A forum for discussing and organizing recreational softball and baseball games and leagues in the greater Halifax area.
Nearly half of US kids want in-game currency this Christmas
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Kids my age: Remember when you could just download a skin for Quake from a website, install it, and still have other players see it? *And it was free?*
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While I agree that this is not a good thing, I have to say it is not much different to for example Pokemon cards. Sure you could sell physical cards - if you're lucky maybe even without loss - but I don't think it is so much different.Physical cards last for years. Maybe the online game will be around in ten years, but maybe not. I have most of my magic cards from my youth. They're a thing I own. I can do what I want with them- play the game, use them for decorations, sell them. Digital shit is transient with few options for the buyer.
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I worry about how I would raise a child in this landscape. Two of the people I know with kids, the kids don't care about video games. One of the kids is super into iPad games, and that feels like a haazrd brewing. Maybe I'd try to stick to real games for any child I was responsible for, but I don't think that would survive impact with peers.
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i have four nephews. 3 of them want fortnight/roblox money. i try to get them into different games and they won't have it. they are addicts for these freemium bullshit games
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Physical cards last for years. Maybe the online game will be around in ten years, but maybe not. I have most of my magic cards from my youth. They're a thing I own. I can do what I want with them- play the game, use them for decorations, sell them. Digital shit is transient with few options for the buyer.
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Kids my age: Remember when you could just download a skin for Quake from a website, install it, and still have other players see it? *And it was free?*My brother got minecraft to play with my niece and there are two versions now, from what I can tell one that’s like what I was playing a decade ago but updated, and one that has microtransactions. The old one lets you download skins and mods for free. It seemed like a no brainer but he went with the microtransaction one, and now my niece keeps asking for cosmetics. There must be a reason to yoke yourself to the pay-for-skins version, but I’m really not sure.
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Really? Your parents never bought you worthless junk meant to be throw away like fart putty or those rubber bubbles you blow up with a straw that barely work or packs of Pokémon cards or baseball cards? I don’t think it should be up to the parents to tell the kids what’s valuable to them. If the kid wants a vbucks card over a game then you can tell them that’s why they didn’t get a new game. (I do recognize that the current monetization models have ruined modern gaming which is why I only play games that are 15 years old or older)
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Kids want to play what their friends/community are playing."Hey look at this loser he's using a Jonsey skin!"
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Terrifying how when they grow up they will influence the gaming landscape to become even more hellish. Ill go back to my games before 2008 now bye.They probably won't play games once they go to college. They are very concerned with popularity and being cool, and once playing games isn't cool they will stop. They don't really care about video games as a genre/hobby anymore than they do about movies outside of Marvel films. They like what is popular because other people like it.
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Physical cards last for years. Maybe the online game will be around in ten years, but maybe not. I have most of my magic cards from my youth. They're a thing I own. I can do what I want with them- play the game, use them for decorations, sell them. Digital shit is transient with few options for the buyer.I understand that. But to be honest the value of these cards is in most cases much lower than the purchase price - so the *real* value is not what these cards are worth but the fun you have / had collecting them and playing with them. And I am willing to believe that the same fun can come from digital assets in a game. You're right that the company in charge can end this any time they want but usually this happens when nobody is playing it anymore. I don't like this development either but I nevertheless can imagine that a Fortnite gift card can bring the same joy as a booster pack of MtG.
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They probably won't play games once they go to college. They are very concerned with popularity and being cool, and once playing games isn't cool they will stop. They don't really care about video games as a genre/hobby anymore than they do about movies outside of Marvel films. They like what is popular because other people like it.
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I understand that. But to be honest the value of these cards is in most cases much lower than the purchase price - so the *real* value is not what these cards are worth but the fun you have / had collecting them and playing with them. And I am willing to believe that the same fun can come from digital assets in a game. You're right that the company in charge can end this any time they want but usually this happens when nobody is playing it anymore. I don't like this development either but I nevertheless can imagine that a Fortnite gift card can bring the same joy as a booster pack of MtG.I think most games get shut down when they still have players. Plus they could release server code so people could host their own games, like in the olde days of the 1990s. They don't because they're primarily concerned with profit. That aside, "it brings joy" is not sufficient on its own as a justification. Heroin brings joy, but you likely wouldn't say that's a fine gift for a child. Why is that? Probably because we recognize the potential harms and unhealthy habits. Maybe you accept the risks and harms of digital slop are acceptable. I don't think I'd want to encourage that in children.
