this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
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There's an entire ecosystem of Facebook-tier repetitive browser games that are designed to keep you tapping for hours as you chase tokens you can exchange for AE coins or coupons. Actually, the main point is to get you to make impulse buys from within the games themselves

The games all use different tokens and naturally run on slowly regenerating energy. If you run out energy, you can get more by exchanging some of your coins or tokens, browsing products on AE, opening another game, or by ordering something for a large energy boost

Simply buying stuff normally on AliExpress doesn't give you game tokens or energy, you need to directly buy an item from a listing the game shows you for it to count

Every single game also has a battlepass type deal with dailies and weeklies to complete for even more tokens

All of this started when Halo 2 introduced XP into online shooters sadness-abysmal

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[–] doublepepperoni@hexbear.net 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I did recently manage to get 9€ off a 29€ item using coins I'd collected from daily app logins (which is a separate layer of gamification) so it's not all bad I guess

[–] space_comrade@hexbear.net 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Shops like Aliexpress and Temu often use really gross tactics to get you to buy shit but honestly I don't really think the Chinese government should be doing anything about it except protect their own population against it, which I think they are for the most part. Nobody is stopping western countries from banning this kind of shit, they just don't want to.

[–] doublepepperoni@hexbear.net 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Nobody is stopping western countries from banning this kind of shit, they just don't want to.

I don't want them to ban AliExpress, it's a great place to get certain stuff if you know how to avoid the obvious scams.

I just think the gameification is taken to absurd levels and can imagine people getting addicted to this shit

[–] CptKrkIsClmbngThMntn@hexbear.net 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They could probably tighten the rules around this kind of gamification and AliExpress would have to comply or lose the market to a competitor.

[–] doublepepperoni@hexbear.net 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I more mean that if it's still profitable to sell Chinese goods to the U.S. without gamification, some Chinese company will jump at the chance.