4 ms·
It's very nakedly a skinner box game. The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims.
by ninth_ant 2y ago
It's very nakedly a skinner box game. The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims.
- wnevets 2y agoWhat are they addicted to, controlling a gym near their home?
- hu3 2y agoI'd guess min-maxing their pokemon stats and completing the collection.
- ninth_ant 2y agoProbably some are, but the addictive aspect is more in the collecting of rare tokens with specific aspect. It requires a staggering amount of grinding to get these prized tokens, which forces players to spend an inordinate amount of time and constantly face prompts where they can pay to increase the chances of getting something. The chance aspect is critical, as the addicts aren't paying for a specific result but at the chance of a result. This human impulse is something that predatory companies have found very lucrative to exploit -- from gambling and collecting and now done with precision by "gaming" companies.
- wnevets 2y ago> Probably some are, but the addictive aspect is more in the collecting of rare tokens with specific aspect. Once you have collected a rare token with specific aspect, then what? Can you show it off to your peers, sell it, trade it, win battles easier?
- ninth_ant 2y agoYes, specifically those things. edit: Maybe not the selling, it's probably not a big factor for most people.
- Almondsetat 2y agoIf you ever had to deal with people playing games where you had to "defend" something in real time (clash of clans, Rust, EVE online, etc.) you would have experienced concerning behavior on their part
- itishappy 2y ago> The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims. Where does that line get drawn?
- drdaeman 2y agoWhen a grindfest game starts to offer you to spend some money (or something that can be monetized) on in-game items or perks that allow you to skip some of the grind? Basically, when a "pay to win" option comes up.
- yreg 2y ago> The participants are not gamers, they are addicts and victims. That's judgemental. If you wanted to, you could just as well say that about any user who enjoys to use any product.
- throwaway_ntc 2y agoThrowaway for obvious reasons, but I've worked for Niantic on Pokemon Go, and this is a rather accurate portrayal of the company's relationship with a large part of the userbase. Pokemon Go is basically a world-scale slot machine, and Niantic's entire business model revolves around preying on users' addictions to steer them into in-game purchases. They are absolutely aware that a huge number of theirs users are addicted to the game, and they employ as many dark patterns as possible to extract every last dollar from these people.