@twztid13 I get it—and you are right. I’m just saying this game is probably the least predatory MOBA (or free-to-play in general) I’ve ever played, which does greatly contribute to my enjoyment of it. I spent years playing VainGlory and spent actual money on it often enough that I’d expect something ultra rare to eventually come up in a loot box, and it was always the same useless stuff and skins I’d already gotten before. I got bored with LoL Wild Rift pretty quickly but it was shaping up to be the same way. Unite doesn’t feel like that at all.
The turn-off in Unite’s system for me is how valueless it is. The ease of leveling up, at least through lvl 20, makes “gems” pretty useless, yet of course they’re offering to sell you gems anyway.
At one point though, I will throw some money into this game. It’s fun to play and more or less ad free, so why not throw them a couple of bucks for their effort? I never mind doing that for free games that are actually good. But I’m not a kid with zero self control either, and that’s who they’re really after.
I love this game so much, and haven't spent a dime on it yet. There are countless videos on YouTube explaining how this is more of a "pay to skip levels" game than a "pay to win" game and I agree with that analysis. If you do the math, it's spot on. There is absolutely no need to spend money on this game, and not doing so will not cause you to miss out on anything.
Is it shady to try to get people to spend money on it in general? I guess the specific tactic is just as slimy as any other "free to play" title, but they don't get in your face about it. I haven't had stacks of 10 splash screens come up before every session trying to get me to buy things or tell me about "deals" on gems or anything like that. I haven't had any spam about the game other than Nintendo telling me to download it. It's pretty harmless as far as the pay mechanics. Case in point: My 11 year old hasn't bugged me one time to buy him anything from this game, and he plays it CONSTANTLY.
@PerishSong I have to admit that I'm playing more and more Pokemon Unite every day, even after I originally thought I would be tired of it by now. It's a solid, if not a little too simplistic, MOBA with a really easy point of entry. All the addictive elements of MOBAs are still there, while a lot of the annoying elements of most MOBAs are mostly not there. I still don't think we've seen what Tencent REALLY has in store as far as micropayments and gacha and all that stuff, but I hope it in no way resembles VainGlory's system, where 99.99% of the time, the risk is not worth the reward.
@PerishSong Valid points. And I was really encouraged by the questions on their player survey. I’m willing to stick around a while and see how things “evolve”. (See what I did there?) It really is a pretty fun game, but I still think of it as more of a MOBA Lite.
It has the same problems I had with VainGlory and League of Legends. I love MOBAs, but they're designed to make you want to pay for things that really have no real world worth, and I have sunk a not-insignificant amount of money into both.
Pokemon Unite is actually a fun game, but I can't see being engaged with it super long. It's very stripped down as far as MOBAs go.
@mariomaster96 Definitely true, but I still think that's only part of the story. Without the hardware shortages, sales would look a lot different for sure, but I still think the Switch would be selling like hotcakes either way.
I really love seeing this device and its ecosystem doing well. There's always room for improvement, but I'm absolutely obsessed with the Nintendo Switch. They've really struck gold this time around.
@Kimyonaakuma That's the other thing--it wasn't that great of a game in the first place. Much like the original FarCry, it started out great, but you could tell they either ran out of gas or ran out of time at the end. Crytek was never great at their game endings.
I built a gaming PC specifically to run Crysis back when it first came out. I maxed out everything. That PC was a screamer. It still completely choked on Crysis, especially toward the end. Pretty crazy that any version of this game will run on Switch.
40 hours into Dragon Quest XI and still going. Every morning is Animal Crossing, every night is Dragon Quest. Trying to decide if my next game (besides Paper Mario) should be Xenoblade Chronicles DE or Fire Emblem Three Houses.
Our pair from the original launch Switch that I got for my kids started drifting within a year and had to be repaired. I bought myself a Switch Lite and it had a weird dead spot on the right stick within the first month. I exchanged it for a standard Switch and also bought a backup pair of JoyCons.
