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There will be, for sure, lives ruined because of this game's predatory practices. It really sickens me. To quote myself from a previous thread: "If you could

There will be, for sure, lives ruined because of this game's predatory practices. It really sickens me. To quote myself from a previous thread: "If you could hear the contempt that "some" game devs have for their customers, you might never buy a game ever again. It really is quite shocking...and the contempt exists from top to bottom, its everywhere. That isn't to say there's not a vast number of of honourable people in the industry, not at all. It's only to say that we as a whole are allowing the demons run amok. I have seen the damage that compulsive behaviour can do to our most vulnerable in society. Lives ruined, homelessness, suicide, familial dissolution, the list goes on. Children, people with mental dysfunctions, suffers of brain injuries, even people with Parkinson's disease (on l-dopa for example)"

curiousgal 4y ago
- arkitaip 4y ago
  Why?
  - curiousgal 4y ago
    Is it really a sickening issue? Like come on. I am not saying this predatory behavior isn't an issue but it is far from sickening in the grand scheme of things.
    - skohan 4y ago
      It might not be the greatest evil on earth, but knowingly preying on vulnerable people in society, and causing harm for your own benefit, to me is sickening and evil.
      - curiousgal 4y ago
        That's the thing though, vulnerable people in society don't have access to $110k.
        skohan 4y ago
        But it’s not just harming people who spend $110k. All sorts of people will end up spending money they shouldn’t because they’ve been trapped by an addictive product.
        kareemm 4y ago
        We’re talking about addiction. Last I checked addiction doesn’t discriminate based on socioeconomic status.
        curiousgal 4y ago
        Okay, would there have been an outrage if it "only" cost $1000 to full gear-up in the game?
        Spoom 4y ago
        > Okay, would there have been an outrage if it "only" cost $1000 to full gear-up in the game? Yes, since AAA games are typically $60 - $70. The amount here just highlights that they have no real ceiling to the amount of money they'll try to extract from someone. It's the behavior people are complaining about, not the amount.
        fsloth 4y ago
        Sure they do. Not on a one go, maybe, just wait for the interest to pile up. Shor-term unsecured loans are notorious for trapping people into financial ruin. Their legality depends on jurisdiction but the last time I checked they were present in many first-world economies. Easy access to high-interest loans is what makes deliberate addiction mechanics for mass consumption entertainment truly insidious. Gambling used to be branded as gambling with strict state controls, and you could expect people to recognize it as a morally questionable endeavor in which only consenting adults should dabble. Games that utilize the same psychological switches as gambling and allow microtransactions that link to these psychological switches are similar enough to gambling in my books that they should be treated as such.
- MereInterest 4y ago
  I'm not seeing the connection here, and don't see any mention of country of origin in the parent's post. Can you explain further?
  - 2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
    I suppose it's a bit of a first world problem to be able to spend 100K on a game. But I'm not sure why this isn't a legitimate problem for people in "first world" countries. Why shouldn't be allowing companies to capitalise on people's addictions. I'm not sure why the existence of people who have it even worse off should compel us to do what we can to prevent people from not ruining their lives.
    - MereInterest 4y ago
      Thank you, and that was my guess, but I had been hoping the parent poster had a better reason for it. I get rather frustrated with the "first-world problem" argument, as it can be used to dismiss almost any problem at all. So long as there exists a worse problem somewhere, every other problem can be dismissed as irrelevant. What started as a way to dismiss complaints of minor inconvenience ballooned out into a dismissal of major systemic problems.
- sirtaj 4y ago
  People in the third world are hardly immune to compulsive behaviour and the associated risks.
  - afarrell 4y ago
    Neither are people who move from the third world hoping to make money to make a better life for their (now distant) families.
maccard 4y ago
Are "game devs" any different to any other category of product developers? You can say the same about tech, design, fashion, really any industry. There's assholes in every industry, you don't tar an entire industry by its worst offenders.
- DaveSapien 4y ago
  Yes. No, each industry has its special flavour of abhorrent behaviour. I'm not 'taring' the entire industry at all. Indeed I said, "vast number of honourable people in the industry", what I am concerned with is just how wide spread the contempt is for customers that play these games. And what the contempt does in allowing utterly contemptible business practices.
ModernMech 4y ago
> There will be, for sure, lives ruined because of this game's predatory practices. It really sickens me. What else is new from Blizzard? My roommate in college was addicted to WOW. He'd lock himself in his room for days, failed his classes, and eventually dropped out of school. He finished it later, but only after getting over the WOW addiction. Back then (circa 2005) I remember reading stories about how Blizzard was hiring psychologists to make players more addicted ahem I mean "engaged" to WOW. Really, I guess that was just the start of it. Blizzard has a long and sick history of hijacking human psychology for profit. Really glad I stopped buying games from them after Warcraft III.
- DaveSapien 4y ago
  That has been my impression of the company's games, but only an impression as I don't play their games. I might check out this new mobile game for study though.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

