Should websites review freemium games?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by EightRooks, Feb 23, 2013.

  1. EightRooks

    EightRooks Well-Known Member

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    #1 EightRooks, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2013
    Angry rant forthcoming, but Eli's comment really touched a nerve, so... time to vent. Ignore it (it's a wall o'text), counter it (if you think it's dumb), flame it (I do say rude things), mods delete it, whatever you feel like.

    You seem to be under the impression the only purpose of a review of, well, anything, is to tell the reader whether or not they ought to spend money on it. On a practical level there's the time people stand to invest in a videogame, and past that there's any number of things you can offer your thoughts on. If you're, you know, good at putting words together. I read plenty of reviews of films I've already seen, books I've already read, music I've already listened to and it's never as black and white as OH MY GOD THIS IS TOTALLY RIGHT/WRONG THAT MAKES ME AWESOME/OUTRAGED.

    I enjoy reading literate, eloquent commentary on how awesome (or not) the writer thinks the production values for something are, whether or not they think the design choices work and why, what they felt like while they were playing... and none of this ceases to be relevant to me just because something's free. Not to mention just because something's "free" doesn't magically excuse the developers cutting corners, recycling ideas, treating their customers like pinatas - oh, look, this new Korean freemium ARPG is so heavy on the grind you'd have to pay thousands of dollars or else take a day to increase a level! The story's the exact same derivative crap filtered through so many other games before it it's nigh-on meaningless! The bosses all have an attack with a 75% chance of instant kill where you either have to pay up for premium items to resurrect or try again from the start of the game!

    ...but hey, it's free, right? No-one's forcing you to pay money? If you don't like it, just uninstall it and move on? Absolute nonsense. You think I'm strawmanning? People would try such a game anyway; they'd slave away for the hell of it thinking things would get better; they'd keep playing because all they've ever looked for in a game is to push buttons and make stuff happen on screen; they'd keep playing and drop a little bit of cash thinking surely that'll help. So someone needs to say hey, trust me, I've played this thing for twenty hours and it never gets any easier without spending a small fortune; why don't you try this game instead where the stuff happening is much, much cooler and you'll see awesome things with much less effort; look, your five bucks really isn't going to help you out here for more than five minutes and do you really want to be sending the developer the message this kind of callous, shoddy game design is acceptable? Because you are.

    And here's the thing - reviewers, in an ideal world, are the people who are "better" than anyone else at saying all those things and more. Both in terms of personal taste, the style of writing they use, the voice they communicate in, and in terms of simply being flat-out more technically adept at whatever language they're writing in. I like reading internet message boards as much as the next nerd, otherwise I wouldn't be here, but out of all the TouchArcade commenters I've seen putting up giant walls of text (yes, yes, just like this post)? Whether they're doing a "This Is My Review" or arguing about IAPs or whatever there's not a single one of you whose contributions I'd miss - I mean really miss - if you stopped posting. Harsh, sure, self-absorbed, maybe so, but that's what critical opinions mean to me more than anything else. Talented writers whose work I want to keep reading over and over, to help me appreciate the stuff I like all the more or to challenge my ideas that it's okay to put up with something below-par.

    My favourite reviewers or the websites they work for? I'd be deeply upset if they just... suddenly vanished.

    There should always, always be a place for that as something distinct from LAWLZ DIS GAEM IZ AWESUM I R HAV FUN R U HAV FUN 2?, which is what 80-90% of the posts here boil down to even when they're polite and lucid. It's great to read people enjoying themselves, even for games I don't care for but Jesus, I don't want that to be my only opportunity for critical discourse. And whether or not a game is free should ideally have nothing to do with it. Serve me a bad meal for free, it's still a bad meal. If I'm there specifically to enjoy the food, you're damn right I'm going to complain, or tell other people not to bother turning up. Christ, in RR3's case, why even bother complaining about the timers in the first place, right? If you don't like them, hey, it's free! No-one's forcing you to wait. Jesus. :rolleyes: Dismissing reviewing anything, or reading that review as merely playing up to confirmation bias - for whatever reason - comes off as lazy and more than a little patronising.

    I mean, why not just shut down TouchArcade's front page apart from a newsfeed for press releases, and run the site as just the forums? I've seen other sites do that, out of some misguided belief their community was the only thing that ultimately mattered. So in the end I just stopped going there. I'd hate for that to happen with TA - I'm under no illusions anyone would particularly miss what I write, either, I just mean while this is far from my favourite website I still admire the writers and enjoy reading most of what they publish. But if you think freemium's beneath you, well, the way the industry's going, you might as well shut up shop right now, while you're on a high.
     
  2. MidianGTX

    MidianGTX Well-Known Member

    Jun 16, 2009
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    Was he actually saying it doesn't need a review, or that you don't need to whine about TA hurrying up with one because you could be checking out the game in the meantime? Two very different things.

    I'm pretty sure they're planning to post their review to coincide with the US release. Whoever's got the job is probably hard at work playing it right now.
     
  3. bramblett05

    bramblett05 Well-Known Member

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    He didn't want to review it saying its pointless in a way.if you like it then great if not delete. That's what I say all freemeium games all but pixel people use iap for complete experience to enjoy so if you like it then support if not then delete.

