We are a group of gamers on an adventure to delve into the deep caverns of the internet, unearth hidden games, and bring them to light. We wish to acknowledge these games, their creators, and the technology that allows us to play them.
Welcome to The Price of Gaming, a blog series about price models for video games. Today, DOTA 2 from Valve.
"Free to Play" is a bit of a catch-all term in gaming at the present time. It covers a wide range of price models, some of which are arguably not Free to Play at all. However, there are a few games where "Free to Play" is actually an accurate label, and DOTA 2 is perhaps the single finest example of this I have ever come across...
On the surface, DOTA 2 appears to have a fairly standard Free to Play model, featuring a micro-transaction store similar to Valve's Team Fortress 2. As Free to Play models go, the micro-transaction model is perhaps the most common. It is also a very easy model to create poorly, as no small number of generic, Free to Play, World of Warcraft clones have shown.
The greatest problem of the micro-transaction store is what to put in it. The actual inventory of the store is perhaps the single most important aspect of this particular model. The second is of course the price of the items. The sky is really the limit with what could be placed in a micro-transaction store, but the all important question is what should be there.
It is in this aspect that DOTA 2 is almost unique among Free to Play games. DOTA 2, in every meaningful gameplay aspect, is entirely free. Every character, every game mode. All of the game is unlocked to you from the start.
The game's store contains only optional content that has no bearing on actual gameplay. And it is this absolute lack of the game's shop affecting gameplay that makes DOTA 2 unique. It is the only game I have ever played that relies entirely on the goodwill of its playerbase to sustain itself.
The micro-transaction store for DOTA 2 consists of optional Skins for the characters, wards, courier and HUD, special DOTA 2 league team avatars to show your support for the teams, and some special bundles. Not one item in the store affects the actual gameplay of DOTA 2.
The truth is that this model would probably never work for the vast majority of titles. Because it relies entirely on the playerbase's goodwill and desire to support the game, it require two things. First, a large dedicated playerbase, and second, the ability to continuously create optional content that the players will want to buy. Because of this, the model could probably only work for a company like Valve, which has enough money that if the model didn't work they wouldn't be to damaged, and a game like DOTA 2, for which a large dedicated playerbase from the original Defense of the Ancients mod already exists. The model is simply to dangerous to use for most games.
DOTA 2 is the very definition of a "Free to Play" game in its truest sense, and is well worth trying out. My actual experience with DOTA 2 is limited to a bit less than a hundred hours, with League of Legends being more my style, but DOTA 2's price model is the most player-friendly I have ever seen, there is simply no good reason not to give it a shot. Unless of course, the 5v5 DOTA-type format is not something you enjoy.
Next week, a look at DOTA 2's direct competitor, League of Legends, whose model is similar but with some rather important differences.
Kinect Syndrome and the Promises of a New Generation
First World Problems
After owning a Kinect for almost a year now I've discovered a pattern. I’m not super crazy about the motion controls (don’t get me wrong they’re cool but not very practical for any precise gaming) and I've discovered that involuntarily I've had the impulse to talk to my televisions…actually screens in general. I watch a lot of Netflix and I find the speech recognition features of the Kinect really useful, "Xbox pause!", "Xbox next episode!". Yah I sound like a moron but when no one else is in the house its fun to use.
Just a few days ago I was watching Netflix on the PS3 when without thinking about it I said "Xbox!" and I expected the little dashboard to pop up, giving me some voice options. I then after a second realized my mistake and really wished my PS3 had the same feature. I've been catching myself more recently before I yell out "Xbox!" but on numerous occasions, once even at my friend’s house while watching a movie, I've yelled out expecting the typical dashboard response. Yes, its odd, and I certainly get some interesting looks, but it makes sense that Microsoft would build a feature that brainwashes people into screaming brand names wherever they go. Now, whenever I see a screen, I want to yell Xbox, and evidently its something I can't quite control. So I've concluded that I have what I've proclaimed to be Kinect Syndrome: the involuntary impulse to command a screen with voice.
Is it good? Bad? I don't know. Kinect makes me feel like I'm on the cutting edge of technology, and yet it reminds me every day of how little we have developed voice recognition technologies. I often dream of a day when the Kinect will respond to me like that of the USS Enterprise's super computer, giving me statistics, reacting to me with casual conversation and ease. Technologies in the tech world like Apple's Siri give me hope, but there still seems to be a large gap between humans and artificial intelligent conversation.
