Home Gaming Quake Live drops free-to-play option, wipes player stats in the process

Quake Live drops free-to-play option, wipes player stats in the process

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Quake Live

Quake! When Quake hit its third iteration, it dropped its single player shenanigans to focus on competitive multiplayer arena shooting – and it did that job so well that people still play the game – mostly as the free to play, subscription-based lightly modernised version dubbed Quake Live.

Originally a free-to-play browser game, Quake Live moved over to Steam, and enjoyed enduring popularity. And now it’s got people pissed off. Why? The game’s dropped its subscription – but that means there’s no longer a free-to-play option.

Bethesda’s moved the game over to the SteamWorks platform, bringing with it a wealth of changes, updates and fixes – including better multiplayer servers,  Steam Friends, Chat, Lobbies, Voice Chat, Server Browser, Statistics, Achievements, Anti-cheat, Trading Cards and Workshop integration.

It does work out better for players in the long run, dropping the subscription fees for s single, once off $9.99 price – and in doing so, does away with the game’s odd tiers.

“By retiring our services and subscription service, all players now have the same benefits and features in-game. All players can participate in map voting processes, have full access to customize their game to the same degree as others, and have the ability to run their own Listen Servers and configure their matches to their own liking.

“Players wishing to have more control over how they play now also have new callvote options, allowing them to opt into some of our newer gameplay mechanics such as Starting Weapons, Global Ammo, and Item Timers. Over time we found that these features were effective in some modes more than others, and so modes like Free For All now have loadouts disabled by default.”

But there are problems. Bethesda seems to have introduced this update without warning, so it came as a shock to Quake Live’s still dedicated legion of fans. Even worse is that as a result of the move all player stats, usernames, friends lists, clan details and even settings have been wiped. Gone. Stuff built up over years, just wiped away.

And people are angry

“So my old user name is gone, my clans are gone, the match browser is absolutely useless, everything looks all ****** up,” one very, very angry user complains. “You absolutely 100%, undeniably just destroyed THE greatest FPS ever created. It is completely ruined. You WILL be giving me my 10 dollars back. I guarantee you you will be giving me that money back. And I will be going back to Quake 3 now.”

As you’d imagine, Quake Live’s Steam page is full of this sort of acerbic, but probably justified complaint.

Last Updated: October 28, 2015

10 Comments

  1. Grand Admiral Chief SpaceNinja

    October 28, 2015 at 08:06

    Yikes, ouch

    Reply

  2. Ottokie

    October 28, 2015 at 08:17

    Never kick loyal players in the sarlacc

    Reply

  3. Brady miaau

    October 28, 2015 at 08:32

    Yet another example of failure to communicate.

    Who here does not see these in the office or wherever everyday? Sad when people do it to people, sadder still when company does it to customers. Communication, it is a life skill, find it, use it, live it and implement it.

    I know I would be much happier if I did.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      October 28, 2015 at 08:36

      So true.

      Reply

      • Brady miaau

        October 28, 2015 at 08:37

        Especially the last line “I know I would be much happier if I did.”

        I am a fairly good communicator, but, as per human norms, I ignore or let slide some topics for semi spurious reasons and those are the ones that can, later on, hurt.

        Reply

  4. Hammersteyn

    October 28, 2015 at 09:03

    Luckily they aren’t in charge of Destiny. Just imagine everyones characters get wiped over night O_o

    Reply

    • Skyblue

      October 28, 2015 at 22:01

      Ah young Padawan, there is much left to learn in the ways of “charging the fuck out of gamers” that Bungie must still master

      Reply

  5. Frik van der Hewerskink

    October 28, 2015 at 10:00

    Sigh and i just downloaded this game over the weekend 🙁

    Reply

  6. Deceased

    October 28, 2015 at 10:44

    You NEVER “own” a game – you merely purchase the rights/license to “use” the software
    Even when it’s a free-to-play ( pay-to-win in most cases ), I’m very, very certain that somewhere in the terms and conditions of use, you’ll notice that you NEVER OWN THE SOFTWARE.

    Fucking entitled prick ( https://steamcommunity.com/app/282440/discussions/0/483368526589927642/ )
    This means that throwing a bitch-fit if something about the software doesn’t suit you, actually doesn’t matter 😐

    Reply

  7. Skyblue

    October 28, 2015 at 22:01

    The last part of true gamer in me just died with this story, fuck you modern day gaming

    Reply

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