Current Events > New Jim Sterling vid on microtransactions, whales, and predatory practices.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Great video. I hate mobile games, microtransactions, lootboxes, and crappy devs that want to bleed customers dry, so this was so great to hear a video dedicated to calling it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQsc14gDPbk

And lmao at the NeoGAF dig. Salt in the wound.
---

This player ain't no payer.
---

Does Jim Sterling really have nothing better to do than shill his videos under different accounts?
---

Monolith1676 posted...

This player ain't no payer.

Minnows representing!
---

He's been doing the same song and dance for a while now. I think he was doing more for the gaming community when he was putting a spotlight on asset flippers. At least those videos would occasionally produce results.
---

Seriously does Sterling pay people to post his videos here? No one cares what the dude thinks. All his opinions are obvious and not worth repeating.
---

TheBiggerWiggle posted...

Seriously does Sterling pay people to post his videos here? No one cares what the dude thinks. All his opinions are obvious and not worth repeating.

Now I'll be sure to make a new topic and tag you every time he makes a new video.
---

TheBiggerWiggle posted...

All his opinions are obvious and not worth repeating.

Mnemonics are a thing, dude. If these aren't repeated, then people will keep forgetting them. That's the insidious nature of the business, and how it gets away with doing what it does for so long. He's been repeating the same refrain for years now, and the AAA industry has only gotten worse as more people wake up to the fact. No, I think his "opinion" needs repeating several times over, because the AAA industry is garbage right now. Remember how upset we all got with on-disc DLC? Online passes for used games? How quaint everything was back then. This is worse. Much worse.

GOATTHlEF posted...

I was truly surprised by the backlash because mobile games has been getting away with it for years without comment.

Mobile games are a different breed because they're by and large free-to-play, and had no discernible business model beforehand. They basically made it up as they went, and made a lot of money doing so because the pool of people to profit from is quite substantial. I mean, almost everyone has a mobile phone, yes?

The video game market is much smaller, and has a more defined business model. We, the gamers, also really don't like change. That's why they've been having their feet held to the fire a lot more closely than mobile developers. We put up with a lot of shit because the products they produce are by and large fully functioning and enjoyable for the price we pay. However, the anti-consumerist practices that have been coming out of the corporate shitlords is growing at an alarming rate. It's getting uncomfortable to be a big game fan nowadays, because they're waging a war on your psyche for your dollars. It may not affect you, and by and large it doesn't affect me; I can ignore markets and shit quite easily and still enjoy a game. It's impossible to miss how brazen and in your face they've gotten about putting their marketplace before the game, though.

legendarylemur posted...

Fucking hell, how many years can you spend making the variation of the same fucking video over and over tho

As many times as it bears repeating, because this shit crops up again and again. He keeps "recycling" material because the game market keeps "recycling" shitty practices.
---

Fucking hell, how many years can you spend making the variation of the same fucking video over and over tho
---

lol wtf at this topic

"hey this guy is mad that games are becoming increasingly predatory"
"FUCK THIS GUY I LIKE PAYING 500 DOLLARS FOR A 60 DOLLAR GAME HE'S A LIAR A CHEAT AND HES FAT TOO! DORRIITTTOOOSSSSSSSS!!!!!"
---

_BlueMonk posted...

lol wtf at this topic

"hey this guy is mad that games are becoming increasingly predatory"
"FUCK THIS GUY I LIKE PAYING 500 DOLLARS FOR A 60 DOLLAR GAME HE'S A LIAR A CHEAT AND HES FAT TOO! DORRIITTTOOOSSSSSSSS!!!!!"

What. I haven't seen that in this topic at all
---

Jim Sterling made a video about himself?
---

redeadlink posted...

What. I haven't seen that in this topic at all

what else am i to gather when people ignore the topic of the video and just trash the dude?
---

All that's been said is that he keeps repeating the same thing.
---

I always find it funny that the people most upset about paying for microtransactions are the same people who pay Jim Sterling to talk about the same shit every week.
---

_BlueMonk posted...

redeadlink posted...

