Games as a Service & Looter Shooters Need to Take the Rest of the Generation Off

Games as a Service, Looter Shooters, MMO-lite, whatever you want to call these games, they need some time off while the genre settles.

[ziggurcat]

GaaS needs to take the rest of gaming's existence off.

[PoopsMcGee]

All GaaS model games should be free to play IMO.

[TheEnigma313]

yup, that's the only way it's acceptable.

[notachance]

yeah annual GaaS like CoD is just cancer

[MinnesotaFatts]

Many up doots.

[ArchangelMike]

Now this is a cause that I would get behind. FInally the gaming industry is waking up to the fact the GaaS model is fundamentsally set up to exploit gamers, by providing sub-par and unfinished games and asking gamers to pay perpetually for drip-fed contant that should have been there on day one.

[UltraNova]

Exactly. I wonder if MS will restructure their whole xbox business roadmap that was announced to be based on GaaS...

[annoyedgamer]

If Halo: Infinite is a GaaS title as I fear then it is even more likely.

[aconnellan]

Can I get a source on their business roadmap being announced to be based on GaaS?

[RabbitFly]

While ignoring the millions of gamers that those games appeal to?

And yea there are millions of gamers that want multiplayer focused games with persistent progression and a steady flow of new content. Pretending otherwise is simply ignorant and self centered.

[ArchangelMike]

There are exactly zero gamers that want sub-par and unfinished games that ask gamers to pay perpetually for drip-fed content that should have been there on day one.

Including you. You don't want that either.

Pretending otherwise is simply ignorant and self centered.

[RabbitFly]

The cause you are getting behind is that there should not be anymore looter-shooters or GaaS titles. You then go on to call out GaaS. Everything that follows is nothing but subjective musings about what you percieve GaaS to be. That being unfinished games etc. Ignoring that many of these GaaS games have been hugely successful and has provided much more content per dollar than most competing models.

However, none of musings are objectively true. And it is objectively true that these types of experiences appeal to a big portion, dare I say, majority of gamers.

Just not the people that post comments on sites like these.

So I will repeat. There are millions of gamers that want multiplayer focused games with persistent progression and a steady flow of new content. That is what the GaaS model is based around, or MMO-lite if you like.

I am all for a bigger focus on single player experiences and complete titles, but they dont have the same appeal as GaaS games, and they do not appeal to all the same players. Both experiences can exist within the market without eating each other up.

The difference between my argument and yours is that you are arguing that your personal subjective opinion should be considered fact. I am arguing that it should not, because there are many different preferences out there.

Millions of gamers yes. World of Warcraft, League of Legends and now Fortnite and Apex Legends prove my point. You want to pretend like all those players simply don't exist to feed your own ego. Now that is why I called it self centered. Your stance is pretty much the equivalent of policing other peoples prefrences.

[sprinterboy]

Good luck with that

[RabbitFly]

@Sprinterboy

Good luck with what exactly? Not denying reality?

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

It'll only stop when people are smart enough to stop buying it, most people tend to buy it and then have regrets when it's not what they wanted.

[RabbitFly]

@final

While it is true that many people get tricked by fancy trailers and marketing. Those people are not necessarily the majority when it comes to GaaS. There are just too many examples of extremely succesful examples for that to be the case.

Not to mention that the gamers they appeal to very often have very different preferences when it comes to genres. A huge portion of gamers only play multiplayer games, that have been true for a while. What the GaaS model provides benefit these gamers in particular, and they wont just change their preference for that benefit without a better option existing.

The market is getting a bit oversaturated with these titles at the moment, but that does not automatically mean that the concept itself is flawed.

That would be like saying that just because the market got flooded with theme park mmos after the success og World of Warcraft that all mmos are inherently bad. Which would be nothing, but a ignorant stance to hold.

[Lighter9]

Well said.

[Weeblordbad]

Is Apex Legends really sub par? Is Overwatch a GaaS game? Is Counter Strike GO? When have I been exploited by Apex Legends?

