Oversimplifying (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Monday, October 23, 2017, 04:53 (2380 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Obfuscating "price" is far from the only reason. I think that dismisses a more unique value of blind box opening that is not held by direct purchases: Surprise. Anticipation. There is a level of entertainment derived from opening something with unknown contents.

I know many people would prefer to be able to make direct purchases and would happily pay more for that option. And this is mostly where we see the most major divide, between those who derive joy from the mystery opening and those who do not. Providing a service to one group (and within D2 the other service to the other group; not even getting into the fact that all contents can be gotten through play, even if it would require a lot) seems a far cry from predatory to me.

People have fun at casinos, but they are still clearly predatory, or at the very least, manipulative and designed to exploit the customers.

Just like a casino, it is possible to enjoy Des2ny’s microtransactions without feeling taken advantage of. But that doesn’t change the fact that the addictive gambling hooks are very much in place. I find it easy enough to ignore most of the time, but it does feel sleazy every time I notice it. And I think that’s a shame, given that a) these “casino mechanics” were nowhere to be found in Bungie’s previous games, and b) other modern videoganes have found healthy, non-exploitive ways to introduce microtransactions (hello Titanfall 2).