How Video Games Manipulate You Into Spending Money

[@Akshonesports]

What is the most amount of money you've spent on microtransactions in a particular game?

[@BuyMyBeard]

Holy, I must have have spent over a 1000$ on both TF2 and Hearthstone. 18-year-old me was pretty dumb

[@blakeverdon4492]

Per item? Roughly $20 max. Over a period of time? It would probably double if it wasn't for free rewards I've gotten from other services (and yes, actually free rewards. Not first time purchase discounts and the like). Google rewards surveys (and play points) have paid for damn near every Welkin Moon I've purchased in Genshin in their entirety.

[@seekyourfate4497]

Solid video! For me it would be League of legends. It's around 40 dollars. I think it was 2-3 skins. I was infatuated because it was star guardian and KDA themed skins.

[@creydragon]

Mobile games: ~$700 for Kingdom Hearts Union χ (pay-to-win) worthwhile as I was part of a Top 10 guild. (Over the course of 4 years) ~$200 for Final Fantasy VII: the First SOLDIER (Cosmetic/support) 40% worth it, never engaging with gacha ever again from that experience (1 year, game is about to EoS). ~$250+ for Cytus & Cytus II (DLC) I haven't played most of it, yet I love the devs so much I'd gladly support new tracks coming out (since 2011 and still on-going).

[@henrikchristoffersen5876]

Probably Apex Legends. The equivalent of 10$ on season 1 BP, 10$ on season 2 BP, 10$ on Wattson skin, and 20$ when they raised the level cap from 100 to 500. I have played it nonstop since first week.

[@fatyoshi696]

i feel like the worst part of it all is that once the game finally convinced you to buy something you become committed to it, and putting down the game for good becomes harder because of all the cash you've sunk into it, and the more you spend the harder it gets to realize it's long since time to quit. It's incredibly predatory in the way it keeps people playing a game long after they've become bored of it because if they leave they'll have wasted their money, instead of keeping people playing by, well, making an actually good game that will keep players' interest for longer.

[@gameman3250]

thats happening with me and apex legends right now

[@iberis361]

Ah yes Sunk cost fallacy

[@jirehtheprovider]

It was kinda like that with Pokemon Masters EX during 2021 with the Introductiom of the stamina system. But overtime, the multitude of changes added overtime + constant tie in promotion to other Pokemon ads help it stay alive. It may not be just me, but as a player 2 years and ongoing still playing this game, I find it strange as to how other Gacha gamers views this Pokemon Spin-off as having a Generous Rarity system rate compared to other Gacha games on the lootbox mechanics.

[@phantom-qz7ln]

@@gameman3250 same. I’m at the point where after this season I’m just not buying the bp or any skin. I feel imma just buy single player games and be content

[@el_mr6439]

you really didn't waste your money, i mean; you bought a product and you used said product then your money has been spent, not wasted. I understand that someone would want to use the things bought in the game as much as they can, but the money is already spent, play more or less would not change anything. The best thing someone can do in that situation is realize that he no loner enjoys the game and move on, try other things or even other games

[@differentman1878]

This vid needs to become standard for gamers to watch. Ty for exposing these predatory actions.

[@tdc9951]

You should also watch PMG's (People make games) video on the topic.

[@tobiaschurch8848]

My only problem is that game devs spend millions making a game and put it up for free download. I'm against P2W, but the currency distancing and foot in the door methods don't seem too malicious, it's just a sure way to recoup your losses.

[@differentman1878]

@@tdc9951 checking it out right now.

[@Bullminator]

Accursed Farms did it pretty well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoakiWOdo79mhNk Applys pretty well to micro games.

[@Arnestashio]

@@differentman1878 nice to see a tower of god enjoyer

[@magicshot9486]

How to avoid every monetization tactics: Foot In The Door: ignore them like all those pop up ads Currency Distancing: using the power of math Loss Aversion: real gamers don't cheat Social Pressure: generous of you to think I have friends to begin with Congrats, you can now enjoy predatory games for free!

[@pontoancora]

I do basicly that, and found it so easy to do that I never understand why people complain too much. It's like they can't control their wallets. Maybe it's a first world problems or something I'm not rich enough to comprehend...