curiousgal 4y ago

arkitaip 4y ago
Why?
- curiousgal 4y ago
  Is it really a sickening issue? Like come on. I am not saying this predatory behavior isn't an issue but it is far from sickening in the grand scheme of things.
  - skohan 4y ago
    It might not be the greatest evil on earth, but knowingly preying on vulnerable people in society, and causing harm for your own benefit, to me is sickening and evil.
    - curiousgal 4y ago
      That's the thing though, vulnerable people in society don't have access to $110k.
      - skohan 4y ago
        But it’s not just harming people who spend $110k. All sorts of people will end up spending money they shouldn’t because they’ve been trapped by an addictive product.
      - kareemm 4y ago
        We’re talking about addiction. Last I checked addiction doesn’t discriminate based on socioeconomic status.
        curiousgal 4y ago
        Okay, would there have been an outrage if it "only" cost $1000 to full gear-up in the game?
        Spoom 4y ago
        > Okay, would there have been an outrage if it "only" cost $1000 to full gear-up in the game? Yes, since AAA games are typically $60 - $70. The amount here just highlights that they have no real ceiling to the amount of money they'll try to extract from someone. It's the behavior people are complaining about, not the amount.
      - fsloth 4y ago
        Sure they do. Not on a one go, maybe, just wait for the interest to pile up. Shor-term unsecured loans are notorious for trapping people into financial ruin. Their legality depends on jurisdiction but the last time I checked they were present in many first-world economies. Easy access to high-interest loans is what makes deliberate addiction mechanics for mass consumption entertainment truly insidious. Gambling used to be branded as gambling with strict state controls, and you could expect people to recognize it as a morally questionable endeavor in which only consenting adults should dabble. Games that utilize the same psychological switches as gambling and allow microtransactions that link to these psychological switches are similar enough to gambling in my books that they should be treated as such.
MereInterest 4y ago
I'm not seeing the connection here, and don't see any mention of country of origin in the parent's post. Can you explain further?
- 2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
  I suppose it's a bit of a first world problem to be able to spend 100K on a game. But I'm not sure why this isn't a legitimate problem for people in "first world" countries. Why shouldn't be allowing companies to capitalise on people's addictions. I'm not sure why the existence of people who have it even worse off should compel us to do what we can to prevent people from not ruining their lives.
  - MereInterest 4y ago
    Thank you, and that was my guess, but I had been hoping the parent poster had a better reason for it. I get rather frustrated with the "first-world problem" argument, as it can be used to dismiss almost any problem at all. So long as there exists a worse problem somewhere, every other problem can be dismissed as irrelevant. What started as a way to dismiss complaints of minor inconvenience ballooned out into a dismissal of major systemic problems.
sirtaj 4y ago
People in the third world are hardly immune to compulsive behaviour and the associated risks.
- afarrell 4y ago
  Neither are people who move from the third world hoping to make money to make a better life for their (now distant) families.

maccard 4y ago

Are "game devs" any different to any other category of product developers? You can say the same about tech, design, fashion, really any industry. There's assholes in every industry, you don't tar an entire industry by its worst offenders.

DaveSapien 4y ago
Yes. No, each industry has its special flavour of abhorrent behaviour. I'm not 'taring' the entire industry at all. Indeed I said, "vast number of honourable people in the industry", what I am concerned with is just how wide spread the contempt is for customers that play these games. And what the contempt does in allowing utterly contemptible business practices.

ModernMech 4y ago

> There will be, for sure, lives ruined because of this game's predatory practices. It really sickens me. What else is new from Blizzard? My roommate in college was addicted to WOW. He'd lock himself in his room for days, failed his classes, and eventually dropped out of school. He finished it later, but only after getting over the WOW addiction. Back then (circa 2005) I remember reading stories about how Blizzard was hiring psychologists to make players more addicted ahem I mean "engaged" to WOW. Really, I guess that was just the start of it. Blizzard has a long and sick history of hijacking human psychology for profit. Really glad I stopped buying games from them after Warcraft III.

DaveSapien 4y ago
That has been my impression of the company's games, but only an impression as I don't play their games. I might check out this new mobile game for study though.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]