Templar Knight

This. In terms of publishing, they may as well be as bad as EA as far as I'm concerned.

There have been blatantly far worse examples of Micro transactions in the past with other games that have been far worse themselves, if those didn't elicit a revolt among gamers to vocally want them out of the industry for good, this case certainly won't. The inclusion of them doesn't break the game, nor did Eidos break the game to make them included. Planetside 2 arguably has more "problematic" pay-to-win mechanics than Mankind Divided. In regards to Mankind Divided, I'm more pissed to learn that Square Enix basically cut the game in half in order to make two games and have had two teams working on Deus Ex games since 2015, which explains the abrupt and incomplete conclusion of MD's story. But as we know already, Square Enix is a scummy company like many others, so why we should be surprised that they'll continue to be scummy to make more money, IDK. Besides, we're all arguing despite the fact that we all know that none of us have even partaken, nor intend to partake in the feature we're arguing over making a big deal out of. We're not the audience that needs convincing not to support micro transactions. And even if we go by the argument that "Buying the game alone supports micro transactions", by that argument it implies that it cost Square Enix nothing to put them in (since the price of the game did not increase on account of adding micro transactions). Which if it cost Square Enix nothing to put the feature in (which I personally believe as well), then what good is protesting it anyway? They have only incentives to put it in since it costs them nothing. And we've established they don't give a fuck about what gamers think in terms of these kinds of decisions anyway. I'd also wager Square Enix will not make much money regardless, since they have to make up the enormous fucking budget they spent anyway.

Then I got my terms wrong, whatever. The point is you can play the early versions of the game before release and actually provide feedback. You couldn't do that for NMS. No, you're right, BTG is wrong, a simple Google search will prove that. Ah k, either way.

The Witcher 3's Maps are fucking enormous and a treat to explore especially if you have a great computer. And although there are fast travel options via signposts, you can still go by foot, horse, or boat from the Nilfgaardian Army camp in southern Velen to Novigrad without a single loading screen. That's if you just go in a straight line too, there's two other major cities in between, and numerous smaller stops. Its two whole map regions conjoined to form a massive area with varied environments and settings and kilometers worth of in-game space. Then there's Skellige and its numerous islands which is its own kettle of fish and IMO is also beautiful to explore. I loved going on foot through Kaer Trolde, it felt like I was actually in a Viking Fortress-Port town. Another game that I really enjoyed for its exploration elements and the fact that you cannot fast travel at all is an indie game called Sunless Sea. You're basically a steam-ship captain trying to explore and survive in the Unterzee, an underwater ocean filled with strange locales, hazards, and wonders. It also has amazing art and writing and pretty great music. Mafia II's map is also pretty good, and is basically open-world if you don't follow the story missions immediately. The Long Dark has enormous maps that you have to explore in order to try and find places to search for supplies and shelter in order to survive in the Canadian North after a massive electro-magnetic event that left you stranded, and those maps can go into other regions that are also huge maps themselves, and it is impossible to go faster than a foot pace in the game, as there are no working vehicles yet (I kinda doubt there will be, but you never know, it is still in development atm, they may include a snowmobile or something that needs gas to power), and no way to fast travel. I've also heard that Kona looks pretty nice, for something in a similar vein to The Long Dark, its also in development. Also, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has some nice maps in the same vein as Deus Ex in that they're most city-scapes of cities like Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and a few other locations in that area of California.

