Paradox issues Bloodlines 2 refunds after backlash over paywalled clans
(www.pcgamesn.com)
from inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world on 06 Sep 01:11
https://lemmy.world/post/35508432
from inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world on 06 Sep 01:11
https://lemmy.world/post/35508432
Personally, too little, too late.
threaded - newest
It’s not unexpected. Paradox’s business model is basically being DLC happy.
True but trying to pull a Capcom on disc dlc in a attempt to normalize it is a bridge too far on a bridge I’ve already burnt with paradox.
Except that with their other games, each DLC not only adds a bunch of content but also brings with it a significant free update to the base game. So there it's clear that the DLCs fund the base game too.
Also often updates to prior DLC content.
Really hope they move the clans to the base game. I never buy games at launch but if I’m interested enough will at the first sale. This one will heavily rely on reviews though lol
It’s an RPG like the old school one and not some kind of strategy game, right? So you have to pay extra to be, like, a Nosferatu vamp instead of the basic one? That’s wack.
Who are you calling basic?
The only similarity with the first game is the setting and the name. The classic White Wolf system has been taken out, there is now a dialogue wheel, and you play as a fixed protagonist. I have also heard the world is a lot less open and the game is more linear.
is it really not cheaper to just stop paywalling parts of the game?
I think with all the lost sales and bad PR this will generate, that may be the case.
I can see making some clans like nosferatu or malk part of some dlc as they have so much unique stuff and presumably require a lot of extra development. I don’t imagine that is applicable to toreador though. Also no day one dlc please. If it’s ready at launch, if should be in the base game
DLC should be available before the launch of the game. I personally can’t wait to buy skins for a game I can’t even play yet.
I thought this day one DLC crap was just them trying to break even. But now they are refunding people? I don’t get what their play is here.
I’m reminded of the narrator’s distillation of his career from Fight Club. Paraphrasing, but the gist is “I’m here to apply the formula. A is the number of cars on the road. B is probably rate of failure. C is the cost of an out of court settlement. A times B times C equals X. If X is greater than the cost of a recall, we issue one and no one gets hurt. If X is less, we don’t recall.”
In this case, whoever counts Paradox’s beans determined the cost of issuing refunds was going to be less than the cost of staying the course (from a PR perspective, if nothing else).
But this whole day one DLC thing is a PR nightmare already? Step back from it somehow = win back some good will?
I used to work at PDX (dev studio). And even there players were saying the DLCs were just cut from the game to charge for them later. Which I can tell you, is not at all how that works for the grand strategy games.
But with a day one DLC it’s quite obvious. I mean maybe they wouldn’t have made the extra clans at all because they couldn’t justify the production costs? Personally I think they thought this is the most likely thing to break them even on the sunk cost of this dumpster fire.
The other peeps from the dev studio I’ve talked to are just as baffled (and upset about the consumer hostile practices).
I’m so glad I got off that sinking ship.
I feel like sadly a lot of companies recently have decided good will isn’t worth anything for them. It’s not a viewpoint I agree with, but actions of many companies point in that direction.
Killing the game before release. That’s a new one. GG Paradox.
Speedrun