this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2023
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[–] fluckx@lemmy.world 276 points 1 year ago (18 children)

Can we boycot the companies that do this already. I get the AC IP is nice, I've certainly enjoyed my fair share of their games.

But the ad industry is completely getting derailed. What's next ? Watch a 15s promo video every time you want to open te fridge? Watch a promo video before you can open the door?

Have your walls randomly show you ads?

Stop buying their shit. Regardless of how decent the game is. Punish them for the predatory practices. Demand refunds.

But no. People will likely be outraged, and then next game angry and then the next game they'll suck it all up and complain about the good all days.

#remindmein5years

[–] dmonzel@lemm.ee 132 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I always thought the cyberpunk genre was a warning, not a blueprint.

[–] xantoxis@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don't Create the Torment Nexus etc etc

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[–] Jaysyn@kbin.social 59 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Stop buying their shit.

Way ahead of you.

[–] scops@reddthat.com 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah, unfortunately, it is hard for me to hurt their bottom line because I checked out of the series after Origins.

That said, I've never sought a refund on a digital copy of a game, but I wouldn't hesitate if I paid full price for a game only to find out there were in game ads

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[–] dpkonofa@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

Drink verification can to proceed.

[–] kromem@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Companies should focus on making in-game advertising appear 'diegetic' as opposed to the low hanging fruit of inserting it like a sore thumb.

Had Ubisoft scattered a number of graffiti or town criers in Odyssey's cities talking about visiting a foreign land for less money the next few days only, where the art direction looked and felt perfectly at home in the world itself and interacting with the hooks alerted users to the promotion details, this would have been way less disgusting to players.

You didn't have players revolting when Cyberpunk's 2.0 update suddenly had characters talking about Dogtown which then hooked into trying to upsell the DLC. It fit the world and was something that could be ignored or engaged with as desired.

GTA: Online's phone calls hooking into paid or new content are another example of doing it better (though their frequency is tuned really poorly).

The problem is most publishers don't want to spend the extra time and money to fit ads into the worlds players are in. Which is dumb, as testing a really terrible UX that players will revolt on and press will cover negatively is going to shoot in the foot an initiative that would have gone much smoother with a bit of elbow grease and respect for the players.

Especially with the increase in in-game commerce I expect that we will see a spike in in-game advertising over the next few years, and with advances in generative AI that might even end up being tailored to the in game world as well much more often.

But the reactivity of the audience here means that the publishers who do a good job on limiting the degree to which moving in that direction abuses the playerbase are going to end up much better off than the ones that think dumb shit like a popup ad in the game UI during play is a good idea.

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[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 180 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I have a hard unbreakable rule:

Free, you can serve me ads, I'll try to avoid them but ok. But the minute I pay for something and you try to give me ads on top, we're gonna have a problem.

[–] umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 43 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Newspapers. You paid for it, and it still got ads.

I know, digital and printed ads are different.

[–] kautau@lemmy.world 50 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Cable TV, same thing. This is just old media execs trying to “bring back the magic” or new media execs thinking that old media techniques will work

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[–] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 92 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Ah, my hard line stance of "never buy anything ubisoft" is still working out for me.

[–] Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago (13 children)

Ubisoft, epic, ea, Blizzard/Activision...

I wont say Bethesda because I'm hoping for another Doom or Quake.

[–] MycoBro@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (3 children)

_EA is the fucking devil. They bought my favorite game, Ultima Online, and ruined it. _

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[–] kamen@lemmy.world 81 points 1 year ago (17 children)

Something you're paying for should be completely ad free, period.

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[–] Cowbee@lemm.ee 74 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Enshittification infects all.

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[–] Railison@aussie.zone 74 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don’t mind in-game ads printed on in-map billboards and stuff, but ads that interrupt gameplay? Fuck that. Especially if you’ve paid for the content.

[–] Lightborne@lemmy.world 86 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

I don’t mind in-game ads printed on in-map billboards and stuff

Not ten years ago people were complaining about this very thing.

It's fascinating to watch the boiling frog in basically real time. Give it another 10 years and ads that interrupt gameplay will be seen as normal too.