You guys want to complain about exploitative games, why aren't any of you complaining about Maple story?

[PoSTedUP]

Apex isn't sub par its fun as hell. Having a blast with my friends and haven't dropped a dime nor felt the need to. id pay 10-15 MAYBE even $20 for a new map down the line for sure. Its my first BR game, never was a fan of them until now. I never had so many friends on my friends list hit me up wanting to play a game so bad in my life lol.

[jairusmonillas]

F2P games and Subscriptional games shouldn't be called with the same name like GaaS. Both are different one is free to play the other one is not.

[RabbitFly]

That is an extremely superficial way of looking at it..

All F2P games need a certian amount of people that are willing to pay for the content to fund the game. Pretending othewise is simply ignorant of reality.

[MasterCornholio]

I really don’t like how some developers handled GaaS so far. In my opinion some GaaS games are just like early access or FTP games.

[Tross]

Yep, just more expensive since GaaS games also have a price of admission.

[Nyxus]

How about finish a game first and then release it, not the other way around?

[ShinRon]

serious, a compelling base game is needed to rally a base of players who will want to keep playing.

idk how all of them have been so bad tbh, guessing the studios who have the money to fund them are lacking passionate developers?

[Cmv38]

I like looter shooters....need that borderlands 3 pronto.

[Cobra951]

I want that too, provided it keeps to the same formula as 1, 2 and TPS. If it comes out with a lot of MTs or loot boxes, I will pass.

[Cmv38]

Mt I willing to bet it will have, I doubt loot boxes. I really hope no loot boxes.

[KnobSlobSnob]

Almost every game now is a mind numbing shooter with no depth besides a few concepts that feel thrown in like bela lugosi in any horror movie turned campire...we need to embrace our humanity more.
Or atleast go balls to the wall with gore and the dehumanization i.e manhunt, doom, grand theft auto

[Cmv38]

In every form of entertainment, most entries will be derivative of the quality entries. Gaming will remain no different. Everything can't be quality otherwise nothing will be good quality.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I disagree. I enjoy Destiny,Division and to a degree Anthem. There’s a market for these games so why should people who enjoy them not have them just because certain people don’t? I hate sports games so they should take the rest of this gen off. Sounds pretty self centered right?

[Cobra951]

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Those will keep coming. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to praise the exploitation of gamers. There's a right way to do games like those, and constant money leeching or pay-to-win are not it.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I don’t feel exploited in anyway. Name a pay to win MT in ANYof the games I listed...I’ll wait

[maybelovehate]

Kind of funny since I feel that GAAS games by far have the most value. I have thousands of hours in Destiny. Same with Diablo. Division I only have a few hundred but still far more than the typical games I buy.

[remixx116]

They seem to have the most value due to the way they are set up, that's the point. Look at the games you mentioned, they are all designed with a multiplayer focused grind intended to increase player engagement to in turn increase player monetization.

They drip feed you content and low drop chance rng to keep playing longer so they can microtransact and loot boxe you to death.

[Forn]

Time spent does not equal value whatsoever. That is what many "gamers" don't seem to understand. Give me a shorter more focused incredible experience over a grind fest any day.

[maybelovehate]

Never bought a single thing in any of those games except for the DLC's. You can earn everything worth using in the games.

[Zenbaby369]

Diablo micro transactions? Only in China... Diablo had the RMAH, but that was short lived. Please don't soil the name that was actually good for the last couple years by including it with the likes of Destiny and Division :P

Also @Forn. You have to understand there IS a huge market for "grindy" games like Diablo and PoE. The "grind" is supposed to be rewarding. It is not intended for the people who just want instant gratification. The industry is driven by money, so "short quality experiences" are the last thing a corporation wants. So please, don't complain about gamers for that, or even paying for these crappy grindy games. The problem is that there are so few and far between, if any quality "grindy games". Which is what they want, a lot of them want, you just have different taste.

