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From: Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: Oh, Randy (Borderlands 4 edition)
Date: Wed, 21 May 2025 06:27:45 -0700
Organization: i2pn2 (i2pn.org)
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On 5/20/2025 5:15 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> 
> I've said it before, but I grudgingly agree that video games probably
> should be priced more.* The $60USD 'standard price' for AAA games is
> historically low if you take inflation into account, even as the games
> themselves are becoming ever more larger and more complex.**
> 
> But at the same time, the public at large is --especially now--
> extremely sensitive to price hikes, and video games are unnecessary
> luxuries that many think they can cut back on purchasing. So this
> trend of jacking up the price to $80USD isn't going down well at all
> with most customers.
> 
> So when Gearbox recently announced that the soon-to-be-released
> "Borderlands 4" was going to ship at the higher price point, there was
> a wee bit of pushback. Fortunately, wiser heads at Gearbox prevailed,
> and they spun a clever marketing campaign convincing potential
> customers why this increase was well worth it, given all the new
> benefits gamers would get from the new game, and all was well in the
> world.
> 
> No, hahaha, of course none of that happened. Instead a "I'm the
> smartest boy in the room" CEO --good old 'I don't know why I have
> Lolita pix on that thumb drive I carry' around Randy Pitchford--
> opened his mouth and made everything worse again. Said he regarding
> players unhappy with having to pay the higher price: "If you're a real
> fan, you'll find a way to make it happen."***
> 
> Oh, Randy... no. No, no, no. What the hell is wrong with you?
> 
> Aside from the arrogance of somebody with too much money not
> understanding why people might object to the price hike, he's also, I
> think, over-estimating the appeal of the "Borderlands" brand. Because,
> let's face it, while a lot of people loved the original two games, the
> franchise hasn't been doing that well and --especially after that
> disastrous movie-- its done little to bring people back into the fold.
> Now is not the time to drive people away; you need to give them
> reasons to want to come back. Being an out-of-touch too-rich
> douche-bag is not a winning strategy.
> 
> Well, I'm sure he doesn't care. Even if Borderlands 4 fails --even if
> Gearbox itself folds-- I'm sure he's well protected by a golden
> parachute. Actually doing his job of keeping the company healthy and
> customers happy is hardly a requirement for CEOs anymore, anyway.
> 
> I wasn't going to get "Borderlands 4"... certainly not at the $80
> price point, and unlikely at anything lower. The franchise has left me
> increasingly cold over the years; I found its gunplay pretty average,
> and the entire looter-shooter mechanic (ten billion guns and none of
> them good!) tedious. The setting, while somewhat intriguing at the
> start, is now a barely-funny joke run into the ground through
> repetition. And they're bringing Claptrap back, despite everybody
> hating him. Yeah, there's nothing I want in "Borderlands 4" to start
> with.
> 
> But there's even less of a chance I'm interested now.
> 
> Good job, Randy.
> 

There's the other outcome.  Piracy.  Price too high, no one interested = 
no one buys your game (at release and that price anyway.) Price too 
high, interest is high, no one has enough cash = Piracy.

I am in the 'not interested' demographic.  I could afford an $80 but 
only if it was something I was very interested in.  I'll wait until a 
big sale if I even ever get enough interest.  If the big sale never 
happens, oh well.

-- 
-Justisaur

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