Many Promises
During E3, Microsoft talked about their new console but interestingly did not focus on arguably their most differentiating feature Kinect 2, which offers many advancements from the previous Kinect. Apart from increased accuracy, the new Kinect 2 also boasts an additional camera for low light use, improved dual array microphones, and increased independent calculation power. From initial hands-on experiences, tech sites have been claiming that the Kinect 2 boasts enough improvement over its predecessor to possibly make it more relevant in the gaming community. David Pierce from The Verge writes in his article, "Don't flinch: the new Kinect could be the end of motion gimmicks", that games on the Xbox One are more engaging when implemented together with the Kinect...
"...developers are using Kinect in a way that might finally make it palatable to gamers hardcore and casual alike. You don't need to use the Kinect, but the games are more fun and more immersive when you use it — and you'll be better at the game, too."
It seems Microsoft and game developers are seeing Kinect in a new light, using it to enhance gaming experiences instead of solely focusing game control on motion. If this is indeed true, then perhaps the Kinect will become something useful outside of simple voice command, and become part of a more immersive gaming experience. Of course, none of these features have actually been implemented in market yet because the Xbox One has yet to be released. Perhaps, once I own a Kinect 2 of my own I will be able to expand the definition of my term Kinect Syndrome to include more than just the slip of my tongue.
The Price of Gaming: Introduction - The Price Model Spectrum
Welcome to The Price of Gaming, a blog series about price models for video games.
Video Games are an industry like any other. Games are made for many reasons, be it from passion or because it's a job, but ultimately the vast majority of all games are about making money. This is an inescapable fact, and one that should not be far from our minds when we see that amazing trailer for a new game, or an ad claiming that you can "Play for Free." Games are a business, but there is a rather unique facet to the games industry that you don't really see in other industries. This is the "Free to Play" model.
The only truly free games tend to be Flash games (not even some of them), and are among the very, very limited games that are not made for the purpose of making a profit. Making a profit on their investment is always, always on the minds of the developers, because if there is no profit, then they have failed and are out of their jobs.
Which is why the label of "Free to Play" is a misnomer. No game is truly free to play, not even those little flash games, because of an often overlooked concept. The time spent playing a game is a cost you pay, a very real one, though more intangible and subjective than cold cash. And it is this time cost, or opportunity cost, that the idea of the "Free to Play" model hinges on.
Time Has Its Costs
Our time is important to us, more to some than to others, but valuable nonetheless. I have played no small number of video games, primarily on the PC, and have experienced a wide range of different price models for different titles. Whether the title be Age of Empires II, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, or Runescape, the way that the game is monetized is, or should be, tailored to the title. There are superficial similarities and differences to all of them, as well as real differences, but they all exist on a single spectrum.
Think of it like the spectrum of visible light. On the one hand we have the cost free games, generally flash titles, and on the other hand we have the truest examples of "Pay to Win," which require constant investment of money to enjoy and without doing so, are not enjoyable experiences.
Every game exists somewhere between these two extremes. Not every price model is suitable to a given game. It tends to be very obvious when the price model doesn't work or is abusive to the consumer. When the consumer becomes acutely aware of exactly how much he is paying, or is always worried about getting his or her money's worth, then the price model has failed. On the other hand, when a price model is suitable, the gamer doesn't tend to worry about the price tag, they are willing to pay and support the game and company, and may not even think about how much they are spending.
The pricing of a game is incredibly important to gamers of all types. This series of post on the Price of Gaming will explore a variety of games, analyzing their price model as it relates to the game itself and the players experience. At the end of each analysis I will have a brief, or not so brief depending on my experience with the title, opinion piece detailing my own experience and thoughts on the price model.
Next time, a game that I have only a limited experience with, but has one of the most unique price models I have experienced, DOTA 2 from VALVE.
Planetary Annihilation's Alpha has finally landed on Steam! While I joined backers and galactic pre-oreder's late last week on the Alpha, it's finally made it to Steam.
Planetary Annihilation came out strong with over 7000 people connecting online to play in less than 4 days. Now users will be able to turn their Alpha key into a Steam key and access it on the popular digital distribution platform.
While there's still a lot of work to be done, Uber has already pushed out over 3 fixes in the 7 days that the official Alpha has been operational. For now, Uber has decided to work on bugs and stability to start with. As Garat said in the latest new post:
We actually clamped down heavily on new features going in at first to keep stability as high as possible, and still had a very sizable list of changes over the course of about five days.
I'll be speaking about my experiences on Planetary Annihilation later this week. Until then I leave you with the Alpha Trailer:
Paul Roundthird and his team are approaching their deadline with their Kickstarter project Pixel Press. If you haven't heard of this game before, its a uniquely designed application that scans illustrations and then turns them into virtual levels using a camera on a mobile device. Their goal, $100,000, is nearly reached with 7 days to go. For a more detailed presentation and some personal thoughts read past the break...