What Jim Sterling is talking about has nothing to do with microtransactions/DLC impact on the gameplay. He's talking about being against the principle of microtransactions/DLCs being in full priced games itself. He even said that he enjoyed Mankind divided. That the microtransactions were so rushed that the game's pacing wasn't designed to accompany them effectively making them worthless in the first place. But he wants the games industry to stop using microtransactions/DLC as they ultimately serve to undermine the consumer. It's his agenda and it's one that agree with 100%. For every inch they're given publishers will make them the biggest fucking miles you can imagine. It's only a matter of time till the power of the consumer's purchases widdled down to nothing and the soul of video games being split into 100s of tiny, minute slivers of DLC for $2.99 each. That might have been a bit exaggerative but you get my point. To that end, I find it all the more astounding that Square Enix STILL pulled this crap despite how much flak they caught for "Augment Your Pre-Order". I mean, obviously that just shows how much they fear consumers' reaction, that is to say not at all. When they know they can throw it in in a way that people won't know until after other people have started buying it, what's to stop them? But then, this is why CDProjectRed was rated best developers for last year's awards. They were recognized for doing something basically no other major developers/companies have done in recent memory, providing free DLC where other companies would have squeezed that same stuff for fistfuls of dollars. All the while making a great game and great legitimate expansions. Having said that though, I don't think Jim's doing anyone a service by getting as heated about this as he has been in terms of trying to justify his vindication, because I'm not entirely seeing it other than the fact that he's gotten a rare glimpse behind the curtain as to how this shit is effecting developers, but I'd argue that is more a fault of Square Enix's management and direction styles, not the implementation of Micro transactions. Mankind Divided is not the hill to die on for making a case that micro transactions need to be gone, in fact its not a very good case at all compared to at least a dozen other legitimate cases that have been brought up in the past for other games. If anything, its an argument for how micro transactions can be put into a game that is still balanced regardless of whether you use them or not, especially because its a single player game. If Square Enix just hadn't been complete idiots and dropped the idea into Eidos' lap a month before release, I personally don't think there would be much of an issue to argue beyond abstract principles. Hell, the latest Halo was a better case, because at launch that had such bare bones features yet still had the amazing idea to put micro transactions in first before Forge, or other modes and maps. Because that's a great set of priorities, right?

IDK about that either. Because by that argument, if the super volcano beneath Yellowstone were to go off, the Earth's temperature would go up several degrees, not down several degrees like it has in the past whenever major eruptions have occurred. Now arguably there is a fine balance to maintaining temperature, that's why I believe terra-forming will one day be possible just by finding a suitable mix of gases for each planet and maintaining them in ways to create an environment to sustain life. And there is a point in that carbon emissions in the shortrun would boost temperatures. I'm not particularly worried about Global Warming or Climate Change anymore though. I feel that we'll find a way to adapt to conditions, and the world won't end just because no more ice is on it, its existed without any ice on it before, and it's existed as a snowball planet before. The only question will be how will we adapt to changing conditions. I think we'll end up trying to find a way to directly control the Earth's climate through more advanced controls (it'll be sci-fi levels where you can just push a button and suddenly the Earth becomes uninhabitable or some shit like that, but I think that is where it will go, especially if space agencies actually want to colonize Mars or other planets, it'll be good practice for those)

Then I got my terms wrong, whatever. The point is you can play the early versions of the game before release and actually provide feedback. You couldn't do that for NMS.

I've taken to watching a bunch of smaller LPers that I find fairly entertaining, a couple I found from watching Markiplier early on. I watch ReformistTM for Mount and Blade and its various Mod related stuff but he also plays a lot of Star Wars The Old Republic playthroughs, Sleepcycles I've gotten into watching who seems to play a wide variety of games on his channel but he got really big for playing Nuclear Throne, Baertaffy is another, Weaselzone is another I found very recently through his The Long Dark LPs. I also watch some of RPGMinx(aka MangaMinx), and although she probably falls a little too much into the overreaction and silly category at times for your taste, she doesn't use a face cam and is one of the few Lesbian LPers I know. Most of these people I recommend don't play with face cams, or if they do have them, don't use them all the time. Sleepycycles uses his mostly for streams on Twitch, Baertaffy has only used his on a few rare occasions, and Reformist AFAIK doesn't have one at all. Weasel is the exception in that he uses his face cam all the time. Another guy I watch is FRANKIEonPCin1080p, though the content he makes isn't strictly Let's Plays, I think they're top quality shot and fairly entertaining videos with minimal silliness. Most of his stuff is DayZ and Arma, but also a bunch of other shooters as well. Here are their channels: ReformistTM: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOA1yrrvuBsl0ifIioiTNXQ BaerTaffy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCG6qI8XjyjUNgZ8jlJp_wQ SLEEPCYCLES: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmkMqEDB69Wu5gG9p5gwzw WeaselZone: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtwmze3hCYoI87uuYkcPFPA TheRPGMinx: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcc3KiX3RYXhi96vI_jJPA FRANKIEonPCin1080p: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxbivvwPkudpfWrLQHGHQyw

Knew it, knew that Square Enix just tacked it on to make a buck after Eidos was basically finished. And although that video is interesting, it doesn't really prove exactly what impact the features have on the game. What exactly does Jim prove besides the fact Eidos was put under extreme pressure by Square Enix with a month to incorporate them into an already balanced game? He's proven that this shit reflects terribly on Square Enix's work ethics at least in regards to Eidos Montreal's teams, but actual gameplay? They didn't break the game to make those micro-transaction elements seem more appealing, which WOULD have been a noticeable impact caused by Enix's orders to Eidos in order to actually make those micro transactions look more tantalizing to players. But nothing in that anonymous info dump proves that. Nor has my gameplay experience so far reflected that. I haven't been put in situations where I'm left thinking: "Man, if only I could immediately max out all my augs right now.", and I've almost maxed out all of the aug branches I want for a non-violent mostly stealthy play anyway and I don't think I'm even halfway through the game yet. It also doesn't change the point of: what can we do about it other than sit and look pissed? Tell Square Enix we're pissed again? We've already established that companies like Square Enix, EA, and others will continue to pull this shit regardless of how much attention their antics are given (I mean, this is the shit they pulled in spite of the massive flak they caught for "Augment Your Pre-Order", you think they'd stop just because the mousetrap catches them twice?), and so long as even one sucker spends money on the feature, they're already justified to keep doing it. There's nothing illegal about what they're doing, its just shitty practice, of which there are dozens that exist within the industry that have existed for at least a decade, none of them have gone anywhere despite info dumps, controversial news stories, harsh and widely viewed criticism by some of the biggest professional and popular critics in the industry, or enormous fuck-ups by devs and companies alike. None of it has gotten rid of scam DLC, shitty career prospects for more than a few video game programmers, Pre-order culture, games tied to central servers, ridiculous bonus or salary conditions in some companies (As recently as Fallout: New Vegas, there was still shit going on where the game's Metacritic score was basically the subject of whether or not the dev team would get a bonus for their work), or most recently with Micro transactions. Not much of it has changed, which to me is as much a testament to the protesting power of gamers on most serious gaming issues, as it is a testament to the amount of import that the majority of companies who make the games for us and the wider public hold gamer's issues: almost none at the end of the day. The only effective way to make game companies listen is to vote through your wallet. Unfortunately, when most casual people want to play good games, they're not going to care about the ethics of indirectly supporting tacked on elements that ultimately don't really matter to them, and they aren't being forced to buy. Especially if they don't give a shit to even keep up to date on gaming news! Because then what's the solution? Do not buy even otherwise good or great games and ensure that all of those franchises basically die for the sake of principle? IDK. I think its simply much easier to wait until you have those clear-cut examples so that everyone can see just how bad it is, simply because you're never going to convince the casuals unless you can actually prove they're being ripped off. Gods know the examples already exist on TONS of mobile games and browser games, have those examples made any difference? No! Instead we see more and more of those same things getting dragged into console and PC gaming. Really shows you where the priorities of mobile gamers are, eh? It doesn't mean you have to like the practice, I certainly don't. I'm just incredibly cynical about the ability of gamers to actually change the situation. Because what so far has Mankind Divided's history shown us? That if one scheme fails spectacularly in the public eye, they'll just try another that doesn't involve the public being able to see it take effect until release, at which point the company can just wipe their hands and say: "Hey, nobody's forcing you to buy it. The game is perfectly playable even if you don't use it." Then what is the public supposed to do? Demand refunds on a game that is otherwise good or great if not for those elements you're not even being forced or significantly encouraged to buy? I mean, it easy to argue something like The Last Stand: Dead Zone uses the concept of micro transactions to actually hamstring a game and make you addicted so that you can keep drip feeding money just to significantly progress, that's trying to con money out of suckers who think they're playing a good game when in reality its just a time sink and money pit. Its much harder in this case where you can significantly progress perfectly fine without ever touching that stuff, and are playing a genuinely good game with real production value behind it. Plus at the end of the day, the loss of sales or any repercussions from this are more likely to hurt Eidos first and foremost before it does Square Enix, which if Jim's sources are correct are mostly innocent devs trying to make great games, but are bound by parent publisher who cares more about money. On that note, IDK what's up with Square Enix or basically every other major Japanese-based game related company I know of besides From Software going crazy with their IPs and projects in one respect or another. Konami, Nintendo, and Square Enix lately have all been up to crazy shit in the last year or two, Capcom and Sega as well, arguably. Its like they've gotten out of touch with what gamers actually want. Or at least that's my feeling. In any case, I've ranted long enough.

