How Microtransactions Prey on Disabled Gamers - Access-Ability
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ต.ค. 2024
- Video game microtransactions take advantage of compulsive spenders and obsessive tendancies to drive purchases beyond players means. We need to face this problem directly.
Edited by Jane Aerith Magnet
"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
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As an autistic OCD person with very little disposable income to speak of, I wound up adopting a personal rule against buying any game with microtransactions as a standard. I also won't buy most games with purchased unlockables in general as a result. I'm one of the exact sorts of people this mindset targets, and I feel like the only way to avoid it is by being absolutely and totally vigilant about ever being in a position where it becomes an issue.
I've stopped even really considering myself a gamer due to how little I actually play video games lately.
Same here! Used to play a tonne, but the bills and the obsessive and destructive grind of those games have almost completely turned me away from all but the shortest indie games like Donut County and ABZÛ, my gaming rig died in 2017 and I haven't replaced it since...
And the non-disabled whales who DO have that disposable income often become faces of the community, creating a sense for disable players that “this is normal, others spend money to get the thing, I should too”
A good trick I've learned over the years is to never save your payment info. Anything that makes a purchase easier (like with a single click for example) is a recipe for disaster later on. The slow and tedious act of pulling out the card and typing everything down has given me times where I stopped and thought "do I really need this?" and actually seeing the card reminds me of any kind of money troubles I might be in and that helps you realize that whatever small purchase isn't worth it.
I know this is not a sure fire trick and honestly getting a friend set up as a barrier to prevent you from spending no matter what sounds like a huge help.
My OCD reallly negatively impacts my gaming experiences, and this has really made what would have been an easy "best game of all time" opinion about Genshin Impact into something I have to really be careful about playing, and to litter any recommendations of the game with lots of caveats.
Oh yeah for sure. That game is _thoroughly_ riddled with predatory monetization schemes that are juust sneaky enough that they don't _feel_ like they're pushing on you when they really really are from like five directions at once. I have both Autism and ADHD, and I am so goddamn lucky that I have a firm grasp on my spending habits thanks to a combination of personality and growing up fairly poor because I can _SEE_ how prime a target I would be if not for that. The urge is there, and it's powerful. As it stands I'm enjoying the game, but I would never recommend it to anyone else unless I knew for _certain_ that they have an iron-clad grasp on their spending impulses.
I am diagnosed with ADHD. Fortunately I never got into a problematic spending loop, but only because I have put safety measures in place along the way for my entire life.
A: I was dignosed and treated properly for ADHD from 2nd grade, so I am well aware of and trained in dealing with the many vices that come with it.
B: My parents didn't give me an allowance. Instead I could ask them for anything I would want and they would honestly talk it through with me until either they agreed to buy it for me or I agreed to see that it wasn't THAT important. That taught me a fairly healthy relationship with money.
C: I have set as many barriers in my way to Online spending as I can (or have not removed them if they were already there) I CAN spend online, but it takes quite some effort.
- C-1: For the longest time I used paysafe cards to spend on this and that in games - however when I ran out I had to leave the house to go to a nearby gas station to get a new one. That barrier always reminded me to re-check my bank account so I don't overspend.
- C-2: Now that I do use direct online banking and have a regular income I never set up convenience features on websites for spending (like saving my payment information for checkout forms) so it always takes a long enough time that my Slow Analytical Brain can "wake up" to overrule the Fast Impulse Brain and re-think how much I'm spending and on what. (So I essentially exploit my lazyness for my own benefit - Fast brain: "Ohh Shiny! Buy it NOW!" - Slow Brain: "Ugh... do you really want to type out the 34-digit IBAN again?" - Fast Brain ".... nah")
The limited time / scarcity thing is the killer. My partner struggled with Disney Magic Kingdoms for the same reason and had to uninstall the game for good. "You have to spam money @ loot boxes otherwise you will PERMANENTLY lose the chance to unlock X" is just so scummy and deliberately predatory.
It's the small, seemingly insignificant purchases I'm really afraid of. You justify it to yourself like, "it's only a dollar" and then you say the same for the next purchase and the next until it becomes "only $5", "only $10" and so forth and unless you go out of your way to find out, you never learn how much it all adds up to. I've had to leave so many games because I know my compulsive personality will cause me to make these little rationalizations and if I wasn't aware of how microtransactions work thanks to you and people like Jim Sterling, I probably would've fallen prey to it a long time ago and still might yet depending on how clever the manipulation becomes.
