$250 is where it starts. It will not be where it ends.

[@TajinQ]

For the meager price of *your firstborn child*, you can roam the rift as Jericho the fish cook from Arcane

[@tu8315]

I mean...

[@Minithell]

When do we start?

[@sageq45]

What a bargain

[@perezo27]

As someone who doesnt want kids and my partner does not either; that's one hell of a bargain!

[@kaleinyo]

Don't curse Tahm next skin !

[@paeul4982]

Honestly I believe at some point they will make a 1k$ skin.

[@jannegrey]

seems plauisble

[@XoloMictlan]

Its gonna be Arcane Yasuo Prestige Exalted Limited time offer exclusive edition gacha limited banner personalizable cosmetic add ons skin

[@doublereel-real]

It will have the incredible innovation of a minion kill animation, the recall will be the same as the base skin though.

[@PurplesttCoffee]

​​@@XoloMictlanCan't wait for the first skin with a fully integrated AI chatbot companion, so that the player can see Yasuo chuckling sensibly on the Rift whenever you glaze him

[@Javano_]

TFT's been doing $500 chibis for a while now -- no doubt we'll see $500 sanctum skins minimum, within a year or two.

[@Zaxch01]

Your ending statement really reminds me of the "It's just a $5 dlc for horse armor, it won't get worse than that!" arguments from a decade ago. That line will truly never stop ascending, but people can't fathom that

[@wysp1912]

I am sorry to remind you that horse armor can legally vote as of this year. "A decade ago" was Diablo 3 Real Money Auction House

[@Kaikirith]

yup, this is why i hate the argument of "its just cosmetic." we have literally seen how, over time, it does indeed get worse than that. companies don't monetize cosmetics just for fun, they know it's an incredibly easy way to get people to spend because, shocker! people like to look different and flashy in games, and it's often a gateway to worse monetization.

[@iota7037]

@@Kaikirithadding on, the saying “it doesn’t affect gameplay” that usually comes after the quote you cited has always been dishonest. Personal expression IS PART OF GAMEPLAY, not just the mechanics and powerups. For example, If we were playing with dolls, there’s a reason someone might pick the green power ranger versus the blue power ranger. Functionally, they’re both plastic dolls, but we’d all be picky about the color because our expression of personal taste is a part of gameplay. Play is more than mechanics.

[@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479]

​@@Kaikiriththis is entirely true. Especially if there's no way to get free skins or if the free skins are mid af. Though if a player does want to go for the expensive skins, but can't really afford them, and they still do. That's on the player. Self-control is still needed and even if the price goes half-off it'd still make them (in some ways) financially irresponsible if the full price was a lot (like $50 dollars or more).

[@VioletLunaChan]

I love how ABSOLUTE RIOT-BOOTLICKERS... Uhm, I mean "fans" try to defend this, by saying this isn't "that bad" and it isn't that much money. You can buy a whole Nintendo Switch with the same money. Whole gaming console vs. a f*cking in-game costume.

[@RacingSnails64]

Right?? "Not that bad" lmao. Overwatch 2's skins sell for 20 bucks a pop. That's an entire indie game or old AAA game. And when they do bundles it can reach 40 and 50 dollars. That's almost an entire modern AAA game!!! Videogame cosmetics should not be allowed to exceed 10 dollars imo.

[@slayeroffurries1115]

I can buy a bunch of full games for the price of this skin. Actual 1000+ hours of content VS one LoL skin 😂

[@Destroyer2150]

250 dollars equals the minimum monthly wage where I live. With this money, you can buy your monthly groceries and pay your energy/water/internet bills.

[@cbunny6671]

You didn’t mention the worst part... This new system they’re “gifting” us, was all a ploy to change the UI. Now, to get to your inventory (the place where you unlock champion capsules and disenchant champions into blue essence), you HAVE to go through the gacha screen. They changed their entire system and UI around, just so people are forced to see the gacha skin once a level. Unbelievably predatory

[@RacingSnails64]

Sounds so innocuous, but it's so insidious.

[@levigalant3007]

THIS! Josh Strife Hayes’ video on Diablo Immortal goes super in depth about just how manipulative this practice is. It builds a habit, you see it every day and at some point SOMEONE will be tempted to spend money. It’s also important to note that you cannot see how much each orb is until you have the RP in your account to buy one, and then you’re just short of the 10 pull so you may as well spend more to get to that threshold. Its fucking sickening.

[@person.probably]

Yeah that's straight up casino tactics.

[@cbunny6671]

Yeah, and it's the ultimate conclusion of turning blue essence from end of game rewards into level based lootboxes. They've been hunting for an opportunity to do this for a long time. People with gambling addiction vulnerability (which is not something they can control), now have to get to their account progression gambling, through the skin gambling.