With that much hype? Yes. No game is ever going to live up to the amount of inflated expectations that NMS got. Though hype via marketing aside, the devs were also caught basically lying about some game features that they said would exist in the game in interviews, when they never got implemented into final release. If you get caught doing that, you're basically fucked. I'm personally more curious as to how games like Star Citizen will develop in light of this. That one's promises are similarly big, but they have the luxury of being relatively open about their development and have an open Alpha.

My pet peeves in gaming are: 1-Inconsistent narratives and poor writing in general: This really irks me in AAA games particularly, since they should have the money and resources to afford and find good writers. Some recent examples of where this pissed me off in games were in Watch_Dogs, The Order: 1886, The Evil Within (watched, not played, that's how bad I thought the writing was), Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2, and Batman: Arkham Knight. Watch_Dogs I felt the story became incredibly inconsistent and poorly mid to late-game. It was already on shaky ground from the start since they didn't really establish Aiden very well, but only got worse later. For instance, how exactly is a hacker of any kind supposed to hack The Bunker? I thought they very clearly said that it was designed to be an "outside the net" viewing station where basically anyone who controls it has unlimited access without it being traceable back, the ultimate means of controlling an entirely connected city. But then we have an Ex-Dedsec member who just so happens to be able to do it and basically do nothing meaningful with it other than stall the story for another hour or so? Or the fact that apparently ace hacker and criminal Aiden and his buddy had no fucking clue who planned the hit on them when they know who the only Mob-boss in town is, how fucking hard would have been to figure out that this guy owned the fucking building they were robbing? Mob bosses love to show off how much property they own, this guy was throwing big city parties in the place for fuck's sake, but it takes them over 8 months and the whole game's story to figure it out?! Or the climax, where apparently Dedsec doesn't hold a monopoly on gaining access to hacking everything in the city, any fucker can figure it out with enough time, begging the question as to why the hell Aiden even needed Clara in the first place. Or perhaps the worst: Aiden is supposed to be vigilante, yet NOBODY in the game EVER refers to him by his vigilante name "Street Fox", the only reason we know the fucking name even existed is basically they say it in the end news credits. Everyone in the news knows who he is apparently, and he may as well have not even bothered with a fucking face mask. Bioshock Infinite's second DLC writing felt incredibly lame, campy, and hamfisted. I understand the company was basically bankrupt and they wanted to tie it all together, but FFS. They had literally in the last two games made a concept that guaranteed that the series could continue indefinitely (a la Skyward Sword style), and they throw it all away in less than two DLCs by basically saying: "Oh, she just gave up her infinite powers to come back to life after getting killed in the most ridiculous way possible, to save one girl whom she doesn't even end up saving." Fucking trash. The Evil Within's story pissed me off to no end, since it felt like the plot was just doing whatever it wanted at any given point. The antagonist might as well have been God with the amount of plot powers and plot armour he has and begs the reason as to what the fuck kind of chance did any of the protagonists have. Actually plot armour seems to appear and disappear at random for a bunch of characters in the game. The story also makes no sense. If the goal was to give the antagonist's brain a host body, why even bothering hooking up more than the