In the Year 2021, would you buy Map Packs again?

[MouldyK]

With Halo Infinite's F2P Cosmetic bungles driving a lot of debate, I ask Resetera this all important question:

Would you go back to buying Map Packs over this Free 2 Play, Battle Pass, Cosmetic Store-Infestation?

Why? Why Not?

Give reasons if you can.

 

[M. Wallace]

Yes, hate battle passes

Just want more maps if I enjoy the game.

 

[shaneo632]

Map packs makes more sense to me because I don't care about cosmetics and am completely immune to the compulsive/OCD/gambling mechanics, but new maps are cool.

 

[applepie]

I like the F2P model. I can have fun just playing and don't bother too much with the rest. Including buying packs.

That's me though.

 

[vixolus]

Map packs suck, so no.

 

[Moebius]

Not splintering the player base is nice, but I liked in the past when you paid for something, you would get it immediately. The battle pass concept is ridiculous. You pay for something that allows you a chance to earn in game items if you grind enough. If you don't play enough, then you don't get what you paid for. I'd rather just pay for the items in a season one dlc pack. Just give it all to me for one price. I play games for fun, not to grind.

What I would prefer is a map pack that includes all of the cosmetics from that season. No battle pass.

 

[Fat4all]

i want map packs for single player games

i guess those are called expansions, tho

 

[TheManWithoutFear]

Buying cosmetics is way better than buying maps.

Splitting up the player base via map packs was death to a lot of games

 

[Jaded Alyx]

..'Again'?

 

[Ryuelli]

No. I never liked map packs either. If you're not going to let me unlock stuff for free like the ol' days just give me a store like League of Legends and let me pick what I want. Battle Passes and stuff that try to draw you in to play daily just make me not want to play at all.

I was excited to play Halo Infinite and I like how the samurai armor looks, but I've heard the process to unlock it is a pain. I'd much rather throw down $5-10 for the armor and play as little or as much as I want than to be forced to play whatever the required amount of time to unlock it is, especially since I'm abysmal at Halo (but still enjoy it). Video games are a form of relaxation to me, so I really don't want them to feel like work.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

... I actually would like to buy map packs again.

It used to be an absolute pain in the ass to encourage all my friends to get new map packs so we could continue to play together back when I had a schedule that supported playing with friends often. And also when I had friends that were available to play often (I'm guilty of not being available often either at this point, so I'm not just accusing my friends of this).

But nowadays since I'm just lonewolfing any multiplayer games that I attempt to get into, sure... Map packs are better than the season pass model for my own tastes. Immediately available and substantial gameplay content with no additional time commitment needed. The time part is what I hate. And options to just whale past the time commitments make me feel very used... but the type of content in battle passes is different, I know.

The thing I lack is time. Making me pay to ease the time burden just feels ... abusive.

 

[Pein]

Probably not, I used to buy every halo 3 map pack but honestly I'd rather just get a gun skin or some cosmetic.

a lot of people never buy the packs and than you gotta rely on the devs to make a dedicated playlist, it's a mess.

 

[Mr. Robot]

Actual playable content for free always, so no map packs.
I dont care about cosmetics so they can charge whatever they want for them...

 

[Phellps]

Buying cosmetics is way better than buying maps.

Splitting up the player base via map packs was death to a lot of games

Click to shrink...

Yeah, this makes more sense to me as well.

 

[Anno]

No thanks.

 

[freakybj]

I didn't mind paying for map packs. I know they had the problem of splitting the community but that could be solved by allowing people to play the new maps only if they are in the same party with someone that has purchased the maps. Paying to grind battle passes for cosmetics doesn't interest me.

 

[Atolm]

With map packs I would stop playing altogether like I did with fighting games when they locked characters as dlc.

I don't care about cosmetics on the other hand.

 

[TrubbleFrog]

fuck no

 

[Ashes of Dreams]

I prefer battle passes. I need to feel like I'm working towards some reward for online multiplayer games. If I'm just playing for the sake of it, even if I enjoy the game, I'll be unable to shake the feeling that I could be spending my time better. I find the act of working towards something and earning it, especially if it's a limited time thing, very fulfilling.

 

[Deleted member 14568]

hell no

 

[mikehaggar]

Map packs makes more sense to me because I don't care about cosmetics and am completely immune to the compulsive/OCD/gambling mechanics, but new maps are cool.

Click to shrink...

This is totally me. Map packs were the only add-on/dlc I was ever willing to spend money on. The downside was always that it splits the playerbase and the mapbacks were usually in their own, unique rotation instead of being sprinkled in amongst the existing maps.

 

[RoboPlato]

I'm fine with the older personal transaction of paying for new maps/content/etc for a game I enjoy but it's just not sustainable to break up the player base into smaller and smaller chunks every few months

 

[Soulflarz]

comestics costing money>>>core game costing money

bonus points I play rocket league where no one uses cosmetics at a high level, shits literally alpha boost ($7000) or a $0 car

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

Dividing a competitive multiplayer base with map packs just sucks.

 

[ArjanN]

Map packs were always terrible and split the player base. Don't be weird, people.

 

[Biggzy]

In my experience, map packs tended to split the player base, so you ended up not being able to play on them as much and just waste money, so I will say no.