So far the repaired pair have worked great and we haven't had any issues with the two newer pairs or the Pro controller. Also, I do like that the repairs are free and only take a week to complete.
However--it's a real shame that Nintendo hasn't fixed this. I like that they're fixing the controllers for free, and the Switch might very well be my favorite console of all time, but it's so ridiculous that they didn't at least fix this for the v2 hardware.
I go in every day--usually sometime in the morning--and grab all my new fossils, make a lap or two around the island for fish, clean up the beach, sell all my stuff, visit everyone I want to to visit, etc. I may or may not play again later in the day, but usually I do.
To me, this game feels like a security blanket. I can always pop into my island and goof around for a while and feel a lot more relaxed when I'm done. I still haven't done as much terraforming stuff as I want to, and there are a lot of untouched areas on my island. I'd like to pay off my last loan and get a little more creative with the layout.
I am predicting by the end of summer I might be a little sick of this game, but who knows?
Always Animal Crossing every day, but I’m also super engrossed in Link’s Awakening. Finally picked up the remake last week. Reminds me of the good old days playing the old version on my GameBoy Color.
My 12 yr old gave up Fortnite quite a while ago, but my 9 yr old still plays it almost daily. I can see the appeal of the game for that age level--my problem is how it makes him act. My wife and I get very tired of listening to him yakking at the top of his lungs the whole time he plays it.
However--it does give him a way to socialize with his friends and his cousins, especially now while we're all stuck at home. I have strict screen time limits on his Switch and iPad, so it's not possible for him to stay up all night playing. I wish more parents would explore their options with that. Many people don't know how to do it or that it's even possible.
It's a hard balance to maintain, since I'm a gamer too. The key is getting into a routine and sticking to your guns when they want more screen time.
I've had days during this stay-at-home order where I've played AC for hours on end, thought I was done for the day, and then got back on that same night and was right back at it. Any momentary feelings of boredom with this game don't seem to last more than 5 minutes after I turn the Switch off. There have been slower days, but the game seems to know exactly when to add in the right amount of stuff to pick the pace back up again.
I don't understand some people's thinking when it comes to this console war stuff. The Switch certainly doesn't exist in a vacuum and Nintendo needs to keep their eyes on the competition at all times, but I'm only becoming more and more convinced over time that Nintendo knows exactly what they're doing here.
The two big cash cows for Nintendo have always been their in-house properties like Mario, Zelda, etc. and their handheld hardware. They've had hugely successful TV-connected consoles too, but to me the bigger sales story always seems to be the GameBoy/DS sales.
Now they have the Switch, which is all their strengths wrapped up into one machine and only accelerates in sales even as customers know there is new hardware coming down the pipeline in a few months. I think the Switch is just the more interesting machine to a lot of people, and it has the advantage of being the only machine that plays Nintendo games.
The missing piece of the puzzle here is what the new software is going to be this year. I don't believe for a second that they don't have big plans to fight off any slowdown in hardware sales due to next gen machines coming out.
My GameStop called me tonight to let me know they’re still open tomorrow morning and I can still come in and get my pre-order for Animal Crossing. I told the guy I would not be coming in to get it and had downloaded it from eShop instead. He said something along the lines of “It’s good to hear you’re being safe and doing the right thing.” I’m thinking GameStop employees are not super happy they’re still open.
@DennisNOR So crazy--I had the exact same change happen to me just this last year or so. For reasons I could not explain, I no longer had any desire to play my PS4/VR anymore. It was sitting there collecting dust, even with my backlog of games to play.
Somewhere along the line I started playing my kids' Switch and something clicked in my brain--these games were such high quality and so much fun to play. I couldn't believe I had ignored the Switch up until now. It was making me happy, which is something console games hadn't done for a long time.
Before I knew it, I had my own Switch so I could stop fighting with my kids over theirs. And I've been burning through games like crazy to make up for lost time. For me, the Switch is an absolute revelation. And yes, just like you, I also game on iOS a lot, which I had also been doing a lot more than playing PS4 lately.
