Diablo 4's latest microtransaction controversy is a $30 portal recolor: "You can get Palworld for this price"
Fans despair as Blizzard charges "almost half the price of the game" for class-specific portal colors
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Just saw some clown on Mastodon argue that capitalism isn't to blame for this.
This is what people really mean when they say Capitalism incentivizes innovation, lol
It does a stellar job of creating innovations that maximize profits, just look at enshitification! A masterpiece in shareholder value.
I assume, based on the format of Twitter/Mastodon, as well as using Twitter for many years, that Mastodon is full of Libertarian cutting edge tech bros that see capitalism as a natural order of things.
Capitalism isn't to blame for this. The Individuals who buy it are.
I bought DIV, I got value out of it. I won't be buying micro transactions, and unless D4 sees one hell of an overhaul to it's end game and encounter design - I won't be going back ever. Comparing it to other games I have purchased in the last couple of years, I would say DIV is the game I have gotten the LEAST value out of, which is surprising considering historically Blizzard games tended to be the top tier in terms of dollar per hour of enjoyable play time I got out of said games.
Onto Capitalism. Capitalism needs two things to function:
The failure of NeoLiberalism, and the Industrial age in general is we took the responsibility the Church and the Tithe that was paid to it away from the church, replaced it with work houses with piss poor conditions, and allowed a blaming of unforutnate individuals who couldn't find work - and blamed them for being lazy, instead of treating them with respect and dignity as every human should be treated.
By the way: This is why, I support the idea of a Universal Basic Income. Scrap Welfare, Scrap old age, Scrap food stamps. Universal basic income - and give people the power to find meaningful work. Give people the foundation to take a risk in starting up a small business to improve their lot in life where work is slim pickings, or all the employers are asshole middle managers that are instructed to pay piss poor wages. Capitalism actually would be liable to work FAR BETTER. And besides - you would likely see crime rates in plenty of places basically drop off a cliff as people would not need to turn to crime to ensure they can make rent, keep a roof over their head, or just pay for food.
Capitalism is not the problem. NeoLiberal Ideology is. A Failure to put in working policies to help actual people is a problem - and the "left wing" and "socialist" parties of the last several decades have all failed to bring meaningful positive change to the working class. But that should surprise no one given the track record of left wing authoritarian regimes.
It's 1000% capitalism bro. The thing you're describing is commerce. Commerce is the act of doing business. Goods/Services for Consideration.
Drop the history lesson. You don't know what you're talking about.
I would suggest you actually go read The Wealth of Nations. Fascinating read. Then go take a look at who Adam Smith was, the conditions he lived in, and the world he lived in. Because while a lot of people are TOLD about adam smith, it is frighteningly few who read the works or study the history to which it was written.
We haven't had the Capitalism that he wrote about for the better part of 200 years. What we have is a system that protects ever fewer corporations through protectionist policies that allow for monopolies to be shielded from competition. This is functionally what the extention of Copyright Law has enabled.
What?
