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[Stoze]

Completely invalidates this entire argument.

Edit: but I guess this thread has moved beyond that.

Yeah...this probably should've been posted on the first page multiple times. I'd totally forgotten about it.

edit: Oh wow that was from the first page lol

 

[Dunkley]

I agree with op. Fanboys be hating this thread.
I would be choked if any other game I played limited character dialogue.

Good then that Overwatch doesn't lock actual dialogue behind loot boxes.

 

[Japanmanx3]

Remember when in Super Smash Bros on the N64 you had to unlock characters like Jigglypuff? Now that was egregious.

Dude, on melee you had unlock Luigi by ending the mushroom kingdom adventure stage with 11 seconds. Talk about locking content behind a wall.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

No there isn't, that's why smash is good enough to have alternate unlock criteria for its content besides grinding out matches.

Play X amount of matches or collect X amount of grind currency isn't very fun unlock criteria.

Yeah I'd hate to play the game to unlock stuff. Playing the game sucks.

Also worth noting that the game does have unlocks tied to the achievements in the game.

 

[TheLetdown]

But overwatch doesnt reward you for accomplishing hidden tasks or comepleting anything. you just grind that microtransaction money like a phone game.

If you have fun with that, power to you. That's why its in the game, people eat that shit up. But lets call it what it is.

There are unlocks that come with accomplishing the achievements / trophies.

 

[giancarlo123x]

OP is acting like they looked "need healing" voice line in a box, then you would have an argument. A two second line is nothing to cry about.

 

[Ken]

Imagine for a second that they were unlocked from the start, or you could insert some sort of cheat code to unlock them.

I've played video games with those. No imagination needed.

 

[Pai Pai Master]

If you're not even gonna play a game before critizing it the least you could do is get your facts right

 

[Skux]

You're joking. It's multiplayer. The story does not matter.

 

[partyphone]

honestly the less you hear of blizzard's writing the better. less voice acting, more better costumes.

 

[ViciousDS]

21 characters
54 unlocks per character
1134 total unlocks
4 items per lootbox
Loot boxes take an average of 90 minutes to obtain
Loot boxes are random and may obtain duplicates

You're looking at almost 400 hours played to unlock everything even before we factor in the potential for duplication. It seems as though so long as 'everything is unlockable' then everything is okay, regardless of how absurd the path is to unlock those items.

400 hours to play the game and stuff I can look forward to unlocking in the future while playing the game......boy the horror of free maps and heroes and a $60 price tag that I only had to drop once.

 

[Wickerbasket]

21 characters
54 unlocks per character
1134 total unlocks
4 items per lootbox
Loot boxes take an average of 90 minutes to obtain
Loot boxes are random and may obtain duplicates

You're looking at almost 400 hours played to unlock everything even before we factor in the potential for duplication. It seems as though so long as 'everything is unlockable' then everything is okay, regardless of how absurd the path is to unlock those items.

I've played 2000 hours of TF2 and I still don't have all of the cosmetics, and I don't think I ever will due to the prices of some of them.

The fact that you can actually get all the cosmetics in Overwatch just by playing is impressive in itself.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Yeah I'd hate to play the game to unlock stuff. Playing the game sucks.

Also worth noting that the game does have unlocks tied to the achievements in the game.

There's nothing wrong with playing the game to unlock things if the unlock process is interesting. Overwatch's isnt interesting or fun.

You accumulate and spend your grind currency like a phone game, and you spend it on content that very easily could have been free with the game. Accept it and own it, but dont deny that's what the game is. If you prefer the grind and the drip feed of cosmetics that make you feel like you're accomplishing things, you are the norm rather than the exception.

 

[Saty]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXglON1tgX8

Even after accounting for context-sensitive speech and other equivalents Overwatch has, to think a portion of these Scout lines would have to be slowly unlocked (or bought) line by line is ludicrous.

All the posts saying how inconsequential these speech lines are only emphasize how crazy a decision it's to lock them away! Why couldn't Blizzard be satisfied with skins, sprays and icons?
I know it's paradoxical. Gameplay-affecting unlocks are awful but they are also an obvious consideration by devs. But who the heck thinks about unlocking '2 seconds' speech lines?

So far no one has offered an argument why it isn't a bad decision have speech as unlockable.

Doesn't effect gameplay? But it does the experience. And you are already unlocking other stuff. There's no rule everything in a game has to be obtained.
Stupid robot voices? That's one character. And you would be arguing against a bad implementation of speech lines rather then for having them as unlocks.
Can only equip one voice line so you can't press a key and choose from every line you unlocked? Bad implementation again.

