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Skate players were explicitly told map areas would not be "locked behind a paywall"

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[-] audaxdreik@pawb.social 184 points 1 week ago

My brain just shuts off when I read stuff like this.

Man, I dunno. Fuck AAA gaming, I'll go play something else.

[-] winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 89 points 1 week ago

Indies are where its at. Or classic games, especially with mods

[-] audaxdreik@pawb.social 58 points 1 week ago

Games are a modern media and I think suffer from a lot of modern engagement mechanics.

We need to stop viewing them as a constant stream of "new content" and more as an established library.

[-] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 59 points 1 week ago

Absolutely the problem. They've stopped trying to make fun and started trying to exploit psychological weaknesses and hijack our internal reward systems to rinse us of both time and money.

Fun is no longer the driving factor, and it makes me feel not quite angry or nauseous, but somewhere around those emotions.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week ago

They've stopped trying to make fun and started trying to exploit psychological weaknesses and hijack our internal reward systems to rinse us of both time and money

Exactly, and the fact that Jeffrey Epstein was pro microtransactions really tells you the kind of scum we're dealing with here

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[-] rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 116 points 1 week ago

Man, remember back in the day when you just went and bought a game and then played it?

[-] SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 week ago

In American-style neo-liberalism, everything must have a price tag. If it doesn't generate a profit, it can't exist.

[-] roserose56@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 week ago

Then people should stop buying, otherwise nothing will change. People complained about Nintendo switch 2, yet they bought it.

[-] SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

This is actually good advice... in isolation. Encouraging people to spend their money more wisely can bring awareness to an issue but it ultimately does little to implement change. Sure, you and I (and the Fediverse as a whole) might be hyper-vigilant about these kind of things but the average consumer isn't. Continuing with your Nintendo example, Nintendo has decades of brand recognition and a zealous fanbase to satisfy the demand. An eager gaming press will gladly take free hardware from Nintendo for positive coverage.

Real change won't happen until the tap is turned off, so to speak. These companies are taking advantages of gaps in the law that permit them to get away with this. Antitrust law in the US dates back to a time when steam-powered trains were still common and the last breakup involved a telephone company. When AT&T was broken up, the home computer (desktop in modern parlance) was just starting to take off.

So, yes, we should spend our money elsewhere when we see this kinds of corporate abuses but until you starve the beast, keep expecting these kinds of behaviors.

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[-] iamthetot@piefed.ca 10 points 1 week ago

I understand the sentiment here but let's note that you do not go buy Skate. because it's free to play.

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[-] BaroqueW@lemmy.world 90 points 1 week ago

An important detail is that this rental option is paid for in grind currency, not paid currency. Yes, "for now".

[-] tabris@lemmy.world 86 points 1 week ago

Yeah, that's just to normalise rentable levels. Once it has been begrudgingly accepted, there'll be one that requires premium currency. Never buy EA.

[-] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

You'll still be able to buy them with ingame currency, but itll be days worth of farming or BEST VALUE 4.99.

They'll still be able to hide behind an ethical "no mtx required" label.

[-] pivot_root@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

Why days worth of farming? To help give the player a sense of "pride and accomplishment" of course.

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[-] SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 48 points 1 week ago

What kind of sucker buys from EA?

[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

Split Fiction and It Takes Two were pretty great.

[-] Dariusmiles2123@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Add Mass Effect, Dead Space and Star Wars Jedi series..

But yeah I wish all of these were DRM free, without any online connection and on GOG.

[-] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

I only bought Split Fiction because it didn't come with the EA launcher. It seems to be a recent decision of theirs to not include it on some games on Steam, but they're not doing it retroactively. It Takes Two I played on Game Pass for a dollar, because I'm not willing to put up with EA's additional DRM.

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[-] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 47 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

This is a great example for the moral justifications of piracy. The bytes for the maps are on your hard drive, why the fuck should you not be allowed to play on them? When someone playing a pirated copy has a better experience than someone on a ~~bought~~ licensed copy something's not right.

[-] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 44 points 1 week ago

Uh...Jared Kushner owns EA now, so I don't know why this would be relevant to anyone.

[-] SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 week ago

Along with his Saudi oil tycoon buddies.

[-] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

I don't know why EA would be relevant to anyone for the past 20+ years, but here we are.

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[-] H3ll1@discuss.tchncs.de 41 points 1 week ago

After all these things, why are people still buying anything from EA? Just boycott them.

