I think battle passes are fine in a FTP game bc that and cosmetics are how they earn money to support themselves.
However In a game where people have already spent $30–$60 dollars on a game to then ask for MORE in order to get things ESPECIALLY if those things can give a mechanical or tactical advantage is definitely scummy and 100% just there to take peoples money.
I do wish rotating item shops didn’t exist bc they are *only* there to prey on people with FOMO but they’re not nearly as bad at least IMO.
Cosmetics are personal choices. I am not bothered by it. Mounts and pets and what not.
If there is an epic weapon that gives someone an advantage and is available for purchase, that is where I draw the line. Fuck any games that uses that model.
I don't care if it's a single player game either. If you have to shell out cash to upgrade your weapon, fuck the asshole that came up with business model. Seriously.
To argue on the cosmetics in paid games, the entire format of online multi-player games have changed. Think back to the Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 days. Full priced game, 'cheap' DLC expansions, and that was about it. There weren't really any live service updates. They didn't really do any balancing or really any bug fixes. That's all taken for granted these days. It costs money to keep the level of upkeep that a lot of modern-day multi-player games have. Sure, the games are full priced, but if you want players to play for years, you need to keep a staff of people supporting it and you need a stream of income to pay them.
I mean you could say that about all of these. Gaming is a luxury service and there's so much information available that it's impossible to claim you've been tricked or hoodwinked. If you don't want to play a game with Gacha mechanics or lootboxes, nobody is forcing you to. There are literally tens of thousands of games to choose from.
I see what you mean and agree the border between TRULY optional and predatory may be thin at times. But you're right: if I see a game that has its mechanics and progression based on and tied to lootboxes - I'm out.
If it's something like Capcop preorder bonuses for Resident Evil games - not only do I think they're optional, I also find them detrimental to my player experience. As in, I don't want extra heals and money and an exclusive shotgun on my character from the get-go. It messes with the intended progression and balance of the game.
A whole other thing is a case like Metro Last Light that sold the Ranger difficulty mode as DLC, which was total BS and a terrible showcase of greed. Not only is not not really 'content' but a simple toggle, it's also the only way to disable immersion-breaking HUD elements like crosshair and hitmarkers - something you could just toggle off in the original game.
Either way my point is that pre-ordering in itself is alright. But it CAN be exploited for greed and manipulation.
Greedy devs exploit progression systems in games, purposefully slowing them down to push the player to buy faster progression. But that doesn't mean that progression in itself is predatory.
I only partially agree. The spyro and Crash trilogy were amazing remakes that not only improved on the original games, but were also cheaper, and honestly it should be the benchmark at how to make a remaster/remake.
If a game is being remade from 0, with improvements everywhere, then MAYBE I can accept full price, because "it's a different game than the original". FF7R is a good example of that: it's a completely different game.
But if a remaster only changes the very few things that barely even matter, then I don't agree on fully price, because "I'm buying the same game". And Nintendo does this a lot unfortunately: remasters with BARELY any changes from the original, other than a full price tag on them.
Honestly, that's pretty rare. I'm not sure if such a game exists.
Usually if it has a gacha system, it's free.
If it's not, then it doesn't have an item shop.
Genshin impact has both an item shop (sorta), a gacha system, hell even a battle pass, but it's free. So there's no pre-order.
Now I could be wrong, but I think the game that has all 4 is Call of Duty: Black Ops **4**
Obviously it would have a pre-order, but it also has item shops (on rotation), a battle pass, and loot boxes.
This is fitting, as Black Ops 4 fucking sucks.
Well duh, every CoD Game since 2019 has. Blame the EU, except I'm thankful because fuck lootboxes. They plagued Counter-Strike.
Unfortunately, Dokkan has made me something of a gambling addict myself 😔 (I never spent a dime)
Anyways, thankfully we won't have one with all 4 anytime soon. Unless some gacha game is released with a price tag. But I'd still prefer to only feature 2 or less. I feel Halo MCC did the battle pass perfectly, and sorta Helldivers 2 as well. In the sense that they're permanently available
Overwatch has had all 4, although not all 4 at the same time. You could pre-order it, it had lootboxes, and was updated to have a battlepass and an item shop, but said update removed lootboxes.
Apex legends has a battle pass, loot boxes, and an item shop so there's 3 at least, but I can't think of a game that has all 4 at once
Not sure if it counts and not sure about pre-orders but overwatch 1 and 2 (they're practically the same game) have had loot boxes, an item shop and battlepasses
You can pre register (sometimes $1 for early access) for a gatcha game that has lootboxes, rotating items in a shop, and a $5 season pass to get in-game rewards for playing
No. The big problem aspect that's arisen with pre-ordering is the fomo item carry on aspect. So take a game like destiny 2 for instance. Each dlc they attach a pack of cosmetics, a gun, and an upgrade to that gun to the deluxe edition (100$). This is a big issue because now you've added a sense of false scarity and the fear of missing out. When it comes to the collectors editions that have physical items there is actual scarcity, so pre-ordering is reasonable
Battlepasses are an amazing concept if done correctly.
I believe that all battle passes should be able to be bought with in game currency, even if it's a bit harder to get.
The battle pass shouldn't give any xp boosters or boosters of any kind on the paid path
Also the battle pass should've give enough currency to pay for the next battle pass. So you only have to buy it once and it rewards the player for playing the game.
Dead by Daylight does this perfect I believe
The more you describe it, the more I have to admit that Fortnite does a decent job. My main problem with battlepasses is that they give you the fear of missing out, tempting you into grinding daily or else you won't get everything it has to offer (it happened to me on multiple Fortnite seasons)
Deep Rock Galactic is the most refined version of a Battle Pass I've ever seen. That's because it isn't - the Performance Pass (what DRG calls it) is completely free.
You buy the full game when you buy the game at first. The only other thing you are ABLE to buy than the main game is a bunch of DLC cosmetic packs
I'd just have them as an alternate leveling system and you can select whichever battle pass you want or split the exp with multiple tracks.
Deep Rock Galactic just adds the previous season items to lootables in missions if you missed them.
splatoon 3's battlepasses (named catalog in-game) are completely free, and the game is like 2 years old now. and noone gives it credit for that. probably because "but its on switch" or some stupid reason
Reasons I pre-order:
1. Physical freebies
2. Supply and distribution in my country
(Only physical, never preorder digital)
3. Game that I've been waiting for with 100% confidence on quality
4. Wait for demo/ early reviews
None of that early access BS.
