• fluckx@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Can we boycot the companies that do this already. I get the AC IP is nice, I’ve certainly enjoyed my fair share of their games.

    But the ad industry is completely getting derailed. What’s next ? Watch a 15s promo video every time you want to open te fridge? Watch a promo video before you can open the door?

    Have your walls randomly show you ads?

    Stop buying their shit. Regardless of how decent the game is. Punish them for the predatory practices. Demand refunds.

    But no. People will likely be outraged, and then next game angry and then the next game they’ll suck it all up and complain about the good all days.

    #remindmein5years

    • dmonzel@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I always thought the cyberpunk genre was a warning, not a blueprint.

      • scops@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, unfortunately, it is hard for me to hurt their bottom line because I checked out of the series after Origins.

        That said, I’ve never sought a refund on a digital copy of a game, but I wouldn’t hesitate if I paid full price for a game only to find out there were in game ads

        • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Same. I checked out of the series back when they started enforcing U-Play use. I can’t understand why anyone would buy any of their games. Ubisoft went mask off a long time ago.

        • kofe@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          I got the package deal with all of them over the summer and loved origins 😅 been working my way through them all to get ready for the new one. I was thinking I’d go this route of getting it and returning if I saw ads, but based on comments about the company having rape apologists I might need to do some more research before even bothering to take that risk

    • kromem@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Companies should focus on making in-game advertising appear ‘diegetic’ as opposed to the low hanging fruit of inserting it like a sore thumb.

      Had Ubisoft scattered a number of graffiti or town criers in Odyssey’s cities talking about visiting a foreign land for less money the next few days only, where the art direction looked and felt perfectly at home in the world itself and interacting with the hooks alerted users to the promotion details, this would have been way less disgusting to players.

      You didn’t have players revolting when Cyberpunk’s 2.0 update suddenly had characters talking about Dogtown which then hooked into trying to upsell the DLC. It fit the world and was something that could be ignored or engaged with as desired.

      GTA: Online’s phone calls hooking into paid or new content are another example of doing it better (though their frequency is tuned really poorly).

      The problem is most publishers don’t want to spend the extra time and money to fit ads into the worlds players are in. Which is dumb, as testing a really terrible UX that players will revolt on and press will cover negatively is going to shoot in the foot an initiative that would have gone much smoother with a bit of elbow grease and respect for the players.

      Especially with the increase in in-game commerce I expect that we will see a spike in in-game advertising over the next few years, and with advances in generative AI that might even end up being tailored to the in game world as well much more often.

      But the reactivity of the audience here means that the publishers who do a good job on limiting the degree to which moving in that direction abuses the playerbase are going to end up much better off than the ones that think dumb shit like a popup ad in the game UI during play is a good idea.

      • jandar_fett@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Black Mirror episodes coming true or already being true is hedging into “Simpsons did it!” Territory

    • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m pretty certain that I read a comment like this back in 2010 to 2012 on Reddit. Hell it may have been on Slashdot or Digg back in 2008.

      As you’ve said, the only way to stop this is for everyone to stop feeding the beast. The problem is that F2P works now in 2023 as a business model, and clearly worked back in 2010 as DDO, and SW:TOR are still chugging along.

      I don’t think it is feasible to end these predatory practices unless one can manage to get every single government in the world to outlaw them. Good luck on that.

    • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Well, for one I think we’ve played the sum total of what Assassin’s Creed has to offer, at this point. I haven’t seen Ubisoft bring anything much new or compelling to the table since… AC3? I think? I’ve been doing just fine without it for all these years.

      IIRC there were some racing games that actually did show you real ads on billboards and pit walls and so forth, which were updated over the internet. Need For Speed: Carbon did this, I think. I’m certain there are already other similar examples, and you’ll probably find them in something published by EA.

      I’m all for giving the finger to the megacorporate publishers who do this, though. I have got so many fuckin’ indie games in my Steam library still, many of which I haven’t played much or at all, a large portion of which are great, and all of which will give me something to do other than put up with what the predatory behavior du jour is (advertisements, subscriptions, lootboxes, battle passes, microtransactions, or whatever the fuck else).

      • Mossy Feathers (She/They)@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        Battlefield games also had billboards. Granted they were torn up, but they were advertisements. Tbh I’m okay with ads if they fit into the game.

        Have a game with a TV? I’m okay with ads getting inserted into the fake-TV programming so long as they’re in the style of the game.

        Have a game with billboards? Okay, but again, it needs to be in the style of the game.