So we are only left with the silly 'universal' approach that as long as something can be unlocked by playing the game (for hours and hours), it being locked away at the start can't impact a game or the user's experience of the game negatively.

 

[xCaptainCanadax]

The characters still interact with each other dynamically without the forced voice lines. I have found these interactions to develop the characters far more than the brief voice lines.

 

[Brick]

you had to actually accomplish a task and get rewarded for that.

instead of, you know, grinding out overcash/spending real dollars.

You're comparing an actual character unlock to short, 2 to 3 word one liners? Voice lines cost 25 coins, and I think (I might be wrong on this) the smallest amount that you can be rewarded with when you get some is 50.

 

[Hyun Sai]

After 400 hours in Destiny, I wish I had at least the Gjallahorn... Must have taken me close to 1000 hours to get there.

Overwatch unlock ? Child's play...

 

[Bulzeeb]

So far I don't have any complains about the loot system, I really forget about the voice lines outside of the "waiting for the game to start" room and by lv 14 I have already won this skins just by playing

in fact I wish I could unlock more cool looking skins in other f2p games only by playing the game

 

[Stoze]

You're joking. It's multiplayer. The story does not matter.

Even if it did, there's no semblance of story in any of the unlockable voice lines, lines that you can listen to in the menu anyway to hear at your leisure.

 

[Jito]

But overwatch doesnt reward you for accomplishing hidden tasks or comepleting anything. you just grind that microtransaction money like a phone game.

If you have fun with that, power to you. That's why its in the game, people eat that shit up. But lets call it what it is.

It does reward you with rewards tied to achievements and levelling up faster the better you play. Just can't get over that you compare playing the game to grinding. I'll keep calling it what it is, playing the game to get unlockables.

 

[Wickerbasket]

There's nothing wrong with playing the game to unlock things if the unlock process is interesting. Overwatch's isnt interesting or fun.

You accumulate and spend your grind currency like a phone game, and you spend it on content that very easily could have been free with the game. Accept it and own it, but dont deny that's what the game is.

The cosmetic unlocks are literally a bonus for playing the game. They serve no purpose other than to change cosmetic features.

The game could have released without any of it and still been a full featured game.

 

[7DollarHagane]

This stuff is all optional and unnecessary so I don't care. Loot boxes are the future of monetizing games. Valve makes so much damn money on those counter strike skins and cases that other developers would be dumb not to do it.

Street fighter 5 needs to get in on it, because it would be a huge moneymaker for them.

I think it's a great idea because it works for games that are popular or well liked to begin with, it has no effect on the game, and it allows for more gameplay content to be released for free or cheaper. It's a win win to me.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

There's nothing wrong with playing the game to unlock things if the unlock process is interesting. Overwatch's isnt interesting or fun.

You accumulate and spend your grind currency like a phone game, and you spend it on content that very easily could have been free with the game. Accept it and own it, but dont deny that's what the game is.

The content is free with the game though. You just have to play it to unlock it. Nobody is forcing you to spend real money on items to have an advantage in game, like a "phone game", as you keep calling them.

Any comparison between a mobile pay to win game and Overwatch is simply wrong.

 

[Firehead]

There's nothing wrong with playing the game to unlock things if the unlock process is interesting. Overwatch's isnt interesting or fun.

You accumulate and spend your grind currency like a phone game, and you spend it on content that very easily could have been free with the game. Accept it and own it, but dont deny that's what the game is.

The process being... playing and enjoying the game... isn't interesting or fun? This is the equivalent of earning coins in Smash to spend on trophies. Hey, at least in Overwatch you're not going to get a duplicate item multiple times over.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXglON1tgX8

Even after accounting for context-sensitive speech and other equivalents Overwatch has, to think a portion of these Scout lines would have to be slowly unlocked (or bought) line by line is ludicrous.

All the posts saying how inconsequential these speech lines are only emphasize how crazy a decision it's to lock them away! Why couldn't Blizzard be satisfied with skins, sprays and icons?
I know it's paradoxical. Gameplay-affecting unlocks are awful but they are also an obvious consideration by devs. But who the heck thinks about unlocking '2 seconds' speech lines?

So far no one has offered an argument why it isn't a bad decision have speech as unlockable.