[–] 2deck@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

10 years later...

I don't mind ads that interrupt gameplay, but i hate when they require you to smile at your webcam and say "i love corporation!" and give two thumbs up. Other than that, the gameplay is monotinous enough to help me forget who i am and that the world is burning.

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[–] witx@lemmy.world 68 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

That's why those who "jUsT pAy PReMiUm" are at fault. These companies are just pushing the line to see what sticks, and you're perpetuating it by paying

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[–] the_q@lemmy.world 67 points 1 year ago (21 children)

Gamers continue to tell these companies that they'll put up with anything while complaining online and continuing to purchase shitty games from shitty companies. Rinse and repeat.

This is 90% on consumers. Stop buying shit if you want change and I mean in any industry.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago (18 children)

this is what companies want you to think. it's like expecting drivers to be sensible so that we can reduce deaths from traffic accidents. it's not a solution. we have traffic lights, seat belts, all sorts of security systems and regulations on car manufacturers (though not nearly enough).

consumer protection doesn't happen by telling everyone to be sensible. regulation is needed.

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[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago (5 children)

The first time I saw Ubisoft doing this was actually kinda neat because it was done well.

It was Rainbow Six Vegas/Vegas 2 and the billboards and posters scattered around were real ads. I thought it was a clever way to improve immersion.

[–] Moneo@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Funny, cause nothing breaks immersion faster for me than product placement.

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[–] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 32 points 1 year ago

Clever or not, you're not paying to watch advertisements, you're paying to play a game as a recreational activity.

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 30 points 1 year ago

I did think it was clever, but I distinctly remember for R6V1, every single billboard, truck side, and bus stop poster, was Shia LaBeouf staring at you with binoculars for the movie "Disturbia" lol.

I guess in the R6 universe that was going to be the biggest film release of the century hahaha. Maybe they just didn't get a ton of takers?

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[–] regdog@lemmy.world 59 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I stopped buying Ubisoft games years ago. It was around that that time where they forced always-online mode on their single player games.

I stopped playing their games (literally) because I was sure from that point on the user experience is only going to get worse. I thing I was right in that decision.

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[–] EmperorHenry@discuss.tchncs.de 46 points 1 year ago (5 children)

How much fucking money do they need?

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago (2 children)

all the money. literally nothing less than all the money in the entire world is enough.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 25 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And even then, they'll want more. That's capitalism

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[–] SuperSpruce@lemmy.ml 44 points 1 year ago

Forza Horizon 4 did this but worse. It would be an unskippable 2 minute video ad ignoring your volume settings. It only played 5 times in my 45 hours of gameplay but it was so damn unacceptable that it's reminding me to give that game a negative review.

Forza Horizon 5 does not do this. Get that game or something else instead.

[–] DrMango@lemmy.world 41 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] 1984@lemmy.today 38 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

That's enough for me to never buy any of their games ever again.

Remember when they said that if we pay for the product, we dont get ads? :)

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[–] lntl@lemmy.ml 37 points 1 year ago (7 children)

i can't wait for the day when we will need to watch ads or buy premium before we can use our cars

[–] MeanEYE@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

There are people who are not already angry at Ubisoft?

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[–] darth_tiktaalik@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 year ago (6 children)

And this is why retro games and open source games make up the bulk of my gaming experience

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[–] 5BC2E7@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

disgusting. it doesn't surprise me. publishers are continously testing how much their customers can bend over.

[–] xenoclast@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Gamers continue to buy the games by publishers that do this and will continue to put up with it as they slowly boil like frogs.

It's difficult to fight the slow conditioning that started with horse armor and Farmville. There's no escaping it until we replace capitalism with something better.

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[–] FoxFairline@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 year ago (4 children)

They should be enraged about the rape apologists who are in charge of the company. But consumers forget fast when the shiny new thing is out.

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[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

Still playing Ubishit games

Lol

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

The only ads I want in my video games are in-world lore appropriate ones. Like the biomechanical penis implant ad from Omikron: The Nomad Soul.

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[–] reksas@lemmings.world 22 points 1 year ago

They are doing fucking what?!

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