this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
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Doesn't this argument assume that all gamers are equal?
Remember that gamers range across all ages, genders, and preferences of genre. There are vast quantities of gamers that will buy whatever is going to be popular at any given point, there a purists who require nothing but quality. There are nostalgists who crave what gaming once was.
Buying habits are mostly dictated by the sorts of factors
Saying rhat gamers need to vote with their wallet, or something to that effect as you have, doesn't consider the fact that not every gamer is in it for the same reasons and capitalism will always cater for what is popular first and foremost. So if you aren't someone who is happy to play fortnite or cod for the rest of your life without longing for change then you are likely part of a minorty. A subset of gamers who want things to get better even though that is very unlikely to happen.
This argument acknowledges that we got it wrong when we started putting up "warning jumping off this cliff will hurt" signs.
If someone buys a bad game and they're happy with it, then it's fine, it's not a bad game to them. If someone buys a bad game, they don't like it, and they keep it, that's on them.
There are so many ways to spend money here and so much competition. If someone doesn't like the game then they just shouldn't buy it, one shouldn't blame Activision for making a game one doesn't like and saying "they tricking me."
Activision is not going to hit their numbers solely on people who are clinically lacking impulse control. Activision is going to hit their numbers on apathetic people that blame Activision for the poor purchase they decided to buy anyways.
This isn't "the grocery store gives plastic bags and it's on the consumer to recycle them, so therefore it's consumers fault that plastic bags are littered." This isn't "the only option in town is unhealthy food so that's why I eat poorly." This is an expensive game, the primary product, something that exists purely to entertain that nobody needs to buy. Truly if ever there was a case, this is the case where consumers needing to stop paying for junk they don't want (or heck what do I know, maybe they do want it).
Like i said. It's a varied market, but the companies will always follow the money.
You can deny the landscape of games we have that are made solely for the purposes of making ridiculous amounts of money from minimal effort all you want, but this is the marlet we have these days.
The fact that "gatcha games" are even a thing should be all the proof you need. You know about Diablo immortal and Diablo 4 dont you? And overwatch 2? And destiny 2? Apex? Fortnite? Fifa? Cs:go? And all those mobile games? The ones that make billions from microtransactions?
I feel like tour argument comes from a lack of research. You are standing in a storm and telling me it's not raining.
Theres plenty of resources out there that prove the game indistry is outright manipilating its customers and its all in the name of profit.
Theres a reason so many companies were scared of Baldurs gate 3. Somehow a game with a 6 uear dwvelopment cycle with around 400 employees was able to release one of the best games of the last decade. One that is smashing records and making crazy profit but it has no microtransactions, you buy the game and you plau the qhole game. Where activision wigh a studio of more than 1000 employees spent the same amount of time developing the addition of the number 2 to the previously popular overwatch. It took 6 years to draw a number 2. Because thats all thry did. They took away features of a widely popular game, slapped a 2 on it and told us all we should give them more money for the privilege.
But people pay for it. They buy into it. And its ot because its good. Its because most people dont hold the industry to the same standard as others. And they arent the ones who complain about it being a mess.
The ones who complain are the ones who see through the bullshit.
The ones who buy into it are the ones steering the ship.
You're telling me I haven't done enough research while not pushing anything more than your own opinion. Where's your research and sources if your opinion is more than that? If you have sources, great, otherwise you're just misleading people and being self indulgent about how your opinion is backed by research and mine is backed by a lack of information and understanding.
Who says there's anything wrong with cosmetic micro transactions. I pay for them, I know others that pay for them. It's fine, it gives me some cool looking stuff, and gives the game developer some extra cash. You're moving the goal post going from badly reviewing games to games with microtransactions.
There are plenty of resources out there that cite manipulation in terms of loot boxes and gambling. Destiny 2 doesn't do that, but it was in your list. Bungie is largely actually releasing content people appreciate and the game is overall very well received, as is CSGO in spite of its lootboxes.
Actually purchasing the base game of CoD, which has numerous issues, and is what we were originally talking about (at least I thought) also doesn't involve any of those shenanigans... But people keep doing it, and that's the biggest part I'm saying needs to change.
Its late for me right now and ive just read this. I dont have the sources ready to go. Ill reply tomorrow night once ive had time to collect them. I dont k ow why you thought i would have these ready to go? Plus tbh, you dont need me to link them. Just look it up. Watch some youtube videos which often have collated their sources in the descriptions. Read any articles about it. Do a cursory google search. Its not hard.
But yeah, if not. Then wait for me to have the time and ill post them tomorrow.
