People sink 1000+ hours in Diablo 3, Path of Exile, Rocket League, Civ 5 for 10-20€, what kind of argument is that? Fans of the game will play the hell out of it, what about the rest? That will have fun for 10-100 hours tops?

You're acting like those games don't have cosmetic DLC, expansion packs, lootboxes, or season passes. Paradox does it in a more à la carte style, but it's the same bird with different colors.

You could easily get 500 hours of unique gameplay on vanilla CK II alone, which most people purchased for less than $10.

First of all, Diablo 3 had one expansion, Rocket League has cosmetics only, Path of Exile is free to play and only needs 20€ investment to have anything you need, Civ 5 gold edition was cheap pretty quickly (2-3 years in?). Come on, how on earth you're even trying to compare it?

The only good thing that Paradox has done recently was the bundle, that was a great idea and I loved it even though I own CK2 and many of the expansions. If they did that with EU4 or Stellaris I'd probably gave those games a shot, with just base EU4 which I own I haven't even come to checking it out yet.

It also didn't get 7 years of continual development and support.
I compared the minimum value because that's what you did. Vanilla CK II has the same replay value for cost as any of the games you listed (unless you strictly play PoE for free). I don't know why you keep acting like you *have* to buy the DLC, it's just as optional as the additions you described.

I think you're just weirdly demanding a lot from this one, specific form of entertainment. Not to mention, anyone who plays either of the above games for 1,000+ hours does *not* do so with the minimum investment, we both know this.

You could also get thousands of hours of enjoyment from just the base game or base game + 2-3 key expansions. I don't buy this idea that these are $200 games.

I see what Paradox is doing as more like what you get at a fancy steak house where you order your food a' la carte. The base game is your steak, and the expansions are your side dishes. You add to your plate the things that matter to you. And maybe you didn't get the mashed potatoes and that other table over there has them and they look delicious, but whatever, you've got your food and you eat it and move on with your life.

If you expect a foray into a Paradox title to be a 10-100 hour endeavor than you probably don't need anything more than the base game. There is so much going on in their base games alone that they are incredibly overwhelming even 50 hours in.

If you end up being more towards the 1000's of hours type of player, you've got a huge ton of options in how to flesh out your experience.

Actually it did.

I could be wrong as I don't play Diablo, but a cursory glance at the wiki showed the last major patch to be in 2016. Whereas CK II gets a free major patch with every DLC release (so even people who don't buy the DLC, still get the benefits of said patch).

Edit: Also, I'm surprised that's the only thing you chose to weigh in on, Daer.

I think I've weighed in before. Paradox's DLC strategy is aids, I say this as someone who owns every expansion for both CK2 and EU4. Besides the few actually good expansions, basically these are the ones people say are required, I feel most paradox expansions are relatively low-effort ways to milk another $20 from their customers. I'm pretty sure if you took a poll the majority of customers feelings towards Paradox's DLC strategy would be negative, there was a huge outcry when they announced it. The only reason it was palatable in the past was because they use to go 75% off regularly.

Diablo III is also a game where you need to pay $15 to unlock the newest class with no options to earn in game.

If we pretend that new developments for the game weren't as slow/dead as they are then it seems like Blizzard was heading down a very similar path as Paradox.

Guys we already have a villain this year

I consider the little tweak dlcs to be equivalent to cosmetics in other games. I don't buy them but I'm glad other people do because it makes my game cheaper. I've only got the "core" dlcs and I never feel like I'm missing anything. If a person bought the base game without knowing the deal I can understand being annoyed.

I REALLY want Borderlands 3 but with the recent BS involving Epic I'm not sure if want it that bad.

Epic and Gearbox can choke on a dick for putting me in this situation.

I am super hyped for Borderlands 3, but yeah... I'm going to wait for it to come out on Stream. My mind is made up on that. If I was planning on playing it with friends I'd be in a real pickle though.

6 months timed exclusivity yes.

Between Epic having shitty business practices, Epic being partly owned by tencent (40%!), and Pitchford being a total scumbag* I've decided that despite really loving Borderlands 2 there's just no need for me to shell out my $ to support that game on any level. There are just way too many games out there that are good for me to feel as if I have to buy something from a pairing of two things I don't support at all.




*Issues with refusing to play Claptrap voice actor for previous work, bonus shenanigans, and sending actual PIs to investigate a streamer and then copyright strike his youtube

Boycotting Borderlands 3 on Epic but then eagerly buying it in 6 months on Steam, at full price no doubt, seems like a half measure.

Agreed - I'll probably support the games I want from the smaller/indie developers, who understandably take the epic deal, by buying the game once it hits Steam, but stuff like BL3 I'm waiting for a big steam sale before picking up.

Both because they very much didn't need to take the deal and because Pitchford is a total dick.

Totally getting BL3 on a steam sale someday.
It also help to have a weak ass laptop that I might have to change to play the game anyway

About the paradox games prices and all games in general, I've came to the conclusion if the game can keep me at home, I actually save money not partying (I'm kinda a full ****** when partying).
I'm sure some people can relate

Solo developer of awesome looking game DARQ was approached by Epic as soon as he uploaded a Steam release date trailer, a few weeks ago. Refused, since he has some scruples.



https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comme...just_released/

Well done to him, I wish him great success. What scumbags Epic are.

A month ago he did an AMA about making it, it was pretty interesting. Had no experience before he started.

Smart guy, I'm sure the Epic offer is going to pale to sales the positive press will generate for the Steam release. And why won't Epic put it up for a non-exclusive deal? Strong arming future devs to not refuse their exclusivity offers?

How are they justifying not wanting to sell it at all unless there's an exclusivity deal?

Weren't they the guys who were going to save us from the "Steam monopoly"? How is leaving a game to be sold only on Steam (especially from a dev that was willing to put it up on their store) doing that?

Picked up the game just to support this dev - it looks decent too though.

DARQ caught my eye a while ago. The lucid dream / nightmare theme sounds and looks awesome. Reading the reviews the game is 2 hours long so it is staying wish-listed for the moment. If it doesn't get discounted by Winter sale I might cave in though.

MS Gamepass in on sale for the next 2 weeks, you get 3 months for 5$ (4€). I'll def try it in a week.

https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/p/xb...mesanddealstab

At least for me it also shows 1€/month option too, so it might be possible to take the 1 month deal first, then buy the 3 months later if you like it. The game pass actually does looks quite a bit better than I thought.