The 'Achievements', 'DLC', InAppPurchases' Syndrome?

[Forge_Vault]

Unfinished games is a grey area… If you can pull off that “soap opera” feel and leave the player satisfied(and hopefully wanting more) then its great, otherwise it’s like ordering a burger and getting two buns “sorry sir it’s a WIP, come back tomorrow for the meat” - the customer may think twice about buying the next game and thus it hurts your fellow developers. It’s all execution, at least that’s how I see it.

[Zeblote]

Most games that allow you to download the whole thing for free and then unlock parts of it with a serial key / login / whatever can be unlocked a different way that doesn’t cost any money

In fact it’s really easy for many games

So I’d say that it’s a huge security risk to do it that way

[Gigiwoo]

@TylerPerry

No, I’d rather just sell my game then it is all included.

I would rather that too and unfortunately, I’ve learned that’s not an easy path. On the upside, I’ve found at least one way to make that work. My core audience comes from my popular line of free products. And a small portion of them will cross over to ones that are non-free. I’ve found a varied approach with a large product line to be the most effective.

One product didn’t work for me - which is where the ‘Answer To Every Can-It-Be-Done’ thread came from.

Gigi

[derf]

@Amon_1

So, achievements in games, DLC, and inAppPurchases…

Does it really bother you that much that there are games out there that require additional funds to improve a user’s game experience?

If Joe Blow wishes to spend 14.99 to unlock the Industrial Complex zone in a survival game; or they just have to have the BFG now, let him; who cares!?

I can understand more with player vs player game play or even co-op play where one person can have equipment and stats far beyond what another player can get; because they bought their way, instead of playing through the many-hours of in game play, to achieve the same stuff; but still if they want to, than don’t worry about it and let them.

[AndrewGrayGames]

@""

I think that achievements are a mixed bag. Some games use them well, an example of which I think is Guild Wars 2 where they’re used to encourage you to try out new things or challenging things and are generally all very much in line with the game’s core design. Other games use them quite poorly, in ways that either don’t enhance the experience or, worse, work against it. Any multiplayer game where team members routinely sacrifice team coherence to “get an achievement” is an example of the latter. Why the hell encourage people to behave in ways that directly work against your carefully crafted and balanced gameplay?

Here’s my philosophy with Achievements - it’s all in the name.

There are two ways you could take an Achievement system:
1: Proposal of alternate strategies
Type 1 Achievements are to me the most interesting - suggestions to the player of ‘nonstandard’ ways to play a game. This whole platform presupposes some convention that the player and the developer agree to (e.g. in a JRPG, level up as high as you can and defeat The Big Bad; in a sidescrolling shooter, defeat bosses by using your ship’s weaponry.) The achievements - e.g. pacifist runs, low-level/minimum-heart/no-customization runs - get the player to consider how they would play the game without the benefits of these carefully crafted systems.

2: A Goal in and of Themselves
Type 2 is a different beast altogether. The game has no story, and in theory nothing guiding player actions. The role of an achievement in this atmosphere is as a a goal unto itself. Given that Achievements can grant goals (World of Warcraft, Halo 4), this can be a viable means of guiding the player to do certain things or provide the player with a way to rate their progress through the experience.

I dislike the ‘Inevitable Achievements’ idea - if you’re going to do it anyhow, why not reward the player for figuring out the best way to do it?

[derkoi]

@Swearsoft

DLC:
I’m not against DLC, it can be used to extend the life of a title. I’m against the practice of chopping up a game in order to make DLC.

InApp purchases:
lamest idea ever, I detest the fact that it has worked. Now instead of playing a demo, I get a ‘free version of the full game’, each level has a ‘BUY NOW’ button and making the game more fun depends on me buying bombs for example. How ridiculous.

In-game Ads:
Ads I can live with, with an option to remove, since they also get on my nerves sometimes.

Generally playing a small demo and then being able to buy the full thing was enough for me. This whole trend also seems so artificial, it is transparent to me that the game developers are trying to make money while I’m playing the game. I want to buy the game and then play the game, not get constantly pulled into the ‘real world’ for some transaction.

This.