[PA Comic] Friday, August 17, 2012 - I Don’t Even

Geth

I Don’t Even
http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/08/17

RMS Oceanic

I like Gabe's look of forlorn bewilderment in the third panel.

Gosling

I've mainly been using the catch-all terms of 'Refillable Money' and 'Nice Things Money'. The latter is what you generally either have to level up, purchase, or be a marketing whore to get.

Lucascraft

So what's the deal with Mann vs Machine? I saw it on Steam the other day but they didn't post many specifics. They say "You and 5 friends" can do this. Does that mean the maps are 6 players required? Or do they scale to fit smaller parties? Like can I successfully duo the new scenarios with my friend? Or are we going to be forced to play with randoms if we don't have enough to fill a full party?

PikaPuff

from what little my friends and I have tested, there's no scaling.

SwashbucklerXX

Me too, Gabe. Me too.

Enlong

Well, you can just go on a normal server that doesn't require a ticket (and wait for an hour for one to be availible), if you don't want to go onto a special ticket-using server (and wait for half an hour).

cfsbrawl

Thank you! This was my exact level of confusion and disappointment last night. Luckily non ticket servers were queuing quickly, but even then I found the mode fairly boring.

maximumzero

By no means am I a PC Gamer (All my TF2 gaming is done on my iMac) but I appreciate what Valve has done for that segment of the industry.

And I'm not particularly happy about TF2 becoming the crazy hat simulator it's become.

But I did slip Valve a few bucks for a ticket and voucher just in thanks for them still working on a game (for free!) I bought over four years ago. Most companies would have shut down the servers by now.

taliosfalcon

maximumzero wrote: »

By no means am I a PC Gamer (All my TF2 gaming is done on my iMac) but I appreciate what Valve has done for that segment of the industry.

And I'm not particularly happy about TF2 becoming the crazy hat simulator it's become.

But I did slip Valve a few bucks for a ticket and voucher just in thanks for them still working on a game (for free!) I bought over four years ago. Most companies would have shut down the servers by now.

Yeah...no..with the amount of money valve's making selling hats and keys and whatnot to people no company that also likes making money would have done any differently.

maximumzero

taliosfalcon wrote: »

maximumzero wrote: »

By no means am I a PC Gamer (All my TF2 gaming is done on my iMac) but I appreciate what Valve has done for that segment of the industry.

And I'm not particularly happy about TF2 becoming the crazy hat simulator it's become.

But I did slip Valve a few bucks for a ticket and voucher just in thanks for them still working on a game (for free!) I bought over four years ago. Most companies would have shut down the servers by now.

Yeah...no..with the amount of money valve's making selling hats and keys and whatnot to people no company that also likes making money would have done any differently.

What I mean to say is that typically four to five years into a game's lifespan companies often switch off servers, namely EA.

Obviously Valve wouldn't do that, whether they're making money or not.

TychoCelchuuu

Yeah, at around the time EA would shut down the game, Valve made it free, after having delivered dozens of substantial updates filled with free content.

Tleilaxu

TychoCelchuuu wrote: »

Yeah, at around the time EA would shut down the game, Valve made it free, after having delivered dozens of substantial updates filled with free content.

Valve is a straaaaaange animal. I'm hoping that Yanis Varoufakis does some analysis of free update timing/the switch to F2P for games.

Henroid

Micro-transactions are the latest trend I guess. Can't wait to see how this rabbit hole goes before people just start selling games again for the most part.

I'm saying this as someone who eats up micro-transactions easily, too. The money I've given over to optional purchases is retarded.

Lucascraft

Henroid wrote: »

Micro-transactions are the latest trend I guess. Can't wait to see how this rabbit hole goes before people just start selling games again for the most part.

I'm saying this as someone who eats up micro-transactions easily, too. The money I've given over to optional purchases is retarded.

I'm a compulsive spender when it comes to micro-transactions in games I enjoy and play on a regular basis. The money spent on LoL is retarded. Also, DLC in general. If it's a game I like, I typically buy all DLC for it. I have DLC I've never even played, just because the game was off my play list by the time the DLC was released.

Fallout New Vegas is a great example. I have all the DLC for it, and I only have 4 hours total invested on the entire game.

Enlong

Man, comics and news posts on this subject make Poker Night hella awkward to play.

Sterica

Gabe vs. Gabe

Black_Heart

If you don't give a god damn about item collecting, like any sane person, and just want to kill robots with friends. The new game mode is really a lot of fun. Just find a server and start playing.

Henroid

Lucascraft wrote: »

Henroid wrote: »

Micro-transactions are the latest trend I guess. Can't wait to see how this rabbit hole goes before people just start selling games again for the most part.

I'm saying this as someone who eats up micro-transactions easily, too. The money I've given over to optional purchases is retarded.

I'm a compulsive spender when it comes to micro-transactions in games I enjoy and play on a regular basis. The money spent on LoL is retarded. Also, DLC in general. If it's a game I like, I typically buy all DLC for it. I have DLC I've never even played, just because the game was off my play list by the time the DLC was released.

Fallout New Vegas is a great example. I have all the DLC for it, and I only have 4 hours total invested on the entire game.

In my head, when I'm buying DLC or those optional store things, it's a stronger show of support for a video game than buying the game itself. With the latter, it's impossible to show positive support in the expression of spending dollars because... you haven't experienced it yet. But after playing a game, if you like it enough, you'll throw additional dollars in. That's a clear sign of people liking a game, rather than paying the barrier-of-entry-and-thus-opinion-forming fee.

This sounds like I'm arguing in favor of DLC being the one and only way... Let me be clear, it's not. It has a place, but not every game or developer has to delve into it.

Cambiata

Any time there is discussion of TF2 I am filled with confusion. I wish to co-opt Gabe's facial expressions.

PMAvers

I'll take the hyper-hat-collection-kinetic-orgy-of-doom over Generic Yearly Army Shooter Installment anyday.

The Good Doctor Tran

The fact that TF2 has made it possible for me to spend 0 actual dollars on many game purchases has endeared the model to my heart. Admittedly the 0 actual dollars thing took a retarded amount of work and probably I could have gotten a second job mowing lawns and been able to make more money. But lawns are outside and also scary. The point is I like digital hats and micro transactions because they create secondary economies, and those are neat.