Gamers can now spend $1 to purchase accuracy-boosting headshot reticle for single-player campaign.
Crystal Dynamics has added additional microtransaction items for Tomb Raider. Available now is a $1 headshot reticle for the game's single-player campaign. As its name suggests, this item helps players be more accurate with Lara's weapons.
The headshot reticle is not the first of Tomb Raider's single-player microtransaction offerings. Gamers can also spend $1 on attribute boosts like Agility--which lets Lara climb mountains faster and endure damage from higher falls--and Animal Instinct, a skill that allows Lara to see XP-laden animals while in Instinct Mode.
Players can also purchase various multiplayer-specific items like an assortment of weapons and additional playable characters for $1 each. These were all made available at launch on March 5.
Tomb Raider is the latest full-priced console game to offer in-game purchases to customers, joining the likes of Gears of War: Judgment, Dead Space 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
4 Like I don't have a problem with micro-transactions in free to play games, but this is just ridiculous. It's a kick in the teeth to anyone who buys these at the start and then discovers they could have unlocked them all for free within the first hour. Shameful practice.
To spend 65$ on a game and then have to pay $ to get the dang Bow and Arrow to shoot straight is criminal... This is leading to a nightmare for gamers.When I heard Micro's would be in this game I decided to pass.....
@XspidervenomX
I see you have done absolutely no research before posting an opinion on something that you know nothing about. The microtransactions just grant early access to skills that you would unlock by playing the game normally. You won't miss out on anything by not purchasing them.
You really don't need to pay for anything in the singleplayer. Bows shoot great, climbing is fine and It doesn't take very long to unlock all of those skills in game anyway. I must have unlocked all of those mentioned above within the first hour. Just get the game and ignore the micro-transactions. I didn't even know that you could pay for these skills early until I read this article and I've nearly completed the game. You should give Tomb Raider a go, its intense. Best game that I've played this year so far.
@sethharris1191For 65$ you getting a worse version of the game..You dont have the ability to see where this is going..""The headshot reticle is not the first of Tomb Raider's single-player microtransaction offerings. Gamers can also spend $1 on attribute boosts like Agility--which lets Lara climb mountains faster and endure damage from higher falls--and Animal Instinct, a skill that allows Lara to see XP-laden animals while in Instinct Mode.""
I dont want to buy games where I have to pay to make it work better...
4 Like MT's are a great way for the industry to generate money from stupid people! personally, i find these intrusive money hocking schemes, 'in game' no less to be quite cheap and tasteless attempts at money grubbing. Any one other than industry exec's that support these schemes should be sterilized as not to pollute the world any further.
3 Like Reddit AMA:
Crystal: "we dont do day 1 dlc we're pretty cool like that".
Reddit User 1: "Yeh these guys are pretty cool".
Reddit User 2: "I agree".
***Next day.... Single player microtransactions***
Reddit User 3: "trollface.gif"
9 Like Any idiots who pay for DLC, are ruining gaming for true gamers....BOTTOM LINE
As long as dipsh1ts are willing to pay for a game 9 times, the greedy publishers will keep making DLC (ie...pay to play).
7 Like @enoslives7 Couldn't agree more. The problem is, those dipshits are going to buy this crap and the publishers know it. Microtransactions are not going away any time soon and so many blind sheep don't even care.
9 Like How long until our gameplay experience is affected if we don't participate in microtransactions? I bought a $60 game, not a damn storefront. Is it wrong to just want to buy a complete experience?
5 Like WE NEED SEXY TERA COSTUMES! HARDER DIFFICULTY! WE NEED LONGER INTRICATE TOMBS! WE NEED WAYS TO FREE ROAM THE UNEXPLORED PARTS OF THE ISLAND. ACCESS NEW BEACHES, EVEN A WAY TO RACK UP SALVAGE TO MAKE A SALVAGE BOAT TO GET TO NEIGHBORING ISLANDS. BUT GIVE US SEXY TERA COSTUMES OR AT LEAST SOME SHORT PANTS!
