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MS doesn’t want you to have cool DLC for free: Gears,Epic, & gamers get screwed

andthebeatgoeson

Junior Member
Green Shinobi said:
These are the times when I wonder if a Microsoft controlled industry is a good thing. Hopefully they'll realize that Epic is too important to piss off, and that this makes them look really bad.
Hopefully, if they are willing to give away money hats, they are willing to make some concessions in this.
 

JB1981

Member
Game Informer
However, according to our sources, it's not up to publishers, and free content is being with held from consumers under the speculated motive of Microsoft wanting to make gamers accustomed to paying money for goods above and beyond wallpapers.

:lol

They already charge for wallpapers.
 

Slavik81

Member
So with their "Microsoft controls all" online scheme, they've managed to piss off:
Valve
Blizzard
Epic
Bizarre Creations
Garage Games
...
...
...


And people wonder why I think Xbox Live is the 360's weakness.
*sigh*
 

kaizoku

I'm not as deluded as I make myself out to be
I dont even understand why we are charged for Gold anyway, what extra service does it give and what costs do MS incur from it? Zero?

They are basically sucking up my money via every possible vaccuum, XBL Silver is identical to XBL Gold besides access to peer-to-peer gaming? Why is that costing me money? I can understand stat tracking and achievements and XBL Marketplace are so much better than alternatives that its considered worth it - but Silver users dont have access to those?

How many millions have MS already made from Gold subscriptions for crying out loud. MS makes money from MS Points, not the DLC. Once you hand over your money for Points, MS has your rmoney, the points are just numbers on a system which MS made up.

The publishers probably get money direct from MS based on their sales and points cost? Its like getting money for doing nothing. They want you to keep buying points, and thats why they want you to keep spending them.

I hope Epic dont run out of sponsors then.
 

Lagaff

Gub'mint Researcher
I just hope Microsoft fail with this, not that i hate microsoft but i dont want all manufacturer(sony , nintendo) to do the same, that would be so expensive..
 

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
JB1981 said:
Game Informer

:lol

They already charge for wallpapers.

:lol

Seems like Game Informer hasn't taken a stroll through Marketplace at all. 50 SUPER POINTS FOR A GAMER PICTURE OH GOD ITS WORTH IT LAWL. Ugh, Nickle and Dimeing us.
 
I have a friend who spends his spare points off of cards on Gamer pics and stuff. He just laughs at me when I say I refuse to buy them, because he says to him the extra points left over are like the change from his coffee...he has no problem tossing it in the guitar case of the bum outside. He ends up spending more than me, but I'm kind of jealous at the moment of his Kojima Dracula gamer pic. :/
 
BlueTsunami said:
:lol

Seems like Game Informer hasn't taken a stroll through Marketplace at all. 50 SUPER POINTS FOR A GAMER PICTURE OH GOD ITS WORTH IT LAWL. Ugh, Nickle and Dimeing us.

Man people who buy those have got to be absolute twits. I have no idea how many actually buy gamerpics, themes etc, but I worry Microsoft sees people buying that stuff and thinking, well if they are willing to pay money for this meaningless trash, we can certainly charge for cool stuff like extra maps etc...
 
Isn't all in game voice chat handled by Microsoft servers? If so, there is a cost associated with it.


kaizoku said:
I dont even understand why we are charged for Gold anyway, what extra service does it give and what costs do MS incur from it? Zero?
 
Added references to the Game Informer article and the Team 17 quote to the opening post. Since Team 17 releases games on PSN and XBL, things could get interesting...
 

Piper Az

Member
Charging people for something like GoW weapons and maps doesn't make sense at all. Only thing it would do for the online community is fracturing it. WTF, microsoft?

I'm starting to feel that I'm glad to hold off on buying 360. I've been waiting for a price drop, but this kind of online tactics makes me irk even more. Free PSN sounds pretty good compared to this...get to work, Sony.
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
Ryudo said:
You think your opinion makes you somehow better than someone who doesnt agree with you ?

Not at all. You are misconstruing my point, and I simply don't feel like discussing it.

Seriously, answer me how directx was somehow a bad thing that microsoft did to the "industry" ?

And this is a perfect example. Did I imply Microsoft has never wrote anything good? No.

In reality, one could argue how Direct X does have monopolistic issues ... but I don't want to get into this discussion.
 

Dr_Cogent

Banned
When a publisher has goods it wants to put up for sale, those prices must first be
submitted to Microsoft. As part of an agreement with the company, publishers have signed a document that hands over final say to Microsoft regarding Market place pricing. From here, Microsoft takes a look at the marktet and prices items to maintain a balance among items of similiar value.

So basically this confirms MS is ****ing us over.

Nice, real nice. Lumines pricing BS was basically enabled by MS. Who knows, it was probably encouraged or perhaps even forced to be that way.

