> They don't get you anything but the satisfaction of getting it. High quality music doesn't provide anything but satisfaction either to those who enjoy it, so

> They don't get you anything but the satisfaction of getting it. High quality music doesn't provide anything but satisfaction either to those who enjoy it, so I guess that's useless too huh? You're just making a completely facile judgment that amounts to "things other people like are dumb and incorrect." The things you like have some greater value, the things other people like don't count. > (because people enjoy it, does not mean it without dark pattern) If people generally enjoy a thing for its own sake, then it's not a dark pattern. That's the whole point of what a dark pattern is; essentially tricking people into doing something that they'd otherwise rather not. If people legitimately enjoy leveling systems, if removing said systems would make the game flatly worse for them, it's not a dark pattern, no matter how much you personally don't see the point. "It gets people to play the game more" is irrelevant by itself, since almost anything good in a game gets people to play more.