Online Passes are bad for Everyone

its a non issue for most people here since they will wait and buy a game new but at a reduced price. the only way itd hurt is if they made it where you had to buy it from them to play online or if they figured some way to make it where you had to by games at 60 to play online.
 
I sell a lot of games after I've beaten them, so these online passes do affect me in a negative way by devaluing the games I sell. They are also annoying from a pure convenience standpoint.
 
I am a PC gamer and this Online Pass thing has been happening for years. In fact, with Steam the whole Online Pass is already implemented back in 2005 ish

Then again you get games at 75% off sometimes so as long as the game deals keep on coming on MSRP games, then there is nothing wrong with them.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']it's Jim Sterling.[/url][/QUOTE]

Which means I won't read it. That guy is a fucking moron.
 
Online passes arent bad yet but they will be. Everything like this always starts out small, most people dont care and no one pays attention then 3 years later your saying "fuck me! This is some bullshit" all because no one cared and supported it to begin with.

Much like DLC started out as a good idea is now doing the same thing. We see more and more developers leave shit out of a game then start pimping it as DLC before the "full" game is even released or very very shortly afterwards. Its not good now and it will only get worse.

But for me it doesnt matter now because 96% of the time MP in a game is shoehorned in just so they can say it has MP and then sell the online passes. Most MP in games is a barren wasteland within 4 months of the games release and most of the time it sucks because it doesnt lend itself to the actual core game.

I dont support DLC and I dont support online passes because they will much like the patriot act be introduced at first as a necessary means but then get abused as people over time become numb to it. The more DLC people buy and the more online passes they pay for the more they will feed the beast and the more that beast will fuck them up the ass.
 
The issue is the fact video games are businesses....which many gamers seem to not comprehend. Yes, it sucks......but remember YOUR dollars tell them what to do.

The issue with video games is that there isn't a constant stream of money....which is why many of your favorite gaming studios close down. It's like they release a game....and that's it.

Think of it this way. You make a game that cost $20 million to make *around the average cost*. 400,000 copies need to be sold day one to break even. Either you meet, beat or get less than those copies. NOW, the issue is that even if you sold like 500,000 copies you'd barely be making a profit. Note that you want good amount of RETAINED EARNINGS. Companies have figured away of maximinzing profit.....buy selling content after wards.

It's no guarantee that even if you get over 400,000 people playing the game that doesn't mean you'll actually get money. Someone might to to gamestop after the first week and you DON'T see the sales. That's why Nintendo milks games gen after gen.

Doing stuff like this might end up like 3D films. After Avatar the diminsing returns just were not worth it. But companies are playing with the formula *they're not dumb* to see what consumers want.

If Gears 3 launched w ith 24 maps you probaly wouldn't spend $5 on another pack of maps. However, if there are like 8 maps and you want more....there's potentially more people willing to buy it.

DLC is relatively new to consoles and companies are trying to see what works. By far the best example to me is what rockstar has done with GTAIV.

Ocarina of Time would have been great with DLC (which was planned with the 64DD....but alas it failed to be released-well Master Quest was sort it). Hopefully companies will follow that formula...
 
[quote name='62t']and there are people that buy useless DLC. Best example is horse armor in Oblivion[/QUOTE]
Depending on who it's useless too. The thing is there's a value to certain people and THAT creates a market.

There are lots of things I WON'T pay for....like Geek Squad service....but apparently tons of people. And SOMEONE is buying all the Star Wars releleases and Super Street Fighter II, TURBO, HD REMIX, TURBO HD REMIX, TURBO TO THE MAX HD MIX, HYPER MIX, SPECIAL EDITION, 3TB, II AND A HALF, STANDARD DEF REMIX.......
 
[quote name='ihadFG']I sell a lot of games after I've beaten them, so these online passes do affect me in a negative way by devaluing the games I sell. They are also annoying from a pure convenience standpoint.[/QUOTE]

I do too and I have not seen any decrease in value from this. And for those of us who dont even use the code we can sell that separately and make even more money back. So I cant say I am too upset about them.
 
[quote name='musha666']I do too and I have not seen any decrease in value from this. And for those of us who dont even use the code we can sell that separately and make even more money back. So I cant say I am too upset about them.[/QUOTE]

This makes sense to me. While on its face it seems like online passes would hurt resale I don't think it actually does by a significant amount.

I mean online passes are for multiplayer and most people who buy used games are not buying games for the multiplayer since the online community is dead by the time most people buy a game used.
 
First they came for the used game buyers, and I did nothing...etc.

Good video. I completely agree with Jim's points. Whether or not you buy new doesn't really change the fact that it's anti-consumer and a dick business strategy plain & simple.

Some other points:
4. Online pass is a great way to assure the multiplayer community will not be around long, or at best be as popular as it could have been otherwise.

5. Contrary to the claims, it does not in fact guarantee the actual devs receive their cut. It's additional revenue source for the publisher, not the dev, and for little to no extra work on their part.

6. There seems to be a backlash finally turning against this sort of thing, and announcing your game supports online pass is starting to become more controversial, garnering negative buzz, and possibly alienating your potential customer base and losing future sales.

7. Positive reinforcement beats out negative reinforcement. Giving extras to the new game buyers is going to go over much better than locking secondhand gamers out of the multiplayer experience.

8. Online pass does little to keep people from buying used games, but does a lot to stop people from caring about playing the online modes. Which is funny since, online play is one of the bullet points they're trying to sell us on in the first place.

9. Dismiss the used game buyers at your own risk. The popular rebuttal to anti-online pass arguments is "you're not really a customer, so who cares if you're upset." This is a very short sighted position to take. Used game buyers still buy DLC, they still preorder sequels, they still talk it up and sell their friends on the game. They help build the franchise.
 
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