one guy to the machine and instead just kill all these other people who came in? And the ending is entirely sequel-bait with how many loose ends it leaves, so wtf. The Order: 1886, very poorly executed story despite having some interesting ideas, prime example of a game where looks can kill a plot. The writing is heavily contrived to make things happen in particular ways, and leaves a shitload of loose ends assuming that its going to get a sequel when it never will. I hate that last part in films, and I hate it in games. Batman: Arkham Knight, I felt that they pulled a cheap shot bringing Joker back, not that Mark Hamil and Joker aren't amazing, but that it basically means they were completely full of shit in Arkham City saying it would be his last performance, and basically they were just pulling a cheap shot to sucker fans in and immediately earn A+'s. I hate it when creators blatantly lie to the public on stuff, even if the stuff turns out to be good later. Otherwise, I hated the fact that they contrived a way to basically just turn Gotham into Arkham City 2.0, what the fuck is the point of setting the game in Gotham if you're going to just make the city empty of civilians? I want a living breathing Gotham to play as Batman in since that's the next step up after a city sectioned off to be run by criminals, not just the same fucking thing again only slightly bigger. 2-When AAAs give me less value when asking for more money than Indies: The Indie game market has spoiled me for AAA gaming, because I've played such amazing Indies for fractions of the prices of AAAs, I hold AAAs to even higher standards since they've got more resources and more money. If a AAA title cannot deliver a better experience for more money, I get pissed. The Witcher 3 is the gold standard of which I hold AAAs against in terms of top quality for money in modern games. I got nearly 300 hours out of a single playthrough, quality writing (I have a few knit-picks with Eredin as an overarching antagonist, but overall it was very good), great VAs, amazing expansions that were even more worth the money, a whole set of free DLC, great music, and it looked and played like a treat. Any game that doesn't provide me with a more for my money when asking for more when I know I've played better games made on less and ask for less really irks me as a customer. 3-Most cash-in titles: With only a couple of exceptions, I hate all movie cash-in games because of traditionally how little effort is put into them. The only exceptions I have are The Golden Compass (since I think they actually made the game WAY better and more detailed than the movie by some amazing circumstance, even though it still has its problems), the earlier Ghostbusters game (the recent one is a shitty cash-in), and maybe one or two more I cannot recall. 4-Badly designed games or with sections of broken difficulty. Tough and challenging games I can take, I do not like it when the game basically gives you a big middle finger and says: "Yeah, try and get past this easily, bitch." Like Dark Souls, there are precisely 2 instances of broken difficulty where the game's design literally fucks you up rather than actual skill. The flying buttress in Anor Londo with the two archers who apparently are standing on ledges smaller than their feet, and who will potentially keep trying to shoot you even if you're right next to them, and The Bed of Chaos' final stage with how fucking ridiculous the jump you have to make is when the boss can knock you out of the air mid-jump or kill you in basically two hits, OR even kill you when you've landed and are trying to get through the fucking roots because of ridiculous hit boxes. Both of those sections are trolling the player with ridiculous mechanics that in any other circumstance would be considered broken. Other instances are like AI that Ross encountered in Polaris Snow-Cross will they will literally cheat and the player basically has no way to win other than cheating themselves.