[@chunkocheese]

its so cruel.

[@Joi2212]

I've commented this already under many Videos about these skins. They are undefendable. They prey on people without self control and mental health issues and you cannot vote with your wallet on them. Telling the target audience to not buy this skin is like telling a depressed person to just be happy.

[@warg474]

Not just that but the audience that these skins are targeted towards is delusional beyond human understanding. I had a guy in my game with 500$ Ahri skin tell me that I am just poor after I commented "Imagine spending 500$ on a skin and telling Riot they can get away with ripping you off." I understand that everyone has the right to spend their money however they want but there are situations when spending it creates situations like these where companies start pushing more and more predatory systems to exploit their players.

[@Ven-zg3fj]

You can say this about literally anything. Are grocery stores immoral for selling delicious-looking pies? Are lottery tickets immoral? Was the guy who sold the candy bar to Charlie in Willy Wonka a greedy POS? What exactly is the line here? This is not more game content; it’s literally skins. Would you rather pay annually to be able to play the game? I wouldnt.

[@slayeroffurries1115]

​@@Ven-zg3fj video game subscriptions have been a thing for a while, and if it warrants me being able to use everything inside the game, then it sounds a lot better than actual predatory monetization

[@Joi2212]

@@Ven-zg3fj Only because everyone does it doesnt make it right. Also your pie example doesnt work, cause if the price has the right value for what you're getting. plus you are guaranteed that pie when you buy it. Here you buy a chance for an above average pie but you'll get it guaranteed when you spend 250$. Would you buy a pie for that much? and okay so you'd rather have mentally ill people suffer so you can enjoy your game, that is what you are arguing for. And if the profits of a lotery aren't for charity purposes it's also morally wrong.

[@Joi2212]

@@warg474 People like this do not understand the value of their money. They probably need professional help, but also be willing to recieve it.

[@sorrynah3544]

The most insulting part of these skins is just how low quality they are. Most ultimate skins have more features, voice lines, and models for a fraction of the price. League isn’t like a gacha game where you can at least earn free pulls. It’s just $250 gambling for a legendary skin.

[@ericccky]

this new sett skin has 100+ less voice lines than jinx skin so not only it’s lower quality than ultimates but it’s even lower than the skin from the same tier.

[@bestaatroxeuw]

@@ericccky i remember when riot used to make around 1 hour of voicelines.. aurelion sol times were the best for quality. I cant imagine maining one of these newer champs who get like 10 min of voicelines, you have to listen to those on loop

[@thegoldexperience8340]

tell that to druttut XDDD

[@felipecouto1102]

You know youre fucked when even gachas think you went too far At the very least gachas let you pull the character you wanted in subsequent banners. These Exalted skins, when they are gona, they are *GONE*, its literally made to prey on FOMO

[@Rekoyuu]

Just a reminder that you don't get the special jinx finisher with the arcane jinx gacha skin, you have to buy it separately

[@datzfatz2368]

for 250 Mythic essence, thats twice the price of most Mythic skins lol^^

[@MastaRavenkroft]

Godless

[@RacingSnails64]

Oh my gosh no way. It being a bundle would at least make more sense 😭😭

[@alexwynters600]

@@datzfatz2368Already seen it twice. Made me feel sick...

[@datzfatz2368]

@@alexwynters600 i know it may seem petty, but me and my friends just report anyone we come across unsing any of this shit. It probably doesnt do anything, but it feels sort of cathartic. And/or just permaban the champs so no one can use it lul^^

[@KasuriRinen]

The way the exalted skin was described to me was: "It's a legendary skin, mythic variant /chroma and a prestige skin in one package"

[@felipecouto1102]

Riot really is hiding behind saying that "its when we let our team cook" was just a joke and that they never said its better then Ultimates lol

[@unclekarma1855]

Wow, all these words mean absolutely nothing when put in a sentence ike that

[@gameoverzi]

I do love how this started as a critique of league and slowly became a blanket takedown of the modern economic model, and rightfully so

[@xXEternalMidnightXx]

Last time I played League, people were making fun of each other for buying Pulsefire Ezreal. Shocking how normalized this has become

[@shakirmorgan4840]

13:45 THIS, YES. This infinite growth becomes a massive paradox when you consider that a huge reason why League is so prolific is it's accessibility. I recall I once had to use a rental chromebook and the only modern game I could run *was* League! If the company ever wants to increase the quality of the skins, they have to do it from the ground up, better engine, higher fidelity textures, more assets, and once that's on the table, people who have to jump through hoops *just* to play one game due to a bunch of updates that have no relevance for their personal experience, that player retention is gonna dip. It might not be devastating, but the second that starts to fluctuate, they lose their foothold inch by inch until there's no fixing it.