“We are making money off of disabled people’s compulsions 😢” is what the industry should say.
“We are making money off of disabled people’s compulsions 👍👌😊🎇🧨🎆” is what they are saying.
"Working as intended" "This is not a bug, but a feature!"
I've had to quit playing a couple of games I loved because of this. I think we need to be VERY clear that micro transactions are based on the gambling model on purpose and that game companies need to be regulated and regulated HARD on this front.
The sunk-cost-guilt-spiral is real, yall.
(I mean, it isn’t in the sense that you don’t actually need to take on the shame of having been caught by a thing literally designed to catch you, but you know what I mean.)
One for the "well-it-doesn't-affect-me-so-it's-fine" crowd. Great video.
People who say that are in denial about how interconnected society is because they're brainwashed by individualism.
“Whales”. They’re describing their customers like Jordan Belfort did in wolf of Wall Street 🙄
It speaks to the universality of corporate lingo and how dehumanised they see their customers. My heart kinda stopped coz I'm from Wales, and I thought we were in trouble with a gaming scandal too lol
The worst part is that it's become so common that people just use the term without questioning it
There REALLY needs to be more regulation around microtransactions, they're so incredibly predatory and exploitative, and for absolutely no reason. They add nothing meaningful to gameplay, they're not necessary, it's insane that they've become an industry standard.
For context, I'm diagnosed with autism and adhd. When league of legends introduced lootboxes I...don't know quite how many I bought, besides "too many". However, after that I set a rule for myself to never buy microtransactions (especially random ones but really any microtransactions) and I'm thankful that that worked for me, unfortunately it's not that easy for everyone though.
Wow. As someone who's spent my whole adult life dealing with BPD, I almost teared up just hearing it mentioned. Definitely the first time i've heard it discussed by anyone with any influence or audience. Representation matters.
Thank you for your awesome content as always Laura.
Thank you for making this. I picked up genshin in december and my spending has gotten outta control as I tend to compulsively spend when my depression gets bad. I felt really stupid, like I was the only one with this issue. I've gone this last banner without spending money and I'm really proud of myself since this is the first banner since I started I was able to do that :)
I'm not diagnosed with anything spectrum-wise, but this sure sounds like spending patterns. I've had to quit a lot of games for my own good. It's a shame, especially when there are so many other great games that I have barely spent time with and wouldn't cost me another dime.
EDIT: Ah, hadn't gotten to the depression episodes bit yet. Yup, that's me.
Autism, ADHD, and depression here. I had to quit a game a couple years ago that was killing me with the microtransactions and lack of sleep. It was an anxiety thing in that game too, due to PVP.
@@cutestkideverblog World Of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Heroes Of The Storm, Final Fantasy XIV, Warframe, Magic: The Gathering - Arena... And there's probably a bunch I'm forgetting. Every time I felt I could handle it or fell in love with one of those games they turned toxic on me, became obsessions and ultimately very harmful to the point of having to quit.
I have ADHD and I would buy the speed up boosts a lot - nowadays I just get the game on PC and turn the cheats on when I get bored of grinding. Thanks for a great video!
This stuff is why I don't do Kickstarter or Patreon - not so much the exploitation stuff, more the fact that there's A Lot of people, yourself included Laura, who I'd love to back financially, but because of that, I know that if I back one person I'll back them all, and then the paycheck that entered my account today will last all of about three seconds.
Same!! Espically Patron, I wish there is a option for a one time pay, as I have to many artist friends
@@TheStarBot Most creators, if you ask them, will have a single time payment option, I know I personally do, but yeah, I also get why for some, crowdfunding support could be a financial spending trigger, so yeah, never feel bad if that's a thing you have to avoid etc.
Same here. I have to basically set a "no subscriptions" rule generally, and pre-budget money I'm going to be able to spend supporting people's online work (which then never lasts long enough to support everyone I want to, and if it becomes too hard to stop contributing when my budget says to I'll need to put extra measures into place).
If I'm to be candid, I'm a sufferer of BPD, and I have a huge problem with time-limited content in games that I like. I knew beforehand that my illness was a big contributing factor to the anxiety I feel about missing out, but I had never framed it as my disability being preyed upon until I watched this. Pretty eye opening, so thank you.
This makes sense.
I always knew anything from advert, to social media to games prey on people's short term reward system for profit, but I never even thought about how that disproportionately affects disabled people.