        I’m willing to forgive some level of advertising in games, especially if they’re from smaller studios, they just need to be non-intrusive and fit the style of the game. I’m more forgiving if you’ve put the work and effort into making the ad look and feel like it’s part of the world. An example is if GTA VI had radio ads that were self-depricating and/or self-parodies of the real-world companies advertising in-game.

        • thallamabond@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          How about the example of Transformers(2007) where GM very gently shoehorned their product into nearly every character.

          This movie killed the movie theater for me, I felt like I paid to watch a commercial

  • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I have a hard unbreakable rule:

    Free, you can serve me ads, I’ll try to avoid them but ok. But the minute I pay for something and you try to give me ads on top, we’re gonna have a problem.

    • umami_wasabi@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Newspapers. You paid for it, and it still got ads.

      I know, digital and printed ads are different.

      • kautau@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Cable TV, same thing. This is just old media execs trying to “bring back the magic” or new media execs thinking that old media techniques will work

        • CurlyMoustache@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m in my 40s. The last time I can remember buying a newspaper, was when I did it for my parents as a kid 🤷

          • ToastedPlanet@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            1 year ago

            My parents might have handed me some change to operate the box of newspapers outside the grocery store when I was three or four so I could try opening it. But I’m not even sure if I got to do that.

          • barsoap@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Newspapers are a long metro ride thing for me. Just never got the hang of smartphones, not in that way that is. Also the interaction is different, and I don’t mean the physical aspects but the way you browse through something with a) a finite amount of information and b) with very few (if any) links. A physical paper comes with an included progress bar. You know, sense of pride and accomplishment and all.

            • MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I’d love to buy and read newspaper. Really do. And I don’t even have to commute. But newspaper here are just trash. It’s all about which celebrity cheated who with whom, political propaganda, garbage about crime and some other things. Rarely anything interesting. So I just skip.

    • Ravi@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      I don’t mind a little ad in the menu, about stuff directly related to game I’m playing. Those little “Hey we released a new content dlc to this exact game” infos can actually be informative. What I really can’t stand is stuff breaking the immersion of the game. I’m not even mad about product placements, when they fit the theme and are sparsely used.

      • MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, product placements like for sports games are fine… I expect to see ads in a park, arena, or stadium.

        • Marin_Rider@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          it even adds to the authenticity in those games, perfect example of it done right. the problem is advertisers thinking their template applies to every medium without exception

          • Ravi@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            But also the deciders in the dev studios, that take the money even if it doesn’t fit or don’t integrate it properly.

    • Primarily0617@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Baldur’s Gate 3 was probably the best game of this year (?), but it has an advert for the DLC as soon as you launch it

      However, it’s also probably one of the least-bad “triple A” games of this year when it comes to overall monetisation, that singular DLC of cosmetics and the soundtrack being the only one available

      Unfortunately, I think this one is a losing battle

      • averagedrunk@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I was going to ask where the ad was, but I forgot that I turned off the launcher specifically because of that. I have no idea about PS but you can add the following on PC to skip the lau8

        --skip-launcher
        
        • Primarily0617@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, you absolutely can, but knowing to do that means that the advert has already delivered its message to you.

          Futzing around with the launcher settings seems like more work than just clicking “no” on an advert that pops up.

          • averagedrunk@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            You’re right, once. But adding that one time means I never have to see the launcher again. Clicking no means extra launch time and looking at it every time I launch the game.

            But different strokes for different folks. If it’s not worth it to you then that’s cool. It was worth it for me and I thought I’d drop that for anyone else who may want it.

            • Primarily0617@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              I have the same launcher settings set, so I mean I kind of agree? But you’ve seen the advert, and that’s basically all they want.

              I just think it’s kind of weird how people react to things once they’ve filtered their thinking through the hivemind of the internet versus before.

      • Madison_rogue@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        Sony didn’t have both versions readily available in the Playstation Store. While I did eventually purchase the DLC (which is the deluxe version, not a typical DLC), I’ll be damned that Sony didn’t make it easy to find the OG version in the store.

        And I put that on Sony, not the game publisher. Regardless, BG3 has been a breath of fresh air to gaming this year. About time a studio put out a full game without divvying it up into expansions and DLCs.

        • Primarily0617@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I agree that BG3 is a great diversion from the usual. My point is kind of that if you’re a purist about this, you’re missing out on it, even though on the whole it bucks the trend.

