Cosmetics are still enjoyable in games. It’s also been a part of gaming for a very very long time. Even if they don’t effect the gameplay the still being enjoyment to playing games. Not sure you’ve played the new spiderman games at all but there are so many accessible cosmetics I didn’t even use them all. But they’re all accessible and it’s enjoyable to unlock them. That’s type of player won’t find fun in these microtransactions filled games. And that’s removing a lot of fun and soul from the game. Otherwise it’s just a mindless grind game. The casual goals are all pay walled. And the competitive goals are unobtainable for most. So why should anyone play or care mindlessly?
Fomo is the wrong word to use, there is nothing to be afraid of.
Its going away so if you want it, get it. Dont “fear missing out” when you know that it is going away. Nothing in the shop is a major life decision that you need to think about for a long time.
I get that they are over priced and this makes people mad but calling it fear is the wrong word to use
The departure of Kotick is a good feeling for everyone, but the Overwatch team still has to prove that they are not contaminated from within by the ideas of the old Activision Blizzard.
If this was an MMO, or a narrative adventure like those spiderman games which yes I have indeed played, I might be more inclined to agree with you. But by it’s very nature, FPS games live and die mainly by their gameplay and game modes. Now we all obviously have different levels of praise or hate for that when it comes to this game, but we’re talking cosmetics in this particular instance
Cosmetics in an FPS are like…the side items you get when you order a dinner at a restaurant. Sure, the mashed potatoes might not be worth what their asking for em, but as long as the steak is good, am I really going to say the ENTIRE dinner sucks if they nailed the main thing? Not really.
And here’s the wild part. I don’t even disagree that the skins sometimes aren’t worth the money. Outside of Mercy’s new one and Kerrigan Widow I’ve no desire for any of these holiday skins we’ve seen so far. But if other people think their worth it, go wild. I coughed up for the K-Pop skins, I got no room to judge.
And I will never disagree with that. But that doesn’t mean cosmetics need to be so inaccessible that it requires $100s to get them. That’s my issue. And since so much of Overwatch is building these characters personalities cosmetics were a part of the enjoyment of ow along with the unique fps gameplay. And I get with an fps you don’t see the skin often. But cosmetics was a part of the fun. And now it’s a part of the fun that is paywalls. Which isn’t a net positive.
OW2 I’d say is a 5/10 game. PvE and the shop suck. But luckily the PvP is always good and fun.
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I think people are gonna have to give up their “war” against the idea of microtransactions. When only 12% of global digital game sales in 2020 were not microtransactions. And that’s probably shrunk since then.
I’m talking about making the gameplay good enough to be a lot more popular.
What I said includes the gameplay. Because of Kotick, valuable time was lost during the development of Overwatch.
I do not want that they forget the PVE as they have been doing. The Overwatch team has spent more money on profitable things than improving the core game.
Heh, more like I got a good feeling about it, because I know how to fix it it, and the devs seem to be going down that path.
And I’m saying this as a guy who was talking about 5v5 with Role Passives, 4 years ago. So I’ve had a while to think about it.
✅ Next Experiment: 1-2-2 SoloTank
Heck, I was putting out full detailed patch notes for OW2 PVP Beta, before it was announced that would even exist.
And I’d like for you to be right. I just remain deeply endlessly skeptical.
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Yet you continue to support the game by playing, contributing on the forums, and maybe even paying.
Well done
Yeah posting on the forums keeps those dollars rolling into Blizzard hq.
Boy you are on one today trando. Take a nap dude.
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Online social engagement is key to product success these days.
It’s also why the “dead game” trope is laughably myopic when data, and social engagement is taken into account.
The fact players can’t seem to let go and have to keep interacting about their dislike or distancing of the franchise does more harm than good to their stance and perceived “action”.
Already did, covid’s been making its rounds at work 
Take another then. You need it.
Then I won’t get any sleep tonight, I think I’ll just make use of my time the rest of the day
Yeah you’re really knocking it out of the park so far. The projection bit was particularly desperate.
I played OW1 quite a lot and quit about a month into OW2. If I came back to the game now I think I’m missing about 4 heroes from my roster. I feel sorry for the people playing on my team while I spend a month trying to unlock them all.