F U MS
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
On the last game we worked on, we wanted to release GamerPics and Themes for free on Marketplace. Microsoft wouldn't let us. There was a lot of negotiation and pleading on our part, but Microsoft wouldn't budge.
 

shpankey

not an idiot
Dr_Cogent said:
So basically this confirms MS is ****ing us over.

Nice, real nice. Lumines pricing BS was basically enabled by MS. Who knows, it was probably encouraged or perhaps even forced to be that way.

F U MS
agreed.

the more i think about this, the more pissed off i keep getting.

if it wasn't for the utter lack of quality games on PS3 and Wii i would be bailing ship right now. but as soon as those systems library's fill out i'm there. this shit by msft is un-fuking-acceptable to me.
 

Dr_Cogent

Banned
shpankey said:
agreed.

the more i think about this, the more pissed off i keep getting.

if it wasn't for the utter lack of quality games on PS3 and Wii i would be bailing ship right now. but as soon as those systems library's fill out i'm there. this shit by msft is un-fuking-acceptable to me.

I'm just going to continue as always and just not pay for anything I don't deem worthy paying for. It pisses me off, but I'm too hardcore to do anything too rash. :)

FlyinJ said:
On the last game we worked on, we wanted to release GamerPics and Themes for free on Marketplace. Microsoft wouldn't let us. There was a lot of negotiation and pleading on our part, but Microsoft wouldn't budge.

Total BS

This issue needs to be written about more in the media.

So, MS basically enables EA. Those ****s.

OK, I'm buying one more Gamerpic and that is it. When the Spidey one's come out - I will get those - but that's it I tell you! YOU BASTARDS!!! :lol

*cries*
 

shpankey

not an idiot
FlyinJ said:
On the last game we worked on, we wanted to release GamerPics and Themes for free on Marketplace. Microsoft wouldn't let us. There was a lot of negotiation and pleading on our part, but Microsoft wouldn't budge.
someone needs to drag them over hot coals on this issue. every magazine, every gaming show, some national media like the ny times, washington post, usa today, etc.

it's sickening that they are getting away with this shit.
 
Dr_Cogent said:
I'm just going to continue as always and just not pay for anything I don't deem worthy paying for. It pisses me off, but I'm too hardcore to do anything too rash. :)

Oh, come on, Doc. Surely playing Mass Effect isn't more fun than sticking to a set of convictions that won't make a dent in a corporation's overarching business practices...

;D
 

open_mouth_

insert_foot_
no, but people automatically assume that just because something hasn't come out already, it's automatically because of greedy M$ instead of dev. or certification delays or something else. Like it has been hinted at, there are many factors that go into these decisions.

Microsoft, as the publisher, has a right to charge $5 or whatever for a game like Geometry Wars (which was well worth it) rather than giving it away as one of the developers wanted. Why not make $ for a good product? that's how capitalism works, no? Now you've got Gears DLC which may or may not end up being free. If it is free, does everyone here eat crow? Obviously, MS and Epic will leave some $ on the table if it's free, but they'll gain good will from the community even if it means potentially alienating some big partners like EA, Activision and Ubi Soft in the process.

If they charge $5 or $10 for something that is actually worth that much, is that the worst thing in the world? If it means they'll alienate Epic, you know MS doesn't want that and they'll probably come to some middle ground like they did with Halo on PC/Mac or Halo 2 downloadable maps. MS gave away Halo 2 maps, Hexic, Hold'em and a bunch of other stuff for free, not to mention all the free downloadable demos that are available as well. MS foots the bill for that bandwith since Silver users can download there. That kind of stuff has never been done in the console space before. Is M$ evil for doing that too?
 

Bowen_B

Banned
Hey guys, I spoke to someone who has a copy of gears on his hard drive and he says that there is a wholle extra act after Act 5 and iit's fully playablee! We just have to wait for Epic to release it as DLC... :(
 

JdFoX187

Banned
Bowen_B said:
Hey guys, I spoke to someone who has a copy of gears on his hard drive and he says that there is a wholle extra act after Act 5 and iit's fully playablee! We just have to wait for Epic to release it as DLC... :(
WTF?
 
Slavik81 said:
So with their "Microsoft controls all" online scheme, they've managed to piss off:
Valve
Blizzard
Epic
Bizarre Creations
Garage Games

Bizarre doesn't seem pissed off at all. They've actually said at that the time they didn't really 'get' arcade. The lumping of Geometry Wars in with the Marble Blast and Gears matter is really just clouding the issue.
 

Piper Az

Member
open_mouth_ said:
no, but people automatically assume that just because something hasn't come out already, it's automatically because of greedy M$ instead of dev. or certification delays or something else. Like it has been hinted at, there are many factors that go into these decisions.