1 Like lol good thing im not a perfectionist gamer. i just well~~~~ play the game
still its a good game.
10 Like I absolutely suck at gaming. I need to play on the easiest of levels and even then I die a lot! (I am, after all, a 68 year-old grama who just started playing a few years ago). But I still LOVE action/adventure video games and their challenges. Even though I am an awful player, I refuse to buy anything that gives me a crutch because a big part of the fun for me is the satisfaction of finally getting through a tough spot after trying time and time again. If this pay-for DLC continues, where will it end--will it be like the bingo parlors where if you pay twice as much for a machine it will automatically mark the numbers and the only thing you have to do is watch for the big red letters on the screen that say "yell bingo"?
6 Like I hate being harassed for money, and I won't accept that games I paid for doing so.
1 Like The article fails to mention the fact that the single player unlocks it mentions are also available for free. It's easy to earn the experience for the skill points in order to unlock them. I never felt like I had to spend money on anything. The game is easy and fun. I'd recommend it.
7 Like I wanted to buy this game, but now I'll have to say no. I hate any kind of DLC within the first months after release. There are really very few games with decent DLC in my opinion. But micro transactions Really? To level up? To buy stats? Imagine demon souls doing that...christ.
If you buy any of this BS you deserve to die painfully, surrounded by those you love spitting on you as you feel four life fading away slowly, miserable in sadness.
OK, maybe that was a bit harsh. But really, if you call yourself a gamer you can't support this kind of behavior. I feel it is disrespectful.
1 Like @guahiatt guy , take it easy ! the game is worth a play just like many others wait till the price drops and just forget DLC as I am sure many will !
3 Like @vivalatour @guahiatt hahaha sorry about that. I don't think there is nothing inherently wrong with DLC or expansion packs or whatever. But the way many developers are implementing them is what bothers me. Micro transactions, on the other hand....I don't know, just hate them. I'm pretty sure this game is really good, as you and many others claim. Thanks for your comment
@vivalatour @guahiatt At the current trend, pretty soon there will be no price drops. But the game is worth playing, I agree.
Why are people getting so mad about this? Are they putting a gun to your head forcing you to pay for these micro transactions? If you don't want them its really not that big of a deal. just don't buy any of it. Tomb Raider was a very good and complete game. Its not like they held anything back from the campaign to try and sell to us later. I welcome them to try to make as much of a profit as possible. This was a very good game and they deserve to cash in.
1 Like @CTruluck1324132 How long until everyone's gameplay experience is altered to encourage purchase of microtransactions? Their very existence implies that game design was altered to facilitate their inclusion, and a revenue model was based on those alterations. Now, I will agree that Tomb Raider is a fantastic game and I'm not going to trade it in out of spite, but I wonder about the future of our experiences if AAA gaming continues in this direction. If the microtransaction side of these games starts to become profitable compared to the retail sale of the game, you can bet your ass that they will become more invasive.
3 Like @CTruluck1324132 cuz when games start putting microtransaction inside,its like theyre giving you a half assed game that was supposed to be covered with patches but instead charging you and calling it a microtransaction
@bobdimstar @CTruluck1324132 Tomb Raider isn't a half assed game though. The microtransactions For the SP mentioned in the article are available for free in game. They are a part of your skill trees. Experience is easy to earn to the skill points too.
@atomic_jon Tombraider isn't half assed, but I guarantee you that future games will be (please see Simcity 2013).
7 Like @CTruluck1324132 You're correct, no one is forcing anyone to buy it. I'm not buying it and I think it is still a problem.The problem here is that many practices in the gaming industry (DLC, SP games now including multiplayer, online passes) start off as innocuous actions. They don't bring up a red flag, and even people, such as yourself, will say "it's no big deal, don't like it, don't buy it". Sadly enough some people will buy it if it's available. Other publishers will see that there is potential to make more money and adopt similar practices. I don't know how much money DS3 made from microtransactions, and it probably doesn't matter. These innocuous microtransactions are a step in normalizing the practice as a whole. Once gamers are eased into the idea of microtransactions, they will become just as prevalent as DLC, pre-order bonuses, online passes and so on. Call me a pessimist, but I don't think microtransactions in our full retail games are going away anytime soon.