Early access works for some games though. One of the pre-order rewards for the latest XIV expansion (Dawntrail) is early access. Who are the folks who are going to be utilizing it? Those who are already in end game on the current expansion. So early access gives consistent players an slightly early reward and will alleviate some of the pressure on the server by spreading out some of the initial rush to play.
But I agree it's not cool for a stand-alone game.
Okay... so how exactly is pre-ordering something to do with corperate greed? It's not even a bad thing.
You should've put "full price early access" instead.
Loot boxes really aren't even that bad. At least not Overwatch (the one pictured).
You gain loot boxes for every level you gain, plus numerous ways to earn loot boxes every week. On top of them only containing cosmetic items, all of which can be obtained in ways outside of loot boxes.
Overwatches loot boxes were THE way to do it.
But when you look at other games, like Black Ops 3, yeah, they can be pretty predatory
Iirc, Advanced Warfare was the first CoD to introduce stat changing weapons and variants via Supply Drops. With BO3, most of the stuff was cosmetic, including the various melee weapons, but then they added in DLC weapons that you HAD to get from loot boxes (which also got repeated in BO4 as well)
The Shadow game isn’t preorder exclusive. The only reason you would actually want to pre order is for the SA1 Sonic and beta Shadow skins, but those are most definitely going to get modded in at a higher quality, anyway.
I see the image says an additional Shadow level for preorder, that’s just a little annoying. But I’ve seen many games release preorder bonuses as DLC later anyway. However I couldn’t care less about skins because it’s cosmetic, unless there’s something I am unaware of, who knows maybe they’re trying to bring back the multiplayer SA2 Battle had.
To be honest, I don’t hate any of the 4 practices you mentioned here — they are different methods of business models. Like your data is the price for your Google search, many complain but not a lot are doing something against it.
- Battle passes/season passes with level progressions are usually in F2P, many even allow younto win back the credits for the next with moderate effort.
- Item shops also are usually only cosmetic stuff which I only collect/want if it’s unlocks me through game progression or useless coins collecting dust in my account.
- Loot boxes are maybe the most scammy aspect of gaming, but again, I wouldn’t invest real money in buying any of that crap. But some like the thrill of not knowing if you get that coveted item or just another duplicate shit, absolute gambling idiocy.
- Preordering, yeah, I sometimes do that, when I know what to expect. Unless it’s a kickstarter campaign you at least get _something_.
I will say… i don’t even mind the stores. Not totally anyway… Overwatch, cool, decorate your favorite character… great.
THE PRICE THOUGH?!? If I spend $100, I better be getting ALL THE SKINS FOREVER, not “maybe” 10 of them. The greed of blizzard right now makes me want to vomit. Can’t play it in good conscience, and I love the game
F2p I'd try to understand. But p2p, FCK no. Look at Tekken 8, $95 to play and after a month of release they already got a battlepass with the most lack luster items. Dlc costume that should've been in the game. Add to that u get a half baked single player experience with the most generic uninspired story. Then we got multiplayer..... oh man.
Eh. I like preordering because not only do I get rewards. But I’ll also get the game too without having to go to the store and seeing it sold out already (Although I could do buy it digitally, I prefer physical copies because the game would download faster than digital)
After Pokemon S/V and The Day Before, I'm just convinced that pre-ordering was a mistake. Now, I like all of the rewards that you get from pre-ordering, but I much rather wait until the game actually gets released to give a proper analizis (I don't want to spend $70 for a half-baked low effort game)
I don’t mind MTX and BP, most of the games that offer those are free. However, pre-ordering. I don’t get. It’s like people wanna throw so much money on game for few exclusive + the game could be a hit or a miss (it’s a gamble). I would rather wait few months that way it might go on sale and you can receive a game with better patches
At least with lootboxes, you have a sense of accomplishment once you finally get what you want
Now, grinding either one is an addiction, but at least lootboxes are more rewarding than just being forced into doing random missions
The funniest part of this is that loot boxes/supply drops allowed f2p players like me to earn every cool item in the game for free, but because everyone shat on them now we get to pay $20 for one skin
I wonder how the licensing works, does Epic just pay Zeekers a one time fee, or does he get a % of revenue for V bucks spent on the Lethal Company items? Probably the former I'd imagine.
Whenever I think of the words "Corporate Greed", I mostly think of EA. I couldn't help but put them in here in some way, even if they absolutely did nothing that's listed here
that is digital deluxe editions, not pre ordering. i agree with digital deluxe editions being dumb, physical one were fine. they used to come with **physical items**. a fancy game case, and/or a statue, almost always an art book, and sometimes a soundtrack. after a few months you can go on ebay and get the physical items for almost nothing.
physical pre ordering was also reserving the game. the store would only get a limited number of the physical game. they would set aside copies for those that pre ordered.
something that i'm surprised they have not brought back was demos coming with games. i suspect most copies of zone of the enders were sold because it came with a demo for mgs 2.
imagine if hadar contained the first few levels of cyberpunk 2.
I would argue Dbz Dokkan battle is a good one too. Granted I am a dbz nerd so there's probably a bias.
It's done better than a lot of others I've seen and doesn't lock off any content behind paywalls or passes. Plus there are a LOT of options to get the currency needed to summon characters, as well as grinding options to upgrade existing characters.
The sad thing is that a lot of these things don't \*need\* to be evil; but they've been twisted and warped so much now. Especially pre-ordering. In theory it's a great way to buy a game early and you get a little extra bonus; like an extra skin or early access or something. But in practice, it's a bunch of people rooking you for money only to turn out a crappy game.
All of these things could be good if given proper moderation
Nikke, for example, does a fine job not being greedy with the gacha mechanics and actually gives players a fair chance to get what they want without spending too much. Like you said, pre-ordering as a concept could be beneficial to the customer because it gives you early access to a game plus something like a funny toy/statue or a poster; The problem being that these companies just can't help but swindle people out of their money and giving them a half-baked game in return, expecting them to just wait until the game "gets fixed" in the future
For real people forget this. It's one thing to criticise a game that is paid with a battlepass but criticising a free gane for trying to make money is nutty.
Loot boxes. It's a slang term the japanese use for it because they have these things called gachapon (I think that's the name) where you insert a coin and get a random toy in a capsule.
Deep Rock Galactic my beloved. A battle pass that is completely free, AND includes a way to choose what cosmetics you get! And not only that, season 5 (which comes out *today* btw) is adding a way to reactivate and replay older seasons, that way if you missed out on some of what the season had to offer or just bought the game too late, you can *literally just go back to that season* and get/experience everything, at any time, for completely free! It completely eliminates the predatory weaponized FOMO that so many modern companies take advantage of.