[@thechugg4372]

The game has been graphically updated once, if they want they could upgrade the graphics again

[@t-1156]

MORE MONEY THAN LAST YEAR! MORE MONEY NEXT YEAR! MORE FOR LESS! LONG LIVE OUR SHAREHOLDING OVERLORDS, MAY THEY NEVER NEED TO WORK A DAY IN THEIR LIVES! LINE GO UP!

[@mitsuki1388]

All of that while laying off the staff that ACTUALLY works

[@katelawyer3689]

Capitalism in a nutshell lol

[@MaelCott1]

-change weekly chests to mastery chests that are harder to get(I think the mastery changes was to get attention away from this) -release 200 dollar gacha legendary chromas -release 500 dollar legendary skin -Arcane season 2 drops, with a lower quality transforming the horrors of conflict into a spectacle and removing the weight of jinx's actions so she can be more marketable ( I wonder for what) -release 250 dollar gacha jinx skin (there it is) -make a last minute VGU for Viktor because of Arcane s1 success, don't change almost anything in his kit (V-U) -Arcane is now canon, becase of the popularity os s1, it was never eant to be, but now they created problems in the lore of many characters (that they'll probaply never fix because it isn't worth it for the investors) -anounce they'll change the chest system cause aram players can't get them, so they'll change to a system even worse than the mastery chests (they could've just reverted to the old system) -Oh, btw, we're gonna release another 250 dollar gacha skin right after the Jinx one I'm genuinely worried for League's future, it's horrible changes followed by more horrible changes

[@sirbrawny]

This with the layoffs Riot'ers (who make these skins) go through. I can't anymore. Plus, remember when the legendary skins had vastly different designs and music? Hell, even the Seraphine 3 skins in 1 was better.

[@plutonasa]

Man, I remember when people shit on that skin for not being like dj sona swappable in game. Good times.

[@njrk97]

​@@plutonasa I mean every Ultimate skin post elementalist Lux was starting this trend of enshitfication of high level skin tiers, they were not subtle with their attempts to shift the goalpost downwards. Case in point we went from GGMF being discounted due to its chroma swap in game being disappointing, to Samira quite literally just being a legendary skin (With reused base animations no less) with not a whiff of discount. Once they did that plus the Mythic scam chromas it was clear Riot was fully intending to kill Lux or Even Sona level 'Ultimate' skins, and replace it with something of lower quality while hiding it behind the Ultimate name.

[@derach3]

What annoys me most about this new type of offer was that before, I felt like all of Riot Content was made for "everybody." Now Riot has decided that wealthy clients are better clients, and deserve more content than the vast majority of their clients. And I think that's F*CKED. Every cosmetic at this pricepoint makes the company less about the players. It makes me want to stop support all of their skins.

[@Angelica-sq9lh]

It's so strange when you stop to think, like, I have almost all Riot Forge games (except the Nunu and the Yordle ones, since they closed Riot Forge, I don't want to give them more profit for shit decisions), I have the freaking League book, I played Wild Rift and LoL and have skins there... But in their eyes, I'm less than a fan than someone who enters the lottery. Riot has a way in spitting in our face that amazes me

[@MaxisMatchYouTube]

wealthy? you mean desperate...

[@quinnviandsej]

Fortunately at this point, wealthy players are only getting like, 0.2% more content (not factoring in TFT and Wild Rift hahahaha) But that percentage is gonna increase. Even if it hits 3%, that's going to drastically change the tone of Riot's marketing when they do those dev update videos and showcase whatever cool new skins and skinlines are in development.

[@corvidkhaos]

this is why i hate publicly traded corporations and capitalism at large- must the line go up? for what? is it not enough for the line to be in the green at a steady rate year after year? is it not enough to provide a good service that is kept good by its workers who are paid for that reason? an economy built on a delusion of infinite growth and for what really? especially continuously laying off the talent that earns your revenue for an extra buck, even if you’re not an anti-capitalist it’s just, objectively bad optics, short sighted to an almost childish degree and yet this dictates the entire world on an endless march into the death spiral of enshittifcation

[@Mancorum]

And then Elementalist Lux wins by doing absolutely nothing

[@siph0r154]

A reason why they will never again make a skin like that. It was way to high value for way to little profit.

[@Mancorum]

​@@siph0r154But that was the skin that made them the most profit as I can remember, no?

[@siperog]

​@@siph0r154ignoring the fact that, for years, it has been League's most profitable skin?

