this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
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This may be an unpopular opinion but as I see it most of D4s microtransactions are fine (still a trash game but that's a different point). They're mostly just cosmetics. They only exist so that people who want to can throw money at the company. If you don't want to buy them then just don't buy them. Like this portal recolor one. Sure it's $30 but it isn't like there is any advantage to buying it. It's not giving you faster warps to town or more xp or anything like that. It's only there for you to throw money at blizzard and have a graphic showing that you threw money at blizzard. If you don't want to throw $30 at blizzard for no gain then don't throw $30 at blizzard for no gain. If a bunch of whales want to throw away their money on cosmetics then let them.
Please see this very thorough Jimquisition video that debunks the harmlessness of "purely cosmetic" microtransactions. They are predatory and feed on those who are most vulnerable like addicts and the neurodivergent.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=7S-DGTBZU14
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The dev time spent on garbage micro transactions could be spent on making a good game.
In addition to that jimquisition that another user commented, remember that its easy to say "it doesnt affect me if i dont buy it" but people do buy it. Some people spend silly money on cosmetics and if people keep dojng that then it encourages game companies to spend less time on making the games good and more time on pumping out cosmetics.
The proof is in tbe pudding. Games are mostly shit now.
These are massive companies whos sole aim is to make money, not entertaining games. They dont care, they will just follow the money.
This is mostly a me problem but I get mad at the very idea of someone spending $30 on a skin. That is such a clash with my values it's upsetting.
Like, I don't want to slide all the way down the "why spend any money on fun when people are starving" slope. I understand that people need some joy in their life.
But I just don't see how the skins in these games bring joy anywhere near the money charged for them. Like the title, you could buy a whole other smash hit game for that much money! Plus tons of other non game stuff. That's a small dinner with friends. That's a small band's concert.
So I just get kind of mad that people are spending their money on this stuff at all. It's not a good use of money. Stop it. Be better at money. Reminds me of an old friend's idiot brother that would blow his money on expensive not-bulk soda and candy when he needed a new keyboard. Like literally failing the marshmallow test.
But I can't control other people. Sadly.
That's before any of the "blizzard wants money. They see the huge ROI for this stuff. It's a better ROI than other content. They will make more skins instead of other content" train of thought.
With apologies for this longish rant.
The simple answer is that, for a fair amount of people, $30 isn't a notable purchase, such that it's not particularly a substitute for anything else they may be interested in doing.
Is that true? Something like 40% of Americans don't have $400 on hand. Maybe the people spending money on this trend wealthier?
I feel like you'd have to be pretty wealthy for $30 to be unremarkable.
I mean we're already looking at a fairly expensive hobby in gaming, which is going to skew towards people with more money in the first place.
And just speaking from my own perspective as solidly middle class, $30 is pretty comfortably within what I can spend without particularly thinking about it. Like yeah, I obviously can't just throw $30 at everything I see, it adds up over time, but it's low enough that I don't particularly have to think about exactly where it will come out of my budget.
And fwiw, I tend to avoid most in-game micro transactions, because I simply don't value them all that highly. I barely even care about getting free unlocks in most games.
There's a number of reasons that "it's just cosmetic" is bullshit.