[@Savariable]

@@pontoancora it's because even if they don't fall for the tactics, the game is made worse by everything held behind the paywall. It makes sense to complain tbh

[@pontoancora]

@@Savariable totally disagree.lots of game knows how to use the gacha/microtransations part.

[@pontoancora]

@@Savariable and being free to play make the game 100% better for the millions that can't pay

[@willydonka1041]

@@pontoancora warframe is one of the only consumer friendly free to plays Genshin? Nope. Absolutely not. They absolutely do not need those prices or the gambling, the money they make is extreme profit. They dont put much of that money back into the game, they just abuse the gambling to make a massive profit, not because they want to make the game as good as it can be, but because they just want as much money as possible whatever the cost.

[@ferryxhidayat]

Its baffles me how people normalize these kind of thing these days. Some even took pride on how much they spent in a game. How did it even came to this point? I dread to guess

[@therealjaystone2344]

Knowing the games are online and will one day be shut down

[@muhammadiqbal99988]

Crash On The Run is one of the example that is terminated by Dev. So I must avoid Online games from greedy company, and play offline game if I'm bored.

[@muhammadiqbal99988]

Because the Dev of Candy Crush wanted to make more money from COTR, but it didn't success as their first game, eventually they TERMINATED the game that may be the cost of server was expensive or ordered by Activision to delete it.

[@muhammadiqbal99988]

Correction: was ordered by Activision to delete it.

[@7WhiteSword]

exactly… it baffles how people basically bragging “hey guys I just got exploited by the company for spending 200$ for unlocking one character jpeg”

[@magicm8ball558]

Valorant's Night Market is probably the most predatory monetization system in existence. The fact that I've seen people get excited to buy an item they never wanted in the first place is crazy

[@tdc9951]

Not even close. Look at mobile/gatcha games they use tactics that online gambling uses.

[@kisamebalusong4980]

not really, that place is reserved for diablo immortals.

[@johndriscoll213]

@@tdc9951 In online gambling you have a real chance of winning real money; the same can't be said of Genshin. It's gross.

[@hijodelsoldeoriente]

Genshin Impact with it's pity system is disgusting. Specially the weapon banner.

[@kisamebalusong4980]

@@hijodelsoldeoriente have you seen diablo immortals system? We have gone deeper to depravity

[@tezra9085]

My problem with monetisation in games is that many developers choose to gate certain gameplay experiences behind a paywall so it feels like you have to pay to even enjoy the full game. Dungeons and transmog in destiny for example

[@el_mr6439]

@NumberisNaN I would say that skins actually takes effort to do (specially if they change animations and/or effects), but they do not justify the price

[@pontoancora]

You just described DLCs..

[@spdr3470]

As a FEH player, I think “Power Creep” is a huge factor. Every character added is the next. With better art, better skills, and BST, it promotes summoning and ultimately money spending with their criminally low rates to get one. Note: FEH is fairly F2P friendly.

[@jirehtheprovider]

so how does it compare to Pokemon Masters EX where the PVP culture is non existent? (besides it's lackluster but serviceable PVE mode) 70% - 3 star trainers (basic) 23% - 4 star trainers (intermediate) 7% - 5 star trainers (rarest and often most powerful) are they also the rarity rates to Fire Emblem Heroes?

[@gabcard2767]

@@jirehtheprovider It varies a bit from banner to banner, but generally: 36% - 3 star heroes 55% - 4 star heroes 3% - 4 star special heroes (Those are older 5 star units that were taken out of the gacha, and can otherwise only be gotten as 5 stars on spcific banners) 3% - 5 star heroes 3% - 5 star focous heroes (Likely the ones you are pulling for)

[@yeollierancher]

FEH feels quite forgiving in comparison to other games I’ve played, ngl. If I don’t want xyz character, I can just fodder their skills/weapon into a unit I do care about and it makes the game more fun because you can play with whoever you want with the best gear you have lying around. Heck, the fully maxed out Berkut I’ve been building since I started playing the game carries me harder than most of the new units, but I can’t say the same for main Lords that get a new alt every 2 patches. They give out plenty of freebies, and there’s so many characters to cycle around that it softens the blow if you don’t get the new one (because they’ll be back in like a month anyway). But when the gacha rates say no… they mean no.