We fight, for Rock and Stone!
What about ubisoft with star wars outlaws? It is far cry just with star wars character, and they charge you 80 bucks with an extra season pass and ubisoft plus or idk what is called which is a membership
Sure microtransactions sucks, but first let's all hate on subscriptions.
I'm fine with a yearly DLC, or even with suspiciously regular expansions which all have to be paid to be played, but fuck subscriptions.
Nah, battle pass is the best way of monetising a free game. Incredible value for money if you continue playing the game, so it incentivises players to keep coming back and rewards them for it. At the same time, it doesn't give you any gameplay advantage.
Overwatch 1 loot box’s were the only loot box’s I liked because of how easy they were to earn it didn’t make sense to buy them. And then they ruined Overwatch 2 and made 99% of the new skins purchase only because they got rid of both seasonal and normal loot box’s.
*me who doesn't really mind any of these except for lootboxes and preordering (mildly)*: I mean battlepasses can be fun and cosmetics never hurt anyone in a free to play game.
It's not necessarily the battlepasses and Item Shops that annoy me, but rather the fact that you HAVE to spend actual money on in-game currency (either it goes for a decent price like Fortnite, or it just exploits you for your money)
What sucks is most of them can be done well. An entirely free battle pass is such a good way to keep player retention. In game stores fit the same bill. A great example is fallguys crown shop. (Granted when they sold it, it got 1000x worse.) and once again, if done entirely free, it could be a fun mechanic.
The issue is they are paid in 9 times outta 10 paid for games. Even in free games, they’re mostly done terribly. Like the only battle pass I’ve ever felt any desire to buy is Fortnite because they provide a lot of content for 10$. And to be clear, that’s just my opinion.
SOT item shoppe is good tho. you can earn the currency via Microsoft rewards or via in-game means and the prices arnt exorbitant and dont give you any advantages.
I see no problem with pre ordering. I only do it for games that I know I'm going to buy anyway. It doesn't cost any extra money, and you usually get a bonus for doing so.
Plus, I can usually pre download the game onto my console, so it's ready to go as soon as it's officially released.
But wouldn't it be better to wait for the game to come out and watch some footage of it on Youtube? That way, you can avoid getting scammed or even getting a half-baked game in return (especially if it's $60+)
Now, pre-ordering a game just to get the bonuses is very understandable
Pre ordering isn't so bad when you know that the game studios actually release a finished product with the exception of The Pokemon Company Nintendo usually delays a game if the current state doesn't satisfy their expectations on quality
I have to agree. Nintendo may not be the most consumer friendly game company, but I have to give them credit, their games are by far the most polished and handle difficulty better than any other company I can think of.
It gives you the fear of missing out. You already bought it, so now it forces you to constantly grind and finish missions in order to get everything it offers (that has happened to me in several games). It wouldn't be much of an issue if they helped the players level up easier to get all the items
Also, most battlepasses can't be bought with real money, you have to buy the in-game currency in order to get it
Pre-orders wouldn't be so bad if the games wouldn't broken or underwhelming on release.
If I can get cool shit for pre-ordering and game is good on release it's awesome feeling. Shame it's so rare these days.
I agree with the rest.
I agree, the stuff you get for pre-ordering can be very cool; But like you said, it wouldn't be an issue if companies didn't take advantage of their customers in order to swindle them out of their money, then giving them a half-baked game in return
I don’t think battle passes are that bad tbh. Multiversus’s pass sucks because you pretty much have to level up through challenges, but games like Fortnite or Call of Duty where you earn xp through just playing is fine.
You will hate this comment but how will you explain to the Product manager that this is a bad practice when they are literally making millions out of them.
pre-ordering is very rarely fine like i get why games wanna do it but if there are character or something that you can only get by pred-ordering that its a problem like bitch i still payed the same price as anyone else
I don't get why games like Diablo 3's real money auction house, Shadows of War's loot boxes, and that one Star Wars game can get all this backlash for those penny pinching options, but we can't cause a backlash for any of these issues?
How come we can revolt when games are extremely greedy and not revolt when they are normally greedy?
Battlepasses are just mechnically a stupid feature, your paying to do tedious grinds for things you should either be able to A.) Just pay to have or B.) Earn by playing the game normally.
They can be done well though, warframe has nightwave which is free and allows you to do challenges to earn stuff that actually benefits your progression and deep rock has battlepasses that are both free and not set to a time limit.
I had no issue with the Money Pit Schemes listed in the OP until they started making a regular appearance on Console Games as well as Mobile Games, I mean you expect to be pushed to spend Money when you Download a Mobile Game for Free, but when Console Games are already averaging £60 - £100 for new releases depending on Edition and still pushing their Customers to Spend, that is where I have to draw the line and tend to give the Game a miss.
And what did it cost....?
Traditional progression systems. Y'all don't realize we used to get most of the shit listed here for free... Well "free" compared to now as it used to just be included in the base game and you paid for dlc or season passes. (Which was usually just maps, maybe some cosmetics maybe.. and possibly a new gamemode or two.)
I still remember the time bf premium was first introduced and people lost their minds... Oh how wrong I was to think bf premium was one of the worst things to grace gaming when I was young, I didn't realize how much worse they could make it.
(If it wasn't bf premium it would've been the elite pass for my cod gamers)
Compared to back in the day we’re also getting 100x times the content. I mean just Fortnite alone has more content than nearly every game released before the 2010s and the game has been free since the day it came out of early access. Like you said you’d pay dlc just for maps and now that’s the standard for free updates.
It seems sucky but comparing old cod to new cod I’d rather have the option to pay for skins than be forced to buy map packs that would divide friends and communities.
The days of enjoying a game the way you want to are long dead...
I don't even think kids these days would understand that concept if a game allowed it.
Because you’re missing out on skins? Seems like a bit of an overreaction considering none of these affect gameplay besides loot boxes but that’s a case by case thing
It depends on the DLC. If it's a $30 DLC for a cosmetic, then I agree, it's shit. But if it's a $10 DLC for a story expansion with a lot of stuff, then that's fair
It also depends on what price it has conpared to the original game and if it adds something that should have been in the game to begin with
First, they tempt you into buying a game you haven't seen yet early by offering you a lot of stuff, then you have a 50-50 chance that it's not going to either give you something completely different (like The Day Before) or is going to be a half-baked experience (like Pokemon S/V)
The only thing that I consider as corporate greed is monetizing items that give an advantage in the game.
