this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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I want to shed light on a tactic that involves collecting data as you play, feeding this data into complex algorithms and models that then alter the rules of your game under the hood to optimize spending opportunities.

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[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 month ago (74 children)

Nothing inside a video game should cost real money.

Ban the entire business model.

If we allow this to continue, there will be nothing else.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 4 points 1 month ago (66 children)

Yeah, no.

I like a bunch of games that do this. I've liked games that do this for 40 years.

I mean, technically you just banned all arcade games that ever existed. I liked a bunch of those.

And I like a bunch of free to play games. I spent a bunch of time playing Hearthstone. I'm gonna say that at least some of the millions of people in LoL would like to keep playing what they're playing. I am looking forward to a bunch of new characters in Street Fighter 6. I kinda don't want to go back to the days where I had to buy a second full price copy of Street Fighter 2 just to get access to 4 new characters.

I get that it sounds good to say this when thinking about the worst parts of the industry, but... yeah, no.

[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (65 children)

'But arcades!' Are renting someone else's hardware. Different thing. This did abuse not exist fifteen years ago.

'But free games!' Can just be free. Or pay-what-you-want. Or cheap. Or something you already own. How's your back catalog on Steam?

This Skinner-box horseshit where a game is """free""" but somehow makes a billion dollars is weaponized frustration. The handful of games that were re-released with tiny updates at full price are now the entire industry's goal, thanks to this specific abuse. (And they still got you chumps to buy three 3D versions of Street Fighter.)

You can pay the price of a whole-ass game for a hat.

Lesser versions of that aren't better, just lesser. The opportunity to spend one hundred dollars right the hell now is shoved in your face between rounds. Or dangled each time a lootbox animation juuust misses. Or crammed into your inventory, as a gift, mmyes, if only you bought a key.

If LoL wants to keep making money they can charge a subscription or sell expansions. Y'know - rational consumer purchasing decisions. Not playing keep-away and then tickling people's balls in a controlled environment where fireworks go off each time you click Confirm Purchase.

Inevitably: 'but people don't often go for subscriptions.' Yeah! It's almost like conscious choices are less generous than engineered decisions! Or: 'but budgets rely on that immense revenue!' Then they should shrink. Budgets follow revenue. Always always always. Whatever money these fuckers spent, they expect to extract from you, three times over.

[–] Maestro@fedia.io 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

But arcades!' Are renting someone else's hardware. Different thing. This did abuse not exist fifteen years ago.

Yes it did, and even longer. Quite a few arcade games were made with intentional difficulty spikes to suck up as many quarters as possible, not to be a fair game.

[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

Read what you quoted.

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