So let's take a walk, shall we? (Gaming)

by Malagate , Sea of Tranquility, Friday, January 24, 2020, 07:04 (1768 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Can you perhaps explain it to me a bit when you say my criticism comes from a place of privilege?

We should all be so privileged to demand such unwavering purity in the content we consume.

This comment was aimed at your rather high standard of not being willing to touch any title that dared to sully itself with microtransactions, even though cosmetics don't affect gameplay.

But hey, let's trounce the new project developed by people whose work has argued well in favor of us trusting it before it's even out of the crib. Pffft.

This comment was directed towards your lack of trust in developers that we're well aware do good work.

If you mean being able to play games at all Means I am privileged then that is true. But that seems irrelevant given that games are a luxury hobby in the first place and nobody is required to play them. And the criticism is of things that only affect gamers.

But this isn't what I was after. Keep reading.

If you mean that some people can only afford to play free games supported by micro transactions, then I’m not sure that’s relevant either since AAA games at full price have them too, and many many games can be bought cheap used or on sale that don’t have them. There’s even abandonware.

Right, you're just running off a cliff here. Go back and read what I said:

...The industry is aware of the toxicity of pay-to-win mechanics, and cosmetics that don't alter gameplay are a safe (if unnecessary, immersion-breaking, and annoying) middle-ground to walk while maintaining some sort of revenue stream between content releases.

So, right there I'm pointing out that while I find cosmetic MtX to be several kinds of undesirable, I'm willing to accept their existence because...

Can you really blame the folks behind Disintegration for launching a new IP, with a unique style of gameplay, for including MtX? Seems like what they're attempting is going to be hard enough already.

Because, speaking only as an avid consumer with a lot of professional curiosity, the games industry is fucking hard. It's a saturated market with tough working conditions in a lot of places that demands standout creativity, a stable (and balanced) product, and consistent engagement over the life-cycle of a title. You know all of this. Launching a new IP that innovates with a blend of genres that may not hit with the target audience is risky enough. I think allowing for a revenue stream in microtransactions, as long as they don't interfere with gameplay, is merely sound business sense at this point. It's not an industry development that I'm particularly fond of; but it's the reality that we're dealing with at the moment, and if it helps keep titles like Disintegration aloft a bit longer (regardless of whether it turns out to be a great game or not) I'm all for it. I see it as a viable support for innovation.

I don’t understand your argument.

I hope you do now.

~m