[@siph0r154]

@Mancorum correct. But it still was not "worth the effort". Aka. They could make money for less value. Sooo. Why not do that? (Just to make sure. This is meant to be read with gallons of sarcasm.) If I recall correctly they even went on record saying that Elementalist Lux made all their other work look bad. So they decided to not do that anymore instead of upping the quality.

[@Mancorum]

@@siph0r154 Ah yes, so it was the classic capitalist move of "Why improve when we can sell more for less?" We are seeing the results now, apparently.

[@matiasvfc1446]

"corporate capitalism" what you describe is just capitalism, the fundamental thing that makes capitalism, capitalism is the reinvesting in capital

[@6bambolbi6]

I saw a meme on reddit, using Squidward's protest scene, about how everybody is saying they won't buy Jinx's skin but then someone shows up saying they got it on first time and the people get excited and change their minds

[@chillmydudes]

someone call luigi on big riot

[@steverainbow2.0]

Yes i think too soon we also will need a luigi

[@j.bat.8235]

"What are you going to do?" "Break the cycle"

[@RacingSnails64]

Oh dear

[@Alon1602]

Yall sick for even thinking that

[@AngelicDirt]

@@Alon1602 🙈🙉🙊

[@Monochrome_11]

I should really get into indie games

[@MelMelodyWerner]

you should! I think Dead Cells and Supergiant's ludography are good, widely accessible entry points that I'd absolutely recommend. but Pokémon pfp so I gotta mention Cassette Beasts.

[@jaitorwutmemes6993]

If you want some indie game recommendations, here are some of my favourites: Hollow knight, Ultrakill, Undertale, Deltarune, Cuphead, Outer wilds, Celeste, Inscryption, Hades, Pizza tower, Animal well & Oneshot.

[@RacingSnails64]

I just heard about Gravity Circuit! It's like Megaman but with melee combat and a grapple hook :)

[@joaorodrigues6403]

Signalis was made by two people and puts every triple A game to shame

[@lilyportan9915]

if you like exploring an outer space environment, reasoning out some environmental puzzles, and learning about the world’s lore through those puzzles, may I suggest Outer Wilds? it’s best to play it without knowing anything about it but it’s very critically acclaimed!

[@Theninja974]

just an important point to make : even if you play a lot, you can NEVER get the jinx skin without spending at least 400rp

[@godfii]

Is there actually any way to earn the pulls for free by playing? I thought this system was exclusively for people buying rp

[@Theninja974]

@ yeah the system is only for people buying rp

[@levia-san7565]

its so depressing to watch because for all its faults I do really enjoy league of legends been playing the game since s3 and the more and more aggressive monetization puts such a sour taste into my mouth and as you said, it's never the execs that get punished for bad decisions, but the people who, yknow, actually make the thing you enjoy? its honestly such a fucked dynamic and bothers me to no end , sigh

[@RacingSnails64]

Yeah, when a business fails it's the CEOs who should be "laid off" and replaced, not the people who were just successfully making what they were told to.

[@miguelMickSummer]

The worst thing is it doesnt matter how many people protest and refuse to buy them, it takes only 5000 people to buy it for it to make a million dollars, cant imagine how much money itll make in the long run

[@JoshuaAlto]

The only way to win is uninstall League & play other games. I know it's a meme on a league subreddit, but that has become a warning to the people "Run while you can".

[@Zamtrios245]

9:57 My favorite thing about this is that a "subprime mortgage" is specifically a mortgage with higher interest given to low-credit individuals. Hmm, I wonder why the loans given willy-nilly to people with bad money skills weren't a sustainable model 12:10 Capitalsim is an Ouroborous that tries to eat itself to get longer

[@doctornoodlearms1770]

Riot should really just ask the best business man I know... Corporate Mundo

[@cauaazevedo3224]

Fun fact doe to the diference in valeu beting dólar and the real in Brasil this skins cost almost as our minimun wage

[@jace_d]

Worse: it costs MORE than the minimun wage. The dolar today is R$6.04, so the skins are R$1510.15, and our minimun wage is R$1412.00. You need at least two months of salary to get the skin. This is insane.

[@neptunviro]

Two months without paying to eat, the water, eletricity and the place you live in, to be exact lol

[@Ignoto88]

@@neptunviro to get a dress for your digital fairy

[@dina_solaire]

Intankavel meu caro

[@kaue2382]

Small correction, this isn't "corporate" capitalism, this is just the default state of capitalism. It can't be made better within this system, at best you can regulate it harder to keep it from degenerating into this for a little bit longer but capitalism will ALWAYS suck the life out of art and money out of the working class.

