Video Game General 6.5: Now with more surprise mechanics

First public demo of new My Hero Academia game will be at NYCC this weekend

https://twitter.com/bandainamcous/status/1179758001818750976?s=21

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EA buys patent for new kind of microtransaction/loot box system.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/gamerant.com/ea-controversial-microtransaction-patent/amp/

If you donā€™t want to click:

Summary

TL;DR timed exclusive microtransactions/loot boxes that lose their In-game value/usefulness as time goes on.

Electronic Arts is well known these days for having implemented some of the most predatory microtransactions gaming has ever seen. Itā€™s not alone in this, as 2K Games has received negative attention for its recent microtransaction-riddled NBA 2K20 , but EA holds a special place among publishers with a considerable love of in-game monetization. As a newly-discovered patent owned by it shows, that could lead to even more trouble for gamers and their wallets.

Last year, it was discovered that EA had filed a patent for a matchmaking algorithmthat many feared could be used to push microtransactions on players. While the filing never explicitly stated that was the intent, older patents in the same vein have expressly stated the potential for deliberately matching novice players against more decked-out players, a means of coercing them to make use of microtransactions in order to help them copy their superior opponents.

But that kind of pressure is arguably nothing compared to another patent EA picked up, as reported by SegmentNext. Not only can the system this one covers be applied to more types of games, it also comes with a ticking clock. As the filing describes it, the system takes ā€œoffers provided within a game spaceā€ and can make them ā€œdecrease in value based on previous acceptances of the offers.ā€ Or to put it in non-sterilized terms, Electronic Artsā€™ system can make in-game purchases like, say, loot boxes less valuable for players who arenā€™t the first to buy them. This rewards players who buy right away while pressuring everyone else to pay up as quickly as possible if they donā€™t want to lose any more bang for their buck.

One may be tempted to dismiss that as the kind of idea EA would come up with, yet it actually wasnā€™t the original filer of this patent. That distinction belongs to Kabam, a former publisher of mobile games, a market where microtransactions and loot boxes are particularly frequent. Kabam held on to the patent up until is acquisition by FoxNext Games in 2017, after which EA grabbed it up the following year and is currently slated to hold onto it until 2035.

This suggests EA didnā€™t learn the same lesson most people would have expected from the immense controversy surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2 ā€™s initial use of microtransactions and loot boxes. That was a debacle large and problematic enough to get the attention of actual political powers, which is why places like the United Kingdom are trying to ban loot boxes from being sold to children.

However, despite many consumersā€™ grievances with the current trend, microtransactions, loot boxes, and the like continue to remain huge sources of income for publishers. So although it doesnā€™t look like EA has applied its time-based system to its gamesā€™ monetization features yet, itā€™s probably only a matter of time before it shows up somewhere.

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Hunter X Hunter, Yu Yu Hakusho, Bleach???

So the ghostbusters game isnā€™t even gonna ship with online multiplayer. If it doesnā€™t come before halloween then hard pass for me. Maybe next year.

Extra

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Ainā€™t no trouble for me if I donā€™t buy the piece of shit.

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I donā€™t buy shit thatā€™s EA or Ubisoft. Bioware and Bethesda may get added to this list. :relieved:

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I mean. I agree. lol. I havenā€™t bought anything from EA since Mass Effect 3. The only titles Iā€™ve bought from Ubi are Rayman Legends, M+R Kingdom Battle and Child of Light.

I have no interest in their annual titles like Ass Creed, Tom Clancy, 2k sports titles etc. get that garbage out of my face.

The only in-house made Bethesda game Iā€™ve bought is Fallout 3. I fucking hated it so I havenā€™t bought anything else from them since.

Iā€™ve considered picking up the OG Dooms, the reboot and survival because they only published them. Iā€™m just not a huge FPS fan.

Andromeda was the last EA/Bioware title I purchased. They keep either making shit I donā€™t want or ruining shit I was interested in.

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I was sooooo hype for Andromeda. Then the more I saw of it and heard about the less enthused I was. I cancelled my preorder a few weeks before launch. Super glad I did.

I bought it after the patching. I didnt hate it. Even a lot I like about it. Itā€™s over all problems are bigger then itā€™s strengths tho sadly.

You know what hurts the most bout Andromeda? I canā€™t remember any of the characters names. I can name every crew member from 1-3 though. Smh

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Peebee, Liam, Cora, Drak, Vetra, Jaal.

I actually like the cast for the most part, they where easy to remember for me. The issue is their stories are kinda bleh and boring, or like the main story spends too much time going no where.

Liked Coraā€™s a bit tho, dealing with a fallen idol situation is relatable. Coraā€™s kinda lame tho sadly.

To use a sports analogy, Andromeda was like the season where after a championship run the team didnā€™t even make the playoffs. If you ever want an example of what a lack of leadership leads to see Bioware of the last few years.

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Does that mean that you buy from Activision?
And of all the garbage AAA publishers, i usually give Ubisoft a pass because they still make good games, the problem is that sometimes they go full retard, like with Ghost Recoon, as a recent example.

What does Activision make again? They probably on the list too and just forgot cause they donā€™t many anything relevant.

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Last Activision purchases were prototype, modern warfare 2 and Ultimate alliance. Havenā€™t bought anything from them recent.

You didnā€™t buy Sekiro?