But what is the solution. Bc all of these psychological set ups that harm disabled players and players with addictive personalities will always be considered good to developers as long as profit is a success criteria.
Like no-one's gonna say "let's not make certain items super rare or put time limits on them bc it makes players spend too much"
I felt this so hard, being autistic, and having ADHD and chronic major depressive disorder. With the economy the way it is, and now having been unemployed for a year, I had to tell myself that I couldn't just jump on every little microtransaction. I made myself a rule (autistic me cares) that I can jump on the 99 cent offers, which are rare, but not the $2.99 offers that show up every day. The more expensive stuff like premium characters - benefits that will exist as long as I play the game because they aren't consumable - I talk to my husband about. I don't need his permission because he's a man and I have to obey, but I just bounce my rationalizations off of him to see if he thinks it's reasonable. My favorite game, Shop Titans, is one we both play, so he sees the same kinds of offers I have.
It's not easy to say no to the microtransactions I've sworn off, though. It can be physically uncomfortable.
Thank you for this video. I am an autistic person living with bipolar disorder that has only recently learned about not only my own conditions but how predatory these companies are. I have drawn a hard line and won't play games with microtransactions. There are a lot of great indie games that don't do this. Factorio is one of my favorites.
I personally choose to fight the micro transaction trend by getting cheap games from the last decade.
A lot of incremental/idle games do that deliberately slow progression thing with the "option" of buying boosts to that progression.
I almost cried watching this video. For a long time I've been playing mobile gacha games (basically loot boxes but with cards and stuff) and only now am I realizing just how harmful they can be to me. I would say to myself that spending in the game (I blessedly managed to avoid spending actual money) was good because it's getting the impulse to spend out. This was not true, not least because there was no guarantee of getting the item I wanted. It merely reinforced the pathways that encouraged spending money I didn't have. I have OCD and depression and those descriptions of how the microtransactions affect people with those disabilities hit *so hard* for me. At least half of my impulse spending is something to make me feel better in the moment, the other half just being used to spending money to do so and thus not thinking about "hey, should I really be spending this when rent is due?" I've implemented small ways to help avoid this tactic (most important is never saving credit card information on websites, the extra step of having to input the information can sometimes be enough to stop me), but I have yet to hit on the solution to this problem, other than just. Not playing or engaging with things that promote false scarcity. Unfortunately this excludes a lot of things in our world from my purview, but I am learning that sometimes it's better to be out of touch on a New Thing than to risk impulsive and legitimately dangerous behaviors on my part.
The refusal of free loot boxes when possible is an interesting idea. I get not participating in the practice at all to prevent it from grabbing you. All of your self check practices are great suggestions. Also now you can argue against those who would say it's the gamer's responsibility to take accountability. We need to call out these predatory practices to stem of the tide of what they'll try. I never thought about it until this video but I could be an elderly gamer one day and I doubt I'll be able to track how they're trying to swindle me as well as I do now. Unless you're still making videos Laura. I'm going to need you in my old age to keep me up to date :P
@Marvin yeah I like that idea. Never know what you’re missing so you’re not tempted to engage. Not sure how likely it is for it to catch on. I’m still baffled that my younger cousin in school can get mocked for having the right skins in a game. I mean wtf?
The biggest problem is that companies know they're doing this, and it's not that they don't care, it's that it actively benefits them so no matter how much they might SAY they want to help and such, they will never change things to benefit us. It's an inherent part (not even flaw, because that would imply this isn't the way its intended to work) of the system that won't go away until the system does.
100% accurate. So many games REALLY capitalize on my ADHD brain-itch when I get stuck in a level... fortunately I can tell it's happening, but so hard to resist...
I have OCD and Anxiety/Depression (and I suspect ADHD), and I have been pretty sure that I only don't have large problems with microtransactions because I spent decades in poverty, and I developed severe anxiety around spending money on almost anything (and I spent my teenage years as a person who compulsively spent to make me happy). It's still kinda anxiety inducing to play gacha games, and I really like some gacha games.
This series remains really good and needs more views
I'm autistic too and I am less interested in certain free to play first person shooter games where some, or worst none, of the weapons that cost in-game currency are not permanent. Sudden Attack and District 187 are REALLY guilty of this.
At least with Team Fortress 2, you can get most items without paying a dime and they're yours to keep. Also, you can craft most of the free weapons and cosmetics. That's what inspired me with my game's concept.
