Nobody is mad that Civilization and Factorio cause us to accidentally pull all-nighters, they’re mad that the latest Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Grand Theft Auto, and other similar games are designed to extract as much money as possible from people.
Once upon a time people worried about MMO addiction and that was before they added $40 horses. I was on the other side back then, now game publishers can go fuck themselves.
Well, this particular lawsuit is pretty stupid and does indeed cite things that are just fun and not part of the “get them addicted” machine such as Minecraft having multiplayer.
I still don’t agree with the quote in the headline, though.
Horse armor is completely above-board, relative to this abuse. It was a real expansion: you paid money for new files. Stupidly tiny new files that solved problems the game created. But new files nonetheless.
Horse armor was the warning sign for the next decade of min-maxed bullshit DLC. That didn’t turn into this fresh hell until publishers tried doing “on-disc DLC.” I.e., you pay us for the game, and the whole game is on the damn disc, but you don’t get the whole game until you pay us again, for the game you just fucking bought.
Once mobile trash started charging repeatedly for the same geegaws, we were fucked. Only legislation will fix this.
Call of Duty, for instance, is criticized for rewarding players with gun and attachment unlocks, which the suit calls “a form of operant conditioning,” as well as for featuring “fast-paced play, satisfying graphics, sounds, and other dopamine lifts.” Minecraft’s multiplayer features are said to “addict players to connecting with others in the Minecraft world” and the suit warns that players with ADHD “can become easily hyper focused and addicted to building worlds.” Grand Theft Auto 5, the suit says, “includes endless arrays of activities and challenges to continually engage users and ensure they are never bored.”
Nobody is mad that Civilization and Factorio cause us to accidentally pull all-nighters, they’re mad that the latest Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, Grand Theft Auto, and other similar games are designed to extract as much money as possible from people.
Once upon a time people worried about MMO addiction and that was before they added $40 horses. I was on the other side back then, now game publishers can go fuck themselves.
The science of slot machines is applied directly to some video games. The Molecule of More is worth a read.
Well, this particular lawsuit is pretty stupid and does indeed cite things that are just fun and not part of the “get them addicted” machine such as Minecraft having multiplayer.
I still don’t agree with the quote in the headline, though.
Never forget it was Bethesda that started it all with the fucking horse armor.
Horse armor is completely above-board, relative to this abuse. It was a real expansion: you paid money for new files. Stupidly tiny new files that solved problems the game created. But new files nonetheless.
Horse armor was the warning sign for the next decade of min-maxed bullshit DLC. That didn’t turn into this fresh hell until publishers tried doing “on-disc DLC.” I.e., you pay us for the game, and the whole game is on the damn disc, but you don’t get the whole game until you pay us again, for the game you just fucking bought.
Once mobile trash started charging repeatedly for the same geegaws, we were fucked. Only legislation will fix this.
Rtfa.
Lol. Their lawsuit sounds like a good videogame ad.