Gamers never learn... Ubisoft pre-orders

[killcomic]

Interesting article I saw on DSOG. Apparently The Division and Far Cry Primal are topping Steam and GMG PC gaming charts at the moment. Two titles by Ubisoft which have not yet been released on PC.

You know why we get shoddy ports? Because gamers still playing by the crappy business practices that corporations impose on the industry.

I'm waiting for the usual "I'll never buy anything from Ubisoft ever again" cries when these ports come out broken only to have them pre-order whatever game they release next.

 

Source: http://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-sims-4-tom-clancys-the-division-far-cry-primal-are-this-weeks-best-selling-pc-games/

[givingtnt]

blah blah blah
do you even know what your talking about ?

 

I mean, its not like its doing anybody any harm, nor killing anything.

if you don't like something, then just move on. if your right, well it will die by itself.

[Knaj]

Rainbow six isn't a crappy port..

 

It's a freaking great game. I've already logged like 160 hours on it.

[Thylbanus]

It seems even with all the people I know who will never preorder, between friends, Twitchcasters, YouTubers, and game bloggers, are still a infinitely small minority that it matters little.  There are more suckers born every minute than people wising up to being cheated.

[Delicieuxz]

History has many times been that poor game presentations impacted preorders and sales of a series' next instalment. Assassin's Creed Syndicate's sales were said to have suffered due to Unity's reputation, according to Ubisoft - and that is probably a part of the reason why the next AC is receiving a longer development.

 

Ubi aren't the only company to have been hit hard by reputation for poor ports to PC, and responded to it. EA is claimedly now trying to "win back the trust of PC gamers" - though I think this isn't the first time they've claimed to be making that effort. Infinity Ward has also reacted to PC gamers' issues with their ports. And there are more examples from the games industry.

 

 

[Humbug]

before you say 'gamers never learn' the statistic you have to look at is whether preorders (as a percentage) have dropped or not compared to the past.

[Suika]

The only reason I preorder is to make people salty about it.

[KuJoe]

Why exactly is it a bad thing that I preorder to support the studio and for certain franchises? Should I not be giving my money to people who I think deserve it?

[typographie]

1 hour ago, KuJoe said:

Why exactly is it a bad thing that I preorder to support the studio and for certain franchises? Should I not be giving my money to people who I think deserve it?

How do you know they deserve your money before you've had a chance to independently judge the merit of their product? If you want to support them, go for it, but why not support them once their game releases?

 

The power you have as a consumer is that you can judge the merit of a product and then make an informed choice. When you buy before you can fairly judge the product, you give all the power to the seller—all you've got is their own marketing material. That's a pretty sweet position for any business to be in, but exploitative towards the rest of us.

 

Keep in mind that when you buy a game you aren't just putting food on the table of a rank-and-file programmer or artist, you're also casting a vote for a business model. Your purchase sends a message to a publisher about how you'd like gamers to be treated.

[MEC-777]

Yeah, FC Primal is not a shoddy port. Looks great and runs like butter on ultra settings.  

 

I will and do pre-order games, but only if it passes my pre-order checklist and I NEVER pay full price for any game, ever.

 

In no particular order:

-Must be discounted at least 30% or more.

-The console version runs well and stable (if it's already out and exists).

-The dev/publisher has had a reputation of delivering good, solid PC ports/exclusives in the recent past.

-I have significant interest in the game.

 

I've only pre-ordered a few games over the years, haven't been burned yet. Just have to be smart about it and not throw your money at them with only having very little information about the game beforehand. 

 

 

 

[KuJoe]

7 hours ago, typographie said:

How do you know they deserve your money before you've had a chance to independently judge the merit of their product? If you want to support them, go for it, but why not support them once their game releases?

Because I've been playing their games for many years. Some franchises will get my money regardless of how good a game is or not so if I can get something extra out of the deal then I will.

7 hours ago, typographie said:

The power you have as a consumer is that you can judge the merit of a product and then make an informed choice. When you buy before you can fairly judge the product, you give all the power to the seller—all you've got is their own marketing material. That's a pretty sweet position for any business to be in, but exploitative towards the rest of us.

I've got years of history to base my purchase on. Unless of course they are a new developer/company in which case I want them to know they have some form of support and confidence from consumers.