I usually consider myself a decently-informed person on the gaming industry, but this is the first time I've heard micro-transactions talked about within the context of ocd and bipolar disorder. today I learned to hate micro-transactions and FOMO and gambling mechanics even more than I already did.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video. I appreciate your input. EDIT: can you plese provide work cited in the description? You have a lot of claims and having supporting evidence would be very helpful.
Being autistic with ADHD modern gaming has reached a point where I've decided to pretty much opt out of anything with dedicated space for microtransactions like the EA sports games, I'm just catching up on what I've missed and working through some older backlog, it feels less like I've been tricked into playing the game so I see the ads and have to spend money to scratch the itch in my mind. It's just safer and more fun without microtransactions.
Exactly this. I am also autistic with ADHD and I just can't play any game with loot boxes and/or microtransactions nowadays. I'm mostly sticking to indie games and randomizers nowadays.
@@blackdragon7777 *gives you a contactless high five a la Demolition Man* What are you enjoying at the moment? I've been spending a lot of time with hidden object games. Every problem has a solution, there are just enough puzzles to make me feel smurt, the voice acting is usually entertaining, the art is very pleasing to look at.. They do advertise their other games, but I own most of them already anyway coz I love that kind of game lol
@@Shindai I just finished replaying Radiant Historia for the DS. I'm also playing a lot of Final Fantasy Randomizer (FF1) and Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past Randomizer. I'm about to start replaying Stardew Valley with the new 1.5 update.
Incredibly valuable video. Thanks for sharing, I will spread this far and wide!
Being on the Autistic Spectrum myself, I have this horrible need to be able to play through certain games just to get the few cosmetics I want such as Mileena's classic costumes in MK11 and nearly everything in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. These are games I've put so much time into and they're the least fun.
Dead or Alive 6 is another offender as I discovered you can't buy a certain costume, that looks cool on your favorite character, unless you either spend €25 on a costume pack, which comes with mostly crap costumes for other fighters you can't care about, or buy both one Premium Ticket for €1 and then two Premium Tickets for €2, in order to a costume that costs 3 Premium Tickets.
These games are predatory, by design.
I was a whale for more than a couple reasons too. I was in the exact same boat and I cut my cards off of all those games. I feel like I'm free and it's so good.
Thank you for sharing your voice in this matter. Every gamer should be free from these problems.
Late to the party, but I can identify with a lot of this as well, though I never considered that my Autism might play a huge part. That explains quite a bit about my spending habits
One could argue that all capitalism preys on disabled folks - another great video, Laura!
Daily, monthly, and yearly limits. It'd be pretty easy for them to prevent splurge spending and force people to spend in a way that reflects how they pretend their customers do.
There is also the plausible situation in which someone with a physical or mental disability that might prevent them from reaching higher levels of proficiency with the game and thus they have to rely on XP boosters and the like to keep up with able players. Enen if they aren't acting out of compulsion they may still feel dependent on these things.
That’s a really good explanation, thanks Laura!
Can we talk about the OG Overwatch trailers / gameplay? When bastion had a personal shield....
Great episode :) It really helps me feel less alone, as someone with borderline personality and depression who gets easily sucked into spending.
Lovely video! I really aim to be a game developer one day and this is something I had never thought of, thank you so much for bringing it up!! If you ever decide to re take this topic in the future I would love to hear your opinion on possible solutions or measures game developers can take to avoid harmful and predatory monetization systems. I believe a lot of game developers don't do it purposely (or at least I hope they aren't all like that), but rather from ignorance on how their systems affect disabled people primarily. So in your opinion, how can a game be monetized the right way? or what sort of measures can it take to facilitate non-compulsive spending?
This is probably the most important video of this series so far
I prophalactically played the game "I Can't Believe It's Not Gambling" with the intent to recognize how these systems work on me in a relatively safe environment. It was a miserable experience by the end, and the whole thing acted like a vaccine for me. It's not an ideal solution, but now I'm much better at recognizing when I'm being preyed upon.
Another aspect of the issue that even more directly impact disabled gamers are boosters that take the place of what would otherwise be difficulty settings that allowed you to enjoy the game regardless of your motor or cognitive abilities. I'm specifically talking about consumable microtransactions aimed at lowering the difficulty, not purchases of content or cosmetics.
