Rage Cuts Singleplayer Content for Used Copies

cthulhuiscool

cthulhuiscool

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I just saw this article over at the escapist:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112247-Rage-Cuts-Single-Player-When-You-Buy-It-Used

The amount of content doesn't seem huge or totally deal breaking, but this is yet another example of why more and more people are getting disenfranchised toward gaming companies of today. It's also scary to see this trend moving from companies like ea and activision to more "gamer friendly" companies like Id. Although I want to play this game, stuff like this really makes me not want to support the developers, so I might just wait for a good steam sale or something instead.
 
I see this as more of a blow to console gamers than PC gamers. The used PC game scene has been essentially dead for quite some time now. So, to you console gamers I have this to say "HAHA".
 
GregP24 said:
I see this as more of a blow to console gamers than PC gamers. The used PC game scene has been essentially dead for quite some time now. So, to you console gamers I have this to say "HAHA".
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I see your point. I also wonder if all this DRM stuff is a result of being bought by Zenimax.
 
How are they going to restrict it from console gamers? Unless they're going to require console gamers to have an internet connection to play.

Either way it does kinda blow.
 
Devilpup said:
How are they going to restrict it from console gamers? Unless they're going to require console gamers to have an internet connection to play.

Either way it does kinda blow.
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Phone activation...:D

You might not have internet, but I am pretty sure you can get Phone anywhere...
 
I was leaning towards not buying it... this was the last push I needed. It looks just like fucking Borderlands anyway. Next.
 
Why the fuck are they raging (no pun intended) war against used games? Not everyone has $60 to spend on shiny new games. And Id of all companies?! :mad:
For Gods sake, they were the ones that invented the shareware model by giving away free games (first few levels). How the mighty have fallen.

game publishers have made it no secret that they aren't particularly thrilled with the effect that pirating and used game sales have had on their profit margins
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Complete and utter nonsense. There has been zero effect on sales due to piracy/used market.
 
MrCrispy said:
Complete and utter nonsense. There has been zero effect on sales due to piracy/used market.
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You can't seriously believe the used market has no impact on game sales, can you? Because GameStop's $9.5 billion in revenue would argue otherwise.
 
Forceman said:
You can't seriously believe the used market has no impact on game sales, can you? Because GameStop's $9.5 billion in revenue would argue otherwise.
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People who buy used games (for 1/2 price or less) do so years after retail (for AAA titles). They aren't going to spend full price to buy the game, and in most cases the retail price has dropped anyway.

And the whole argument is BS because the publisher got full price when the game was first sold. Why the hell do they care what happens to it afterwards? Its like making used dvd's/bluray's skip chapters - its insane.
 
MrCrispy said:
And the whole argument is BS because the publisher got full price when the game was first sold. Why the hell do they care what happens to it afterwards?
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Publishers only make money by selling new copies to the game stores. Used copies compete with new copies and publishers end up selling less product overall since it can be re-used. Publishers also hurt because the used product costs less, so they aren't able to sell new copies for as much money or many people would just wait to buy used.

Even if a used copy only costs $5-10 less than a new copy it will cut in to the sales of new copies. This is exactly the business strategy used by Gamestop and it seems to be working well for them.

Gamestop fully admits this
http://www.shacknews.com/article/54333/gamestop-profit-margins-rise-on
 
This is the same company who just sent a letter threatening to sue Notch.

Mozex said:
Publishers only make money by selling new copies to the game stores. Used copies compete with new copies and publishers end up selling less product overall since it can be re-used. Publishers also hurt because the used product costs less, so they aren't able to sell new copies for as much money or many people would just wait to buy used.

Even if a used copy only costs $5-10 less than a new copy it will cut in to the sales of new copies. This is exactly the business strategy used by Gamestop and it seems to be working well for them.

