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1st day purchases are for the dumb

DwarvenFood

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Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Wasteland 2 Codex USB, 2014 Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
If you think buying games at release is bad, what do you think about kickstarting and/or buying games at early access.. Even more bugs, but better price..
 

mastroego

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OP is right BUT the optimal time to buy doesn't always overlap with the urge or mood to play.
In short, we rarely spend logically, think dinners out and all the other stuff we do.
 

vean

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Jan 3, 2016
Messages
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IMHO it's best to wait 6 months after the last patch was released before buying a game now.

Companies have gotten used to how easy it is to deliver patches over the internet. So now instead of doing extensive QC inhouse they just rely on bug and balance reports on forums.

Just look at the broken state something like Pillars of Eternity was released in, and how many bug fixes and balance changes they did after release. If you get it now you're practically playing a different game. It's retarded.
 

adrix89

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Why are there so many of my country here?
Of all the miserable trends we have nowadays on this industry, this got to be the worst. I simply can't buy new games anymore without the paranoia that I'll end up with an outdated version and they'll release some form of enhanced edition later on.

Even if they give the enhanced version for free, I HATE when this happens in my library:

k843Fix.png

AG4M4Oy.png


Truly a new low, you can't even buy the games anymore.
That is only the case if the developers bother to fix the game, if the game has mods the community will fix it.
 

Markman

da Blitz master
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Serpent in the Staglands Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong
You can find even day 1 releases for good prices so its not 60 euros unless you're a consoler, just for example the new Farcry Primal is on GMG right now for ca 35 euros compared to Steams 60. Its not even out yet. Think i got AC Syndicate for 25 or so like a week after release.
 

Metro

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1. If you're an employed adult, computer games aren't so expensive that it's worth waiting for a price drop. Mostly just relevant for students and teenagers.
2. Decent DLCs increase replay value. I greatly enjoyed Gothic II both before the expansion, and after. Never found myself wishing I had waited for the expansion before playing.
3. Fair enough, but the fewer people buy games at release, the longer it'll take for those eventual bugs to be detected and ironed out.

I think your claim is mostly relevant for Bethesda games, which are dependent on user-generated mods in order to be worth the purchase.
Why did Konjad brofist this when he doesn't even buy games; merely begs for them on the Codex? As for waiting... why not? Most games hit 50% off under six months time and it isn't as if I'm short of things to play.

If it's a game I really anticipate I'll day1p it but those are few and far between.
 

Daedalos

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What the fuck is the problem?

Most games coming out now has:

a. A very low price on most cdkey price portals. Who the fuck buys anything at retail price at company anymore? That's stupid. I get most new AAA games for like 20-40 $ at the very most.
b. Most new games have previews, reviews and other shit before release day, go check them out, and figure out if the game is good and for you
c. Most games get quick updates and patches to fix shit that was wrong on release day - So if the game has bugs or other missing stuff, have patience and just wait a few days and then play the game, not a fucking big deal.

If you can't deal with the above before potentially buying an expensive shit game, you're a fucking moron.
 

Unkillable Cat

LEST WE FORGET
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Codex 2014 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy
I can second everything that kris is saying, but I also second the "MMOs are best at launch" statement - I've only ever played one MMO, but what I've heard from others tells me that MMOs are best at launch/late beta.

Today there is NO NEED to buy a game when it's new if it isn't an MMO. Period.

And before anyone begins lamenting the sorry state of the game market today, let me give you some perspective in the form of a history lesson.

Since the video game crash of 1983, video games have had the stigma of being too expensive attached to them. In a response to this, at least two UK publishing houses were established with the sole goal of selling cheap games - £2 was their maximum asking price for a game. This opened up the market to lots of new customers, as well as putting pressure on the "big publishers" to lower their prices to remain competitive...at least for a while. Soon the word got out that the games being released by these budget labels were utter shit - turns out the term "shovelware" was alive and well in 1985. They took in any game that needed a distributor and releasing it under their label. The idea was that the "smash hits" would offset the costs of the "duds" - a strategy that lasted long enough to make the idea of "budget release" stick.

Eventually as 1990 came closer someone realized that this idea could be taken further: Take an older game that was out of stock, and re-release it at a cheaper price. IIRC Mastertronic was the first label to do this, and it netted them enough success that soon every major publisher had a smaller budget label attached to it. Ocean had "The Hit Squad", just to name an example. This practice has been in effect ever since - barring an overwhelming success or epic disaster, a game would find continued shelf life as a budget title or part of a compilation, or "bundle" as they're known today.

To give a better example, we move to the PC market as I give you a look into the Icelandic retail gaming scene: In 1992 a new retail release would be priced based on only one thing: The box itself. The bigger and heavier the box, the more expensive the game was. No other factors weighed in.

No, this is not a joke. Games released in small boxes (just big enough to fit 5.25" disks) would go for about 2500 ISK, while 'standard' retail boxes (Ultima 7/Ultima Underworld) would go for about 5000 ISK, and games like Red Baron and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (both titles with huge manuals requiring large boxes and weighed a ton) were sold for 11000 ISK! And the price would not change as the game got "old" - the concept of "sales" was unknown to Iceland back then. That was how it had been for years, but fortunately that was all about to change.

