hmm... personally I think the largest problem with loot boxes are all the bad analogies.

And it all started from good old horse armor. The problem with microtransactions and loot boxes started with customizations of the players. In old games to unlock new hats, tracks or anything else, the player had to play the game. Today, sadly the players don't want to play, but show off their stuff.

But lootboxes are like marriage because you have to keep paying to make any progress.

SCNR

That's a good one my friend

Not to sound like a dick (something my family says it's too late already) but, your arguments are all over the place, and they sound a bit outlandish and more than a bit preachy.

Honestly, I mostly agree with almost everything you say. However I don't feel about it the way you do.

Well that's not entirely true, lootboxes disgust me, and my reaction is to avoid all games with such exploitative practices, again pretty standard fare for anyone who's got a modicum of common sense. Nothing new to say here.

As for your assesment that the whales are enough to support the lootbox craze. Well yes and no. I think they might for a while, but it won't last. I find the term "whales" deeply ironic since I'm convinced the industry will eventually either hunt them down to extinction or force governments to intervene to protect them from over-predation.

And blaming it on the gacha craze? Well let me shrug on that. Honestly, I think in the west Candy Crush is a worse offender.

Like all of his other threads.

That's why. apart from this post, I'm staying away.

I was unaware he was a repeat offender, thanks for the heads up.

And with that I'm off. Up, up and awaaaay!

sometimes I find your particular brand of rebellion to be tiresome.

I did read through those articles and what I read really didn't surprise me. The Gamespot article about EA , the headline is: "COO Peter Moore says in five to 10 years, all titles will allow players to install a client for free, then charge for add-ons; $60 games may survive." I also quote from the same page "Last updated by Eddie Makuch on June 22, 2012 at 11:11AM". So the article was last updated in 2012, it's 2018 now, I think PM was a little too optimistic about the gaming market jumping on the FTP bandwagon :)

That techspot article you linked to about Eidos reminds me a lot when gaming publications in the late 90's (though I remember it specifically in PCGamer) stating multiplayer was the future of gaming and single player gaming would be a memory. If that was truly the case, GOG wouldn't exist and instead of us having this discussion, we would be confusing our K/D ratios with our penis sizes and telling each other to have sex with certain family members.

I did know microtransactions were big buisness and companies would be pushing for them. However, even if they are profitable now, doesn't mean it will remain that way in the future. In the UK in 2005, there were about 3400 night clubs, today, there are about 1700. One of the reasons night clubs are falling out of favour in the UK is they offer poor value for money. It's a possibility microtransactions could follow a similar trend.

The consolization of games is something us older gamers complain about until this very day, I did notice it as well. Interesting you mentioned Thief: Deadly Shadows because loading up that game for the first time did irk me somewhat. Yes, it does suck and yes, i know that trend isn't going to reverse, at least not for AAA devs. However, consolization delivers a watered down gaming experience, while micro transactions deliver a predatory one. With the former, it can be tolerable, but the later definately isn't which is why people are more vocal about it. Even if the protesters are a minority, it's the minority that make the changes in society and always has been. Majority can't make changes because they are the mainstream ;)

So yeah, I'm really not concerned as I'm confident micro transactions as a business model will eventually backfire. EIther consumers start getting more savvy after being screwed or big companies will push too far and bleed their money base dry or push them on. We'll see what happens in the future though. If the worst does happen, I have enough games and other hobbies to last me anyways.

Exactly. I'm seeing quite a few posts here that are missing the basic argument.

Boycotting the scum who throw lootboxes and gacha into everything doesn't do diddly-squat to stop it, because the developers and publishers can always take the whales for granted. Even better (for the industry, and worse for us), this business model largely absolves the developers of responsibility towards the general video gaming community just because only .19% of the players will matter financially.

From a business perspective, every customer who needs to be kept happy is a liability, and the easiest way to make enough money while keeping these liabilities to a minimum is to prey on people predisposed to gambling addictions and ignore everyone else.

And while the money in lootbox games continues to flow, so will the never-ending supply of games that cater to the lowest common denominator. No matter how much you boycott, the big-budget publishers will ignore you as they have that .19% to get rich off. They've spent 2 generations of mobile games cultivating newer gamers into thinking that lootboxes and crappy freemium experiences are the norm via mobile gaming and now is the time to roll it out on other platforms.

Thanks to AB2012 for posting all those links calling out the big-budget publishers for leading the race to the bottom.

Short of demanding new legal restrictions on lootboxes, the best the consumer can do from the free market end is to "vote against" lootboxes: actively support developers who refuse to engage in scummy behavior, encouraging the free market to produce more games according to the traditional business model where everyone is a valued customer who matters.

Honest to god, i didnt think I would read about lootboxes and their impact on the free market today. Fascinating stuff. I dont agree, but a great read.
Coincidentally... Seriously? The amount of out-right trash on this forum and you choose this to pick on? Two fascinating things today.

question - if boycotting, then all those who are unhappy with the system will not play the game anymore, but find something else. if the "whales" who then are left are happy and enjoy the game and don't mind spending that monies - who are you to dictate that they should not?

Awww shit I completely forgot about this shit, but the problem is I do not trust the government to do anything about it, corporations always manage to worm their way out of responsibility for such things.

But. I do agree with DividebyZero (probably one of the few rare times I will) thats its up to us gamers to show the way, WITH OUR WALLETS.