[Megathread] Middle-earth: Shadow of War

[dope_danny]

I used to get irked about all the microtransaction and announced DLC/season pass nonsense. Then I had an epiphany. You don't have to buy games at release. Indeed, I made it a point to never again buy a game at release that had announced DLC. Wait a year, and that same game will have a "game of the year" edition with all the content for a fraction of the price. Just snagged the Witcher 3 with all the expansions for 20 bucks. Fallout 4 on Humble for around the same price. And the previous Mordor game? 8 bucks for all the complete edition at Gamestop. I have such a huge catalog of games, I don't even care about getting games when they first come out, and I'm a happier (and more frugal) gamer for waiting.

Which is perfectly rational, which is why they try and add so many preorder incentives now and lock down reviews. Shits crooked as can be but the mainstream dont care because a polaris streamer was paid to tell them to 'get hype' or something.

[Deleted]

Reposting my previous reply because it is easier that way, lol.

http://wccftech.com/monolith-shadow-...ires-internet/



Keep this handy. If the game appears to be to be too grindy and balanced around the Micro-transactions, throw this in their face.

But until we play the game, we have to assume this quote is true.

Ah cheers. It is indeed better to assume it's true and we'll see.

For something this hyped, i sure as hell don't think they will make it too obvious.

[draykorinee]

Ah cheers. It is indeed better to assume it's true and we'll see.

For something this hyped, i sure as hell don't think they will make it too obvious.

Hype is irrelevant, look at no mans sky if you want to see how someone can sell a polished turd with enough hype. You're better off assuming they're doing a sales pitch and therefore can't be trusted than to just assume they're telling the truth.

Assume they're stretching the truth, do not pre order and then wait and see if they're telling the truth once the reviews are out.

[Deleted]

Hype is irrelevant, look at no mans sky if you want to see how someone can sell a polished turd with enough hype. You're better off assuming they're doing a sales pitch and therefore can't be trusted than to just assume they're telling the truth.

Assume they're stretching the truth, do not pre order and then wait and see if they're telling the truth once the reviews are out.

It's advertisement. Of course they are going to say they didn't balance the game around micro-transactions.

It doesn't matter what you or i assume.

You're gonna find out when you play the game.

And if they lied, they will hear about it.

Edit: Now, saying that, i do actually believe their tactic is shitty. And no, i'm neither pre-ordering, nor buying the game. Maybe in some years if it's any good and if it costs next to nothing.

[Deleted]

[Mister Cheese]

Why the fuck do they have to pull this shit with what would probably be a good enough game on it's own? I fucking hate the idea that one of my Uruks that I've built from the ground up to be awesome might be killed by some other player. Now I know why micro-transactions are in the game. So players can buy an edge over other ones.

[Deleted]

Why the fuck do they have to pull this shit with what would probably be a good enough game on it's own? I fucking hate the idea that one of my Uruks that I've built from the ground up to be awesome might be killed by some other player. Now I know why micro-transactions are in the game. So players can buy an edge over other ones.

Unless you can kill Uruks of other players in the new Vendetta mode thingy, you can't lose Uruks to other players.
As far as I understood it however, you kill Uruks that killed the player in ther SP game to avenge them.

The Social Conquest mode is You vs AI-Fortress designed by a player. It doesn't involve the other player who created it.
You can only lose Uruks if you fight it in "ranked"-mode - to the AI that is (just like in SP). So unless you want to chance it for some worthless ranking points, you don't have to.

It's not like someone visits you and kills all your Uruks while you are offline (or even online). Which is what could happen in MGS:TPP afaik... though I'm not sure, I never used that FOB stuff because I never went online.

[GennGreymane]

[Deleted]

The video is pretty well made, but meh, I don't know about the content.

first of all, grinding isn't a bad thing by default. And the inclusion of microtransaction doesn't mean that there is an aspect that is "too grindy" either.
MGS:TPP required you to grind ressources too, and aside from the low effort sideops - which were just that, low effort - there was nothing wrong with gathering ressources and money for your R&D.
You could buy ressources with real money, I didn't even had to because you could easily get the stuff you needed from playing the story.
On top of that, the "soldier hunt" was *fun* (for me) too.

Him making a point about how the devs tried to calm down the masses from the beginning by including question in their FAQ like "Do I have to spend gold to get the items?" etc. and how this shows that it's going to be the opposite because of that was stupid too.
We all know how much of a shitstorm this can become and how easy it is for misinformation to spread (I just need to take a look at this thread here).
That part of his reasoning was extremely flawed and on a grade school level... and I mean it like I say that.

They are basically trying to defend their point (whether someone likes that or not, whether you agree or disagree with it) and he's saying that they are "guilty" by having to defend themselves. "If you aren't guilty, why are you even bothering to defend yourself" - That's really a bad argument.

[DesoPL]

WoW now people started seen an problem? That's pure sick kiddos!

But who cares anyway? Those companies will still buy you like politics with promises etc.

[Mister Cheese]

I'm not sure if Laptop 65 is working for WB but if he isn't it's pretty sad that an unpaid shill is shilling for WB and trying to deflate the issue of MICROTRANSACTIONS IN A SINGLE PLAYER GAME. This shit is still unacceptable no matter how you look at it. Nobody should be defending this. If the Steam discussion page turns into topic after topic of people decrying the game for trying to scam people let it. WB deserves it. They lost my purchase. Announcing this with 2 months to go.

