Videogame's Players Launch Boycott Over Bugs, Story Changes, Monetization (aftermath.site) 35
It's been a mobile-only game for decades. Then a little more than a week ago Infinity Nikkireleased its 1.5 update (which introduced multiplayer and customization options) and launched the game on Steam.
But it "didn't go over as planned," writes the worker-owned gaming site Aftermath, citing some very negative reactions on Reddit. (Some players say that in response the game's publisher is now even censoring the word "boycott" on its official forums and community spaces...) Infinity Nikki players were immediately incensed by a bevy of bugs and general game instability, and made even more angry by several baffling changes to both the story and its monetization structure... Players globally are vowing to stay off the game until Infold Games addresses their concerns, including at least one Infinity Nikki creator who is part of the game's partner program... [T]he Chinese Infinity Nikki community — as well as others — has been flooding Steam with negative reviews of the game... [T]he complaints are also impacting Infinity Nikki's review score on the Google Play Store... The company said it's working to fix the patch's performance issues, which have caused game-breaking bugs for some players....
[T]he Infinity Nikki team also gave players some free currency, but there's been problems there, too: Players say Infold had a bug in this distribution, which awarded players too much free currency. Instead of letting players keep that — it was Infold's mistake, after all — they deducted the currency, some of which players had already spent, putting them in the negative. But the community is looking for more from the studio; it wants an acknowledgement of the "dumpster fire" of a situation, as one Infinity Nikki player told Aftermath, but also wants some of the biggest problems reversed... Beyond the problematic monetization strategy, players Aftermath spoke with said they're also pissed off at a major change to the start of the game... Infold Games removed the game's original start with the update; the new intro drops players into Infinity Nikki with little context and a new, unexplained character who is supposed to be a guide as Nikki is dropped into intergalactic limbo.
While the spend-to-upgrade-your-character model has always been inherently predatory, as one player put it, the new update pushed the system "much too far for a lot of players," according to the article — "something made more egregious by the numerous bugs and strange gameplay changes." The article now describes some players as "upset that the trust they've given Infold Games thus far has been broken."
"Infold Games has not responded to a request for comment."
But it "didn't go over as planned," writes the worker-owned gaming site Aftermath, citing some very negative reactions on Reddit. (Some players say that in response the game's publisher is now even censoring the word "boycott" on its official forums and community spaces...) Infinity Nikki players were immediately incensed by a bevy of bugs and general game instability, and made even more angry by several baffling changes to both the story and its monetization structure... Players globally are vowing to stay off the game until Infold Games addresses their concerns, including at least one Infinity Nikki creator who is part of the game's partner program... [T]he Chinese Infinity Nikki community — as well as others — has been flooding Steam with negative reviews of the game... [T]he complaints are also impacting Infinity Nikki's review score on the Google Play Store... The company said it's working to fix the patch's performance issues, which have caused game-breaking bugs for some players....
[T]he Infinity Nikki team also gave players some free currency, but there's been problems there, too: Players say Infold had a bug in this distribution, which awarded players too much free currency. Instead of letting players keep that — it was Infold's mistake, after all — they deducted the currency, some of which players had already spent, putting them in the negative. But the community is looking for more from the studio; it wants an acknowledgement of the "dumpster fire" of a situation, as one Infinity Nikki player told Aftermath, but also wants some of the biggest problems reversed... Beyond the problematic monetization strategy, players Aftermath spoke with said they're also pissed off at a major change to the start of the game... Infold Games removed the game's original start with the update; the new intro drops players into Infinity Nikki with little context and a new, unexplained character who is supposed to be a guide as Nikki is dropped into intergalactic limbo.
While the spend-to-upgrade-your-character model has always been inherently predatory, as one player put it, the new update pushed the system "much too far for a lot of players," according to the article — "something made more egregious by the numerous bugs and strange gameplay changes." The article now describes some players as "upset that the trust they've given Infold Games thus far has been broken."
"Infold Games has not responded to a request for comment."
GAME, and STOP BUYING IT (Score:2, Funny)
It used to be GAMES were what we PLAYED with FRIENDS. Sometimes outside, sometims on a board, sometimes with a TV and two good controllers. (Sorry, Atari, I've repaired too many of your joysticks and paddles to count you there). Sometimes in an arcade (you know, a dedicated PLACE to go GAME with your friends, etc.)
Now it seems a GAME has to have a STORY which doens't get to change? JK Rowling will be MAGA howling at that. And since the "patch" is a software patch and they released it with BUGS they are
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Eh. I get this. This is one of those shitty pay-to-win gacha games. In this case , they granted too much game money, then took it back out, in many/most cases leaving people with negative money and .... well only way to go forward is pay more.
It was a nasty cash grab response to their own error and its backfiring hard.