Gamestop fully admits this
http://www.shacknews.com/article/54333/gamestop-profit-margins-rise-on
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Places like Gamestop have been raping the consumer for far too long. Honestly that place is good for no one. They pay next to nothing for trade-ins, then sell them for an arm and a leg. They do nothing good for the industry.
 
this could be a good thing in terms of dlc.

think about it.

really this little crap they are restrictng could be labled as dlc content.

if publishers were smart they would just do what bethesda is doing but also stop DLC milking and just offer that content to people that have bought the game new.

if you buy the game used then you have to pay for the content as dlc ect.

its kinda like Mass effect cerberus network but instead of only offering some of the dlc you would get it all ect.

thats how it should work but wether publishers decide to do that is unlikely.

why shouldnt people that buy the game new get dlc for free? most of the time dlc is pretty shitty content any way. make the people that buy the game used pay for the DLC so the dev/publishers still make money off used sales if someone wants what ever content they are offering.
 
while I agree that Gamestop is not the best company to buy used games from since they do not pay much and sell them for a shit ton of money,I disagree with any company telling me that I can not do what I want with something I paid for,all sales are final,is that not how games are sold,so they can not be pirated and returned to the store.They sell you a game,they do not rent it to you or lend it to you,you pay for it,its not a service than can be gimped or canceled.its a piece of property.

Now if they wanted to include a code for online play that can only be associated with one gamer tag,thats fine,you know that up front and also know that you are paying for the game AND a code for online play or to use their online service and if you sell the game the person buying it is responsible for getting an online code,but they should never be able to take ANYTHING you paid for away because they are not directly profiting from it.

Car companies can not do it,Banks can not take any of your property if you paid for it and APPLE could not do it when trying to block jailbreaking Iphone's,so game companies should not be able to do it.If you absolutely must play online and use THEIR online service,then every one should have to pay,whether it comes directly from the sale of a new game or through the purchase of a new code.

Game companies are becoming like wall street,their own greed will be their downfall and I will not be supporting any game company that takes these kind of actions nor should any one else.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
This is the same company who just sent a letter threatening to sue Notch.



Places like Gamestop have been raping the consumer for far too long. Honestly that place is good for no one. They pay next to nothing for trade-ins, then sell them for an arm and a leg. They do nothing good for the industry.
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They also pay their employee's like shit, I worked there for four years in high school. The SM may make decent coin but everyone else gets kinda shafted, I'd worse than most other retail outlets.
 
MrCrispy said:
People who buy used games (for 1/2 price or less) do so years after retail (for AAA titles). They aren't going to spend full price to buy the game, and in most cases the retail price has dropped anyway.

And the whole argument is BS because the publisher got full price when the game was first sold. Why the hell do they care what happens to it afterwards? Its like making used dvd's/bluray's skip chapters - its insane.
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The number of AAA titles lining GameStop shelves within days of release argues that your first statement isn't true in a large number of cases. Retail price dropping doesn't matter at all, because that money is still going to the developer, and not GameStop. EA would much prefer you buy a 50% off game directly from them, rather than buy the same 50% off game from GameStop.

They don't care what happens, except that the used sale is a potential lost sale (potential, not assured, but I'm guessing the developer has done the math and likes those odds).

wrangler said:
Used facilitates new. Don't be so obtuse.
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It may facilitate it, but from the developer's perspective it doesn't make up for the difference at all because they don't see any of the money from the second sale - and that loss is not compensated for by the additional purchases the seller may make. Consider - person A buys game for $50, then sells it for $25 and buys another game for $50 (that $25 + another $25 from his pocket). That used sale facilitates Person A buying the second game, but meanwhile the developer is out the $50 from Person B entirely - so for the developer, it's at best break even (A and B both buy 1 new game each - $100 to the developer) or at worst a $50 loss (if Person A buys the second game even without selling the old one, and Person B buys his game new - $150 to the developer). The only way the developer comes out ahead by allowing used sales is if the inability to deal used means that both A and B forego their purchases, and I'm guessing the numbers say that's a chance worth taking.

I don't like it either, but it is clearly the way of the future as long as GameStop continues to rake in money that the developers (rightly or wrongly) see as theirs.
 
