Okay, the honeymoon’s over. Time to talk about tough shit! This argument nearly started a war at Digital Crack, and these are my friends!
If you want to talk about a word that can inflame the hardcore gamer user base, “microtransactions” has to be that word. Well, either that or “nerf”. Still, the former induces so much hate, it’s almost impossible to discuss it intelligently without gamers frothing at the mouth and threatening small animals. So I’m going to do something that’s not only contrarian, but for which I was actually warned not to do repeatedly. Granted, we were all drunk when they warned me, and I don’t normally listen to drunken people, but the warning still holds.
For the record: I LOATHE microtransactions in full retail games! I feel that they are a blatant cash grab by AAA developers and publishers, and they have NO place in a game that I had to pay for already! I will tolerate them on free-to-play games because I was not sold anything up front and understand that the price of playing for free is the constant insistence that I throw some money at them. Hell, I HAVE paid money in games like Hearthstone and Loadout because I have enjoyed the games and I wanted to support the developers. But if I gave you money to play your game, I have supported you enough!
That being said, I am a person who tries to look at things from different points of view. And if I examine the issue of microtransactions in general, and for full retail games in particular, there are some inescapable truths that I have to acknowledge. So at the risk of being flamed to a cinder, let’s examine one question that keeps popping up in my head:
What if Microtransactions Aren’t the Problem?
Yes, AAA publishers are greedier than Jabba the Hut at a buffet, but they are not the only reason there are microtransactions in retail games. Publishers and developers have shown that they can be bullied off a position if the consumer backlash is large enough. Yet more and more full retail games come bundled with microtransactions in them. How about we look at the behaviors and patterns that enable them to exist in full retail games? Let’s start with the most obvious one:
People Keep Buying Them!
If people didn’t want microtransactions in their full retail games, they wouldn’t purchase microtransactions. However, consider this:
Microsoft announced in November 2015 that they were throwing $1 million into the prize pool for their Halo World Championships, with the rest of the prize money being funded by the sale of REQ packs, microtransactions baked into Halo 5: Guardians. The total prize money stood at $1.7 million then, and reached $2 million in December 2015. If Microsoft only ponied up half of that, are we to assume the rest was funded by microtransactions?
Another gauge for the popularity of microtransactions is the fact that they are still IN full retail games. If major AAA publishers saw declining returns from microtransactions in their games, or if the backlash from gamers negatively affected the games, they would not see a need to add them to future games. Don’t believe me? Ask Overkill how popular their safes and resulting microtransactions for Payday 2 were. But recent releases like the aforementioned Halo 5, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Rainbow Six Siege have them, and upcoming releases like Gran Turismo 6 and The Division are either rumored or confirmed to have them.
Just look at how many gamers love to rationalize the microtransactions in games. Hell, look at this subreddit for Halo 5 if you want confirmation! I recently had a discussion with a friend (we’ll call him “friend”) who justified purchasing Rainbow Pearls, a virtual currency in Rainbow Moon for the PS3 that can be purchased via microtransactions. His justification: “Sometimes I’m too busy to play and I want a quick boost.”
That may be a valid point for him, but that only encourages more microtransactions. I mean, if the gamers want this shit, why is it the microtransactions’ fault? Aren’t publishers and developers simply giving them more of what they want?
General Apathy Rules!
So great, you’re not one of the many people rationalizing the purchase of microtransactions. So what? You bought the fucking game, didn’t you?
Many people threw hate on WB and NetherRealm for introducing its “Easy Fatalities” and “Unlock All Crypt Items” microtransactions into Mortal Kombat X. It still didn’t stop the game from becoming the best-selling iteration in the series. When gamers weren’t heaping metric tons of shit on Konami (#FucKonami) for their general stupidity, they were praising Metal Gear Solid V, despite the game introducing Mother Base Coins as a form of microtransactions, and even after Konami started offering INSURANCE for Forward Operating Bases (FOB) in the online component of the game. Halo 5’s REQ packs haven’t slowed down sales of the retail game, either.
There is a range of reasons gamers excuse these microtransactions, and chief among those reasons is, “That’s just the way games are now. I don’t buy microtransactions, so it doesn’t bother me.” True, but by buying said game, you have let the publishers know that you are willing to buy the game no matter what crooked shit they throw into it.
Consumers have become apathetic to the shady tactics publishers dump on them. They reward publishers for microtransactions by buying their games anyway. Yet they blame the microtransactions for ruining the game. They don’t care enough about the business model to punish it; they want to play as Cassie Cage, Goddammit!
Is it the fault of microtransactions that people don’t give enough of a shit to stop them? They may not want them or use them, but they sure eat up the games they are wrapped in. That’s acceptance via ignorance!
Believe it or not, I don’t take pleasure in saying any of these things. I love video games, and I know many of the people reading this do also. But I know that many will get angry about what is said here, much as they have shown anger in other things I’ve written. If you’re so angry, why not turn your anger at the ones truly at fault? We are the ones that are guilty for microtransactions proliferating!
If people stopped buying microtransactions, publishers would see no benefit in including them. And if gamers boycotted publishers who add microtransactions to their $60 games, they would remove them just to avoid the negative PR. I know it won’t stop all of their other shitty practices, like bloated DLC and Season Passes, but I can only hate on one colossus at a time. Another time, folks. Another time.
Well, I vented my non-existent spleen long enough. Now it’s your turn. Agree or disagree, let me know what you think about this topic. If anything, your comments might make me better at this gig.
