Shadow of War Getting Free Update, Will Remove Microtransactions

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rgMekanic

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Monolith has announced that starting July 17th, Middle Earth: Shadow of war will receive some free updates that will remove Gold, War chests, and the Market from the game. Community Admin MonolithMark states:

The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world. While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realize that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System. It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything. Simply being aware that they are available for purchase reduces the immersion in the world and takes away from the challenge of building your personal army and your fortresses. In order to fully restore the core promise of the Nemesis System, we’ll be permanently removing Gold, War Chests and the Market from Shadow of War. This means the option to purchase Gold with real-world money and the ability to gain Orc Followers from War Chests will be removed. There will be a specific amount of time given for players to utilize their unused Gold. If players have unused Gold by the end of the time allotted to spend it, any remaining Gold will be converted to in-game items.

Additionally there will be tweeks to the Shadow Wars section of the campaign, and other updates. The ability to purchase Gold will cease on May 8th. I have to wonder though, has Monolith been on vacation under a rock since September of last year when the game came out? Immediately following release, game reviewers and YouTubers slammed the game for its abundant microtransactions, to the point where it hindered an otherwise good game. And 8 months later they finally realize it was a bad idea? And it's going to take another 3 months to fix it? Sorry Monolith, but I see this is an attempt to drive sales to a game most have already forgotten about.
 
The game is an absolute grindfest. Some smart guy out there wrote a cheat engine bit that increased the spawn rate of "rare" ogres to something a lot more reasonable, effectively bypassing the needs for lootboxes. I might have to reinstall it and use cheat engine.
 
Sounds like a good time to buy now. I boycotted it because of the loot box crap. I'm sure a sale is around the corner, I'll give it a week and then buy either way since I have some time off coming. Too Cool!
 
micro transaction is fine for me as long as it does not affect game play.
want to wear a pink dtut dress. fine with me if you pay for that. heck in ha case microtransaction is a way to feed money into continued development.
but Pay to win or only seeling you half a game is just BS
 
SvenBent said:
micro transaction is fine for me as long as it does not affect game play.
want to wear a pink dtut dress. fine with me if you pay for that. heck in ha case microtransaction is a way to feed money into continued development.
but Pay to win or only seeling you half a game is just BS
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Hadn't thought of it until your post, but an orc w/ little fairie wings in a pink tutu and glitter makeup could be pretty hilarious on the battle field. Just sayin'
 
Good news. I have also boycotted the game because of the microtransactions crap, which is a shame since I liked the first game. Now I may give it a chance one day.
 
lostin3d said:
Hadn't thought of it until your post, but an orc w/ little fairie wings in a pink tutu and glitter makeup could be pretty hilarious on the battle field. Just sayin'
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what my best effort could produce

goblin-fairy-9974129.jpg
 
So basically: "the game is months old now, all the big spenders have gone to other digital cash grab titles, it's more expensive to keep the transaction servers going than it is to simply get rid of transactions and make a big PR statement about it and try to pretend like we're the good guys and saw the error in our ways... "
 
KazeoHin said:
So basically: "the game is months old now, all the big spenders have gone to other digital cash grab titles, it's more expensive to keep the transaction servers going than it is to simply get rid of transactions and make a big PR statement about it and try to pretend like we're the good guys and saw the error in our ways... "
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Then proceed to included it in their next game saying fans demanded it back.
 
I've given up on all mobile games at this point due to developers only making shitty games but with tons of microtransactions. I no longer trust any review of any game as they are clearly all bullshit astroturf. Hell I think half the posters here are astroturf. Any game with microtransactions? I will never even look at it.

I just stick to the very few rare games that are actually from fledged games and give them my money.

The death of mobile games was a real shame to me. I was looking forward to using my phone's potential for some great games. Unfortunately all I've found is really shitty microtransaction games so all I do is play emulators of really old games. But hey they are still much better then the shit garbage that passes for games these days.
 