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It’s hard to call it abusive when it’s only for cosmetics that nobody needs.
You know Blizzard messed up when even a developer themself (Jared Neuss) admits heroes behind pay and grind walls is an issue and will be reverted in the future. I recommend to watch the recent SVB podcast with Jared Neuss.
I can just imagine how it feels for new players who have to grind to get them all.
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First off, Steam has a system in place to protect game titles from being review bombed. When a game gets review bombed, “Review Bomb” appears in the game tags. This does not exist in OW’s game tags.
Second, the reviews are ABSOLUTELY relevant at least in terms of how people feel about the game. A mass portion of the people that have played OW presently hate the way the direction the game is going; especially older players. Blizzard has applied this new predatory business model to every last one of their games except WoW. I’ll admit, some companies take this predatory business model to the absolute extreme; this means it could be so much worse. I’ll admit many of the reviews are joke posts but what kind of a popular review isn’t funny? What makes a successful commercial good? What makes a good YouTube video popular and amazing? Good laughs. People want to be popular and successful; it’s human nature.
In the present state of OW, smurfs and hackers are absolutely rampant. It may not seem like it but a hacker could be in as many as 10-20% games currently happening. Well designed hacks are designed to blend into the game. Smurfs even more so, probably closer to 40-60% games have smurfs running wild. This makes OW absolutely unattractive to newcomers; I’ll admit the first 10 games or so you play are exclusively played with newcomers. This is to social engineer people into thinking the game is balanced and enjoyable, however once these games are over things ramp up at a 160 degree angle. This social engineering trick is designed to lure people into paying into microtransactions early on, this is very commonly seen in, “Free to Play” mobile games.
Free to play in exchange for a predatory business model has put the game easily in the crappiest state OW has ever seen and only seems to go downhill. Ques get longer with every passing day, a result of a declining player base.
Actually it is fairly abusive. Now please bare with me as this is so complex that it will take a lot to explain, I recommend reading this because it can offer some powerful insight.
OW uses a business model that is used in a less extreme way that, “Free to Play” mobile games use. This is called “Hook, Habit, Hobby.” They try to hook you to the game which is easier when the game is Free to Play; adding it to steam widens the horizon of players that will try the game. After you get hooked, the game turns into a habit then it turns into a hobby. Once you reach the invested time for it to be a hobby, you are far more likely to do MTX’s. FOMO is used to BP’s to lure people into paying for it, considerably predatory. Putting skins into the shop for a ridiculous price then removing it is also considerably predatory (what will Blizzard lose if the skin stays in the shop forever?). This kind of business model is harboring a new wave of children with Impulsive Disorders, this kind of nature is what turns people into gambling addicts. This kind of business model DOES NOT USE positive reviews to stay successful. You wonder why Blizz doesn’t care or do anything about the mass negative review of OW however seem to embrace it? It’s simple, really. Before OW went F2P, it already had a decent sized player base with people that would buy loot boxes and likely have a gambling or impulsive disorder. You say it’s not predatory, you’re absolutely wrong.
I would also like to add, that when you first start a game. When you first start a game, you will posses what is basically a personal barrier or comfort zone. I’m willing to bet ANYTHING as an educated guess based on what you’ve mentioned you’ve never dropped a penny into this game, like myself. You still posses this personal barrier. Now, this can range anywhere between guilt tripping BP’s or even an innocent expansion purchase. However once you make this first purchase you effectively break this barrier, which is why you only see people that either 100% oppose it or 100% support it. Even if your first purchase is only a few pennies, your personal barrier is effectively shattered. Once you break this barrier, you will become FAR more likely to make additional purchases after; here’s the real icing on the cake. You will notice that when you buy something by purchasing premium tokens that you will be left with some tokens left in your pocket. With this barrier broken and leftover tokens you will be more further inclined to make additional purchases going further, leaving an infinite loop. Absolutely borderline criminal exploitation toward the undereducated.
I wish there was a more simple way to properly explain this but it is so mentally complex that it can only be explained with a long YouTube video or an essay written about it, a simple 12-20 word post will only make a factual post look like a total joke. I hope that if you survived reading my essay that I have provided some detailed insight on how predatory this business model is.
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