In 1995 one could find budget re-releases of games like Ultima Underworld and Ultima 7 being sold for as little as 1500 ISK. The upside being that these were "complete" versions on CD-ROMs. The downside was they shipped in bare-bones jewel cases with condensed manuals. But for many in Iceland, this was the only way to approach many titles at affordable prices. By 1996 sales had become a thing, and by early 1998 the video game retail market in Iceland had become what one could call "healthy" - the maximum price for a new retail copy of a PC game was 6000 ISK, regardless of physical dimensions, and about 70% of the titles would return down the road via budget labels/compilation releases.

With PC game boxes adopting the DVD case as a standard casing in 2001/2002, prices dropped even further for PC games. It wasn't until the recession hit in 2008 that game prices would climb again - but only for console titles. Today a console retail release goes for 8000-13000 ISK, depending on circumstances. Meanwhile, the PC retail market has stayed under the 5000 ISK mark - but the sales and selection has dropped so harshly that they're almost off the grid now - and Steam is a constant for system requirements. The PC gaming market has gone completely digital - and yet we're seeing many of the same business practices in the market as before the days of the Internet. The only 'new' things we're seeing in the market now is Early Access and Enhanced Editions. Enhanced Editions I can understand because the possibility of revisiting and refreshing old titles wasn't financially viable until now, and the music and film industry have been doing it for years, but the concept of making us pay to be betatesters on an unfinished product is just outright absurd. Broforce is the only game I put down money on while it was in Early Access, and that was because they already had a highly enjoyable Brototype of the game out beforehand.

As for me and Day 1 purchases? Ultima 9 was a Day 1 purchase for me just before Christmas in 1999, hopefully I don't need to explain the ramifications of that. The next time I made a Day 1 purchase was Serious Sam 2 in 2005. Again I should not need to explain that. My last Day 1 purchase was Alien: Isolation back in 2014. It's a fun game, but it's not even worth $20, let alone the full retail price of $70 I paid for it.

So to summarize:

# Caveat Emptor.
# Don't pre-order.
# Don't buy Early Access titles unless they already have something good to show.
# Don't buy on Day 1 unless it's an MMO.
# Don't buy until you have written confirmation that there isn't an Enhanced Edition being planned for the next 5 years or so.

These 5 rules should have you sorted.
 

Kev Inkline

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A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Kickstarter is my Day-1 purchase. Never regretted buying anything from KS, even if not all* of them have quite met my expectations. I consider it sort of charity.

hint(*):
130_eapoe.jpg
 

Spectacle

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Pre-ordering games means you can get *EXCLUSIVE* pre-order DLC and possibly even hats for Team Fortress 2!
 

Starwars

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If I'm excited to play a game, I'm gonna want to play it as soon as possible. It's as easy as that. It's a fun feeling to get that new thing you've been waiting for for a while. I don't spend a ton of money on anything else (music is my other hobby in life, but there I'll save money on the side for any purchases I want to make) and I can still save a bit of money most months even while buying games.
Sure I could always wait until stuff goes on sale, and that's a fun thing in itself to get a good deal on something. But I'm not gonna sit around for everything to go on a sale to save a few measly bucks now and then, fuck that.

It's very rare though nowadays that I'll get excited for a game that's 40 bucks or more.
 

pippin

Guest
Money problems are relative. While PC gaming is generally cheap, you don't really have to be poor to take care of your money and how you spend it. Sometimes it's just not worth it. New games go from 20 to 60 bucks, which is a bit much if you can buy entire series for 30 bucks on GOG, if you really want to pay for the games anyway. I do buy old games when they have sketchy copy control thingies or when I don't want to bother with looking for the patches myself. I'm p. happy with the services GOG and even Steam offer, and I only pirate games when they aren't available in any official store. I got a bit derailed here but it's just my opinion, official support is well worth the price, even more than the games themselves.

DLCs are a tricky subject as well. People tend to look back at expansions with nostalgia googles imo. Basically they were just more levels with more difficulty, more like an extra hard mode unlocked after you completed the game. Sometimes more units, more levels or stuff like that wasn't worth it, it was more like a reward for extremely loyal customers. But I have to agree, that was better than having just hats or horse armor. Mods are important here as well, do you really want to spend resources when you can allow the community to make expansions by themselves?

Bugs were less common before because games were design to work with specific hardware configurations. When every piece of your computer was made by a different company, it was practically impossible to ensure that your game would work in your system. This led to deals between devs and hardware companies, and that's why the requirements mean shit these days as well.
 

Malpercio

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I see what you mean, on other hand there is a certain charm to play a new game that hasn't been examined in and out from the internet community.

Stuff like the Souls game definitely are more fun to play at day one.
 
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Simply avoiding information about a game for a few months is a fine way to avoid that. If its not Fallout "nuke the commonwealth or kill your son" 4 level of popular then its not like you are going to run into much spoilers unless you go looking for it.

