How PC gamers can be heard

[Regs]

I think "Vote with your wallet" is the best advice.

Problem is :
Not buying games shows you don't like them and encourages developers to say "fuck pc gamers" and focus on the console market.

Buying games only encourages developers to keep shafting PC Gamers (no dedicated server support lol?).

All in all... I don't know what to do.

Not really. If people still have the willingness to buy PC games at 50-60 dollars then they will continue to make them and they will find better ways to deliver it to you. COD MW2 I think proved this point. If competition arrives later that delivers a better quality product at a cheaper price, then IW is shit out of luck and they can stick with consoles while others on the PC will weap the rewards for all I care.

The problem today is there is no other game like Call of Duty Modern Warfare...period. World at War was close, but it was based yet again during WW2 and it seems less realistic in my opinion. What other choices to players have to experience modern warfare in the same fashion that IW brings to us in MW one or two? Dice could pull it off, but they came later and did not execute as good as IW did with COD 1.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Has MW2 sold well on the PC, even at the $60 price, and if so, is the end result the encouragement of further consolization?

 

[Udgnim]

Has MW2 sold well on the PC, even at the $60 price, and if so, is the end result the encouragement of further consolization?

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50951

2007 CoD 4 sales. doesn't include online PC sales, but I'd expect the physical box sales ratio between console and PC to be similar or less for MW2

 

[TJCS]

This one hardcore Everquest player blew his own head-off with a shotgun when he felt betrayed by another in-gamer player. This dude got national coverage :hmm: maybe it is something you want to consider...

I saw this coverage many years ago, and I still remember it to this day. A moment of silence for a fellow PC gamer. ()

 

[40Hands]

Originally Posted by gszx1337
Great article! I haven't heard of the ECA before. Shit, I didn't even know that there was a Steam group boycotting COMW2.
That group was pointless...everyone in it was playing MW2...haha

This isn't true. The group was pretty big and the screen shot was only of the first page of people playing at the time. Also I know for a fact that some people joined that group just to be asses.

 

[dguy6789]

If we buy junk like MW2, it further encourages developers to make crappy ports and take out features since they know people will buy it anyway. If we don't buy anything at all, they will just stop putting anything out at all for the PC. It seems like a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of ordeal when it comes to certain companies.

I don't think we'll get the bad companies to change their ways. The only thing we can do is support the companies that still release quality products.

 

[minmaster]

well you guys call it junk, but despite the flaws, it's still a better game than crap like arma2 and operation flaspoint 2.

i am against what they've done to the PC version of MW2, but the fact is it's still a better buy than 90% of the stuff out on the PC market.

 

[dguy6789]

The problem is that MW2 is setting a standard for the good PC games. Developers will think "the game will still sell well even if we don't include all these features, so let's save some money". I don't think anyone is saying any random bad game is better than MW2. The problem is that MW2 type games are going to end up being the best you can get when it comes to PC games if this keeps up.

 

[Smartazz]

i was actually considering buying MW *1* just to see what all the CoD hoopla was about (i only played CoD2, was not all that impressed)

not that i was going to buy MW2 in the first place, but no DS = no sale

I just recently bought MW1 earlier this week and it's a great game. I also played MW2 on Xbox 360 for a while, but I definitely prefer MW1 on PC over it.

 

[coloumb]

Is there any feedback channel to the publishers/developers? Rather than bitching and complaining like a spoiled 3 year old brat - provide positive and constructive feedback as to what it would take for you to purchase their product [ie: removal of heavy DRM - Torchlight is an awesome example - you get 10 registrations before you have to re-register - AWESOME!]

Sure you can vote with your wallet -but when the same game is selling umpteenmillion copies on the console - you think they are going to care if 100 pc gamers won't by the pc version? This will just tell them that publishing for the PC isn't profitable and will only concentrate on selling console games. This holds true for anything that has a price.

You'd have to be a major shareholder or know a high level decision maker in the company to have any effect on the decision making process for what gets published for the PC. This holds true to nearly every company in the world - more shares held in the company or the higher up on the food chain [executive level] = power to decide what happens.

 

[gszx1337]

When I was referring to the COD MW boycott, I was just pointing out how informative the article was. I saw the image of the members actually playing the game.

