Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14 Removes Course Mastery System, Will Use Traditional DLC

[Danimal]

Easy on the tone in her guys. People are allowed to express their opinions without getting blasted. Both positive and negative. Keep in mind trolling it not just reserved for the guys who post negatively.

For my own two cents on the topic. The argument over paying for courses is silly to begin with, that ship has long since sailed.

Once golf games left the mod friendly PC market there is no reason not to charge people for courses even if there weren't licensing cost involved.

Unfortunately the days of replicating a PGA season and playing on every course are long gone. Do the benefits out weight the loss of those free courses and course architects? That is a whole other discussion for a different day.

The fact we're getting 25 courses this year should make up for the loss of free ones. My earlier point was not a complaint on DLC, heck I buy it every year. I was just pointing out the reasoning seemed sketchy.

In my opinion this is a make or break year for Tiger Woods. They are adding more sim features, loading with courses etc. If the sales remain low who knows if we even get a game next year.

[Danimal]

Again for clarity.

If you feel a post is against TOS report it. That is all I am asking. It's suppose to be a big news day fo TW lets keep it civil.

[Hollywood88]

Does anyone know how sales of TW games have been the last 5 years?

[OnlookerDelay]

Quote: Originally Posted by Hollywood88

Does anyone know how sales of TW games have been the last 5 years?

From what I've read, there has been a pretty steep decline in sales since Tiger 10.
There was a slight recovery in '12 with the introduction of the Masters, but then there was significant drop in '13. It will be interesting to see if the vastly expanded play and presentation options in Tiger 14 turns the trend around.

[Mt Oread]

The problem is, golf needs to be an annual release less than any other sport. It's not like they even do realistic ratings that are updated from year to year.

TW 10 was a seriously good game, and was really the first golf game of this gen to really excel. While TW 11 was a significant upgrade, for most gamers, there really wasn't a need to upgrade to the new version. And if folks bought courses, there was a huge disadvantage to upgrading. Sales tanked, but it wasn't a quality issue.

I thought the last two releases really suffered in terms of game play, as EA convinced themselves that TrueAim drove gamers off. While it looks like the new sim difficulty is going to bring me back, I don't expect the final release in this gen to be the one to regain TW 10's sales numbers.

I just hope they leave the new sim difficulty in for the next gen version. I do believe that the high cost of DLC courses persuades a higher % of gamers to buy the game once every few years, if not just once a generation. While we may be hardcore here, we are not the target audience.

[stormjr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mt Oread

I do believe that the high cost of DLC courses persuades a higher % of gamers to buy the game once every few years, if not just once a generation. While we may be hardcore here, we are not the target audience.

Here is where I get confused. There has yet to be a TW game where the DLC was necessary. Why would the cost of optional DLC persuade the average gamer to NOT buy it. For me, it screams ignorance. The fact that they DON'T know that you can play the game as intended without the DLC.

[Seymour Scagnetti]

I don't think the TW series is in any jeopardy of going away anytime soon. I read somewhere that TW12 had set sales records with the introduction of Augusta so last year would have been a hangover year sales wise but also remember the Wii version was stopped so that would have affected TW13 sales.

More and more licensed courses are made available each successive year and more pros are in it so it doesn't look like their budget is being cut in any way or a game that's in trouble. The devs on the EA board have never hinted that the future is in jeopardy and keep talking about things they are planning for future versions and golf would seem to be a game that will greatly benefit from next Gen systems with their greater memory.

I guess a telltale sign will be TW15, I read somewhere that the licensing with Augusta was 3 years so if the Masters is dropped next year then that would be a sign that the game could be in trouble if they don't renew the contract because I would think keeping Augusta would be top priority unless they can no longer afford to.

[Mt Oread]

Quote: Originally Posted by stormjr

Here is where I get confused. There has yet to be a TW game where the DLC was necessary. Why would the cost of optional DLC persuade the average gamer to NOT buy it. For me, it screams ignorance. The fact that they DON'T know that you can play the game as intended without the DLC.

Because if the average gamer spent $20-$60 on DLC courses, he is going to be far more inclined to stick with the old game than buy a new one with half the courses for another $60. If we are talking about buying the courses every year, then TW is the most expensive video game on the market.

And TW is not a game that needs to be bought every year. There is no roster update, and for the average gamer, there is not much different at all.