Yeah I don’t think so.

Right. One person's choice can't. But one person's choice turns into recommendations to others, which turns into more and more people making those choices. That won't kill predatory games, but it will preserve non predatory games. As long as options exist, I'm satisfied satisfied.

Yeah, you've made clear you don't care if people besides you get tricked into throwing away money. What does a systemic problem matter, so long as you, the protagonist of reality, are safe?

Flip it the other way around. Who am I to say their choice of video game is incorrect? Is it really *my* responsibility to prevent them from making stupid choices? They're either adults or have adult guardians, and therefore are capable of making their own choices. I don't like gambling and tell others they shouldn't do it, yet I think they have the right to do it if they want. Likewise for drugs and other "bad" habits. I can't and shouldn't control their decisions, even if I'm convinced they're terrible. How they choose to get their dopamine is their business, and how I choose to get mine is my business. As long as we can both get what we want, the way we want, I'm happy.

DD2 is highly cheatable and moddable, the cash shop is just a really poor joke honestly. The game has absolutely no way to check for cheating unless you give your pawn equipment they can't actually use or edit stats to be something impossible.

I've been a die hard MH fan for like 20-25 years or something ridiculous. I'm gonna buy and play this game, don't really care what people think about the gaming industry

You don't balance it with tedium, in a live service game, the tedium gives time to balance it properly. By the time people adapt to the meta, it has already been nerfed.

Buying a game with MTX but not buying the MTX essentially wastes the money and time the company spent on putting the MTX there in the first place, way I see it.

This is just 'it makes money so it can't be wrong.' People *chose* to get scammed, ergo, not a scam. Zero concern for how they were manipulated into it. In fact, you've explicitly told me, any manipulation is 100% fine, unless it's overt lying. Hooray for the unlimited right to coax money from rubes! *You* don't have to care, because you're immune to propaganda. Surely that abusive source of easy cash won't affect the options available to you! It's only half the goddamn industry, so far! So long as *a* game exists, where you can just own it and not be hassled to keep tipping the robot, it's fine. It's fine! Who gives one solitary shit about this hundred-billion-dollar behemoth convincing your kids that addiction and frustration are what video games are for?

> People chose to get scammed, ergo, not a scam. That's not the same thing. A scam is when you get something other than what was advertised. These games don't do that, you get exactly what you pay for. It's just that they're charging for things they shouldn't charge for. > hundred-billion-dollar behemoth convincing your kids that addiction and frustration are what video games are for? I'm a better parent than that. I don't let my kids play that nonsense, and I don't think other parents should as well. I make it very clear to other parents that we won't be playing those games and why. But at the end of the day, it's not my place to force people to think like me. Just like I can choose for my kids what they can play, they can do the same. People should be free to make stupid decisions as long as they know all the facts. Go ask anyone who plays these games and they'll admit they're a bad deal. Yet they play them. They're not getting scammed, they know exactly what they're doing. It's just like someone who smokes cigarettes, they know they're expensive and bad for their health, but they like how they make them feel.

A scam is when you pay money for bullshit. If someone convinces you to want bullshit, it's still bullshit. You recognize a threat to children and their parents... and your entire response is limited to people you know, personally. Systemic problems *are not about you.* It's still a threat, to millions of people. It's half the god-damned industry. You *know* it's your place to say "this is bullshit," because you're telling other parents how to raise their damn wiener kids, and you're warning your own kids that it's bullshit! But god forbid we use any sort of collective action to stop greedy assholes from monetizing innate human shortcomings. People *know* it's bullshit, but do it anyway, therefore... it's not bullshit. They're not victims, somehow. They're not addicted to oh my fucking god you used cigarettes as a positive example what is wrong with your entire worldview. Every interaction with you is like a fascinating glimpse of an alternate universe where harm is made-up. How dare we try to prevent it!

