Rockstar Intends to Address Red Dead Redemption 2's Economy

AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

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While Red Dead Redemption 2's Online Multiplayer Beta is functioning as intended, more or less, Rockstar is facing backlash for the heavy grind the game subjects players to. Multiplayer mission rewards and loot selling prices are comically small compared to their counterparts in single player, while prices for almost all purchasable items are drastically inflated. While micro-transactions aren't yet enabled in game, it's clear that Rockstar intended to push them hard in multiplayer. In response to the widespread criticism, Rockstar says the in-game economy and balance are "current areas of focus," but how far those changes will go remains to be seen.

Our current areas of focus include the in-game economy, which will require some additional balancing in order to ensure all activities are appropriately rewarding and fun, as well as some persistent bugs that are causing some players to be kicked from sessions. The game has been developed so that we will be able to quickly make any adjustments like these, and we plan to get updates out as early as the end of this week with more updates to come next week.
 
If that's the case that's fucked up. One of the reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 got so much praise was because it didn't have micro-transactions, and now they're going to "patch" them in. Mostly for the multiplayer which I give fuck all about, but if it sneaks its way into the single player then I'd be pissed. We have games patching micro-transactions out of them while Rockstar is trying to patch them in. Holiday season of 2018 is a wake up call to the AAA gaming industry that micro-transactions and grindy games do not belong. Make proper games or become like EA, Blizzard, and Bethesda where your stocks plummet.
 
DukenukemX said:
If that's the case that's fucked up. One of the reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 got so much praise was because it didn't have micro-transactions, and now they're going to "patch" them in. Mostly for the multiplayer which I give fuck all about, but if it sneaks its way into the single player then I'd be pissed. We have games patching micro-transactions out of them while Rockstar is trying to patch them in. Holiday season of 2018 is a wake up call to the AAA gaming industry that micro-transactions and grindy games do not belong. Make proper games or become like EA, Blizzard, and Bethesda where your stocks plummet.
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Publishers are doing that on purpose. They realized two things:

1) Microtransactions are bad press.

2) The game press has a short attention span and never re-reviews a game or adjusts scores.

So release game with no microtransactions, get praise and good score, put them in later, profit.
 
Good that there is backlash even before they implement it. Companies need to start rethinking MT cause it is obvious people are sick and tired of it.
 
Sycraft said:
Publishers are doing that on purpose. They realized two things:

1) Microtransactions are bad press.

2) The game press has a short attention span and never re-reviews a game or adjusts scores.

So release game with no microtransactions, get praise and good score, put them in later, profit.
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Members of the game press actually tried to defend, even praise microtransactions saying that they are necessary or make games better. They are entirely in league with big publishers. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. You don't say anything bad about us and our games, and in turn we send you gifts, early review copies, and exclusives. It's much the same as the GPP with NVIDIA. Only this has been going on for ages in the games press.

The bad press they get are from independent vloggers and posters, who started to have more reach than the actual "game press".
 
M76 said:
Members of the game press actually tried to defend, even praise microtransactions saying that they are necessary or make games better. They are entirely in league with big publishers. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. You don't say anything bad about us and our games, and in turn we send you gifts, early review copies, and exclusives. It's much the same as the GPP with NVIDIA. Only this has been going on for ages in the games press.

The bad press they get are from independent vloggers and posters, who started to have more reach than the actual "game press".
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Some YouTube reviewers can be even worse than the "press", in that respect. Plenty of them do keep their dignity, while others go to the opposite extreme by ranting/bashing for views, but paid reviews that aren't advertised as such are definitely an issue.
 
I can honestly say that the thought of spending my hard earned money on a microtransaction makes my stomach hurt. On the other hand I will watch a video ad for some free credits all day. Time = Money, just depends on the value calculation to determine what one I will be ok with using.
 
Getting the economy just right in a game seems rather hard. In most of the games I've played, I either could never afford a coveted item until it was no longer useful, or had oodles of cash and nothing to spend it on.
 
horskh said:
Getting the economy just right in a game seems rather hard. In most of the games I've played, I either could never afford a coveted item until it was no longer useful, or had oodles of cash and nothing to spend it on.
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In the case of RDO, it's not hard, but the problem is that Rockstar feels the need to rape you with microtransactions, but not so much that people won't buy them or play the game anymore.

If these companies would just stop being as shitty as they possibly can with additional monetization, there wouldn't be a problem.

I'm sorry, but if I paid $60+ on a game there is no fucking way I am paying for microtransactions.
 
High level Gaming companies stating that they're gonna address the economy has been pretty hit and miss for me lately. I'll stick with single player I think.
 
people will spend so much money in microtransactions in this game that it might actually break GTAV ONLINE numbers. This isn't some shitty star wars 2 cop out. It's a console powerhouse that will continue to set the bar for how to squeeze money out of an install base.
 
Micro transactions and 'premium currency' in a full priced title.




No thanks.
 
They set the ceiling and now are slowly lowering it until everyone is ok with it.
 
DukenukemX said:
If that's the case that's fucked up. One of the reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 got so much praise was because it didn't have micro-transactions, and now they're going to "patch" them in. Mostly for the multiplayer which I give fuck all about, but if it sneaks its way into the single player then I'd be pissed. We have games patching micro-transactions out of them while Rockstar is trying to patch them in. Holiday season of 2018 is a wake up call to the AAA gaming industry that micro-transactions and grindy games do not belong. Make proper games or become like EA, Blizzard, and Bethesda where your stocks plummet.
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This is for RDO, single player isn't being touched as far as I've read.

