Why Almost Everyone HATES Live Service Games?

Live service games, also called games-as-a-service, have been hotly debated in gaming circles on the internet. A good way to endlessly play, or a bad way to endlessly pay for something not so great? Let's talk about what's going on.

[reign]

They forgot the fact that live service games can just shut down any time they want and everything you paid/worked for just disappear with no guarantee of a refund.

[ARIXANDRE]

I love it that we can collectively agree that IT SUCKS when a Live Service model is shoehorned into what should've been a tidy, single player game.

[ThHolland]

The problem is that the focus of Live Service Games has changed as time has passed. Previously, the concept was that developers could expand the work already done by adding new things for players to do during the active period. Nowadays, updates and DLCs serve to complete the game, not expand it.

[the.martianrei]

I didn’t have internet for a long time. Growing up in a rural area. Not until I was 18. When Destiny dropped I was no longer able to keep up with my friends when it came to video games. I subsequently started feeling left out in conversation and they weren’t interested in playing split screen or party games with me anymore. It really sucked and overtime I’ve let go of my jealousy of Destiny because it is a good game but I have always hated games as a service.

When Jake or Falcon would mention that not everyone had good internet it always made me feel like I hadn’t been forgotten.

[dxk]

I played Destiny almost every day from 2014 to 2019. Let me tell you, when you finally break yourself free from a mediocre live service, the last thing you want is to play another one.

[dragonlotion]

Thank for making this video. This sentiment is gaining momentum. Developers DO pay attention to Trends, though this is the more of a paradigm shift.

[Nanorobotic]

When I saw the title to this video I thought: "Does anyone really need this explained to them?"

Then I realized that yes, the publishers need this drilled into their minds.

[dankforest]

Wow im glad someone has encompased my entire feelings on gaming in abiut 10 minutes. I hope exects listen to this. We need companys to run correctly again. Its not the devs or writers. Trust me. Noone wants to see there artistic works become a money hungry monster. Especially since the artist usually gets the shaft from the beginning.

[bfram]

Live service games focus on extracting more money while giving gamers a bad or average game.

[bobbynewman]

Absolutely spot on about the elusive nature of satisfaction in these games. Their aim is to keep your attention captured to continuely monitise you, similar to social media - not to satisfy you or enrich your life.

[Randallsilver]

I completely stopped playing those games after realising how much time I spent in one when I was leader of a guild. Full-time job indeed.
And now, I play a ton of different games and actually have fun finishing them!

[JayIceColdD]

The frustrating thing about the Live Service games I've played a lot (Anthem, Avengers) is that there were great game mechanics and great moments in the games.
But they weren't built upon and got repetitive and uber-grind heavy VERY quickly.

[metalnuck]

It’s also tiring having games with multiple currencies. You want to buy item x, so you buy a currency, then you find out that item is bought with a different currency. On top of that, how many live service games have shut down? A lot of them say they have this 10 year plan and only last a year or two.

[bradleywyss]

I think the only reason why Destiny and Warframe work as a live service is because Bungie and Digital Extremes only work on those games. 100% of the studios support them. Investing in a live service froma giant corporation is risky because they can afford to scrap the project after 6 months if they don't turn a profit.

[TeCNiNe]

I feel like more should be spoken about the addictive element of live service games! It's a constant chase and can be very damaging if it reaches the wrong people.

[darrenbrown]

You said it perfectly!

I missed so many good games for like 2 years because I was to busy playing one stupid game and didn't want to be left behind
Completely addicted
I'll never play another ever again

[kempolar]

The fact that one of the changes from Overwatch 1 - 2, is that when you log in, instead of immediately having the play button be selected, what's selected is the third option down...the store.

You log into the game expecting to play a game and instead they shout in your face "buy something!". God I do not miss that game.

Edit: I'm talking about the console version (specifically ps4), you have no mouse so just have to flick between the menu options.

[davidmuller]

People don't necessarily hate live service games, especially when they're done well. They hate the fact that every game is turning into a live service game, even when they don't need to be.

[zachtyo]

I feel like the biggest problem with them is the way it affects kids and parents/grandparents who don’t follow games.

About 3-4 years ago my nephew was obsessed with the OG of problems, Fortnite. He would play online and get mad when people would give him a hard time about skins.

He convinced his mom to put her card onto his ps4 so he could put $10 down for the battle pass each season.

Well my sister-in-law didn’t know enough about these types of games to understand the risk. After the battle pass didn’t cover all the skins he began making small charges one after the other until he’d charged over $200 on skins within a month.

This is my biggest problems with anything that has an online transaction. I can say no and not lose any sleep, kids can’t always.

[Zajice]

The worst part of live service games is when they just stop working because the devs are done. Dragalia Lost was one of my favorite games of all time, and when Nintendo shut it down, it just disappeared. All that time and money poofed away with nothing to show for it. I can't even hop in and do any solo fights for fun anymore, even though it had an extremely robust single player experience. It's hard to feel invested in a live service game knowing it could all be taken from you on a whim.