Nothing demotivates me more than a game with a battlepass. Really disappointed, I played and somewhat enjoyed the campaign, then totally lost interest at around level 20 in the first season.
Haven’t picked up the game in a long time, and it’s all because having a battlepass just kills the game for me.
It turns the game into completing the battlepass instead of just playing the game as I normally would. Ignoring the battlepass doesn’t work for me, because I know it’s there.
It triggers FOMO, but instead of making me want to play to not miss out, it makes me not want to play at all because I know completing battlepasses for me is highly unlikely
Agreed.
My first experience was in Warframe, and that one was at least free, but it still gave you timed rewards (FOMO) and dictated when and what to play, which I absolutely hated. Relics already kinda did this shit too, making the game even more of a chore. In Diablo however you even have to pay for it on top of all that. And what do we got for this "live service" bullshit? Half baked and still rare as fuck updates and even worse seasons that I care even less about (which also just serve the same purpose of baiting you into the game through FOMO pressure). I haven't touched the game for like 2 months already and deeply regret giving into my FOMO of buying it, but it is hard for a franchise that I've followed for such a long time.
Are you against systems like Deep Rock Galactic’s battle pass?
The battle pass is free, and after the season ends anything you didn’t earn through the pass is added into the regular item rewards in the game, so you don’t miss anything by not finishing the pass.
I used to think I was against battle passes as well, but after trying deep rock’s i realized I just don’t like predatory monetization and feeling punished for not playing.
I'm not OP but I definitely don't like the DRG battlepass. I don't hate it, but I'm neutral towards it at very best. I'd rather just have this content as part of a regular game progression.
The only other one I know is from Warframe, which is free but still pretty bad for a number of reasons. I think throwing the rewards into the regular reward pool sounds good, but I'm not familiar with the game so I can't really judge how this actually plays out. In WF they throw the old rewards into a special store that uses currency earned through the battlepass, so you still have to play it and let it dictate your game if you want to buy them. In the case of WF though this whole system came on top of already existing tactics to keep you in the game & playing certain content, like the relic rotations for example. It was like the last drop that eventually made me quit. So it's hard to judge from the outside when I don't know the game, but in general I find such mechanisms terrible. It's sort of like dark patterns but adapted for video games and inherently predatory.
I’ve never played deep rock galactic. It very well could be the exception that proves the rule.
Feeling punished for not playing, and feeling like a company is trying to manipulate me with psychological tricks to make me play their game is why I don’t play games with battlepasses.
I didn’t mind Diablo iii’s seasons journey at all, and that had rewards that were missable. But Diablo iv has like 90 levels, it costs money and you have to do stupid shit like kill world bosses 15 times with them being on a timer.
I’m not going to set a fucking alarm to log into a video game. I play games on my schedule, not the developers.
It sounds like deep rock has a much more sane system. Maybe I’ll give it a try.
I know people like to hate Halo Infinite for a number of reasons, but IMO battle passes are one thing they do fine. MP is free, while the $10 battle passes are optional and you can buy and finish them any time.
I’m still on season 2 while everyone else is on 4 (I think?) I play a few rounds once a week, maybe, but there’s no FOMO because you earn the rewards at whatever pace you want. Once you finish a battle pass you can buy the next one. Or you can buy them out of order or skip any of them.
It’s not crap… I found it addicting to play through, but it reached a limit and I couldn’t see myself continuing. Before it got to that point, I was having a blast. I’m playing BG3 now, and its pace is so different. Diablo was fast AOE madness.
Game runs really well on Steamdeck. This is a great step, even though Blizzard has no expanded upon the games very short campaign and cliffhanger ending (with the drop rate fuckery there’s like no replayability).
They actively nerfed xp to make things take much longer and at the same time the end game is very repetitive and even more grind. They don’t give you anywhere near enough storage either. I’m sure there is more I’m not thinking of. But essentially the game is good up until you hit endgame really and then with people leaving and it being designed as an always online game you end up having to solo things intended to be done as a group.
They actively nerfed xp to make things take much longer and at the same time the end game is very repetitive and even more grind.
And then expect you to reach level 100 for the season, as well as do 2 additional level ~100 challenges to get the entire season rewards.
