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If you play ANY mobile-style, free-to-PAY game, you are helping to destroy gaming. That includes any exceptions you think exist. (lemmynsfw.com)
submitted 2 years ago* by to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world
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I'm mainly talking about these new "but they're different" games, that have gotten so fucking popular, lately.

"Honky Stair Rail" and "Genshin Implants" or whatever the fuck they're called.

I don't care if you can play them without spending any money. I don't care if they're any good. None of that matters. The whole model of the game being funded by whales, spending money on in-game items and currency IS LITERALLY EVIL.

There is no way to do it ethically. That is an impossibility, on a fundamental level. There is no excuse for anyone to give these so-called developers and publishers ANY amount of money, attention, or engagement.

The only acceptable way to pay for a game as a service is a traditional MMO subscription, where you pay a flat rate per month/year to access 100 percent of a game's available gameplay.

I don't care what your excuse is. I don't care that you like anime tits and ass. I don't care if you think your chosen free-to-pay game is different. It's not.

Stop supporting this shit. Support real games.

A couple of years ago, I would have considered this to be a popular opinion, but about 35-40 percent of the internet posts I see in 2024 are related to either "Honky Stair Rail" or "Genshin Implants," and it's starting to freak me the fuck out.

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[–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago* (3 children)

The biggest issue with this monetization model is that the developers ARE REQUIRED TO INVALIDATE your progress in some way

THIS IS EXACTLY THE POINT THAT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MAKING.

This is why it's categorically impossible for there to be any "good" examples of these games. As long as they're following this model, they can't be okay and they must be boycotted by anyone who gives a shit about games.

I think this is why I was so frustrated, when people were asking me for examples of this model fucking shit up. It's not about specific examples. Examples aren't needed. There simply isn't any way for this shit to be anything other than harmful.

It's like if I said "getting whacked on the thumb with a sledgehammer will cause injury" and people were like "uhhh, could you cite some examples of this claim being true?"

Like, no. Just no. It's fucking obvious. Asking for citations to prove that obvious harm is harmful is intellectually dishonest.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I've got a great example of what you described (not to be confused with good) There's a mobile game called "Hooked inc." I installed it on a whim while looking for something to similar to an old PC game I used to play. I played until things slowed down and to really progress in a timely manner you needed to spend the paid currency, but you can acquire it slowly by watching ads. So I did for a bit. Had the idea of an auto clicker macro so it could accumulate while I sleep, put an android emu on my laptop and did that until I discovered that the creator hadn't anticipated keyboard access and had left in some shortcuts (presumably for testing). One button , i, u, or l maybe, gave you a skill point to spend, another gave a spin of the wheel without watching any ads. I maxed out the skill points and set a macro to constantly spin the wheel. Bought all the passive bonus characters and leveled them up, got tons of the rare items and leveled them. Made it significantly farther. Did a little math to see how long it would take to finish grinding out passive bonus levels and experience to get further. It would take days or weeks of spinning. Made me really feel bad for those watching ads thinking it'll help them make some progress. Uninstalled the game a couple years, reinstalled to see if my "progress" has been wiped. Nope, but with all of the additions it felt rather insignificant. They'd added more grindy ad mechanics.

    Sorry for the novel, Tldr for these games you can watch ads nonstop for weeks and have nothing to show for it. Better off uninstalling.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    This is exactly what I'm talking about. And honestly, if it had just remained on the mobile platform, I could dismiss it. Like, "well, people are free to waste their time and/or money."

    But these new games like "Honky Stair Rail" and "Getshit Implants" are available on PC and consoles. They're moving into territory that has traditionally been occupied by less hyper-monetized games. That means the developers of traditional games will be feeling more and more pressure to add hyper-monetization features into their games.

    It's scary. As I've mentioned, that could eventually lead to a second video game industry crash.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Right, it's invaded games in a big way, all the big shooters like COD & Fortnite are basically cosmetic stores pushing micro transactions and battle passes. Now games are built with features paywalled and the only updates after launch are adding paid cosmetics.

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