[@magniwalterbutnotwaltermag1479]

I don't understand this at all because fundamentally nearly every major work of art especially in the Renaissance was fuelled in part by capitalism (or by ideals similar to it). Even moreso in the Victorian era. "Capitalism bad" is simple enough to say unless you pull up every commissioned work in the past 400 years by an artist whose boss was a stuck up asshole trying to make bank with prestige (this goes for painters, sculptors, architects and landscapers).

[@JohnYannoulas]

Their marketing growth had been steadily subtracting from the quality of the game experience and health if not as blatantly. Diminishing the lore, cutting champion QoL updates, ASUs, VGUs etc. to less than half as frequent among other things. Now they are basically releasing THE Jinx ASU, labeling it a premium product, and slapping a price tag on it. It's close to this game being completely over.

[@Armaggedon185]

My understanding is that the East Asian markets also look at these expensive skins as desirable status markers, so there's not even anything anyone else can do to stop this.

[@DenzelRealm]

It started with Jhin with the 200 dollar skin. With the capsules. You could also say it started with Seraphine. To see if the playerbase would just accept a mediocre ultimate skin.

[@channelorsomething218]

it started with prestige skins. those were $100 before riot changed the system after much backlash.

[@paeul4982]

Also it's amazing that with all the money from these skins they still can't fix their client that is so badly designed and full of bugs.

[@simmanz7422]

Because the whole point of that money is to go to pockets, nothing more. They are not interested in making us happy, they are only interested in doing minimal changes to make us stay and then keep us wanting for skins

[@vinobi3199]

I play Genshin since version 1.2 which is 4 years ago. In total, I spent less than 250USD. Playing a Gacha based game for 4 years and owning nearly all of the premium characters, cost less than a subpar skin that is worst than the Legendary and Ultimate skins.

[@Mirabelle479]

Mortdogs argument for the price of TFT chibis was that they are prestigious items you can obtain, similar to how you can buy a lamborghini. But that argument falls flat for these exalted skins since their quality doesnt go up either. Yes a lamborghini is stupidly expensive but also has so many fundamental differences to a regular small car. Exalted skins dont have fundamental differences, not even the form swapping, just nothing. If they stuck with their original idea to include the nexus boom with the jinx skin then that would be a fundamental difference seperating it from other skin tiers, justifying a (small) change in price or maybe currency?

[@siperog]

It fell flat even on the Chibis, as a Lamborghini still has value even if you don't drive, and you, you know, actually own one instead of having a digital license that will expire once you're banned or the servers eventually go offline

[@RacingSnails64]

Videogame cosmetics should not exceed 10 dollars.

[@FightingDuskstalker]

So my brain has been low-key fixated on this for a while. Capitalism as an ideology says "this way is best for society as a whole because it incentivises hard work and innovation." The problem is that profit is the end of the chain, the end reward. Corporate greed is a problem because of pursuing profit for profit's sake. What needs to happen is a major paradigm shift that adds something for social growth or well-being for profits to pursue.

[@AtelaLafford]

after seeing riot fired the faker ahri skin maker i had a sinking feeling

[@simmanz7422]

Wtf that happened ?! Like the skin maker was just a tool all along ?!

[@slayeroffurries1115]

​@simmanz7422 yeah, we could say "was a tool all along" about any other employee 😂

[@korukero]

When the game's most popular regions view in game purchases as a status symbol, the end result is that they will continue to prioritize them

[@rootyful]

9:20 Reminder that Riot fired the artist that made the Ahri skin.

[@ArchImperatrix]

I say this without a drop of sarcasm; TBkyen has a very positive view of how capitalisms works given his distaste for it. ;)

[@MerlinCross13]

Personally I think there's a difference been "We'd like to make some profit and growth cause trying to exist at 0 profit is insane" and "THE LINE MUST ABSOLUTELY GO UP ALL THE TIME AND IF IT DIPS ONCE CAN THE STUDIO"

[@anonamos225]

They're going to make a skin for auction. All the whales are going to bid on it and only one account can have it, so it's super mega duper rare.

[@RacingSnails64]

Oh my gosh no that's horrible

[@Noctis-lg7xp]

nah I doubt it cause quantity of consumers buying is more likely to beat singular quality of one guy buying.

[@simmanz7422]

Make it so that only the top 25 have it ! You force the whales to compete with each other for maximal value

[@dragonicdoom3772]

League Players: $250 gacha skin Hearthstone Players: First time? (Don't worry I left that game behind and am happier and richer for it)

[@TaylanAli-i6y]

elemental lux didnt exhaust all their resources like they claim it did. it was priced absolutely fair with massive profit. modest amount of team members can make a legendary skin in 3 months tops. 6 members (who all get paid lets say 5k) x3 months= 90k. u just gotta sell it to 3000ppl to start makin a profit. im sure any legendary skin sells to thousands and thousands more than that.

