So I just quit a game for the second time (yeah, I have a hard time quitting addictive games), but this game wasn't even a real game. It was one of those mobile RPGs called Darkness Rises. It had just enough action and story to be considered a game, but it was all a veil to hide the fact that it was just another gacha game to sucker people into spending real money for virtual items.
I actually enjoyed it for what it was and what helped was that it had an Auto-Play feature that basically played itself. I'd start the mission, the character would go off on its own until finished. I'd reap the rewards and start again. But once I neared the level cap of 60, I got extremely tired of it and then I realized there's nothing left to do in the game but continue to grind for gear. You leveled up you gear by enhancing it with other gear. This lead to a nonstop grind and around level 60, it became harder to gain anything worth of note.
Characters are rated by power levels, which is a general value of the sum of their characteristics. I've been playing the game pretty much nonstop for a little more than a month, and by the time I quit, my strongest character's power level was around 1,200,000. The last time I checked the strongest character in the game, their power level was around 3,800,000. We all know how that person got to be so strong. A fool and his money are soon departed. Fortunately, I can report with pride that I didn't spend a single dime on that game. Even if I was the kind of person to spend money on mobile games, the prices in this particular one was insulting. You can buy ten gear chests for 3,000 gems and to buy 3,000 gems I believe was somewhere around 40 dollars. FORTY DOLLARS for 10 pieces of gear! INSANE! Of course, you're constantly being bombarded with adds to buy their gems. Honestly, I'm surprised I put up with it as long as I did.
But it's not just mobile games that employ these tactics. MMORPRGs, MOBAs, battle royales, and of course the one game that blew up this controversy was Battlefront II. All of these types of games have one game mechanic in common that keep people playing, and paying: loot boxes. Most of the time, you get gear that doesn't even enhance you that much. But it's seeing an incremental gain in your character's stats that keep you wanting to play. You see that stat number go up, and you just want to keep pushing that number higher and higher. But how high does that number have to be for you to get tired of the game and move on to something else? Are you already tired of the game but just want to see how much further you can raise that number? Is your worth in life tired to a virtual representation of yourself?
The constant feedback loop of spending time/paying money to see a bit of a reward is dangerous. Games that employ these tactics prey on gamers with addictive personalities and might actually create addictive personalities in people who never had problems with video games before. I had a major problem with Final Fantasy XIV for a couple of years, because I was always trying to improve my character. I wanted my character to be as strong as he could because I felt inadequate if I went into a dungeon and I wasn't as well equipped as everyone else in the group. It took me several times to quit until I thought I finally had it beat, but of course, I got pulled in one last time.
This time, however, I had a different frame of mind. I no longer played it for grinding purposes. I only did the bare minimal to keep current with story-based content. End game content, where the real grind was, no longer interested me. Now, I only play for about 30-60 minutes every night just to gain a level on a job and slowly build my character back up to where I had it before. Being able to manage my play time helped me enjoy the game again. I can't imagine spending every moment of my free time running the same dungeons and the same raids over and over again for that one little glimmer of hope of me not only getting a drop, but getting a drop I need. That time is far better spent for me playing games that have genuine substance, or doing something else entirely like reading a book.
Games that have you grind and grind for the best gear are cancerous if you ask me. They chain gamers to the same game and prevent them from being able to enjoy other games. It closes down their minds and not only that but influences the industry so more companies make similar games. Just look at PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite. Look at how many companies want to make battle royale games now. Hell, even the upcoming Black Ops 4 will have battle royale at the expense of single player. It seems all these kids want to do these days is to grind for better gear for their avatars. And what, ultimately, are they getting out of it?
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