In todayâs profanity and insult-laden Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Skeletal-Minion tells us exactly what he thinks about people that complain about Online Passes and other used sales-thwarting measures.
Iâm so sick of seeing people who buy used games bitching, most recently about Kingdoms of Amalur providing some extra content for people who buy a new copy.
You donât like Online Passes? You want the âchoiceâ to be able to buy the game used (and I canât even believe Iâm actually saying that, as if the option to buy used was completely removed, when it obviously hasnât)?
Fine then. DONâT FUCKING BUY IT, you entitled, self-centered pricks. 38 Studios and every other company who implements an online pass donât have to listen to a fucking word of your whining. When you decide to be cheap and save a few dollars by buying usedâand yes, it boils down to you being CHEAP, since if you canât afford to skip one fucking value meal to make up the $5 difference between a new and used copy, you obviously donât have the extra money to waste on the game period and shouldnât be buying it in the first placeâthose same developers and publishers youâre crying a river to are making $0 off you. To paraphrase Penny Arcade, âYou are no longer their customer, youâre a customer of Gamestop.â
I know you people who are actually upset over this think the gaming industry should be a magical fantasy land where everything is sold below cost, all DLC is free, and games are supported indefinitely, but guess what? You know those people making all the great games youâve enjoyed since you discovered the hobby? This is their JOB. Thatâs right, MAKING GAMES is what they do to put bread on the table. People look at big names in the industry like Bobby Kotick and assume anyone and everyone remotely related to gaming is some greedy bastard whoâs already filthy rich, and end up thinking the following: âThey could easily afford to lower the price on this DLC/include that extra mode they cut/keep updating the game forever, they just donât want to!â Newsflash: big names in the industry are rich BECAUSE THEYâRE BIG NAMES.
Bobby Kotick is a damn CEO, of course heâs rolling in cash. But while you were making that moronic assumption, THOUSANDS of programmers, artists, writers, modelers, musicians, etc. were making a fraction of what someone like Kotick makes while absolutely working their asses off making the games you enjoy (and they do work VERY hard, just look at what they have to put up with during the âcrunch timeâ right before a titleâs release). Since the gaming industry is a business, guess what happens when a game doesnât turn a profit? Layoffs. Layoffs that impact the families and lives of all those people I just mentioned (Kotaku just posted a huge list of recently shut down studios if you want evidence of this). There are several things that can cause a game to not be profitable: poor release climate, poor marketing, over budgeting, poor strategic decisions (e.g., releasing a clearly multiplayer focused title with no online play or releasing a game on a system with a different demographic than your target), piracy, or even the game being flat out bad.
Regardless of how badly you want to penny pinch, the used games market is one of those causes. If online passes can help eliminate that and keep the developers I like around to make more of the games I like, Iâm all for it.
âWAAAAAAH, EVEN THOUGH I STILL HAVE THE OPTIONS TO, I DONâT WANT TO BUY IT USED SINCE IâLL MISS OUT ON SOME CONTENT! :(â Bitch, baby, bitch. What are you going to do, not give them your money TWICE?
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. Thatâs why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. Thatâs the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday weâll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.
