Welcome, Sushians, to the first Would You Rather of 2013! Actually, this is the first Would You Rather since Spring of 2012, which is a little insane to think about. How were you guys getting your fix of Sophie’s Choice style questions about video games without us? How?!
While you’re reeling over the awesomeness of finally getting a new Would You Rather, you should peruse some of these questions and write your own answers. These questions are inspired by some of the issues we’ve seen in games recently, from Sim City’s DRM to Tomb Raider’s updates and Gears of War Judgment’s lack of a horde mode. Feel free to make your answers as lengthy as you want. You’ll get extra points if you insult one of the other GS writers, too.
1. Would You rather get a free-to-play or heavily micro transaction-based sequel to a game that didn’t do well, or no sequel at all?
2. When a new developer takes over a franchise you love, would you rather they mix it up or keep things mostly the same?
3. Would you rather play a perfect, amazing game that had always-on DRM, or a buggy, almost-great game without one?
4. Would you rather pay for multiplayer and singleplayer experiences a la carte, or continue purchasing entire experiences the way you do now?
5. Would you rather go into a purchase completely blind (you’ve never read any previews, seen any screenshots, heard any secondhand experience whatsoever) or purchase a good game that’s been completely spoiled?
6. Would you rather have your mind erased to replay your favorite game of all time for the “first time” again, or play a new game that is good enough to be in your top 10 of all time?
1.) Seeing as Blacklight: Retribution is a good example of rising from the ashes of a first attempt, I would go for a free-to-play version of a sequel to a title that didn’t do well.
2.) Usually I like a new dev to keep the formula the same, but I’m not opposed to trying a different approach.
3.) I’d rather go with a buggy, almost perfect game with no DRM. At least I’ll be able to play it from day 1. Sorry, resentment towards the new SimCity. I wanted to buy it, it looked so promising, then when it was released, I started to hear all the issues, and that turned me off from wanting to ever buy it.
4.) I’m fairly comfortable purchasing experiences how I do now. I’d just want the price to go down. I remember when buying a new title didn’t require budgeting.
5.) I’d like going into it blind. It’s better to form one’s own opinion on such a matter. I wish that was the case now, but I guess some information on a game is nice. Just not enough that spoils the game for me.
6.) Definitely would play a game that would be good enough to be in my top 10. Replaying games from the past for the first time is nice, but it doesn’t do well to dwell on things of the past and forget to live. Excuse the Harry Potter quote.
1. No Sequel
2. Keep things mostly the same
3. Im not against DRM it just matters if they have the system right and the game is worth it.
4.I prefer the entire experience
5. Id rather purchase a game blind
6. Play a new game, your favorite game is so much more fun when you know what is going to happen.
1. Would You rather get a free-to-play or heavily micro transaction-based sequel to a game that didn’t do well, or no sequel at all?
Give me the sequel. If I don’t like it, the publishers receives no money from me. That’s the beauty of micro transactions.
2. When a new developer takes over a franchise you love, would you rather they mix it up or keep things mostly the same?
The same. Metroid Other M being my sole reason for this opinion.
3. Would you rather play a perfect, amazing game that had always-on DRM, or a buggy, almost-great game without one?
I played Arkham City with GFWL on and Diablo 3 at home with shitty internet. I can deal with BS DRM if the game is worth playing.
4. Would you rather pay for multiplayer and singleplayer experiences a la carte, or continue purchasing entire experiences the way you do now?
Separate them please. That way Call of Duty may entice me once more. I need not a single player campaign from them.
5. Would you rather go into a purchase completely blind (you’ve never read any previews, seen any screenshots, heard any secondhand experience whatsoever) or purchase a good game that’s been completely spoiled?
Money is too sacred a resource for students, so purchases need to be worth it, spoilers be damned.
6. Would you rather have your mind erased to replay your favorite game of all time for the “first time” again, or play a new game that is good enough to be in your top 10 of all time?
I would give anything to play through Resi 4, Uncharted 2 and Bioshock again. The first time I played those games were truly incredible experiences. To get that same feeling again would be incredible.
Damn, forgot to insult “one of the other GS writers”. Um, Mitch stop being so Canadian!
Yes that shall suffice…
1. Would You rather get a free-to-play or heavily micro transaction-based sequel to a game that didn’t do well, or no sequel at all?
Ooh, that’s a tough one. I really can’t say. If it’s designed well and the microtransactions aren’t intrusive, the yes. Otherwise, no. It also depends on why the first game didn’t do well, what the genre is, and what the sequel does/doesn’t do that the first game did. Too many factors. Pass.
2. When a new developer takes over a franchise you love, would you rather they mix it up or keep things mostly the same?
I’d like them to keep things a little bit similar, but add their own stuff to it rather than mix it up entirely.
