Revolutionary Rant: Single-Player Content Locking for Used Purchases of RAGE

I do not understand why they would do that. That’s a chicken sh*t thing to do. I thought Id was cool. But this is a big suck my dick to used game buyers. Tim Willits sounds like he’s bragging about what they’ve done. “Buy it new or f*ck you!” Should be their new company motto. Plus this should kill your trade in value, and what about game rentals?

well considering people who buy used arnt customers of theres, why shouldnt they give them a big **** you? they dont support them so why should the devs give a crap about them.

Id started out as a shareware only company, you remember shareware don’t you, play the first part free pay to play more and get support. What they are doing here fries in the face of their shareware roots, and as you say: “they dont support them so why should the devs give a crap about them” A shareware company’s answer wouldn’t have been to lock you out FOREVER for buying used, but to charge you to play more and get support.

Seriously I'm about to sell all my ****ing gaming **** and perhaps go outside. Maybe I'll lose some weight and be able to pay off my credit cards.

That is, after I beat Lost Odyssey which I just bought *USED* for $15. Came with all four discs. Fuck you rage

Uhm, it's not that big of a deal, it's basically telling places like gamestop to **** off. If a guy buys a hamburger and eats half of it and hands it to you, do you expect the owner to give you another half of a burger for free? I frankly don't care; as a PC gamer, not getting used games is nothing new.

yeah, what's a used PC game?

That was an awful analogy.

Well no...He gets to enjoy the hamburger in its entirety, then sell it at 90% of what he paid originally, but you still only get half the hamburger.

I'm really just ranting at the direction games are going. I'm not a pc gamer, nor do I buy games anymore unless its a big title like the upcoming Darksiders 2 or Skyrim. I use other means of getting games for cheaper than paying $60 for $15 worth of content (with most games, not saying Rage will be short or low grade).

nominated for the people mis-speak.

Uhm, it's not that big of a deal, it's basically telling places like gamestop to **** off. If a guy buys a hamburger and eats half of it and hands it to you, do you expect the owner to give you another half of a burger for free? I frankly don't care; as a PC gamer, not getting used games is nothing new.

I thought I heard you guys same something about the amount of discs Rage was on. So I wonder if the only reason they did this is to avoid another disc for a bunch of rooms and side quests and make it available with a code for download for what would normally have just been tossed aside. I normally hate this DRM, DLC, Online pass code s**t [with a passion]. just for some reason I feel like if I like the game a lot, I can buy it and play it again with all gameplay.At least then its $60 at the start, instead of $60 & then $10 DLC later.

As long as more than one person on the same Xbox can access this crap then whatever. I'm not happy with it, but I'd let it slide IF Rage turned out to be as good as it looks like it could be.

This is BS. What I want to know is, how do they know it was bought used? I guess they could tell it was used in another 360, but does that mean if it were leant to a buddy that it would lock the content? Either way, this just went straight off my Game Radar.

F*ck Rage! Boycott this a-hole's games and any other company that's doing sh*t like that. If this turds want people to buy their games new make 'em great, make' em long and lower their f*cking price!

Games are no longer about the experience and the enjoyment. Nowadays, they are nothing more than quick money generators that game companies will bask in, then quietly shut down the servers when the game is no longer making enough money. Just imagine years down the road when this game is no longer in circulation and your only option was to buy it used. OOPS! Now you're locked out of full content forever because the company isn't running servers to unlock the content anymore!

Rage took 6 years to make how is that a “…quick money generator…”?

It has nothing to do with Rage specifically, but more about the games that focus on piling on DLCs and other things to entice people to buy the game new and not used. Not to mention that your comment has nothing to do with what I said; I never said anything about how a development time correlates to someone finding a way to generate money quickly.

Look I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you. My comment has everything to do with what you said. First your comment is in the comment section of a GR post about the game Rage. Which implies you are speaking about the game Rage unless you clarify that you are not speaking specifically about it. Second there is a huge hole in your logic, development time is as inherently important to a game as a pregnancy is to a human. No pregnancy , no human. No development time, no game. Simple cause and effect, domino hitting domino. Thus if there is no game, how does one make this “quick money” you speak of?

wont be purchasing this game as fun as it looked if this is the state gaming is heading i've still got a choice to not buy your (id's) ****.