What. I haven't seen that in this topic at all

what else am i to gather when people ignore the topic of the video and just trash the dude?

It's a 22 minute video and it probably has some "comedy" segments. I put that in quotes, because the "comedy" is not funny.
---

Someone wanna TL;DW this for me? I'm not watching anything with a thumbnail like that
---

TC gotta be ZombiePelican alt.


---

I like how right off the bat, he points out that the only people who buy into micro transactions are the so called whales and they are an extremely small percentage of gamers.

He then acts smug and says that this is a bad business model, and that it will all collapse on itself in a big big way soon.

Yet, he often complains about how microtransactions work as a sort of "free money" system, where it costs the developers/publishers nothing.

So...even if it does collapse, who gets hurt? Sure, they don't make as much money, but they're not going to lose money.

And if it's Whales that are supporting this system, why will it ever collapse anyways?

And if it is truly the whales who are the only people paying for microtransactions...who the fuck are these videos for?
---

@Asherlee10 posted...

Don't have the availability to watch the video, but does he say that all microtransactions are bad?

No. The entire crux of this video centers around one business' business model of surreptitiously recording things in your mobile games - like level of affluence, how likely they're to spend money, the type of things they do in games, how often they play games, how long they play games, location services, etcetera - all in an effort to gain greater insight on how to better sell microtransactions to the users. It's feeding into the argument that Jim Sterling has made for years: loot boxes and microtransactions are never just an option for these game makers. They are always looking for a way to make it more enticing for people to open up their wallets.
---

50Blessings posted...

I like how right off the bat, he points out that the only people who buy into micro transactions are the so called whales and they are an extremely small percentage of gamers.

He then acts smug and says that this is a bad business model, and that it will all collapse on itself in a big big way soon.

Yet, he often complains about how microtransactions work as a sort of "free money" system, where it costs the developers/publishers nothing.

So...even if it does collapse, who gets hurt? Sure, they don't make as much money, but they're not going to lose money.

And if it's Whales that are supporting this system, why will it ever collapse anyways?

And if it is truly the whales who are the only people paying for microtransactions...who the fuck are these videos for?

They're for people who can't think on their own and enjoy taking part in outrage that solves nothing.
---

50Blessings posted...

I like how right off the bat, he points out that the only people who buy into micro transactions are the so called whales and they are an extremely small percentage of gamers.

He then acts smug and says that this is a bad business model, and that it will all collapse on itself in a big big way soon.

Yet, he often complains about how microtransactions work as a sort of "free money" system, where it costs the developers/publishers nothing.

So...even if it does collapse, who gets hurt? Sure, they don't make as much money, but they're not going to lose money.

And if it's Whales that are supporting this system, why will it ever collapse anyways?

And if it is truly the whales who are the only people paying for microtransactions...who the fuck are these videos for?

Are you really that daft? you can't sustain anything off a small percentage of the customer base. they will eventually get bored and the bubble will burst. As for who get hurt? anyone that enjoys gaming or developers or graphics artist etc. everyone but the people up top. When moneys goes they would rather lose workers than lose their income.
---

youngfossil posted...

you can't sustain anything off a small percentage of the customer base. they will eventually get bored and the bubble will burst

And that's bad...why?

I thought you guys hated micro transactions.

Micro transactions going down doesn't bring down the game industry, unless we're now going back on the whole "OMG they make billions just by selling the games, all that extra money they get from peddling microtransactions isn't needed and is just greedy!"
---

50Blessings posted...

youngfossil posted...

you can't sustain anything off a small percentage of the customer base. they will eventually get bored and the bubble will burst

And that's bad...why?

read my edit
---

youngfossil posted...

50Blessings posted...

youngfossil posted...

you can't sustain anything off a small percentage of the customer base. they will eventually get bored and the bubble will burst

And that's bad...why?

read my edit

Read my edit.

You people go back and forth over if they need the money from microtransactions so much that it's become comical.
---

Yeah, I'm confused.