Comments 229
Re: Pokémon Unite Is Getting A Game Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@twztid13 I get it—and you are right. I’m just saying this game is probably the least predatory MOBA (or free-to-play in general) I’ve ever played, which does greatly contribute to my enjoyment of it. I spent years playing VainGlory and spent actual money on it often enough that I’d expect something ultra rare to eventually come up in a loot box, and it was always the same useless stuff and skins I’d already gotten before. I got bored with LoL Wild Rift pretty quickly but it was shaping up to be the same way.
Unite doesn’t feel like that at all.
The turn-off in Unite’s system for me is how valueless it is. The ease of leveling up, at least through lvl 20, makes “gems” pretty useless, yet of course they’re offering to sell you gems anyway.
At one point though, I will throw some money into this game. It’s fun to play and more or less ad free, so why not throw them a couple of bucks for their effort? I never mind doing that for free games that are actually good. But I’m not a kid with zero self control either, and that’s who they’re really after.
Re: Pokémon Unite Is Getting A Game Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
I love this game so much, and haven't spent a dime on it yet. There are countless videos on YouTube explaining how this is more of a "pay to skip levels" game than a "pay to win" game and I agree with that analysis. If you do the math, it's spot on. There is absolutely no need to spend money on this game, and not doing so will not cause you to miss out on anything.
Is it shady to try to get people to spend money on it in general? I guess the specific tactic is just as slimy as any other "free to play" title, but they don't get in your face about it. I haven't had stacks of 10 splash screens come up before every session trying to get me to buy things or tell me about "deals" on gems or anything like that. I haven't had any spam about the game other than Nintendo telling me to download it. It's pretty harmless as far as the pay mechanics. Case in point: My 11 year old hasn't bugged me one time to buy him anything from this game, and he plays it CONSTANTLY.
Re: Pokémon Unite Survey Wants To Know Which Parts Of The Game Frustrate You
@PerishSong I have to admit that I'm playing more and more Pokemon Unite every day, even after I originally thought I would be tired of it by now. It's a solid, if not a little too simplistic, MOBA with a really easy point of entry. All the addictive elements of MOBAs are still there, while a lot of the annoying elements of most MOBAs are mostly not there. I still don't think we've seen what Tencent REALLY has in store as far as micropayments and gacha and all that stuff, but I hope it in no way resembles VainGlory's system, where 99.99% of the time, the risk is not worth the reward.
Re: Pokémon Unite Survey Wants To Know Which Parts Of The Game Frustrate You
@hyperballad Yep—they do seem to care what players think of the game. I was very impressed by the breadth of the questions.
Re: Pokémon Unite Survey Wants To Know Which Parts Of The Game Frustrate You
@PerishSong Valid points. And I was really encouraged by the questions on their player survey. I’m willing to stick around a while and see how things “evolve”. (See what I did there?) It really is a pretty fun game, but I still think of it as more of a MOBA Lite.
Re: Pokémon Unite Survey Wants To Know Which Parts Of The Game Frustrate You
It has the same problems I had with VainGlory and League of Legends. I love MOBAs, but they're designed to make you want to pay for things that really have no real world worth, and I have sunk a not-insignificant amount of money into both.
Pokemon Unite is actually a fun game, but I can't see being engaged with it super long. It's very stripped down as far as MOBAs go.
Re: Japanese Charts: Monster Hunter Rise Leads In Another Dominant Week For Nintendo
@mariomaster96 Definitely true, but I still think that's only part of the story. Without the hardware shortages, sales would look a lot different for sure, but I still think the Switch would be selling like hotcakes either way.
Re: Japanese Charts: Monster Hunter Rise Leads In Another Dominant Week For Nintendo
At this time last year, I was worried that the PS5 and XSX were going to steal all of the Switch's thunder. So far, that hasn't really happened.