[@DamslettesSIMP]

That's why I quitted Asphalt 9

[@CGFillertext]

I’ve never spent a cent on FEH and I never will, I get along just fine. Most of my favorite units to use are Grail Units anyway (like flame mordecai or iago)

[@moxiemos9637]

Do not forget one of the most important thing with these type of game: Fear of missing out. Similar to what you said about 30 hours Beginner Pack, but instead it a "limited" character/weapon/costume.

[@jomybaby22-gaming]

FOMO is a part of our everyday life Black Friday sale, Christmas sale, New Year sale, Payday sale, Grand Opening sale, etc. if you keep falling to the FOMO trap, then the jokes on you

[@shermantang9800]

I might add the desire to be special, whether it's by expressing individuality or standing out When there's so much customization/options available, people would want to find ways to express their individuality. But this is only so effective if they share the same options as everyone else (generic colour palette swaps). An in-game shop does address this to a degree, but lootboxes and slim odds to acquire certain items enhance them as you would always be in the small minority group that owns this ultra rare item. It becomes a status symbol like luxury brands.

[@mechanicalsilence1]

I think this is the major reason i pay, i always liked things that are "unique", if i could pay a skin only i could wear i think i would (within reasonable margins im not rich)

[@TheGodQuac]

I think this counts as a part social pressure

[@josewolf9884]

A piece of advice for all genshin players and people curious about playing it: You don't need all the characters, all the 5* weapons nor all the constellations to enjoy it. The game is easy by itself with whatever the game throws at you, and it's story driven by your main character anyways. Plan ahead: See the list of characters, see the ones you like and save your free primogems for them. If you fail to get them don't feel stressed, they WILL be back sooner than you expect (this was a problem early on the game when we didn't have idea of the time it would take for a rerun, but not anymore). The "hardest" part of the game (the abyss) is mostly dependent on your luck with artifacts, and the rewards are mediocre, so even there it's not worth to pay for the ez mode.

[@pyronado4320]

Ya but it sure is nice to spend $60 once and get all the things the game has to offer

[@TinyyTato]

Yep this. I only use Welkin since it's pretty cheap.

[@JadeMythriil]

These are the many reasons I wont buy into free to play games anymore. So many of them try so hard to get you to spend money from energy systems to limit your game time to long build/progress queues that take literal days if not weeks to complete. That isn't even touching the fact so many are a grind fest to get you to spend as much money as possible to save time.

[@dankgothtrash]

This is why it makes me so sad that fighting game players are begging for F2P. These people have Stockholm syndrome.

[@lycanwarrior2137]

@@dankgothtrash People always want to get something for nothing.

[@endy7630]

Here's a tip: Just try to actually have fun... that's the point after all! Spending too much money feels the opposite of fun, especially since you feel obligated to keep playing a game when you spend money on it. That's how an addiction can start

[@mintendymion2335]

Really does suck that almost every modern day games are using micro transaction. Especially gacha games which are the worst offenders and now a shit ton multi-player games are utilizing these mechanics. More people need to know this and be warned of these predatory actions because these tactics are being utilized in almost everything.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

I adore Gacha games for characters an lore but rarely play them XD

[@invertbrid]

Or learn to pkay those games free to play. Or at least spending minimum like less than $10-$50 per month or so depending on ur spare money.

[@pontoancora]

@@invertbrid yeah. It seems people are too fragile to just have some self control.

[@walterwhite4398]

@@pontoancora im literally saving up some materials for my character and yeah i have self control and also other things

[@pontoancora]

@@walterwhite4398 keep doing that

[@vict632]

This video really helped me understand why Overwatch 2's monetization feels so terrible. 1. Foot in the door They made everything too expensive. $20 for any legendary and even the battlepass for $10 isnt very appealling. Spending $20 or even $10 is alot harder to justify than if it was say $5 for a cool skin. 2. Currency distancing The currency packs are too expensive and the bonuses are too small, making so that everyone can agree that 100 coins is roughly $1 dollar. 3. Loss aversion The game sells cosmetics only so they have to make you like the game first before you're tempted into spending money. The game is in a bad state, no reason to spend on skins. 4. Social pressure Since their system has failed to lure us into spending, we actually look down on those wearing $20 dollar skins. Some of them look nice, but you spent 20 dollars on that?... Its like Blizzard completely forgot about the psicology of microtransactions and decided that their only customers from now on will be the brainless whales that spend thousands just because the game is popular.