[@bored_boar]

Elementalist Lux is not the technical and artistic marvel they seem to think it is for it to have exhausted their resources..

[@causticenforcer8792]

Moments like these make me glad that I’m an urgot main, my champion is neither hot nor popular enough to warrant a gotcha skin

[@brenomedeiros8460]

It's ridiculous that the more expensive the skin the less it does, anything more expensive than an ultimate skin does less than the ultimate skins, mythic chromas of epic skins, mythic chromas that come in capsules, prestige recolors that are all epic skins (and they never give the legendary skin of the set a prestige, can't have people paying the 200 mythic essence collecting dust in their inventory instead of real money for a legendary). And I would buy the "It's for those that want something exclusive" narrative if this wasn't the tenth type of "exclusive" cosmetic they released in a row.

[@OrcaMorca]

When learning about math and population biology at university, they showed us a graph. That Theoredically, by the speed some flies reproduce, there should be a time where every single atom in the universe would be used as components for flies. Of course that's not a thing. There are sealing to population growth, because we only have so many resources... Growth for growths sake keeps me up at night. It is like a fire competing to burn the most wood possible.... but the more wood you burn through faster, the quicker you will run out of it...

[@burning2]

You CANNOT grind for the jinx skin, there is currently no way to get the sparks to roll for the skin by grinding the game, you can only buy them with RP. They will be in the PAID battle pass track and you can earn THREE SPARKS per battle pass, so a total of 9 sparks a year if you are willing to pay $15 per pass. You CANNOT get these skins for free.

[@steverainbow2.0]

I also hate been right, i said in 2022 and 23 that riot was becoming too much scummy, they would soon put a high price in shity skins and gacha would be normal in the game , so yes i wasn't wrong

[@smbsmw1111]

I have to point out that going up slower than last year is also bad (for share price), line has to go up exponentially. 16:22 ZERO sponsored segments in the video??? Are you aware that last video made Skyen stock go down by 6 points?? As a shareholder (I own exactly 0,314 imaginary shares) I DEMAND at least three sponsored segments in the next video.

[@GarnetDust24]

The amount of people I see bragging about only doing ten pulls and getting X skins makes me so sad. This used to be one of my favorite games and seeing it become a slot machine makes me extremely disappointed. I’m not blameless. I bought the $200 Jhin scam because it was the first and I wanted to be a part of something. The sad thing is it’s going to get worse. It’s inevitable. You always pay with your dime on your time.

[@ChoccyMilkk]

What you said about the housing crisis and the line going up reminded me of Dan Olson's video, "Line Goes Up". Amazing watch for anyone who wants to see it.

[@AtelaLafford]

as much as i don't want to believe it i do think riot going forward is ONLY going to double down on these practices

[@joseantoniogomezrodriguez1724]

13:50 and the reason they gave with no more ultimate skins is because they couldn't make a better skin than Lux elementalist.

[@CptApplestrudl]

I recently stopped playing league and weirdly enough it's the change how you get hex chests that did it. I had no problem playing for them and getting them since I only played aram. The new system requires you to play specific champs multiple times which obviously doesnt go well in a random mode.

[@twincast2005]

To think that once upon a time I had a high opinion of Riot in the back of my mind despite zero interest in MOBAs thanks to everyone praising LoL's monetization as being extremely consumer-friendly... With Riot Forge dead and LoR on PoC life support, I just hope 2XKO won't be enshittified for a good long while at least.

[@CaptainMorghan4152]

It’s where it ends for me I’ve uninstalled league and have been clean for 44 days riot has proven they’re not putting players first anymore or even their own employees with layoffs and moving towards AI

[@JoshuaAlto]

Yeah, it is as much worse as The Sims 4.

[@moobo3944]

As far as I understand you can not actually get the sparks to do the gacha pulls from playing the game for free despite what Skyen is saying here correct? Not that it makes a difference I just want some clarification.

[@steverainbow2.0]

Yes you don't have a system like genshin we're you ca Gain the coins in game to make the gacha "gambling" thing

[@datzfatz2368]

i think he was just outlining the general method Gacha games usually use, they give you a lot of free gacha currency at the start to suck you in and then give you a little dripfeed to keep you addicted. Riot is doing it slightly differenlty i think, or basically just more bluntly lol. They are banking on league players being addicted enough to the game itself already to not need an extra incentive.

[@talkingcowthatwasthereallalong]

It's like they say: "Mo' money, mo' moneys" - They, 2024. "Just find another bubble" - They, 2008.

[@merouanebelaroussi9706]

i've long since given up on RIOT, was hoping at least LoR and Forge would do better, but... now they are even fking up the Universe...