Good. This should have happened the first month of release. I agree with oldmanbal, WB gave the green light to Monolith to remove this crap because they realized it was hurting sales.
 
rgMekanic said:
Monolith has announced that starting July 17th, Middle Earth: Shadow of war will receive some free updates that will remove Gold, War chests, and the Market from the game. Community Admin MonolithMark states:

The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world. While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realize that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System. It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything. Simply being aware that they are available for purchase reduces the immersion in the world and takes away from the challenge of building your personal army and your fortresses. In order to fully restore the core promise of the Nemesis System, we’ll be permanently removing Gold, War Chests and the Market from Shadow of War. This means the option to purchase Gold with real-world money and the ability to gain Orc Followers from War Chests will be removed. There will be a specific amount of time given for players to utilize their unused Gold. If players have unused Gold by the end of the time allotted to spend it, any remaining Gold will be converted to in-game items.

Additionally there will be tweeks to the Shadow Wars section of the campaign, and other updates. The ability to purchase Gold will cease on May 8th. I have to wonder though, has Monolith been on vacation under a rock since September of last year when the game came out? Immediately following release, game reviewers and YouTubers slammed the game for its abundant microtransactions, to the point where it hindered an otherwise good game. And 8 months later they finally realize it was a bad idea? And it's going to take another 3 months to fix it? Sorry Monolith, but I see this is an attempt to drive sales to a game most have already forgotten about.
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No more like they simply got as much out of it as they thought they could and now its time to "clean up" their reputation.
 
SvenBent said:
micro transaction is fine for me as long as it does not affect game play.
want to wear a pink dtut dress. fine with me if you pay for that. heck in ha case microtransaction is a way to feed money into continued development.
but Pay to win or only seeling you half a game is just BS
Click to expand...
The problem with any game with micro-transactions even with cosmetic ones, is that they will counter balance it with grindy mechanics. Which is why no micro-transactions is the best kind. The moment you introduce a method to buy something, you'll need a method to grind as well, because otherwise nobody would buy the game.

As much as I liked the first Shadow of Mordor (I really didn't) this one will probably be hours of repetitive gameplay, even without the micro-transactions. To get the true ending of the game, you either loot boxed or you grind your brains out. How they changed this, I don't know? But either way, it doesn't sound like a fun gaming experience.

But you know what game isn't bad from the start? Hollow Knight. This game should have been 2017 game of the year.

 
rgMekanic said:
And 8 months later they finally realize it was a bad idea? And it's going to take another 3 months to fix it? Sorry Monolith, but I see this is an attempt to drive sales to a game most have already forgotten about.
Click to expand...

This mentality right here is part of the reason why most companies hardly care what the consumer base wants anyway. They're damned if they do, they're damned if they don't, and they're damned if they do it wrong and fix it too. So much petulance, so little time...

People have truly forgotten how to just enjoy themselves and instead focus more on honing their ability to nitpick shit to death.
 
DukenukemX said:
The problem with any game with micro-transactions even with cosmetic ones, is that they will counter balance it with grindy mechanics. Which is why no micro-transactions is the best kind. The moment you introduce a method to buy something, you'll need a method to grind as well, because otherwise nobody would buy the game.

As much as I liked the first Shadow of Mordor (I really didn't) this one will probably be hours of repetitive gameplay, even without the micro-transactions. To get the true ending of the game, you either loot boxed or you grind your brains out. How they changed this, I don't know? But either way, it doesn't sound like a fun gaming experience.

But you know what game isn't bad from the start? Hollow Knight. This game should have been 2017 game of the year.

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I just want to say that I agree with the post, but not the video. Hollow Knight really isn't all that special, plus the author seems to go out of his way constantly to try and develop an argument for its systems (the incorrect assessment of Mario's jump mechanics certainly didn't help). What Hollow Knight does do, like many other low budget games, is it has narrow scope and is able to focus on and polish the elements within that scope much more easily. And that's the issue as Hollow Knight is just yet another drop in the overflowing bucket of low budget Metroidvania's on the market and it really has nothing to make it stand out.
theplaidfad said:
This mentality right here is part of the reason why most companies hardly care what the consumer base wants anyway. They're damned if they do, they're damned if they don't, and they're damned if they do it wrong and fix it too. So much petulance, so little time...

People have truly forgotten how to just enjoy themselves and instead focus more on honing their ability to nitpick shit to death.
Click to expand...
It's hard to not have this attitude when the patch happens to coincide with a big DLC release.
 
