Skate 4, which they’re just calling “Skate” has got me concerned. What are the ways that they might ruin it?
As you may know, Skate is being designed as a free-to-play online game. Which is terrifying to me. They wouldn’t be doing that unless they think they can get more than $70 per dedicated player that would have bought the game as a regular release. So what’s the scam going to be?
There’s an in-game currency for buying clothes and boards and things like that. I’m sure you’ll be able to buy camera options, since they already did that in Skate 3 with the filmer pack. But if you want to record with a VX, that will probably cost you some money to buy the camera. Maybe you’ll have to buy storage for your footage too. You can only save 1 clip for free, and you need to buy tapes or hard drives in-world.
Personally, I can’t imagine being too tempted to buy boards and clothes, outside of maybe one outfit to start off with, and maybe a board with an animated or glowing graphic like the ones in the Pro Skater 1+2 remake. So what else will they do? Require you to buy boards when your current one breaks? Have your shoes wear out? Wear a hole in your sock?
Aside from having to buy gear, which is definitely going to happen, what are some more ways that they might mess up the game? Let’s look at 5.
First, no offline single player option.
As a multiplayer online game, you can’t be the main character. The development update says they’re still working on the story, but it’s going to be something about a crew of skaters who are restoring San Vansterdam. But you won’t be able to make any kind of permanent change to the world, because the next player standing right over there in the game world is about to do the same thing.
This part really bothers me. In the other games, you’re the main character, the new up-and-coming pro skater, or the legendary pro recovering from an injury, or whatever. As you play through the game, things change, and your brand gets bigger and you get more acclaim. These aren’t exactly Stephen King novels, but none of that works in a world with 300 other identical new skaters starting the exact same story.
My worry is that there isn’t going to be much of a story or plot to take you through the game, and it’s going to just be quests you can grind to get money to unlock new things, and that’s all.
And it matters, because Session exists, and its trick system will probably be deeper than Skate’s will turn out to be. If I just want to skate around and film tricks and lines, I’ll probably do it there. Skate is adding some new tricks, but the strength of the Skate games was how authentic the challenges felt. I’m worried that this new version won’t have any of that, or it’ll be really watered down to fit an online-only strategy.
Most of the top comments in their video feel the same way.
Second, paywalling tricks
The 2024 Development Update showed off some cool new stuff, like slappy grinds and firecrackers. They even have a 720 flip in there, showing that there is some more manual control this time around. But is that all available from the start, like with the old games?
In Skate 1-3, every trick in the game was possible from the beginning, and you as the player got better at them. That needs to stay the same. But I can see them selling a trick pack that unlocks these new additions to the game that aren’t required for any challenges. Would you pay $5 to do a firecracker? I don’t think I could do it.
Third, locking events
They mention the big events that’ll be happening in the city, but what will the requirements be to be a part of them? Do you have to pay an entry fee in game dollars, that you can refill with real dollars? Do you have to rank in the leaderboards by grinding through challenges over and over to get the highest possible scores? Will it be live, so that I’ll have to enter it at 10am so that it’s not too late in Europe?
It would be much better with AI characters offline that I can play whenever I want to play. I don’t set my life schedule to video games, and I certainly don’t have the time to grind events over and over. I might have to struggle to get first place in an offline game, but that might be 300th place when competing with people who play more than I do. Are there even rewards at that level?
Fourth is timers.
You know that EA is looking into every possible monetization option for this game, and that they’re going to push it a little bit further than anyone can handle, and then apologize and pull back just a bit. That’s just how they do it. And if you’ve ever played a mobile game at all, you know about the gameplay timers.
Ran out of lives in Candy Crush? There’s a refill timer. Build a new barn in your farm building game? That’ll be two real life hours. Unless, of course, you buy gems from the shop that will make it instant.
I really don’t want this one to happen, but I can easily see it taking hours to build the skatepark items that you put down. Maybe a little construction sign comes up and you have to check back later to see your pole jam bar… unless you’re willing to pay. This would be pretty egregious in a console game, but I still wouldn’t be too surprised.
There’s one more, but before we get to it, I want to thank Nick for the topic. He submitted his questions through the form on radratvideo.com, which inspired this video. If you have a question for a future video, or you want to look hot in an official Rad Rat shirt, check out the website. And like the video if you’re enjoying it.
Fifth, being non-archival
What I mean is, I can pull my copy of Skate 2 off the shelf and put it in my PlayStation 3, and it works the same way it did on day one, minus an update or two. And I do this with old games all the time. I recently played all the way through the PlayStation 1 version of Pro Skater 4, with zero stats. I love doing that stuff.
So let’s say I play Skate for a while, and feel like I’m done with it. Of course you won’t be able to ‘beat’ the game if it’s online-only, but I’ve played my fill. In 10 or 15 years, when I’m feeling nostalgic for it, will this game still exist? Will I be able to go back and relive the experiences that I had with the game when it came out?
This one seems like it’s probably going to be a ‘no’. In the Development Update video, they say that the city is alive, and it’ll have seasons, which seems to be a double meaning of literal summer and winter seasons, but also season passes in the game. And this makes sense. If I’ve played the game for a few months, I’m going to start getting bored with it. But I log in one day and all the trees are turning colors, and there’s a new area of the world that’s available, and another big section that’s closed for remodeling until winter? That would keep it fresh and interesting, and it’s a good way to keep people coming back.
But in 15 years when the game is long dead, those things are gone forever. I won’t be able to skate the original version of the outdoor skatepark before they redesigned it in the spring and then replaced it with a plaza the following fall. It’s a temporary experience at best. In 15 years, I won’t be able to play this game in an extra challenging way while drinking whiskey. It’ll just be gone.
These are the things that I’m the most worried about, even though I could come up with a dozen more awful monetization ideas. What are you worried about in Skate? Or do you think it’s going to be amazing? Let me know below.