I think they may have launched with the economy skewed to grind at such a high rate because reducing it a tiny bit would be seen as "they're listening, it's not so bad now."

It's the old trick. Price something at $100 and people want it at $80. Price it at $200 and then reduce it to $120, and people think they're getting a deal.

Also, there's an interesting theory that some of the plot takes shots at TakeTwo. The money lending German character is named Strauss, TakeTwo's CEO is Strauss Zelnick. There's a few more.
 
Spidey329 said:
Also, there's an interesting theory that some of the plot takes shots at TakeTwo. The money lending German character is named Strauss, TakeTwo's CEO is Strauss Zelnick. There's a few more.
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Interesting. That's not unheard of, but usually references like that are made in good faith. Kinda like how you could fight the Square Enix CEO in Nier Automata, or this golden bit from Futurama:

225px-Box_Network.gif



Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if upper management are indeed the ones pushing for the sky high MP prices.
 
AlphaAtlas said:
Some YouTube reviewers can be even worse than the "press", in that respect. Plenty of them do keep their dignity, while others go to the opposite extreme by ranting/bashing for views, but paid reviews that aren't advertised as such are definitely an issue.
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Yeah there are some who bash even without being aware of the full picture. (Or willfully ignore it?) But basically publishers are in a pickle because they can't get away with shady stuff anymore. It will get out.
 
AlphaAtlas said:
Interesting. That's not unheard of, but usually references like that are made in good faith. Kinda like how you could fight the Square Enix CEO in Nier Automata, or this golden bit from Futurama:

View attachment 125183


Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if upper management are indeed the ones pushing for the sky high MP prices.
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Futurama were never really obscure about their animosity towards Fox. The first episode when they went to Comedy Central made that pretty clear.
 
AlphaAtlas said:
...

Our current areas of focus include the in-game economy, which will require some additional balancing in order to ensure all activities are appropriately rewarding and fun
...
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After all, got to generate that sweet, sweet "pride and accomplishment".
 
vegeta535 said:
Good that there is backlash even before they implement it. Companies need to start rethinking MT cause it is obvious people are sick and tired of it.
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It is and it isn’t. They’re putting them in because it makes them a ton of money. Look at how much Fortnite makes, and it’s a free game.
 
HockeyJon said:
It is and it isn’t. They’re putting them in because it makes them a ton of money. Look at how much Fortnite makes, and it’s a free game.
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"Free" being the operative word - and from what I understand, the gameplay is truly free, none of that pay-to-win Rockstar multiplayer is (in) famous for.
 
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Where subscription-based games are designed to maximize time (drag out progression for as long as possible), micro-transaction-based games minimize time (by providing purchasable, grind-mitigating features). The economy of RDR2 is incomplete without the intended micro-transactions, as per design. Sycraft said it best.

If revenue equals fee multiplied by time divided by periodic running expenses, compare "time approaches infinity" to "fee approaches infinity" and a game without a subscription model might choose the short term option. (And games with a subscription choose both, lol.)
 
HockeyJon said:
It is and it isn’t. They’re putting them in because it makes them a ton of money. Look at how much Fortnite makes, and it’s a free game.
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Fortnight and RDR2 are compeletly different things. Fortnight is not overly grindy and just cosmetic. This is another case of a company to make getting anything even better weapons, food, and cosmetic a insane grind to push people into buying in game currency. In the end it doesn't matter to me and I'll njoyed the single player game and don't give two fucks about ita or any other games online play.
 
Something else to be smug about not buying.

Microtransactions belong in free-to-play. Planetside 2 being a good example.
 
Nallexi said:
Something else to be smug about not buying.

Microtransactions belong in free-to-play. Planetside 2 being a good example.
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RDO *is* free to play. You get a AAAA caliber SP campaign for $60 that encapsulates 7 years of development time and is worth every penny, and the optional MP online component comes with it at no additional charge.

Planetside 2 is a good example of how not to do F2P because it's in the toilet and barely exists.

Games like Fortnite are the exception rather than the rule every game should aspire to. A lot of it's popularity has to do with being right place at right time, popular-for-the-moment, than strictly a success for its pay model.

If gamers had their way, all these companies would go bankrupt.
 
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DPI said:
RDO *is* free to play. You get a AAAA caliber SP campaign for $60 that encapsulates 7 years of development time and is worth every penny, and the optional MP online component comes with it at no additional charge.

Planetside 2 is a good example of how not to do F2P because it's in the toilet and barely exists.

Games like Fortnite are the exception rather than the rule every game should aspire to. A lot of it's popularity has to do with being right place at right time, popular-for-the-moment, than strictly a success for its pay model.

If gamers had their way, all these companies would go bankrupt.
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If it cost an initial $60 then it's not free to play.
 
vegeta535 said:
Fortnight and RDR2 are compeletly different things. Fortnight is not overly grindy and just cosmetic. This is another case of a company to make getting anything even better weapons, food, and cosmetic a insane grind to push people into buying in game currency. In the end it doesn't matter to me and I'll njoyed the single player game and don't give two fucks about ita or any other games online play.
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My point is the proof of concept that Fortnite provided.
 
I have no problem with micro transactions as long as they don't give any player an unfair advantage.
 
DukenukemX said:
If that's the case that's fucked up. One of the reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 got so much praise was because it didn't have micro-transactions, and now they're going to "patch" them in. Mostly for the multiplayer which I give fuck all about, but if it sneaks its way into the single player then I'd be pissed.
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The single player story is fantastic in RDR2 so you're over-reacting a little bit. They're talking about the multiplayer. I honestly don't care about the multiplayer either but my buddy and I enjoyed it... going through the story missions is quite fun together.
 
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