Shark Card Billionaires

[Skycam]

 

Unpopular opinion incoming,

 

If you have ever purchased a sharkcard. To me you are the problem with the gaming industry. You are supporting these terrible business practices and I blame you for most of the problems I have with GTA online among many other games. I hope the video game industry crashes and people just stop supporting these terrible business choices. Micro-transactions/DLC/pre-orders, it's all trash and things will continue to go down this path as long as people will throw their money supporting these businesses. They sell us broken, incomplete games and then "patch" on day one because the game isn't finished or in some cases they sell us the missing pieces later down the road or worse, they sell us in game funds and make it very time consuming to make those funds that they are selling us.

 

It stupid, I personally don't like where the gaming industry is headed. It is extremely difficult and rare for me to put money into a game I already spent $80 on and feel good about it.

I see your point but I disagree. The landscape of the industry has changed, back in the day the makers had no choice but to launch games complete, as there wasn't the online aspect to allow them to patch games. If a game made it to final production with a bug, then that was stuck for life, unless they launched a whole new version. The current set up allows games to change without the need for a full new title. Companies like Rockstar use the cards, but don't charge for the download, which to me is a fairer system for the players.

 

Also, you payed $80 for a game, anything up to 3 years ago, and for that time they've continued to update, run support, the social club and so on, so that $80 has worn very thin by now, asking for extra to keep the game going is expected imo. Rockstar are a business at the end of the day.

Yes the industry has already changed, yes I have been playing for about 3 years. I am not a heavy online player and prefer single player finished games (besides this one game). I understand it's business and can see the logic towards continuing to support a game but I don't like it. I don't like any of it. Selling me a game that might be broken with the promise of fixing it later is bullsh*t. I played skyrim for a long time, I had no Internet. The game stopped working without being able to upgrade. That's absurd and I wouldn't have been effected if the game was finished upon release. Only one example where the industry effected me because I want a completely unbroken game when I pay for it, not somewhere down the road.

 

I know it's a business.

I know it has its perks.

Personally I don't like any or it, it's very hard for me to pay for anything after market. Not because I don't have the money but because I don't agree where we allowed everything to get to. Pre-order/DLC/Micro-transactions/subscription fees all that stuff. I know it's today's online gaming world but I don't have to like. That's all I'm saying, I get it but I don't like it and I will not support it.

[JuniorChubb]

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

 

There will always be coders, programmers, designers who have ideals but from the moment a game is placed on the shelve in a shop it is there for one reason only... to make money.

 

From Atari to Spectrum to Amiga to SNES to Xbox to PS4 it always has been about the money, not some idealistic crusade to entertain and enrich peoples lives otherwise these things would not get out of the development phase.

Edited October 31, 2016 by JuniorChubb

[ash-274]

the only time i've bought them is when rockstar offers their lil rebates for buying certain cards or when they've been onsale.

You can match Rockstar at their game when you buy them on sale, then redeem them when they're doing their bonuses.

[Forza Harrd]

People against the shark cards, you do realize the alternative would be a monthly fee?

[Alarming]

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

 

There will always be coders, programmers, designers who have ideals but from the moment a game is placed on the shelve in a shop it is there for one reason only... to make money.

 

From Atari to Spectrum to Amiga to SNES to Xbox to PS4 it always has been about the money, not some idealistic crusade to entertain and enrich peoples lives otherwise these things would not get out of the development phase.

exactly. Back in the day you had to buy a whole new game if you wanted updates.

[Gnocchi Flip Flops]

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

And your point is?

 

Of course the gaming industry has been focused on making money since the beginning. But they have a lot of other focuses as well. Do people even think before they comment anymore?

 

I mean the extreme level of bullsh*t I read on here on a daily basis is abysmal. 1) You've got people complaining about the stupidest sh*t and people agreeing with them and then 2) You've got people raising up valid negative/neutral points but then there just has to be clowns like you who get into a defensive mode and try to make a point that doesn't make much of any sense.

 

I don't get it. I really don't. Am I missing something here?

 

People against the shark cards, you do realize the alternative would be a monthly fee?

The alternative would be five/ten dollar packs just like everybody else. And honestly I'd be fine with that especially if they were monthly.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Scaglietti

[Zerani]

Who buys shark cards, when you can just call up a modder friend and get billions for free?