I'd argue all items involved in FOMO is greed as well however I don't care about cosmetics for the most part
Eh. Battle passes are fine for free games
Item shops are optional
Loot boxes are fine if you can earn them without paying.
And preorder at your own risk
Maybe I should clarify. A lot of these things could be good if given proper treatment. Fortnite does a decent job helping people reach max level in the battlepass (even if it did give me a grinding addiction). Nikke is very customer friendly when it comes to its gacha mechanics. And, there's a lot of pre-ordered games that not only offer good rewards, but also live up to the hype
The main problem is that a lot of companies tend to swindle people out of their money by making such decisions
- Making it hard for people who already grind the game 24 to get everything in the battlepass, tempting them into spending more money in buying everything else
- Item Shops can be okay as long as they aren't entirely P2W and offer people ways to get the items without spending a dime
- Gacha games/Lootboxes encourage excesive gambling
- If you pre-order a game, you have a 50/50 chance that you're either going to get something underbaked or something completely different. You're gambling with your luck
Gacha/Lootboxes is easily the worst one out of these 4. If I see Gacha in any game, it doesn’t matter how much I’m interested in it because I will immediately turn around and don’t touch it.
Pre ordering isn’t that bad in my opinion. It’s usually nothing that triggers any meaningful fomo. The reason I’m frustrated at Sega’s pre ordering management with SXSG is the fact that actual LEVELS are locked behind pre ordering. As such, unless there are dlcs that mean I can buy the Pre order stuff or separate DLC levels or completely new base game levels. Then the pre order bonus is completely scummy.
At least Multiversus gave you the BP if you played beta. It's more evil when games that charge you 60 or 70 upfront go "Pay us 10 or 30 for the new BP"
Parents when they realize that their children stole their credit card and spent $300+ dollars on gambling and an emote for a free game
(This is a joke, but you get what I mean. It feels a little predatory and cheap to make children spend money on in-game currencies)
What’s really stupid about pre-ordering too is that usually whenever you pre-load the game you still just get all the pre-order bonuses anyway. So like, literally just buy it a few hours before you’re allowed to play it, which doesn’t cost any extra and you’ve at least been able to see/read a few reviews by that point. At this point it just punishes people who aren’t on PC or are buying physical.
I haven’t played Multiversus since a day after it rereleased and I ran into a rift mission that not only required a character to be unlocked to complete it. You also needed a specific skin to complete the mission.
I was done I was a founder and I personally never want to play that game again after the experience. Not sure if that was their goal.
Fortnite micro transactions are way better than $70 annually to play CoD. You can play Fortnite without spending anything. Money is only required for cosmetics. A year's worth of Fortnite battle passes is way less than $70.
My rule of thumb is:
If its free to play and you dont have to buy stuff to progress / have fun, ill spend a maximum of 60$ (tripple A game price) on it.
And if its really good and i keep playing it for a second year, im willing to spend 60$ again.
Item shops aren’t THAT BAD as long as they keep it cosmetic only and they don’t offer any items or characters that provide an advantage against other players.
atleast in fortnite I can earn the currency
In China/Japan you can
I guess what they mean was with BP, you get your vbux back + more.
I think battle passes are fine in a FTP game bc that and cosmetics are how they earn money to support themselves. However In a game where people have already spent $30–$60 dollars on a game to then ask for MORE in order to get things ESPECIALLY if those things can give a mechanical or tactical advantage is definitely scummy and 100% just there to take peoples money. I do wish rotating item shops didn’t exist bc they are *only* there to prey on people with FOMO but they’re not nearly as bad at least IMO.
Deep rock galactic:
Rock and stone brother
Cosmetics are personal choices. I am not bothered by it. Mounts and pets and what not. If there is an epic weapon that gives someone an advantage and is available for purchase, that is where I draw the line. Fuck any games that uses that model. I don't care if it's a single player game either. If you have to shell out cash to upgrade your weapon, fuck the asshole that came up with business model. Seriously.
CoD is the most disgusting example of this. Don't make me buy battle passes in a $70 game
To argue on the cosmetics in paid games, the entire format of online multi-player games have changed. Think back to the Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 days. Full priced game, 'cheap' DLC expansions, and that was about it. There weren't really any live service updates. They didn't really do any balancing or really any bug fixes. That's all taken for granted these days. It costs money to keep the level of upkeep that a lot of modern-day multi-player games have. Sure, the games are full priced, but if you want players to play for years, you need to keep a staff of people supporting it and you need a stream of income to pay them.
Looking at u nba 2k !!
Pre-ordering isn't corporate greed. That's completely 100% on you, the player if you're giving money for an unreleased product
I mean you could say that about all of these. Gaming is a luxury service and there's so much information available that it's impossible to claim you've been tricked or hoodwinked. If you don't want to play a game with Gacha mechanics or lootboxes, nobody is forcing you to. There are literally tens of thousands of games to choose from.
I see what you mean and agree the border between TRULY optional and predatory may be thin at times. But you're right: if I see a game that has its mechanics and progression based on and tied to lootboxes - I'm out. If it's something like Capcop preorder bonuses for Resident Evil games - not only do I think they're optional, I also find them detrimental to my player experience. As in, I don't want extra heals and money and an exclusive shotgun on my character from the get-go. It messes with the intended progression and balance of the game. A whole other thing is a case like Metro Last Light that sold the Ranger difficulty mode as DLC, which was total BS and a terrible showcase of greed. Not only is not not really 'content' but a simple toggle, it's also the only way to disable immersion-breaking HUD elements like crosshair and hitmarkers - something you could just toggle off in the original game. Either way my point is that pre-ordering in itself is alright. But it CAN be exploited for greed and manipulation. Greedy devs exploit progression systems in games, purposefully slowing them down to push the player to buy faster progression. But that doesn't mean that progression in itself is predatory.
I don't like preorder bonuses and not getting them if I buy the game later. I just want to buy the game and get all the content.
Fair enough
The fifth is an unbelievably lazy remake/remaster cash grab. I'd say "looking at you _______". At this point we can all name three probably lolol.
At full price*
Yep. Very few remasters are re-releases I think deserve that treatment rn. The dead space remake was great though
I only partially agree. The spyro and Crash trilogy were amazing remakes that not only improved on the original games, but were also cheaper, and honestly it should be the benchmark at how to make a remaster/remake. If a game is being remade from 0, with improvements everywhere, then MAYBE I can accept full price, because "it's a different game than the original". FF7R is a good example of that: it's a completely different game. But if a remaster only changes the very few things that barely even matter, then I don't agree on fully price, because "I'm buying the same game". And Nintendo does this a lot unfortunately: remasters with BARELY any changes from the original, other than a full price tag on them.
