4 ms·
Taking away people with gambling addictions, children, etc (all good reasons for these games not to exist at all), I've felt for a while that their success is a
by shados 7y ago
Taking away people with gambling addictions, children, etc (all good reasons for these games not to exist at all), I've felt for a while that their success is a great example of disparity in disposable income.
I'll be forward and be completely honest: I've spent several thousands of dollars on a single of these games. And I've played many of them. Some with just straight micro-transactions (eg: League of Legends skins), some straight up "gacha" or "lootboxes" (eg: Fire Emblem Heroes, FF Brave Exvius, and so on).
When you look at a videogame compared to other form of entertainment, is just how efficient they are in a "fun per dollar" point of view. MMORPGs that cost $10-15/month and people play obsessively several hours a day are way better than going to a bar to drink, money wise. But what if efficiency is tossed out of the window, how much is "fun" worth to someone?
It's likely a factor of their disposable income. But we're now at a point where adult professionals are very much part of the player base. So if a game is free to play, but has a loot box mechanic that can make it "more fun", what happens? Well, for people without money to burn in a fire pit, it might not be worth it at all, so they won't spend a dime. For the senior executive who makes 500k or 1million a year? They could blow through 5 grands in an afternoon without really caring.
So if you have a gaming population where 90% (I'm making numbers up) don't spend a dime, 9% is spending a moderate amount because of predatory practices (kids, addicts, etc) or because they like it, and then 1% spend an INSANE amount of money because they have no real "limit", you may come up WAY ahead than if you charged a flat fee and the same amount to everyone. Because the rich people are just THAT much richer to make up for everyone else.
I know I've read some articles (none that I can find to confirm my memory) where some of the smaller gacha games with a few tens of thousands of players run fully on the pockets of a few hundred people, if that.
- mattnewport 7y agoDo you feel happy with your purchases still? Is there any buyer's remorse? I'm interested to know how many people who weren't obviously exploited and could afford to spend hundreds or thousands on these games feel honestly satisfied with their purchases and wouldn't in retrospect have preferred to use that money for something else.
- shados 7y agoI have gone too far once or twice (out of hundreds....) where I felt bad about it. I've felt the same way about a major renovation once too though. It happens. The key is in your last sentence: "wouldn't in retrospect have preferred to use that money for something else." Unless I went and blew 50k on the game (which I fortunately never did and likely never will!), that's not even a question. Whatever money I'll spend on these, I -still- have to spend on something else. I only spend a tiny fraction of my disposable income. I (and many "whales") just have a LOT of disposable income. Very few people who go and blow 1500 bucks in a night on these actually empty their bank account (at least from my experience being part of a lot of gacha game communities. I obviously don't talk to all the whales). I have a kind of "limit" I set myself, with zero expectations. When you blow enough money, statistically the odds of getting what you want are really high. I've gotten really unlucky at times, but usually I'll get what I was whaling for. And sometimes the game shuts down, and it's like, whatever, it happens.
- mattnewport 7y ago> Whatever money I'll spend on these, I -still- have to spend on something else. I only spend a tiny fraction of my disposable income. This seems like a strange measure to me. No judgment on how you choose to spend your money - I've certainly spent money on things I later regret, and I've also spent large sums on relatively frivolous things which I don't particularly regret. There's always an opportunity cost though - I could have spent the money on something else, I could have saved more, I could have given more to charity. Over time I try not to repeat the expenditures I regret and focus more on the ones that I don't.
- shados 7y agoThink of it as going to a fancy restaurant. When you eat a fancy steak, it lasts a few minutes, maybe a few hours if you consider the whole experience, but at the end it goes in the toilet. But you had some enjoyment (well, unless you're vegan). You'd also get enjoyment from a much cheaper burger, too, but sometimes it's fun to do something different, even if the money is lost and you're left with nothing. It works like that, except you usually still have something for a long time, even though it's digital.
- DanHulton 7y agoThe problem, is how do you identify which of your "whales" (industry term, and useful to identify the mindset of the industry) legitimately have that extra disposable income, and which of them are maxing out credit cards and spending money they don't have?
- logfromblammo 7y agoWe have "qualified investors" for the worldwide casino that is the equities market, to ensure you can't gamble more as an early investor than you could afford to lose.
- njarboe 7y agoAny adult in the US can invest in equities. The equities just have to be listed and approved. It is all the other type of equity investing (angle, VC, etc) that you are not allowed to do (and where all the growth is moving to) if you are not a "qualified investor".
- logfromblammo 7y ago> as an early investor Perhaps it wasn't clear that I meant to lump angels and VCs together as "early investors". "Pre-IPO investors" would require unpacking a TLA.