      • HandBreadedTools@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Baldur’s Gate 3 has no dlc at all. It has no dlc even announced, let alone available for purchase. Stop making shit up lol. Their launcher has info about the different games they’ve made and their prices, but when you actually launch the game it has NO ad of any sort. You could only barely call the info in their launcher an ad in the first place.

        • Primarily0617@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          kind of awkward that this both:

          it’s absolutely coconuts that you’re currently attempting to die on the hill of a giant “buy now” button not being an advert

          also, you do realise that the launcher is an advert? that’s its whole reason to exist. your take is essentially “you’re dumb because after you’ve clicked through the adverts, there aren’t any adverts”

        • Primarily0617@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I mean I guess Divinity never had ads unless you consider the launcher an advert for their other titles, given that that’s basically what it’s there to do?

          If you don’t consider anything in launchers to be adverts then I guess you can play BG3, because that’s where the advert for the DLC lives?

          I really feel like if Larian had only given you the soundtrack and not the cosmetics, and just not called it DLC, that people really wouldn’t be so up in arms about it.

    • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Ubisoft, epic, ea, Blizzard/Activision…

      I wont say Bethesda because I’m hoping for another Doom or Quake.

      • MycoBro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        _EA is the fucking devil. They bought my favorite game, Ultima Online, and ruined it. _

        • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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          1 year ago

          That’s tragic and I feel your pain.

          I’m glad that game had such a community surge of custom shards to keep it going, but it sure fractured the community. :(

        • pyre@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          get in line. ubisoft is the same by the way. they own the rights to my favorite IPs: prince of persia and flashback and all they’re doing is releasing shovelware.

      • Abnorc@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The way that Bethesda has handled Doom has been nothing short of excellent. Hopefully they continue to support Id however they need it to keep on making great games.

          • Abnorc@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I didn’t know about that whole fiasco. At least the end product was good. I feel bad for Mick Gordon though. I’m even more impressed that he did so well despite having to deal with that nonsense.

        • ky56@aussie.zone
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          1 year ago

          Well Doom 2016 at least. Doom Eternal fucked over Mick Gordon and DLCfyied the game. The cracks are forming.

      • PlexSheep@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        What’s the problem with Epic Games, besides No Tux no Bux and anti cheat rootkits?

        I mean those suck, but it has to be more than that right?

    • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I would a very happy person if most things in this World that reliably make one feel as “I’m doing the right thing” and frequently make one “Give oneself a pat on the back” required so little expense, time and effort as “never buy anything from Ubisoft”.

      It’s like winning the “well done dude” lotery once every couple of months without spending a cent.

    • interceder270@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Ah, my hardline stance of “don’t buy profitable products you can get for free” is still working out for me.

  • Snapz@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Always testing the line… This wasn’t a mistake. They know you’ll be upset, they are testing HOW upset and then they’ll make their decision.

    • onlinepersona@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      If you’re “upset” but buy another Ubisoft game anyway, then you weren’t that upset --> Ubisoft will keep doing it.

      (you as in generic you)

    • MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Ubisoft doesn’t give a shit. Never did. They are the ones who added booster packs after certain time in game so you can progress at a normal pace instead if you pay them extra. Am actually surprised someone reacted this time since usually they are fiendishly defended by dedicated fans.

      • TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        They don’t give a shit but if everyone rejects their bulshit, like that NFT nonsense, they will back off (and try again later)

        • MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          True. And it usually works or at least to a degree, otherwise they wouldn’t keep doing it.

    • soggy_kitty
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      1 year ago

      I wish that’s how the world worked, unfortunately it’s not

      • Johanno@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        The World worked that way, but people accepted the new ad contained products they paid for.

        People even think it is fine to buy a product you don’t own

        • xGIHOST@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          And people are making excuses for the forever inflating greed…

          I mean, how do you accept inflating prices and costs while your salary has been stagnant for decades?
          It just doesn’t make sense how costs, on individuals, are growing and growing.

      • eltrain123@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It does work like that. You vote with your dollars. If you buy these companies’ products, you confirm they made the right decision.

        If enough people abandon their products, they change the model or die.

        What you say you like and what your dollars say you like are 2 different things. The sooner people realize this the faster things will improve. But, if people are unwilling to avoid buying products from bad companies, things will get worse. Welcome to capitalism.

        • soggy_kitty
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          Unfortunately you’re not quite right with this one. As an individual, me choosing not to buy a new Samsung TV which has ads on the menu isn’t going to directly effect the sales and/or profit of the model to any measurable significant margin. Especially if I was going to buy LG anyway.

