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Why microtransactions, IAPs and LootBoxes are here to stay thread

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    The Krypt being randomised in locations alone is enough to put me off the thing. The concept of the Krypt is great but MKX was heavily focused on making you waste credits on utter useless guff for padding, finding the key locations was practically necessary to add any worth to the mode. Randomising that kills the fun factor completely.

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      Originally posted by Digfox View Post
      There's a balance between allowing people to unlock the content they have already paid for and not giving it out too freely
      There is. And there was long before microtransactions too. But the moment charging for that unlock in any form is introduced as a business model in your game, that balance is tainted. You only have to speak to someone who has worked for one of the large freemium companies or listen to their talks to know just how badly tainted it is.

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        Originally posted by MrKirov View Post
        The main issue with the game is not the currencies, or the microtransactions, but the insane grind they have balanced the game at. I dont think this is to push microtransactions, as you cannot actually buy an of the currencies.
        A trend recently in AAA games has been to have no microtransactions in the initial review period but then introduce them a few weeks later. Personally I wouldn't share your optimism the grind isn't about MTs. I suspect it won't be long before purchasable currencies are available in-game.

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          All valid points.

          I think the currencys have existed in MK long before online was a thing- it was in Deadly Alliance back on the early PS2 days for instance, its just the way MK tends to do progression/unlocks. Sadly it is a system thats open for abuse by predatory practices from the publishers.

          Currently it just acts as progression system, it allows me to unlock stuff as I go, whilst still saving for the higher ticket items that the other chests require. I see what they are doing its just the economy is skewed right now.

          They had an emergency Kombat cast,and Ed Boon did it, he genuinely seemed apologetic, and wasnt talking corporate nonsense. Theyve already altered the difficulty, and have a patch being deployed this week to fix the economy. Theyre also giving away tonnes of currency to everyone- at least enough to buy half the krypt boxes- so im inclined to believe them through those actions more than anything- but I guess i'll see when the patch economy is looked at.

          Im certainly not defending the practices, I hate loot boxes/MTX etc. But in this instance, im inclined to believe it wasnt by design. The game is fun enough, but im not a stanch defender or anything. I just feel that there was a reddit post sayign it would cost $6000 to unlock everything or whatever, and thats just straight up not correct- you cant buy the skins through real money. I think everyones so fed up with th predatory practices that theres a little bandwagon jumping in this case.

          MK X did have an unlock code, like $20 or whatever to unlock everything, no doubt itll be the same here. Its there for people who care I suppose.

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            I should also add, that the unlocking of chests isnt via a menu or anything- its actually its own third person adventure mode. Theyve modelled the entire island from the MK movie, and you run around solving puzzles, gaining items, keys, weapons etc that help you progress through the island- they even added the original actor who played Shang Tsung in the movie. Its legitimately a fun mode, which also earns you unlockables - so its not as if youre randomly unlocking chests, its actually built into this full 3D third person game.

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              Originally posted by Cassius_Smoke View Post
              @MrKirov
              I haven't played the game, so i wanted to know; Does any of this add to the game? Is the game better for having it?
              My thinking is that, If it isn't, you've got to ask why they've added it all in in the first place, if its not to fleece customers.
              Having all these currencies and chests and stuff would be a major distraction for me.
              Again, not sure about MK11 as I haven't played it.

              The theory about what these things add is that the game can be made less of a single, disposable experience and more like something akin to a hobby.

              So take Dungeons & Dragons, the pen-and-paper game. You can go out right now and buy a D&D boxed set, which contains some "lite" rulebooks and characters, enough for you to play the game, with adventures that might last you and your group many sessions to play through. That adventure has a start, middle and end.

              However, if you want to keep going, you can buy more books and rules. Your group might want their adventure to involve being pirates, so you buy a book which has rules for them to create a ship and use it. Your group might want to create their own characters, so you buy a Player Manual to do that. Your group might have a guy in it who really wants his character to be a samurai and visit a Japan-themed location, so you can buy a book for that. Meanwhile, the publisher is releasing new stuff every month; it would cost many thousands of pounds to buy everything but then no-one actually buys everything; you just buy what you need. This publisher has a website, the website has forums or a subreddit, which releases free stuff to keep you interested. At Christmas they post a free adventure where your characters can save Christmas, or something. This goes on and on for years.

              D&D is a game, but it's also a service. You can play a bit of it, or a lot of it. For some people it's the focus of their entire lives; they go to conventions, they watch D&D YouTubers... All of this can only exist because they release the content at a steady pace.

              Additionally, the players can guide what gets made, by providing feedback. The company makes more of what sells and less of what doesn't. Players like this as it also means they can ask for corrections to prior books and stuff like that, stuff only possible because it's a service.

              You'll probably agree, there is nothing wrong with this on principle. The problem is that a lot of companies are doing similar stuff, but they're not really committing to the idea. They see it as a way to make more money for the same length of rope, when in reality it's supposed to be a totally different business model.