2 Like @blaze_boy30 @CTruluck1324132 Exactly. It's not the presence of microtransactions that concerns me. The inevitable adaptation of game design towards monetizing player behavior rather than having "pure" design and mechanics will be what drives me from gaming for good.
ok what i find acceptable is that at least it wasnt in from day1 meaning no content was held back or even difficulty in acquiring these items increased (not even remotely lol)
2 Like They are selling in-game attributes for single player game? This is really, really bad.
1 Like @AlexFili btw the game is already in easy mode so if anyone needs any of this stuff they seriosly shldnt be gaming
@rantingraj @AlexFili haha..i finished the game with 100% items found and all weapons fully upgraded on hard (not really). To buy these short cuts is lame and would have ruined the challenge which is part of the fun. Game was fun, but I have no plans on playing this game anymore. Sell, sell, sell...
very very very easy to upgrade all the way but whoever wants to skip past it and buy the abilities go ahead as long as you have fun : D
How about actually playing the game and eventually becoming better and more skilled and accurate with using the game's weapons? Guess that was old days.
12 Like These big publishers and stupid developers make it extremely easy these days to stop giving shits about them and not buy any games from them, it's like they're all competing for EA's #1 most hated / worst company position.
Step 1 - Take a once good IP / franchise to ride on that name for added media and fan exposure
Step 2 - Develop a casual, for the "broad audience accessible" fully linear, medicore (at best) sequel with no replayability value and no mod support
Step 3 - Cut out all the non crucial content and slice them up into DLC packages for post release milking
Step 4 - Spend all the money on false advertising and hype campaigns
Step 5 - Release broken game with annoying DRM and ignore all fan feedback
Step 6 - Forget about Singleplayer, only concentrate on Multiplayer
Step 7 - Sell cheats, features and recolored content as microtransactions
Step 8 - Sell as much DLC as possible
Step 9 - Lie to customers or completely ignore them and don't offer any support
Step 10 - Repeat
For some strange reason there seem to be people out there that put up with that shit, otherwise these publishers would be out of business already.
Haven't bought this new Tomb Raider yet and never will - They've shot themselves in the foot multiple times with their stupidity.
This means I'll have more money to spend on indie games and developers which arent't full of shit, which is a good thing because I can better support them this way.
@bloody-hell well said man your comment deserves a lot of likes.
Also, while everybody is busy praising tomb raider because how vulnerable or whatever lara is and her moaning and groaning because a bunch of men stuck on an island for years just wanna kill her before even taking a taste (I know I would after being stuck at a place like that) as a long time Tomb Raider fan, personally cant stand how easy they made the game!?!
never in tomb raider did Lara auto adjust jumping in distances and or the way she's facing, your timing needed to be good in all of tomb raiders platforming! now its even worse than in Assassins Creed games!
I don't mind the new Uncharted like engine at all but I hate them for dumbing down the platforming and puzzles so much. If these two things don't improve for the inevitable next TR, I am out forever. Also, I never buy games with season passes and if I am sure they gonna put out tons of DLC's but I made an exception for my beloved Lara but MICRO TRANSACTIONS!?!? Im very much regretting my purchase now
1 Like @rantingraj @bloody-hell yes, it was very easy, my personal favorite is still Anniversary's time trials...
@Arcturuss unless it was before the internetz and you had to buy a game magazin (or a cheat database program on a floppy) to get to them (in the place where I live at least)
3 Like You bastards. I was so freaking close to buying this game last weekend, but didn't because I couldn't part with the cash (car needed a fix). Now I'm going to have to say no, out of principle =(
Crystal Dynamics confirms all upcoming expansions for action-adventure game will be multiplayer-focused.
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