7 hours ago, typographie said:

Keep in mind that when you buy a game you aren't just putting food on the table of a rank-and-file programmer or artist, you're also casting a vote for a business model. Your purchase sends a message to a publisher about how you'd like gamers to be treated.

The way I see it, my pre-order is my way of telling a developer/studio/publisher how I feel about them and their products. If I preorder a game, it means I want that studio to keep up what they are doing or, at the very least, keep pushing out these games. Hell, if Bethesda pushed out a Fallout 5 that was entirely text based I would still pay $130 for the pre-order.

[slapingdabassman]

I vote with my wallet always and as such its been years since I pre-ordered a game. To me the only reason I did years ago was due to concern of supply which is never a problem anymore. Although its tempting with the odd game as there are a handful of developers I really like and respect I still refrain from pre-ordering period. I wouldn't want any developer/publisher anywhere to think pre-order bonuses are a good thing or that they can release a potentially unfinished product.

[Humbug]

4 hours ago, KuJoe said:

 

 

The way I see it, my pre-order is my way of telling a developer/studio/publisher how I feel about them and their products. If I preorder a game, it means I want that studio to keep up what they are doing or, at the very least, keep pushing out these games.

can't you send the same message by buying the game once it's released?

 

either way the dev gets your money. But post-release everybody has access to info on the game, what's good and bad about it. So devs know that they are selling in a democratic environment with easy access to info and it keeps them honest.

 

pre-ordering is a concept that came about to deal with physical scarcity of goods. E.g. Hypothetically if you know that somebody is going to manufacture only 1500 units and ship them in June then you preorder as a means of reserving your copy amidst limited supply.

[KuJoe]

50 minutes ago, Humbug said:

can't you send the same message by buying the game once it's released?

 

either way the dev gets your money. But post-release everybody has access to info on the game, what's good and bad about it. So devs know that they are selling in a democratic environment with easy access to info and it keeps them honest.

 

pre-ordering is a concept that came about to deal with physical scarcity of goods. E.g. Hypothetically if you know that somebody is going to manufacture only 1500 units and ship them in June then you preorder as a means of reserving your copy amidst limited supply.

I can, but I don't see the point of paying later versus paying now especially if I have the money now and I might not later.

[LordVils]

First of all, people can do with their money whatever they want. That's why it is their money. Once this is said:

 

21 hours ago, typographie said:

How do you know they deserve your money before you've had a chance to independently judge the merit of their product? If you want to support them, go for it, but why not support them once their game releases?

Because you can judge it in some extent, you can see people playing the beta on platforms like Twitch or youtube. This does not happen with every game, but it does happen with Far Cry Primal and The Division. This requires a deeper study with more data, yet for example, Dark Souls III is not in the chart although it is available for pre-order in Steam and it will be released this month. And I'm sure that many people are waiting for that game. So I suspect that the amount of pre-orders are related with the possibility of watch somebody playing the beta.

 

Also, some people want to pay for the privilege of being the first one to play a game, I won't do it, but many people do it.

[Praesi]

On 1.3.2016 at 3:17 AM, givingtnt said:

I mean, its not like its doing anybody any harm, nor killing anything.

Wrong.

 

If People keep buy this Crap, Ubisoft&Co will not stop produce this copypasteshit.

 

They hurt my Taste and Demand with this Nonsense.

 

Its absolutly ridiculous and i despise People who support this.

[GeekJump]

The reason why is topped on GMG charts and a lot of people preorder it because sites like GMG were giving +$20 discounts for people that ordered before March 1st.

 

I got Primal for $39.99 (tax inc.) on GMG and got the download key Sunday to preload. Not only is the game running good for me but I saved $24 on a game at launch! I believe preordering is getting annoying but, in this case, it was a steal. I would have had to wait months for a $39 price.

[Pomfinator]

On 3/1/2016 at 5:04 AM, Delicieuxz said:

History has many times been that poor game presentations impacted preorders and sales of a series' next instalment. Assassin's Creed Syndicate's sales were said to have suffered due to Unity's reputation, according to Ubisoft - and that is probably a part of the reason why the next AC is receiving a longer development.