Armenius said:
It's hard to not have this attitude when the patch happens to coincide with a big DLC release.
Click to expand...

I was being more "in general" with my comment, but I see your point. To be even more "in general" in reply to that, what do you want them to do? How can everyone lose sight of the fact that these people have to turn a profit? That's how the stuff keeps coming. That's how the people who work long hours every day making this stuff get to feed their families.

Going back to my original point. I get it, the consumer has every right to complain about something, but come on... it's seems like it's literally everything that gets torn apart. It really seems nobody knows how to just have fun.
 
theplaidfad said:
I was being more "in general" with my comment, but I see your point. To be even more "in general" in reply to that, what do you want them to do? How can everyone lose sight of the fact that these people have to turn a profit? That's how the stuff keeps coming. That's how the people who work long hours every day making this stuff get to feed their families.

Going back to my original point. I get it, the consumer has every right to complain about something, but come on... it's seems like it's literally everything that gets torn apart. It really seems nobody knows how to just have fun.
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Maybe theres nothing fun about having to pay to win or spend 18 hours hitting a wall so you can get one more gold coin...to win.
 
kju1 said:
Maybe theres nothing fun about having to pay to win or spend 18 hours hitting a wall so you can get one more gold coin...to win.
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And? You don't have to. Instead you'd rather bitch and moan about it instead of moving on to something else. Life is too short to sweat this kind of shit daily. If something that's meant for entertainment causes you grief, that's a you problem.
 
theplaidfad said:
And? You don't have to. Instead you'd rather bitch and moan about it instead of moving on to something else. Life is too short to sweat this kind of shit daily. If something that's meant for entertainment causes you grief, that's a you problem.
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And instead youd rather bitch and moan about people that are bitchin and moaning? Do you tell kids to get off your porch? ;)
 
kju1 said:
And instead youd rather bitch and moan about people that are bitchin and moaning? Do you tell kids to get off your porch? ;)
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Ahh, the classic ad hominem redirection. Smells like a millennial to me. GTFO of my lawn.
 
theplaidfad said:
Going back to my original point. I get it, the consumer has every right to complain about something, but come on... it's seems like it's literally everything that gets torn apart. It really seems nobody knows how to just have fun.
Click to expand...

I agree with you to some degree. People in general can obsess and nitpick things, not just gamers or the PC community. I also agree that the many people who are in the trenches making these games deserve due compensation, I don't believe it's them as a whole that are supporting this greedy model-but I could easily be wrong. Can't say I've ever seen a story where EA/UBI/WB stated they were giving bonuses to all involved staff due to all the profits of loot/micro's.

Closer to the thread. Instead of optimized work-flows, efficient development schedules & teams, proper marketing, and simply focusing on a game that works right out of the box, many of the big companies have shifted over this new model of mediocrity and let's use micro/loot to offset the costs. It's been proven time and again that many will buy a base game and if they enjoy it enough happily hand over more for dlc/expansions. We've also seen the opposite where a game seems very carved out and the other pieces sold separately.
 
lostin3d said:
Can't say I've ever seen a story where EA/UBI/WB stated they were giving bonuses to all involved staff due to all the profits of loot/micro's.
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That doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My company gives me a bonus every year that we're profitable, but they don't send it in as a story to the 6 o'clock news.
 
theplaidfad said:
That doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My company gives me a bonus every year that we're profitable, but they don't send it in as a story to the 6 o'clock news.
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True most don't, but some of these have bragged about their profits from them.
 
theplaidfad said:
That doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My company gives me a bonus every year that we're profitable, but they don't send it in as a story to the 6 o'clock news.
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Good job making yoru company the model for the entire game industry.

