Spending Money vs. Time (Destiny)

by MacAddictXIV , Seattle WA, Monday, October 23, 2017, 09:29 (2380 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY
edited by MacAddictXIV, Monday, October 23, 2017, 09:34

It is condescending to imply that just because someone pays for microtransactions they are somehow not savvy or understanding of what that purchase is. For most players it is as much a conscious choice to buy microtransactions based on their budget and perceived value to the exact same degree that people don't due to their budget or perceived value.

I understand that you are in squared opposition to many aspects of modern gaming financial staples and I respect that even if I disagree with some of the logic. However, I cannot respect the implication that people with different priorities are a) not savvy consumers b) are being taken advantage of c) derive no benefit from these transactions.

I will also add that time and money are both forms of currency in games. And in most cases, they both can get you what you want. Some people have more of one than the other. Just because they have allowed you to get some items based on one other than the other doesn't mean it's any less right.

I personally have a mix of both. So although I haven't spent money on Destiny for micro-transactions, it doesn't mean I think it's wrong. I personally would just rather use the currency of time to try and get what I want.

Well said. Just to add though, I think the part where this gets sticky for some people is that they've already made a "time vs money" transaction. They paid money to buy a game, with the hope that the time they spend with the game will be fun. So when they start playing the game, and the game says "You know that time with our game that you just paid for? Well you can skip some of it if you give us more money!", that's a red flag for some of us.

So "skipping the game" comes in many, many different flavors. And this in itself is a grand topic. Is it waiting for energy to refill so you can continue playing? Is it doing a task to get a reward? Is it the main story line to finish the game? There are so many ways to consider this that I would argue isn't 100% bad. It also depends on how it affects others and not just yourself. It also depends on how the creators of the game created the game that might make the skipping of the game more enticing. I would love to talk about this, but I would rather not, I only have so much debate in me, also this seems to be the general topic of MT's anyway and so many people have said their piece.

If a game developer is making money from selling the ability to skip playing parts of their game, then they are incentivizing themselves to make the skip-able parts of their game less fun to play, or even worse, make them intentionally not fun to play. Because then they'll make more money.

I would agree with this on a basis that the skip-able parts are game play and that the creators are doing it purely for the sake of money. But this is not all MT's. This in not the case of Destiny IMO.

So any time that sort of microtransaction exists in a game, we're now in a situation where we (the players) must hope that the developers are doing their best to resist those money-making incentives. Some developers will do better in that regard than others.

I agree.

From a player's point of view, it would clearly be better if that tension didn't exist in the first place.

If you mean the tension for developers to do the above type of MT's then yes. However I believe there are MT's that are actually good.

*note*
I'm a very Devil's advocate kind of debater and I also very much have lots of opinions about things, but I'm also a very terrible debater. I also can be terrible at getting my opinions in a form that people understand, so I'm sorry if any of this is not clearly understood.