going to be more rare for a AAA title to not feature MT's than it will be games that do have them

Gonna be interesting to see how many people in these upcoming threads act shocked

 

[Atheerios]

I can already see Breath of the Wild 2 including "Premium Chests" with random weapons lol

Spoiler

Wait... Nintendo already does this with amiibo

 

[GillianSeed79]

Just have multi-tier pricing for games like the old days. If you really can't make a profit without loot boxes or micro transactions, then raise the price of AAA games to $80-$100 and be done with it and get rid of micro transactions. There's only a handful of AAA publishers left anyway. It might encourage them to make a game worth $100 anyway instead creating a gambling economy in every game that fundamentally has a negative impact on gameplay mechanics. I remember paying like $100 for Pgantasy Star 4 back in the day.

Also yeah micro transactions have been in AC before but they didn't involve loot crate gambling if I recall. Just pay to bypass busy work shit.

 

[The Dear Leader]

The question is which of the 57 currencies do you use to buy them?

 

[matrix-cat]

They launch with no real money option for microtransactions so reviewers don't complain about them and lower the Metacritic score, then they'll patch in the option to pay with real money a week or two later. Forza 7 is doing this right now. The AC series has had paid microtransactions since Black Flag (or earlier?); they're not going to stop now.

 

[Salty Rice]

The question is which of the 57 currencies do you use to buy them?

Phoenix Eggs, Brotherhood Coins and Ubisoft Shares.

They launch with no real money option for microtransactions so reviewers don't complain about them and lower the Metacritic score, then they'll patch in the option to pay with real money a week or two later. Forza 7 is doing this right now. The AC series has had paid microtransactions since Black Flag (or earlier?); they're not going to stop now.

Exactly. People who think this stays that way are naive.

They waiting for them good reviews like Forza 7 before they gonna pull the real money lever.

 

[Obliterator]

Just have multi-tier pricing for games like the old days. If you really can't make a profit without loot boxes or micro transactions, then raise the price of AAA games to $80-$100 and be done with it and get rid of micro transactions. There's only a handful of AAA publishers left anyway. It might encourage them to make a game worth $100 anyway instead creating a gambling economy in every game that fundamentally has a negative impact on gameplay mechanics. I remember paying like $100 for Pgantasy Star 4 back in the day.

Thing is even raising the base price of games likely wouldn't provide the same kind of revenue streams that MT's and Loot Boxes do for publishers. They are making more money off of higher margin digital purchases than they likely would raising base purchase prices.

For example Fifa Ultimate Team alone did over $800 million in revenue for EA last year. This year it could surpass 1 Billion. That's fucking crazy

 

[AtomicShroom]

Next thing we know, Mario Odyssey will have loot boxes...

 

[Logash]

They launch with no real money option for microtransactions so reviewers don't complain about them and lower the Metacritic score, then they'll patch in the option to pay with real money a week or two later. Forza 7 is doing this right now. The AC series has had paid microtransactions since Black Flag (or earlier?); they're not going to stop now.

Doubt they will patch it in later -__- You're right that AC has had them for years and I doubt that you won't be able to buy these with real money but like for real it had never effected gameplay before so why would it now?

Next thing we know, Mario Odyssey will have loot boxes...

You'll have to pay for extra ? Blocks. It will be glorious.

 

[Griss]

These companies are making this holiday's game purchases so damn easy for me. Honestly, at this age? I appreciate it.

Mario Odyssey, Golf Story, Axiom Verge and Xenoblade 2 will be my purchases over the next couple of months. No loot boxes, no problem. Maybe Stardew Valley.

Shame, though, as I was looking forward to Origins.

 

[ZeroX03]

AC has had microtransactions for years now.

Thankfully, they've all been basically useless. Like you'd have to be extremely lazy to need them, because just playing all the content has been more than enough to get/see/do everything in IV, Unity and Syndicate. At least until now the games certainly haven't been designed around them.

 

[Gai Murakumo]

2017 Year of the Lootbox.

 

[Zombegoast]

TF2 ruined everything. It went f2p because of it's success but still.

 

[Dubz]

Loot boxes are the new Season Passes! Hey, at least the maps are free

 

[Duchess O'Death]

Loot boxes are the new Season Passes! Hey, at least the maps are free

Unless you're playing CoD.

