I do think it is. But it does have a few key differences. The game is actually completely free to play. You only pay money for new characters, and you can actually get those decently easy for free.

I've unlocked every single character without paying anything for them. So while you can pay with money, you can also pay with in game currency that you earn by playing.

That gets more difficult the more you play, as the rewards for leveling up drop off at a certain point. Get to a high enough level, and earning a new character is probably not super realistic. If you play that much though, spending $12 on a new character probably isn’t a huge ask. Other than that, money only gets you cosmetics.

Where, "dropping off" is that everything is randomly given, and if you are randomly given something you already own you instead get in game currency that you can just unlock stuff.

I’m not typically a fan of that argument, as I don’t think there’s a clear line between cosmetics and gameplay—I firmly believe that if you can dress up your characters and gear then that is inherently gameplay. Unlike Destiny, though, there are no gameplay implications tied to your gear at all. No perks, no stats. It is just a skin. All events are entirely free, you don’t have to buy the season pass to participate in anything, it’s only to buy into the seasonal reward track. I still think that’s silly—paying for the privilege to grind out cosmetics isn’t great.

Both for Apex, and Dota 2. I've always bought their season pass, or other things to support the game company. They are both free games and I like the game. I also play Marvel Contest of Champions on my phone, but that company is evil, so I won't give them a dime even if their game is great.

The game still heavily relies on fear of missing out and limited availability, and I think that is predatory and problematic. It’s not something I can explain away, but it does not bother me as much as how Destiny works. I can easily spend no money on Apex and still enjoy the entire game.

I honestly am curious on where exactly the line is drawn. Is it literally that you can't stand games that have limited event items? Or that there are also options to buy said items for money? If it's the later, than what about if there are events that have limited event items (like Apex free events) that you can't buy? Is okay for people to spend unhealthy amounts of time instead of money?

I know I've mentioned this before, but time and money are both currencies in my mind. Some people have more of one than the other. And both can be used unhealthily.

That’s not true in Destiny, and it really feels to me like Bungie is trying to play both sides of saying the game is free to play, but you also still have to pay for these totally amazing (give me a break) seasonal activities. If you don’t pay, you get a skeleton of a game and can’t actually play current content with your friends, but if you do pay you get a bunch of half-baked activities that just push you to spend more money in the Eververse.

I just won't condemn all timed events because some people feel "forced" to spend money to finish it. Nor do I say that all companies who use it predators. I gave Apex as an example of a game where I don't feel that is true. Yes, Destiny has felt more like it. But I don't think it's fair to just give a blanket statement to all Battle passes. Again, this is just my side of the story. I'm sure there are others who have different experiences and feelings that make it feel evil.

Okay, so the battle pass it timed essentially? Like, you buy the pass and you have a limited amount of time to play the stuff? That's… horrible.

It's more like, by the time it goes away you never want to see it again (at least that goes for the playable stuff, not the loot drops).

The Battle Pass isn't about specific game modes. Your level on the BP goes up each time your character levels. The BP gives you items, such as cosmetics. If you don't finish the BP before the season is over, you do not get the items you didn't reach. You can choose to pay to close the gap at the end of the season if you want the items but didn't have time to play as much as you needed to.

That said, Battle Passes are generally decent for the money. IMO, its not unlike a regular MMO sub. Instead of paying to play, you pay to get extra loot while you play. That loot table only lasts the season, and the loot is the same for everyone with the BP.

I don't agree that its PREDATORY. I will say that Fortnite's implementation is probably better than Destiny's, purely because Fortnite is 100% cosmetics.

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