I'm also not sure if I would say the game was good before the higher levels. It was okay, but there were a lot of weak points already showing, like the skill system or the story. The only good thing were the graphics, but even they are weirdly low quality at times, while eating all your vram like candy - regardless of the settings or available vram.
You do the same thing over and over (and over and over) to attempt to level, but all you get for your trouble is shitty gear that you’d rather drop than deal with.
First 40-70hrs are fun. After that… it feels like a chore. It’s worth it for the base game, but the seasonal content was a slap in the face. I’m talking they have the player fight the same enemies twice each before they’d drop the thing we need (AND made us start from scratch just to get to do it)
Sure you can try out a new character but the same thing happens. It gets tedious.
For a while we’d play for a helltide, or do some grim favors but again, it get so painfully boring. Again, if you want to play the game go for it, just know that after the main story and sidequests are done there’s nothing left but endless grinding
They actively nerfed xp to make things take much longer and at the same time the end game is very repetitive and even more grind. They don’t give you anywhere near enough storage either. I’m sure there is more I’m not thinking of. But essentially the game is good up until you hit endgame really and then with people leaving and it being designed as an always online game you end up having to solo things intended to be done as a group.
Diablo 3 had a lot of issues early on with being an awful grind and punishing multiplayer, part of why I’ve held off on buying 4 is I wanted to give it time to get polished like Diablo 3 was over its life cycle.
The D3 issue wasn't that it was "grindy", it was that they tailored & balanced the entire thing around the real money auction house. They fully expected you to waste money there to gear your character to make it through the game (namely the last difficulty where a lot of enemies could just oneshot you from out of screen).
Loot also sucks. Run a bunch of dungeons and get dozens of legendaries. Too bad they’re all trash. Blizzard ruined the dopamine hit of hearing a legendary ding
I really enjoy Path of Exile seasons and recommend it. They always add new mechanics and change the game on some of them, so it never feels you’re just playing the same thing over and over again.
The seasons are optional (and have been a thing since as far back as II). I don’t play the seasons myself but I’ll eventually play the single-player campaign on a deep sale someday.
Diablo II most definitely had seasons, starting when ladder was introduced with patch 1.10, in 2003. Not the same “seasons” typical in gaming today, but seasons nonetheless.
Diablo 2 had ladders, which didnt add stuff every 3 months and by 2010 didnt even include changes at all.
So i guess youre kinda right but seasons are not comparable.
I don’t really play online multiplayer games anymore, what actually are “seasons” (and “battle passes” for that matter)? I’ve seen them mentioned in games like rocket league and overwatch which I’d paid for, but they cost more money and didn’t appear to be DLCs/expansions so I just ignored them.
Battlepasses are usually an another progression system with time limited skins and rewards. Usually a season last a couple of months, then a new one starts with new progression and rewards. Sometimes there are events tied to a season.
In theory, it means the game always gets updates, but in actuality its ripping off players for like a handful of skins (theres a lot of filler in most of them), while getting them to play the game more because of fomo.
Also sometimes you can earn back the price back in in-game currency, so if you keep maxing them out its “free” after the first one.
Battle passes yes. Often battle passes will have a free progression tier and a paid one. But seasons are often just made so people have an incentive to come back to the game. In the case of diablo3 and path of exile for example a new season will mark a new patch that changes game mechanics (buff certain builds, Nerf others or through new items enable builds that weren’t possible before). To play a season you have to start a new character so that gives you the incentive to try a new build which Poe has plenty of. Seasons will also introduce a mechanic only available in the season that make playing it feel unique and different. Season mechanics often require a lot of Dev work and are free to play but sometimes come with a season pass (that is optional )or the developer just hopes you buy some cosmetics while playing.
I guess it makes complete sense for these “live service” games, but it’s so weird to me that the game itself changes and you lose access to something you might already have paid for!
I’ve never seen games where you lose access to something you’ve already paid for. But I don’t play that many games so it might just be ignorance on my part. In poe you always have access to all the things you’ve paid for. Season characters become normal characters after the season ends and can be progressed normally afterwards. If you’re referring to the season mechanic that is only available during the season well if you had to pay for that it’s a clear contract. It’s like renting a movie you can only watch said movie for a limited time. It creates an urgency and forces you to play during said season that’s true. I guess this comes down to everyone’s opinion because developers are very open how seasons work so it’s something you like or you don’t. But there’s no scam involved.
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