(most) Microtransactions are OK and people need to stop bitching about them

[espio100]

5 dollars for some dumb stuff in an already overpriced $60 game is beyond handicapped. If theyre just cosmetics I can live with it but GTA V's microtransaction feel like a robbery. It honestly feels like they made the game is grindy as possible just so people would buy the shark cards.
I dont mind them in free to play as long as it isnt obvious pay to win.

[Ad Bot]

[AutoBahn]

i mean i hate microtransactions, but if it’s not a paywall like you see in mobile stuff then it’s at least better than what most devs do to milk money out of people (read: billions of DLC packs, looking at you Paradox)

[Rainzx¹]

Microtransactions do not belong in a 60 dollar game.

[otto-san]

also it is probably worth mentioning that this idea that devs cut previously free content and put it behind a pay wall because they're Greedy Bastards is almost entirely a myth. i'm fairly certain that, in most cases, premium or paid content is given a separate budget and is intended to be sold from the outset. you aren't necessarily being robbed of something just because there's an additional cost, and similarly, there's no reason that you should be entitled to more content (that cost money to create) for free

if a game is made legitimately worse by the devs' use of paid content, then that's obviously a bad deal, but that doesn't mean the microtransactions are an inherently poor decision

[Cappytaino]

Microtransactions are cancer. They're slightly less bad if they don't affect gameplay in any way, but it pisses me off that some devs are lazy and will literally cut out content that should have been in the base game to package it as DLC  (looking at Paradox Interactive and EA).

It's loving incredible to me that a smaller studio like CD Projekt Red can make an incredible game like The Witcher 3 and make 15 free DLCs as well as a few paid ones that are actually worth it and don't stop you from enjoying them game if you elect to not purchase them.

I just miss the days where you'd walk into the store and buy a game and get the entire game. I'm not trying to look through too much of a lens of nostalgia; I know if there were a feasible way to do it back then (ps2 Xbox GameCube generation) dlc/microtransactions would probably have existed.

Nintendo seems to be the remaining example of a developer/publisher with integrity about these sorts of things.

[TheABELBOTO]

the problem with dlc for me is how are you supposed to get all of it after the servers that host them shut down

microtransactions are shmuck bait so I don't really mind them

[Electrk²]

microtransactions are only acceptable in free-to-play games (and maybe for purely-cosmetic items)

[hillkill]

i remember when pubg came out with unimportant microtransactions and everyone started giving it bad reviews on steam strictly for that reason. "i really love playing this game, but the devs said they wouldn't add microtransactions and did anyways. the game is now ruined and you shouldn't buy it" wow way to help out the gamers who aren't loving idiots and are looking for actual feedback on a game they might not be sure about buying

off topic: i remember this and i'd help my friend grind for crates and get upwards to $2 a pop for cases. they sold like hot cakes

[Mr Queeba]

i want to pay once for my game, and i want that game to be complete, not missing other bits and pieces that i have to buy separately. cosmetics are an exception to this rule if you can unlock them through normal gameplay.
also, here's a good rant that presents the other side of the argument: https://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=303261.0

[Conan]

i want to pay once for my game, and i want that game to be complete, not missing other bits and pieces that i have to buy separately. cosmetics are an exception to this rule if you can unlock them through normal gameplay.
also, here's a good rant that presents the other side of the argument: https://forum.blockland.us/index.php?topic=303261.0

christ i hate it when people pull this argument that devs just took stuff out the base game and made it dlc

cause thats literally never the case. microtransactions maybe but not dlc.
http://askagamedev.tumblr.com goes into this misconception in depth
edit: specifically this post and the subsequent ones: http://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/72269327402/game-developer-myths-the-complete-game

[otto-san]

i'd like to know how people actually assess whether or not they should be entitled to content (i.e. content that "should have been" in the base game). at this point, to me, it seems fairly arbitrary

i can understand for sequels in stuff that you'd prefer to have at least as much content as was in the last game, though more generally, what is the theory here?

http://askagamedev.tumblr.com goes into this misconception in depth
edit: specifically this post and the subsequent ones: http://askagamedev.tumblr.com/post/72269327402/game-developer-myths-the-complete-game

yeah this blog has a lot of nice info from a developer perspective, would defo encourage people to look at it to see what they got to say

[Mr. Bones]

I just don't understand when people are pissed that FREE TO PLAY games have microtransactions. It's a loving free to play game, how else will it make money?

[Daswiruch]

one thing i really don't loving get is why people are trying to label microtransaction loot boxes as gambling
it's literally the same thing as opening a pack of cards for mtg or yugioh or something or a blind box figure
shouldn't those also be classified as gambling then?

[Alkatjo]

one thing i really don't loving get is why people are trying to label microtransaction loot boxes as gambling
it's literally the same thing as opening a pack of cards for mtg or yugioh or something or a blind box figure
shouldn't those also be classified as gambling then?

I actually used to love playing yugioh when i was younger but i specifically remember the tin or pack labeling what you might receive when you open it. There were charts online detailing what could potentially be in the box and how rare it was. I wouldn't call it gambling because you clearly knew which character's cards you were getting based on the cover art vs an roll that can yield bad results.

[otto-san]

I actually used to love playing yugioh when i was younger but i specifically remember the tin or pack labeling what you might receive when you open it. There were charts online detailing what could potentially be in the box and how rare it was. I wouldn't call it gambling because you clearly knew which character's cards you were getting based on the cover art vs an roll that can yield bad results.

so would you recommend that developers publish the outcome pool and the odds of each particular outcome, like how china requires?