[Gnocchi Flip Flops]

And who said I was against them? People can continue to buy those stupid sh*ts if they want, I don't care. If it means more free updates then that's fine by me. I know I won't purchase them anymore and think they're a ripoff but that's just me. Of course in GTAForum's fashion though, anything negative = entitled.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Scaglietti

[TaylorTheCreator]

I've spent $175-$200 in real life money, mostly because of limited time DLC cars, clothing, and masks. money well spent i guess

Edited November 1, 2016 by TaylorTheCreator

[DarkSavageDeathlyCloud]

Not gonna lie...if i was a milionair with a income of like 2000 per month i probably would make myself multimilionaire by cash cards...but yea...not the case

[dewtech]

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

 

There will always be coders, programmers, designers who have ideals but from the moment a game is placed on the shelve in a shop it is there for one reason only... to make money.

 

From Atari to Spectrum to Amiga to SNES to Xbox to PS4 it always has been about the money, not some idealistic crusade to entertain and enrich peoples lives otherwise these things would not get out of the development phase.

 

I'm sure half the people on here think that games companies are a charity, or do it for love alone. As much of a happy world that'd be, it's simply not the case

[ash-274]

 

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

 

There will always be coders, programmers, designers who have ideals but from the moment a game is placed on the shelve in a shop it is there for one reason only... to make money.

 

From Atari to Spectrum to Amiga to SNES to Xbox to PS4 it always has been about the money, not some idealistic crusade to entertain and enrich peoples lives otherwise these things would not get out of the development phase.

 

I'm sure half the people on here think that games companies are a charity, or do it for love alone. As much of a happy world that'd be, it's simply not the case

 

But muh entitlements!

lol

[OptiCog]

 

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

 

There will always be coders, programmers, designers who have ideals but from the moment a game is placed on the shelve in a shop it is there for one reason only... to make money.

 

From Atari to Spectrum to Amiga to SNES to Xbox to PS4 it always has been about the money, not some idealistic crusade to entertain and enrich peoples lives otherwise these things would not get out of the development phase.

 

I'm sure half the people on here think that games companies are a charity, or do it for love alone. As much of a happy world that'd be, it's simply not the case

 

Pretty much. That's why whenever anyone hears me complain about the anti-consumer ways a lot of companies go about implementing their microtransactions, I don't fault them for having microtransactions in and of themselves. Got microtransactions? Great, allowing people to pay money to advance rather than invest time they by don't have to, say, unlocking all the fighters in a fighting game is actually a pro-consumer move, expands your potential userbase, and makes you more money. It's a win-win for everyone involved. Rig the in-game reward system to test the patience of everyone, not just those who have no time, to raise the odds of buying in? That's when it becomes anti-consumer. It's a fine line to walk and this is why many are just flat out against microtransactions on principal, because they're just as ignorant of that line as the companies engaging in an anti-consumer model.

Edited October 31, 2016 by aLucidMind

[Gnocchi Flip Flops]

Ah, entitlement:

the fact of having a right to something

 

Does expressing my disagreement with Shark Cards mean I feel that deserve everything Rockstar gives us for free?

 

Do you clowns even know what entitled means? Or do you just like throwing that overused term around because you think you're special?

[JuniorChubb]

 

Guys how old are you lot? Where you born yesterday?

 

The gaming industry was, is and will always be about making money...

And your point is?

 

Of course the gaming industry has been focused on making money since the beginning. But they have a lot of other focuses as well. Do people even think before they comment anymore?

 

I mean the extreme level of bullsh*t I read on here on a daily basis is abysmal. 1) You've got people complaining about the stupidest sh*t and people agreeing with them and then 2) You've got people raising up valid negative/neutral points but then there just has to be clowns like you who get into a defensive mode and try to make a point that doesn't make much of any sense.

 

I don't get it. I really don't. Am I missing something here?

 

 

People against the shark cards, you do realize the alternative would be a monthly fee?

The alternative would be five/ten dollar packs just like everybody else. And honestly I'd be fine with that especially if they were monthly.

 

There seemed to be an influx of opinion that the gaming industry in the past was not about making money and its a new thing to fleece the customer, it is not the case. I am pretty sure you got this though and just replied with enough bait to make me bite.

 

Either way you could have replied without calling me a clown, especially when your post echoes what you are accusing others and myself of.

 

Apologies though, I will drop you a PM next time I want to post so you can assure me that my content is relevant and worthwhile.

