It's exactly the same thing as watching sports like football or whatever.

Because multiplayer-only games are inherently incomplete and 100% guaranteed to be broken and unplayable after a relatively short period of time. Their price reflects their value at that moment and only at that moment. Their price is less like buying a piece of entertainment which you can enjoy at your leisure and…

Well then what was the brilliant marketing strategy that W3 had which lower selling games (with much bigger marketing budgets) didn’t have? If the game’s success comes down to marketing rather than game quality, then they must have done something amazing and brilliant and completely different from all the other big…

I think a big part of it is that the nickel-and-dime stuff is so cheap to produce (and in many cases was already produced as an intended part of the main game before it was walled off as DLC), that even if *most* people scoff at paying $5 for a special pair of pants, or whatever, they only need a relatively modest…

Paid DLC has a negative effect on the game at every level. The more of it there is, the worse it makes the base game at the outset and the more it undermines the integrity of the work. This is unavoidable - there is no right way to do micro transactions and paid DLC - there are only varying degrees of wrong.

Man I’ve seen so many people stating so many different budget numbers without citing any sources. It’s really all over the place. Lowest I’ve been seeing is $15mil for everything, and your numbers are the highest I've seen. Where'd you find your $100mil number?

The headline will be “Witcher 3 Devs: Bad at Math”

The main thing is - NO ONE should buy it right now since the expansion is coming in December.

Original design was more interesting and fun *because* it was trash. British redesign version was boring and conservative.

Good point. I hadn't considered the effect it would have on potential teammates but it makes perfect sense the way you describe it.

It’s not like FTL. The only reason it gets compared to FTL is because the ships have different system (shields, guns, thrusters) control panels which must be manned by one of the characters in order to function.

Except “Walking Simulator” is specific and descriptive, while VIN is vague and could apply to almost every video game, from Mortal Kombat to Ace Attorney. You might as well call them “Multimedia Experiences”. Also they aren’t interactive usually. Most of these games start *after* the story has already happened, so you…

They aren’t even visual novels. Visual novels have characters you can interact with and a story you participate in through direct experience.

How about “Epilogue simulator,” because all of these games take place *after* the story has happened and everybody’s gone?

In other news, Orson Wells’ twitch stream reading of the classic sci-fi novel “War of the Worlds” was also banned.

But this wasn’t part of the expected track for the game. By your logic the devs could convert the game to a Minesweeper clone tomorrow and the only reasonable response from the previously happy, existing customer base is to shrug their shoulders and say “well I guess this isn’t the game for me after all”.

I guess I’m simultaneously conservative and radical about how I’d prefer developers approach game sequels. Ideally I want them to be obnoxiously safe and conservative when they make a sequel to a game. Keep what works, remove what doesn’t work, and beyond that just make it prettier, more complex, and more challenging.…

I agree except that this is the kind of stuff people only say *after* someone has spent their money. Meanwhile Early access is seamlessly integrated into the Steam marketplace, including Steam Sales, and otherwise treated like any other game. That’s not just a failure on the part of the customer to do their homework,…

But in this case doesn’t it turn into a “pay to lose” situation? Whoever paid this guy to rank up his account is presumably going to be matched against other people of a very high skill level, where he’ll lose over and over again and drop back down in the ranks. Or he’ll somehow be able to hold his own at that level,…

Try giving Mario a hook nose and see how it goes over. 100% on the side of the raging assholes on this one even though I don't care and don't play LoL.