          If the entire population was able to communicate as one hive mind and apply your utopian strategy it would work, but unfortunately its exceptionally difficult to convince that amount of people.

          This is the exact same concept and difficulty behind battling climate change (not buying and doing things which hurt the environment)

          Yes I agree capitalism is … Well… Capitalism 🤣

          • eltrain123@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You don’t have to be a hive mind to make a difference. Everyone gets one vote (or one bank account) to make things better or worse, even if it is only a very small amount. You can contribute to the society you want or the society that is convenient. Sometimes you have to sacrifice comfort (or entertainment) to influence the things you want society to be. If enough people agree, things get better. If you are just bitching about how you are being taken advantage of but willingly allow it to happen… c’est la vie…

            Society is a collection of individuals. If enough people buy into the “1 person can’t change things” then everyone makes things worse a little but at a time. Buy what you want, vote how you want, but you are making things better or worse with every choice you make.

        • soggy_kitty
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          I like to compare that argument to climate change. If everyone voted with their wallet to not buy/do things which are bad for the environment we would stop climate change over night.

          Now think about how impossible that is and then remember, that collective effort is just as difficult as stopping people buying things which contain ads

          • un_owen@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            No it wouldn’t. Corpos would just put in more effort to hide the damage. Climate change can’t be stopped by individual consumers because they have no means to verify whether a product they want to buy hurts the environment.

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              11 months ago

              There are products which you can guarantee have a major negative effect on the environment yet people still purchase them. This is exactly the same as people buying games and products with ads baked in.

      • DahGangalang@infosec.pub
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        1 year ago

        This, but unironically.

        If I had the means to pirate my internet connection, I’d do it in a heart beat.

        • dandu3@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Oh absolutely. I used to get free data on a blackberry I had, and it was great. Free YouTube all day!

      • ProlapsedAnus@sh.itjust.works
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        11 months ago

        This is what I thought when micro transactions in paid games started around 10 years ago. I was wrong.

        Ubi will pull the classic pretwnt it was an accident, then in two years slowly roll it out. People will kick and scream, but still buy their shit. Then it’ll become normalized and slowly get worse. Next gen of kids growing up used to this won’t know what the big deal is when we complain.

        Same cycle over and over with all kinds of stuff over the past 20 years.

        • UNWILLING_PARTICIPANT@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          Fair AAA will always have a core demo who don’t care as long as their addiction is fed, but I think the fuss we raise should at least keep it out of the majority of games, and make people implementing it feel kind of scummy, so that’s something.

          Like MTX are relegated to a very specific “type” of game which is instantly identifiable, and not that well regarded compared to more, uh, pure (?) games.

          Summed up: ads and dark patterns will always work on a certain segment of the population, but they don’t necessarily get to be seen as normal or cool.

  • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The first time I saw Ubisoft doing this was actually kinda neat because it was done well.

    It was Rainbow Six Vegas/Vegas 2 and the billboards and posters scattered around were real ads. I thought it was a clever way to improve immersion.

    • Moneo@lemmy.world
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      Funny, cause nothing breaks immersion faster for me than product placement.

      • FireTower@lemmy.world
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        The way they did it was actually, dare I say, tasteful. Basically the only time you’d see ads is when realistically it’d be likely for a poster or bill board to be present.

        I remember one map was set at an exports event and they had esports sponsors everywhere.

        • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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          The way they did it was actually, dare I say, tasteful. Basically the only time you’d see ads is when realistically it’d be likely for a poster or bill board to be present.

          Placement isn’t the issue though.

          If you recognize it as a legit/real advertisement, that breaks the immersion.

          Your mind thinks “Why am I paying money to watch commercials?”, and that breaks the immersion of whatever virtual world you’re in at the time.

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            I’m not entirely sure I agree. If the game is set in the “real world”, an advertisement for a fake brand of a real product is, to me at least, more immersion breaking than it being a real brand for that product. Now if the game isn’t set in our world it’s a completely different story.

            • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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              The thing though is that the real advertisement will remind you that you paid money to watch a commercial, and that’s where the immersion breaking happens.

              With a fake ad you know you didn’t pay real money to some other real human being somewhere else, and that your purchase went just for the recreational value of the game you’re playing.

              In other words, it’s not the content of the ad, but the realization that it’s a real ad, regardless of it’s content, that’s immersion-breaking.

      • Tikiporch@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        When you swing downtown to time square in spiderman, does your brain really care if it’s a real product on all those signs?

