The multiplayer modes in Assassin’s Creed III aren’t wildly different from those in the previous games. It’s iteration, rather than innovation but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
While some of us (myself included) were aghast at the initial announcement of any sort of multiplayer in the series, it was implemented quite well and even made to fit the mythology of the games in a smart and interesting way. I imagine that there will be similar reaction to the revelation that there are micro transactions in the multiplayer for Assassin’s Creed III.
While details are unclear, what we can be reasonably sure about (thanks to screenshot below from WorthPlaying.com) is the existence of a range of packs that you can purchase. Those packs are dubbed “Erudito” which is the name of a subversive individual or group that sends emails to Abstergo recruits in the game. It’s assumed that these packs will contain items for use in the multiplayer side of the game but whether those items will aid your progress or merely be cosmetic is still unclear.
Ubisoft has, in the past, talked about this kind of model starting to impact upon the traditional retail game model – referencing Watch Dogs and Remember Me. But it seems that the success of this strategy for other publishers, notably EA with Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer, might have sped up their plans.
I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed III over the past couple of weeks. I can’t tell you much about it because it’s still under embargo but there will be a review coming soon and we’ll have something up about the early stages of the game by tomorrow evening. I might also do some live streaming, if anyone’s interested.
Kaminari
Just wondering: have those “review embargos” any legal ground, or is it just about making sure the media outlets continue getting free samplers from the publishers? (Quite an à propos question, considering last week’s game PR mess.)
Peter Chapman
there’s no legal grounding to the embargo we’re under – we didn’t sign anything (sometimes there are NDAs to sign for early review copies). It’s an agreement though (all types of press regularly enter these gentlemen’s agreements on prior information), between Ubsioft’s PR team and myself, that I won’t publish a review until a set time.
I think that kind of agreement should be honoured and I enter into it in order to get early access so that I can be as prompt as possible with my opinions for my audience (you lot) who I believe want those opinions as early as possible. I’d never enter into (nor have I ever been asked to) an embargo that was tied to scores or based on positive coverage and any embargo that’s applied to games which are already available at retail (it does happen, bizarrely) is also null and void as far as I’m concerned.
I’m also, for the record, less inclined to enter into these agreements with any publisher who has previously held us to one embargo and allowed another outlet to publish sooner – whatever their reason may be. I think that embargoes should apply to every outlet rather than be enforced by PR to ensure extra attention for one or two favoured (larger) outlets.
Kaminari
Thanks Peter for the clarification.
Forrest_01
Is it not possible that these packs could be pre-order bonuses that are also available on the store?
Peter Chapman
I doubt it, they seem to be incrementally priced. So small medium and large “erudite” packs at different prices. Probably some sort of in-game currency to buy clothes and equipment, like Mass Effect 3 did.
SpikeyMikey23
Interested in the SP. The MP can do one. Didn’t enjoy it in Brotherhood and didn’t even touch it in Revelations. Interested in live streaming :D
The Lone Steven
Another pay to win MP. I can’t wait to play it. *in very bored voice* Pay to win is one of the reasons why i prefer playing single player games. I would say that they are milking AC but they started to after AC2 as they released Brotherhood within the same year. Incidentally, i lost interested in the franchise after i had played Brotherhood and AC3 has managed to regain it. As long as it’s not in the SP, i couldn’t care less about the pay to win bit.
Forrest_01
Interesting to see how many people seemingly don’t like the multiplayer offering thrown up by the AC series in more recent outings – I actually thought i was the only one that didn’t get on with it.
Peter Chapman
Yeah, that is very interesting.
I don’t generally like any form of competitive multiplayer but I thought Assassin’s Creed had got it more right than most others, especially in how they slotted it into the fiction. It seems like a lot of people don’t give a monkey’s about it though and only come for the single player…
I wonder how quickly the MP side of Assassin’s Creed dies off and whether there’s a case to be made – purely on user numbers, rather than how much they’ll make on these micro transactions (it’ll be lots, it always is…) – in ditching multiplayer completely and offering longevity via DLC missions released episodically like the new Halo is planning.
Forrest_01
I would personally prefer that, as I enjoyed AC2 the most out of each of them… Mainly because I could take my time with it & enjoy it at my pace without the concern that if I didn’t become a master assassin online within the first week of release, then I wouldn’t be able to compete, or there would be no community. As is often the case with so many multiplayer modes these days.
Whilst I thought the way the multiplayer was integrated in Brotherhood was quite clever & liked the fact that there was a sort of backstory to it, I found it really quite confusing to know what you were doing, who you were killing & why some random guy was allowed to kill you when you had a specific target – As a result it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could/should have been for me.
I have to admit to not even trying the multiplayer from revelations as yet, so it could be that it has improved massively, but I’m still not overly enamoured by the idea of it tbh & if I get AC3 it will definitely be for the single player story over anything else.
hol
Hopefully it’ll be similar to what naughty dog did with UC3 & be cosmetic items that can help with upping your stats.
blarty
Ignoring the initial box price in AC3, this is the fundamental premise of many free-to-play propositions – pay to win, pay to unlock sooner, etc.
There’s no problem offering the choice, you don’t have to pay if you don’t want to, and if you want to shortcut the time needed to unlock things, then there’s an associated cost to it. I generally never pay for these kind of things, if a game is worth my time playing then it will, naturally hold my attention long enough to unlock through normal progression, but I understand why people might.
The interesting thing might be where the money from these types of in game purchases go – with Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, up to now, all Maps, Characters, upgrades, etc have been free to download which has the very good side effect of not splintering players into two groups as tends to happen with other games’ multiplayer offerings
RudeAwakening
Wait..Ubisoft referenced that Watchdogs could get the micro-transaction model?! No please tell me this is not true.