[@JoshuaAlto]

Yeah, Giving up on Riot is the only way to save yourself from becoming Riot's walking ATM.

[@TheOnlyFin]

The "I'm gonna monetize this video. BYE" is so funny, because I pay for KZbin Premium. An ad free experience with the ability to do picture and picture and play from my lock screen on my phone. Features that were always available for free or were standard before they were paywalled. So I don't even see ads when a video is monetized BECAUSE of enshitification.

[@AngelicDirt]

... May I introduce you to ublock? Would it be impossible to tell you about NewPipe? Could I interest you in a nice Invidious instance?

[@coloreal6478]

Kinda horror where all this is gonna lead to; Prices of everything go up and salaries goes down :

[@rimanahbvee]

Its been like that

[@Anhko67]

Shame Riot executives are undergoing this way with cosmetics … The game has problems, but new accessible skins were motivating me to continue playing as I loved discovering new themes for champions every 2 weeks, but they decided to skyrocket the price of undercooked skins and put them in this gacha system. No more league for me I guess, farewell.

[@dantagator1760]

The amount of times I've seen people with the jinx skin is truly frightening

[@happypepper9326]

RIOT needs money. Cutting 90% of writers, many artists, production of lore short stories, LoR support, artistic direction for Project K, and so was still not enough to pay everything they are doing now. RIOT is trying to earn as much as possible before the imminent collapse.

[@neptunviro]

Riot CEOs needs money*.

[@zardthedragon1896]

And i like how Riot's justification is "well we are giving out free skins in the pass" while they are the most bare bones, generic skins we haven't had in forever.

[@bored_boar]

They're going going back to their roots with the new free skins, like the unforgettable classics like green Malphite, dirtier Blitzcrank, Alistar but with more melanin. This feels like the start of a slow death of a wildly successful game, all because the line must go up.

[@j.bat.8235]

Ah yes, the Ponzi scheme phase of LoL.

[@bluemio7349]

Cant wait for them to sell us champions the way Overwatch sells heroes with the battlepass now. You need to buy them or you have to wait for the next season to "unlock" them through engagement with the game/grinding.

[@tehawsumninja]

Can't wait for League to come out with the "Ultra Prestige Exalted" skin where there are "only releasing 2025 of them world wide to celebrate the year 2025!" for 2,025 dollars :))))))))))))))))

[@colorfulcookie8961]

I mean as long as people continue to buy it, it never gonna change lol

[@natanmaia3575]

4:53 "you run out of new people" then invest into the Fighting Game or TCG projects they have, or whatever else comes next, and nickel-and-dime people there. Really smart move on their end.

[@Jackesfox]

They dont want to earn 100 billion in profit every year, they need to make 110 the next, 150 in the next, 190 the next, and dare to make only 90 billion in profit, you are going to have to cut costs somewhere

[@MrCookieMonster565]

I don't think many people noticed this, but TFT is the exact model they are now using for the new League gacha system, and they slowly tweaked that system to be just on the line of worth spending money on and being way too much to consider. There is no doubt in my mind that the pass they are introducing later will almost directly reflect the TFT pass too, with ~3 skins, 2-4 accessories and a handful of pulls for the gacha banner. They have been testing for a very long time the best way to extract the most amount of money from players possible.

[@MrCookieMonster565]

At least in TFT you only need 3 distinct cosmetics that you kinda like before you don't care anymore though. In League you need to snipe not only the skin you like for your champion but that champion is in a pool of 150+

[@TenebrisLoL]

I used to love league for not having a gacha system back when games like overwatch were in its prime, man do i miss that

[@Macaulyn_97]

I remember when it used to be a dilemma for me whether I'd spend my money in League or get a game on Steam. Now it's not even a contest, the RP prices in Brazil are massive, their focus is on gambling and Steam sales allow me to get a pretty damn good amount of games with DLC and everything, and that's from a person who doesn't have much money. I don't even feel like playing League anymore unless there is a group of friends to play with me so I won't get bored with the unrewarding shit that it became. I'm fed up, genuinely.

[@natanmaia3575]

Also remember, "free players" trying to earn stuff by playing more are simply *the content* to satisfy whales. In LoL they're the poors who you flex your exalted skins to, and more maliciously in Diablo Eternal free players are the "mob" pvp encounters that reaffirm whales that "buying gems is nice, look how easily you can defeat those players! buy more so you can feel even better!"

