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What got me about in app purchases was that in many games, the moment you purchase anything, the difficulty level ramps up thus forcing you keep buying items ju

by error54 13y ago

What got me about in app purchases was that in many games, the moment you purchase anything, the difficulty level ramps up thus forcing you keep buying items just to keep progressing[1]. This is known as 'coercive monetization[2]' and is the reason that I recommend people never buy anything in app. "According to article, 'once a consumer has been marked as a spender, the game difficulty ramps up massively, shifting the game from a skill game to a money game . . .'" [1]- http://valleywag.gawker.com/there-is-no-evil-scheme-behind-it-a-q-a-with-candy-c-756419949 http://valleywag.gawker.com/there-is-no-evil-scheme-behind-i... [2] - http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130626/194933/The_Top_F2P_Monetization_Tricks.php http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130626/1949...

moogleii 13y ago
Article 1 is citing speculation from article 2 with that particular quote. They later update, "Note that the difficulty ramps up automatically for all players in CCS when they pass the gates I discuss later in this paper, the game is not designed to dynamically adjust to payers."
- derefr 13y ago
  In effect, what it's describing is more like a base game with low-level challenges, and a purchasable "expansion pack" of areas with much higher-level challenges. Except that instead of having to gain skill to a point where you qualify for the higher-level challenges, or grind experience to a point where your character qualifies, you have to pay to show that your wallet qualifies. After all, in a pay-to-win game, your wallet is effectively your sword, used to slash through the game's obstacles--so having an area hidden behind a (monetary) obstacle--a rock you can only crack with a Level 10 Wallet, so to speak--where everything in that area requires at least a Level 10 Wallet to defeat, sort of makes sense; it's isomorphic to the same sort of game logic we're all already used to, just in a much more cynical/pragmatic world. ...now I'm imagining a game made for company-owners, where the goal is actually to be able to pay certain amounts of money at a time, so your leveling curve and progress in the game matches a rise to riches in reality... hm. Probably the only people who could afford to play it, would have too much sense to. :)

by error54 13y ago

moogleii 13y ago

Article 1 is citing speculation from article 2 with that particular quote. They later update, "Note that the difficulty ramps up automatically for all players in CCS when they pass the gates I discuss later in this paper, the game is not designed to dynamically adjust to payers."

derefr 13y ago
In effect, what it's describing is more like a base game with low-level challenges, and a purchasable "expansion pack" of areas with much higher-level challenges. Except that instead of having to gain skill to a point where you qualify for the higher-level challenges, or grind experience to a point where your character qualifies, you have to pay to show that your wallet qualifies. After all, in a pay-to-win game, your wallet is effectively your sword, used to slash through the game's obstacles--so having an area hidden behind a (monetary) obstacle--a rock you can only crack with a Level 10 Wallet, so to speak--where everything in that area requires at least a Level 10 Wallet to defeat, sort of makes sense; it's isomorphic to the same sort of game logic we're all already used to, just in a much more cynical/pragmatic world. ...now I'm imagining a game made for company-owners, where the goal is actually to be able to pay certain amounts of money at a time, so your leveling curve and progress in the game matches a rise to riches in reality... hm. Probably the only people who could afford to play it, would have too much sense to. :)