this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
757 points (99.0% liked)

Technology

60071 readers
4967 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

CEO Bobby Kotick will leave Activision Blizzard on January 1, 2024 | Schreier: Kotick will depart after 33 years, employees are "very excited."::Schreier: Kotick will depart after 33 years, employees are "very excited."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

except other than new powers which the expansions offer there is little to be gained by playing any expansion before the most recent as the gear you get will be useless once you hit the current expansion.

That's not true at all, there are plenty of old guns and pieces of gear from previous expansions that are still great guns.

Not to mention it's a game... Playing the campaign itself, learning the story, etc, is something to be gained.

Not to mention all the vaulted content that you will never get to play.

And you're not paying for that... Everything that was vaulted is no longer charged for or charged for at a significantly reduced price (e.g. the Foresaken pack for exotics). The prices on old content (even the sticker price) also drops over time.

No it's not a cheap game. Yes it's free to play, and then you need content expansions to really unlock the whole game. Destiny is free to play in the old school "free to play" sense. It's free to access some content and do some stuff with your friends then you either buy expansions (the route Destiny and WoW went) or you pay a subscription (the way RuneScape) went. These are very old models and they're not scummy in the slightest. They're the moral equivalent of a free trial.

We literally just brought someone in, unfortunately the best way to do it is to wait for a sale. It's ~$20 for the majority of the old content (legacy 2023), ~$15 for bonus content (armoury collection -- what's left of foresaken and the 30th anniversary celebration DLC), ~ $40 for the current expansion and season pass (lightfall + annual pass), and I think a fixed $10 for the 2022 dungeon key.

That's $85 for the better part of ~4 years of game content/development and ~4 more months of yet to be released paid and free content.

Then yes, $100 for next year (which if it was a subscription would be <$10/mo). To put that in perspective, if bowling was your hobby, it would be significantly more expensive. We're all adults and can afford it... No harm is being done and it's all in all a good deal for the hundreds of hours we've spent in the game.

micro transaction give you easy access to all the best cosmetics which is quite manipulative at its core.

Cosmetic micro transactions where you know exactly what you're getting are again not a problem.

Types of mechanics used to trick money out of players

I didn't watch the videos (I don't even watch long videos friends send me half the time) but I skimmed the articles. The first is just some person's blog not exactly "research worthy." It's also not talking about what I've been talking about (i.e., if you just bought a $70 game you didn't like, you haven't been tricked, just refund the thing and/or don't buy it).

The second is much more credible as a source, but they're talking about loot boxes and gambling mechanics... And yes, those are a problem 100% (especially in mobile gaming, but also definitely Relevant in things like CSGO and as you mention Diablo, and also these days, RuneScape 3) but they have nothing to do with Bungie/Destiny 2 and they have nothing to do with people buying the Call of Duty base game despite its numerous issues and horrible reviews ... and then also not refunding it ... and/or buying it again next year.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

I paid £60 for baldurs gate 3. I dont have to subscribe to anything.

You spent 5 or 6 paragraphs telling me about how a free game is not free, but also, it is free even though it was one game of many that i mentioned as an example.

I get itm you like destiny. So do i. It's great. But it's expensive, and you can't deny that. It's a slightly different model to most modern games, but that doesn't mean it's not predatory. It's just a different kind of predatory. One that gives all its players stockholm syndrome.

Those resources were all i could find in the moment. I sort of rushed a bit. If i wanted to write a novel about it, i would spend more time citing resources. I lived through 95% of the evolution of video games. I've watched them turn from a fun pastime to a toxic time and money sink. I've grown tired of the shit they pedal, that they can't afford to make these games if they dont make literal billions in sales. Which is utter shit. Absolute bollocks. Verifiably false and an outright lie. The proof is in plain sight. It's not even hiding.

Go look for the evidence yourself. Humour me if you dont believe me. If you dont find what im saying is true, then therea no harm in looking.