Doesn't effect gameplay? But it does the experience. And you are already unlocking other stuff. There's no rule everything in a game has to be obtained.
Stupid robot voices? That's one character. And you would be arguing against a bad implementation of speech lines rather then for having them as unlocks.
Can only equip one voice line so you can't press a key and choose from every line you unlocked? Bad implementation again.

So we are only left with the silly 'universal' approach that as long as something can be unlocked by playing the game (for hours and hours), it being locked away at the start can't impact a game or the user's experience of the game negatively.

But why do you even care if you don't play the game? Do you just go out of your way to find things to be upset about?

 

[Gipsy Danger]

There's nothing wrong with playing the game to unlock things if the unlock process is interesting. Overwatch's isnt interesting or fun.

You accumulate and spend your grind currency like a phone game, and you spend it on content that very easily could have been free with the game. Accept it and own it, but dont deny that's what the game is. If you prefer the grind and the drip feed of cosmetics that make you feel like you're accomplishing things, you are the norm rather than the exception.

But the way to unlock things is to play the game, which is incredibly fun. It's not a clicker. It's a class based shooter. I don't even give a shit about the cosmetics, I just want to play the game but the premise of this thread is insane. Most people talking shit about the game haven't even played it.

 

[Jebusman]

..

Locking voice lines behind a grind is silly, I am not going to debate that.

I'm not going to agree it's a new low in MTAs, because it's literally the least heinous an MTA can be. It's not locking abilities away. It's not locking different guns that can affect balance. It's not locking maps so only certain people can play certain maps. It's not locking stat tracking, or any sort of metagame information.

It's literally locking "Beep Fucking Boop" behind the cheapest of paywalls, so that we don't have to pay for maps/characters/expansions, as we would have in the days of old. The fact that you have to grind for "BEEP BOOP I"M A ROBOT" makes it so we don't have to shell out $40 for new maps and characters when the time comes. That's the tradeoff.

It's not the end of the fucking world.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

So far I don't have any complains about the loot system, I really forget about the voice lines outside of the "waiting for the game to start" room and by lv 14 I have already won this skins just by playing




in fact I wish I could unlock more cool looking skins in other f2p games only by playing the game

This.
Everyone spams it when waiting, but then you pretty much never hear them again unless you get a team kill or something.

 

[Coffee Dog]

It does reward you with rewards tied to achievements and levelling up faster the better you play. Just can't get over that you compare playing the game to grinding. I'll keep calling it what it is, playing the game to get unlockables.

How isnt it grinding? the unlock criteria is gated by how much currency you have, which is gated by how many matches are played by the user. If you want that item, you have to unlock it by putting time/money into the game and literally nothing more. That's a grind quota.

 

[ViciousDS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXglON1tgX8

Even after accounting for context-sensitive speech and other equivalents Overwatch has, to think a portion of these Scout lines would have to be slowly unlocked (or bought) line by line is ludicrous.

All the posts saying how inconsequential these speech lines are only emphasize how crazy a decision it's to lock them away! Why couldn't Blizzard be satisfied with skins, sprays and icons?
I know it's paradoxical. Gameplay-affecting unlocks are awful but they are also an obvious consideration by devs. But who the heck thinks about unlocking '2 seconds' speech lines?

So far no one has offered an argument why it isn't a bad decision have speech as unlockable.

Doesn't effect gameplay? But it does the experience. And you are already unlocking other stuff. There's no rule everything in a game has to be obtained.
Stupid robot voices? That's one character. And you would be arguing against a bad implementation of speech lines rather then for having them as unlocks.
Can only equip one voice line so you can't press a key and choose from every line you unlocked? Bad implementation again.

So we are only left with the silly 'universal' approach that as long as something can be unlocked by playing the game (for hours and hours), it being locked away at the start can't impact a game or the user's experience of the game negatively.

you are pushing dude.....its cosmetics and one liners.


Doesn't effect game play, accessibility, or split the community.

Pushing for someone who doesn't even play the game.

 

[Chilli_Axe]

Microtransactions itself in a fully priced title is a new low.

Nailed it

 

[truestatic]

But why do you even care if you don't play the game? Do you just go out of your way to find things to be upset about?

It sets a precedent he's unsettled by.

Nailed it

Did he, though? Because I'm pretty sure microtransactions in full price games are not in fact new at all. They've been a fixture since... when. Mass Effect 3? Dead Space 3? long before?

 

[Leatherface]

OUTRAGE! Those cosmetics! I need them all! WHY HATH YOU SCORNED ME BLIZZARD!

