US kids want games subscriptions and virtual currency more than games this Christmas
US kids want games subscriptions and virtual currency more than games this Christmas
A report by the Entertainment Software Association has found that 72% of children in the US want games-related products…
US kids are indoctrinated into a capitalist system and don’t know of any better. Fixed it for ya.
Buy games not live service scams. Subscriptions, micro transactions, loot boxes and season passes should be illegal.
The more you buy of those the less and less incentive for the big corporations to ever put out a regular game.
Games are a product not a service. Fuck your rent seeking behaviour.
41I 100% agree, and I ban all of that crap from my house. We play plenty of games, but none of them have live service mechanics. The closest is I let my kids watch me play Risk, which has a BS store, but it stays out of the way.
My wife plays a live service game, but I'm working on convincing her to spend her money and time better. It's not a great example to set for our kids, but I'm putting my foot down that they don't touch any of that nonsense.
7Preach
5Subscriptions, microtransactions, etc do seem like training behavior to mold the ideal consumer by gradually removing the initial price shopping and value assessment shopper might have.
I'm amazed by some the monthly bills people run up.
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This entire business model should cease to exist.
Games make you value arbitrary nonsense. That is what makes them games. Directly monetizing that is wildly unethical.
If it is possible for someone to spend a thousand dollars on a single video game, and not even have all possible things in that game, that's a fucking scam.
30Ok, but keep in mind: Kids are also fucking stupid and sometimes want things that are harmful to them.
Besides, they want the games or the things you can buy in the game. They don't actually give two shits about the subscription or currencies. They just need those to get the thing they do want. If they could get them for free, they would; same as any other person.
26Yup. I have kids, and while they do well in school, they make really stupid practical decisions.
I have a few simple rules when it comes to video games:
- no gambling - esp no loot boxes
- no microtransactions - Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft Bedrock edition, etc are off limits
- no competitive multiplayer - I make an exception for a chess game, but competitive FPS is right out (my kids are <10, I'll loosen this once they can handle losing family board games)
- no M games, but they can watch me play certain M games (will loosen this up in a few years)
I wish more parents pushed back on this nonsense.
14
I'm not feeling too good about that one.
14Nor should you. TBTP are trying to train us to forget the concept of owning things while they fly around in private jets and buy yachts.
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/kidsarefuckingstupid
13I mean... OK? There's nothing wrong with just wanting stuff in a game you've played for a while and plan on sticking with. Even as an adult with adult money, I still occasionally buy things like skins in games. Because ultimately I'm not always looking for a new game to play. I like the ones I already play. Nothing wrong with throwing $20 at a game I've played for years and would easily play for just as long going forward.
5I agree at a high level, but F2P games are incredibly predatory, and paid games with microtransactions aren't much better.
I have no problem buying things like unit packs or whatever in strategy games, but that's because it only impacts my experience. In an MP context, you get into peer pressure if you don't have a cool skin or whatever, and I'm not okay with that. It's even worse if skins are randomized.
I think paying for additional content (e.g. DLC) is absolutely fine, I'm opposed to buying cosmetics for MP games.
5In an MP context, you get into peer pressure if you don't have a cool skin or whatever
Perhaps it's just my own experience, but I find next no no pressure whatsoever to buy skins, and never really have. Yeah, there's the occasional skin with bs particles or a broken animation and they end up being cheat skins basically, but they usually get patched fast these days.
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lies
1Yeah sure they do.
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