Loot Box Mania - #20

You're still dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaming!

what about duplicates? playing the BF2 beta i got a ton of cards i already had and one pack only had two cards (there guaranteed three cards, prob was a bug) lol but with all dupes thats giving you nothing. 

I can find lots of articles listing Xbox One X Enhanced games, but am having trouble finding out which ones will be available when the console launches. 

theres also the fact lootboxes etc take it one stage further the obscure the real amount of money by making you pay for a fake currency so its harder to work out how much you are spending which is by design and a bit crummy

Japanese games, at least smartphone ones, absolutely love the loot box idea. "Gasha"/"Gacha" are blind pulls to get a random selection of whatever in-game thing (usually a set number of cards of different rarities, like Hearthstone) that you can obtain through in-game currency - which can either be earned by doing various things (in rhythm games, which are what I'm the most familiar with, you get currency from clearing songs at the higher/highest levels, not making any mistakes at all, maxing out your cards, etc) or through microtransactions.

A lot of these games keep putting in one-two new, sometimes limited, top-level cards very frequently, with the idea that you'll roll/pull for your favourite characters if they're included in this particular batch. With the idea being, of course, that you'll keep doing it until you get the card/character you want. I know that I'm guilty of spending far too much money on these games trying to get my favourites... :x The system works, though!

Love Okami. My favorite Zelda game. 

On "gambling",

While I generally dislike lootboxes, I'm fine with them not being catagorized as gambling. If it was suddenly decided that they were, I would become concerned about its implications for other gaming mechanics and how over-reaching someone might try to push it. Absurd example: buying a game that also contains a random drop mechanic constitutes gambling? It sounds stupid, but I can imagine serious discussions eventually reaching that point.

On $90 vs $60+MT,

I would much prefer to pay $90 up front and get a complete and unified experience.

1) Not being pestered by nickle-and-dime sales attempts AFTER I've already bought the game.

2) There's no longer that unnanswerable question of whether or not the game was worsenned to incentivise microtransactions

3) The "additional" content is no-longer limited to unimportant trinkets. Think about it. If the content that was added beyond the normal $60 became intended for everyones experience rather than segmented off to only microtransaction payers, then the additional content would be allowed to be much more unified and necessary to the rest of the game.

To be clear, that's just what I would want, given the choice. I have no expectations that this would catch on in the business world. Also, my perspective is that of someone who primarily plays single-player games. I think it there's a little more merit to microtransactions and DLC getting added to online multiplayer games that are supposed to hold people attention longer.

On whales,

Wow. 0.19% bringing in 50% of gaming revenue. I know the exact numbers for other platforms must be a bit different, but if that's even remotely the case for the rest of gaming, I find that REALLY concerning. It also helps me understand why companies don't mind pissing off the vast majority of their users in order to push microtransactions like loot boxes. They'd have to be stupid to not cater the majority of their content to whales. Which sucks for everyone else.

I was initially on board with Ryan's statement about the current state of microtransactions being "our" own fault, because it "should" be true, assuming that each player/user has the same amount of influence. But after hearing that statistic, it sounds more like a lot if this situation is primarily the fault of as little as less than a fifth of a percent. I feel bad even saying this, because I don't like the idea of pointing my finger at a comparitively small group of people and saying "all our problems are your fault", because I know that's not true. There are several other factors involved in how we got to where we are, and it's not like they're even trying to harm gaming culture, but it's pretty hard to deny that they aren't at this point.

On Gameboy Classic,

I don't think it would do as well as the other Classics. I could be wrong, but I just don't get the sense that there's enough nostalgia for original GB games to return in this fashion. On the other hand, if they made a Game Boy ADVANCE classic... I think people would go nuts over it. Heck, I might even want one, and I've had no interest in the classics thus far. The GBA had a ton of really great, memorable games. Heck, they could practically just re-use the GBA-Micro shell, give it a back-lit screen, and embed ~80 games in it instead of the cartridge slot. That, or just a regular-sized GBA-SP.

Ryan with the Naruto reference.  I knew he was my favorite Achievement Hunter for a reason. 

I think the core issue that people have with Battlefront 2 and Shadow of War in comparison to Overwatch is that the gameplay in overwatch is never affected by any sort of cosmetic. Everything gameplay wise is completely unlocked for all who have purchased the game, inclusive of characters, stages, game modes, etc..., whereas Battlefront 2 and Shadow of War and inherently changing the balance and gameplay by having these randomised micro transactions.

Paladins and TF2 can get away with loot boxes due to them being free to play and that micro transactions being the way that you support the game. 

Battlefront 2 and Shadow of War come from 2 major publishers with 2 franchises that will sell massively regardless. Having to pay an entry fee to pay more money to play the game you already paid for is where people seem to be getting angry with these 2 situations 

October 27th is my birthday :)

Ryan missed in the BF2 beta that star cards absolutely make an ENORMOUS difference. Some of them were a 100% boost at tier 4. Stack 3 defensive ones ( Such as +Health, +Defensive ability, +All ability cooldown, which also helps offense )...and you turn into a juggernaut. Just getting 2 tier 2 cards more than doubled my K:D.

I've still got my working Gameboy color and am currently going through Pokemon Gold, its still pretty fun