this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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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.