Re: UK Charts: Switch Games Pushed Down The Pecking Order As Next-Gen Excitement Takes Over
@TheFullAndy Gotta bait those clicks though!
Re: Nintendo Looks To Extend Switch Life-Cycle As Demand Looks Higher Than Ever This Year
I really love seeing this device and its ecosystem doing well. There's always room for improvement, but I'm absolutely obsessed with the Nintendo Switch. They've really struck gold this time around.
Re: Rumour: New Switch Model Launching Early 2021 Alongside A Strong Game Lineup, According To Reports
Any hardware updates to the Switch will be a day one purchase for me. This is the best console I’ve ever owned in my life.
Re: Poll: Paper Mario: The Origami King Is Out Today On Switch, Are You Getting It?
@RupeeClock I just started Xenoblade a few days ago too! So I’m going to let my 9 yo play first and then by the time he’s done, I’ll be ready for it.
Re: Here's Your First Look At Crysis Remastered Running On Nintendo Switch
@Savino That I can agree with. The multiplayer was so good. I seem to remember playing it quite a bit.
Re: Here's Your First Look At Crysis Remastered Running On Nintendo Switch
@Kimyonaakuma That's the other thing--it wasn't that great of a game in the first place. Much like the original FarCry, it started out great, but you could tell they either ran out of gas or ran out of time at the end. Crytek was never great at their game endings.
Re: Here's Your First Look At Crysis Remastered Running On Nintendo Switch
I built a gaming PC specifically to run Crysis back when it first came out. I maxed out everything. That PC was a screamer. It still completely choked on Crysis, especially toward the end. Pretty crazy that any version of this game will run on Switch.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (June 13th)
40 hours into Dragon Quest XI and still going. Every morning is Animal Crossing, every night is Dragon Quest. Trying to decide if my next game (besides Paper Mario) should be Xenoblade Chronicles DE or Fire Emblem Three Houses.
Re: Talking Point: The Time Is Right For Microsoft And Nintendo To Get Comfier With One Another
Just give me Battletoads. Other than that, I couldn't care less about anything Microsoft has to offer. I'm pretty sick of Sony at this point as well.
Re: Switch Joy-Con Drift Claim Must Be Arbitrated, Says Illinois Federal Court
Our pair from the original launch Switch that I got for my kids started drifting within a year and had to be repaired. I bought myself a Switch Lite and it had a weird dead spot on the right stick within the first month. I exchanged it for a standard Switch and also bought a backup pair of JoyCons.
So far the repaired pair have worked great and we haven't had any issues with the two newer pairs or the Pro controller. Also, I do like that the repairs are free and only take a week to complete.
However--it's a real shame that Nintendo hasn't fixed this. I like that they're fixing the controllers for free, and the Switch might very well be my favorite console of all time, but it's so ridiculous that they didn't at least fix this for the v2 hardware.
Re: Talking Point: Are You Suffering From Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fatigue?
I go in every day--usually sometime in the morning--and grab all my new fossils, make a lap or two around the island for fish, clean up the beach, sell all my stuff, visit everyone I want to to visit, etc. I may or may not play again later in the day, but usually I do.
To me, this game feels like a security blanket. I can always pop into my island and goof around for a while and feel a lot more relaxed when I'm done. I still haven't done as much terraforming stuff as I want to, and there are a lot of untouched areas on my island. I'd like to pay off my last loan and get a little more creative with the layout.
I am predicting by the end of summer I might be a little sick of this game, but who knows?
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 16th)
Always Animal Crossing every day, but I’m also super engrossed in Link’s Awakening. Finally picked up the remake last week. Reminds me of the good old days playing the old version on my GameBoy Color.
Re: Random: #RipFortnite Is Trending On Twitter, As Players Protest Against Current State Of The Game
My 12 yr old gave up Fortnite quite a while ago, but my 9 yr old still plays it almost daily. I can see the appeal of the game for that age level--my problem is how it makes him act. My wife and I get very tired of listening to him yakking at the top of his lungs the whole time he plays it.