Right now Metal Gear Solid V is a glorified console/PC mobile game. People with all 5(?) of the FOBs have a huge advantage over those that don't. And Konami constantly teases this disarmament shit to keep people playing. It's pretty sad to see what Metal Gear has become. It's not that the base game isn't enjoyable and unplayable. It's that you know in the back of your head that everything is unlockable behind a paywall. You can just pay for it now. The first Middle Earth game was great. It's sad to see this game going down that path.

[GennGreymane]

The video is pretty well made, but meh, I don't know about the content.

first of all, grinding isn't a bad thing by default. And the inclusion of microtransaction doesn't mean that there is an aspect that is "too grindy" either.
MGS:TPP required you to grind ressources too, and aside from the low effort sideops - which were just that, low effort - there was nothing wrong with gathering ressources and money for your R&D.
You could buy ressources with real money, I didn't even had to because you could easily get the stuff you needed from playing the story.
On top of that, the "soldier hunt" was *fun* (for me) too.

Him making a point about how the devs tried to calm down the masses from the beginning by including question in their FAQ like "Do I have to spend gold to get the items?" etc. and how this shows that it's going to be the opposite because of that was stupid too.
We all know how much of a shitstorm this can become and how easy it is for misinformation to spread (I just need to take a look at this thread here).
That part of his reasoning was extremely flawed and on a grade school level... and I mean it like I say that.

They are basically trying to defend their point (whether someone likes that or not, whether you agree or disagree with it) and he's saying that they are "guilty" by having to defend themselves. "If you aren't guilty, why are you even bothering to defend yourself" - That's really a bad argument.

But do you think things wont be changed to encourage you to do more to skip the grind? Sure One game may be fine at it, but what happens when they push a bit more?

[Deleted]

But do you think things wont be changed to encourage you to do more to skip the grind? Sure One game may be fine at it, but what happens when they push a bit more?

I don't know, probably not enough to make me feel bored/uncomfortable - but I don't know that yet.
In the end, ME:Andromeda had some grind and pointless gathering/scanning too and I really hated that. There weren't any microtransactions that I could blame that shit on.
We could get a game that works perfectly fine, like MGS:TPP where microtransactions didn't matter, we could get Dead Space (which I just have to asume was awful, because I never played it) where they did matter - even without microtransactions, we could get something like ME:A - where microtransactions didn't exist but nonetheless had horrible and pointless side-quest grinds and ressource gathering.

For now, considering how good the first game was, I actually want to believe them that they didn't fuck it up.
I don't even know how they could right now tbh. Will I run out of Uruks/Orcs and can't continue my game unless I start farming/hunting? I really doubt that...I really, really do.


The ranking stuff doesn't interest me and even it it's p2w, I don't know why I should be bothered by it, because the game is never going to be competitive anyway. Even the game's own "competitive mode" isn't really competitive because you are not fighting other players. If it'll depend on how many castles you conquer/destroy, how could it ever become a challenge of skill and not game-time?

Right now Metal Gear Solid V is a glorified console/PC mobile game. People with all 5(?) of the FOBs have a huge advantage over those that don't. And Konami constantly teases this disarmament shit to keep people playing.

Isn't MGS5 MP pretty much your cookie cutter third person shooter in some enclosed arena atm? Are people even doing this FOB stuff? That's not the true MP mode as far as I know, and in that mode, FOBs don't play a role at all.

Do FOB even do anything other than gathering ressources for SP and some pointless e-peen ranking on a leaderboard no one cares about because it was hacked from day 1?

[Shynra]

Imagine you are a man that keeps his sanity in the trenches of a world war. Fighting for the freedom of your people and constructing a world and narrative as a love letter to the home that means so much to you. To your surprise people like it, they love it in fact and you see it become THE staple of an entire literary genre for up to this point the rest of time thus far. It is remembered as your magnum opus and the storytelling/worldbuilding multiple generations aspire to even come close to.

and after your death its bastardised into a war glorifying actionfest designed to shill 'micropay freebuys' to children. In a single player game.

Thats a profound level of greasy corporate greed i can't quite quantify but the phrase "spinning in his grave" really rings true with this one.

Thank you. This is exactly how I feel.

[George Costanza]

Wait your uruks can get killed by other players?

The micro transaction alone makes me not want to buy it.... So I will probably pirate it.



Sad.

[Deleted]

Wait your uruks can get killed by other players?

The micro transaction alone makes me not want to buy it.... So I will probably pirate it.



Sad.

No....
Why do people think other players are involved in anything at all?

[Cosmic Janitor]

No....
Why do people think other players are involved in anything at all?

Beause everyone says that it will have a shitty invasion mode (social battles according to the devs) which work like MGS5 crappy "multiplayer". The question is if you can opt out of that shit.

[Deleted]

Beause everyone says that it will have a shitty invasion mode (social battles according to the devs) which work like MGS5 crappy "multiplayer". The question is if you can opt out of that shit.

I've only heard about Social Conquest + Vendetta, which is optional (at least attacking is) and doesn't involve losing any Uruks at all if you are defending (you can lose Uruks if you attack in ranked mode), at least nothing has been said about you losing Uruks while defending in MP.

Actually, I'm pretty sure they even said in the video that you can dominate defending orcs, but they won't join you after the battle.
You can get attacked in SP by the AI though and you might lose Orcs while defending against that.

[-aiko-]

Loot boxes in a single-player campaign? Sorry, this is where I draw the line. Loved SoM but will pass on this. If I get the itch to kill thousands of orcs again I'll just replay SoM.

[Deleted]

I do hope the game flops because of this, so that future devs will never do something so silly, but I dare say plenty will still rush out & purchase it regardless, but I won't be one. Not until it's removed or the game is $2 somewhere, or free.

Jim Sterling came up with good name for it. Shadow of more dollars