These people are like an adversarial neural network being trained to find the most efficient ways to piss of their own customer base.

I think it's important to note that the entertainment landscape as a whole has been changing, and those changes have mixed with the shitty investor culture that already existed to create a terrible set of incentives that are wildly misaligned with consumer sentiment. I say this because I think that if we want things to change, we need to look at root causes.

The entertainment industry is feeling very threatened. It's hard to make money. That's a reality. And all the solutions to the problem are fucked up attempts to find ways to get players to give more money for things they don't want.

I think we need a better patronage model.

Ever since they started the Epic/Uplay exclusivity stuff, it's made it easier than ever to avoid buying their games.

possessing a copy of them, sure. ownership is a legal construct that doesn't really matter that much to me.

I like this guy!

And if corporations decide they can charge a fee when we DON'T play, then we can decide to NOT pay when we play! The only way to make them feel their greed is to wave the ol' Jolly Roger!

I’ve seen this saying going around and while I do like it, something about it bugs me. These corpos want to treat everything as a service. If you acquire content from a service via illegal means you are indeed still stealing, no?

We’re lucky that Ubisoft doesn’t make any good games.

I don't know. A lot of people seem willing to pay for battle passes, which is already halfway there.

It was good to see a little bit of resistance this year and particularly the success of BG3, but I'm concerned that the overall trend is negative. Any publisher beholden to investors will be under strong pressure to monetize, monetize, monetize.

All I can do is not give them money, but someone else probably will.

honestly, i have plenty of games. im good if they stop now.

im ok with this game of chicken

Indie gaming is only getting better and better - unity self-immolating has slowed the tide a bit, but random individuals now have access to tools on par with professionals

Plus AAA games are compulsively running with lower and lower staff, putting more and more effort into micro transaction content, and pushing the game less and less finished. It makes indie games and standout hits feel better by contrast

Why quit gaming? Enjoy it for free on the mighty sea!

Hehehe, this is my quote.

I'm the YouTube commenter in this screenshot: https://lemmy.world/post/1098344

Sounds logical but governments still seem to care to protect corporate IP while they don't give a single fuck about customer ownership rights.

The benefits are not meant for the consumer.

The hard work of crackers is admirable, they are the unsung heroes! Take from the rich and give to the poor!

Every time I pirate a ubisoft game I regret it, I never play more than maybe an hour with them and then I have to seed them to get > 1.0 ratio (private site rules). So I just stopped pirating them lol.

Honestly had slight hopes for Avatar because the art team really outdid themselves, but I knew in the back of my head that the actual game would be shit.

The only games I'm comfortable with having a subscription. Is a game like WoW where they are supporting a large server farm/infrastructure for the game.

I'll be perfectly honest.

I love and strongly prefer physical media games.

However, I also love Game Pass at least as a concept.

I've had it for several years now thanks to Live Gold conversion and VPN...

That said, regardless how much "value" it may provide, I will NEVER pay full price for it... I just don't feel like it's worth the price they're asking to me personally.

It's great for trying out the occasional game I'd never have bought or played otherwise though... And sometimes it introduces me to games that I feel like are worth buying that I hadn't heard of anywhere else.

For example, I bought Aragami 2 because I tried it on Game Pass and enjoyed it but I wasn't finished with it yet when rumors appeared that it was leaving the service.

I also played and thoroughly enjoyed Cocoon and High on Life thanks to Game Pass and feel like they're both worth buying at the right price.

I personally don't enjoy watching YouTubers and I rarely read reviews so I wouldn't have known much about most of those if I didn't have the chance to try them.

It's almost like it's replaced the demos that used to be so common but we can play the whole game now if we want.

Editing to add:

Also, fuck this Ubisoft exec... Subscription models should NEVER become the default way that we are expected to "consume" games (or any other entertainment really for that matter) and it's arrogant as hell for this prick to presume that we'll all just be okay with it.

It won't. Normies just see their franchise like Assasins or any Tom Clancy's and they buy. It does not matter to them what bullshit payment model it is. Look at Fifa games for example. Litearaly the same game year after year with the tiniest adjustments possible but they still break a sales record on a almost yearly basis.

Hopefully, streaming services fail and gaming companies see the writing on the wall. If not, buckle up for bullshit.

