okay while i stand along side you… that i dont care that they exist.
The problem is when developers go out of their way to pander to those who buy them… in the case of overwatch, those individuals for the most part have a negative impact on both the health of the game and community…
i mean honestly do you think the respectable people who are willing to do what they can to learn and comprehend the game to the best of their ability, are buying the majority of them… most of them no they dont nor will they ever, because the grind is so trivial and you get 3 free every week…
I get your premise but how are they a negative impact on the game? Some people who don’t have time for gaming and can only play like 2-4 hours a week probably wont be able to get the cosmetics they want in reasonable amount of time, so they just use some of their expendable income to enhance their experience with the game.
im going to try to say this in a way that makes my point without trying to make anyone feel like im targeting or belittling…
its a system focued on exploiting the ignorance of people… and when you consider in Overwatch knowledge is just as important as mechanical skill…
the people who are blind for what ever reason to how trivial the grind is. As i said not all who buy them are detrimental to the game…
its really hard to explain without risking anyone feeling like im trying to insult them… i could refrence TF2 and how when it went free to play, the community got worse but was still tolerable… then valve started hard core focusing on the lootboxes and virtual cosmetics… and those people who ate them up… are the same ones who turned it into a virtually unplayable cesspit… for the veteran players
It’s okay. I appreciate that you’re trying, you seem like an intelligent and empathetic person and I’m on your side, but when a person says “show me the studies and I will tell you that I know more than the scientists.” you should be able to guess you’re not going to get anywhere.
I;ve noticed a weird trend with peopel who say looboxes are fine. None of them have ever played a single MMORPG in their life especially a korean based one where RNG is everywhere. I know one game where you have to buy a single pet multiple times in order to get your pet to wear a hat instead of giving you the option to just buy a hat for your pet. They force you to spend $40 instead of $5. You don’t have to buy it at all. That doesn’t mean the practice of it isn’t scummy. Thats basically saying we don’t need gun control because people can choose not to kill other people.
The trend I’ve noticed is that people who say lootboxes are fine have either one of two reasons for saying that.
#1, the whales who spend far more money on boxes than the average player would spend in a direct purchase model are footing the majority of the bill for new content that the average players themselves don’t have to spend a dime on.
#2, the camp that I fall in, is that we aren’t looking for just the specific things we like best. Rather, we are trying to fill an entire collection, and the current loot box model allows for the possibility to complete our entire collections far quicker and at a lower cost than any direct purchase model would.