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NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2024 00:50:19 +0000
From: Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: It looks like gambling, feels like gambling, pays out (almost) like gambling... but it's not gambling
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2024 20:50:20 -0400
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It doesn't really say anything new about the topic, but the New York
Times has an article* on how MTX-infested sports video games have
become. Sports in general have become cesspits of gambling these days,
it seems, but video games take it to a new level.

I don't really have anything else to say about the topic. That won't
stop me from going on about it though. I've a reputation to uphold.
;-)

We've discussed it here a lot (even if not specifically about sports
games). It's pretty attrocious, though. I'd forgotten how awful it was
in sports games; it would be bad enough if you had to buy favorite
players to use in your games, but you don't even get that. You gamble
on the chance to win that character... and then you only get a week to
use him before you have to start all over. 

It makes MTX in mobile games look tame in comparison.

My favorite bit from the article was EA Senior VP Kerry Hopkins
valiantly trying to defend the practice, claiming it was the only way
they could afford to keep deliving new content for the game year after
year. Except... the games only have a one-year lifespan before they
expect you to buy the next edition. MAYBE he'd have an argument if the
base games were free... except the lastest version costs $70USD.
Players are already paying for that new content, jackass!

And, of course, any MTX from the old game don't carry over. 

Meanwhile, a (former) executive producer at Bungie tried claiming**
that the entire live service model in fact offered more benefits for
players than traditional 'pay once and you get the whole game' method.
I mean, I'm sure it's better for the publishers, but I've never met
any player who preferred this nickle-and-diming that too many games
force upon us. We endure it, and sometimes enjoy some of the goodies
it gets us, but everyone I've talked to would prefer if games returned
to the sales model of the early 2000s; get a full, complete game with
lots of hidden bonuses that you can only unlock through gameplay. It
rewards the skilled and persistent, and not the ones with deep pockets
and poor impulse control.

Unfortunately, there isn't likely to be any solution to the problem.
If anything, it's just going to get worse. Almost every goverment  has
washed their hands of the problem, and pretty much everyone involved
in the hobby already knows how bad it is. Heck, at this point I think
even people who DON'T game regularly know about the problem. 

And people wonder why I wallow in my collection of twenty year old
video games. Sure, they're old but at least they're fun and I get the
whole package. 

Now I'm grumpy. I think I'll go eat some ice-cream.






---------------------                            
* Yes, here is the url to the article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/22/arts/sports-madden-fc-nba2k-microtransactions.html
** here you go:
https://www.ign.com/articles/ex-destiny-and-halo-producer-says-live-service-is-better-for-developers-and-players