I wouldn't be all that shocked by a subscription to play a game. I don't think they'd ever come out and say, this "you must pay us for anticheat." That would open them to legal liability, as cheaters are going nowhere yet you are paying to not have them.
It would be much simpler to make some spiel about "we charge monthly to provide you a great service we can't do with a free model, better servers, more monitoring for cheaters, blah, blah, blah."
I don't know how many players that would run off though. They make so much money off their skins and P2W things, should they not just focus on getting an additional $20 a month from players by selling them more garbage?
We don't give them money. I always use Call of Duty as an example because it's something I know and it was not fueled by microtransactions. Not only do they out-sell previous titles, for example Modern Warfare 2 in 2022 broke all of their records, but then from reports I've seen they make $5 million per day from all the bullshit they sell. I believe it too, I played it a few months ago with my cousin on a "free weekend." My observation, 75% of players at minimum have a current-release cosmetic skin, which costs $20-$30.
Roblox is publicly traded, in the last 12 months their revenue was $3.16 billion. I have no idea how they don't make money. Talk to any < 13 year old kid and see how many Roblox gift cards they have gotten for birthday presents. It's a TON.
Then you come to someone like me, it pains me to pay $70 for a new game. I actually don't think I ever have. I rarely pirate, I take advantage of sales. Let's assume there's an annual release game that launches working and complete and I value having enough to spend $70 on every year. They have to sell 45 million copies annually to match that Roblox money. It's just not going to happen.
Edit to add for context: Nintendo games often fit that last model. As an example, Zelda Breath of the Wild has sold over 30 million copies. Being one of if not the most sold games on Switch. They would have to do that every year, and still come out behind.
I feared that games would turn to the as a service model because everything else is following suit. Where you don't own the game you purchase and they finally deal with the "Linux problem" as anti-cheat is notorious for not being able to run. I've heard a few developers bad mouth Linux users usually along the lines of entitled and skinflints.
There's also the assumption that if people pay for something and handsomely, they will treat the service with more respect, self-censor and be far more cautious, particularly if they impose a minimum term agreement where if you are banned, you are still paying for the service.
It's an interesting concept. Was thinking the first thing that will truly go is anonymous gaming. Soon you'll have to register, submit your drivers license/ID to an Israeli verification company, AND pay monthly subscriptions to play anything.
I'm sure it'll all bake into the inevitable social credit score the Commies crave so much. Oh, Bob only plays games with white male protagonists, better keep an eye on him...
Nah. They know there's way too much resistance to direct subscription models in customers. You either need a monopoly (xblive or PSN subscriptions) or a life consuming juggernaut of a game (WoW/FFXIV). Everyone else knows they get way more custom with a subscriptionless but infinitely monetized incentivization model.
They might want to start making you pay for the anti cheat somehow, but it won't be a mandatory subscription.
The only logical progression for online multi-player is the use of streaming like with GForce Now. The battle against cheating on PC is already lost, save from installing rootkits on player's computers at the BIOS level...
I mean most people don't seem to read more than just the title and first sentence before reporting. This is one of those rare instances instances where I'm still assuming incompetence over malice.
I doubt they would at least market it as paying for anti-cheat specifically, it would be like paying for a "priority" sort of system, "premium", whatever you may want to call it.
I know for certain I wouldn't play or buy any game that included such a thing, but I'm not big on multiplayer/competitive games myself.
If people keep buying AAA garbage even after these "features" are added, then they deserve every fucking bit of it. Gamers can start putting their money where their mouth is and stop rewarding this behavior, or they can STFU and enjoy it. I'm tired of all of their bitching, when they are the ones funding it all.
This is dumb too because chest software can live outside the PC.
Imagine an aim bot that just connects to your PC as a keyboard / mouse. And views your monitors audio and video feed.
It's a stupid arms race. FPS games are most affected because of the nature of the game. But any game can be played better by a bot than a human in theory.
It's like the steroids debate in sports. Let em all play with hacks and eat popcorn
I wouldn't be all that shocked by a subscription to play a game. I don't think they'd ever come out and say, this "you must pay us for anticheat." That would open them to legal liability, as cheaters are going nowhere yet you are paying to not have them.
