| Soleron said: I definitely agree that Valve is given much better treatment for exactly the same restrictive (online required, no used games) and exploitative (TF2 hats, intrusive social media) practices. TF2's original art design with distinctive looks and roles for each class has been destroyed by itemisation and skins. It's possible to not do this and still make money, see LoL. |
I was never a huge fan of Valve games, but whenever I buy stuff from them, I never feel screwed over. "No used games" can be forgiven by many of us if prices are drastically reduced, which is what we see regularly on Steam. I spend a hell of a lot less money on Steam than on consoles, even though I regularly buy used and sell any unwanted games. Not sure how bad online requirement games get, I've never experienced that problem, since I'm always online (not defending it, but yeah).
As for TF2 being ruined, I never considered that, since I don't play it. Maybe a "use default skins" option would work well for people who don't want to partake in it? (for people that pay a price, anyway, since it'd be a completely free game otherwise)
As for LoL, I love the optional skins, it's one of the few micro-transaction models I'd get behind. Unfortunately, that very same game follows practices I despise, with the way they lock out champions, and runes (pay to win) costing tons of IP. It's a lot more subtle than other games, since the overall effect is smaller, but it's there.