It's not a fad, it's just the tail-end of unregulated capitalism. They will sacrifice everything anybody cares about to squeeze just a little bit more profit out of everything. Blood from a stone...

After the bore fest which was division, which I pre-ordered, I finally uninstalled Ubisoft launcher, the name of which is can't be bothered to recall. Someone gave me a free game code for division 2, I still could not bother to reinstall the unnamed launcher.

Even better: enjoy their games but don't give them a nickel!

Lol. I started pirating again because of this shit. We don't have to get used to anything. Give us the product we want or we will get it anyway but without the part where you get paid.

Honestly I love it. I don't typically rewatch things often enough to justify the price they charge to purchase a copy, and I have a shitload of stuff at my fingertips with streaming services.

With music it's a little different by because I do re-listen a lot, but streaming lets me just listen to music I might like instead of relying on reviews to guess what might be worth buying. I listen to way more different things than I would if I had to buy it all.

Most people have gotten used to it with music, so far anyway. As long as most of what they want to listen to is available through a single service, and the price isn't prohibitive, most people I've talked to seem to be okay with streaming music.

Streaming video is a fucking dumpster fire that no one wants. All the streaming services fought to get the biggest catalog for the cheapest price than folded over on themselves like somebody turning the switch off on a flailing tube man. Now the prices are all cable level and the catalogs are all crap.

There was an old quest communications commercial back in the day. Guy rolled up in a old car to a motel in the middle of nowhere. Ask the guy at the desk where they had on TV, He responded back everything ever made. That's what I'm expecting to see from streaming video now. It's all sitting around, it's all available. For the price of cable we should be able to afford everything over 6 months old that was ever made.

It seems they've explained exactly why they won't (not can't, but won't) release the server code: They need you to not own your games in order to sell you subscriptions.

Having access to the source so you can maintain a thing is a much more profound kind of ownership than simply having access to a copy. If they let you have that, you might get ideas in your head about not giving them money forever, and they can't have that.

Money is all they can understand! To the high seas!

Literally the debate is happening because games and media have vanished... including Ubisoft games!

If a service isn't doing me any kind of good, I don't pay. This is just showing piracy will win, cause it's a service issue not a pricing issue.

But no money isn't lost revenue, because you weren't getting my money anyway.

You know what's fucking ironic? Ubisoft might as well be Abstergo and me Rayman. I like Watch_dogs and Anno, I really do, but I'm not a goddamn Les Collaboateurs. Good concepts do not excuse greedy implementations, and unlike Rayman I've never defended Ubisoft before I have begun criticizing their practices - ever since Anno 1800 and Watch_dogs Legion were Epic Games exclusive - so take it from me; Fuck this guy and Ubisoft should crash and burn.

On a totally unrelated, I swear dude no connection at all, note: Anyone ever see the intro to Nitrome Must Die!?

Someday I think "Maybe I'll play the Assassin's Creed games"

Then I remember that I played the first one, meaning I already have.

How dare gamers not accept our consumer hostile payment structure!

Steam has a clause where if they shut down you will have access to all of your games still.

Laughs in yo ho.

The worst part is Rockstar admitted the HD Remakes were shit, and fired the company responsible, but still didn't restore the good versions (Thank God I got those while I could)

Fuck there were rumors that company was gonna remake Max Payne next, made me grab the fucking Steam version while I could... best god damn advertising for the original Max Payne possible.

But yeah, I dread the day Gaben dies and his successor says "Let's make this a publicly traded company!"

We show them with our wallets how out of touch they are! It's to the high seas, yarr!! 🏴‍☠️

"Sing it with me now, YOU ARE A PIRATE..."

Also, he never mentions that the game will still be there, just the progress file. Why doesn't he address being uncomfortable with games disappearing from the subscription?

There are games from EA and Ubisoft that I'm interested in playing, but I've had such a poor experience with their games on my Steamdeck that I'd rather just play something else.

Say what you will about Blizzard, but I appreciate them for not shoving an additional launcher inbetween Steam and their games.

As a medical student, I have a negative amount of trust in and/or respect for anyone in the healthcare sector that has a business degree.

Medicine has been corrupted for just as long as video games, if not longer, unfortunately. These soulless husks in business suits are everywhere, unfortunately.

