Seasons (Destiny)

by Kahzgul, Sunday, October 22, 2017, 20:28 (2380 days ago) @ Ragashingo

Good reply, and thank you for it.

And intentionally designing your game to prey on addiction is a gross abuse that should not be tolerated.

Understanding why players find games fun and using that knowledge to make your next game more fun is not the same as preying on players. I think the paper itself gave a much better definition of what was going on:

What is being offered here is not a blueprint for perfect games, it is a primer to some of the basic ways people react to different patterns of rewards. Every computer game is implicitly asking its players to react in certain ways. Psychology can offer a framework and a vocabulary for understanding what we are already telling our players.

For 30+ years game designers have been trying to figure out how to make a good, fun game that sells well so they can make more good fun games. That science is being used to help with that is not necessarily a bad thing. And there are games that actually prey on players with things like pay to win and not letting players earn things free.

Yes we need to be wary. Yes, some games are abusive. But you at least need to acknowledge that the vast, overwhelming majority of the decisions that go into a game like Destiny aren’t because the developers want to intentionally prey on addiction, but because they want to make games that players find fun.

Point conceded.

I like, no love, that you linked to that article. But, I find your strictly negative tone and viewpoint intensely frustrating. :(

Ahh, I wish I wasn't, too. By and large, I like Destiny 2. I feel like it's a huge step up from D1 and I think it realizes a lot of the promise that the first game made. Integrated patrol mode and missions is wonderful. I'm not sure why I don't feel like gushing reviews of the things I like are as valuable or important as my complaints about the things I don't like. It is definitely a trend in my posts and I'm well aware of it. I think that it has to do with the fact that, for over a decade of my life, my job was to find problems with video games. It seems like a probably cause, at least.

So... I feel like this is a really strong point, and I recognize that the vast majority of game design is to make a fun game (and it works, because damn, I have fun playing the game). Microtransactions, specifically, bother me. Even if they are designed innocently and no ill will is intended, I feel like we have enough evidence that they rely on addictive behavior as a key component (half, literally) of their funding model, that if you truly had good intentions you would take them out of your game. Instead of doing that, we get seasons, cycling through new microtrans items in what appears to be an effort to refresh the pool of desirable items so players who bought all of the current ones will feel the need to buy the new set as well. I can't help but view this negatively.

And listen, I think it's cool that Bungie is adding new stuff each season. I honestly think that if you could not buy bright engrams, but only earn them through exp, I would LOVE this. It's the spectre of those people who cannot help themselves and who are being taken advantage of that ruins it for me. I've seen what addiction does to you. It's horrible. I would not wish it on anyone. And I'm disgusted that abusing addiction is considered acceptable as a business model for video games. For me, at least, it taints the experience in a negative light.