Feels reductive. (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Thursday, October 06, 2016, 17:13 (2809 days ago) @ Harmanimus

The ability to have games roll them randomly allows people who specifically enjoy that excitement at their option to continually have that moment of surprise. I fully understand there are people who don't feel that way, but I consider that a more than valid consideration.

This is all valid if you're talking about decoding an engram or something. I'm baffled that anyone would expect me to pay actual money for it, though.

Actually, scratch that. As I was typing that paragraph this whole debate came into perspective for me (I think). From your perspective, you're arguing that people who enjoy what is essentially gambling should be allowed to enjoy it. Here's what might surprise you: I don't disagree. I don't think anyone on my side of the argument actually does. In theory I'm fine with those folks having an outlet, and it's not for me to dictate how they spend their money (even though I do think it's dumb).

I think what I, and others, are really getting at is that some of us would be more willing to spend money on cosmetic items if we KNEW what we were getting. There was another post where someone framed this all as a divide between having disposable income or not, but actually I don't think it's as simple as that, because there's more than just a black-and-white distinction between people who do have disposable income or do not. Some people have MORE disposable income than others. For instance, I could get away with spending 5 bucks on something once. That is a number I know my budget can deal with. And it's not totally unfeasible that I might spend 5 bucks once for something I really liked. But I wouldn't even consider STARTING the process of buying $1 RNG chances, because I don't know how much I'd have to spend before I get something I actually want to keep. It's possible that I might end up spending 30 or 40 bucks before a drop I like came along, and there's just not room in my budget for me to throw that much money at every frivolous thing I come across. But some people CAN throw that money away, and the current system is for them.

(Please note that I'm just making up numbers here; I haven't bought silver and I don't know the pricing. Just substitute the real numbers for whatever I post.)

So the thing is, Bungie is currently getting no dollars out of me for ornaments. It's not that I hate Bungie, or even that I'm withholding money as a protest. It's simply not practical for me to spend anything in that manner. They will continue to get no dollars for the foreseeable future because I'm not gambling for ornaments. They could potentially get 5 (or whatever the price point would be for a set purchase). Now, whether that is BETTER for them is something their number crunchers would have to answer, although I'm not sure they can really know without trying it both ways and comparing. All I can say is what would get more out of me individually, and the current system is not it.