 

[Skux]

I don't even consider them unlocks. They're like bonuses for playing the game.

 

[Chronospherics]

You're forgetting ingame gold/duplicates being broken down into gold as well.

The in-game gold will not even go as far as to negate the losses that you acquire due to duplication. You will need more than 283 crates to unlock everything, it will require over 400 hours to unlock everything, and unfortunately that everything isn't a huge amount of content to begin with.

You're the only person to actively quote individual posts you don't agree with because it's "toxic".

Anyone who spends at least 5 seconds to read the title of "Overwatch is the new low in MTAs" in relation to unlocking optional non gameplay affecting voice lines, as if that's apparently lower than some of the most heinous P2W shit we've had to deal with, will see there's not much discussion there. The very premise of the thread is wrong.

It's got the exact kind of responses it deserved.

Also "No U" is like the most baby response I've ever seen in my life. Get off your high horse and grow up.

Like I don't even disagree with the idea that locking voice lines behind a grind is sort of dumb, I just disagree that it's apparently on the same scale of heinousness that we would put your typical F2P mobile game. And since the OP seems to want to double down on that sentiment, those initial "OP you're crazy" posts are very much justified.

Let's not discount the fact that the OP has no intention of actually playing this game, or that he's already been hostile to the idea it's been getting good reviews.

The 'no you' was intended to highlight the hypocrisy of your own post. I didn't feel the need to spell that out for you, but I didn't feel that highlighting that was without value. The idea that it's a 'baby' response doesn't make much sense to me but you are welcome to feel that way, I suppose the irony was lost on you.

I don't care if the OP doesn't want to play the game. In his OP he posed as a question (indicating that these were elements of the game he was unsure of) and the abrasive responses came before he made any of his own replies. People can do what they want, I am not attempting to moderate them, but I believe that I am entirely free to say that I am embarrassed by them.

 

[urge26]

I don't understand ops argument. Having these cosmetic items locked away giving you an incentive to level up keeps you playing the game. I can't tell you what it's like in Destiny to have played the game so much that you have practically everything.... you wish you had the carrot again? Overwatch has the potential to be a game played for a long, long time.... I have no problem slowly getting things for free by leveling up, and if I don't? Who cares. At the same time this gives Blizzard another level to make money and not affect the gameplay.

 

[Afrodium]

There's a 'Voice Lines' category.

--
Saw a the thread title change. So what other full-priced AAA games lock away character speech? Thanks.

Like all of them. You can't hear the lines Nathan Drake says at the end of the game until you unlock and beat the final chapter. The vast majority of games require you play them for tens of hours to see all of the content that you paid $60 up front for. And remember, everything in Overwatch can be unlocked by playing the game. Hell, a higher percentage of the content is playable from the moment you insert the disc than most AAA games.

 

[ACE 1991]

Lol. This a very NeoGAF thread.

 

[Gipsy Danger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXglON1tgX8

Even after accounting for context-sensitive speech and other equivalents Overwatch has, to think a portion of these Scout lines would have to be slowly unlocked (or bought) line by line is ludicrous.

All the posts saying how inconsequential these speech lines are only emphasize how crazy a decision it's to lock them away! Why couldn't Blizzard be satisfied with skins, sprays and icons?
I know it's paradoxical. Gameplay-affecting unlocks are awful but they are also an obvious consideration by devs. But who the heck thinks about unlocking '2 seconds' speech lines?

So far no one has offered an argument why it isn't a bad decision have speech as unlockable.

Doesn't effect gameplay? But it does the experience. And you are already unlocking other stuff. There's no rule everything in a game has to be obtained.
Stupid robot voices? That's one character. And you would be arguing against a bad implementation of speech lines rather then for having them as unlocks.
Can only equip one voice line so you can't press a key and choose from every line you unlocked? Bad implementation again.

So we are only left with the silly 'universal' approach that as long as something can be unlocked by playing the game (for hours and hours), it being locked away at the start can't impact a game or the user's experience of the game negatively.

The lines are literally just a bit of fun. You equip them like you do skins. You can only have 1 at a time and they mean nothing. The game still has a ton of voice acting in it, both useful and superfluous. It isn't a lore issue because you can just preview the lines in game. This is no different than Dota 2 locking taunts behind a paywall. This thread can't be real.

 

[Menitta]

So far I don't have any complains about the loot system, I really forget about the voice lines outside of the "waiting for the game to start" room and by lv 14 I have already won this skins just by playing




in fact I wish I could unlock more cool looking skins in other f2p games only by playing the game

You got the T. Racer skin...you lucky bastard.