Souls games are kind of weird, on one hand you'll have more people invading not knowing what they are doing day 1, on the other hand you'll have more people intentionally fucking around with weird builds on day 1+x.

Only MMOs really suffer from the lack of discovery factor.
 

kris

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If you think buying games at release is bad, what do you think about kickstarting and/or buying games at early access.. Even more bugs, but better price..

Kickstarting is another beast entirerly. Its about investing in something you want to be created. If you dont think your contribution is needed, then dont do it, unless you want to buy it early for cheap.
 

Hobo Elf

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Pre ordering costs nothing and you can always just not buy the game when it is released. I don't see what the big deal is. Or are you forced to pay for the game when you pre order in kwa?
 

Cerulean

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I bought Diablo III at launch, and immediately regretted it when I played it for the first time. I vowed never again, and then a couple of years later, Fallout 4. One day I'll learn, but on the other hand, there aren't many franchises left to ruin. :negative:
 

Kutulu

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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex
I bought Diablo III at launch, and immediately regretted it when I played it for the first time. I vowed never again, and then a couple of years later, Fallout 4. One day I'll learn, but on the other hand, there aren't many franchises left to ruin. :negative:

Same.... D3+F4.... But i know i am dumb, really really dumb when it comes to this.
Franchises need like 3 bad titles before stop buying them, id still buy another Duke on release...
 
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typical user

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Nov 30, 2015
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I've bought GTA V on PC the same day it got released. Now it is almost year over and I don't regret it. I haven't uninstalled it and still play it from time to time to shoot the cops or rage on poorly made Online. I feel I haven't been screwed over. This game is owned by jews that rise it's price up during Steam sales but release new free stuff through patches although lately behind paywall (yet hackers gave me millions so I have access to that content anyway so I don't care much, it's their own fault with this issue). Bugs are still present like lack of triple-buffering solution and broken Anisotropic filtering but this game is solid. Played it twice and I am aiming to do it once more.

The other game I could've bought is Witcher 3 and it also would be an excellent deal - but I wait for Blood and Wine expansion so I can buy the game bundled with it and Hearts of Stone. CDP Red may have released streamlined ARPG but they racked up free PR and marketing by not being dicks and releasing 16 DLCs for free, one of which made me play the game again. They showed middle finger to EA and Ubisoft by selling great game with NO DRMs, giving free stuff through patches, DLCs and having excellent support through GOG.

I think EA realised how much cash they could get as GTA V sold in over 60 millions so they try to turn around to please community and they've been giving free trials and games (but Most Wanted 2012 is shit, I deleted it after 10 minutes), they announced that Need for Speed 2015 will have unlocked framerate and other 'PC Master Race' features, their Battlefield 4 support is really showing off with recent patches. Someone did counting and figured, that they could earn more if they did better job apparently.

I agree day one purchases or pre-ordering is shit unless you've done proper research if company is trustworthy or if the game was released on consoles first so you can read/watch reviews. But GTA V and Witcher 3 are games that you can buy without much risk IMO.

EDIT: Dying Light is also good example of good purchase. Techland has released new stuff through free patches and delivered full expansion 'The Following'. I have had good time with this game, it isn't great but better than most stuff released recently like Shadow of Mordor or Just Cause 3 unless you are diehard fan of LoTR or Just Cause IPs.

Same could be said about Divinity: Original Sin and Wasteland 2 or even Hatred. I hope the days of 30fps-lock on AAA titles, Season-Passes and whatnot are over.
 
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pippin

Guest
Yeah, when you know you're going to like the game there's no reason to not preorder, unless you pre ordered Arkham Knight or something like that. I've never pre ordered games myself, but I got Neo Scavenger on Early Access, which was the closest to "preordering" I ever got. I still started to play it when it got released though. I've D1Pd some games, but again, those were games I knew were going to be good, like when SS1 got released on GOG.
 

Cerulean

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To be fair, for FO4 I'm over 100 hours so I've obviously gotten my enjoyment out of it, even if I'm not interested enough to finish. There were no real warnings in any early reviews about the lack of any true RPG depth, just minor quibbles like the Minuteman quests being repetitive, etc. Plus the game really is pretty to look at (Bethesda, for all their faults, are top notch at environment art), and there are a couple of genuinely awesome moments: When the USS Constitution took off with majestic music playing, only to plow into one of the office towers right across the river, I'll admit I laughed for a good minute or so.

All in all I can't complain too badly about FO4. My disappointment in it feels like this: Dating a really hot, fun girl for a few weeks, thinking about getting serious with her... only to find that her political views are the opposite of yours, and founded on simplistic reasoning. One of those cases where you walk away, shaking your head and thinking "man, what a shame".
 

J1M

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Messages
14,616
I can only think of one DLC pack that wasn't total garbage made by interns. (Missing Link for Human Revolution)

If you are playing the game with DLC you are actually doing it wrong. It's either 4th wall breaking cosmetic shit or tantamount to using a cheat code.
 

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