Compsiox
Banned
It's okay if Sony does it though. Don't worry.
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Today Sony has shown me the ugliest face of the "always online" games.
- Thread starter Eternal Gamer
- Start date
It's okay if Sony does it though. Don't worry.
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
So glad they added bots to Killzone to avoid this shit. They just need to patch in trophies in offline mode and we're good.
test_account
XP-39C²
Hehe true :\ I remember trying to play the game quite a while afte release, and i simply couldnt get into any game because there were too few people to start a new round. Great game when enough people played it though, but people abandoning it is basically what killed it.
Welcome to the digital future and digital transactions where at any moment you can be quickly reminded "Good lord I spent HOW MUCH on intangible things that no longer matter?" Theres pros and cons to it just like everything else in life. Just be prepared and always know what you are possibly getting into. Personally I have every PSP game backed up from my Vita on a PC. Why? Because I know as a company they will never keep their service up forever.
test_account
XP-39C²
Have anyone claimed otherwise? That that its being done simply because Sony does it? I'm assuming that you're being sarcastic at least.
um, what?
AyaisMUsikWhore
Member
2K also does it with NBA, sucks and I want it to stop as well. It's crappy especially for the people that spend lots of money buying to these online games upgrading their characters etc.
Devilgunman
Member
Are you salty from other threads or something?
The GAF clan wrecked so much when the game came out. Then two weeks went by and half the people stopped playing.
Compsiox
Banned
This guy gets it.
Silent Chief
Member
This was my first f2p game. I was almost done with the last trophy when they started adding new continent--therefore delaying my trophy. I made sure I got that sucker before they added the second continent. Immediately deleted the game.
At some point I felt bad for playing this all for free so I spent 99 cents on some orbs. I guess not everyone did.
It was cool that there were players from all over the planet, but I sure got my money's worth and I wish the devs the best.
At some point I felt bad for playing this all for free so I spent 99 cents on some orbs. I guess not everyone did.
It was cool that there were players from all over the planet, but I sure got my money's worth and I wish the devs the best.
NullPointer
Member
The principle I use when it comes to paying for stuff in free to play games is to pay for the enjoyment I've already had, and not as an investment for the future. That way if the service goes tits up tomorrow you aren't really being burned.
If I feel I need to buy something to progress I'll just delete the game right then and there.
Its worked so far anyway.
If I feel I need to buy something to progress I'll just delete the game right then and there.
Its worked so far anyway.
deltacanuckian
Member
I'd be all over a remaster/remake of sorts for MAG. Clean up the animations and textures, give me 1080p and locked 60 fps, and bundle all the existing DLC. $30 for the game, $70 for the game + the PS Silver Headset. I would have said it'd never happen with Planetside 2 being a thing, but now that SOE is... well, not SOE anymore, I can hope!
Silent Chief
Member
This game has nothing to do with PS+. It's completely free for anyone without ps+. If anything, those ps+ free orbs undermine the game revenue.
If there aren't many people in the game online, then why would it cost so much to keep the service alive? If they are literally hosting servers or non-scalable VMs specifically for these individual games, then their online service architecture is shit and they are doing PaaS wrong. Simple as that. It's 2015. Companies with online services or APIs need to think about scalability.
I really wish someone would step into this space to provide online gaming or game service architecture so that console makers don't have to create and maintain half-assed systems that have limitations like you can't change your username ever, or peer-to-peer matchmaking or other game services going down because they dedicate too much resources to it to keep them running instead of a pay-as-much-as-usage model.
autoduelist
Member
And this is why f2p games tread a thin line. To much monetization and you scare everyone away. Too little and you only make money from whales.
Sony isnt the villian here. Some games just dont catch on. At some point you pull the plug. If they waited a year then what? the few people actually spending money would just be that much more invested.
Online play can not be guaranteed forever.
Agent X
Member
I agree. This reflects badly on them.
I understand "it's a business" and they probably aren't pulling in sufficient revenue with these games any longer, but as a general rule they (not just Sony, but anyone) should try to keep their online games up for at least two years. Shutting them down earlier doesn't inspire confidence in their ability to continue maintaining other online games on the system. You might not care at all about Destiny of Spirits or MLB 14: The Show, but what assurance do you have that they won't abruptly pull the plug on a game that you do like?
That's a good point. The screen shot suggestion is a good way of retaining memories and/or artwork.
With regard to "buying" items in games, I generally avoid F2P games that have a heavy reliance on microtransactions. I don't know how heavily Destiny of Spirits relies on in-game purchases (as I've only tried the beta and not the final release), but if someone shelled out a lot of real money for in-game stuff, then he's going to feel bitter that the game is being annihilated so quickly after release. This will surely deter him from supporting any other similar games on PS Vita or other Sony systems in general.
What other F2P games on the Vita got shut down more quickly than this? I don't generally play F2P games, but I have Treasures of Montezuma Blitz on my Vita, and that game's still trucking along.