However--it does give him a way to socialize with his friends and his cousins, especially now while we're all stuck at home. I have strict screen time limits on his Switch and iPad, so it's not possible for him to stay up all night playing. I wish more parents would explore their options with that. Many people don't know how to do it or that it's even possible.
It's a hard balance to maintain, since I'm a gamer too. The key is getting into a routine and sticking to your guns when they want more screen time.
Re: Nintendo Switch Stock Concerns Grow As Shipping Gets Temporarily Halted In Japan
I bought my v2 Switch literally less than two weeks before my state went to shelter-in-place. I appreciate having it every single day.
Re: Japanese Charts: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Looks Unstoppable With Mighty Second Week On Sale
I've had days during this stay-at-home order where I've played AC for hours on end, thought I was done for the day, and then got back on that same night and was right back at it. Any momentary feelings of boredom with this game don't seem to last more than 5 minutes after I turn the Switch off. There have been slower days, but the game seems to know exactly when to add in the right amount of stuff to pick the pace back up again.
Re: Poll: Has Your Family Bought A Second Switch To Play Animal Crossing: New Horizons 'Properly'?
@Francema Yep—sometimes they play together and cooperate on jobs, but usually they play at separate times.
Re: Poll: Has Your Family Bought A Second Switch To Play Animal Crossing: New Horizons 'Properly'?
My kids share an island on one Switch and I have my own island on my own Switch. I’m not sharing resources with those fiends.
Re: Switch Has Now Surpassed Wii's Lifetime Sales In Japan
I don't understand some people's thinking when it comes to this console war stuff. The Switch certainly doesn't exist in a vacuum and Nintendo needs to keep their eyes on the competition at all times, but I'm only becoming more and more convinced over time that Nintendo knows exactly what they're doing here.
The two big cash cows for Nintendo have always been their in-house properties like Mario, Zelda, etc. and their handheld hardware. They've had hugely successful TV-connected consoles too, but to me the bigger sales story always seems to be the GameBoy/DS sales.
Now they have the Switch, which is all their strengths wrapped up into one machine and only accelerates in sales even as customers know there is new hardware coming down the pipeline in a few months. I think the Switch is just the more interesting machine to a lot of people, and it has the advantage of being the only machine that plays Nintendo games.
The missing piece of the puzzle here is what the new software is going to be this year. I don't believe for a second that they don't have big plans to fight off any slowdown in hardware sales due to next gen machines coming out.
Re: GameStop To Stay Open During COVID-19 Outbreak Because It Is 'Essential Retail'
@IceEarthGuard I only had $5 down on it, so I told them to bank it in my account for my next game.
Re: GameStop To Stay Open During COVID-19 Outbreak Because It Is 'Essential Retail'
My GameStop called me tonight to let me know they’re still open tomorrow morning and I can still come in and get my pre-order for Animal Crossing. I told the guy I would not be coming in to get it and had downloaded it from eShop instead. He said something along the lines of “It’s good to hear you’re being safe and doing the right thing.” I’m thinking GameStop employees are not super happy they’re still open.
Re: Talking Point: Jargon-Heavy Xbox Series X And PS5 Reveals Vindicate Nintendo's Approach
@DennisNOR So crazy--I had the exact same change happen to me just this last year or so. For reasons I could not explain, I no longer had any desire to play my PS4/VR anymore. It was sitting there collecting dust, even with my backlog of games to play.
Somewhere along the line I started playing my kids' Switch and something clicked in my brain--these games were such high quality and so much fun to play. I couldn't believe I had ignored the Switch up until now. It was making me happy, which is something console games hadn't done for a long time.
Before I knew it, I had my own Switch so I could stop fighting with my kids over theirs. And I've been burning through games like crazy to make up for lost time. For me, the Switch is an absolute revelation. And yes, just like you, I also game on iOS a lot, which I had also been doing a lot more than playing PS4 lately.