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

As a TF2 player I can say TF2 already won the "TF2 vs OW" with those bad practices. I mean, is not like one game is better than another in general but if somebody needs to pick just one, TF2 is now easier to choose than before.

[@NANOKARMA]

The worst offender with these things is war robots, literally everything is pay2win.

[@wtf.is.this.new.alias.system]

Thank you! This topic is so important and should be common knowledge. Especially in our current gaming landscape where manipulation runs rampant and gets worse by the day. Theyre legit mutating

[@ProjSHiNKiROU]

I'm totally in the "actually calculate my odds" doctrine of playing gacha games and I have spent on them. However, on the psychology front, it seems when I spent on gacha games, I suddenly find myself harder to get guilt tripped by those asking me to donate to charities, since both video game spending and charity spending are part of my discresionary spending.

[@victornguyen1175]

I don't think this video touches on the topic of how this affects gameplay quality itself. Many systems or mechanics are just outright removed or replaced by monetization schemes instead these days. Lately after seeing Monster Hunter Rise's paid cosmetics no longer being event-based free DLC, we don't even get themed event quests to work toward anymore. What's worse is that not everybody is into the wacky stuff or the standard stuff, so it targets people for their own personal taste, the same issue I have with Battle Passes. You just buy and go, it just rubs me the wrong way having experienced what it used to be like where you felt like you earned everything. Relevant to the above, the video also doesn't discuss enough about how being a F2P doesn't solve any problems. How you're spending hours and hours on a game designed to make your life inconvenient with no respect for your time, when it never should've been the case in the first place. A rewarding feeling of earning things is through struggle, learning, and challenge, not just how much time you can throw at it. If we didn't just play these games, we'd have more games working to create something memorable and fun.

[@DD-fs7pg]

The ironic thing, is that developers have been known to skew odds too, just look at the gumi devs. Who's to say that there aren't games out there that tweak odds based on accounts

[@marco0445]

This need more attention! Such good editing!

[@Ramsey276one]

As a poor man, I am immunized to FOMO I Don’t care for Cool Brands or cosmetics, and I wish to see a World Champion that got there with Defaults Skin and no emotes one day… XD

[@alexluis6009]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing. If no one else has said this already, but I think another couple factors to your social pressure section is if a friend or people you actually know have a certain skin and may further entice the other person to buy the same or other skin so show off to friends. Lastly, and maybe even more important, is that having a skin vs a default character can plant certain ideas into other players' heads. I've heard from some people and even my younger cousins that sometimes seeing someone with a default skin automatically makes them think "noob". Or worse when playing with friends to make them feel embarrassed just for using a default skin (and this problem is probably seen much more with people probably under 20 years)

[@hashimina_]

As a guy who plays gacha games religiously, this video is an example of social awareness. i've seen people spent almost 2k on gacha, monthly passes and battle passes. while me spent only a measly 30$ a month until getting that guaranteed unit, quite a patience game but it's worth it

[@InsidePhil]

I thought myself too strong minded to ever fall victim to loss aversion but then he brought up clash Royale 💀

[@timogul]

I play gacha games like Genshin, but put strict rules on myself. I only put money into the game on the basis that I enjoy the game and the amount I'm putting in is a fair amount relative to "$60 box" games for the enjoyment I'm getting, and then I only roll with what I already have stored up. Under NO circumstances will I put a "little more money in" just because I didn't get what I wanted. I find Genshin's pity system to be acceptable, because if I'm lucky, I'll get what I want for fewer rolls and be ahead for next time, but even if my luck is awful, I'm still guaranteed to get what I wanted for a price I'm willing to accept.