 

[Griss]

TF2 ruined everything. It went f2p because of it's success but still.

Nah, it's Fifa that fucked everything up, 100%. It was the original '60 dollar game + ludicrous amounts of microtransaction revenue' game that every publisher coveted.

See this article:

EA's Ultimate Team business new contributes $800 million in net revenue annually, up more than 20% year-on-year.

We last heard about annual Ultimate Team revenue in March last year, when CFO Blake Jorgensen told analysts at a Morgan Stanley conference that it had reached $650 million - around half of all the money EA made from extra game content that year. Yesterday, Jorgensen gave an update at the same conference, confirming that Ultimate Team is now worth $800 million in revenue.

Ultimate Team started out as a mode in FIFA, and EA has now implemented it in several of its sports franchises. According to Jorgensen, the "real opportunity" is finding ways to bring a similar concept other EA games.

"Like Battlefield or Battlefront, our Star Wars game, which are very similar in the depth of play - we can possibly add a similar mechanic to that. We spend a lot of time thinking about it," he said. "Not for tomorrow, but over the next couple of years you're going to see a lot more of that in our portfolio."

It's all Fifa's fault. Otherwise this might have stayed as a F2P mechanic, but Fifa showed that you could have your cake and eat it too.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Exactly. People who think this stays that way are naive.

We've had four different AC games with negligible MTs to make an informed opinion on how much they hamper the game design in these games, spoiler alert:

Spoiler

they're usually tacked on at the very end of development and thus have no effect on the game design whatsoever, as they say everytime, they're literally there to speed up the process of in-game progression for people who don't wanna actually earn stuff by playing the game

 

[M1nty]

Do we know if there is going to be a season pass for AC: Origins? If not then I assume these lootboxes are just a replacement..

 

[Kaako]

Just the sight of them makes me wanna throw up. They are an infestation within the medium I enjoy.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

That's heka lame.

 

[TheXbox]

It's like there's always some wave of anti-consumer horseshit plaguing triple-A games. Horse armor. Map packs. Pre-order bonuses. Tacked-on multiplayer. Online passes. Broken games. Season passes. Microtransactions. Loot boxes.

It's always something. These publishers are so goddamn predictable, it would almost be funny if it wasn't obnoxious.

 

[Bizzquik]

Thanks, Obama Overwatch

A great game...with a terrible side effect for consumers.

 

[Logash]

Exactly. People who think this stays that way are naive.

You're wrong. If you've enjoyed any of the new AC games you'd know that this will no doubt launch with an option to buy them with cash and just like the older ACs it will effect nothing.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

Whelp definitely not gonna consider buying this anymore. Loot box style micro transactions are a cancer.

 

[Obliterator]

Nah, it's Fifa that fucked everything up, 100%. It was the original '60 dollar game + ludicrous amounts of microtransaction revenue' game that every publisher coveted.

See this article:

It's all Fifa's fault. Otherwise this might have stayed as a F2P mechanic, but Fifa showed that you could have your cake and eat it too.

It's more than just Fifa. GTAV and COD as well were others early on the scene being full priced and filled with MT's.

GTAV has done more than a Billion in digital revenue

 

[Crossing Eden]

Yea I know lootboxes are the hot topic right now but the thread title is a misleading statement based off a misinterpretation of a regular in-game feature that has nothing to do with MTs whatsoever. And even with the edit the OP has really done nothing to clarify that they made a mistake. So this thread is basically gonna be people angry about a regular feature. Fun....... :/

 

[Ahasverus]

Expected, but going by the last 2 games their mx shit is just for the very impatient.

Still, sucks, and should not be there. Here's hoping the game is well balanced.

 

[Anno]

Judging by this thread they'd be crazy not to.

 

[Nick_C]

By watching the video, all you can know for sure is that there is a kid that sounds like an adult whom offers randomized loot for 3000 coins a pop, alonf with some type of crystal (maybe the crafting materials?). You also see that these coins are obtainable in-game by killing enemies (~5 coins/kill) or a chest (~26 coins with random loot). This is nothing to say whether or not you collect more coins as enemies and chests level up, though.Or whether or not these will be purchasable in the platform holder's online store.

We'll probably find out more once reviews start to drop in a few weeks.