              Comment


                I think you’re giving them far too much credit. The theory about what these can add is money.

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                  Originally posted by Dogg Thang View Post
                  I think you’re giving them far too much credit. The theory about what these can add is money.
                  I mean, ultimately, yes, because video games are products made by an industry. Obviously a company that engages with this feels that creating a service is more lucrative than just doing boxed products, one-after-another. A big part of the theory is "retention", i.e. a "Warcraft fan" prior to World of Warcraft was someone who bought 2 PC games and a few expansions, years apart. A "Warcraft fan" after the release of WoW is a person who is paying Blizzard a fiver a month, and is playing a game which probably prevents them from playing other games/watching other movies etc.

                  However, and I've said this before, it depends very heavily on your aims. As a business, if you go into something with a service mindset, you can do it out of a genuine desire to entertain your customers through regular releases, and evolve the product according to what you feel they want.

                  Comment


                    Looks like loot boxes will finally be addressed in some legal way, USA in this case.

                    Comment


                      Originally posted by Asura View Post
                      However, and I've said this before, it depends very heavily on your aims. As a business, if you go into something with a service mindset, you can do it out of a genuine desire to entertain your customers through regular releases, and evolve the product according to what you feel they want.
                      That's not what they're doing currently though - they want both the yearly franchise and the service part - the ability to make the end user pay for a full AAA release each time and then buy the microtransactions all over again with each of these releases. FIFA -> FUT being the ultimate example of screwing people over in this regard.

                      They want all the money.

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                        I play D&D and I'll be honest, I think your comparison is rubbish.

                        I think a lot of these videogame producers are working out what's the minimum viable product and selling the rest back, usually in lootboxes so you're still not guaranteed to get what you want.

                        Comment


                          Originally posted by fishbowlhead View Post
                          Looks like loot boxes will finally be addressed in some legal way, USA in this case.

                          https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/...win-mechanics/
                          Worth reminding that this isn't the only legislative body looking into loot boxes, even in the US. The US Federal Trade Commission have a public workshop over the summer, Sweden has just launched an official investigation into loot boxes in relation to curbing problem gambling. And 15 EU countries plus 1 US state's Gambling Commissions are currently investigating loot boxes too with regards to the blurred lines between them and gambling.

                          Of course all of this is already of top of other investigations (Australia's Government producing a damning and calling for further review), Belgium and Netherlands banning them under Law and the state of Hawaii proposing 4 bills (which failed to advance) in the Senate. And obviously Swedish and UK Gambling Commissions have previously investigated loot boxes despite not going as far as calling for changes in the law.

                          And these are simply the ones I am aware of. Whatever comes of these latest proposals or investigations, the net is closing in and at the very least the public anger towards them is growing. Which is all good in my view. I'm still surprised that we are not protecting children from microtransactions and these predatory business models. That has to change.
                          Last edited by Digfox; 09-05-2019, 09:20.

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by QualityChimp View Post
                            I play D&D and I'll be honest, I think your comparison is rubbish.

                            I think a lot of these videogame producers are working out what's the minimum viable product and selling the rest back, usually in lootboxes so you're still not guaranteed to get what you want.
                            Absolutely. EA yesterday said it plans to release more games as 'Early Access'.
                            All this will really mean is they can release Anthem 2 as 'Early Access' for months and months (probably forever) and rebut any claim the game isn't finished with the statement 'But its still in early access'. I could even see this as a tactic to sell version updates so you can 'gradually buy your way to the full game'. Plus the early access game will still have MTX and lootboxes and they can hide behind 'But its still in early access, we might remove them for the full game'.

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                              If EA did Avengers: Endgame they'd release a version you can see a few weeks in advance, but the VFX are all still in wire-frame and unfinished..
                              Then there would be a gold edition which has some additional scenes but the VFX are still unfinished. Then later you would get an updated version with the VFX finished but for some reason the additional scenes you had before have been removed and added to a lootbox system.

                              Comment


                                Originally posted by Digfox View Post
                                Worth reminding that this isn't the only legislative body looking into loot boxes, even in the US. The US Federal Trade Commission have a public workshop over the summer, Sweden has just launched an official investigation into loot boxes in relation to curbing problem gambling. And 15 EU countries plus 1 US state's Gambling Commissions are currently investigating loot boxes too with regards to the blurred lines between them and gambling.

                                Of course all of this is already of top of other investigations (Australia's Government producing a damning and calling for further review), Belgium and Netherlands banning them under Law and the state of Hawaii proposing 4 bills (which failed to advance) in the Senate. And obviously Swedish and UK Gambling Commissions have previously investigated loot boxes despite not going as far as calling for changes in the law.

                                And these are simply the ones I am aware of. Whatever comes of these latest proposals or investigations, the net is closing in and at the very least the public anger towards them is growing. Which is all good in my view. I'm still surprised that we are not protecting children from microtransactions and these predatory business models. That has to change.
                                Just a shame it’s all so late coming that these filthy leaches have already earned billions from these practices in some cases.

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