Kane99 Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 When it comes to games and microtransactions, I'm not much of a fan. Now days, a lot of games offer options for loot boxes and other microtransactions. I view it as gambling. Do you know anyone who was addicted to buying loot boxes and microtransactions? I've been hearing that more people are going into debt because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I know quite a few people who have spent 10s of thousands of dollars on mobile games. There was once a story of a guy that spent 150k on a single mobile game which quite frankly could get you a nice house and leave over extra to invest. I doubt I've ever spend more than 1k on any game and that was over a period of 3 years. The game in question was Champion Online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Withywarlock Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 I realise it's early for me to be tooting my own horn, but I speak from experience as an addict. I did a video on it, but if you're wary about clicking links or understandably think I'm trying to get views, I'll post my experiences below: In fairness to Valve and the Team Fortress 2 team, I never really grew out of my impulse purchasing habits of childhood, so the blame isn't squarely on them. Before the Mann-Conomy update, I was preordering games left right and centre in order to get the ever-craved hats for in-game. Monday Night Combat, Total War: Shogun 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.... you name it, I bought it, even though my laptop couldn't run the games they were for. You could get hats IRL cheaper than those in Team Fortress 2. And yet for all my regret I won't ever let go of the first ever Genuine quality item introduced to TF2, Pyro's Sharpened Volcano Fragment, exclusive to RIFT pre-orderers. I say that because my loot box addiction isn't entirely on loot boxes, but they are still made with exploiting that impulsiveness in mind. Loot boxes in the Mann-Conomy update weren't anywhere near as flashy as today's loot boxes. It was essentially a box with a grey background and a number counting down, some clinking of chains sounding and a cut to the item you'd unlocked. No sellophane wrapping, no light fighting to escape the slowly opening crate and no explosion of other goodies. So the psychological impacts weren't as profound in my opinion. The problems began to arise - and thankfully end - at Christmas some years ago. The moment I got my money on Christmas Day I asked my mum when the banks open so I could pay it in, omitting the fact that I only wanted to bank the cash to spend on loot boxes. Not clothes, books, a laptop that could run the many games I'd purchased or just more games. Just more loot boxes. And while the items in the Christmas crates were available in the store and awarded at random intervals of play, I didn't buy them directly because in theory it was cheaper to keep buying keys for the crates and get them all. I didn't get all the items though, and by the time I realised this I owed £200 to the bank. My mum, being a saint, paid the bank back in full and put overdraft and withdrawal limits on my account, so that if my card charged any more than, say, £200, I wouldn't be able withdraw any more without the bank phoning up for justification. The humiliation as well as the grief I put my mum through over that was enough for me to snap out of the habit. I'd go on to enjoy another 2 years of Team Fortress 2 before leaving college, eventually falling off it and playing other games. Not everyone's lucky enough to have someone instill such guilt into them to quit a bad habit immediately. I consider myself extremely fortunate, and have since learnt from that experience to never be fully trusting of games that feature these mechanics. If I buy any now, it's with a crushingly forceful reminder of that Christmas since gone to not do it again. I still have impulse purchasing habits, though I make it my New Year's Resolution to do something about it. I'm in a good relationship with a partner I want to support financially and emotionally, and I can only begin to do that when I reign in my purchasing habits and find a healthier outlet for my impulses. TL;DR - I was once addicted to loot boxes, and while I still struggle with impulse purchases, I mostly got my act together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syntax Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I know plenty, and sadly some from the first game that sucked people in (Candy Crush). I think having limits, and once you hit those limits waiting until you have more "fun" money makes the best sense overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shole Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Uh I a m semi lucky that I had no money when it was it was time to buy games and the lootboxes came at an age where I have grown out of those games or wasn't that interested. I know people who are addicted to buying other things, but lootboxes are not big in my country as we were really poor until like 5ish years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 On 12/31/2020 at 2:47 AM, Syntax said: I know plenty, and sadly some from the first game that sucked people in (Candy Crush). I think having limits, and once you hit those limits waiting until you have more "fun" money makes the best sense overall. Seriously, I think that this is one of the reasons why I hated that game Candy Crush. To begin with, I didn't see much fun it offered, but only to see the BS microtransaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razor1911 Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 3 hours ago, Heatman said: Seriously, I think that this is one of the reasons why I hated that game Candy Crush. To begin with, I didn't see much fun it offered, but only to see the BS microtransaction. Well, those microtransactions are optional. So if you don't want to wait for that countdown to finish, you can go for that. Normally, it's not a big problem as you can play 3 games after every 1 hour. 😆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 On 12/30/2020 at 8:47 PM, Syntax said: I know plenty, and sadly some from the first game that sucked people in (Candy Crush). I think having limits, and once you hit those limits waiting until you have more "fun" money makes the best sense overall. I've never liked Candy Crush - it was just your average puzzle game that offered nothing unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Luckily, no. I'm very happy that I don't know anyone that wastes money on the loot boxes and microtransactions. Honestly though, microtransactions aren't too bad. But if my friends were wasting money on loot boxes, I would think they were idiots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 2 hours ago, Razor1911 said: Well, those microtransactions are optional. So if you don't want to wait for that countdown to finish, you can go for that. Normally, it's not a big problem as you can play 3 games after every 1 hour. 😆 Yeah, it's optional but that doesn't change the fact that it's freaking annoying no matter how they try to justify it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatman Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 22 minutes ago, killamch89 said: I've never liked Candy Crush - it was just your average puzzle game that offered nothing unique. It's not even average as far as I'm concerned because the game literally offered nothing meaningful to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
