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"Games as a service" is fraud

Valky

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Watched the whole video. I'm surprised he didn't deduce the biggest and primary reason why streaming and service bs are being forced to the point of propaganda, the biggest "pro" for the side of the seller:

If you buy a good, you own that copy of your good and can technically gain independence from the seller through usage of the good you now own. For a game, this means that when you buy the game, you can play the game forever and have no need to buy anything from the seller for the rest of your life if the game is good enough. You have no dependency on the publisher/developer at that point and can cut all ties with them. Making this good behave like a service insofar as the ability to terminate your ownership when desired creates an artificial dependency from you onto the seller, so now you have to come back and give them money if you want the value that good provided to you again. This allows the publisher/developer to make one low effort product, sell it until it gets stale after a few years, and then terminate access to ensure that even people who may have enjoyed it and could happily continue without buying a new game will not be able to access it, which takes care of loose ends that could interfere with the ability to make a new sale. Then they can create a new product to generate a fresh cash inflow and repeat the process, and since they have ensured the customers have no ability to gain independence via divorcing their copy of a product from the seller, a localized monopoly has been created. The entire point is to enslave the customer and force them to keep paying under the unspoken threat that if you leave in an attempt to gain independence, you will never have access to the thing you wanted again. Which is fine and dandy if your business is a brothel, but what is being sold in this instance are binary blobs of 1's and 0's that have no natural restriction on the ability to be replicated or even at the bare minimum, retained in a vacuum and fully usable after a sale has been made.

In my opinion, this is an escalation and even likely natural evolution of the practice of planned obsolescence, which is itself already a predatory and malicious practice. And if that malpractice is already legally protected, we're just on a slippery slope to the further destruction of private property rights.

tl;dr Goyim were created by G*d to be slaves for the Israelites

"Games as a service" is a response by an industry that's gone full digital, to bring back the market model that controlled the sales part of the industry before it went digital.

The biggest problem with digitial distributors is that they have infinite shelf space and an infinite amount of stock. A game in such a store will never stop being sold there due to fresh products coming in or running out of stock.

The old market model in retail stores is exactly what you just described: Old titles that haven't sold are removed from the shelves as new titles come in. Want the old title again? Tough luck, but maybe it'll be available on a budget label or a compilation a few years later.

It wasn't planned obsolence back then because every game came in a physical box on physical media with physical goods, and all of that needed physical space so some form of rotational system had to be in place. But in a digital environment all of those restrictions don't apply, but the beancounters realize that the rotational system had a positive impact on their bottom lines, so they're trying to sneak that back in.

I can agree with this to a point, but a significant difference between the two is that old titles that aren't in stock anymore can still be found all over in places like amazon, ebay, used game sellers, etc who keep these things because they realize that people will want to buy them since they are hard to obtain. Digital goods being infinite is obviously a fantastic thing for the customers, which makes it feel even more malicious that the industry shift towards "games as a service" is effectively the actions of a petulant child who isn't getting his way. I agree that it wasn't planned obsolescence in the malicious form that exists now because those physical goods had tangible value in addition to the games and can be collectors items.

I already solved the problem years ago. If a developer wants to adapt to the digital goods industry, make more good games that I will want instead of trying to take away the games I have. You know another group that tries to lower everyone around them in response to change instead of improving themselves to raise to the new change? Women.
 

DalekFlay

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There's nothing wrong with digital distribution. Yes it eliminates resale but I rarely sold games anyway and it offers many other benefits, including faster discounts that probably make up for that resale moola. I embraced digital distribution with music and games almost immediately. Only reason I haven't with movies is the quality is a step down and I'm worried about Hollywood censoring old shit.

The problem is piracy, which pushed developers to always online services where you can't pirate a Fortnite skin or whatever, and DRM, which punishes the players actually buying your game to begin with.
 

Valky

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You could always pirate physical distribution by just putting the game on a blank cd or something. This isn't something that is special about digital distribution, it's just an excuse to sell you on accepting DRM.
 

DalekFlay

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Yes but high speed internet obviously made it ten times easier and more convenient, don't be purposely dense. DRM is a stupid measure that only harms paying customers usually, but the actual industry response to rampant piracy and devaluing of games was the online service model. I know people who dabble on the high seas don't like thinking that shit had repercussions, but whatever.
 

