Journalists and publishers need to stop the "entitlement" card

I'm seeing the word entitlement popping up like some sort of insult lately. Its being thrown around to the point where the word "trolling" has been outclassed for losing meaning. You make one single complaint and that translates to entitlement. You probably can't even complain if there was no goomba in the next Mario because your a self entitled ogre. But just what is "entitlement"? I have some news for the media, and any forum poster who uses this word. Without us you are nothing.

If we feel we are being ripped off by DLC then we have a right to voice our opinions and stand up to this greed. I would argue that the companies dictating what we can have for a FULL RETAIL price and then charge £16 for more than 25% of a roster is the very definition of entitlement! Self entitled company greed. Its not enough that games have risen by £10 since last time. They want more. Sorry but DLC thats locked on disc or day 1 DLC is bull.

I've been wanting to write about this ever since seeing that CVG article from who knows when. Well think about it for a minute journalists. Companies continue to lock more and more DLC away from us charging higher and higher prices until it gets out of hand. If that content was available to us since before DLC came along why can't it be now? It doesn't make us "entitled" by standing up to this. It makes us realistic. We know full well we are being shafted and they can give us all that content for free. I bet forum posters who post the word actually work for the companies posting it as some sort of weapon to use but too bad. Its backfired. Its just plain greed.

Note to CVG and any other website using this line in the wrong context: we stand up and vote with our wallets and the companies don't get their cash. Companies go under and the industry dies. Without this industry, you have no job. Problem journalists?

Stop trying to treat us like we are 2. We know our rights as consumers and we stand up for them. If that makes us entitled then what does it make the comapnies who have the cheek and nerve to con us?

I agree with you. Also answering gamer statement with the "entitlement" card is a logical fallacy.

Gamers have entitlements.

Pricing strategies. While I don't wanna go against the protestors of higher prices, I can't find the energy to complain about pricing myself. As long as the the customer is not decieved in any way and knows what he/she is getting for his/her money and the price is clearly stated - I don't see a problem. Let EA and the other cool companies charge *doing my best Doctor Evil impersonation* one.....MILLION dollars if they want to. And then I will purchase that if I think it brings me value for money. And we have good reviews at Gamespot to find out what we get for the money. Is it worth it to you? Yes? No?

A lot of that "entitlement" crap came up in relation to the Mass Effect 3 ending. It all began because the vast majority of reviewers did NOT play the game all the way to the end, so of course nothing about it was mentioned in any reviews. But then it became quite a point of contention once the game was released. Of course the reviewers couldn't admit they only played one-half or one-third of the game before writing their reviews - they had to cover their butts, and the way they chose to do that was to accuse the gaming public of feeling entitled. Which is a ludicrous argument to start with - when you pay $60 for something, you certainly have the right to trust that it will live up to your expectations. Yet most of these "journalists" express the opinion that whatever the hell anybody puts out, you damned well better like it and keep your mouths shut about the whole thing.

A very typical reason why I never go to the main page of sites like this.

I actually agree that this mentality of entitlement within the gaming community has become pervasive in recent years and I personally find it to be more than a bit juvenile.

The DLC issue is a complicated one but there are quite a few gamers who have sought to distill the argument into a puerile, myopic and erroneous assertion that all content developed for a game should be made available at no charge even when the game in questions already offers a copious and robust amount of initial content.

From my vantage point, that's the very essence of entitlement.

A lot of that "entitlement" crap came up in relation to the Mass Effect 3 ending. It all began because the vast majority of reviewers did NOT play the game all the way to the end, so of course nothing about it was mentioned in any reviews.Jackc8

You're seriously using that dumb argument? Really? Christ...

we stand up and vote with our wallets and the companies don't get their cash. Companies go under and the industry dies. Without this industry, you have no job. Problem journalists?quickposter

Do you know what else gamers are entitled to? A refund. Don't like a game then go and get your money back. Don't want to buy a DLC then don't, no one is forcing you to buy it against your will.Tazzman1000

Unless you buy the game DD as many companies are trying to push then you can not ger a refund.

