Board 8 > The Game Awards 2021 - 12/9 @8PM ET #keighleys

(+) Yeah! (+)

Halo show was great. Not a game, but nice to see more footage.

More zombie/co-op shooters. Yawn.

Not hyped for Elden Ring.

Sonic was great. Not a fan of sonic, but best presenter out of the whole lot. Open world could be fun just from a traversal standpoint.

DRUCKMANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

I don't like It Takes Two but they still deserve the win. Nice to hear him swearing again.

Pizza emote.

ESPORRRRRRRRRRTS

Forza? Okay sure. Apparently hot wheels got nominated? There was a hot wheels game?

Everything else I've already forgotten

swordz9 posted...

I feel like Genshin gets robbed in non-mobile nods. Its a console/PC game as well and pretty damn great at that.

It's a gacha.

KamikazePotato posted...

It's a gacha.

You can ignore that aspect if you want though and its still a very impressive game compared to the competition even in that regard. It being free is also a big perk. It puts some AAA open world games to shame even imo.

swordz9 posted...

You can ignore that aspect if you want though

No, you can't. The majority of the rewards you get from playing Genshin Impact are related to random chance rolling for things you will hopefully maybe get but probably not. It's tied into every aspect of the game's feedback loop, and while you can technically play the game without thinking about the gacha aspect, the game is designed to make you care about it. The fact that it locks 90% of the characters - each with different gameplay styles - behind the gacha is a black mark all on its own.

Would it have gotten some recognition if it wasn't a gacha? Possibly. But it is, and don't expect game critics to give those sort of games much recognition when there's plenty of other offerings that aren't based on predatory gambling.

I installed Jenn-SHINE impact once

it leapt out of the TV, grabbed my credit card and spent $25

KamikazePotato posted...

No, you can't. The majority of the rewards you get from playing Genshin Impact are related to random chance rolling for things you will hopefully maybe get but probably not. It's tied into every aspect of the game's feedback loop, and while you can technically play the game without thinking about the gacha aspect, the game is designed to make you care about it. The fact that it locks 90% of the characters - each with different gameplay styles - behind the gacha is a black mark all on its own.

Would it have gotten some recognition if it wasn't a gacha? Possibly. But it is, and don't expect game critics to give those sort of games much recognition when there's plenty of other offerings that aren't based on predatory gambling.

There are people who have cleared everything with just the starting characters you get for free. You really dont have to summon if you dont want to. Sure they tempt you with characters, but the game isnt made in a way where you need any of it. I wont argue that the predatory aspect exists. Had they just made it a standard game Id have happily paid the retail price and extra for the new regions. Instead Ive gotten to play a great game for free for over a year now which is also nice

You don't need the other characters, true. You're just missing out on a significant portion of the varying gameplay styles and characters if you decide not to engage in gambling which, again, the game heavily incentivizes and leads you towards participating in. These aren't just skins or cosmetics. Even if you're going to give Genshin Impact a free pass on this (which you should not), why would you expect game critics to, when they're one of the groups of people that care the most about companies releasing complete games?

KamikazePotato posted...

You don't need the other characters, true. You're just missing out on a significant portion of the varying gameplay styles and characters if you decide not to engage in gambling which, again, the game heavily incentivizes and leads you towards participating in. These aren't just skins or cosmetics. Even if you're going to give Genshin Impact a free pass on this (which you should not), why would you expect game critics to, when they're one of the groups of people that care the most about companies releasing complete games?

To me its basically the same as dlc characters and season passes. Only difference is the random factor which does suck, but its all basically equally predatory and scummy to me. If you truly want to play everyone in Smash for example the extra you have to pay is nearly the same price as the game itself. People were allowed to buy the full Fighter Passes before most of the characters in them were even revealed too so they were basically just playing RNG with their money if you ask me. Not too much different than paying and hoping you get a random character. There are other games where the extra campaigns are just as much or more expensive than the game itself too and if you like them of course the temptation to spend is there. Genshin is just as complete a game without spending as some others that get a free pass is all Im trying to say I guess?

swordz9 posted...

Only difference is the random factor which does suck,

You're really downplaying the fact that it's gambling. Real, actual gambling. When I say 'predatory' I mean in the actual sense where the word has weight and where people with inherent self-control problems are drained of their savings. Conflating gacha practices with standard DLC practices is completely 100% off the mark, because in those DLC cases you know exactly what you're getting. The mental difference between that and random chance cannot be overstated - certain types of people are vulnerable to addictive behavior that gets triggered by gambling, and gacha games are built on those people's backs so that everyone else can play for free and act as word-of-mouth marketing.

And like, if you enjoy Genshin Impact that's fine. It's not a bad game to play. I enjoyed it for the 20~ hours I put into it. It's still a gacha, and I don't think those types of games should be given more clout than they deserve. Not that the Game Awards show really offers that much clout, but hey.

(And the Smash Fighter pass counterexample isn't a good one because you knew exactly how many characters you were getting by buying the Pass, and because Sakurai literally told people not to buy it if they weren't absolutely sure they'd be picking up every character regardless of who they were.)

I know its gambling and they only thrive off people with spending problems. The ones that fail to do so shut down. I still think both suck even if one is worse than the other. The saddest part is this isnt even just exclusive to games. Several major toy lines have adopted the spend money to get random shit in a box/bag too. Its a plague that doesnt appear to be going anywhere unless its banned altogether. Theyre basically raising a generation of gambling addicts and nobody is doing anything about it.

Sadly gacha games are currently protected from an old ruling regarding baseball card packs where in the end the person got the item that was advertised (a pack of baseball cards), the judge just ignored that certain cards were more wanted than others.

Until a new rule is established, gacha games will remain.