In the last couple topics a big point was how microtransactions help pay the development of modern games so that the price doesn't have to go higher than 60 dollars. The big argument was that this was bullshit and that microtransactions go directly into publishers pockets and not towards game development at all.

Now it's a bubble that could burst and if micro transactions go down then gaming goes down?
---

idk, microtransactions are garbage and the creep with respect to them is lame, but I don't really see how complaining about it helps in any way
---

everyone who cares hates micro-transactions already

yall need to stop giving this fat child predator looking cuck clicks.

Youngster_Joey_ posted...

yall need to stop giving this fat child predator looking cuck clicks.

Why?

JE19426 posted...

Youngster_Joey_ posted...

yall need to stop giving this fat child predator looking cuck clicks.

Why?

Uh, because he's not funny and he sucks?
---

CocteauQuintplt posted...

Uh, because he's not funny and he sucks?

What are you talking about? Flailing around a big dildo while he seran wraps corn flakes around his face is like the definition of comedy.

CocteauQuintplt posted...

Uh, because he's not funny and he sucks?

Is he supposed to be funny? If people are still watching his videos they clearly don't think he sucks.

Youngster_Joey_ posted...

CocteauQuintplt posted...

Uh, because he's not funny and he sucks?

What are you talking about? Flailing around a big dildo while he seran wraps corn flakes around his face is like the definition of comedy.

Lol

Still want to know if TC is ZombiePelican

He's the only person who cares about this insufferable subject
---

f*** THIS GUY I LIKE PAYING 500 DOLLARS FOR A 60 DOLLAR GAME HE'S A LIAR A CHEAT AND HES FAT TOO! DORRIITTTOOOSSSSSSSS!!!!!
---

Jim Sterling fans are so dumb that they can't seem to grasp that you can hate Jim Sterling while also not spending copious amounts of money on stupid bullshit.

I mean, of course they wouldn't understand this. They spend copious amounts of money on his patreon so they can hear him do the same fucking video 4 times a month.

@Asherlee10

He provides examples of microtransactions and loot boxes done right when they are in free to play games. If you are paying upfront for a game, then the game shouldn't have microtransactions at all. This is just an example of the AAA game industry taking a free-to-play model, seeing how much money it makes, and essentially warping it to their own business models. That's part of what he finds so detestable about it. He has nothing nice to say about loot boxes at all, because they are gacha grabs that prey on the same psychological tells that gambling does.
---

I'm not sure what the best way is to handle post-game content. I dislike lootboxes and am totally fine with just earning them in the game. It really doesn't bother me if I'm playing as some boring looking character as long as I'm on an equal playing field (if not I'm playing something else). If the game is supported for 1, 3 or more years I'm overall fine with it if I don't feel like I get less of an experience.

You could argue that lootboxes aren't needed. You should be able to just buy microtransactions. But I wonder how this works out for them. Would the average person spend $5 or less to get what they want? I know it's less than lootboxes and that's likely enough for devs to not go for it anymore but I'm not really sure. If I can't unlock them at all without paying I actually consider this a worse model.

Then you have the traditional model of paying for map and character packs or a season pass. I'm happy this model is overall gone. It always felt like the userbase was fragmented. But yet what is the cost? Single player games however should absolutely follow this model.

I'm kinda glad I've moved away from multiplayer games for the most part. All of this stuff is just a headache. Only one I played this year is Splatoon 2 and I haven't played that for a while.
---

My favorite part about this topic is when you post a video from a popular youtube, you're obviously a shill or an alt. It's kind of sad that's the best they could come up with.
---

Jim sterling is a hypocrite.

He roars and whine about AAA games, but when indie game catered to hardcore audience with real difficulty and non dumbed down mechanics he whine about it too and wants everything to be piss easy, accessible and inclusive.

Thats what AAA games for, accessible, easy to pick up, and inclusive.

Niche games are to please that niches, small amount of audiences that wants difficulty, challenge and certain mechanics that will never be greenlit in AAA games.