 

[pizzasqueeze]

But overwatch doesnt reward you for accomplishing hidden tasks or comepleting anything. you just grind that microtransaction money like a phone game.

If you have fun with that, power to you. That's why its in the game, people eat that shit up. But lets call it what it is.

Your argument makes no sense.

let's imagine there is nothing to unlock. what are you doing? playing overwatch.
Now let's you want some voice line or whatever real so super bad, what are you doing? playing overwatch.

They are the same except in one version you get some random cosmetics every few games. Calling it grinding is purposely callous.

 

[Kurdel]

How isnt it grinding? the unlock criteria is gated by how much currency you have, which is gated by how many matches are played by the user. If you want that item, you have to unlock it by putting time/money into the game and literally nothing more. That's a grind quota.

How do you unlock things in other games?

This thread is ridiculous

 

[Wickerbasket]

How isnt it grinding? the unlock criteria is gated by how much currency you have, which is gated by how many matches are played by the user. If you want that item, you have to unlock it by putting time/money into the game and literally nothing more. That's a grind quota.

Grinding refers to doing the same repetitive actions over and over again.

If you find playing the game a grind, then you wouldn't be wanting to unlock the cosmetics anyway.

You literally unlock stuff by just playing the game normally. I don't see the problem with this.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

Having actual character lines, you know stuff that should just be in the game, as content to be unlocked just shows how little there is in this game.

 

[Panda Rin]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXglON1tgX8

Even after accounting for context-sensitive speech and other equivalents Overwatch has, to think a portion of these Scout lines would have to be slowly unlocked (or bought) line by line is ludicrous.

All the posts saying how inconsequential these speech lines are only emphasize how crazy a decision it's to lock them away! Why couldn't Blizzard be satisfied with skins, sprays and icons?
I know it's paradoxical. Gameplay-affecting unlocks are awful but they are also an obvious consideration by devs. But who the heck thinks about unlocking '2 seconds' speech lines?

So far no one has offered an argument why it isn't a bad decision have speech as unlockable.

Doesn't effect gameplay? But it does the experience. And you are already unlocking other stuff. There's no rule everything in a game has to be obtained.
Stupid robot voices? That's one character. And you would be arguing against a bad implementation of speech lines rather then for having them as unlocks.
Can only equip one voice line so you can't press a key and choose from every line you unlocked? Bad implementation again.

So we are only left with the silly 'universal' approach that as long as something can be unlocked by playing the game (for hours and hours), it being locked away at the start can't impact a game or the user's experience of the game negatively.

Because it makes them money and we get the investment back in the way of free, meaningful content.

 

[ViciousDS]

How do you unlock things in other games?

This thread is ridiculous

I can't face the level 100 monster because I'm level 60 and can't equip this level 100 item.....this game has a god damn grind quota.....stupid RPG's

 

[Coffee Dog]

How do you un;ock things in other games?

This thread is ridiculous

You hit criteria that unlocks that content. The critieria is, hopefully, more interesting than "sink enough life into the game to get grind currency" which is how phone games and overwatch do it.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

How isnt it grinding? the unlock criteria is gated by how much currency you have, which is gated by how many matches are played by the user. If you want that item, you have to unlock it by putting time/money into the game and literally nothing more. That's a grind quota.

...for meaningless cosmetic items. So if you want a cool looking skin for your waifu, you can either continue playing until you unlock it, or use currency earned in loot boxes to buy it.

Again, for Meaningless. Cosmetic. Items.

 

[Minustephen]

Nit picky.

 

[vypek]

How isnt it grinding? the unlock criteria is gated by how much currency you have, which is gated by how many matches are played by the user. If you want that item, you have to unlock it by putting time/money into the game and literally nothing more. That's a grind quota.

Not the poster you quoted but the unlock criteria isn't just currency. You can unlock with level up and RNG which is something that I can understand people take issue with.

So you could say its unlocked through time playing the game which is pretty much most unlockables.

You hit criteria that unlocks that content. The critieria is, hopefully, more interesting than "sink enough life into the game to get grind currency" which is how phone games and overwatch do it.

Hitting the criteria "costs" time just like Overwatch though.

"If you want that item, you have to unlock it by putting time/money into the game and literally nothing more. That's a grind quota."

Those other games are also grinding. What you might mean to say is that you don't think Overwatch is fun so you don't like the process.