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This sounds more like they are restricting "dlc" rather than the singleplayer experience as a whole. Though, I could be wrong.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
They also pay their employee's like shit, I worked there for four years in high school. The SM may make decent coin but everyone else gets kinda shafted, I'd worse than most other retail outlets.
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and how many smaller stores have they put out of business using those practices? I hope that more people wisen up and use Amazon or eBay.
 
Devilpup said:
How are they going to restrict it from console gamers? Unless they're going to require console gamers to have an internet connection to play.

Either way it does kinda blow.
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Perhaps code activation through an authentication server. Dead Space 2 and Bad Company 2 multi on the consoles is like this.
 
Since I only game on my PC,anything that affects the used game market is a moot point,seeing as they already succeeded in killing it with PC games. I figured they get around to doing the same with the console market sooner or later. But it does show that iD has gone from a producer of legendary games to just another corporate greed machine.
 
I go to gamestop for their $5 bin. Usually don't end up getting anything. Normally look on the top selling forums first then amazon, kind of stay away from ebay unless its a rare/very popular game.
 
the last time i bought a used game was when i used to trade super nes games for other super nes games i was like 12 lol

so this dont mater to me at all but seems like a tred that sucks for those that do buy used games,

anther reason why i am glad im a PC gamer and will stay that way :p
 
Meanwhile, how long will it take for fully-loaded cracked copies to appear?
That's right games publishers, keep screwing your paying customers.
 
Double dipping is evil. Once a company has sold a game, they made money. After that, its none of their fucking business how many times its resold, and they don't deserve a single cent. If they want to compete, lower the price, or make your game so damn good that no one wants to sell their copy, and there are no used copies out there.

So what if some people rather buy used than new? What Id is trying to do is just wrong. What's next - used cars that refuse to go in reverse gear?

Gamestop being good or bad has nothing to do with this. They are capitalism at its best and exploiting the idiocy of gamers who are perfectly happy to get 1/2 price for their games and then pay 2x markup for a used game. Don't like it, then don't go there, and trade on CL instead. I don't give a damn about Gamestop - what bothers me is the used game I pick up for $2 in a garage sale is not going to be the full game.
 
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Not to nit pick but used cars make the dealerships/car company a grip of money.

You have dealership repair money, parts repair and replacement. Probably not the best to compare to the game company as they see nothing after the resell of the game where car companies will on resold cars.
 
Trimlock said:
Not to nit pick but used cars make the dealerships/car company a grip of money.

You have dealership repair money, parts repair and replacement. Probably not the best to compare to the game company as they see nothing after the resell of the game where car companies will on resold cars.
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Irrelevant, since the cost of maintenance applies to new and used cars. Its an added cost like DLC and addon packs for games and game sequels - someone with a used copy is just as likely to get those.
 
cthulhuiscool said:
I just saw this article over at the escapist:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112247-Rage-Cuts-Single-Player-When-You-Buy-It-Used

The amount of content doesn't seem huge or totally deal breaking, but this is yet another example of why more and more people are getting disenfranchised toward gaming companies of today. It's also scary to see this trend moving from companies like ea and activision to more "gamer friendly" companies like Id. Although I want to play this game, stuff like this really makes me not want to support the developers, so I might just wait for a good steam sale or something instead.
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Here's an idea:

If you want a game, buy it, or wait till it goes on sale. Don't be a cheap ass and buy used when every damn game goes on sale 3 months after release usually.
 
Here's another idea - people will buy what they can afford. If the game is cheaper used, then it makes sense to buy it. Every game does not go on sale.
 
Trimlock said:
Not to nit pick but used cars make the dealerships/car company a grip of money.

You have dealership repair money, parts repair and replacement. Probably not the best to compare to the game company as they see nothing after the resell of the game where car companies will on resold cars.
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Used books, DVDs, and retail keys of Windows don't get any of the "repair" bonuses either, and they have more in common with games than cars do.
 