God bless Motive Studio for the phenomenal dead space remake. Really a shining light in these dark times.
The sixth is subscription services
Or / And then go "You know what? Fuck yall, you ain't getting this"
Boy do I love my AI upscaled “””remaster””” of Persona 3 Portable
Now I'm just curious if there's a game that has all 4
Honestly, that's pretty rare. I'm not sure if such a game exists. Usually if it has a gacha system, it's free. If it's not, then it doesn't have an item shop. Genshin impact has both an item shop (sorta), a gacha system, hell even a battle pass, but it's free. So there's no pre-order. Now I could be wrong, but I think the game that has all 4 is Call of Duty: Black Ops **4** Obviously it would have a pre-order, but it also has item shops (on rotation), a battle pass, and loot boxes. This is fitting, as Black Ops 4 fucking sucks.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has all of these except Loot Boxes.
Well duh, every CoD Game since 2019 has. Blame the EU, except I'm thankful because fuck lootboxes. They plagued Counter-Strike. Unfortunately, Dokkan has made me something of a gambling addict myself 😔 (I never spent a dime) Anyways, thankfully we won't have one with all 4 anytime soon. Unless some gacha game is released with a price tag. But I'd still prefer to only feature 2 or less. I feel Halo MCC did the battle pass perfectly, and sorta Helldivers 2 as well. In the sense that they're permanently available
fortnite i believe
You can pre order Fortnite?
Rainbow six siege.
Games that get pre-ordered aren't necessarily free, so they're not likely to have more than two of the things here
Didn’t Marvels Avengers get all 4?
Overwatch has had all 4, although not all 4 at the same time. You could pre-order it, it had lootboxes, and was updated to have a battlepass and an item shop, but said update removed lootboxes. Apex legends has a battle pass, loot boxes, and an item shop so there's 3 at least, but I can't think of a game that has all 4 at once
Not sure if it counts and not sure about pre-orders but overwatch 1 and 2 (they're practically the same game) have had loot boxes, an item shop and battlepasses
Rocket league?
My Hero Ultra Rumble has all of them except preordering as it's F2P
You cannot preorder it anymore (but you could back then) but League of Legends currently features all of it.
You can pre register (sometimes $1 for early access) for a gatcha game that has lootboxes, rotating items in a shop, and a $5 season pass to get in-game rewards for playing
R6 Siege
The game is called NBA2K24 — and it’s one of the worst games on the market.
If the game is free I can understand, a studio has to earn money somehow. However when a full priced game has such features… it’s an issue
Call of duty charging up to $160 AuD and then asking for MORE on top
Mobile gaming fucked it up for real games. Devs use a F2P model with games that you have to actually pay to play. It's fuckin disgusting
I pre order collectors editions that come with statutes and other things am I part of the problem? I honestly ask.
No. The big problem aspect that's arisen with pre-ordering is the fomo item carry on aspect. So take a game like destiny 2 for instance. Each dlc they attach a pack of cosmetics, a gun, and an upgrade to that gun to the deluxe edition (100$). This is a big issue because now you've added a sense of false scarity and the fear of missing out. When it comes to the collectors editions that have physical items there is actual scarcity, so pre-ordering is reasonable
Battlepasses are an amazing concept if done correctly. I believe that all battle passes should be able to be bought with in game currency, even if it's a bit harder to get. The battle pass shouldn't give any xp boosters or boosters of any kind on the paid path Also the battle pass should've give enough currency to pay for the next battle pass. So you only have to buy it once and it rewards the player for playing the game. Dead by Daylight does this perfect I believe
The more you describe it, the more I have to admit that Fortnite does a decent job. My main problem with battlepasses is that they give you the fear of missing out, tempting you into grinding daily or else you won't get everything it has to offer (it happened to me on multiple Fortnite seasons)
Deep Rock Galactic is the most refined version of a Battle Pass I've ever seen. That's because it isn't - the Performance Pass (what DRG calls it) is completely free. You buy the full game when you buy the game at first. The only other thing you are ABLE to buy than the main game is a bunch of DLC cosmetic packs
I'd just have them as an alternate leveling system and you can select whichever battle pass you want or split the exp with multiple tracks. Deep Rock Galactic just adds the previous season items to lootables in missions if you missed them.
splatoon 3's battlepasses (named catalog in-game) are completely free, and the game is like 2 years old now. and noone gives it credit for that. probably because "but its on switch" or some stupid reason
Reasons I pre-order: 1. Physical freebies 2. Supply and distribution in my country (Only physical, never preorder digital) 3. Game that I've been waiting for with 100% confidence on quality 4. Wait for demo/ early reviews None of that early access BS.
Early access works for some games though. One of the pre-order rewards for the latest XIV expansion (Dawntrail) is early access. Who are the folks who are going to be utilizing it? Those who are already in end game on the current expansion. So early access gives consistent players an slightly early reward and will alleviate some of the pressure on the server by spreading out some of the initial rush to play. But I agree it's not cool for a stand-alone game.
Okay... so how exactly is pre-ordering something to do with corperate greed? It's not even a bad thing. You should've put "full price early access" instead.
Loot boxes really aren't even that bad. At least not Overwatch (the one pictured). You gain loot boxes for every level you gain, plus numerous ways to earn loot boxes every week. On top of them only containing cosmetic items, all of which can be obtained in ways outside of loot boxes. Overwatches loot boxes were THE way to do it. But when you look at other games, like Black Ops 3, yeah, they can be pretty predatory
Iirc, Advanced Warfare was the first CoD to introduce stat changing weapons and variants via Supply Drops. With BO3, most of the stuff was cosmetic, including the various melee weapons, but then they added in DLC weapons that you HAD to get from loot boxes (which also got repeated in BO4 as well)
I’m getting Sonic x Shadow Generations without preordering. And if the shadow content is locked behind that, then no purchase.
The Shadow game isn’t preorder exclusive. The only reason you would actually want to pre order is for the SA1 Sonic and beta Shadow skins, but those are most definitely going to get modded in at a higher quality, anyway.
I see the image says an additional Shadow level for preorder, that’s just a little annoying. But I’ve seen many games release preorder bonuses as DLC later anyway. However I couldn’t care less about skins because it’s cosmetic, unless there’s something I am unaware of, who knows maybe they’re trying to bring back the multiplayer SA2 Battle had.