[annoyedgamer]

Thats the trick and they have you bamboozeled.

[maybelovehate]

Trick of what? I have never paid for a microtransaction in my life.

[Traecy]

@maybelovehate I totally agree.

[Shikoku]

Considering the gen is pretty much at an end that's pretty much useless statement

[Stanjara]

And the model will come to the next gen

[InTheZoneAC]

Gaas can be fine if these bs fn companies stop releasing games in alpha phase like anthem with cut content off the disc. Give us a complete game, a great game, then build upon that.

Instead these companies focus on pay more for day 1 access and call it early access, sell cosmetics, have the grind for materials so lacking that it pushes the sheep to gambling on loot boxes or buying the skin, and hire teams to find ways to implement tactics within the game to manipulate sheep susceptible to microtransactions.

[Tross]

I’d be ok with them taking the rest of forever off, unless they become F2P, which is what that model was designed for.

[MinnesotaFatts]

Yes, please.

[william_cade]

Publishers squandered something that could have been great by releasing unfinished garbage and now people are sick of it.

[CrimsonWing69]

Man this is so true. Like I feel these games are fine as a genre but no way in hell are these the future of gaming that EA and Activision are trying to push.

[ShinRon]

as we all are hating on games as a service remember WoW was a full priced game with full priced expansions and a subscription cost. and it was very successful critically and commercially.

the difference is every aspect of wow was amazing compared to other MMOs and kept getting better and better (until wrath anyway)

basically imo GaaS arent inheritly bad, but all of the GaaS on consoles that ive tried have just been weak half assed games.

[Codewow]

Id be okay if GaaS games were shared world experiences where you can see other players interacting with the world akin to WoW. Otherwise I can agree they are really wearing themselves out.

[ECHOINFINITY]

Destiny doesn't need to take anything off. People love to complain, and rightly so in many instances. Destiny, however, does a great job at giving you a very fun platform to sign in and enjoy with your buddies. No game has infinite content, and if you want to play for daily or weekly eventually you'll be replaying content frequently. There's lots to improve but Destiny also offers a lot to enjoy and doesn't need to take the generation off.

[Traecy]

Agreed.

[Adexus]

I don't think looter shooters need to take time off, I love Borderlands, Division and Destiny, Anthem was fun for the first couple of hours, and then it bored me to death all the way to the end then it was promptly uninstalled.

Genres don't need to take time off, bad, barely finished games do.

[harmny]

You should take the rest of the generation off

[Father__Merrin]

GaaS is OK If it's free. Charging 49.99 for unfinished with held back content o ly to be sold later on is a scam.

[victorMaje]

GaaS, better out than in!

[AnubisG]

Woud be nice but they make stupid money with GaaS and looter-shooters so that's not happening. If anything, expect more. There is a huge demand for this stuff and as long as the demand is there, it will be supplied. Do I like it? No. It's just the reality.

Also, I would have no issue if GaaS would co-exist with normal gaming but my issue is that they are trying to bring in GaaS into every IP and franchise that used to be great. In that effect, the focus is on that as opposed to give a complete game on day one to customers. Latest example: Anthem.

[Dawknight316]

They are just getting started. Lmaoo

[Segata]

Warframe is still great but it's free. AAA $60 should not be doing this at all.

[UnholyLight]

GaaS are probably the worst.

[Smokehouse]

Stock market please hold on, I’m in my safe space.

[AK91]

I agree but tell that to the publishers and investors.

[tonyjames404]

That need to die more like it... It just dosnt work...
https://cogpoweruppodcast.p...

[Slappy McGee]

@aconnellen

https://amp.businessinsider...

"The plan, which will effectively turn any Windows 10 PC into an Xbox, is an important part of Microsoft's efforts to adapt to a changing industry by recasting itself as a multi-device "services" company"

He also talks about it here.

https://www.theguardian.com...

[Aaroncls7]

haha "looter shooters"
Love it