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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      I did think it was clever, but I distinctly remember for R6V1, every single billboard, truck side, and bus stop poster, was Shia LaBeouf staring at you with binoculars for the movie “Disturbia” lol.

      I guess in the R6 universe that was going to be the biggest film release of the century hahaha. Maybe they just didn’t get a ton of takers?

    • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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      Clever or not, you’re not paying to watch advertisements, you’re paying to play a game as a recreational activity.

    • Ilflish@lemm.ee
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      I want to note since people are not happy with this example and still talking about the good old days, this method is pretty old-school In X-Men Mutant Academy is a pretty bad example but that’s why I remember it and I want to provide some sort of proof

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    I stopped buying Ubisoft games years ago. It was around that that time where they forced always-online mode on their single player games.

    I stopped playing their games (literally) because I was sure from that point on the user experience is only going to get worse. I thing I was right in that decision.

    • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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      Oo I think you got out before the custom launcher with it’s own BS currency that constantly “lost” your “cd keys” so you couldn’t even play singleplayer games you bought on steam huh? Good move. Well played.

      It’s been so long I wouldn’t be surprised to find that they just cancelled my account but all my “keys” were used already and my games just won’t work anymore lol .

      Meanwhile Black Flag occasionally downloads an update and I’m like “Yeah maybe one day…” Lol

    • interceder270@lemmy.world
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      Assassin’s creed and Siege ruined ubisoft.

      They just stopped trying because they learned they can just milk loyal fans for all eternity.

    • Stern@lemmy.world
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      I stopped when I saw Valhalla didn’t have achievements on Steam. To me that represents either extreme pettiness or extreme laziness on their parts and I won’t support either.

  • the_q@lemmy.world
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    Gamers continue to tell these companies that they’ll put up with anything while complaining online and continuing to purchase shitty games from shitty companies. Rinse and repeat.

    This is 90% on consumers. Stop buying shit if you want change and I mean in any industry.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      this is what companies want you to think. it’s like expecting drivers to be sensible so that we can reduce deaths from traffic accidents. it’s not a solution. we have traffic lights, seat belts, all sorts of security systems and regulations on car manufacturers (though not nearly enough).

      consumer protection doesn’t happen by telling everyone to be sensible. regulation is needed.

              • the_q@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                You think voting in a system built to keep those in power and those like the ones in power isn’t functioning exactly as intended? Are you 12? Grow up.

                • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  Are you 12? Grow up.

                  Noticed you’re not answering the question…

                  You got a better alternative, than pulling down your pants and bending over?

      • chakan2@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        though not nearly enough)

        Yes…there’s enough. There’s a reason a new car costs 30k. We don’t need radar, adaptive cruise, and fucking front facing cameras (yes, thats a real thing) standard.

        I just want a heavy duty roll cage, a 200cc engine, and seat belts. All for 2k.

        (The car safety standards are a sore point for me)

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      11 months ago

      Gamers as a population really have to stop FOMO’ing into the newest games because their friends do.

      Even if it’s blatantly obvious it’s going to be or is a bad game people still buy them because of the network effect.

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      90% on consumers? I don’t know I’d go that far… If a company is evil but provides a service people still desire, that doesn’t make the evil company being evil the fault of the consumers. Like saying gun control in America is resisted primarily by its citizens when we are well aware that company lobbying is mostly at fault and most citizens are actually for some amount of gun control.

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        Anyone who supports a company knowing how they conduct their business causes harm etc, is complicit. Once that information is learned a choice has to be made.

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          11 months ago

          That only works if there’s meaningful competition. With megabrands like Nestle who make 1/4 of the grocery store, or game publishers like Ubisoft who receive 1/4 of the industry’s revenue any kind of boycott is dead before it begins.

          In a society with a functioning government, megabrands who abuse their neighbors and/or customers would be hit with significant fines and be heavily regulated out of the bad behaviors, but the US hadn’t had a government interested in helping the common person for over half a century

        • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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          11 months ago

          I don’t disagree. I disagree with the idea that it’s 90% the fault of the consumer.

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              11 months ago

              The consumer is 90% to blame for the actions of an international corporation who have analyzed and manipulated their target demographic? If it were a relationship you’d be victim blaming. If I hit you for being stupid, is it your fault because you were stupid or is it my fault for thinking hitting you was a solution?

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        Way to shoehorn your opinions on gun control into a thread about forced ads in video games. If we ask nicely, will you share your thoughts about Trump as well?

    • Emerald@lemmy.world
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      Stop buying shit if you want change and I mean in any industry.

      so we should boycott every industry out there?