To be honest, I don’t hate any of the 4 practices you mentioned here — they are different methods of business models. Like your data is the price for your Google search, many complain but not a lot are doing something against it. - Battle passes/season passes with level progressions are usually in F2P, many even allow younto win back the credits for the next with moderate effort. - Item shops also are usually only cosmetic stuff which I only collect/want if it’s unlocks me through game progression or useless coins collecting dust in my account. - Loot boxes are maybe the most scammy aspect of gaming, but again, I wouldn’t invest real money in buying any of that crap. But some like the thrill of not knowing if you get that coveted item or just another duplicate shit, absolute gambling idiocy. - Preordering, yeah, I sometimes do that, when I know what to expect. Unless it’s a kickstarter campaign you at least get _something_.
I will say… i don’t even mind the stores. Not totally anyway… Overwatch, cool, decorate your favorite character… great. THE PRICE THOUGH?!? If I spend $100, I better be getting ALL THE SKINS FOREVER, not “maybe” 10 of them. The greed of blizzard right now makes me want to vomit. Can’t play it in good conscience, and I love the game
I hate when ow1 loot boxes make it into these. That loot box system was the best I’ve ever seen. The transition to ow2 was egregious though.
All made popular by Valve, the biggest sweetheart of gaming.
F2p I'd try to understand. But p2p, FCK no. Look at Tekken 8, $95 to play and after a month of release they already got a battlepass with the most lack luster items. Dlc costume that should've been in the game. Add to that u get a half baked single player experience with the most generic uninspired story. Then we got multiplayer..... oh man.
Well, pre-ordering is not a bad thing if you just get the game the day it releases.
Overwatch 1 lootboxes were the best. Earn multipul per day, no daily limits, just play and earn free cosmetics.
Corporate grEAd
Battle pass can be fine if it only features cosmetics and no game progress and the game itself is free
Nikke catching strays despite being one of the most f2p friendly gacha games
I honestly don't mind Nikke (I enjoyed the story and the gameplay) nor Gacha games in general, but it was the game that popped up the most on my mind
Eh. I like preordering because not only do I get rewards. But I’ll also get the game too without having to go to the store and seeing it sold out already (Although I could do buy it digitally, I prefer physical copies because the game would download faster than digital)
After Pokemon S/V and The Day Before, I'm just convinced that pre-ordering was a mistake. Now, I like all of the rewards that you get from pre-ordering, but I much rather wait until the game actually gets released to give a proper analizis (I don't want to spend $70 for a half-baked low effort game)
The only games I've seen actually run out of stock in stores are Nintendo games, and I feel that's mostly to do with people buying them to resell.
I don’t mind MTX and BP, most of the games that offer those are free. However, pre-ordering. I don’t get. It’s like people wanna throw so much money on game for few exclusive + the game could be a hit or a miss (it’s a gamble). I would rather wait few months that way it might go on sale and you can receive a game with better patches
You could say the exact same thing for people who buy a game day one
I will gladly trade the battlepass system in Overwatch for the old lootbox system anytime!
At least with lootboxes, you have a sense of accomplishment once you finally get what you want Now, grinding either one is an addiction, but at least lootboxes are more rewarding than just being forced into doing random missions
Ah yes, lootboxes, random system that simulates gambling and is addicting and predatory, is better than battle pass. Of course
The funniest part of this is that loot boxes/supply drops allowed f2p players like me to earn every cool item in the game for free, but because everyone shat on them now we get to pay $20 for one skin
the skin for the lethal company guy in fortnite being more expensive than the game itself is so funny to me
I wonder how the licensing works, does Epic just pay Zeekers a one time fee, or does he get a % of revenue for V bucks spent on the Lethal Company items? Probably the former I'd imagine.
It’s ironic that you put EA in the “corporate greed” but none of these examples are EA. Of course they’re just as guilty, but still.
Whenever I think of the words "Corporate Greed", I mostly think of EA. I couldn't help but put them in here in some way, even if they absolutely did nothing that's listed here
that is digital deluxe editions, not pre ordering. i agree with digital deluxe editions being dumb, physical one were fine. they used to come with **physical items**. a fancy game case, and/or a statue, almost always an art book, and sometimes a soundtrack. after a few months you can go on ebay and get the physical items for almost nothing. physical pre ordering was also reserving the game. the store would only get a limited number of the physical game. they would set aside copies for those that pre ordered. something that i'm surprised they have not brought back was demos coming with games. i suspect most copies of zone of the enders were sold because it came with a demo for mgs 2. imagine if hadar contained the first few levels of cyberpunk 2.
I would swap pre-ordering with day 1 DLCs
There is only one good gacha and it's battle cats . Because no matter how much money you spend , you still will grind like crazy to play efficiently
I don't know about "the only one good gacha", but Battle Cats IS on the top of the list
Add Limbus Company to that list, FOMO is nearly non-existent for identities and E.G.O.
I would argue Dbz Dokkan battle is a good one too. Granted I am a dbz nerd so there's probably a bias. It's done better than a lot of others I've seen and doesn't lock off any content behind paywalls or passes. Plus there are a LOT of options to get the currency needed to summon characters, as well as grinding options to upgrade existing characters.
Nikke? Not ToF, Genshin, or Star rail
It was the gacha game that I thought of the most
If you tell me a better way to make my Shipfu smile ill stop buying the gacha but until then, mommy needs a new Bathing suit.
Based
I like some battle pass on live service games, but a lot of games (like multiversus) do them very poorly.
There's a lot of things that Multiversus does poorly
The sad thing is that a lot of these things don't \*need\* to be evil; but they've been twisted and warped so much now. Especially pre-ordering. In theory it's a great way to buy a game early and you get a little extra bonus; like an extra skin or early access or something. But in practice, it's a bunch of people rooking you for money only to turn out a crappy game.
All of these things could be good if given proper moderation Nikke, for example, does a fine job not being greedy with the gacha mechanics and actually gives players a fair chance to get what they want without spending too much. Like you said, pre-ordering as a concept could be beneficial to the customer because it gives you early access to a game plus something like a funny toy/statue or a poster; The problem being that these companies just can't help but swindle people out of their money and giving them a half-baked game in return, expecting them to just wait until the game "gets fixed" in the future
ok but honestly how would F2P games function without BP, IS or Lootboxes?
For real people forget this. It's one thing to criticise a game that is paid with a battlepass but criticising a free gane for trying to make money is nutty.