[@grapesonvines4407]

just wanted to add my perspective; there's definitely gonna be some douches that buy the skin to flex, but I think the vast majority of people who'll pay the $250 will be people like me. I have really, *really* bad obsessive behavioral patterns [can thank the tism for that] and Arcane s2 has like, *really* fucked up my brain, to the point where I had to uninstall league and won't be reinstalling until the skin is pulled down, despite it being my *favorite* game, simply due to the fact I can't trust myself not to buy it. Yes, it's mental illness mixed with neurodivergence, but I think that's kind of what riot is banking on, and it sucks, to say the least- it's literal exploitation, but it also makes me and others feel stupid cuz it's just a skin in a game and no one is *forcing us to buy it*, idk, it's rlly hard to explain in a way that doesn't make me feel like a freak. Just dropping this as food for thought, I still think your observation is accurate to that side of the playerbase, and I also found the Diablo Eternal comparison morbidly interesting!

[@JoshuaAlto]

@@grapesonvines4407 Uninstall all of the Riot Games is the only way to win by letting the game go.

[@superpanda5939]

Friendly reminder that you only borrow the license to use the skin. You don’t own it. Riot may take it away whenever they please.

[@JoshuaAlto]

That's why uninstall League is the only way to win by moving on from that game.

[@chillch4659]

i did not expect a karl marx commentary on the cashgrabs. loved it.

[@yellowdeceiver4818]

Spin that wheel Is that what heimerdingers song was about hahhaa

[@foryossimodicarbonio9703]

2:01 "Just spin the wheel, and see where it lands"

[@EmmyOnYoutube]

i honestly do not think gacha skins are an inherently bad concept in league but the major problem here is that unlike other full gacha games on the market, riot's gacha currency can only be bought with actual RP, 400 per one roll, which is ridiculous considering other gachas hands out rolls freely.

[@noahjezyk]

This is a REALLY good video deconstructing our unsustainable hyper-capitalistic system. You perfectly summarized why our stock-trading based economic system is so ludicrously inefficient and impractical

[@XIII_Vanitas]

1- Features-wise, it's similar to Gun Goddess Miss Fortune, which is a low-tier ultimate skin. 2- No, you can not get this skin by grinding, you can only get it via their gacha system which only works with paid currency.

[@Zukinilini]

Unrelated to the video but doesn’t you hating being right more or less mean you tend to have a pessimistic outlook? It’s not so much that you will always feel bad about predicting correctly and more so that you hate when something you don’t like happens, which is a given for most everyone. Thus if you want to not hate being right simply be more optimistic, turn a dreaded reality into a celebrated one. (Hmm, I tried to be clever here and it did not pan out, sorry)

[@cherryblossom7436]

I'm so sad I love the Jinx skin but I can't afford it at all 😭😭😭

[@IamMrSimQn]

Slightly dissagree that the point of continous investment. Riot is clearly trying to make as much money by doing as little as possible. As you can see by aaallll the layoffs in the recent year. Because if cost goes down while line go up then the line goes up even harder.

[@xDaedron]

Man, remember when you've earned 500 Riot Points when your account leveled to level 3? I miss those days

[@siph0r154]

Riot truly has the Meta problem.

[@ShaneThePwnageMaster]

I don't know about the grinding thing. I don't currently see any free way to get pulls for the gacha skins. They might start adding pulls to the battle passes. If its anything like how TFT is then even you if you buy the battle passes it will take you over a year to finally get ONE of these skins

[@themuffinman1807]

Oh boy thank you for the $250 new voiceline pack for Jinx riot james

[@0PlaylistMaker0]

Mmmn. Seen this first hand in my job managing social media. Expecting the number of followers not not only increase infinitely, but for the RATE of increase to always be growing. Eventually, rreached a point where there just weren't any more people to follow us. A contributing factor as to why I was laid off.

[@jannegrey]

Hello Everyone! Stay Safe.

[@jadowdra4057]

I remember when pulsefire ezreal came out and the group of friends I used to play with was making fun of the one who had bought it after the initial sale had ended for spending so much money. Been years since I've touched League but those prices are still making me lose my mind.

[@FriskTemmieGoogle]

07:00 the problem is, they aren't even giving us the chance to get it for free. You NEED to buy the gacha stuff. Which is insane and the first time riot made a skin 100% p2 get

[@blueskyblazingrose]

The Faker Ahri skin made way more than 2 million dollars in the first hour alone. The guy who worked on the ahri skin was fired. I rest my case.

[@uwu321-b9h]

You know what's funny? Exalted skins doesn't even have a time tax, they 100% locked behind money because they are not allowed to appear from rerolls and chests

[@thethunderspirt87]

The only way this will get better if people don't buy them. But people can't resist the temptation.

[@SuHISKgeroto]

Damn.... Viktor, come in reality and save us from ourselves

[@mattt7581]

It is so offensive to me that the only thing that distinguishes this skin (the nexus finisher) has to be additionally paid for