I watched Sterling's video. I agree that the one-time use consumables are BS, and that this in the abstracts is a shitty practice, but at the same time, I don't think its that big of a deal in a game that is well-made. Certainly not enough to can the game as trash. I got the pre-orders but for the sake of a challenge, I'm currently playing the game once without touching them just to see how hard it actually is, and I'm playing the non-violent route so it should be even harder. So far, I haven't lacked ammo (I'm playing on Give me a Challenge), I've not had to craft anything yet, I could use some more augs to make stuff easier, but then that's the whole point of progression and why most of Jensen's augs get removed in the first place and I feel like I'm getting stuff back pretty quickly. I've just made it to Golem City as well so I don't feel like I'm that far into the game either. IMO, the game feels balanced enough that you don't need to use microtransactions to progress, which is usually what microtransactions are for in games like Farmville or mobile games, they're designed so that you're meant to be tempted to buy them because otherwise you will make no significant progress, they're meant to be paywalls. So far I haven't been tempted at all since I've been getting enough praxis kits fairly regularly to get stuff I want, I haven't hit any walls where its impossible to proceed without getting some maxed out aug branches. Which if that is the case, to me, the transactions were put in as an afterthought since I have a suspicion that it costs Square Enix, or any other company basically nothing to put them in (and conversely, it gives them an opportunity to potentially make even more money for basically zero effort on their part). As gamers, we cannot control the suckers who want to spend all their money at once and get a maxed out Jensen right away, and if the game's not forcing us to, then what is the complaint other than we think its a scummy business practice on Square Enix's part? There's nothing to complain about if the game isn't forcing us to use it, and if we don't partake in it anyway, its suckers who use it. And in terms of the argument that this is a scummy business practice, lets be honest, businesses of any kind beyond gaming love to get money out of suckers who are made to think they need something when they truly don't. This is not unique to gaming and never was. From the day you're born to the day you die, every business wants access to what's in your wallet and to make you feel like you're getting a bargain even if you're not. Cosmetics, clothing, food, cars, even fucking funeral homes, this is a common business practice that is essentially tied to marketing, and it has a long tradition. Gaming is just one of many places it creeps into since making games is a business. And ultimately, if even good games are doing it, then what is the solution? There is none other than trying to boycott companies for just being companies, or protesting people spending their money stupidly. Both of which are ridiculous, because you'd never see people doing the same thing for any other type of business. The day people protest that advertising is convincing them that they need something when they don't, rather than realizing they're the idiots who are falling for the advertising in the first place one way or another will be a new low point in society. Its much easier just to focus on yourself and be a smart buyer than to worry about other people's money in situations like this. Wait until pay-walls become a common practice in AAA games and then we can protest the games. I also think there are bigger problems in gaming beyond Microtransactions that actually stop people from enjoying games. Microtransactions are an annoyance that aren't a big problem unless they're tied to paywalls, games getting killed because they are attached to an online server and a company feels like they've squeezed every penny out of that well so they shut it down is a more dire issue for the future of gaming. Where as Ross has said, we'll basically be left with a generation of games that nobody can play again. Yet other than Ross, I cannot say I've seen anyone really discuss it, certainly not many big gaming personalities.

Enjoy the time off Ross, Gods know you can use some downtime. Besides, we know you'll deliver on what you say you're going to do and it'll be of high quality regardless of how long it takes. Unless you're bullshiting us, of course, lol.

Maybe the Aliens grabbed Shawn after they realised he was trying to make a profit off of their game, thereby distorting their credibility and message, and left behind one of their "clones" to make it free before disappearing off the map? They'd probably would have been keeping an eye on him, unless they didn't care what he did with their computer codes. I'm almost tempted to get the money to hire a couple PIs to scour the state of Georgia and see if they turn up anything on Puckett, simply out of curiosity. In all seriousness though, one of the weirder and more intriguing games you've reviewed because of its origins. Tried to google it afterwards and found a whooping four links to things about it, one was Puckett's site.

It gets even better if we assume that the 16k is being converted to Polish Zloty, which is basically a 1:3 conversion ratio from American currently. Meaning we've basically given Ross just under 50k in Zloty. Not a bad haul for just under a week. Anyway, glad to see this was a success for you Ross. I've been watching your stuff for years and its always been great, you're certainly due the money you made. Good luck with the new adjustments, and I'm anxious to see what comes down the pipe this summer.

Remember The DC Chronicles by Drakortha? He used to have an agreement to host a couple vids with Machinima too before they fucked him over and took all of his videos as their property. Now he's had to make his own Productions channel on Youtube. I'm not sure if he lives in the U.S. though, so I don't know how difficult it would be to make a joint complaint, or if he would be interested in doing it. I would at least try the avenue of getting multiple people togather. The more people you have involved, the more seriously you guys will be taken by Machinima and the more money you guys might be able to pour into any legal matters that might spring up. If they truly have broken the terms of their contract with you Ross, and you can prove that they have beyond any doubt then I don't see how you could lose a case against them. Just keep doing what you're doing, and hopefully someone can get you some solid instructions on what to do.