 

Edit: sorry for the double noti' I had to fix a typo.

Edited October 31, 2016 by JuniorChubb

[ciel]

I've purchased 2 shark cards in the past. One 1 mil and 300k

[Feurian42]

I have not ever bought one. Never. I can't see the reasoning other than pure waste. If I liked the game that much I would play more and not need it. And I can't help but feel that it props up a broken business model. You pay them for less real content. Devs have less reason to do more for your money. It also contributes to the cycle of making games more expensive. Devs, and more importantly their share holders, lean on the extra revenue. When the next game comes out, prices go up so the ceo isn't ousted for flattening revenue. Less people buy games. Middle level developers start dropping off the radar. Those who doubt it, start looking for how many decent devs were lost just this console cycle.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Feurian42

[Hunter]

I haven't bought any. No problem with people who have though (why would I?).

 

I would say you're better off glitching though. Much more money that way.

[Xiled]

Oh by the way it would cost you $12,500 for $1 Billion of in game currency. Take 125 $100 sharkcards

 

Maybe if they had dedicated servers, or actually fixed game breaking bugs and glitches maybe than I would understand them doing microtransactions. But they made back almost 5 times what they spent on the game in the first 3 days alone. $2 billion in 3 days is plently. More than 4 times what gta online made in 2 years.

 

Shame that no matter what they do in the future, they will never make that much on a game in the first few days again.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Xiled

[zecanelao]

Even if I didn't have time to play, I'd simply never buy them. I can't see myself spending real life money on virtual money.

Also, if the DLCs were paid, I'd probably only buy the Heist update and some vehicles.

[therevenator]

Oh by the way it would cost you $12,500 for $1 Billion of in game currency. Take 125 $100 sharkcards

 

Maybe if they had dedicated servers, or actually fixed game breaking bugs and glitches maybe than I would understand them doing microtransactions. But they made back almost 5 times what they spent on the game in the first 3 days alone. $2 billion in 3 days is plently. More than 4 times what gta online made in 2 years.

 

Shame that no matter what they do in the future, they will never make that much on a game in the first few days again.

GTA 6 might beat that.

[ash-274]

Oh by the way it would cost you $12,500 for $1 Billion of in game currency. Take 125 $100 sharkcards

 

Maybe if they had dedicated servers, or actually fixed game breaking bugs and glitches maybe than I would understand them doing microtransactions. But they made back almost 5 times what they spent on the game in the first 3 days alone. $2 billion in 3 days is plently. More than 4 times what gta online made in 2 years.

 

Shame that no matter what they do in the future, they will never make that much on a game in the first few days again.

Actually, you could do it for $4,200:

1. Buy the Megaladon cards when Gamestop has them for $50
2. Wait and enter all the codes when Rockstar is doing "extra $4M" bonuses
3. Be annoyed when it doesn't add more than one to your game bank account because it "exceeds the limit..." BS
4. When you spend enough for the next code to be redeemed be appalled when it only adds $8M
5. Scream at Support to fix it (you will need to shoot video showing the PSN transaction history to prove that the codes were redeemed during the bonus time)
6. Enjoy the money at USD$50:GTA$12,000,000 ratio ($240,000 per dollar) for $1,008,000,000
7. (Optional) Re-evaluate your priorities in life and realize that that amount is more than you could possibly (reasonably) spend in-game

Edited October 31, 2016 by ash-274

[theNGclan]

Just throwing this out there, there is a cap of how much you can buy and earn. It's pretty unlikely anyone would hit beyond the 16m mark with cash cards.

 

Buy too many, regardless of type, there is a cooldown. Buy a certain amount of cash, there is a cooldown.

Edited October 31, 2016 by theNGclan

[Jammsbro]

A whole lot of bullsh*tters voting on that poll.

 

I bought one right at the start. Bought my Zen with it. Got me my first fast car so I don't regret it. Once I learned how to make cash I had no need to buy one again.

 

Once rockstar started forcing the prices of in game objects to unfair prices, I stopped buying anything.

[Gray-Hand]

$20 million from 2 megalodon shark cards ( one with 50% bonus).

 

I bought the first one back in the first few months when mission payments paid jack sh*t. I bought the second one after I made a mistake buying a big ticket Pegasus item and didn't want to go back to grinding several million GTA dollars to get what I originally wanted.

