Oh yes, you didn’t think I would come back without talking about this interesting subject did you?
It’s been a trend over the past few weeks to have big AAA games come with a variety of microtransactions built in, sometimes the entire game seems almost built around them. From Shadow of War holding the true ending behind a ridiculous grind that encourages loot boxes, to Forza 7 keeping car customisation behind the things and now it’s been confirmed that Star Wars Battlefront 2 will also contain them, and this time they directly affect gameplay making this game entirely pay-to-win.
I agree with the gaming journalist Jim Sterling (who you should totally go watch by the way) when he says that this type of system is nothing but digital gambling that preys upon those that are vulnerable to the type of impulses that make them buy these things. Now I have never bought a loot box in my life, even when the first time I saw this system it was in Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer where it also directly affected the gameplay. However when I was younger there was a similar system I fell prey to, Yu-Gi-Oh Online booster packs. These packs let me unlock various cards online and I was so obsessed with getting the cards I wanted that in order for my parents to not find out I asked them for phone top-ups on a pay as you go contract and used the credit from that to sneakily buy these booster packs. Ultimately however I realised the severity of what I was doing however and stopped but the fact remains I still did it, and worse I did it even though I knew it was wrong and anti consumer.
So due to all of this I feel very concerned with this growing trend. I know a lot of people who will defend it by saying it’s just optional and that people need to get their impulses controlled when playing these type of things however the fact that this system is still directly targeting those type of people that have this problem makes me sick and makes me worry for the rest of the gaming industry. Let’s hope this is a trend that dies out eventually, I just want to go back to the time where you buy a game and then play it, no other nonsense.
That’s all for now, and as always. It’s not just a game, It’s a Life.