Over the years, I’ve probably spent over $1000 on micro transactions. I’m neurodiverse and am super vulnerable to predatory practices and micro transactions in specific. I try my best to avoid games with them but it’s incredibly hard.
I just want to say thanks so much for making this video. I suffered ADHD my whole life and I've spent so much on Fortnite and Overwatch 2. I'm about to get my medication here soon and can't wait to not be a slave to these companies.
'whale' is also useful to capitalists as a dehumanizing term. They arent people. theyre 'whales.' theyre a lucrative, massive fish to catch and prosper from.
Oh yes, 100%, for SURE.
Another great video!
I’m sure many will agree with me when I say that Nintendo’s time-limited release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars causes a very similar reaction in a lot of people, including myself, who only cancelled their preorder because I happened to be in a bad mood on what ended up being the very last before it shipped out.
And lo and behold, SM3DAS is one of the biggest and fastest selling games on the Switch! Great... /s
I’m worried that this has now given Nintendo the go-ahead to keep doing this sort of thing.
I personally don't play games with micro transaction at all anymore, unless I have a prepared way to handle them and feel the game is worth that effort. AC: Odyssey was a lovely adventure, and I highly enjoyed it, but it was a struggle seeing that shop every time I started it up.
You should do an episode on irlen syndrome. It’s a condition where a person’s brain interprets light signals. I have it, and I hate how game controllers (mostly the PS4) have bright lights on it that bother me. I have to wear a special prescription pair of glasses (that look like sun glasses) for day to day use; including looking at monitor/TV screens. Also as someone with autism I really like the work you do, and the attention you bring to having more accessibility in games.
Electrical tape. It's great for covering up unnecessary LEDs.
Monitors and TVs have brightness settings and I always turn them way down.
Sorry if I'm out of line, never heard of your condition I just find bright lights kinda annoying.
This environment has forced me to stop playing so many things I enjoyed... Most recently Warframe and MTG: Arena... The systems are designed to slow you down, so if I had disallowed myself to spend any money on them, I instead would grind away at the games on a daily basis for hours, sapping every last ounce of joy out of them... With the symptoms I have aligning with autism, ADHD, depression AND BPD, the pressures draws and massive credit card bills you describe have been all too familiar for me in the past... :/
"If the game is too grindy people with adhd would buy a boost" wow me with FF14 🙃
Like I had a bunch of friends keep telling me that FF14 was this great game but the Main Story was absolutely unstimulating to me to the point of me buying a story skip.
I play Pokémon Go. This hit home for sure. Thank you for your video
Commenting for the algorithm boost. Great video, Laura!
I'm also autistic, and probably OCD. I've had to quit games because I realized that I couldn't 100% them anymore due to limited-time events or tie-ins that were no longer available. I've avoided anything with microtransactions entirely ever since I quit WoW toward the end of Cataclysm, and honestly it's a lot less stressful this way. I play exclusively indie and old games these days, because I can't trust modern AAA games not to manipulate the OCD compulsion to 100% a game. Even the things that don't force me to spend money, like Steam achievements, actively make the experience less fun for me, so I also have to avoid Steam if I want to really enjoy my time with my games as much as I could. Seriously, _screw achievements._ I hate them so much. I don't try to get them all because doing so makes things more fun. I do so because not having all of them actively detracts and costs me something mentally, and I hate that more than you can imagine.
Laura, they already know and they don't care. Plus it gets a little squicky when you try and enforce these kinds of things: they'd probably have to ban players who have documented compulsion issues, which will cause riots and, legally speaking, whether it's due to a compulsion or not, the person ultimately decided to spend the money, just like how people spend their savings at casinos.
Yes, it's god awful and completely predatory but, it's within their rights to do it. Now, personally, I don't see why they can't up the rates for free tries in overwatch and give players more time to get items (or, maybe, throw older skins into a shop at a higher price than normal so it can be bought later??) But it won't happen because it'll cut into Blizzard's bottom line.
As a gamer with ADHD who plays gacha games, I do NOT want to talk about how much I have spent in Fate/Grand Order.
... Nor how much I’m planning to spend next month during the Lady Reines Case Files event...
As someone with adhd and compulsive spending issues, this is why I avoid quite a few games with this kind of economy. It’s why I don’t play Fortnite, or Fall Guys, or any mobile game.