 

[Regs]

When I was referring to the COD MW boycott, I was just pointing out how informative the article was. I saw the image of the members actually playing the game.

It was first a petition and then a boycott? Boy, did the 15 year olds running that put a lot of spin on it!

 

[bullbert]

Keep a close eye on Blizzard, now that they are pretty much owned by Activation, you can expect a lot of anti-consumer tactics from them.

You have not been paying attention, as they are still debating how/if they are going to charge you $200 for Starcraft II (3 $50/60 segments + $$ for more DLC). I consider that anti-consumer tactics.

I paid "full retail" for Starcraft I, $25 at CompUSA back in 1998, but that was when new class-AAA games list price was $35, not $50/$60, when release week sales totals were counted in thousand and not millions, and when release week sales were frequently $10 off (similar to how 1970s-80s LP albums were $5-6 first week and $10-12 thereafter, you know, LPs, like CDs but with built in circular scratches, err, groves, except LPs still played with all those "scratches"). Paradigms long lost in this greedy publisher driven market.

...kind of interesting how even though a game title has 1000x more sales, the cost is not 1000x times less but actually 2x more...

 

[Dorkenstein]

Always vote with your wallet. The only language the big guys can understand.

 

[bullbert]

Always vote with your wallet. The only language the big guys can understand.

That...

AND with today's internet and search engines, coherent whines and organized complaints even go a long way. Some publishers do eventually make changes due to widespread bad internet reviews, like 2K removing some activation restrictions from Bioshock 1, but that took almost a year of whining.

So do continue to vote with your wallet, but don't stop whining. Ever.
Just whine coherent and "constructively".

 

[Dorkenstein]

'Twas as if 500 million gamer's voices cried out at once in whinage...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

PC gamers did vote with their wallets. The result? They bought MW2 and voted that the consolization of PC games does not bother them. They bought Dragon Age and voted that consolization in the form of no online multiplayer and the inability to create and download free custom content is OK with them.

Hope you guys enjoy single-player only games, dumbed down games, no more custom content, and consolization 'cause that's what PC gamers seem to be voting for.

 

[Mike Gayner]

PC gamers did vote with their wallets. The result? They bought MW2 and voted that the consolization of PC games does not bother them. They bought Dragon Age and voted that consolization in the form of no online multiplayer and the inability to create and download free custom content is OK with them.

Hope you guys enjoy single-player only games, dumbed down games, no more custom content, and consolization 'cause that's what PC gamers seem to be voting for.

Your Dragon Age example is retarded. Plenty of games past and present have been single player only, and many gamers (myself included) buy some games solely for the single player campaign. Making your point even more retarded is the fact that Dragon Age is perhaps the best RPG to be released on PC in years. In fact, it is the antitheses of "consolization" in many ways.

 

[Maximilian]

You have not been paying attention, as they are still debating how/if they are going to charge you $200 for Starcraft II (3 $50/60 segments + $$ for more DLC). I consider that anti-consumer tactics.

I paid "full retail" for Starcraft I, $25 at CompUSA back in 1998, but that was when new class-AAA games list price was $35, not $50/$60, when release week sales totals were counted in thousand and not millions, and when release week sales were frequently $10 off (similar to how 1970s-80s LP albums were $5-6 first week and $10-12 thereafter, you know, LPs, like CDs but with built in circular scratches, err, groves, except LPs still played with all those "scratches"). Paradigms long lost in this greedy publisher driven market.

...kind of interesting how even though a game title has 1000x more sales, the cost is not 1000x times less but actually 2x more...

Theres no segments to starcraft II, its 3 games. Like supcom and forged alliance, or crysis and crysis warhead, separate games with full campaigns in each, starcraft II games have 26-30 missions in each of them, the original game had 30 missions. Seems very fair tbh.

 

[minmaster]

PC gamers did vote with their wallets. The result? They bought MW2 and voted that the consolization of PC games does not bother them. They bought Dragon Age and voted that consolization in the form of no online multiplayer and the inability to create and download free custom content is OK with them.

Hope you guys enjoy single-player only games, dumbed down games, no more custom content, and consolization 'cause that's what PC gamers seem to be voting for.

yea you do that and you'll find nothing decent to play anymore.

 

[digitaldurandal]

I hear that PC gaming is dying ever single year. Hell it is played out since 2002 at least. However I still manage to purchase and enjoy many PC games each year.