They do.

Once again we see how piracy is justified! These corporations can only see their greed when it hits their bottom line!

This slogan needs to be adopted by everyone really.. The future seems to be "You will own nothing and like it!"

Well, the present needs to tell that future "If buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't stealing!"

Same here, I even refused participating to a family game event because they are playing The Settlers IV. I would have happily played the GOG version, but somehow the UbiSoft version (that they played) was more functional (understand that the GOG version is purposely broken) and the two are incompatible when it comes to online multiplayer.

Also, I suspect you meant customer, not costumer... 😉

Unfortunately most humans are absolute idiots, so I expect you'll be wrong. They'll still have idiots preordering their latest cookie cutter ass game

Thanks to torrents, you can have your cake and eat it, too!

That happened to Comcast for a while. They milked it for a while, but it it led to them having a 10-year stock low. They're paying a price for being the most-hated company in America. Not the price they deserve, but it's not all sunshine and roses.

Ubisoft will have its day the same way, eventually. It won't be the day they deserve, but it'll still make them cry. And it'll be their own doing.

We can avoid all these problems if we refuse to use any software that doesn't come with a license that respects your freedom:

• GPL
• MIT
• APACHE

I mean I'll buy a new Rayman game if they release one that isn't a phone game, but I'm not paying a subscription for it.

Shit ever wonder why Captain Laserhawk seems to be a Furry Story taking place in a world more closely resembling Cyberpunk 2077 than Blood Dragon? Because Ubisoft doesn't have any IPs anyone cares about other than Rayman (which they do nothing with) and the three people who still think Beyond Good & Evil 2 will actually come out someday, or not be a repeat of DNF 2011 if it does....

That said don't mistake that for me talking shit about Captain Laserhawk, that show is fucking amazing.

Gamepass just got Farcry 6 and AC: Valhalla and both games are exactly as you said, derivative shit, but it surprised me because I know ubi has their own sub. I wonder if they are abandoning it already.

I think even implementing such an option allows companies to get more aggressive in their pricing, arguing that if you don't like the price, you can pay subscription (which obviously also accumulates to astronomical numbers, it's just that monthly payment doesn't seem equally scary)

Corporate greed has gotten completely out of control. The only way we can force these companies to give to their users is by us collectively voting with our wallets. To the torrents we must!

Get to vantage point.

Explore actionable map points.

Go to next area.

Repeat.

Which game am I talking about? Doesn't matter, it's the Ubisoft formula these days and has been for a long time.

Wake me up when Ubisoft metaphorically burns to the ground, or they do something innovative.

I think they're fun but their games are not the kind of games I stick around for after the story ends.

Here's the summary for the wikipedia article you mentioned in your comment:

A shifting baseline (also known as a sliding baseline) is a type of change to how a system is measured, usually against previous reference points (baselines), which themselves may represent significant changes from an even earlier state of the system.
The concept arose in landscape architect Ian McHarg's 1969 manifesto Design With Nature  in which the modern landscape is compared to that on which ancient people once lived. The concept was then considered by the fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly in his paper "Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries". Pauly developed the concept in reference to fisheries management where fisheries scientists sometimes fail to identify the correct "baseline" population size (e. g. how abundant a fish species population was before human exploitation) and thus work with a shifted baseline. He describes the way that radically depleted fisheries were evaluated by experts who used the state of the fishery at the start of their careers as the baseline, rather than the fishery in its untouched state.

^to^ ^opt^ ^out^^,^ ^pm^ ^me^ ^'optout'.^ ^article^ ^|^ ^about^

It's the way! Everything for free, down with the greedy corporations!

The only way it works is if it's a large company making deals with other companies.

If Sega had a subscription service, I wouldn't use it, I'm a huge Sonic fan and I like Persona sure, but.... most of their other IPs get the Banjo Kazooie treatment: IE: They just stand around, pose for merchandise, say "Hey remember when?", while starring in exactly zero games.

Since I already own most of the Sonic games (I don't have Sega Super Stars because I'm saving up for surgery and that seems more important than some loop de loops, sides I never finished Frontiers or Origins), all their other games are so old that if they're not on some kind of pre-existing collection or re-release, they're incredibly easy to emulate.. meaning I'd probably just fire up dolphin instead of pay a subscription fee on the off chance that MAYBE they have Billy Hatcher, Sonic Heroes, and Shadow The Hedgehog, three titles that the average consumer doesn't care about.