Microsoft, as the publisher, has a right to charge $5 or whatever for a game like Geometry Wars (which was well worth it) rather than giving it away as one of the developers wanted. Why not make $ for a good product? that's how capitalism works, no? Now you've got Gears DLC which may or may not end up being free. If it is free, does everyone here eat crow? Obviously, MS and Epic will leave some $ on the table if it's free, but they'll gain good will from the community even if it means potentially alienating some big partners like EA, Activision and Ubi Soft in the process.

If they charge $5 or $10 for something that is actually worth that much, is that the worst thing in the world? If it means they'll alienate Epic, you know MS doesn't want that and they'll probably come to some middle ground like they did with Halo on PC/Mac or Halo 2 downloadable maps. MS gave away Halo 2 maps, Hexic, Hold'em and a bunch of other stuff for free, not to mention all the free downloadable demos that are available as well. MS foots the bill for that bandwith since Silver users can download there. That kind of stuff has never been done in the console space before. Is M$ evil for doing that too?

free demos and downloads that other publishers want to give to gamers should not be charged. all because LIVE is the only conduit to 360s, it doesn't mean MS should be able to charge whatever they want. they themselves made it a closed network; they should allow companies like EPIC to deliver the downloadable goods to your console if EPIC is uploading them in their servers.

companies like EPIC want to give new maps and weapons for free for the games that they've made. why does MS have to dictate that they can't?
 
companies like EPIC want to give new maps and weapons for free for the games that they've made. why does MS have to dictate that they can't?

Maybe, if you read my post earlier, they can't or won't because it will make EA and to lesser extent Ubisoft look bad. Of course maybe it's extremely simple and it's just that MS really deserve the $ instead of the S.

I don't think it's completely clean cut.
 

yukoner

Member
JB1981 said:
Game Informer

:lol

They already charge for wallpapers.

They also let you set any image from your PC as wallpaper for free...

This is BS if true, MS quit the fukin nickle and diming...
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
jhferry said:
Look, none if this matters. If people boycott it will stop.

Most likely that won't work. Just like in a MMORPG, you can't stop people from buying gold/currency. It's hard to tell if they buy it (but in live if they have the new gamer tag, new weapons, and new maps you can spot easy). And like someone said, it just takes a few people buying to keep it going. The guy that wants to buy the spiderman avatar pictures for example. There are people that feel they must get codes, money in godfather, a set of gold clubs in tiger woods, maps, and so on.
 

FrankT

Member
Bowen_B said:
Hey guys, I spoke to someone who has a copy of gears on his hard drive and he says that there is a wholle extra act after Act 5 and iit's fully playablee! We just have to wait for Epic to release it as DLC... :(

Don't tell me that.
 
Bowen_B said:
Hey guys, I spoke to someone who has a copy of gears on his hard drive and he says that there is a wholle extra act after Act 5 and iit's fully playablee! We just have to wait for Epic to release it as DLC... :(
:lol
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
Won't this pricing issue cause a huge problem with simultaneous PC/XBox 360 releases? Especially if the PC version gets free user created mods. Thanks to Windows, MS is going to be competing with their own gaming platform.
 

Odysseus

Banned
remember when companies won console wars because they happened to have the best offering and the best ideas and not because the other guys were screwing up worse?

that's what this generation feels like so far.

sony looks to be in bad shape, and thankfully so. gaming consoles have no business being $600, and it looks like gamers are shunning the system more often than not. the problem is that gaming consoles shouldn't be $400, either. and people shouldn't be paying for peer-to-peer online multiplayer, and a developer should have the ability to offer content for free if they desire to do so. thankfully, it appears people aren't adopting the $400 console as fast as market leaders from past generations, but apparently microsoft can't read the tea-leaves if the zephyr/elite rumors have any merit. that brings us to wii... and waggle. i've tried it and, as expected, i do not like it. i don't mind the graphics, i certainly don't mind the price tag, but i just want to play games with traditional controllers. and i want good third party games since nintendo games generally aren't all that appealing to me.

what was so wrong with the ps2? seriously, sony, dubya tee eff? why couldn't you have just gone about building a console the same way you built the ps2.

why do you hate freedom, microsoft? is it the "free" part? you give away tons of stuff on pc, so what gives on xbox? i'm not saying you shouldn't be after a profit, but be reasonable and let publishers decide how to offer gameplay and how much to charge for dlc, if anything at all, and for crying out loud get the top-line price of the 360 down, do not be so oblivious of the the market's will.

and nintendo... i heart you. well, not really. i hope that if you win thanks in no small part to the missteps of sony and microsoft that third parties will be gracious enough to make games specifically for my preferences and my preferences alone. ;) at least let me use the gamecube controller. good luck as you continue to court grandma.
 