It was useful to hear how this affects different disabilities. Thanks for the great video :)
You didn't touch on it but I'm someone with two personality disorders not touched on. I have DID and if I'm not careful alters can make very poor decisions for me. I also have antisocial personality disorder, which comes with the problem of risk taking behavior. Couple it with the already touched upon ADHD, depression and physical disability that can leave me bed bound for days I'm a walking micro-transaction time bomb. I've trained myself to be incredibly diligent about game spending, with the few times I've paid for micro transactions maybe topping out at $30 max. But it's mentally exhausting to spend every second of every day having to worry about that kind of stuff.
I have ADHD and autism
I quit playing Genshin Impact after only a week once because of the gacha mechanics of the game. I was abt to spend money on it (specifically the equivalent of 6 days of minimum wage in my country) until I realized how I've played other meaningful games in the past that have no microtransactions, or Gacha mechanics (which I realize are even more predatory and active than regular mechanics)
DLC's these days are bad enough, and then you have a game like league where you can buy champions either through in game currwncy or with real life money but it subtly makes you wanna spend money cuz it takws so long to get a champion for free, but at least you can choose who to get.
Genshin has a pity system, gives you characters randomly, and you're not even guaranteed to get the characters featured on the banner cuz it's only a 50% rather than a guarantee once you reach your pity of 90 (aka the amount of wishes, or sort of loot boxes it takes to guarantee a 50% chance to get the character that is currently featured)
So not only do you not have any control of who you get, the pity or "guarantees" to get a character or weapon incentivize you to go "well if I just spend more, I am eventually guaranteed to get the character I like"
The game while it looks alluring, cuz anime characters, cool abilities, and some look hot, is ultimtimately repetitive, the story is so-so, you do dailies, you can get a battle pass, and the only way to really progress is to grind and do the gacha mechanics to get a character or weapon for better DPS, it's insane.
The reason I stopped is when I realized games like Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, and Zelda Tears of The Kingdom exist.
Genshin is a gacha/lootbox store front, with a time consuming repetitive grind focused game attached to it, with said game tempting you to spend or commit time you don't always have. It's fun and enjoyable the same way narcotics are fun and enjoyable.
Fuck lootboxes, fuck gacha mechanics, fuck artificial scarcity, fuck FOMO, and fuck the ridiculous amounts of grinding you have to do, I am going back to games with regular progression.
I have anxiety, depression and (what I'm pretty sure is) undiagnosed ADHD. I've fallen for a lot of mobile game microtransactions in the past, especially when I was playing Pocket Camp and match three games like Sailor Moon Drops or Candy Crush. SMD was especially insidious, because they had certain Sailor Scouts or special variants of characters like Usagi locked behind beating a level, and those levels were near impossible to clear without buying a $5 live replenisher. The idea of having something "exclusive", something I could show off to my friends, is what keeps me away from gatcba games.
Don't even get me started on Fire Emblem: Heroes, I had to drop that game cold once I realized I was spending upwards of $20 a week on JPEGs
Really good video piece. Thanks.
Yep. Autism and bpd meant I spent so impulsively and I couldn’t keep track of what I was actually spending. It got so bad that I now cannot trust myself to play a game with microtransactions anymore.
i... i might... i might rRRRRr r retweet this.... i play fighting games and they always have microtransactions for really important things, like The Character I Bought The Game To Play.... i have touRRRRRrettes, adhd (inattentive-type, pRRRRRRRRRrobably) autism and ocd, all officially diagnosed, and this stuff hits me RERRRRRRReally haRRRRRdd...
Blizzard 100% is aware of this, since their whole thing seems to be preying on addictive pattern in their gameplay. You can see it especially in Hearthstone, which is just a drag to play if you don't spend a ton of money on it and the incredibly repetitive grind of WOW that keeps people in that subscription. Funnily, I personally had the least issue with Overwatch because the micro transactions aren't really tied to the gameplay and since last year they implemented a system where they just throw boxes at you for playing tank and support, so I could always get the few skins that I do want. But we absolutely need loot boxes to be legally recognized as gambling and ideally get rid of these systems altogether.
THANK YOU!!
This is a great video! However, I'd like to point out to others in the comments that some of the games featured in the gameplay footage are *not* predatory in this way. For instance, Astrobot and Bugsnax are both wonderful games that do not feature any sort of microtransactions or DLC. I know the footage wasn't meant to imply that they were guilty of this, but some people may get the wrong idea.
Another great episode!
Keep up the great work Laura, I really appreciate the perspectives! As a student of computer science, these lessons will be used and shared.