CryingGod said:
Here's an idea:

If you want a game, buy it, or wait till it goes on sale. Don't be a cheap ass and buy used when every damn game goes on sale 3 months after release usually.
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Yea because a free market is such bullshit , we should all be penalized for such thrifty practices :rolleyes:
 
cthulhuiscool said:
stuff like this really makes me not want to support the developers, so I might just wait for a good steam sale or something instead.
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Irony. Ohhh no, not having content in your used game sales makes you feel like not supporting the publisher which you'd not be supporting anyways if you bought a used game? So instead you'll wait for a steam sale where you ARE supporting the publisher? DARN THEIR FAIL STRATEGY!!! The one that made YOU just state you'll SUPPORT them.

I'm confused whether you are in favour or not in favour of supporting publishers? Used games sales = no publisher support. Destroying used game industry would greatly increase game publisher sales while decreasing retail outlet sales. Do you support EB Games > iD games? I'd be fine with seeing used game sales end to an extent b/c I do support gaming companies more than retail companies.

I have no desire to participate in a "wally-mart" used games system that lets Wal-mart profit from iD's work 7 times. I'd rather see iD benefit from six sales. If gamer's cant afford full price, wait a month. Heck, sometimes just 2 weeks to the next 'sales' capitalism-holiday.
 
Hahahahahahaha. I have been saying here and there that ID is over rated today and living off of old achievements, and this just reinforces the point. They have been sticking their tongue up consoles asses for so long that they are forgetting how they got here.

But then again this doesn't effect PC gamers so......Hahahahahahaaha.



ps, everyone knows this is a non-issue with PC games because I can't remember the last time there was ever a market for used PC games. But I will take better graphics/complexity/control with the PC any day of the week against buying a game on a console and being face fucked with a companies control scheme to milk me like a rotten corpse. At least with PC games we have "alternatives" if a game company want's to rape us for buying a legit copy of a game.
 
I'm surprised at the reaction considering this has been going on for a couple of years now. It's not like id are the first people to do it. Personally, I'm a PC gamer so this won't even affect me and I don't really care about it. I have to say though, I find it hard to sympathize with used game buyers who don't get the full experience... why should a developer/publisher care about whether you got to play the full game (or whether you got to play the game at all) when you aren't actually their customer at all? Gamestop got your money when you bought it used, you're their customer, go to them and ask them why your experience isn't complete. Or alternatively just wait 2 months and you'll find a deal to get a brand new copy for the same price you paid for it used.
 
@spindoctor

What about books? Or movies? Or music? In some cases, they cost more than games. Should publishers be able to rip off the last 5 chapters of a book once you sell it? Should publishers rip out the last 30 minutes of a movie after its sold? Should we only get half of the songs from a CD after its sold? What makes games so special? Especially when an average SP game lasts 5-6 hours and costs $50-60. An average hard cover book costs $30 or so. Blurays around the same too. If this effected the PC gamers, well, it wouldn't effect them at all because they would get around such frivolous tactics like this ;) But this is a bullshit idea by ID. All they are doing is give people more of a political reason to pirate their game (notice how I didn't say games, because, well, you got to release more than one game every 8 years to be able to be called plural :p )
 
spindoctor said:
I'm surprised at the reaction considering this has been going on for a couple of years now. It's not like id are the first people to do it. Personally, I'm a PC gamer so this won't even affect me and I don't really care about it. I have to say though, I find it hard to sympathize with used game buyers who don't get the full experience... why should a developer/publisher care about whether you got to play the full game (or whether you got to play the game at all) when you aren't actually their customer at all? Gamestop got your money when you bought it used, you're their customer, go to them and ask them why your experience isn't complete. Or alternatively just wait 2 months and you'll find a deal to get a brand new copy for the same price you paid for it used.
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Not caring does mean they can actively restrict a game, its two very different thing. Not providing support, yes, they can do that in the name of "not caring". But intentionally restrict the game's functionality is not merely "not caring", but rather, they are trying to prohibit resale of said game.

As long as 2nd hand sales are legal, companies should not be allow to actively restrict the use of 2nd hand goods.
 
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