Does MW2 have some consequences from console gaming? Yes. Are all of them bad? No. Having it choose the laggiest person as host sucks but mostly I do not miss dedicated servers. Hopefully PC matchmaking will evolve to include better host selection and ping capping. Other than that truely im pleased with the product, and I think you'll find even the people who complain nonstop about the game.. are STILL playing it. Obviously its not that bad.

 

[digitaldurandal]

well you guys call it junk, but despite the flaws, it's still a better game than crap like arma2 and operation flaspoint 2.

i am against what they've done to the PC version of MW2, but the fact is it's still a better buy than 90% of the stuff out on the PC market.

Nail on the head. This is why it will sell. Even if you do not agree with some things done to the product. It is very polished with few bugs compared to the competition. Other companies using dedicated servers might be able to beat this game due to the decisions at IW.. if they could only release a quality product instead of a bug infested mess.

 

[bullbert]

Theres no segments to starcraft II, its 3 games. Like supcom and forged alliance, or crysis and crysis warhead, separate games with full campaigns in each, starcraft II games have 26-30 missions in each of them, the original game had 30 missions. Seems very fair tbh.

Actually, we will have to wait and see. You *could* be talking apple and oranges. Instead of just counting missions (90 verses 30), you should really be talking single-play-through time for the entire mission chain. I am NOT saying that you will not want to replay certain missions, just that what Blizzards splits into of 5-to-10 missions NOW, may have been considered a single mission of decades past. edit: I replayed SC1 the year before last, after reading about SC2's eminent release. I do recall several looong single missions comprising of many sub-mission-al steps.

3 separate games? 3 segments of the same game? Tomato? Tomato?

It really is just another case of too many projects and not enough talent (or not enough talent willing to work for low wages). With all the projects Blizzard has under development, it is no wonder why schedules are slipping years and not just months.

 

[Purple44]

As far as I am concerned, Microsoft has not done anything wrong at any point in time with their practices. I don't for a second believe including IE or any other Microsoft program with Windows(which is what the EU and others complain about) is morally wrong or in any way unfair.

You was OK with Microsoft keeping the best Internet browser Netscape off the desktops of new computers in 90's when we were having the browsers war? Back in the Win 95 & 98 days Microsoft use it licensing monopoly to keep computer makers like Dell, HP and Compaq from putting Netscape pre-install on new computers if they wanted a good deal on Windows for their new computers.

And now we got to contend with Microsoft's "Game for Windows LIVE". GFWL starting get a foot hold with PC game makers. What the problem with GFWL you ask, it dividing the online gaming community!!

If you live in one the over 166 unsupported countries around the world and buy a game that uses GFWL, you will be lockout of gaming online. Only players that live in the 26 supported countries are allow to go online with GFWL.

Many players who bought DIRT 2 found out the hard way that they paid $40-$70 for a game they can only use offline.

GFWL stole my game

Problem with cd-key and Windows Live

Attention. This game is a scam, as it works on Windows-Live

Will Codemasters give new CD-key to those players in unsupport countires that need...

Steam vs GFWL ( Games for Windows LIVE ) and unsupported countries.

Does GFWL help prevent piracy or help create piracy?


It seem GFWL is a step backwards for letting the Whole world race online like we do with GRID and Flatout 2! What new PC games will GFWL stop paying customers from playing online? F1? Bioshock 2?

 

[Maximilian]

Actually, we will have to wait and see. You *could* be talking apple and oranges. Instead of just counting missions (90 verses 30), you should really be talking single-play-through time for the entire mission chain. I am NOT saying that you will not want to replay certain missions, just that what Blizzards splits into of 5-to-10 missions NOW, may have been considered a single mission of decades past. edit: I replayed SC1 the year before last, after reading about SC2's eminent release. I do recall several looong single missions comprising of many sub-mission-al steps.

3 separate games? 3 segments of the same game? Tomato? Tomato?

It really is just another case of too many projects and not enough talent (or not enough talent willing to work for low wages). With all the projects Blizzard has under development, it is no wonder why schedules are slipping years and not just months.

Fair enough playtime > mission counts, im assuming SCII missions will be like warcraft III, their most recent RTS which was excellent and definately had enough playtime, blizzard havent dissapointed yet.