As part of an agreement with the company, publishers have signed a document that hands over final say to Microsoft regarding Market place pricing. From here, Microsoft takes a look at the market and prices items to maintain a balance among items of similiar value.

And there you go.
 

DjangoReinhardt

Thinks he should have been the one to kill Batman's parents.
open_mouth_ said:
no, but people automatically assume that just because something hasn't come out already, it's automatically because of greedy M$ instead of dev. or certification delays or something else. Like it has been hinted at, there are many factors that go into these decisions.

Microsoft, as the publisher, has a right to charge $5 or whatever for a game like Geometry Wars (which was well worth it) rather than giving it away as one of the developers wanted. Why not make $ for a good product? that's how capitalism works, no? Now you've got Gears DLC which may or may not end up being free. If it is free, does everyone here eat crow? Obviously, MS and Epic will leave some $ on the table if it's free, but they'll gain good will from the community even if it means potentially alienating some big partners like EA, Activision and Ubi Soft in the process.

If they charge $5 or $10 for something that is actually worth that much, is that the worst thing in the world? If it means they'll alienate Epic, you know MS doesn't want that and they'll probably come to some middle ground like they did with Halo on PC/Mac or Halo 2 downloadable maps. MS gave away Halo 2 maps, Hexic, Hold'em and a bunch of other stuff for free, not to mention all the free downloadable demos that are available as well. MS foots the bill for that bandwith since Silver users can download there. That kind of stuff has never been done in the console space before. Is M$ evil for doing that too?
MS is all about the free market now?
 

Piper Az

Member
gollumsluvslave said:
Maybe, if you read my post earlier, they can't or won't because it will make EA and to lesser extent Ubisoft look bad. Of course maybe it's extremely simple and it's just that MS really deserve the $ instead of the S.

I don't think it's completely clean cut.

They can't because it'd make EA and Ubisoft look bad? What? Every company is each's own. They shouldn't have to look out for EA or Ubisoft's image. If people think they're short-changing us, compared to free DLC from EPIC, so be it. Why would EA's or Ubi's stance on DLC affect companies like EPIC? Or think of it this way - I think instead of forcing EPIC to charge for their DLC to save EA's tactics/image, microsoft should force EA and other companies to stop charging us for petty DLC in reference to EPIC.
 

Icarus

Member
Has anyone here even discussed the fact that MS foots the bill for all bandwidth used?

When you're talking about potentially terrabytes of spike transfers, that's not cheap. I can see them not wanting to foot the bill for things that don't help pay for that usage.
 

Odysseus

Banned
Icarus said:
Has anyone here even discussed the fact that MS foots the bill for all bandwidth used?

When you're talking about potentially terrabytes of spike transfers, that's not cheap. I can see them not wanting to foot the bill for things that don't help pay for that usage.

they host demos that are available to be downloaded by silver users. nice try.

and, heck, if they are concerned about costs of bandwidth, open it up and let developers run handle their own online functionality and/or content.
 

Piper Az

Member
Icarus said:
Has anyone here even discussed the fact that MS foots the bill for all bandwidth used?

When you're talking about potentially terrabytes of spike transfers, that's not cheap. I can see them not wanting to foot the bill for things that don't help pay for that usage.

Like I said before, what if EPIC puts up their own servers for DLC? microsoft has managed to blackmail companies by making no alternative downloading conduits to LIVE, if what you're suggesting really takes place. Besides, what are you paying that gold membership for if a simple, free DLC cannnot even be considered as a service? Also, other publishers put up free demos in the Marketplace all the time; how come they're free?
 
open_mouth_ said:
no, but people automatically assume that just because something hasn't come out already, it's automatically because of greedy M$ instead of dev. or certification delays or something else. Like it has been hinted at, there are many factors that go into these decisions.

Microsoft, as the publisher, has a right to charge $5 or whatever for a game like Geometry Wars (which was well worth it) rather than giving it away as one of the developers wanted. Why not make $ for a good product? that's how capitalism works, no? Now you've got Gears DLC which may or may not end up being free. If it is free, does everyone here eat crow? Obviously, MS and Epic will leave some $ on the table if it's free, but they'll gain good will from the community even if it means potentially alienating some big partners like EA, Activision and Ubi Soft in the process.

If they charge $5 or $10 for something that is actually worth that much, is that the worst thing in the world? If it means they'll alienate Epic, you know MS doesn't want that and they'll probably come to some middle ground like they did with Halo on PC/Mac or Halo 2 downloadable maps. MS gave away Halo 2 maps, Hexic, Hold'em and a bunch of other stuff for free, not to mention all the free downloadable demos that are available as well. MS foots the bill for that bandwith since Silver users can download there. That kind of stuff has never been done in the console space before. Is M$ evil for doing that too?
Yes. MS are evil for doing that too.
 
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