9 ms·

I think it's reasonable to draw distinctions among different types of games. Having spent much of my near 20 year career in the games industry, I'm saddened and

I think it's reasonable to draw distinctions among different types of games. Having spent much of my near 20 year career in the games industry, I'm saddened and disgusted by much of what has happened with the monetization strategies pioneered by mobile and free to play games. Maybe there's some grumpy old man syndrome at work but I also have a degree in psychology and the way these games are transparently optimized to exploit human psychology worries me quite a bit. I left the industry in part because of these trends and I won't be letting my own kids play these types of games. I don't know that regulation is the answer (and I'm generally anti regulation) but I do think there's a real problem here.

shados 7y ago
> I'm saddened and disgusted by much of what has happened with the monetization strategies pioneered by mobile and free to play games. There's a lot to be said that its easier to attract 1000 people and extract $500 from 10 of them than it is to get 5 bucks from all of them. Even more so when you add piracy to the mix. Would these strategies have been a thing if so many people didn't flip their shit because a near AAA level game tried to charge a few bucks?
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Just because people don't want to pay them for their products doesn't mean they're justified in doing morally bankrupt things. The current tricks employed by video games, both mobile and AAA, amount to fully intentional and premeditated psychological abuse.
- Faark 7y ago
  > Would these strategies have been a thing if so many people didn't flip their shit because a near AAA level game tried to charge a few bucks? Yes, since AAA Studios want all the money they can possibly get. Thus we'd always end with them trying to squeeze every last penny they can get out of their customers. And predatory tactics seem to work best for that.
  - mattnewport 7y ago
    AAA studios didn't invent the model and they're still not the worst offenders, not because they're any more ethical but because they get more push back from their player base when try and take it too far. It was really the mobile and casual web / Facebook games that invented most of the dark patterns and are most effective at ruthlessly exploiting them.

shados 7y ago

> I'm saddened and disgusted by much of what has happened with the monetization strategies pioneered by mobile and free to play games. There's a lot to be said that its easier to attract 1000 people and extract $500 from 10 of them than it is to get 5 bucks from all of them. Even more so when you add piracy to the mix. Would these strategies have been a thing if so many people didn't flip their shit because a near AAA level game tried to charge a few bucks?

TeMPOraL 7y ago
Just because people don't want to pay them for their products doesn't mean they're justified in doing morally bankrupt things. The current tricks employed by video games, both mobile and AAA, amount to fully intentional and premeditated psychological abuse.
Faark 7y ago
> Would these strategies have been a thing if so many people didn't flip their shit because a near AAA level game tried to charge a few bucks? Yes, since AAA Studios want all the money they can possibly get. Thus we'd always end with them trying to squeeze every last penny they can get out of their customers. And predatory tactics seem to work best for that.
- mattnewport 7y ago
  AAA studios didn't invent the model and they're still not the worst offenders, not because they're any more ethical but because they get more push back from their player base when try and take it too far. It was really the mobile and casual web / Facebook games that invented most of the dark patterns and are most effective at ruthlessly exploiting them.