Valky

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It's easy to blame a failing product on piracy. What's harder is admitting that your product couldn't stand on its own merits to entice people to award you dollars for it. Which is very often the case with piracy. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy it anyway if they couldn't pirate. Only the dumbest and most tech illiterate person pirating something works on the mental model that "oh, they added drm so I can't pirate it, I guess that means they won so I'll pay for it".
 

DalekFlay

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Yeah yeah, I've heard this stuff before and this is the 100% wrong place to pointlessly hash it all out again. If you don't think piracy had anything to do with free-to-play, always online, games as a service and subscriptions... well, agree to disagree. Massively.
 

Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi

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Codex+ Now Streaming!
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Commissar Draco

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Insert Title Here Strap Yourselves In Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Divinity: Original Sin 2
I know shareware can have x-time to use or x-uses before it doesn't work giving the message to buy (lots of art, video, etc programs that i usually buy since the programs are good); do commercial programs via cd/dvd, or download have the same thing?

Say i buy uber-dungeon demons for 49.99$ and then find out i can only play it 30 times before it says i can't play it anymore? And say it is only downloaded via a steam/stream like account so they know. In fact, you have to be online to activate it.

It borders to be a mmo it seems. I swear i heard of such a program. I would not doubt that eventually all these programs downloaded will.

And i bet somewhere in the EULA there is or will be something to fuck the consumer.

It'll just eat your hard drive data like a munchy mutha fucka!

Usually there is a clause within EULA. Buried deep. Most people don't read it however. Steam has a clause withing their user contract that forbids game sharing/selling for example, and still people ask if they can do it. A lot of current User Agreements have clauses that state that the company can share your data and gather your user statics.

Those Clauses are not legally valid or binding at least In EU... but cavet is as always you need good lawyer and plenty of time and shekels to defend your rights in courts.
 

Valky

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https://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/184530414571/regarding-that-video-about-games-as-a-service
Isn't it great when people pull the TL;DR card and still try to comment on the subject matter? Literally the first paragraph was addressed in the video's first 15 minutes.
Please keep in mind that I haven’t watched the video (the video length is daunting) and am going off of summaries of arguments I’ve read. Also, in following my blog policy of not naming or linking content I don’t think is particularly constructive, I’m redacting information about the video in question.

"Hey guys, I'm going to give my viewpoint on something. I haven't done any research and I refuse to cite any sources."
Jesus christ what a fucking faggot.
 

Reever

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Isn't it great when people pull the TL;DR card and still try to comment on the subject matter? Literally the first paragraph was addressed in the video's first 15 minutes.
Please keep in mind that I haven’t watched the video (the video length is daunting) and am going off of summaries of arguments I’ve read.
He should've stopped right there and it would've saved everyone some time.
 

Big No

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"Hey guys, I'm going to give my viewpoint on something. I haven't done any research and I refuse to cite any sources."
Jesus christ what a fucking faggot.
If I remember correctly too, they don't link to things they disagree with because they don't want to give the opponent traffic and that "life is too short". Talk about a hugbox.
 

harhar!

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He is saying that changing the game after you bought it is not fraud but that isn't even the argument in the original video. The crucial point is that they are shutting down the game servers and take no effort at all to make sure that people can still play the game. It's not about some minor changes of the developers , it's about being able to use the good you paid money for. Also, he gets Scott's characterization wrong of what GAAS is. Maybe watch the video before making a video response?
 

FeelTheRads

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Oh look, old faggot wearing a stupid hat trying to fit in with the kids. What do you want to bet he's also a rabid SJW?

Also, changing the game after you buy it should be considered fraud as well. Technically they can turn the game into something completely different and you'd have no say on the matter. Plus, being always online it will autoupdate and you'll have no way to play the version you bought. But it doesn't matter, we do what we want, stop being so entitled and give us your money, you sheep.
 
Last edited:

FeelTheRads

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I did the opposite. I bought and am buying physical games from people. So, yes, people sell them, retard.

So fuck off with the stupid "what did u really sell ur gaems???? lol nobody needs that just adapt to the times!!!".

But the point was about ownership and not disguising renting as selling. And that if someone wants to resell their game they should be allowed to do so.
 

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