I can say this about any company really - Imagine Capcom did this, most of their old games are re-released in collections and the IPs that I really care about are Dead Rising (Dead IP and I already own them all on Steam), Resident Evil (Most of the games are old and easy to emulate whereas the newer games are mostly watered down remakes), Devil May Cry (already own them all on Steam), Mega Man (IP on life support and All of them are on Steam except for Legends and a few of the spinoffs), and Darkstalkers (Dead IP, already on Steam in multiple collections)... so I wouldn't buy a subscription, and the casual gamer doesn't have any real reason to want only Capcom games.

Microsoft's gamepass makes sense because it's a low price for a LOT of games, many of which aren't even owned by Microsoft, and you can play them on platforms that aren't the original platform (Wanna play the Rare Replay? This is the only way! Think they even have Enchanted Arms which... has no Steam Port... since it was released at a time when PC Gaming was dead due to the industry being afraid of pirates)

AND I STILL DON'T USE IT, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE RELIABLY PURCHASABLE OR EMULATABLE! AND THAT'S EASIER THAN MAINTAINING A SUBSCRIPTION FEE ON THE OFF CHANCE THAT I'LL FINALLY GO BACK AND FINISH DOOM 2016 SOMEDAY!

breathes

And that's not even getting into the fact that video games are an investment, I'm pouring energy into actually finishing them, I'm going back to older ones to see if I can do it better this time or find something missed, and after a long enough session even though I'm having fun, I'm actually tired because what I've done took effort on my part and if it was difficult it might even have triggered some kind of stress signal in my brain...

Meanwhile, a MOVIE based subscription service makes sense, because I'm probably just going to throw something on and kick back, there's no investment on my part outside of what I'm paying....

I think in general, people forget this, Video Games demand something of the player. Movies do not.

A movie isn't going to suddenly stop the story in order to challenge what you know about the film, then go "Sorry buddy, if you wanna watch the rest of the movie you'll have to do better than that", a video game? Well I guess you can look up the ending on Youtube... but that's called giving up (Or acknowledging that the final stage is pure unbalanced bullshit that wasn't properly tested... looking at you Freedom Planet and Manual Samuel... yeah even the Indie Scene has this problem...)

Of course a lot of modern games ARE movies, so what's the point in actually playing Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed when you can save yourself the endless glitchfest and dull gameplay by just watching a Let's Play lol, so maybe that's why executives are getting confused...

This is why digital media corporations make up convoluted agreements but they don't ever change the little button saying "Buy". If more people realized they are not actually purchasing and getting to own it, they wouldn't spend their money.

But it's even more revolting that the law and governments validate this obvious false advertising.

My dream is that everyone gets fired, and the janitor walks in and says "Well, I guess if no one else is here to stop me, Rayman 4?"

Things do not exist in a bubble. If gaming can get away with taking your ownership of games, it will come to another industry next. Games are one of the most profitable industries in the world now, as much as people like to treat it as a "thing children do" - it is actively participating in writing the playbooks of other industries. People need to be made aware of the scummy shit the industry has gotten up to without any of the proper regulations to curb it.

Valve, Microsoft, and Sony have/are doing a lot to make people comfortable not owning games

I’m not sure why you don’t support this though, it’s saying subscription services aren’t it yet

My argument against this is that at least I own a license to the game rather than just a subscription. Steam still has and updates games that were made unpurchasable a decade ago. Hell, people still play rocket league on steam.

This is a separate argument altogether. Theres "own physically" and theres "own a license" to. If you own it physically and your physical media corrupts (which happens often to digital discs) did you own it any more than if you had it on steam? It's also illegal to make a copy of a console disc, btw.

What the article is talking about is not even obtaining a license for at all and games just being attached to a subscription

DRM is not the same as a subscription.

And a lot of games on steam don't have the DRM, you can just buy and keep the game files. I do wish they'd make it clear on the store page or give me the option to filter out DRM games though.

I pirate, and also pay for games I think the devs should make money on. I happen to like bioshock and la noire enough to pay for them on steam, with cracked copies to keep.