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[-] tiredofsametab@fedia.io 35 points 1 week ago

Yet people have zero self control and keep giving them money.

[-] skvlp@lemmy.wtf 20 points 1 week ago

Exactly. EA do it because enough people allow them to do it.

[-] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

I really don't understand people like that, though. There are plenty of great games that don't have predatory monetisation. Yet millions and millions opt to get fleeced. This shit won't stop as long as people keep falling for it.

[-] kevin2107@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

let them I'll keep adding more hours to megabonk.

[-] Abyssian@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago

We're now expected to rent imaginary spaces for our characters to play the game we already purchased in?

Is advocating people be burned at the stake against the ToS here? Because I'm advocating the fuck out of that.

[-] Honytawk@feddit.nl 17 points 1 week ago

Nobody purchased Skate, it is free to play.

They just promised not to lock locations behind a paywall, which the executives decided to change.

[-] Patrikvo@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 week ago

I see a clear correlation between the decline of tar-and-feathers and riding people out on a rail and the rise of terrible business practices.

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[-] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

EA literally had one job:

  • Make Skate 2 but with a new area and updated graphics.

And EA went and fucked it up being greedy. And they wonder why Steam is killing it.

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[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 1 week ago

I would say this tracks for Saudi Arab-EA, but they did this kind of shit before the Saudis owned them.

Honestly from a business perspective, EA is one if the smartest publishers out there. They made a game and stripped away most of the functionality and then sold it for full price. They then slowly added the content back in content packs and people gladly paid. That was The Sims. And it’s had like three sequels, all monetized the exact same way. And people keep paying them.

[-] B0NK3RS@lazysoci.al 21 points 1 week ago

I still have Skate 3 installed on my Xbox for those times when I just want to chill for an hour. It makes me a little sad when I see what its become nowadays...

[-] cronenthal@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 1 week ago

The suckers who buy this trash and pay for it deserve it. There's so much good gaming to be had, at this point it's a choice.

[-] bearboiblake@pawb.social 8 points 1 week ago

I don't think that's really fair, especially considering this game was popular among kids & teens who don't have the lived experiences we have

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[-] glitchdx@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

It's EA. Anyone who's surprised by this either is an idiot or hasn't been paying attention.

[-] LifeLikeLady@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

EA invents a new way to assure I never purchase their products. Ever.

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[-] orenj@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 week ago

first time hearing about EA in years, and they're doing this shit. kinda nostalgic really

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[-] Coelacanth@feddit.nu 10 points 1 week ago

Paying for a game you don't own, only to have to rent the gameplay inside the thing you don't even own to begin with. Presumably all content also being locked on company servers meaning it will get EOL'd and inaccessible at some point in the future.

Immaculate.

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[-] Tigeroovy@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago

Obviously ridiculous.

That said I dunno, it’s very easy for me to just play the game and never give them a dime.

All I want from the game is to dick around from time to time and it gives me that for free.

Every time I play I just find things to launch my ass off over and over. I just accept the free shit and play occasionally.

Obviously not going to defend EA for this decision but I dunno, it’s still maybe blown a little out of proportion. I guess it depends on how invested in the game you are as a player, and as someone who has Skate 1-3 still and had good fun with them when they came out, the current game gives me what I want in a way that I don’t have to pay for so I’m fine with it.

[-] biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 week ago

Soooo, the metaverse paid plots? I swear, every company with even an inkling of a 3d environment now just wants to “build” and sell worthless plots as if it’s real land, and literally nobody who uses these actually fucking asked.

[-] Sunsofold@lemmings.world 8 points 1 week ago

Usual reminder:

If you know a parent who is not an active gamer, remind them to never buy games for their kids that have microtransactions, passes, or any form of post-purchase payment. They often will have no idea what they are contributing to as it is not part of their 'bubble' to be aware of what these things do to their kids, their kids' friends, and the industry and society as wholes.

[-] roserose56@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 week ago

That's on part of EA, look at sims 4, you have to spend 1000€ to buy all DLCs.

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[-] Quazatron@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago

I think of this practice as a tax on herds.

You want to belong in a trendy group, you board the hype train and pay the tax to belong in the herd.

[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 week ago

Same logic as “Lottery is a tax on those who didn’t pay attention in math class.” And I agree.

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I don't buy anything from EA, but I'm curious: Is it difficult to acquire their games via the high seas?

[-] QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Their permanently online (until their inevitable shutdown) DRM slop games? I bet it is quite difficult.

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this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
644 points (100.0% liked)

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