Off-topic but in the video: Bayek's voice changes if his mouth is covered, which I think is a nice touch. Did they record all dialog twice or add a filter to it?

Yea I know lootboxes are the hot topic right now but the thread title is a misleading statement based off a misinterpretation of a regular in-game feature that has nothing to do with MTs whatsoever. And even with the edit the OP has really done nothing to clarify that they made a mistake. So this thread is basically gonna be people angry about a regular feature. Fun....... :/

With regards to the bolded: This isn't something that is known for certain. I will continue to remain cautiously optimistic that Ubi doesn't sell a speed pass to their high-level gear in the form of coin sacks.

 

[SGRX]

Do we know if there is going to be a season pass for AC: Origins? If not then I assume these lootboxes are just a replacement..

Yep, a $40 season pass is already available for pre-order. Included with the $100 Gold edition.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

If it's just in-game currency, it's a non-issue.

If real-money microtransactions are attached, then lol

 

[kiunchbb]

So game company will just start taking advantage of children with gambling addiction?

Mechanize that reward and encourage you to gamble will heighten your addiction, to make the whole thing worst, the whole thing also target children.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Off-topic but in the video: Bayek's voice changes if his mouth is covered, which I think is a nice touch. Did they record all dialog twice or add a filter to it?

Likely a filter.

With regards to the bolded: This isn't something that is known for certain. I will continue to remain cautiously optimistic that Ubi doesn't sell a speed pass to their high-level gear in the form of coin sacks.

I'm like 100% sure that this game will include microtransactions in some way shape or form, I even made a post earlier today describing exactly how I believe it's gonna play out:

Since the game is focused on loot and exploration there's probably an option for boring people who want to not experience the point of the game and become OP really quick, likely in the form of loot boxes that give you loot that scales to your level and exp boosts, on top of other stuff like cosmetics.

What I'm not a fan of is OP jumping the gun with misinterpreting an in-game feature that has nothing to do with MTs whatsoever and making a thread based on that misinterpretation. It would basically be akin to me saying that the game has cosmetic dlc microtransactions using this screenshot:

and making a thread about that. So you can see how that's pretty annoying. And now there's the added benefit (since this actually just recently happened with Shadow of War apparently having a 40-50 hour end game grind that no one is able to cite the source of), that said misinformation will be passed around by people. :|

 

[texhnolyze]

Seems like you can only buy them with in-game currency, in the preview build at least. I bet the final build will have Helix credit.

So, it's pure assumption from OP.

 

[Sou Da]

That doesn't look like a microstransaction. There's only one currency there.

 

[Resilient]

Wonder if the thread title will be updated seeing as there's an awful lot of people not reading the OP, specifically the part detailing how this is purchased with in game currency. Oh right. Logic on gaming side. Nah.

 

[TheFatMan]

Syndicate had micro transactions that were complete garbage.

All they did was give you like extra money in game and shit. It was essentially paid cheats.

I imagine Origins will have something similar, but I'm not convinced that chest is what you might classify as a "loot box"

Also, from all the early footage, weapons and armor drop like candy....so only the impatient would actually pay real money for them.

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

That doesn't look like a microstransaction. There's only one currency there.

If this follows recent trends, the "real" currency will be conveniently available the day of launch.

The OP IS jumping the gun with this news (for the moment), but it would surprise me more if Ubisoft didn't have a Microtransaction system available at launch.

Spoiler

Which is depressing, to be honest.

 

[Fou-Lu]

I think I need to stop buying any game that has loot boxes on principle.

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

I think I need to stop buying any game that has loot boxes on principle.

With the way things are going in this industry, you might not have many games to choose from.

I can only hope I'm wrong though.

 

[Papo Swing]

See, this is outrage. This is not the first AC with microtransactions. Just give it a rest.

Repeat after me " You are not obligated and it is not necessary to buy loot boxes" end of story. Don't fight the future.

I think I need to stop buying any game that has loot boxes on principle.

Then start saying goodbye to gaming and maybe all software as a whole. SaaS has been the future where all software is headed for a while now.

 

[Bad7667]

So, it's pure assumption from OP.

If it's anything like past AC games then there will be an option to buy with real money.

 

[Plumpbiscuit]

The good thing about these disgusting loot boxes is that AAA companies are saving me a hell of alot of money; which will be well-spent on companies/devs who don't sell their souls for dat paper doe.

