Personal Responsibility. (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Thursday, October 17, 2019, 17:34 (1645 days ago) @ cheapLEY

At the risk of treading into politics, I’ll just say a lot of this is not only about Destiny. I think the fact that “they’re just a business trying to make as much money as possible” is floated as a legitimate response and everyone takes that as a matter of fact and just accepts that as a completely legitimate defense is absolutely troubling. Yes, it’s at least a little hyperbolic. It’s a video game, there are far bigger issues to worry about. But it’s a tiny indicator of a problem in the system at large.

If that was all of someone's argument, I'd also be worried, but I don't think it is. At least not for anyone around here. I think "they're a business, so of course they're gonna try and make money" is valid up to some point. It costs millions of dollars to make this massive, ongoing entertainment project. And, of course the smart, talented people making it want to be paid and want the resources to continue their craft. Defending a company for selling things is in no way controversial in my mind.

And what is predatory, anyway? Like someone else mentioned, companies like Walmart spend millions of dollars in determining how to order the products in their store too. What to sell. When to sell it. Etc. It's even something I have to actively resist. "Like... ooooh! That LEGO set on the end of the row looks cool and is a good price, I should buy it... or not, I shouldn't actually spend that money no..."

I see it more as temptations and decisions on where to put my resources are a part of life. But not every instance of a lure or plan to make a profit is nefarious and predatory.

But some are. Cable TV companies and U.S. internet providers are absolutely predatory about things like data caps and adding random charges to bills. There was a story just today or yesterday about one company charging its customers a state tax that was actually optional and that the internet company didn't even pay itself. They just raised everybody's bill a bit to get a little more profit. We all have to watch out for stuff like this. Way more often than we should.

So yeah, I think "my favorite entertainment company needs to make money to keep making me the game I love" is a legitimate defense to at least some Eververse decisions. Perhaps not all of them though... I didn't know that the Raid didn't offer ships / Ghosts this time around but the store did, for instance.. I think that should be switched back.