Also many MP games are move those play only on their selective servers and a number of those seem servers ro favor the maps from the newest map packs

Pricing strategies. While I don't wanna go against the protestors of higher prices, I can't find the energy to complain about pricing myself. As long as the the customer is not decieved in any way and knows what he/she is getting for his/her money and the price is clearly stated - I don't see a problem. Let EA and the other cool companies charge *doing my best Doctor Evil impersonation* one.....MILLION dollars if they want to. And then I will purchase that if I think it brings me value for money. And we have good reviews at Gamespot to find out what we get for the money. Is it worth it to you? Yes? No?

bostadskontrakt

[QUOTE="Tazzman1000"]Do you know what else gamers are entitled to? A refund. Don't like a game then go and get your money back. Don't want to buy a DLC then don't, no one is forcing you to buy it against your will.wiouds

Unless you buy the game DD as many companies are trying to push then you can not ger a refund.

Also many MP games are move those play only on their selective servers and a number of those seem servers ro favor the maps from the newest map packs

[QUOTE="quickposter"] we stand up and vote with our wallets and the companies don't get their cash. Companies go under and the industry dies. Without this industry, you have no job. Problem journalists?bjvill

Precisely. I have long been a staunch supporter of the industry, but even I have my limits. Some of the shenanigans that have gone on this generation have been shameful. So now I (someone who used to have no problem shelling out full price for a game) have begun to just wait for the full version of the game to come out, usually at a much lower price, and that's working out just fine for me. Am I doing it to hurt the industry? No, but I would be giving the industry more money if their practices were different. Do I feel "entitled" about getting the most content for my dollar? Yes, only an idiot thinks otherwise. So essentially it comes down to a value proposition. Do I feel compelled to buy games at full price on release day when I KNOW I can wait two months, get more content and spend less money? I do not. It's not something I am absolutist about, but really, what reasons are there to buy a game at release? What incentives are being offered by developers? Very few in my estimation, besides the feeling of wanting to have something the day it comes out -- and that, frankly, just isn't as powerful as the reasons NOT to buy at release.

I would feel less strongly about doing this if I was alone and the pricing strategy seemed to be working for the industry... but it's not. Sales right now are terrible; sometimes illustrating record-breaking lows that haven't been seen in decades. Taking out the emotional and controversial aspect of "entitlement" for a moment, let's ask a question: is the current price structure working? Seeing the year-over-year sales numbers, a fvck-awful economy, hearing the dozens of developer closures and layoffs, given that a 20% increase was already built in to every copy for this generation to offset costs, I'd say the answer is a resounding NO.

So let's sum this up: the pricing model has resulted in slower sales in many cases of the core product needed to buy the DLC they're so adamant about pushing, often on release day. Again, if what they were doing was working, I'd feel like more of an outlier, but it is not. The market is in terrible shape and getting worse. The time for shell games and shenanigans is over. The publishers need to throw their balls over their shoulders and start aggressively going after a market again, because whether you want to call it entitlement or failure doesn't matter -- it doesn't change the fact that it isn't fvcking working.

And, not to make a federal case out of it, but entitlement goes both ways. I could argue that developers feel entitled to a certain number of sales even though they are adopting broken models that have affected the value proposition of their product for early adopters. Prices are higher and content has been shaved off, held back, sandbagged or whatever the hell you want to call it, and these developers feel they are still entitled to my money. In every other business, the market dictates what it will bear. Anyone see what happens when auto sales start sagging? The manufacturers start incentivizing purchases through rebates or low finance rates. Other industries begin adding in value, not taking it out.

[QUOTE="wiouds"]

[QUOTE="Tazzman1000"]Do you know what else gamers are entitled to? A refund. Don't like a game then go and get your money back. Don't want to buy a DLC then don't, no one is forcing you to buy it against your will.Tazzman1000

Unless you buy the game DD as many companies are trying to push then you can not ger a refund.

Also many MP games are move those play only on their selective servers and a number of those seem servers ro favor the maps from the newest map packs

DD as in digital download where you can not get a refund but for some rare cases. Some games fall under this even if you buy the game in a store.

they won't, its the #1 excuse when people call them on their bs, and we all know the ammount of bs devs/publishers try to pull on customers

just look at bioware/EA handling of mass effect 3 endings, customers are "entitled" because they think they deserved a good product and specially a goodending? rofl.

It's a bad word to describe sometimes bad behavior. They need to come up with something more creative to describe the sometimes irrational and incoherent rambling of some minority of people. Not all of the people who are complaining are irrational.

Who else would you call "entitled" if not the people who paid money for it?

