Do You Have Any Unpopular Gaming Opinions?

[Sarge]

I watched that video myself, and he makes good points. His shtick is... questionable at times, but he's usually got some of the more scummy publishing practices sussed out.

Of course, from a raging capitalist point of view, if people are willing to buy in... well, I guess more power to 'em. It takes two to tango.

[isiolia]

He does make good points, though I think that his primary point only tends to really apply (and he does mention as much) to a relative few releases. There are a lot of games with DLC in one form or another, and far, far, fewer of them that double/triple/etc down on monetization. Trends being what they are, that'll probably change, but still. Either way, it's less a matter of DLC existing at all, and more that it can be done to excess.

[marlowe221]

Loot boxes as essential elements for progression are the end of gaming.

There are a growing number of AAA games moving in that direction, unfortunately.

The biggest issue I have with this trend is how it will (or already is) affecting game design. There is always some element of "grind" in video games by their very nature. But with loot box microtransactions, these companies now have a financial incentive to start making that grind longer, slower, and more unpleasant. They have a solution - just by some of these "booster packs" (or whatever) that speed up your XP gain! And hey, now they have implemented this "fun" loot box system to get the XP booster pack!

But don't worry, you don't have to spend real money on loot boxes - you spend Bethesda Bucks/Capcom Caps/Blizzard Bills on them instead. A loot box only costs 500 Bucks/Caps/Bills. How do you get them? Well, you can earn them by playing the games at a speed slightly slower than paint drying or grass growing... or you can buy them from our store!

[Please note, Bucks/Caps/Bills only available for purchase in increments of 300/800/1200 for your convenience]

Thank goodness for retro games, indies, and (most of) the strategy genre!

[Sarge]

The NBA 2K18 thing is absolutely egregious. Even reviewers have mentioned that the microtransactions are bringing down the core experience. I'm a basketball fan, but trying to play 2K16 was a brutal experience on a limited internet connection and with servers that took forever to respond and sync up rosters and whatnot. It was more work than anything getting going, and I ended up trading the game in before it hit the bargain bin.

[Segata]

Now just add loot boxes as the salt and ice..or something.

[isiolia]

The biggest issue I have with this trend is how it will (or already is) affecting game design. There is always some element of "grind" in video games by their very nature. But with loot box microtransactions, these companies now have a financial incentive to start making that grind longer, slower, and more unpleasant. They have a solution - just by some of these "booster packs" (or whatever) that speed up your XP gain! And hey, now they have implemented this "fun" loot box system to get the XP booster pack!

It's obviously far from the first, nor likely the last, external influence on game design, and probably something glaring enough that it could be easily left out. There are other things, such as the fixation on lives/continues, that likely came out of the arcade mindset. Loot boxes and similar can probably be traced back more to MMO type mechanisms, just shorter. Why run a whole multi-hour raid to randomly get loot to dole out based on some point chart? Now you get a constant stream of maybe-it'll-pay-off rolls, without competition.
To a point though, video games are so rooted in that dopamine rush stuff though, constantly reinforcing that you did something when all you succeeded in doing is shifting some bits around. Practically speaking, there doesn't have to be that element of grind in games. Including it creates a sense of value around a virtual item or stat. It's interesting in the sense of creating a player experience. I think it's less about the longer grind/etc (that just makes games hardcore) but more the sense of "enough". When that grind is aggressively monetized, balance tends to get out of whack, even if player perception leans towards having really earned their status.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Now just add loot boxes as the salt and ice..or something.

Way to use memes to minimalize a complex subject. You really are a child of the internet.

So please, let's be specific. what does the meat represent in the image? And the lettuce what does that mean? Condiments? Break it down for us and enlighten us as to what each dlc element represents and how it was originally intended in the burger as a whole.

Do you have an example of an old game that was rereleased and broken apart into dlc?

[Segata]

Now just add loot boxes as the salt and ice..or something.

Way to use memes to minimalize a complex subject. You really are a child of the internet.

So please, let's be specific. what does the meat represent in the image? And the lettuce what does that mean? Condiments? Break it down for us and enlighten us as to what each dlc element represents and how it was originally intended in the burger as a whole.

Do you have an example of an old game that was rereleased and broken apart into dlc?

Wow, insult tossing but I thought you said you didn't mock people. Yet here you are. Mocking. Thanks for mocking a condition..again. While we are throwing insults. Glad I'm not a fucking ugly gap-toothed bald asshole like you.

[BogusMeatFactory]

We must have had some miscommunication. The term child of the internet means being raised by its tropes to communicate using memes instead of words to triviliaze larger more complex subjects.

[alienjesus]

Wow, insult tossing but I thought you said you didn't mock people. Yet here you are. Mocking. Thanks for mocking a condition..again. While we are throwing insults. Glad I'm not a fucking ugly gap-toothed bald asshole like you.

No-one mocked any condition.

They might mock you for being such temperamental, over-argumentative numpty though.