Don't care either way, I'll still buy it. I don't consider it a slap in the face, or anything of the sort. Besides, I never buy used, mostly because I like to support the developers who make amazing games. When you buy used, the developer often doesn't see a penny of the cash. When you buy used, the only person you're supporting is the guy behind the counter at Game Stop, and Game Stop's corporate bottom-line. It is Game Stop policy to make you buy used games or sign up for their various promotions, and hey, guess what? If an employee doesn't sell enough used games, or power up or edge cards, they're fired. You can sell new games all day, but Game Stop doesn't WANT you to buy new games, they want you to buy used games, because that money goes in their pocket. It is the same thing for used consoles. I see the reasoning here, and honestly? You all getting pissed off at ID for this is stupid, you're targeting the wrong culprit here. Get mad at Game Stop, they're the reason for this sort of reasoning. More and more companies will start doing things like this as long as Game Stop keeps up its behavior of trying to peddle out used games. Get mad at them, not Id Software.

@NecroWolf: By your reasoning If Id hits me in the head with a baseball bat I should blame GameStop. Selling things second hand is not and has never been evil, and I won’t address the other claims against GameStop, because I simply do not have enough information to form an opinion one way or the other. Anyway if they are pissed at GameStop why try to f*ck the guy who buys a used game? If they are pissed at GameStop they should stop selling their product through GameStop, not f*ck the guy who buys a used game!

...and why should the game industry be different from every single other industry on Earth? If I decide to sell my car, Chevrolet isn't going to see a dime of the money I get. If I decide to sell my 360, Microsoft isn't going to see a dime of the money I get. If I decide to sell off my old books, the various publishers and authors that produced them won't see a dime of the money I get.

Do you know what each of those three things have in common? All of them have stores dedicated to buying and reselling them used, just like video games. The only difference is that software companies have the ability to screw over the used buyer while the others don't. How would you feel if you went out to buy a used car, and before you bought it a representative of the original manufacturing pulled out the AC, the stereo, and the navigation system? How far are you willing to let companies go in the name of profit before you stand up and say "no more"?

Fair enough, I can agree there. I am iffy on the fact that used purchasers can't somehow 'upgrade', but eh, what are you going to do? Only way to stop these practices is to stop buying used games, but that won't happen.

Though, maybe the wording is effed up? Maybe it is additional content, they just worded it wrong. It has happened before, Mass Effect had some issues when they were talking about it and describing the combat system for example.

It's funny how these developers are doing this "Always on DRM" and the "Locked Content" and all these other tactics to get you to buy the game new and to stop piracy. It's funny because although they may deter some piracy, they may get some people to get to buy the game new, you also get a bunch of people who say "Screw your game, I'm not buying it at all" and in the end, you are punishing the people who actually bought your game and your bottom line probably stays the same.

These companies should stop bullying gamers around and pick on someone their own size. If they have an issue with Gamestop why don't they take it up with them? I'd like to see that! Furthermore, as much as I'm sick of being raped by Gamestop, by having it around it helps keep other used games sellers' prices reasonable. Even if you were to remove Gamestop from the equation, you still wouldn't be able to stop the used games' market, at least not while places like Ebay and Amazon are around.

@warmaster670: Id started out as a shareware only company, you remember shareware don’t you, play the first part free pay to play more and get support. What they are doing here fries in the face of their shareware roots, and as you say: “they dont support them so why should the devs give a crap about them” A shareware company’s answer wouldn’t have been to lock you out FOREVER for buying used, but to charge you to play more and get support.

PS WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THE GOD DAMN AD PAGE POP UP??????

@warmaster670: Id started out as a shareware only company, you remember shareware don’t you, play the first part free pay to play more and get support. What they are doing here fries in the face of their shareware roots, and as you say: “they dont support them so why should the devs give a crap about them” A shareware company’s answer wouldn’t have been to lock you out FOREVER for buying used, but to charge you to play more and get support.

PS WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THE GOD DAMN AD PAGE POP UP??????

You broke the Filter!

It wasn't me!