 

I consider it money well spent. Making $8 million by grinding would normally take me about 40 hours of pure grinding, and while I like CEO and biker work, playing it as a pure money making grind kills the actual fun.

 

I have a grown up job, so US$100 isn't really much money to me, and saves me the equivalent of a working week of time. If I was still a student, with more time and less money, I would probably just earn the money in game, but I'm not.

 

As for the 'morality' of paying for GTA money - you either invest time or real money to get $GTA. For me, real dollars are cheaper than my time.

[IamCourtney]

I'm quite ambivalent on the Great Shark Card Issue... its hard to say where exactly I fall. Suffice to say, I've never bought one.

 

I'm not against this sort of microtransaction in games as a general rule, but I the think the value-for-money of Shark Cards is absolutely abysmal. They'd have to both double the in-game value and halve the real world cost before they even began to approach consideration for me...

 

I think their negative in-game impact tends to be overstated around here, but this is from the perspective of someone who both enjoys a lot of the moneymaking methods available and has rarely ever been enticed to more than one or two big ticket purchases per update. Someone who likes to have it all right away might feel differently...

 

I think activity payouts are fair on the whole and I enjoy my preferred money makers a lot, but this is from the perspective of one for whom GTAO is a "Main Game," I play it regularly and long-term with only a few other games. Players who tend to move quickly from game to game, maybe revisiting older ones every few months for short periods to check out updates will certainly have a different perspective on the topic...

 

I technically only paid for GTAV once on last gen (it was bundled and discounted with my PS4) and with nearly 50 days spent online, it's been an incredibly good value for me, and ultimately Shark Cards are the reason for that. I benefit from the choices of people who I genuinely believe are being ripped off, but what can be done? Such is the nature of life under capitalism... maybe the whole system is an elaborate master commentary on the part of Rockstar?

 

 

 

 

.... naaaaah

Edited October 31, 2016 by IamCourtney

[APB]

No, I will never buy any micro-transaction bullsh*t from any company ever after my burn with Need For Speed World by EA (Thankfully I didn`t spend much on it).

 

I don`t see the point, why anyone ever would buy Shark Cards when everything in the game is easily earnable by playing the game? Its not like something is locked behind the Shark Cards lol. Shark Cards seem to be nothing more than a "shortcut" for lazy players. Therefore In my opinion, people like that are the reason why a lot of companies these days opt for micro-transactions in their games and lock content behind digital value outside of earnable in-game value.

Edited October 31, 2016 by APB

[OfficialTwiggz]

Back when I was working a decent paying job (ironic because back in 2013 I wasn't making sh*t compared to what I'm making now) I bought $60 dollars worth of shark cards on the PS3.

 

Then came march of 2014 and had my own Xbox 360. Bought a $20 shark card which got me a high end apartment and an adder. Back when hooker glitch was around, I made a bit of a profit. So thanks rockstar. You helped me by me helping you.

 

Eventually I found out you can mod money into the game. Paid some a guy on some random forum $10 real money and he got me $570 million which I still have around $326 million two and a half years later.

 

Worth every penny.

[Weekendwarrior]

I bought a shark card when I was new to get an office. Also I didn't have enough in my steam wallet for anything so I figured why not?

 

But now I don't think I ever need to again since I got all the important stuff like buzzards, office etc. Now all that's left to spend on are toys

[FlacidJack]

$20 million from 2 megalodon shark cards ( one with 50% bonus).

I bought the first one back in the first few months when mission payments paid jack sh*t. I bought the second one after I made a mistake buying a big ticket Pegasus item and didn't want to go back to grinding several million GTA dollars to get what I originally wanted.

I consider it money well spent. Making $8 million by grinding would normally take me about 40 hours of pure grinding, and while I like CEO and biker work, playing it as a pure money making grind kills the actual fun.

I have a grown up job, so US$100 isn't really much money to me, and saves me the equivalent of a working week of time. If I was still a student, with more time and less money, I would probably just earn the money in game, but I'm not.

As for the 'morality' of paying for GTA money - you either invest time or real money to get $GTA. For me, real dollars are cheaper than my time.

I bought one back in 2013 or 2014 but i've gotten so much more value from this game over the years so i'm choosing to thank you for contributing so generously to our collective content. Seriously, without players buying shark cards I doubt we'd keep getting free updates years later, so thanks again.