Assassin's Creed: Origin (where the bull**** all started)

[Scuba Steve]

They say micro transactions don't affect the game drastically, let's see if that's true

I haven't even noticed any microtransactions yet in the game. I did see when you check out the "store" part, they have some weapons and such available for Helix credits, and that you can buy helix credits, but nothing has actually popped up for me while playing.

Oh also, I forgot to mention that it has three difficulty modes: Easy, Normal, and Hard. I'm just playing on Normal for now, but it's decently challenging. AI seems to be smarter about noticing you and looking for you if you've been discovered. Also if a single guard sees you, he'll shout for help, but if you kill him quickly enough while he's in mid sentence, you can still maintain stealth.

 

[Reus]

It's probably going to be the same case as with Shadow of War. Everyone made a big deal out of the fact that the game had lootboxes, but it turned out that it wasn't a big deal at all. You could buy as any lootboxes as you want without paying a dime.

 

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

That's completely missing the problem that existed with lootboxes in SoW, and exists in this game also.

 

[Splintert]

What's the big deal with loot boxes in Shadow of War? I've been playing it and I've yet to even find out how to buy them if I were stupid enough to want to.

 

[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]

Their whole existence, really. To the point where "but it turned out that it wasn't a big deal at all. You could buy as any lootboxes as you want without paying a dime" is actually part of the problem. Putting in a tiered lootbox system where real money spending is an option is putting in a cheap predatory gambling mechanic that replaces other, far better systems, while trying to encourage you to spend even more money on the game you already bought. Sure, you in specific may not be led into temptation by this, but there are obviously enough gamers who are. It's a bull**** cashgrab that cheapens the game's mechanics and reduces the overall effect of gameplay.

Here's a decent article explaining the point of view in more detail. For the same reason, lootbox systems in Assassin's Creed will probably also detract from the game overall.

 

[Reus]

I understand that some people are tempted and tricked into spending money on things like lootboxes, but that's not gonna stop me from playing a great game. If the lootboxes couldn't be bought using real money, that'd be perfect, but I've seen people saying that they're boycotting all games with micro transactions, and I don't agree with that entirely. I haven't had this much fun with a game since The Witcher 3, and I'm not about to ditch an excellent game because you can buy lootboxes with in-game money. Hearthstone allows you to pay real money to buy packs, but we don't talk about that as much. You can argue that Hearthstone revolves around cards and packs, but the mechanic is still there - you can pay real money to obtain in-game items.

My point is that if I, as an individual, decide not to buy their game, it won't impact their total sales enough to matter. If we somehow could get everyone to boycott the game, resulting in the developers dropping micro transactions entirely, I'd absolutely be up for that, but that's not working in reality. I think they're great games, and I'm not going to sacrifice them because the micro transactions are inconvenient for people who are easily tempted to give in and pay.

Edit: I'm sorry if this comes across as ignorance. Being addicted to gambling and the like is not a joke. It's not that I don't care, I just feel that, as it stands right now, me boycotting a game won't impact the grand scale of things.

 

[TheFlyingFishy]

I've always kind of felt like that too. If I could be certain that me not buying a product would be part of a concentrated effort, I'd be more willing to boycott, but me holding off alone means nothing. I know that this is the mentality that keeps people from boycotting, but, I mean, until I get some assurance that me missing out on a game that looks fun to me is going to help matters I just cba.

 

[Splintert]

If the majority of the profits come from game sales rather than microtransactions then the companies might decide they aren't worth the expense of adding them. Just not buying them is a statement all the same.

 

[Areze]

The mere existence of lootboxes/'micro'transactions does negatively affect gameplay when they try and make the game as tedious and grindy as possible to test the player's patience. Not to mention it's functionally saying 'it's worth money not to play our game'.

 

[rebelknight]

Anyone know if the Arena and chariot racing are repeatable and randomized?

Or do you get the same opponent everytime?