    In terms of RR3 I dontveven think a freemeium but would like it in terms of prices its stupid. 10 bucks wouldn't even get you very far.
     
  4. Wowzers, this is over here now? Wow. Guess I will repost my RR3 post about this issue here later, but man, the 28th is going to be very berry interesting. There were 7 haterz related threads on launch, on US launch there will be many more cause the wait timers are getting worse instead of better with wait timers over 20 hours being reported. If this is the case, I urge you all to boycott EA, so they and other studios don't completely destroy ios gaming completely with pricing models that are just based on greed, not gameplay. Too bad, could have been a great game. :(
     

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  5. squarezero

    squarezero Moderator
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    #5 squarezero, Feb 23, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2013
    Actually, I think Eli was referring to reviewing freemium games in general. If his argument is "it's free, go try it for yourself" then he's pretty darn misguided. When it comes to iOS games, the issue is not money, it's time. Reviews for freemium games are important because they help you evaluate whether you should invest your time in them -- are there glaring paywalls? Is the gameplay unbalanced? Does the game offer anything beyond the business model? There are many freemium games that give an excellent first impression ("you don't need to spend any money on IAPs!") only to reveal themselves later on as unbalanced money-suckers (what I call the Gamevil approach). A good reviewer puts in the hours so you don't have to.

    By Eli's logic, there shouldn't be any TV show reviews either -- after all, you can watch them for free.
     
  6. Personally, I think TA should not do formal review, just an impression to stay out of all this mess. My post reposted from the RR3 thread.

     

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  7. chris1a

    chris1a Well-Known Member

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    This thread needs more pictures of Connectors HDMI TV.
     
  8. squarezero

    squarezero Moderator
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    So they shouldn't review it because it's controversial? Seems like a cop-out. The fact that there is so much heat (and so little light) makes it all the more important for there to be an attempt to objectively assess the experience of playing the game.
     
  9. PraetorianX

    PraetorianX Well-Known Member

    Feb 1, 2011
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    Bravo EightRooks! As for Eli.... it's time to take sides.
     
  10. nightc1

    nightc1 Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2012
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    Eli was responding to something I wrote in reply to yet someone else about how impossible it would be to review this game.

    Honestly, I don't come to TA for reviews in the first place. I'm open to them because they shed light on games I may not stumble upon on my own, but I'm here for the community.

    In modern times there are hundreds... Sometimes thousands of user reviews on games within the listing on the AppStore. Not all are legit, but its easy for me to get enough info from that to determine if something is worth my time. More than that, it's easy to look at the top IAP and see how heavy handed some games are. It's not a golden rule, but often the heavier the IAP the less its probably worth my time. Still, if a game is something I'm interested in playing and it's free then I'll play it. No review needed.
     
  11. Jazzpha

    Jazzpha Well-Known Member

    Apr 26, 2012
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    Take sides? What? Is this actually "X-Men 2", and nobody told me? Not cool, guys and gals.
     
  12. Ok, this is stretch mode, my other two were in zoom 4x hdmi tv mode. Enjoy, gotta wait 20 more hours (wait time) to take some more...
     

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  13. I love you.

    I am mad about videogames.

    I will let Eli respond to your questions, cause that is not my call. God speed, Eli.

    Armageddon, the 28th, put it on your calendars, all!
     

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  14. squarezero

    squarezero Moderator
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    Love you, too! ;).
     
  15. #15 Connector, Feb 24, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2013
    Thanks, you know, it is funny cause I wasn't going to respond cause I really could care less if TA does a review or not, other than having enough time to read the massive flamewars about it.

    But I got a 20 hour timer wait for my main car, right now, so two cars and both are in 20 hour waits, so I got nothing better to do than to come back here and rant.

    But, I still love you man! :D

    Edit: I don't like having to play with a car like this always, cause one has to grind and not repair it. Then, 20 hour waits. It is painful. See attached new ipad screenshot. But I still love you man!!! :)
     

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  16. september

    september Well-Known Member

    Sep 14, 2012
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    Eli's not completely wrong, but the bigger picture would indicate there would still be validity to them.
     
  17. Dirty Harry Hannahan

    Dirty Harry Hannahan Well-Known Member

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    Planet Earth


    ^This. :D
     
  18. Sorry guys, I gotta wait about another 16 hours. You see, when I take the screenshots, no one is driving my car, so it goes into walls, cars, etc, then I get a wait time of 20 hours.

    I never had this problem before, but I apologize if I am not doing my job as RR3 hdmi tv historian right... It is just tougher than it looks. I apologize, for this inconvience on hdmi tv pictures, but here is a new ipad screenshot. Man, the driving is great in this game, the waits, not so much. :D
     

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  19. MidianGTX

    MidianGTX Well-Known Member

    Jun 16, 2009
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    I think there's definitely a small issue of money when it comes to freemium games, being the answer to the question "Can I pay what I consider a reasonable amount of cash to access a reasonable amount of this game's content over a reasonable period of time?".

    Free to download or not, it's still either a bargain or a complete rip-off underneath.

    Besides, a review isn't there to make decisions for us, it's also to stir up interest for a game. I see dozens of freemium games that don't look interesting to me and so I won't download them. If one gets a great review however, I might decide to give it a shot.
     

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