It seems to me like some of these people forgot what it was like before they were the head of a big time gaming company. I mean, were they never actually gamers themselves at some point? Did they never have to struggle to find the cash to keep up with their expensive hobby while dealing with every day expenses in a flagging economy? Yes, used games hurt their bottom line, but they save gamers money, and in the end, people are still enjoying your game.

Put yourselves in your customer's shoes for a second, guys. Maybe then you'll understand how wrong it is to pull stuff like this.

Analogy time... hmm gotta make this good ... If you buy a new car it functions completely as a car but what if any used car you purchase has some factory preset restriction because the car company doesnt get more money? The money of a new car owner is exactly the same as that of a used car owner, the direction of money shouldnt be taken into account. How about investing in these stores that sell used games instead of purchasing, disassembling, mailing and reassembling FUCKING JET PLANES!

WAH! Yeah those ******* publishers and developers wanting to make their money and differentiate a USED product from a NEW one.

HOW DARE THEY NOT WANT A USED VENDOR TO COLLECT A HIGHER PERCENTAGE ON A GAME THAN THEY DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously the only reason devs and publishers are doing this stuff is because GameStop makes a killing on them, stop being a FREETARD and look at the problem for what it is.

After reading all the comments, honestly, I can see the problem. Still, nothing we can do about it besides not buy the game in protest, but I want to play Rage, so I'll buy it anyway. It is a shitty thing to do, but there isn't anything we can do about it. Also, Darth, I wouldn't go insulting people to get your point across. Though folks disagreed with me (Which is fine), I wouldn't go calling them freetards. >.> I just meant that this reaction from a game company is a natural reaction to used game sales practices, that is all. No offense to anyone who buys used games (It IS cheaper.) Anyway, chill out guys. It isn't the first time nor the last something like this will happen.

Game Revolution,
I thought I would write for you…
A silly haiku

I'm cool with the $10 online pass, because otherwise the devs get nothing from your purchase while you take up space on their servers.

but. What the hell. is this?

Suppose Roger Ebert is wrong about games being (or able to be) art. Suppose Roger Ebert is a smug blowhard who has outlived his time in the cultural zeitgeist. But I repeat myself. If they really are art, then this can only be compared to other media in which art is expressed. Imagine getting a copy of Will Durant's The Age of Napoleon (which has been out of print longer than most of the people reading this have been alive and is the hardest of the Story of Civilization series to find) and at random intervals finding that sections are redacted for 'used book buyers' and the reader is so informed. It is impossible to buy this book new. It will, one day, be impossible to buy Rage new. They are setting a very bad precedent. If it really is art, they are effectively creating a situation where sections of their paintings are burned after so many people have seen them.

Three points. One I turned 12 the year that book was published. Second I Googled it and found at least 3 copies for sale under $10. Third my personal definition of art is: Art is communication. Not only the communication of ideas and meaning, but the communication of emotions and feelings as well as anything else that can be communicated. I am aware this definition casts a wide net, but is the only definition that I have found comes close to including all that is art. Oh and very good points yourself.

This still isn't as bad as microtransactions IMO. Still, it sucks. I'm surprised the film industry hasn't caught on to the videogame industry's money-squeezing tactics. I can see them cutting scenes from films in theater after the first 2 weeks after opening.

Well, I hope everyone here who is cool with this, will also be cool when they start locking your game to the first console it is played on!

Enjoy supporting your dev's publisher over and over again when the online backend that enables you access to your game's content gets shut down.

I have a copy of SF3 3rd Strike for the original Xbox , which worked perfectly fine online until MS shut down original xbl support. Now Capcom releases it on XBLA & I wouldn't need it if my friends & I could still play our original Xbox version of that game online.

Wellcome back MaXXine long time no see.

I don't care if Rage turns out to be the best game of the year, I absolutely refuse to reward this kind of bullshit and will not be buying it, ever. I generally buy my games new and even spring for the CEs now and then, so the cost isn't an issue to me. This type of shady dealing with complete disregard to consumers rights is something that I just won't put up with from any company.

One thing that hasn’t been pointed out yet is as soon as some people get Rage, they will set about trying to crack this lock out. This sort of thing and always-on DRM will lead to more piracy and hack attacks.