LogFAQs > #930313236

AllstarSniper32 posted...

Oh, this is the negative you're trying to say? Yeah, unless they're over charging you for skins, they aren't exploiting this part of the brain.

Doesn't matter what they charge, cosmetic microtransactions are still psychologically manipulative, relying on social pressure instead of addiction. It's not at all uncommon these days for kids to get bullied for using the default skins in Fortnite, and while Epic certainly can't be directly blamed for that, you can't tell me they aren't fully aware of and eager to exploit that tendency. Companies want a situation where people who don't buy skins are considered cheap/poor by the rest of the community, because then those people feel compelled to buy some in order to fit in.

AllstarSniper32 posted...

Buying a skin for your characters is like buying a painting for a wall in your house.

And then having every house in the neighbourhood opened for public viewing. Cosmetics in multiplayer games are an opportunity to show off and look unique, and it's very easy to make people feel bad for not taking that opportunity. That's the social pressure PO was alluding to.

AllstarSniper32 posted...

So are you trying to say all RPGs that have random in game loot drops are bad?

Of course he's not saying that. He's saying that all RPG's with random loot drops contain an inherently addictive mechanic. That addictive mechanic then has the potential to be exploited for monetary gain, which may or may not happen depending on what the company wants to do. MMO's with subscription fees do this: People will play a game for longer to get random loot drops than fixed ones, even if the fixed ones drop at the same rate as the random ones would on average (i.e. people are much more willing to run a dungeon an unknown number of times for a 10% drop than to run it exactly 10 times for a guaranteed drop at the end of that), and playing the game longer means paying more for it.

This also comes into play when talking about cosmetic microtransactions. The longer you play a game, the more likely you are to get bored of the default models and want something new. This is where comments like "Fashion Souls is the real endgame" come from (though obviously Dark Souls isn't a game with cosmetic microtransactions). Playing a game for longer also makes paying for microtransactions feel more justifiable because you feel like you've gotten more value out of the game. Those microtransactions aren't exploiting addictive tendencies as directly as loot boxes do, no, but addictive gameplay can still be very easily monetized, and you're kidding yourself if you don't think AAA corporations have psychologists on staff explaining that to executives.
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