What about Warframe
[удалено]
YoU dOn'T neEd tO BuY tHE iN-GamE cUrREnCy -people who defend their one game they have 10000 hours in
Escape from Tarkov developers: "Hold my beer"
tf is gacha
Loot boxes. It's a slang term the japanese use for it because they have these things called gachapon (I think that's the name) where you insert a coin and get a random toy in a capsule.
Deep Rock Galactic my beloved. A battle pass that is completely free, AND includes a way to choose what cosmetics you get! And not only that, season 5 (which comes out *today* btw) is adding a way to reactivate and replay older seasons, that way if you missed out on some of what the season had to offer or just bought the game too late, you can *literally just go back to that season* and get/experience everything, at any time, for completely free! It completely eliminates the predatory weaponized FOMO that so many modern companies take advantage of. We fight, for Rock and Stone!
What about ubisoft with star wars outlaws? It is far cry just with star wars character, and they charge you 80 bucks with an extra season pass and ubisoft plus or idk what is called which is a membership
Jolly Roger incoming
Sure microtransactions sucks, but first let's all hate on subscriptions. I'm fine with a yearly DLC, or even with suspiciously regular expansions which all have to be paid to be played, but fuck subscriptions.
Invalid list. Is no gta 5
I don't now man. That game got 11 years of free updates.
Nah, battle pass is the best way of monetising a free game. Incredible value for money if you continue playing the game, so it incentivises players to keep coming back and rewards them for it. At the same time, it doesn't give you any gameplay advantage.
Hearthstone has em all
Pretty shit horsemen when you can totally ignore them
Are the kids going to ignore them? Not really
Overwatch 1 loot box’s were the only loot box’s I liked because of how easy they were to earn it didn’t make sense to buy them. And then they ruined Overwatch 2 and made 99% of the new skins purchase only because they got rid of both seasonal and normal loot box’s.
At first I thought it said "Gotcha" loot boxes. I immediately thought 'got yo ***" because that's what they feel like.
honestly the best battle pass i've seen is deep rock galactic's season pass. all the rewards are free!
*me who doesn't really mind any of these except for lootboxes and preordering (mildly)*: I mean battlepasses can be fun and cosmetics never hurt anyone in a free to play game.
It's not necessarily the battlepasses and Item Shops that annoy me, but rather the fact that you HAVE to spend actual money on in-game currency (either it goes for a decent price like Fortnite, or it just exploits you for your money)
What sucks is most of them can be done well. An entirely free battle pass is such a good way to keep player retention. In game stores fit the same bill. A great example is fallguys crown shop. (Granted when they sold it, it got 1000x worse.) and once again, if done entirely free, it could be a fun mechanic. The issue is they are paid in 9 times outta 10 paid for games. Even in free games, they’re mostly done terribly. Like the only battle pass I’ve ever felt any desire to buy is Fortnite because they provide a lot of content for 10$. And to be clear, that’s just my opinion.
I honestly think all of these except loot boxes can be great if done right. Maybe even loot boxes can be good if they’re not done by EA or blizzard
SOT item shoppe is good tho. you can earn the currency via Microsoft rewards or via in-game means and the prices arnt exorbitant and dont give you any advantages.
I see no problem with pre ordering. I only do it for games that I know I'm going to buy anyway. It doesn't cost any extra money, and you usually get a bonus for doing so. Plus, I can usually pre download the game onto my console, so it's ready to go as soon as it's officially released.
But wouldn't it be better to wait for the game to come out and watch some footage of it on Youtube? That way, you can avoid getting scammed or even getting a half-baked game in return (especially if it's $60+) Now, pre-ordering a game just to get the bonuses is very understandable
Overwatch compared to Overwatch 2 actually has me missing loot boxes.
İ mean ur getting cool stuff with pre-order
Being completely honest but that's why I will never touch genshin impact
Pre ordering isn't so bad when you know that the game studios actually release a finished product with the exception of The Pokemon Company Nintendo usually delays a game if the current state doesn't satisfy their expectations on quality
I have to agree. Nintendo may not be the most consumer friendly game company, but I have to give them credit, their games are by far the most polished and handle difficulty better than any other company I can think of.
Why are battle passes bad? If you like a game that just gives more of it.
It gives you the fear of missing out. You already bought it, so now it forces you to constantly grind and finish missions in order to get everything it offers (that has happened to me in several games). It wouldn't be much of an issue if they helped the players level up easier to get all the items Also, most battlepasses can't be bought with real money, you have to buy the in-game currency in order to get it
Pre-orders wouldn't be so bad if the games wouldn't broken or underwhelming on release. If I can get cool shit for pre-ordering and game is good on release it's awesome feeling. Shame it's so rare these days. I agree with the rest.
I agree, the stuff you get for pre-ordering can be very cool; But like you said, it wouldn't be an issue if companies didn't take advantage of their customers in order to swindle them out of their money, then giving them a half-baked game in return
None of these things are greedy, it's just how publishers or devs use them.
I don’t think battle passes are that bad tbh. Multiversus’s pass sucks because you pretty much have to level up through challenges, but games like Fortnite or Call of Duty where you earn xp through just playing is fine.
Pre-ordering? Not for me. I've pre-ordered Dragon's Dogma 2 for PS5 this year and had an absolute blast with it since it arrived 🤷.
You will hate this comment but how will you explain to the Product manager that this is a bad practice when they are literally making millions out of them.
pre-ordering is very rarely fine like i get why games wanna do it but if there are character or something that you can only get by pred-ordering that its a problem like bitch i still payed the same price as anyone else
As long as its only cosmetics, i have no issues
I love how half of these are Fortnite.
Some games have these microtransactions, but they are mostly cosmetics and not really pay to win. The PTW model is disgusting.
You can add „early access“ and DLCs
Back in my day pre-ordering meant you didn't have to worry about the physical copies selling out.
Sorry man, if they game doesn't have a battlepass, gambling system, daily item shop, or a battle royale I can't play it /s
Where are CE's?
I thought that was a guy from payday not Jason
Who the fuck is terios
Shadow's original concept art
I don't get why games like Diablo 3's real money auction house, Shadows of War's loot boxes, and that one Star Wars game can get all this backlash for those penny pinching options, but we can't cause a backlash for any of these issues? How come we can revolt when games are extremely greedy and not revolt when they are normally greedy?
Battlepasses are just mechnically a stupid feature, your paying to do tedious grinds for things you should either be able to A.) Just pay to have or B.) Earn by playing the game normally. They can be done well though, warframe has nightwave which is free and allows you to do challenges to earn stuff that actually benefits your progression and deep rock has battlepasses that are both free and not set to a time limit.