3. Would you rather play a perfect, amazing game that had always-on DRM, or a buggy, almost-great game without one?
Dammit.
Assuming the always-on DRM actually *works*, I might go that direction. Then again, the consumer democrat in me is telling me I need to vote with my wallet and not buy games that treat their customers like this.
Then again, where I live, the Internet connection is pretty unreliable.
4. Would you rather pay for multiplayer and singleplayer experiences a la carte, or continue purchasing entire experiences the way you do now?
I actually would love to have an “a la carte” option for games. Activision knows that people play Call of Duty primarily for the multiplayer, so it would make more sense to just throw the already mediocre singleplayer out the window and just give people the multiplayer. At least, it makes sense to me.
5. Would you rather go into a purchase completely blind (you’ve never read any previews, seen any screenshots, heard any secondhand experience whatsoever) or purchase a good game that’s been completely spoiled?
At the price games are nowadays, I’d rather have some insight into a game, via reviews or gameplay footage. I pick the latter.
6. Would you rather have your mind erased to replay your favorite game of all time for the “first time” again, or play a new game that is good enough to be in your top 10 of all time?
Play a new game that’s good enough for my top 10. As much as I’d love to rediscover the magic of Zelda: Twilight Princess or EarthBound, it’s much better to add games than to re-do them.
1. No sequel.
2. Mix it up, a lot of things feel “mostly the same” now anyway..
3. Amazing game so long as the DRM works properly.
4. Separate, unless it’s a split-screen experience on consoles, because that’s still special in my heart. Just don’t staple crappy multi player to my experience.
5. Depends. Deus Ex 3, I didn’t want to know anything about. Bioshock Infinite, I don’t care if it’s spoiled. if it feels right on PC (unlike the first game for me) then I’ll likely play it.
6. New game for sure.
Eddy smells like baby poo.
1. My prejudice against free-to-play may be a bit extreme, but as any such sequel would be essentially dead to me, I’d go with no sequel at all. The dead should not walk.
2. Put a new spin on things! It may not always succeed, but it’s just as dubious for a new dev to attempt to recreate the same experience from scratch, and seems to fall flat just as often. I’d rather hazard a fresh take in the hope of greatness.
3. A PERFECT game? As much as it pains me, I’m not sure I can channel Cory Doctorow enough to sacrifice a PERFECT game for the sake of a draconian DRM system. Wait, are we talking about SimCity-style nuclear DRM here? Scratch that – I’d rather have a semi-broken game than a useless lump of allocated hard drive sectors that only functions if gently nuzzled, cajoled, and spoken softly to in the wee hours of the morning.
4. If it lowered prices without hurting devs, I’d take separate singleplayer any day.
5. Blind. Not that I’m so spoiler-averse, but the oft-mentioned joys of stumbling upon a great game unexpectedly outweigh such predictability.
6. New top 10 game is good enough for me. I’d like to add to my memories and future nostaligic feels, not reboot them.
1. No sequel at all.
2. Start fairly safe, but then make your own path from there. 343 is a great example of this (assuming they take some risks with Halo 5).
3. The perfect one for sure. I don’t get my feathers ruffled by always on like other people do, and if it meant receiving a better experience, I’m all for it.
4. A la carte. Tomb Raider’s singleplayer for $30-40 sounds like a good deal.
5. Completely blind. I’ll get to the spoiled one some day, but I’d much rather play one that I can adventure through myself.
6. New game. As much as I would love to experience the Mass Effect trilogy for the first time again, I’m always looking for new experiences and games to add to my all time list.
1. I reject those options and substitute in my own! Don’t make a sequel. You won’t get my money.
2. I say keep things the same to start, but eventually make your mark somehow. Don’t do anything that could be interpreted as an insult to the fanbase (I.E: that moment in the new DMC with the white mop hair…)
3. … This is a tough one…. Part of me says that no matter how bad the always-on DRM is, I would take it. But the rest of me says that if a game must be linked to the servers at all times, then there will come one day when the servers are shut down, thus cutting me off from my game. Majority wins here. I rather have a buggy non-DRM game than a perfect draconian DRM game.
4. Al a carte sounds nice, i get my single player experience on its own without shoehorned in multiplayer, but playing with friends is always fun, and I rather not pay extra for multiplayer.
5. The literature-lover in me says no spoilers, so go in blind. But I would be a hypocrite if I meant it, as I watched playthroughs of Mass Effect long before I bought it, and still had a ton of fun with the story. Blind is still preferable though…
6. finding a new top 10 game is always a fun experience. And I don’t think wiping my memory to play XCOM Enemy Unknown Classical Ironman mode again would be a good thing… I forsee lots of rage on that path…