AmuroChan
Member
For this game, it's definitely the latter. There's really not much incentive to spend a lot of money on the destiny orbs. You get them for free from time to time just for logging in. I really wonder how much the average DoS player has spent on this game. I've got a pretty decent roster of maxed out SR and R spirits and that's without spending a penny on destiny orbs.
Infernal Monkey
Member
Between this and their plan to straight up delete hundreds of PlayStation Mobile games forever, Sony sure are being dickheads with the Vita lately. More than usual!
Agent X
Member
At least those games survived for 2 or 3 years. Now we're talking about games getting shut down less than a year and a half after release.
I would have said that now that PS+ online play is a paid service on PS4, that system should be immune from rapid online game shutdowns, but then we see the PS4 version of MLB 14: The Show is in the same boat.
No one expects online games to be maintained forever, but two years would be a good minimum baseline, especially from a major game publisher like Sony. If the game's bleeding money after a few months in, then too bad--the publisher's gotta "tough it out" if they have any hope at retaining customer confidence and loyalty. Perhaps then the publisher will learn their lesson, and make wiser decisions in green-lighting future games and spending their development dollars.
ForsakenLotus
Member
At some point, a F2P game will have its servers shut down - it's inevitable. If you or anyone spends money on it, it's important (and should be obvious) that your monetary investment in the game will not be refunded or compensated in any way. If you buy something, you understand what you are getting.
That being said, this situation does suck. What I will say though is they are giving players a two month heads up to get their money's worth from whatever they have bought. Only giving players a year isn't cool, but games like this run that risk especially when it's an afterthought for a bigger company compared to a smaller company trying to make it a cash cow.
That being said, this situation does suck. What I will say though is they are giving players a two month heads up to get their money's worth from whatever they have bought. Only giving players a year isn't cool, but games like this run that risk especially when it's an afterthought for a bigger company compared to a smaller company trying to make it a cash cow.
And that is why i don't support always online games like titan fall, destiny,, MMO's, f2p games or games with dedicated servers OP.
I don't like my game experience time limited on how long the dev keeps their services up in their offices, especially when its paid for games. atleast with F2P games, you dont have to spend money if you dont want, so your sessions dont become trivialized
I don't like my game experience time limited on how long the dev keeps their services up in their offices, especially when its paid for games. atleast with F2P games, you dont have to spend money if you dont want, so your sessions dont become trivialized
Davidfoundation
Banned
Dang I just downloaded it to my vita as well
Hurricane_Chris
DDK
With the advanced virtualization tech we have today I'd like to see companies step up and make promises to customers about future game viability. A promise that says: if we shut down, we'll do a MVP release of the server source code, so that the community can take over server development, and a new client executable that allows users to point their clients at any server they want.
I think they'd actually see increased sales, since the same users that might play an online-only game are probably the same users that are going to have reservations about a game's future viability.
Of course, some games, like sports titles, shut down servers to force you to upgrade so I don't expect them to do it; but there is plenty of rooms for others to look for competitive advantages in a really crowded game-space.
I think they'd actually see increased sales, since the same users that might play an online-only game are probably the same users that are going to have reservations about a game's future viability.
Of course, some games, like sports titles, shut down servers to force you to upgrade so I don't expect them to do it; but there is plenty of rooms for others to look for competitive advantages in a really crowded game-space.
test_account
XP-39C²
Oops, some typo, i ment to ask if someone has said that its ok that its being done because Sony does it and not ok if any other company does the same thing, sorry. But yeah, i was pretty sure that you ment what you said earlier as sarcasm at least
publicpwnerer
Member
What's the point of any online subscription at all?
People got fucking duped on Xbox, it's hilarious. The vast majority of games on consoles are P2P. I feel so fucking dirty when I have to shell out money for a PS+ sub for the rare game I play online.
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
One year timeframe is reasonable for a Vita game.
timetokill
Banned
That paywall money is clearly being put to good use.
One year? Shameful.
One year? Shameful.
Lastgengamer
Member
Same for me, but at least we only payed for the games and were able to play for years, now that we pay for ps plus it really seems to be getting more and more unacceptable as only 1 year is not much time for a game to taken offline and so we gamers need to take a stand against this kind of practice.
Why not let people host the games themselves like we can with warhawk? Or switch over to something like the azure platform where it only activates if needed?
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
I loved M.A.G... had a lot of fun with that game.
LinkToTheFuture
Member
I dont think the problem is that peopled dont know that it happens lol. Its the simple fact that this game is run by a "big" publisher that always talks big about being for the gamers & such yet is pulling things offline in short periods of time.
is it really so hard for there to be some kind off offline version alongside the online one? or even just have the game running in low cost mode without any future updates? Its just frustrating is all.
HarkenSlash
Member
Such a shame. I actually spent a decent amount of time obtaining all of the trophies in this game and it was an enjoyable experience. RIP Destiny of Spirits.
Wasn't the MLB thing overblown because it only applied to the UK where they sold like 2k copies?