Even though there are agreements like this:http://documents.latimes.com/infinity-ward-2003-bonus-plan/ it doesnt mean they actually honor them...re: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/04/infinity-ward-staff-sues-activision-for-500-million/
 
kju1 said:
Good job making yoru company the model for the entire game industry.
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I made a simple semi-relevant example and you jump to that conclusion? Stick to the ad hominem reply strategy you tried beforehand instead, at least that was slightly amusing. If I cared enough to argue with you about it further, I'm sure I could spend as little time as you did googling those stories to show you a few of the opposite nature. Based on how you've replied thus far, I won't waste my time.
GnXxW
 
theplaidfad said:
I was being more "in general" with my comment, but I see your point. To be even more "in general" in reply to that, what do you want them to do? How can everyone lose sight of the fact that these people have to turn a profit? That's how the stuff keeps coming. That's how the people who work long hours every day making this stuff get to feed their families.

Going back to my original point. I get it, the consumer has every right to complain about something, but come on... it's seems like it's literally everything that gets torn apart. It really seems nobody knows how to just have fun.
Click to expand...
AAA game budgets are out of control just like movie budgets. If they reigned it in then there would not be so much pressure to look for extra avenues to generate revenue. Publishers constantly argue that its the consumer that is demanding better graphics and larger games, but is that really true? With the internet, is it also required to have a $200m budget for marketing on top of the $150m for making the actual game? Look at the recent success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. An "AA" game with the scope of a "AAA" game, nothing but negative press coverage (Streisand effect while paying nothing to market), and the game made ROI in a week.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. I've seen the erosion of fun gameplay systems to push microtransactions and I got fed up with it. I took a hardline stance against the practice. I hardly would consider a game with an artificial grind "fun." Every game and publisher that engages in the practice will be torn apart by me. WB just happens to be one of the worst next to EA.
 
Armenius said:
AAA game budgets are out of control just like movie budgets. If they reigned it in then there would not be so much pressure to look for extra avenues to generate revenue. Publishers constantly argue that its the consumer that is demanding better graphics and larger games, but is that really true? With the internet, is it also required to have a $200m budget for marketing on top of the $150m for making the actual game? Look at the recent success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. An "AA" game with the scope of a "AAA" game, nothing but negative press coverage (Streisand effect while paying nothing to market), and the game made ROI in a week.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. I've seen the erosion of fun gameplay systems to push microtransactions and I got fed up with it. I took a hardline stance against the practice. I hardly would consider a game with an artificial grind "fun." Every game and publisher that engages in the practice will be torn apart by me. WB just happens to be one of the worst next to EA.
Click to expand...

One of the best games I played recently: Stardew Valley. No AAA anything in it. Just a little bit of fun.
 
Armenius said:
AAA game budgets are out of control just like movie budgets. If they reigned it in then there would not be so much pressure to look for extra avenues to generate revenue. Publishers constantly argue that its the consumer that is demanding better graphics and larger games, but is that really true? With the internet, is it also required to have a $200m budget for marketing on top of the $150m for making the actual game? Look at the recent success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. An "AA" game with the scope of a "AAA" game, nothing but negative press coverage (Streisand effect while paying nothing to market), and the game made ROI in a week.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. I've seen the erosion of fun gameplay systems to push microtransactions and I got fed up with it. I took a hardline stance against the practice. I hardly would consider a game with an artificial grind "fun." Every game and publisher that engages in the practice will be torn apart by me. WB just happens to be one of the worst next to EA.
Click to expand...

I get all of that, I really do. I don't like the micro transaction model either. But I really do think people have these expectations that just don't fit into reality anymore when it comes to what you can expect from modern video game entertainment. Blame capitalism.
 
I dunno what everyone is bitching about this game. I own it and have not had any issues with micro-transactions in the game. Its just a bunch of side shit you can buy to "better your character". Its not play to win per-say because the game still drops weapon upgrades and rune upgrades. I never explored the marketplace but i could also avoid it with no problems of it interfering with the progress of the story or the game. Only time you have to enter the marekt place is if you do online vendetta missions and you go get the reward. You don't have to pay any money to get it and open it.

Those of you who complain about the game without having played it before hand have nothing really to add. It market place is completely ignore-able.
I also picked the game up when it was on sale for $38 and have enjoyed it very much.
 
{NG}Fidel said:
So adding micro transactions bad. Removing Micro Transactions bad....
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No, removing micro transactions is good but the game was designed around micro transactions. You can't patch what is ultimately a bad game design. All they're doing is making it easier to grind your way through the game, but it's still a grind. And nobody likes to grind in games.

 
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