 

[hydruxo]

As far as this game goes, I think the loot boxes are entirely irrelevant. There is no online component so who cares if someone pays money to get lootboxes to get better gear for a single player campaign? It's not giving them an advantage over another player.

 

[Nick_C]

Likely a filter.


I'm like 100% sure that this game will include microtransactions in some way shape or form, I even made a post earlier today describing exactly how I believe it's gonna play out:



What I'm not a fan of is OP jumping the gun with misinterpreting an in-game feature that has nothing to do with MTs whatsoever and making a thread based on that misinterpretation. It would basically be akin to me saying that the game has cosmetic dlc microtransactions using this screenshot:

and making a thread about that. So you can see how that's pretty annoying. And now there's the added benefit (since this actually just recently happened with Shadow of War apparently having a 40-50 hour end game grind that no one is able to cite the source of), that said misinformation will be passed around by people. :|

Oh, without a doubt. One of my pet peeves is when others make assumptions based on little to no factual evidence backing up their claim.

XP boosts are one thing. If I'm making progress at a decent pace and I'm not completely overpowered by the enemies that I'm clearly supposed to be facing given my progress, couldn't care less. The game was clearly balanced without the need for the boosts first and they were added later because some like to buy a game, hit max level and just run around, mowing everything down ion their path. If I ever feel like I need[/i[ a boost, then I take that as a sure sign that the progression system was balanced around the boosts.

Dyes for clothes? If I like the color I'll buy it. Zero issue paying for extra content outside of the base purchase, as long as it's reasonably priced. There's an argument for whether or not a palette swap is worth the cost outside of the game, as they used to be unlockable in-game 20 years ago. Super Mario 64 would also cost ~$130 USD if it were adjusted for inflation to match the value of today's dollar.

Loot maps, are something different. They've been in the AC games since at least 2 (first one I actually played, kinda put off by the opening hours of 1). If those are only obtainable through mtx I'd be kinda miffed because I like to go around and grab what I can find and use them for my end game clean up when I feel like I've exhausted all of the places to search. I mean, I can find a map online a week or two after launch, but it is way more convenient to do it form the in-game map screen.

Real money loot boxes or currency conversion systems for loot boxes is where things start to get predatory, but I'll refrain from pushing this thread there until we know for a fact that these things are in this game.

 

[almostjuliuscaesar]

Make it stop

 

[Nick_C]

OP, have you tried PMing a mod to have the title change to reflect that this is speculation? It would seem that enough people posting are missing your edit.

 

[Harlequin]

Oh, without a doubt. One of my pet peeves is when others make assumptions based on little to no factual evidence backing up their claim.

XP boosts are one thing. If I'm making progress at a decent pace and I'm not completely overpowered by the enemies that I'm clearly supposed to be facing given my progress, couldn't care less. The game was clearly balanced without the need for the boosts first and they were added later because some like to buy a game, hit max level and just run around, mowing everything down ion their path. If I ever feel like I need[/i[ a boost, then I take that as a sure sign that the progression system was balanced around the boosts.

Dyes for clothes? If I like the color I'll buy it. Zero issue paying for extra content outside of the base purchase, as long as it's reasonably priced. There's an argument for whether or not a palette swap is worth the cost outside of the game, as they used to be unlockable in-game 20 years ago. Super Mario 64 would also cost ~$130 USD if it were adjusted for inflation to match the value of today's dollar.

Loot maps, are something different. They've been in the AC games since at least 2 (first one I actually played, kinda put off by the opening hours of 1). If those are only obtainable through mtx I'd be kinda miffed because I like to go around and grab what I can find and use them for my end game clean up when I feel like I've exhausted all of the places to search. I mean, I can find a map online a week or two after launch, but it is way more convenient to do it form the in-game map screen.

Real money loot boxes or currency conversion systems for loot boxes is where things start to get predatory, but I'll refrain from pushing this thread there until we know for a fact that these things are in this game.

IIRC, dyes have also been in since ACII and they weren't microtransactions then.

 

[MurkyZebra2417]

Isn't this single Player only? I really don't See The outrage over this stuff, Just ignore it like in the past Games? You could always easily finish the Games and get Platin. How is this impacting anything.

Edit: i realize this Box is in Game only, but the last few AC games all had some Micro Transactions in them.