Forget the Code, Get Right to Creation
In my opinion Pixel Press represents where game development is headed. What Robin and his team seek to achieve is a system that makes a developer's experience completely about creativity by avoiding the monotonous coding process. Essentially, the technology in Pixel Press eliminates the relatively high demands of coding, providing those who can draw the opportunity to make games. In a sense, coding has been simplified in this process to an art form, an analog coding language if you will.
Give the Work to the People
The real potential with Pixel Press comes from its theoretical community of creators. More and more it seems, game studios have handed over the responsibility of content creation to its gamers. Why? Its simple. Create a viable platform with flexible tools and an social sharing feature and you'll have a prime environment for creative individuals to thrive. This relieves the big load off of game companies and usually guarantees a long game life (assuming the ecosystem continues to grow). This strategy is not that dissimilar to big social networks like Facebook and Youtube where, were they to lose their user base, they would lose their content in tandem. Its a give and take relationship but it allows the users to truly produce the content that they want.
A Game of Russian Roulette
The disadvantage to this heavy reliance on an ecosystem is that it does not yet exist. Its a dangerous business hoping that people will step forward to provide valued content. While Pixel Press presents a intriguing change to game design, its approach bears a risky chance of failure. Its unclear wither there is a high demand for personal level creation but I suppose we will know in 7 days. If interested, take a look at their Kickstarter page here. Their deadline ends on the 13th so don't be shy to help fund them along!
Halo: Spartan Assault Announced Exclusively for Windows 8
Today Halo: Spartan Assault was announced for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, marking the first time a AAA game will come to the platforms. The game takes place in the Halo universe, telling the story of Spartan Sarah Palmer, a character introduced in Halo 4 as an elite Spartan commander.
The game delves into different waters than previous Halo games, abandoning the traditional use of the first person perspective in favor of a more mobile friendly top down perspective. Gaming sites like Polygon have gotten some early hands-on time with the game and are genuinely surprised at the successful execution saying, "playing Halo: Spartan Assault is a surprisingly enjoyable experience." They mention that the virtual joysticks are actually quite good, which is out of the ordinary for games that have tried to use virtual joysticks in the past.
Halo: Spartan Assault Screenshots
My excitement for this game couldn't be greater! Finally a game worth playing on a platform which I thoroughly enjoy. For a while, it looked as though Microsoft would not keep to its promises when it announced key game developer support with the Windows environment. The introduction of Spartan Assault demonstrates that there is in fact a movement in Windows ecosystem growth. What 343 Industries brings in this game will truly show the capabilities of Direct X on mobile and demonstrate the potential of multi-platform cloud synced gameplay. Hopefully, once the game is released I will complete a full review with my documented experiences and thoughts. Until then, here is a video with some gameplay...
A new update has come from Uber Entertainment with regards to Planetary Annihilation. The May 17th update was primarily a Q&A session, but one important detail was let slip. The Alpha date has been officially set!
The Alpha has been set to release during the first week of June. With that, Uber has also gotten a page on Steam for Planetary Annihilation. Furthermore, they've speculated that the Beta will take place in September and the game will be released in December. While these dates are yet to be set in stone, the announcement is encouraging.
Robotek is a new game recently released by Hexage on the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 stores. Its a beautifully designed action RPG that combines excellently produced visuals and music into a fun and simple robo fighting game.
After the destruction of man, brought about by a classic but inevitable robot uprising, a new war has begun between the new evil robot factions. As the player you take control of a large mech, destroying and pummeling as you systematically take over the world.
As a gamer and graphic designer I have thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. Its simple gameplay, beautiful visuals, and cross platform multiplayer are a nice addition to the currently sparse windows store.
If interested, take a look at the video below for some game footage and if you like it, download to your heart's content on the Windows Store...
Putting the "Annihilate" in Planetary Annihilation
In September of 2012 the members of Uber Entertainment jumped onto the ever growing "crowdfunding" train. Their Kickstarter(Planetary Annihilation) promised to be a sort of spiritual successor to Total Annihilation. People from all over the internet joined together to drive the Kickstarter to well over 200% of it's original goal. Since then Uber has been hard at work on the game.
Last month on a live stream they showed off the basic game mechanics such as; building, auto-pathing, resource gathering and unit movement. They also gave a sneak look into a special in-game realtime gameplay replay system or Chrono Cam as they're calling it.
On the third of May they did another livestream, this time showing off combat. While the game still lacks an AI, the combat seems to be coming along well.
Included in this explosive livestream they made a announcement as to when the Alpha release may happen. They've given a reasonable intention of this month. The good news is that yours truly is a backer and will be able to keep you up to date with the details. For more info on the live stream, the videos lay below.
annaxmalina
turnnoffyourmind
tangentwithtanner
vaporwave
titsay
romaincrisis