A shame really.  Syndicate really wasn't that bad.  The dual-character thing still needs work because both characters share a lot of skills, so by the end Jacob becomes 90% of the sneaker Evie can, and Evie can become 90% of the fighter Jacob can.  If they had completely different trees past the first two rows, it may have been more interesting.

[razor767]

1 hour ago, GeekJump said:

The reason why is topped on GMG charts and a lot of people preorder it because sites like GMG were giving +$20 discounts for people that ordered before March 1st.

 

I got Primal for $39.99 (tax inc.) on GMG and got the download key Sunday to preload. Not only is the game running good for me but I saved $24 on a game at launch! I believe preordering is getting annoying but, in this case, it was a steal. I would have had to wait months for a $39 price.

For what it's worth, Far Cry Primal is still discounted on GMG.

[GeekJump]

13 minutes ago, razor767 said:

For what it's worth, Far Cry Primal is still discounted on GMG.

Still cheaper than $60 everywhere else and the reason why it's still top of their chart. 

 

I got it because, after playing on PS4 for a bit, I wanted it for PC. I was going to wait until summer sales if any but jumped on the "pre-order price guarantee" in case it didn't stay at $39. I'd be mad if they lower the price even more so soon lol

[Praesi]

Ubishit recycled the FC4 Map for Primal. Even some Locations are at the same Spot. Its almost 1:1.

Please, for the Love of our Hobby. Stop spend Money on that Shit. Please!!!!

 

Use the Slider and see for yourself.

http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/far-cry-primal/news/far_cry_primal,52938,3268807.html

[GeekJump]

17 hours ago, Praesi said:

Ubishit recycled the FC4 Map for Primal. Even some Locations are at the same Spot. Its almost 1:1.

Please, for the Love of our Hobby. Stop spend Money on that Shit. Please!!!!

 

Use the Slider and see for yourself.

http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/far-cry-primal/news/far_cry_primal,52938,3268807.html

While I do agree it's damn lazy for them to do that, I've put in a few hours and can't even find a slight similarity. The only way I know is because people keep posting those maps lol

 

While the map is the same the terrain and design is different. There's no outposts with buildings and towers, no roads, etc instead it's all wilderness and huts. Also, the mechanics in Primal are different; instead of getting helicopters and cars you have to walk/ride around the map. Plus, for most of us FC4 happened a long time ago so I can't remember the details of that map enough to even find similarities (except for those maps people are posting).

 

TL;DR - besides the map pictures popping up, I see no similarities between FC4 and Primal's layout/terrain.

---

And did you ever think of it this way. People stop buying/preorder games from companies with a bad history (like Ubisoft). The company sees the problem and tries to fix the mistakes of previous games but, because of the loss in sales, they can't afford it. The are forced to lay people off to make up for it and in the end we get an even worse game!

I know it sounds silly, just playing devil's advocate :3

[Sharkyx1]

On 3/1/2016 at 9:13 PM, killcomic said:

Interesting article I saw on DSOG. Apparently The Division and Far Cry Primal are topping Steam and GMG PC gaming charts at the moment. Two titles by Ubisoft which have not yet been released on PC.

You know why we get shoddy ports? Because gamers still playing by the crappy business practices that corporations impose on the industry.

I'm waiting for the usual "I'll never buy anything from Ubisoft ever again" cries when these ports come out broken only to have them pre-order whatever game they release next.

 

Source: http://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-sims-4-tom-clancys-the-division-far-cry-primal-are-this-weeks-best-selling-pc-games/

Most people have played the division on PC already so if the performance surprises anyone they weren't paying attention

 

and Far Cry 4 ran well and so does Primal

[Sharkyx1]

On 3/3/2016 at 3:18 PM, Pomfinator said:

A shame really.  Syndicate really wasn't that bad.

Unity is my #2 best AC yet, i haven't played syndicate outside the tutorial and i don't like a lot of the ways they scaled back the graphics and gameplay.

[GoldenEagle]

On 3/1/2016 at 9:13 PM, killcomic said:

Apparently The Division and Far Cry Primal are topping Steam and GMG PC gaming charts at the moment. Two titles by Ubisoft which have not yet been released on PC.

Far Cry primal actually has a good port its the shitty uplay errors though