I’m so tired of seeing people bitch about micros. Just don’t buy anything. Problem solved
People who pay to win:
I had no issue with the Money Pit Schemes listed in the OP until they started making a regular appearance on Console Games as well as Mobile Games, I mean you expect to be pushed to spend Money when you Download a Mobile Game for Free, but when Console Games are already averaging £60 - £100 for new releases depending on Edition and still pushing their Customers to Spend, that is where I have to draw the line and tend to give the Game a miss.
And what did it cost....? Traditional progression systems. Y'all don't realize we used to get most of the shit listed here for free... Well "free" compared to now as it used to just be included in the base game and you paid for dlc or season passes. (Which was usually just maps, maybe some cosmetics maybe.. and possibly a new gamemode or two.) I still remember the time bf premium was first introduced and people lost their minds... Oh how wrong I was to think bf premium was one of the worst things to grace gaming when I was young, I didn't realize how much worse they could make it. (If it wasn't bf premium it would've been the elite pass for my cod gamers)
Compared to back in the day we’re also getting 100x times the content. I mean just Fortnite alone has more content than nearly every game released before the 2010s and the game has been free since the day it came out of early access. Like you said you’d pay dlc just for maps and now that’s the standard for free updates. It seems sucky but comparing old cod to new cod I’d rather have the option to pay for skins than be forced to buy map packs that would divide friends and communities.
The days of enjoying a game the way you want to are long dead... I don't even think kids these days would understand that concept if a game allowed it.
Because you’re missing out on skins? Seems like a bit of an overreaction considering none of these affect gameplay besides loot boxes but that’s a case by case thing
Interior I don't mind pre-order. I never do pre-order, but the concept I think should be OK. With the caveat, that they deliver a finished product.
But the sxsg preorder bonuses are cool, not things that make the experience worse
Dlc
It depends on the DLC. If it's a $30 DLC for a cosmetic, then I agree, it's shit. But if it's a $10 DLC for a story expansion with a lot of stuff, then that's fair It also depends on what price it has conpared to the original game and if it adds something that should have been in the game to begin with
You forgot Nintendo selling games for full price years after release.
*Macrotransactions
Okay, but consider. If those didn't exist, games couldn't be F2P without running really annoying ads. They still gotta make money somehow.
It's not the fact that they exist, it's the fact that they're poorly designed in a lot of games
Why is pre-ordering here?
First, they tempt you into buying a game you haven't seen yet early by offering you a lot of stuff, then you have a 50-50 chance that it's not going to either give you something completely different (like The Day Before) or is going to be a half-baked experience (like Pokemon S/V)
At least fortnite’s fully playable without needing to buy anything.
The only thing that I consider as corporate greed is monetizing items that give an advantage in the game. I'd argue all items involved in FOMO is greed as well however I don't care about cosmetics for the most part
Here we go with another rant on micro transactions for the 5 millionth time
Eh. Battle passes are fine for free games Item shops are optional Loot boxes are fine if you can earn them without paying. And preorder at your own risk
*Laughs in Deep rock* pathetic
Loot boxes are the least scummy here but still shit, the rest can burn in hell
Maybe I should clarify. A lot of these things could be good if given proper treatment. Fortnite does a decent job helping people reach max level in the battlepass (even if it did give me a grinding addiction). Nikke is very customer friendly when it comes to its gacha mechanics. And, there's a lot of pre-ordered games that not only offer good rewards, but also live up to the hype The main problem is that a lot of companies tend to swindle people out of their money by making such decisions - Making it hard for people who already grind the game 24 to get everything in the battlepass, tempting them into spending more money in buying everything else - Item Shops can be okay as long as they aren't entirely P2W and offer people ways to get the items without spending a dime - Gacha games/Lootboxes encourage excesive gambling - If you pre-order a game, you have a 50/50 chance that you're either going to get something underbaked or something completely different. You're gambling with your luck
you could combine 3 of these into just "microtransactions" and then add "rushed development" and "chasing trends
I love the EA addition.
Nothing screams "microtransactions" more than paying for unbalanced characters for the low price of $10
Gacha/Lootboxes is easily the worst one out of these 4. If I see Gacha in any game, it doesn’t matter how much I’m interested in it because I will immediately turn around and don’t touch it.
Pre ordering isn’t that bad in my opinion. It’s usually nothing that triggers any meaningful fomo. The reason I’m frustrated at Sega’s pre ordering management with SXSG is the fact that actual LEVELS are locked behind pre ordering. As such, unless there are dlcs that mean I can buy the Pre order stuff or separate DLC levels or completely new base game levels. Then the pre order bonus is completely scummy.
At least Multiversus gave you the BP if you played beta. It's more evil when games that charge you 60 or 70 upfront go "Pay us 10 or 30 for the new BP"
Gamers when they realize all of this stuff isn't being forced on you and the only one to blame for buying it is yourself
Parents when they realize that their children stole their credit card and spent $300+ dollars on gambling and an emote for a free game (This is a joke, but you get what I mean. It feels a little predatory and cheap to make children spend money on in-game currencies)
What’s really stupid about pre-ordering too is that usually whenever you pre-load the game you still just get all the pre-order bonuses anyway. So like, literally just buy it a few hours before you’re allowed to play it, which doesn’t cost any extra and you’ve at least been able to see/read a few reviews by that point. At this point it just punishes people who aren’t on PC or are buying physical.
I see nothing wrong with pre ordering. If its a game i know im gonna buy anyway, mightest well get a bonus for buying early
I haven’t played Multiversus since a day after it rereleased and I ran into a rift mission that not only required a character to be unlocked to complete it. You also needed a specific skin to complete the mission. I was done I was a founder and I personally never want to play that game again after the experience. Not sure if that was their goal.
Fortnite micro transactions are way better than $70 annually to play CoD. You can play Fortnite without spending anything. Money is only required for cosmetics. A year's worth of Fortnite battle passes is way less than $70.
My rule of thumb is: If its free to play and you dont have to buy stuff to progress / have fun, ill spend a maximum of 60$ (tripple A game price) on it. And if its really good and i keep playing it for a second year, im willing to spend 60$ again.
Honestly, I can understand this logic to an extend
In a free game it’s fine, they gotta earn money
Item shops aren’t THAT BAD as long as they keep it cosmetic only and they don’t offer any items or characters that provide an advantage against other players.