 

[Stowaway Silfer]

I didn't mind map packs. I also don't subscribe to the "who cares it's cosmestics, those don't matter" notion that I feel people awkwardly rush to in trying to pick a lesser evil and without recognizing that ultimately it all sucks. In theory if existing customers need to be monetized for the game to get support, which as a customer I don't necessarily buy when I look at how Splatoon 2 was supported, I'd rather just pay a subscription and get everything. Map packs were kinda that, $10-$15 and I have everything in this game for x period of time and Battle passes could also kinda be that but then these games also have cash shops for purchasable items separate from the passes and the total price of access to everything gets way too high.

 

[RXM027]

I've played enough Forza Horizon to say no, lol. Nobody plays the expansion content compared to the base game content, and it's practically never updated after release.

 

[DarrenM]

I liked having more maps back when they actually sold packs, but it sucked paying for a drop of 4-5 maps and not liking most if not all the maps in a certain drop.

The biggest issue was splintering the player base. Not all my friends bought the season pass or even individual packs. So it was super annoying having them kicked from the lobby when a DLC map came up in rotation.

The battle pass maps that I've experienced so far haven't been great in quality or quantity, but at least everyone can play together.

 

[Shieldmon]

Yes, hate battle passes

Just want more maps if I enjoy the game.

Click to shrink...

me too ,I just want to play at the time I want to play ,instead of the time the game thinks I should play it

 

[Atom Heart Mother]

Nah, but I don't mind something like Battlefield Premium. Flat $20 or so with a planned roadmap of content and other goodies. Paying $10 per map pack is an actual scam.

 

[thetrin]

Map packs weren't a good idea when they were all the rage.

I was playing PC shooters at the time, where maps would get released for free, and I was looking over at my console friends, scratching my head as to why they were paying for things we were getting for free.

Map packs divide the playerbase, and maps from those map packs inevitably get less play as a result.

People who think map packs are better than battle passes are out of their minds.

The F2P model works perfectly for me. If I try a game and I bounce off it, no problem. No money spent. If I enjoy a game and really invest time, I can throw the devs some money as appreciation and get some cool cosmetics. Win-win.

Yes, hate battle passes

Just want more maps if I enjoy the game.

Click to shrink...

Except with battle passes, you WILL get more maps, over the life of the game, at no cost to you. Battle passes do not mean no new maps. Do people here not know how this works?

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

Map packs fracture the player base, so no.

 

[SeanM]

Nah, last map packs I ever bought were for Halo 3.

They split up the player base and some of your friends aren't gonna buy them etc. And cause not everyone has em, seems like they end up in the map rotation less.

 

[Jawmuncher]

As much as the current market is a bit annoying, I don't think going back to Map Packs would be a good alternative either.
Just way too much fragmentation of your player base once you do that, especially with how much more competition is in the space.

 

[Vidpixel]

The number of people saying yes is pretty shocking lol I thought this would be way more one-sided because map packs are terrible.

 

[Rosebud]

Paying like $5 and getting the $8 skins for free? Yes please

 

[Deleted member 68874]

No.

Dont split up my friends and I depending on who is willing to buy maps.

Any game selling map packs in 2021 is also going to cause a shit storm.

 

[The Albatross]

Trouble is they split the player base. I actually like buying guaranteed content, like paying for a product that you know you're getting, rather than the battle/season/whatever pass concept where you pay for the ability to unlock content through gameplay in a fixed period of time.

But for the right value, the right game, yes, I would.

 

[Nerdkiller]

I almost never bought map packs even way back when (certain exception being Warhawk), so I don't see why I would ever do it in this day and age.

 

[SirKai]

I personally don't mind paying for map packs at all, if the game was good enough, but the issue is that not enough of the player base would also pay for them. That's always been the lynch-pin with map packs as a business model.

 

[Lothars]

As much as the current market is a bit annoying, I don't think going back to Map Packs would be a good alternative either.
Just way too much fragmentation of your player base once you do that, especially with how much more competition is in the space.

Click to shrink...

Agreed, there needs to be a better solution in general but map packs are not it. I have no clue what a good solution would be.

 

[TaySan]

If the game was big enough like Battlefield sure. Otherwise, no I rather not split up the community.

 

[dreamstation]

No map packs, loot boxes or battle passes please.

 

[Deleted member 14568]

No map packs, loot boxes or battle passes please.

Click to shrink...

so you want games to be 120+ buck then?

 

[Sybil]

Rather than map packs, I want map skins.
I guess some could argue that it could give a visual advantage against others. Maybe just limit them to casual games/unranked games? I just want a change of pace for games where it's the same map.

 

[HiLife]

F2P model is where it's at. I'd rather throw money towards BPs then split the community up which is what map packs do.

 

[I KILL PXLS]

Never again. Besides the fact that it splits the user base, it also put them in an awkward place where it usually required it's own playlist limiting your pool of possible maps, and alternatively when they didn't it felt like you rarely get to play on them. It's just awkward, but the fact that it splits the user base (multiple times even when there are multiple packs), is enough of a reason for me to not be for them anymore.

 

[Grazzt]

Hell no. I don't want to worry about not being able to play with my friends because they didn't buy map packs

 

[Ferrio]

Hell no. As stupid as shit is now, it's better paying for cosmetics than gameplay features. Especially when it'll fragment the community.