Good little consumer... *patpat*

Sorry I took time out of my week raising a family, working full time, and trying to build a mass movement to fight against the worst abuses of our economic system to enjoy something sometimes and that it offends your vendetta against the oil and gas Industr... Oh sorry I meant industrial agricult... Wait it's the gaming Industry? You're mad about a game? Okay buddy

If it exists, the game has suffered because of it, if it exists, people will spend money on it. The systems are designed to prey on how we think, they shouldn't exist. It costs them barely anything, it's cosmetics the artists on payroll would be making regardless of if they are selling them or not, because they would just be unlockable.

This is the thing though. Let ppl have their opinion of you. You did a selfish thing, thought screw the community or lack there of. Let people shame you for being selfish, value is perspective at least enjoy it.

No, a scam involves fraud, which means misrepresenting a product. > you’re telling other parents how to raise No, I'm telling them how I raise mine and why, and only when it's relevant. > They’re not victims, somehow. If you do something with full knowledge, then no, you're not a victim. > cigarettes as a positive example I think it's a fantastic example. Everyone agrees they're harmful, even smokers, yet they continue to use them despite safer alternatives existing. Does that mean they're too stupid to make their own decisions and we should ban them? No. We should prevent kids from using them, but adults should be free to make their own decisions. I don't want to live in a nanny state where the government decides what's good for me. I want to be treated like an adult, with the responsibilities and consequences that come with that, provided I have accurate information. Instead of banning things, our governments should restrict themselves to advising (e.g. warning labels on cigarettes) and only step in when there's an actual crime (e.g. fraud), and come down *hard* on the offender.

Calling victims stupid *is blaming victims.* Cigarette smokers aren't morons - they were given a chemical dependency by forces that didn't *lie,* exactly, but nonetheless fucking obviously tricked them into a chemical dependency. If your standard is "misrepresentation" then every smoker ever was duped by misrepresenting smoking as safe or cool or sexy or whateverthefuck lever got them to fork over their money to huff carcinogens. Every game that charges money inside the game is misrepresenting the value of whatever bullshit it's selling. Games make you value arbitrary bullshit! That's what makes them *games!* The entire fucking point is made-up rules for arbitrary rewards! Attaching a dollar value to that is inherently abusive. There is no ethical version of that exploitation of human shortcomings. > I don’t want to live in a nanny state where the government decides what’s good for me. Will this sandwich kill you? Who knows! Cherish the mystery. It's your god-given right to guzzle unpasteurized milk. Drink up, and good fucking luck.

> Cigarette smokers aren’t morons I never said they were. I said they know it's bad for them, yet they continue to smoke cigarettes despite safer options existing, like vapes, patches, and gums. Yet they continue with cigarettes because they prefer them. I'm not talking about how they got addicted, but what they choose to manage that addiction. They know their options, and with taxes, they choose one of the most expensive options. It's their right to make that choice for themselves. > misrepresenting the value of whatever bullshit it’s selling There's no objective measure of value for something like this. They present exactly what you're buying, and you get what's advertised, nothing more, nothing less. That's a clear cut, informed decision. That said, I do draw a line at psychological tricks, like artificial scarcity or other types of FOMO. That's manipulation and I would be fine with prosecuting that because the customer is being tricked. If something will remain in the game, it should always be available to get. Something like paying to respec a character is dumb, but shouldn't be illegal. > It’s your god-given right to guzzle unpasteurized milk. It absolutely is, provided I demonstrate that I understand the risks (e.g. sign a waiver with clear language), and the company does its best to keep things sanitary. The higher the risk, the higher the burden on the provider to keep things as sanitary as possible. I firmly believe people should be allowed to do whatever they want provided it doesn't harm less m others and they are properly informed of the risks.

> I’m not talking about how they got addicted, but what they choose to manage that addiction. Because addressing systemic problems would require you to examine your trivial worldview. Why would all these people choose an expensive problem that slowly kills them? Oh well, must be their own choice. The morons. And you *are* calling them morons, by consistently saying it's a stupid decision. Why would rational people make irrational choices, by the millions? Shut up is why. Shut up and never ask questions, because only individual choices matter, and large scale individual choices can't have systemic implications. > There’s no objective measure of value for something like this. You're defending cancer sticks.

Well scratch that off of a game I will ever play