this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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It can be the least predatory mtx system ever, being in a paid game is still not acceptable and I'll die on that hill. Never bought anything with a shop or battle pass and won't start now.
You can literally earn all the credits you need to buy out the store just from playing.
Having the option to use real money is the problem. Nothing is stopping them from adding more and more expensive stuff until you cannot grind it anymore. That's how we went free cosmetics to 60+ bucks for skins.
Oh, they can add content not included in the original purchase? And they ask me to buy those things they worked on if I want to play with them? Fucking monsters... someone needs to stop them.
You know, drip feeding stuff is no fun. Paying for trivial things is no fun either. We used to get full-blown expansions for the price some companies want for a single skin.
Instead of adding stuff to a shop, games could get actual new content. Instead of buying every asset separately, they could all be thrown in with said new content. Like, yeah, they should get paid for their continued work, but that does not mean the consumer should be milked for every penny.
Sure, and it'll be unacceptable when that actually happens. Saying "X is unacceptable because think about what they might do in the future" isn't really an amazing argument if they're not doing it now.
Nothing is stopping anyone from making something predatory from some angle at some time. You're just slippery sloping this.
I think there need to be a balance. If it’s a service game, they need money to keep servicing the game. There is a fine line between a reasonable voluntary option to support a game in exchange for some symbolic cosmetic and gross predatory practices.
There's merit to that, but keep in mind that sometimes the game is bound to a service for the sake of enabling microtransactions to begin with, and if not for that they would have let players to host their own servers. This has happened to most multiplayer games from larger publishers.
I don't think every topic deserves nuance. Every mtx shop is predatory, every successful service game lives off whales. You'd just draw an arbitrary line at how aggressivly they hunt whales, but they need them all the same. Even if you can get everything with ingame currency drops, if people wouldn't spend enough, the game wouldn't get new content.
The only fair solution is to scrap mtx entirely and make all service games subscription based. But people aren't ready for that, this conversation often comes down to "as long as they don't exploit me, I'll take my free games".
I would not call Deep Rock Galactic predatory.. They release one! cosmetic pack for each season, and that’s it? There is no whales to catch, because in that case it’s very limited how much you can even spend. Like 10 euro every 4-5 months and that’s it. Is that predatory to you?
I honestly can't answer you, I don't know anything about the game besides seeing it everywhere for years. Stuff like: How in your face is advertising? Do season even add anything besides these packs? Are they missable? The only thing I can say for sure: I dislike how they present multiple bundles with varying amounts of DLC on their steam page. Without prior knowledge I'd have to go through everything and check if I'd be missing out on some actual DLC content and I'd assume there are people buying an actually reasonably priced game for over a 100 bucks because they want all DLC assuming it's real content. Sure, that's on them not checking, but also kinda on the developer naming it stuff like "Deluxe" or "Master" Edition instead of "All Cosmetics Edition" or something among those lines.
Regardless, even if it is an genuine exception, they add massive content updates and don't push these packs at all. Do they even make a profit then? Massively successful games like DRG, Terraria or Stardew Valley can do whatever they want - they have funded themselves more or less for life already and probably would still sell anyways. Normal service games need to turn a profit with their updates which still means either having a subscription or predatory mtx.
It's OK for people to spend as much money as they want supporting a game. If you enjoy the work that a developer does for a live service game, it makes sense to fund their business.
I paid for a couple of the cosmetic packs in DRG for example. They genuinely made a great game, and they released additional content as well. I like that I'm not pressured into a subscription, and I can choose how much extra money I want to throw their way.
Destiny 2 is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. The DLC is very expensive, each pack corresponding to the cost of a full game, and there are several of these packs at least. That being said, some people really like Destiny 2. Who am I to say that their spending is wrong? It's their hobby, and they're funding it by supporting the company that makes the content for them.
If it were a level playing field I'd be inclined to agree with you, but it isn't. These companies are hiring specialists in the psychology of creating a sense of need where there is no need. It doesn't work on everyone for everything but there are people who are susceptible to these techniques and they're the people funding everything. The issue isn't people spending their money on what they want, it's them being put in the situation where they feel compelled to purchase things and encouraged to do so by companies who know full well that these people can't handle it and will cough up the dough no matter what comes their way.
Would you feel the same about your paragraph with these changes? Destiny 2 used to have full blown loot boxes after all.
I think it is important to still ralley against predatory mtx mechanics even if they don't work for you. Other people don't necessarily have full control over their own spending habits and by allowing these systems we openly allow developers to exploit these people. Luckily we started having laws against gambling mechanics (although Gacha is still a thing), but there are still many other psychological tricks at play for almost all of these shops.
Unpopular opinion but I think it's acceptable as long as its optional especially as multiplayer game where they are hosting servers. Those aren't cheap and I don't have the game so I wouldn't know but if they do release more multiplayer content for free, I think it's further justification because that's better than paid content packs. As an example, CoD on PC had a recurring issue of DLC content being useless since too little people would buy them. Titanfall saw this issue as well and it was even worse due to the smaller player base. So with Titanfall 2 they just made it free and added cosmetics microtransactions that were actually reasonably priced.
Maybe this is not the solution for everything but as long as it has no bearing on gameplay what's the harm? If you're not one to spend on microtransactions then you only get the benefits. I don't think a more benign implementation should be criticised just because we fear the potential of it potentially becoming worse.
To each their own, but I think this is a bit extremist. Life isn't black and white. Free games with mtx can be good or bad, paid games without can be good or bad.
Just not buying solely because it has a shop/battle pass means you miss out on a lot of games where it has zero meaning and you're not allowing any nuanced discussion to happen on the issue.
There are so many games available without microtransactions that I can happily never play one and not feel I'm missing out. We're having the nuanced discussion now!
I agree if those things leverage fomo to get people to pay. In helldivers you can earn that currency just playing the game so if you have less time to play you have the option of purchasing the currency and their versions of battle passes are always available to buy and work on at your leisure.
It started with "It's just a silly horse armor DLC, just don't buy it!", continued with "It's just cosmetics bro, just don't get them!", then we got "The shop is fine though, you can get the currency ingame!" and got to "The timed battle pass is fine, you also get free stuff!". You can draw your own line for mtx, but slowly we're both approaching and crossing it if you accept anything before that.
The way I see things, "the least pressured to buy stuff" reads like "the least aggressive cancer". Sure, it could be worse, but like, you've still got cancer. There's still the ideal option of being healthy instead.
I'm actually not making any of those arguments and disagree with all of them myself. My issue with mtx is generally that they prey on people with psychological tactics that are proven to work on a lot of (generally vulnerable and younger) people. Helldivers does none of that, it's not "least pressured to buy stuff", you're not pressured at all.
And I know I'm being a little sensitive here but it really sucks to lose someone from cancer and see someone comparing it to a shop in a video game of all things.
You know what, that's fair. I'm sorry for the comparison and will try to not use it again.
As for the least pressured thing, that's just from the title of the original article.
I appreciate the consideration and at the end of the day I really agree with you and it sucks to see the state of the industry as a whole right now and really hope we can get back to being respected as consumers some day.
You only earn so much, though. Once you finish with requisitions it's buy only
No, you can find super credits in every single battle. Should be leaving any mission with a minimum of 20 super credits
Nope, you can find them in missions as well, just in smaller amounts
You can actually find the premium currency as a loot item in some mission types