Current Events > So, like, why do people hate microtransactions so much?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This has been a hot topic the past few years with people spewing absurd amounts of vitriol and calling for heads on pikes and closure of studios because of microtransactions and it makes no sense to me. I've never spent a dime on them and I've never played a game where I felt forced to do so. On top of that all the rubes who are buying them are funding free stuff for the rest of us. People even complain about it in single player games where it can't possibly give anyone an advantage over anyone else; it's just for lazy smooth brains who don't feel like playing through the game. The only game that comes close to doing it wrong was Battlefront 2; not because people were paying for an advantage (they weren't) but just because randomized star cards were the only way to progress and that's an idiotic system.

So, why is this such a big thing for so many people?

Because most times it doesn't fund free stuff for us, it just funds executives bank accounts while negatively impacting a game
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DarthAragorn posted...

while negatively impacting a game

But it doesn't. It adds virtually nothing and takes nothing away. People always just say "cause it's bad" but I've never heard a straight answer on why.

DarthAragorn posted...

it just funds executives bank accounts

And this is just paranoia looking for the evil business boogeyman.

pay 2 win
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specialkid8 posted...

DarthAragorn posted...

while negatively impacting a game

But it doesn't. It adds virtually nothing and takes nothing away. People always just say "cause it's bad" but I've never heard a straight answer on why.

DarthAragorn posted...

it just funds executives bank accounts

And this is just paranoia looking for the evil business boogeyman.

Look at any sports game with them

Or any call of duty
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Corporate America at its finest.
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There is no reason to hate solely cosmetic microtransactions

Everything else has plenty of reason for hatred
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normal game: kill 20 of enemy X to go from level 2 to 3

microtransaction game: kill 1000 of enemy X to go from level 2 to 3, or purchase an XP boost so you only have to kill 100 of enemy X
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DarthAragorn posted...

Look at any sports game with them

Or any call of duty

I don't play either of these but isn't the COD stuff just skins and unlock shortcuts? It's not anything that's not already in the game.

because they usually do negatively impact the gaming experience since they are usually pay 2 win mechanics where you can straight up buy power, or buy it skip a time limit on stuff... when they make the time limit like weeks or months for 1 action to finish, or to buy high rarity stuff that you either can't get normally or will take an unreasonable amount of time to do it in game without paying etc.

it's usually pretty scummy with how it's done
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Muffinz0rz posted...

There is no reason to hate solely cosmetic microtransactions

Yeah there is. Just let me unlock them by playing the game like it used to be.
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specialkid8 posted...

DarthAragorn posted...

Look at any sports game with them

Or any call of duty

I don't play either of these but isn't the COD stuff just skins and unlock shortcuts? It's not anything that's not already in the game.

The majority of CoD games with them have weapons with different stats or perks locked behind microtransactions

Or you can technically earn them in-game if you play hundreds of hours
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Because fuck that.
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What kind of person goes to a gaming site, asks this question and expects to be taken seriously?
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Let's play Super Mario Bros!

But you have to pay 1 dollar every time you use a mushroom

Like, gtfo
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Forlorn_Ass posted...

Muffinz0rz posted...

There is no reason to hate solely cosmetic microtransactions

Yeah there is. Just let me unlock them by playing the game like it used to be.

they've conditioned goombas to believe the "it wouldnt have made it into the game if not for DLC" bullshit
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this is a pretty instanced example as it only applied to skyrim. when bethesda+valve tried to introduce paid mods you could see the effects practically overnight. skyui, one of the essential mods to have as it makes the UI somewhat less backwards, announced they're updating along with the introduction of paid mods. the only way to get a mod required for playing many other mods (skyui) would be to pay for it. in this instance you'd have free mods which don't use the paid version and mods which do use it.

even though skyrim is a single player game the way it was all set up seemed very alike with microtransactions. so if you want an example of where purely cosmetic microtransactions are a bad thing, skyrim+paid mods were it
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Depends on the game. Free to play games that are legitimately fun to play for free I give a pass.

Once you put a price tag on the game, though, it depends on what's being offered.

Cosmetics - Would rather they be unlockable, but I can live with it.

Pay to remove grinding/waiting - Fuck that. I want to PLAY the game. If it has a grind/wait that makes it unfun to play, why bother?

Upgrades - Is the game mostly single player or competitive? If it's single player, I'd assume I can get by without the upgrades, and will ignore them. If it's competitive, I'm gonna assume it's pay to win, and not bother.
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KnightofShikari posted...

normal game: kill 20 of enemy X to go from level 2 to 3

microtransaction game: kill 1000 of enemy X to go from level 2 to 3, or purchase an XP boost so you only have to kill 100 of enemy X

Because this can happen.
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offering the ability to buy better equipment or items or etc in a single player game shows that the devs are not confident in their design and ability to balance the game and is a sign that parts of the experience are fundamentally flawed

offering the ability to buy things you'd unlock by playing or otherwise skip grinding/waiting shows that the devs are not confident in the overall quality of their game, are not confident people will actually enjoy playing it, and don't really care about making something fun rather than just something that exists

taking a normal single player game that's already good and adding microtransactions to it does not make it significantly worse (though it does make it worse imo) but the big issue is that's never how these things are used. They're used to cover up places where the game lacks in one or more areas to make it more palatable to people since they know it can't just stand on its own merits
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What? I dont know if you actually did read about Battlefront 2, because that the entire reason that everyone canceled their pre orders.

They knew that the game was online completion only, with no campaign mode. Then they found out that other players would be purchasing dlc that made them pretty much invincible to the people who just paid $60.

The only way to stand a fair chance to compete was to purchase content. When we pay $60 for a game, we dont want to pay a dollar more than that. $60 is more than enough, already.
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cut from the game now, to sell too you later
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