Tried to post this on /r/games and surprise surprise, they hear a women and instantly downvote. *shrugs*
Oh yeah? haha, what a shock and horror a trans woman discussing disability stuff isn't popular there lol
@@LauraKBuzz They love to talk about how much they hate microtransaction and how they prey on people but when it comes to more nuanced/detailed arguments against them they shy away instantly.
Is there any sourcing/ studies that back up these claims that this is a widespread problem for disabled people or is this just based on some personal experience. Not saying I disagree or this is BS. Just wondering, since this is coming off as a piece of journalism and could be deceiving to people that can be influenced without really hearing facts.
Really great video
This was really eye-opening to me. I too have mental illness but fortunately I seem to have dodged a bullet there since I'm very strict with my money and spending habits.
Do you happen to have sources with numbers of how many whales are disabled/compulsive consumers by any chance? I would love to see them.
Excellent video!!!
i've spent too much money on microtransactions and it hurts because i don't have a lot of money :( wish they didnt exist
Am OCD. Can vouch for how shitty it is and how much money I've spent in that feedback loop.
Me, someone with ADHD, autism AND OCD relating to a lot of the stuff being discussed: *oh no*
No joke tho this was enlightening...I thought i felt the need to buy that sort of stuff from games because i was somehow weak or dumb....
As an autistic gamer, I have to avoid certain games for this reason. Not often talked about.
I just can't play modern games, thank goodness for mods and indie games because my schizophrenic brain would have a tough time avoiding all that. for phone games I keep wifi off so there are no possible purchases.
Why there needs to be government regulation on this
;n; Honestly I tend to avoid games altogether that have much in the way of microtransactions and the only one I played in recent memory that had those (Animal Crossing Pocket Camp) I played it in a way in which my money couldn't be accessed so my need for completion was limited by what free microtransaction currency the game would give through normal play. Like the 2 types of games I played the most as a little bab was monster capture things like Pokemon and collectathon 3D platformers such as Banjo Kazooie and even now in this day and age I played Tomodachi Life every day for over a year just to collect every possible outfit you could for my Miis.
I KNOW my need to horde ludicrous amount of pointless shit like the weird dragon I am is strong so regardless of being disabled and impoverished I'm more than a little aware of what these "limited time RNG collect shit for small amounts of money meant to pile up quick" stuff is trying to do. I wish more devs had a moral compass and just didn't do this in the first place. It really does suck knowing I can't play many games with my friends because I can't trust myself around them, its just... bad design made by bad people.
actually so true
I am a person with mental illness and a physical disability. My Bipolar disorder, ADHD, and OCD make things difficult to not buy the things when I'm doing well or an exciting thing happens in the game. My bipolar disorder switches me into Manic/mania behavior. I might want to buy because it's appealing to a collection, give me an advantage, or push me in a position if I don't have this ill perform poorly or not fulfill a requirement to a format. increasing my depression and feeling of hopelessness even though I'm skilled in the game and don't need it. Having depression makes it hard for me personally because having a history of toxic friends saying you're not good unless you have this still impacts me and I still struggle to move on from that.
Alright bruh I FINALLY get it thanks
This might be unpopular, but... this isn't something that effects autistic people or people with a disability. It's a human behavior they are preying on, this is not unique to people with a disability.
(before I get abused for not knowing your perspective... I am on the spectrum and supposedly have "high-functioning autism"). I'm just stating that this is not a unique behavior, if it was, the company wouldn't focus on it, it's better to cater your designs to the mass market not the niche market.
What game is from 6:00 to 6:40
If I remember right that's a fishing segment from FarCry 5?
i have adhd and bipolar 2, and possible bpd and i dont play normal games like this but i play virtual world games like when i was a kid it was club penguin, animal jam, moviestarplanet, and i still play imvu and the amount of money i have spent on virtual currency since and memberships since 2013 is sickening lmaooo i dont even want to think about it.
Also thanks youtube for unsubscribing me??? :|
"I had to buy all those overwatch skins because muh tism..."
This is absurd levels of cope.
Plz share if know any developer, change in coming, the government around the world are to ban this in game gambling. X
im not sure what to say so im making this comment to help the algorithm cause this is a good video
I've played Love Nikki for a few years and it's take me finding another game to fixate on to stop spending money in it. Being autistic is great lol. :/
Oh hello, it's The Reason I Had To Quit Magic The Gathering
What