Sources: look at those commentocracy videos
---

apolloooo posted...

He roars and whine about AAA games, but when indie game catered to hardcore audience with real difficulty and non dumbed down mechanics he whine about it too and wants everything to be piss easy, accessible and inclusive.

What does any of this have to do with the content in the video? Also, when did he ever do anything like this? The most he's ever done is talk about how Dark Souls games could benefit from an easy mode to be more inclusive, while simultaneously mocking people who put on airs about how much of a "hardcore gamer" they are. I don't think that's hypocritical.
---

Alucard188 posted...

apolloooo posted...

He roars and whine about AAA games, but when indie game catered to hardcore audience with real difficulty and non dumbed down mechanics he whine about it too and wants everything to be piss easy, accessible and inclusive.

What does any of this have to do with the content in the video? Also, when did he ever do anything like this? The most he's ever done is talk about how Dark Souls games could benefit from an easy mode to be more inclusive, while simultaneously mocking people who put on airs about how much of a "hardcore gamer" they are. I don't think that's hypocritical.

Not that video in particular, but his general attitude.
---

Ok? Care to showcase how he's being hypocritical then? Your initial post does such a piss poor job of it. I don't think it's hypocritical to want games to be more inclusive, while also mocking people who show elitist attitudes about how much of a "hardcore gamer" they are.
---

Eh, it's been super easy to keep my wallet closed when it comes to this kind of thing.

All I have to ask myself is "is it feasibly possible to collect every cosmetic in X game"? Sure enough, every game I know of that uses micro-transactions/loot boxes (free to play or otherwise) is loaded with limited edition/convention only/pre-order items, ergo it's impossible to collect everything, and thus there's no point in wasting money chasing after what's left. 99% collection rate will not suffice, especially if the game is banking its entire income on convincing you to pay towards said collection.

The only freebie online games I've spent money on have been Star Wars: The Old Republic and Lord of the Rings Online, and that was purely to upgrade my accounts to "preferred" status because they were practically unplayable otherwise, even then they cost me no more then $10 apiece.

WildStar, Marvel Heroes, Smite, Paladins, and Heroes of the Storm haven't gotten a cent from me, nor has any other online game I've since abandoned (or got shut down).

With regards to single player games, I've long since made it a point to not buy a new one until the "definitive" edition comes out with all the DLC packed in, and only after it goes on sale to boot. If game companies want to play hard ball, so can I, the key difference though is that they need gamers while gamers don't need them. There is no end to alternatives out there, up to and including simply playing older titles or seeking other hobbies entirely. Predatory? Big-time developers grossly over-estimate their power and position, especially in this day and age of the indie boom, or how if there's another video game crash, they'll be the only ones going up in smoke.
---

I can understand why a lot of people on Jim to shut up about his . However I think it is key. There are many people effect by this type of stuff. I play a wrestling game and I spent all of 5 bucks on it. However there are people spending 100s on it every mouth. And and they use psychologist(and the like) to make sure that they can nap the weak into paying over and over.
---

So Jim hates video in-game shops but has his very own merchant shop selling pins, poster,s T-shirts and on top of all of that a Patreon account. All of this on top of his YouTube ad revenue ("the entry fee"). So why is Jim so greedy dude
---

twitterfriends posted...

So Jim hates video in-game shops but has his very own merchant shop selling pins, poster,s T-shirts and on top of all of that a Patreon account. All of this on top of his YouTube ad revenue ("the entry fee"). So why is Jim so greedy dude

He doesn't make any money through Youtube.
---

l Dudeboy l posted...

twitterfriends posted...

So Jim hates video in-game shops but has his very own merchant shop selling pins, poster,s T-shirts and on top of all of that a Patreon account. All of this on top of his YouTube ad revenue ("the entry fee"). So why is Jim so greedy dude

He doesn't make any money through Youtube.

His non-Jimquistion stuff is monitized
https://socialblade.com/youtube/user/jimsterling
---