    • Commiunism@lemmy.wtf
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      The death of the sun will arrive before gamers actually do a boycott that is successful, because boycotts (especially for popular franchises or products) don’t work. If you rally up 10,000 people for a boycott, it’s less than 1% of sales AAA studios get and 70% of the boycotters are still going to buy the game regardless.

      No change is going to happen ever, so the best thing to do is to start ignoring the AAA gaming industry altogether on a personal level.

      • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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        A boycott only works if there’s meaningful alternatives. When one publisher effectively owns an entire genre of games. Expecting consumers to boycott is exactly what the big publishers want because it’s inneffective, what the publishers don’t want is for regulators to start paying attention

    • Buck@lemmy.world
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      Voting with your wallet doesn’t work. Nobody will call you to ask why you didn’t buy a product, and marketing will just come up with a bogus reason on why sales are poor.

      Talking about it on social media helps a lot more.

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    That’s why those who “jUsT pAy PReMiUm” are at fault. These companies are just pushing the line to see what sticks, and you’re perpetuating it by paying

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      Yeah, it’s like all the useful idiots doing mental gymnastics to justify paying for youtube premium forget how subscription services like netflix and amazon routinely get worse over time.

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      Who says that? It’s not down to the people, you can’t control every individual as one hive mind. If you could climate change would stop overnight.

      It’s corporate greed, ads will forever be interpolated into games and movies for the foreseeable future until it’s specifically outlawed to do so.

      I’m sure given the opportunity as CEO the overwhelming majority of people on Lemmy would do the same for a bigger pay packet

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    That’s enough for me to never buy any of their games ever again.

    Remember when they said that if we pay for the product, we dont get ads? :)

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      I also remember when they artificially deliberately reduced XP gained after certain time in game so you either had to grind harder or buy booster packs. And they said it was adding value to the game because you get more playtime.

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      Sometimes you don’t even get the product if you pay for the product. AC: Odyssey will be in my Steam library forever unplayable because I had to delete my Ubisoft account for being hacked into and their support team absolutely refused to let me associate the game I purchased and thought I owned to a new Ubisoft account.

      Fuck those guys. I will never pay money for their games ever again.

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    Forza Horizon 4 did this but worse. It would be an unskippable 2 minute video ad ignoring your volume settings. It only played 5 times in my 45 hours of gameplay but it was so damn unacceptable that it’s reminding me to give that game a negative review.

    Forza Horizon 5 does not do this. Get that game or something else instead.

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        Pirating games isn’t nearly as attractive as other media. Big studio Games are usually released in a broken state and pirate sources rarely keep titles updated.

        • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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          This happens mostly with less popular games. Stuff like GTA, Call of Duty, RDR, Starfield, etc, stays up to date in pirate sites.

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          Mostly a paradox issue, and they already admitted it’s intentional:

          “What we want to do is provide people who bought the game legally a better service. With frequent updates; good and convenient services; that’s how we fight piracy,” he said. “I hope it works. I keep my fingers crossed.”

    • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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      The forced rockstar account is 100% of the reason I refunded GTAV without ever playing it, and it’s the reason I wont ever get RDR2.

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          What sucks about the game? Having to use the Rockstar launcher is a pain but imo the game is brilliant.

          • Damdy@lemmy.world
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            The whole game is a confusing mess.

            Fundamentally, the game acts like it’s a huge open world game where you live a cowboy, but in reality the whole thing funnels you into a boring and annoying story.

            Hours of tutorials on all the things you can do in the game, but while you’re playing you can’t be bothered to sit through the same skinning, cooking, hunting, tracking crap over and over when baked beans do the job better.

            This pretty much sums the whole game up, you have so much money from the first storyline bank job, you never need to do a single side quest and all the features are repetitive busy work so they’re not worth doing on their own merit.

            The morality system is pointless when the character’s arc is completely set by the story other than the last 1 decision which makes any difference at all.

            Nothing in the game is difficult, so just using the same tactics of revolver or rifle solves literally everything. Or the pre mentioned baked beans if you actually need a heal at any point.

            The whole thing feels like too many ideas that don’t work together.

              • Damdy@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Honestly, I think the bank job at the beginning of the game as part of the story being removed could fix a lot. Nothing makes sense when the plot revolves around making more money and you have so much you never have to worry about it. I thought I accidentally found an exploit or something.

                But there’s so many strange ideas. Like you reach st. Denis and are able to buy fancy clothes, but your character looks like shit at this point which ruins the whole thing. Who thought that was a good idea?