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Eh. I get this. This is one of those shitty pay-to-win gacha games. In this case , they granted too much game money, then took it back out, in many/most cases leaving people with negative money and .... well only way to go forward is pay more.
It was a nasty cash grab response to their own error and its backfiring hard.
Yep, mobile game company releases same shitty game on PC and finds out the hard way that PC players won't take the same abuse that mobile gamers will... and in the process finds out there is even a limit to the amount of abuse mobile gamers will take.
Shoulda released on console. Activision has been releasing the same COD for 18 years now.
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Come join me at the arcade.
So let me get this straight, man who games on a medium that is set in stone and infamously does not change over time is upset that people who use a different medium are upset that things change?
I'm not surprised you're angry arse is confused. It's like me shitting on the nascar industry and then calling myself a racer and signing off saying come meet me at the velodrome on your bicycle.
Take some prozac, you seem to need it.
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JK Rowling has nothing to do with MAGA, despite what you may think of her. She is also not anti-trans. She is for women's identities. You know, like maybe a battered women's shelter shouldn't include penis.
I don't know her to be "anti" anything except authoritarianism, conformity, and people like you who seek to drive a "truth" narrative that suits your needs and not actual truth.
You seem to be anti a lot, including the future. Have fun with that. Games are not what you grew up with because the world change
Short summary (Score:2)
Money never enough, have to make users pay more. Software updated, old users dislike change, yell at cloud.
Lurking in the background: an unwritten thesis because student likes to play games.
Am I too old? (Score:2)
Re: Am I too old? (Score:2)
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You don't understand that someone doing ${thing you don't do}, gets upset about a problem in the industry of ${thing you don't do}? Are expecting me to be surprised? I'm not surprised. The question is are you here just yelling at clouds, or do you actually want the issue of the same thing on two different platforms being wildly different to the point where it affects coherency of the medium explained to you?
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I simply don't get all those stories on /. about anger in the video games community. Is it because I am over 50 and have kids, who are not playing?
When you are a gamer, you realise it's only around certain types of games, usually heavily monetised ones that seem to attract the most toxic of audiences.
Step back, play a nice strategy, indie or story driven game and relax.
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Except Civ VII. They appear to have gone to the darkside. I'm sticking with IV, V, and VI.
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Probably less the age, just that it's an area that doesn't interest you. I'm not interested in linux windows desktop managers but there tend to be a lot of stories about those. Games are just a large industry (larger than music and movies if you include mobile) so there's always going to be some drama happening
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They changed the story? (Score:2)
I take it she no longer sits in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine?
Oh, the game is called Infinity Nikki? Carry on then...
Decades? (Score:2)
Waste of time (Score:2)
I used to be a regular video game player. Then I realised that all my time and effort that I was puting into the game was just nothing more than just a pointless JSON blob in someone else's database. So I decided to have a real life instead.
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They don't care. Ever seen that South Park where they're playing Guitar Hero and he pulls out a real guitar and plays Don't Fear the Reaper like it's gonna be cool.
They're pressing buttons to music, and they enjoy that. They don't want to play the guitar. It's a sad lack of ambition, I guess, but some people have always preferred a fantasy universe.
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Not really. It's not about someone being paid to create something. It's about the fact that online worlds are designed to keep you hooked in and to keep wasting your valuable time (and money on top of it) ad infinitum. Even games with a seemingly finite end of the story, aren't that anymore. Acheivements, alternative story lines, extended story lines... They are open-ended time wasters by design.
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Everyone chooses how much time and effort they put into video games. If it takes too much of your time, a healthy person will take care of themselves and spend less. I don't understand what it has to do with how it is programmed and scripted, unless you are saying that the guy with the database is trying to control you, in which case it makes sense.
To your point, what bothers me is the idea that a game being "addictive" is seen as a positive attribute, at least in the marketing copy. Like people want an add
The word you're looking for... (Score:2)
players were immediately incensed by a bevy of bugs and general game instability, and made even more angry by several baffling changes to both the story and its monetization structure
The word you're looking for is "enshittification".
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The term you're looking for is "exploitive capitalism," too. As opposed to enlightened (as in self-interest) capitalism which works.
Why do I care who owns Aftermath? (Score:1)
Part of a news editor's job is to remove extraneous information that an author should not have included, not the addition thereof.
Avoid Gacha Games like the plague (Score:3)
Avoid Gacha Games like the plague.
Play something cool, deep, interesting that does not try to hack your brain with addictive mechanics, abusing your money, time, and mental health. This shit should be outlawed, especially for minors.
Ideally only play on PC or Console. Don't run any games on your phone.
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Relevant Penny Arcade [penny-arcade.com]
IN, meet STFC (Score:1)