Or it's a market problem (Destiny)

by iconicbanana, C2-H5-OH + NAD, Portland, OR, Thursday, June 25, 2015, 18:16 (3248 days ago) @ Kahzgul

The expansion is $40. If that's too much for you, that's a you problem. They set that price on what they feel the value of their work is, and what they believe consumers are willing to pay. If you feel it's overcharging, that is a you problem. If you feel you're being taken advantage of, that is a you problem. Not a Bungie problem. Bungie's problem is finding a price the market will bear. They decided on $40.

Just thinking out loud but if the majority of people are "letting themselves be taken advantage of" (I'm not saying that is the case) maybe they need to educate themselves on that fact and start voting with their wallets a bit more. If the ratio of game "quality" to game price has dropped in the last 10 years or so it might be wise to, collectively, stop paying for these things.

I don't fully believe that this is the case, but it's a nice idea.

Bungie (again, more likely Activision) is simply responding to that market. If consumers did stop spending like they had been, the prices would adjust. We all made this bed, and you're right, we as a group would need to collectively take action to create a change in the pricing of games. You can't blame sellers for pricing a product at the point where consumers are buying it.

But Bungie/Activision have also created that market force by intentionally designing Destiny in order to get consumers addicted. The result is that they are actively trying to addict you to their product and then sell you expansions they know you are less likely to resist (due to your addiction) at a price that is higher than what a non-addicted person would pay. There is a very real level of corporate greed and irresponsibility tied to this pricing and content release design; Bungie and Activision are not "innocent" or "simply following the market" here.

Putting agency in Bungie's hands by claiming they've created the addiction is precisely why people are addicted to Destiny. Take some responsibility and put that agency back in your own hands. Bungie has incentive to create a product with addictive aspects. You have an incentive to spend your time and money on what you find enjoyable. If you allow yourself to forgo your enjoyment by accepting Destiny's skinner box, it's a box you put yourself in.

You realise you are now claiming drug dealers bear no responsibility for the fact that people do drugs, right? Addiction, by definition, is an activity that people cannot stop doing even though they want to. Addicts need help, but drug dealers bear at least a portion of the blame.

I think people can stop playing Destiny if they want to. I'd be happy to change that opinion if you could provide me with some sort of evidence that Bungie is getting people hopelessly hooked on Destiny at the same rates as junkies are getting hopelessly hooked on heroine. I am not going to accept outliers as evidence of a parallel, and I think your example is a mindless trivialization.