It would be much simpler to make some spiel about "we charge monthly to provide you a great service we can't do with a free model, better servers, more monitoring for cheaters, blah, blah, blah."
I don't know how many players that would run off though. They make so much money off their skins and P2W things, should they not just focus on getting an additional $20 a month from players by selling them more garbage?
We don't give them money. I always use Call of Duty as an example because it's something I know and it was not fueled by microtransactions. Not only do they out-sell previous titles, for example Modern Warfare 2 in 2022 broke all of their records, but then from reports I've seen they make $5 million per day from all the bullshit they sell. I believe it too, I played it a few months ago with my cousin on a "free weekend." My observation, 75% of players at minimum have a current-release cosmetic skin, which costs $20-$30.
Roblox is publicly traded, in the last 12 months their revenue was $3.16 billion. I have no idea how they don't make money. Talk to any < 13 year old kid and see how many Roblox gift cards they have gotten for birthday presents. It's a TON.
Then you come to someone like me, it pains me to pay $70 for a new game. I actually don't think I ever have. I rarely pirate, I take advantage of sales. Let's assume there's an annual release game that launches working and complete and I value having enough to spend $70 on every year. They have to sell 45 million copies annually to match that Roblox money. It's just not going to happen.
Edit to add for context: Nintendo games often fit that last model. As an example, Zelda Breath of the Wild has sold over 30 million copies. Being one of if not the most sold games on Switch. They would have to do that every year, and still come out behind.
I feared that games would turn to the as a service model because everything else is following suit. Where you don't own the game you purchase and they finally deal with the "Linux problem" as anti-cheat is notorious for not being able to run. I've heard a few developers bad mouth Linux users usually along the lines of entitled and skinflints.
There's also the assumption that if people pay for something and handsomely, they will treat the service with more respect, self-censor and be far more cautious, particularly if they impose a minimum term agreement where if you are banned, you are still paying for the service.
It's an interesting concept. Was thinking the first thing that will truly go is anonymous gaming. Soon you'll have to register, submit your drivers license/ID to an Israeli verification company, AND pay monthly subscriptions to play anything.
I'm sure it'll all bake into the inevitable social credit score the Commies crave so much. Oh, Bob only plays games with white male protagonists, better keep an eye on him...
Does this mean I can also opt out of online/central moderation too? Or is that non-negotiable? (obvious answer is obvious)
Nah. They know there's way too much resistance to direct subscription models in customers. You either need a monopoly (xblive or PSN subscriptions) or a life consuming juggernaut of a game (WoW/FFXIV). Everyone else knows they get way more custom with a subscriptionless but infinitely monetized incentivization model.
They might want to start making you pay for the anti cheat somehow, but it won't be a mandatory subscription.
The only logical progression for online multi-player is the use of streaming like with GForce Now. The battle against cheating on PC is already lost, save from installing rootkits on player's computers at the BIOS level...
Post Reported for: Conjecture
... ok
I guess it is weirdly phrased almost as if something has actually happened rather than just Lethn being Lethn.
I mean most people don't seem to read more than just the title and first sentence before reporting. This is one of those rare instances instances where I'm still assuming incompetence over malice.
"You will own nothing and be happy" - Piratebay
I doubt they would at least market it as paying for anti-cheat specifically, it would be like paying for a "priority" sort of system, "premium", whatever you may want to call it.
I know for certain I wouldn't play or buy any game that included such a thing, but I'm not big on multiplayer/competitive games myself.
If people keep buying AAA garbage even after these "features" are added, then they deserve every fucking bit of it. Gamers can start putting their money where their mouth is and stop rewarding this behavior, or they can STFU and enjoy it. I'm tired of all of their bitching, when they are the ones funding it all.
This is dumb too because chest software can live outside the PC.
Imagine an aim bot that just connects to your PC as a keyboard / mouse. And views your monitors audio and video feed.
It's a stupid arms race. FPS games are most affected because of the nature of the game. But any game can be played better by a bot than a human in theory.
It's like the steroids debate in sports. Let em all play with hacks and eat popcorn
For all Hearthstone's PaytoWin faults, Thank fuck you can Mute your opponent at the start of each match
They should build an anti-cheat system and make cheaters pay for it! Make online gaming great again!