Just before i start this, i wanted to say, destiny 2 presents itself as a free game but as a new player in 2023 it costs over £120 if i want to catch up to everyone else just for the story content. Some might call that good value as there is alot of content in the game, except other than new powers which the expansions offer there is little to be gained by playing any expansion before the most recent as the gear you get will be useless once you hit the current expansion. Not to mention all the vaulted content that you will never get to play. The game is good. I dont dispute that. I played destinh 1 for years and 2 up to the first expansion, but its not a cheap game and on top of that the in game micro transaction give you easy access to all the best cosmetics which is quite manipulative at its core.
Types of mechanics used to trick money out of players
https://medium.com/@uthayakumarabiram/how-video-games-trick-you-into-spending-money-9c764d3225ad#:~:text=Microtransactions%20and%20In%2DApp%20Purchases,likely%20to%20make%20impulse%20purchases.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/14/video-games-gambling-big-spenders
https://youtu.be/7S-DGTBZU14?si=a8nb2BNO6VwBsiAG
https://youtu.be/uvjjOtxSKdQ?si=qlSRe9HcMDYWllrm
Diablo immortal: it costs 100k to max a character
https://www.eurogamer.net/it-costs-88000-to-fully-upgrade-your-character-in-diablo-immortal#:~:text=It%20costs%20%C2%A388%2C000%20(%24,a%20character%20in%20Diablo%20Immortal.&text=Players%20in%20Diablo%20Immortal%20have,equipment%20level%2C%20and%20Legendary%20Gems.
Diablo immortal it actually costs 500k - 1mil to max a character
https://gamerant.com/diablo-immortal-requires-500000-dollars-max-character/
Will that do for now or should i go further?
That's not true at all, there are plenty of old guns and pieces of gear from previous expansions that are still great guns.
Not to mention it's a game... Playing the campaign itself, learning the story, etc, is something to be gained.
And you're not paying for that... Everything that was vaulted is no longer charged for or charged for at a significantly reduced price (e.g. the Foresaken pack for exotics). The prices on old content (even the sticker price) also drops over time.
No it's not a cheap game. Yes it's free to play, and then you need content expansions to really unlock the whole game. Destiny is free to play in the old school "free to play" sense. It's free to access some content and do some stuff with your friends then you either buy expansions (the route Destiny and WoW went) or you pay a subscription (the way RuneScape) went. These are very old models and they're not scummy in the slightest. They're the moral equivalent of a free trial.
We literally just brought someone in, unfortunately the best way to do it is to wait for a sale. It's ~$20 for the majority of the old content (legacy 2023), ~$15 for bonus content (armoury collection -- what's left of foresaken and the 30th anniversary celebration DLC), ~ $40 for the current expansion and season pass (lightfall + annual pass), and I think a fixed $10 for the 2022 dungeon key.
That's $85 for the better part of ~4 years of game content/development and ~4 more months of yet to be released paid and free content.
Then yes, $100 for next year (which if it was a subscription would be <$10/mo). To put that in perspective, if bowling was your hobby, it would be significantly more expensive. We're all adults and can afford it... No harm is being done and it's all in all a good deal for the hundreds of hours we've spent in the game.
Cosmetic micro transactions where you know exactly what you're getting are again not a problem.
I didn't watch the videos (I don't even watch long videos friends send me half the time) but I skimmed the articles. The first is just some person's blog not exactly "research worthy." It's also not talking about what I've been talking about (i.e., if you just bought a $70 game you didn't like, you haven't been tricked, just refund the thing and/or don't buy it).
The second is much more credible as a source, but they're talking about loot boxes and gambling mechanics... And yes, those are a problem 100% (especially in mobile gaming, but also definitely Relevant in things like CSGO and as you mention Diablo, and also these days, RuneScape 3) but they have nothing to do with Bungie/Destiny 2 and they have nothing to do with people buying the Call of Duty base game despite its numerous issues and horrible reviews ... and then also not refunding it ... and/or buying it again next year.
I paid £60 for baldurs gate 3. I dont have to subscribe to anything.
You spent 5 or 6 paragraphs telling me about how a free game is not free, but also, it is free even though it was one game of many that i mentioned as an example.
I get itm you like destiny. So do i. It's great. But it's expensive, and you can't deny that. It's a slightly different model to most modern games, but that doesn't mean it's not predatory. It's just a different kind of predatory. One that gives all its players stockholm syndrome.
Those resources were all i could find in the moment. I sort of rushed a bit. If i wanted to write a novel about it, i would spend more time citing resources. I lived through 95% of the evolution of video games. I've watched them turn from a fun pastime to a toxic time and money sink. I've grown tired of the shit they pedal, that they can't afford to make these games if they dont make literal billions in sales. Which is utter shit. Absolute bollocks. Verifiably false and an outright lie. The proof is in plain sight. It's not even hiding.
Go look for the evidence yourself. Humour me if you dont believe me. If you dont find what im saying is true, then therea no harm in looking.
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