Lets replace the word "entitled" with "unrealistic expectations" and the OP's entire arguement kind of falls apart. The entitlement isn't the issue, it's expectation.

Lets replace the word "entitled" with "unrealistic expectations" and the OP's entire arguement kind of falls apart. The entitlement isn't the issue, it's expectation.

keech

The problem is still the same. They are using a blank and poor reasoning to counter statements that they do not like.

For mass effect 3 I was expecting an ending that fit with the rest of the game. I do not think that is "unrealistic expectations" but Bioware failed that.

Also unlike what seem like many, I was expecting that none of the moral "choices" would have any inpact on the story.

Lets replace the word "entitled" with "unrealistic expectations" and the OP's entire arguement kind of falls apart. The entitlement isn't the issue, it's expectation.

keech

The day people stop using the word 'entitlement' will be the day I stop using the term 'corporate apologist'.

I actually agree that this mentality of entitlement within the gaming community has become pervasive in recent years and I personally find it to be more than a bit juvenile.

The DLC issue is a complicated one but there are quite a few gamers who have sought to distill the argument into a puerile, myopic and erroneous assertion that all content developed for a game should be made available at no charge even when the game in questions already offers a copious and robust amount of initial content.

From my vantage point, that's the very essence of entitlement.

Grammaton-Cleric

Personally, when I think of entitlement, I always have to compare it to the past to define it. Entitlement does not stand alone, you need to look at what we once had as opposed to what we currently do. I think it can be reasonably argued that gamers today are getting less than we used to for the same amount of money. We are nickeled and dimed for content that would've 5+ years ago been included for free, there's on-disk and day-one DLC, and DRM that robs us of rights held previously among other things. Use of the product we paid for has become restricted, and used game sales are in real danger. Yet if people raise one complaint about these imposing encroachments they are automatically labelled spoiled brats.

It's like someone having handcuffs slowly put on them after having not committed a crime and then being told they're entitled because they vent their desire for the freedom that they once had when they have done nothing differently than they had in the past. I highly doubt anyone would see an innocent being handcuffed and crying for their liberty as acting entitled. Yet gamers, in the same situation, are. And I believe it has to do in large part with gaming being a hobby and seen as a luxury. This for some reason strips us of all say and allows us consumers to be walked upon by these companies with no recourse without the consequence of being labelled an entitled, whiney brats by these corporate apologists (and I have no idea why they defend them). "Entitlement" in this sense is not so much a matter of "waaaah....c'mon, we want more!!" as much as it is "please, we don't want less". Therefor, I don't define it as entitlement at all. It is not really a fitting word in this case.

That said, given the behaviour which many choose to express their grievances I can't really blame others for viewing them as entitled. Many, if not most, of the complaints presented are indeed very juvenile in manner but that doesn't necessarily invalidate their position. Mass Effect 3's whole ending debacle was absurd beyond laughability, however at ME's unveiling Bioware did in fact promise that all choices in previous games would affect the outcome. I didn't even play ME3 but I heard the different endings were nothing more than the same cinematic playing through a different color filter (could be wrong on that though). Not saying that that excuses all the gamers' hissy-fits, but when any company comes out and claims their product will do something, then knowingly takes people's money and it doesn't deliver what they claimed, that's treading on shaky ground. I'm no lawyer so I can't speak on the legality of it but I'd assume that falls under the "false advertising" category.

So in a way I agree that some feel they are entitled. But in more cases I think peoples' complaints are perfectly valid as we as gamers are having more and more hoops to jump through with our hands and feet bound while a while back we did not have to. Call it people complaining about a changing of the times and a painful growth adjustment period, but I just can't see entitlement to be a proper term here.

I can never understand is why anyone would side with the corporations, who only care about how much money they can get on you vs the amount of money they used to make you happy. You is the consumer, should act accordingly and only care about how much money you're getting vs how much enjoyable content you're getting. I can see Street Fighter fanboys being happy with whatever Capcom offers them, I just don't get why they would object the idea of getting their precious Street Fighter for less money. In before 'if you don't like it don't buy it!' http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/6187-Why-Boycotts-Fail-Where-Whining-Tantrums-WinKell_the_Gamer

Is there artistry in games? Sure. look at SoTC. But the primary focus of the games industry is to turn a proffit, and they will shaft us when they can to do it.

Sometimes I end up not buying at all. LongZhiZi