I think the problem is a lot more complicated than the writer wants to give it credit for. Simply not buying the games can lead to a slew of different scenarios.
One being that they start to rethink how they are monetizing the experience. Do they double down on loot box mechanics and continue to strip away more and more of the mechanics until the end user is all but forced to engage in the system? Do they pull back and reevaluate whether the lost sales are worth the impact on the future of the business?
Another conclusion that can be reached is that the game itself is no longer desirable. Not buying Forza 7 can lead to MS and Turn 10 thinking that their player base is no longer there.
These are things to consider when people tell you to "vote with your wallet".
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TL;DR Why I find loot boxes predatory.
I feel that the acceptance of loot boxes was a watershed moment in gaming that really brought to light that things like this can be a viable source of added income, for two reasons.
The first reason is that it showed that people were willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money for the chance[/]i] to acquire things that were usually just sold a la carte preiviosuly. What was once a $3 skin had the potential to bring in exponetially more profit than it originally would have. They have "gamified" a normal transaction, all the while making money hand-over-fist in the process. It's no longer trading currency for an item you want, but trading currency for the possibility to receive said item.
On a conceptual level, this is the very definition of a gamble. The customer is paying real world money, in most cases, to bet on an uncertain outcome. Do they end up with the awesome Mercy skin, or do they open a box containing a bunch of sprays, or worse, the Reaper skin.
The other reason being that Blizzard has seamlessly tied opening loot boxes into the gameplay loop. These things are no longer relegated to a store that you don't have to engage in if ytou don't want to. The XP bar is very prominently displayed as a continued reminder of when you get to open the next box. Early on in your Overwatch career, the games showers you with loot boxes. Levels come and go so rapidly that you'll end up accruing more boxes than you thought imaginable in the time that you played, just screwing around with some friends.
Then, after a certain level, that bar takes longer to fill. You're spending more and more time between those boxes (the games only reward system), being reminded how of far away form a level up you are. That gameplay loop that you got so used to, short session > reward > short session > reward, is interrupted. Here's where the option to pay real money to circumvent that comes into play. You no longer have to wait for that level up to occur. A couple of bucks can get you that satisfaction right now.
It never once crosses your mind that you've essentially been groomed to act on these impulses. It's normalized so early on by throwing so much free stuff at you that you start to find ways to justify it. They're giving you free characters, what's the harm in tossing them a few bucks? New maps, sure, I'll drop a tenner. Halloween update? If I drop $20 now I up my chances at getting the skin I want.
This is most evident in Forza. The gameplay systems are so intertwined with one another that not participating in the loot boxes put you at a severe disadvantage. The game boasts 700 cars, 100+ of which may be tied specifically to boxes. There's a collection page, which shows you what you do and do not have, and how to acquire the cars you need. These cars now have point values that tie directly into progress. The cars that add the most points to to your collection rank are obviously the most expensive. You can't just crank up the difficulty and turn off assists to make the money you need anymore. The fastest way to accumulate Cr is through mods. Mods being only being obtainable through loot boxes. Loot boxes that cost in-game currency now, but will cost Tokens (premium currency) in the future. Again, building up a dependency early on, then pulling the rug out afterward.
As time goes on, traditional gameplay mechanics are being subverted in favor of monetizing as much as possible and we're being taught to accept it.
One being that they start to rethink how they are monetizing the experience. Do they double down on loot box mechanics and continue to strip away more and more of the mechanics until the end user is all but forced to engage in the system? Do they pull back and reevaluate whether the lost sales are worth the impact on the future of the business?
Another conclusion that can be reached is that the game itself is no longer desirable. Not buying Forza 7 can lead to MS and Turn 10 thinking that their player base is no longer there.
These are things to consider when people tell you to "vote with your wallet".
---
TL;DR Why I find loot boxes predatory.
I feel that the acceptance of loot boxes was a watershed moment in gaming that really brought to light that things like this can be a viable source of added income, for two reasons.
The first reason is that it showed that people were willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money for the chance[/]i] to acquire things that were usually just sold a la carte preiviosuly. What was once a $3 skin had the potential to bring in exponetially more profit than it originally would have. They have "gamified" a normal transaction, all the while making money hand-over-fist in the process. It's no longer trading currency for an item you want, but trading currency for the possibility to receive said item.
On a conceptual level, this is the very definition of a gamble. The customer is paying real world money, in most cases, to bet on an uncertain outcome. Do they end up with the awesome Mercy skin, or do they open a box containing a bunch of sprays, or worse, the Reaper skin.
The other reason being that Blizzard has seamlessly tied opening loot boxes into the gameplay loop. These things are no longer relegated to a store that you don't have to engage in if ytou don't want to. The XP bar is very prominently displayed as a continued reminder of when you get to open the next box. Early on in your Overwatch career, the games showers you with loot boxes. Levels come and go so rapidly that you'll end up accruing more boxes than you thought imaginable in the time that you played, just screwing around with some friends.
Then, after a certain level, that bar takes longer to fill. You're spending more and more time between those boxes (the games only reward system), being reminded how of far away form a level up you are. That gameplay loop that you got so used to, short session > reward > short session > reward, is interrupted. Here's where the option to pay real money to circumvent that comes into play. You no longer have to wait for that level up to occur. A couple of bucks can get you that satisfaction right now.
It never once crosses your mind that you've essentially been groomed to act on these impulses. It's normalized so early on by throwing so much free stuff at you that you start to find ways to justify it. They're giving you free characters, what's the harm in tossing them a few bucks? New maps, sure, I'll drop a tenner. Halloween update? If I drop $20 now I up my chances at getting the skin I want.
This is most evident in Forza. The gameplay systems are so intertwined with one another that not participating in the loot boxes put you at a severe disadvantage. The game boasts 700 cars, 100+ of which may be tied specifically to boxes. There's a collection page, which shows you what you do and do not have, and how to acquire the cars you need. These cars now have point values that tie directly into progress. The cars that add the most points to to your collection rank are obviously the most expensive. You can't just crank up the difficulty and turn off assists to make the money you need anymore. The fastest way to accumulate Cr is through mods. Mods being only being obtainable through loot boxes. Loot boxes that cost in-game currency now, but will cost Tokens (premium currency) in the future. Again, building up a dependency early on, then pulling the rug out afterward.
As time goes on, traditional gameplay mechanics are being subverted in favor of monetizing as much as possible and we're being taught to accept it.