Pay or play? The question of unlockable content |
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There's an interesting point being brought up on Ars Technica regarding the unlockables in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07. It was earlier reported that the new golf game has a couple of unlockables you could earn through dedicated play, from getting new characters to owning everything in the pro shop. Electronic Arts has made it a lot simpler for the gamer without a lot of time on his hands, as you can now pay through Xbox Live to unlock the special items in the game (even before the game is released, no less). This little tidbit brings up the issue of how we play certain games.
Unlockable content has been a staple of many different sorts of games. From gaining hidden powers or secret vehicles to acquiring the rare materials to make super-weapons for RPG games, it's the extras that often get you hooked. Not everyone likes this idea of paying for the cheat though, and you could safely say that QJ is on the fence on that matter.
Being able to see some nifty new content is great and all, even if there's a small price to get it, though maybe not at the cost of destroying gameplay mechanics (as in MMOs). In the same vein, there's that feeling of accomplishment you get from working your way to catching all 150 seven bajillion pokemon, but if the game starts to feel like work because of it then you've lost the reason for playing in the first place.
EA might be out to grab more cash from us (instead of offering actual cheat codes, sigh...), but you can be sure someone's going to be willing to plunk down some cash to get those last few extras. Under what circumstances does it feel alright for you to cheat past something, and would you ever be willing to actually pay for that chance? Do you think EA is showing good business sense, or just trying to grab extra cash from perfectionist players?
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Comments [refresh]
An exceptional Gameplay experience will encourage and hook the player into opening up hidden extras. If it is not a good enough game to reach that level then why would you want to pay for the hidden extras. To much effort is focused on Graphics and Flash rather then design and game experience. ie StarWars II is not he best Graphical or Flash game for Xbox360 and yet the one of the best to get you hooked for hours. Where other loss your interest before you get started.
DragonKF
my first experience with this subject was diablo2.
diablo 2 was a really enjoyable game, unless you got killed by any and everything after leaving town. item farming was a very time intensive process, which didn't even really yield good results.
the better items in the game were very expensive in game currency (a unique ring that had been duped in early versions of the game). if you didn't have these duped rings, or some high level items, you had nothing worth trading.
the duped rings were very hard to find, i only actually ever found 1 in my 2 and a half years of playing. combine all that with a full time+ job and you get the idea...
i would outfit my characters with all the best items purchased on ebay, and i was able to actually kill hell difficulty cows on my own, PvP matches stopped being suicide missions, and playing the game became pure enjoyment.
i can understand people thinking that it devalued or belittled their own achievements. i believe if you had fun and you know you earned the items as intended, thats all that should matter.
in the end it's just multiple paths to the same goal. i don't think i should be punished for being a hardworking adult. i don't have the time to devote to a game, like high school and some college students do. if i can turn time spent at work into time spent in a game i can truly enjoy, why not?
why is it that the topic creator assume ea is the first to sell unlockable contents even when it can be unlock.
Well guess what, there are other game that did it before like samurai warriors 2. This is not new information at all.
"or just trying to grab extra cash from perfectionist players?"
Dude, it's EA. Of course it's just a cash grab.