3 ms·
That's an optimistic take. A more cynical take would be that content is expensive to create, and if players could just buy it, they wouldn't spend time playing
by wccrawford 5y ago
That's an optimistic take.
A more cynical take would be that content is expensive to create, and if players could just buy it, they wouldn't spend time playing the game. And if they stop playing the game, they stop paying for a subscription. Without something to "work" for, players would stop paying.
Which makes the title of this article ironic to me. As if game studios didn't invent grind decades ago. They turned "play into work" a long, long time ago. Gold sellers completed the cycle and enabled people to actually live off it.
- AlexandrB 5y agoI think the key difference is in the motivation of the player. Many people have hobbies that one might call "grindy", consider how much time and effort goes into gardening for example, but because they're not getting paid we don't call this work. For me it becomes work when the motivation to keep playing shifts from intrinsic (sense of achievement, community, completion, etc) to extrinsic (money).