The Easy Way Out
Remember those days when you played Candy Crush on the toilet or during class, and you got stuck on that one stupid level try after try. And after the 3rd or so attempt, a pop-up appears giving you the option to use your credit card to purchase points to purchase new benefits.
This mechanism is technically known as “in-game purchases” in the gaming world and more affectionately known within the gaming community as utter garbage money-grubbing game-destroying corporate developer bullsh*t. It’s the reason why the “free-to-play” models of Candy Crush and the zillions of handphone games exist despite being ‘free’. This underhanded tactic generates hundreds of millions for the companies each year and is the topic of high scrutiny especially when it pertains to child addiction.
But I don’t personally care about this. Handheld games are generally weak substitutes to actual rich world of video games and frankly, I think they’re a terrible thing to waste time on. They’re repetitive, simple, addicting, and dead-end in terms of personal growth and fulfillment. Plus, it’ll encourage your kid to use your credit card and waste hundreds/thousands of your dollars.
This strategy of shoving in-game purchases has made its way to console games, my main focus and great love, in the form of ‘loot boxes’, bundles of in-game purchases that offer anything new from new content to new functionality.
And (yea you probably guessed it), it’s utter garbage money-grubbing game-destroying corporate developer bullsh*t.
The Corporatization of Fan Support
Any corporation’s complete aim is to extract as much value from it’s customers, sometime even when It completely tilts the player base. Gamers universally hate in-game purchases and while most will still play the game while ignoring this ‘option’, the system is actually implemented to exploit the weakest and youngest of players.
So we’ve seen again and again great games that are liquified to peddling nonsense. The highly acclaimed Lord of the Rings gamification Shadow of Mordor led to the highly anticipated release of Shadow of War last year. Everyone hoped for more of the good stuff but all we got was paywall after paywall.
This is becoming common practice now, especially for industry giants like Ubisoft and Activision.
And unfortunately, the practice is being expanded to full parts of the game including core functionality and narrative. New purchasable stuff like Season Passes and “Expansions” (which most suspect were originally part of the game but purposefully cut out to package into future sell-ables) are cluttering the space.
Japanese game developer Konami went to the farthest extreme after they parted ways with legendary Metal Gear Solid developer Kojima, taking the beloved franchise which landed on a masterful note a few years with MGS5: The Phantom Pain and coming out with the latest regurgitated, monetized trash in the form of Metal Gear Survive. EVERYTHING is locked away behind a loot box. Want to try out a new level or weapon? Cough up 10USD. Want to save a 2nd game in a separate slot? Cough up 10USD.
The Ethics of Pay to Win
There are number of legitimate reasons to try and pressure companies to stop using loot box systems. Probably the most significant is that it promotes gambling behavior amongst children. This is a bit of an extreme, like the gaming gun scare of decades past. But it is important.
My main concern is the degradation of what gaming offers its audience. Games are supposed to be fulfilling experiences that rewards the player for their curiosity, skill, and dedication. But the loot box “Pay to Win” model undermines all that, allowing anyone to just throw a few dollars at the problem. Problem solved.
We already live in a world where satisfaction comes too fast. It’s been proven that dating apps actually undermine relationships and fast food undermines general health. This type of gaming destroys the long-term fulfillment of rich immersive games that reward the player instead of forcing an addiction upon you.
What to Do
Just don’t buy this garbage. I’ve never and never will purchase a game that has this shite. And tell your friends not to as well.
Steem on!
Really this is a great information about candy crush. I really enjoy this game during playing. your perfect analysis really impressed me. Thank you for sharing this post with us.
한식 하우스님...식당경영하시는 분인줄 알고 출출해서 들어 았는데.....결국 아무것도 팔지 않는군요. 무슨 내용일지 엄청 궁금하네요...ㅎㅎ
Atlas! someone finally wrote on this topic. its serious extortion from the gaming industry, and should be stopped.
Agreed!
Well, I think everyone just hates while being good in a particular game and then comes someone who payed some money and is "better" than you just because of that. In that moment you realize how stupid is to waste most of your free-or not free time on games, especially pay-to-win one. We should spend our time with family, friends, learning and obligations. Even spending time on Steemit is productively. Thanks for good post, probably written from experience. Have a good day - @tonac :)
물론 확률형 아이템이 좋은건아니지만
월 정액제 게임이 줄고있고
게임회사는 단기간에 매출 및 수익을 올리기위해서
대박성 랜덤박스를 많이 출시하지요
뭔가 공정하게 같이 게임할 수 있는 게임을 하고 싶어요
캐쉬템도 게임에 영향을 받지 않는 ....
그래서 기승전결
배틀그라운드!? 하하하
게임에 대한 포스팅이군요.
Just don't buy this garbage (=game?) ㅎㅎ
잘 보고 갑니다!
You look like very intelligent. When I have enough time I will read your writing in detail.
Great read! Solid points of view. Well deserving of this upvote!
Thanks @gamersclassified =)
음...?? 인게임 결제에 관한 내용이네요.... 절대 저래선 안되죠 요즘엔 게임을 완성도 있게 만드는것보다도 오히려 출시해놓고 땜질한다는 인상을 지울수가 없어요 ㅠㅠ 그리고 당연하다는듯이 팔아 먹구요
저
영어공부 하기 싫어요
하나 외우면 두 개 잊어버리는 나이가 됐다구요 ㅠ.ㅠ
공감합니다!!!! 일반적인 게임 그 자체는 순수한 어린이들이나 청소년에게 꿈과 희망을 주고 호기심과 재미를 주는 장점이 많이 있습니다
근데 소위 loots box 약탈박스(확률형 아이템)은 돈 내고 돈 먹기식의 사행심을 유발할 수도 있지요
특히 각 아이템의 타입의 확률도 아이템 구매 전에 완전 공개한다 하더라도 결국 마찬가지요
다시금 게임의 순기능을 살리면 역기능을 줄이는데 국제적인 규범을 만드는 등 제도적인 장치가 마련되어야 합니다
LA가기전 게이트에서 인사하고 갑니다!
아 영어가 더 늘어야할텐데;;
Hey!! :) I thought I would let you know that I had the opportunity to visit Seoul Steemit Park. I gave your park a shoutout as well in my latest post! :) So awesome.
salam kenal bang, saya andri maulana dari banda aceh https://steemit.com/food/@andriatjeh19/ayo-jalan-jalan-ke-restoran-terapung-bagan-percut