So nobody here bought sports cards, Pokemon cards, or pogs growing up? Doesn't make microtransactions right but it isn't exactly a new concept. Part of the allure of cards always was the chance of getting something rare. Same thing here. That is why they give you the option to reveal all cards or one at a time.
I don't have a problem with it. If they shut down the store it wouldn't make the game any better.
Except that, like other have said, MT items are often non-transferable, untradeable, unsellable, and all you can do with unwanted/excess ones is to sell them back to the developers for a set price that only goes towards your next purchase, while you can do all of the above with trading cards (often even in the digital versions), on top of being told exactly the rarity distribution on the back of each pack of cards you purchase, most likely not out of the good in the companies' hearts but because they're required to disclose those odds while games still don't.
It's
almost like trading cards, only the people running the show have a monopoly over the whole item economy (with no secondary market in most cases), and the odds and distribution of items can be tampered with at will because they are never actually required to disclose the odds, two practices which lead to abuse if left unchecked.
Then there's the whole whale milking optimization system that these models have put in place, and the fact that game design now comes after both economy design and player retention and manipulation techniques when it comes to anything microtransaction-related; all while the whole thing is completely unregulated.
But fine, just keep saying that the only thing wrong with these practices is the fact that the pack acquisition rates through regular gameplay is too slow. We have sure come a long way since the days of horse armor, and it's sad to see that people are oblivious to the ever-increasing abusive practices that are being tacked onto microtransaction systems and games in general nowadays.