[@fatalblue]

Loss Aversion is imo the most grimey tactic and a staple of P2W stuff. Any game that REQUIRES me to open my wallet to advance at all or just in reasonable amount of time is a no-go in my book. Foot in the door is by far the most sly tactic tho. Seeing myself go from being okay with occasional $1 purchases to setting aside up to $80 for a character purchase over the years is...interesting, to say the least. Fortunately, I do have good self-control and have never spent what I couldn't afford, but understand that the sec you spend that first in game dollar, you open yourself to more and bigger spending. Be careful.

[@pontoancora]

Loss aversion will never force me to spend, instead would make me drop the game. That's a reason I don't play p2w games.

[@ahmadiqbal4555]

They can't make me spend money if i don't have any

[@animationtv426]

Times like this I'm glad I grew up in a humble not so rich home where money was around to be thrown at games

[@Lumppii.]

Maybe manipulates you guys but I'm immune to these fraudulent tactics

[@DatBoiSaint]

We need to be able to EARN our rewards, Not just megagrind for them. I feel it's the mentality of this generation, " why struggle when I can just pay to beat it"?

[@Daniele-PierreDuLac]

Exactly when the best way to progress in a game is just to go to work it just kills my excitement to play tbh

[@cy4n_knight_q8]

I've been playing gacha games for about a decade now. Never paid a cent. I played casually and I think I'm doing great as I really never enjoy the game if I have to pay for things in it. Also self control is very important.. if you cant manage yourself or have an addiction problem then of course you need help

[@bate01071]

You are complicit in the system and feeding the beast. FTP players provide free marketing, help prop up in game economies, and otherwise contribute to the developer’s ability to make bank. The only winner is the developer.

[@DOGEELLL]

​@@bate01071exactly playing for free is not really going against those scam practice at all The answer to win in those cash grab is to not play since everything is based on luck/money its just bad

[@Qarcus]

I play a large variety of games, ow2, genshin, tf2, single player games, etc. I am no stranger to the cheap tricks, I have not spent any money on game transactions whatsoever besides spend a couple bucks on tf2 and ColorfulStage, I think that paying for games that give a great experience without needing to pay or needing to pay your entire wallet are games that I feel are worth paying for, of course whether or not a game is fun without having to pay is a personal standard but when I like the business model, I want to support it. For trying to minimize bad monetization, I think that there should be like a pop up in-game to tell the gamer what kind of monetization tricks the game is using and what good practices to avoid losing your entire wallet, or like a warning every time you pay money to remind you of your life choices.

[@sqfath7490]

Aside from one puzzle game when I spent 7 cent for extra boots (and feel stupid about it), the only game I spent my money on is Guardian Tales. Not because I want to get ahead from everyone else but because I want to appreciate the developer. I love the game, I like how the developer handle the game (they fast to response to any error or bugs), the community is fun. The developer also quite generous with gifts and bonuses, like free coupons for holydays, doing live streaming (and gave free coupons in the stream), etc. The game is f2p friendly so actually I didn't need to buy anything to progress, but sometimes I bought some packages only to appreciate their hard works.

[@dewbuon]

I feel like premium currencies should just be illegal. While other techniques are still shady, premium currencies only exist to make purchases obtuse and confusing. They also leave you with "extra change" currency that you can't utilize at all. They provide absolutely no benefit for the user.

[@erak7]

It appear two genshin impacto adds when i was waching this video. You cannot trick me now

[@huylevi]

How ironic that a channel used to analyzed Overwatch taking about gaming monetization

[@KenBladehart]

>me, completely immune to these manipulations

[@pontoancora]

Yeah, me too

[@Moby_Duck11]

Reason why you press on the video 1 you are actually interested in the content and want to learn 2 you press it bc you saw genshin

[@Strawation]

Great video for those who are new to f2p/freemium games. I'm constantly surprised that people don't know these things, but then I remember that I grew up with these predatory tactics. I watched as companies tried and refined different ways of getting money out of you. It is so much easier to spot what they're doing today because I watched them fail at it.

[@smilinggeneral8870]

As someone who have played gacha games since 9yo, i just wanna say that despite gacha is one of genshin's most criticized aspect, it is far from the worst. And ironically, most of the newer games that isn't rpg in the first place often have more predatory monetization compared to gacha rpgs.

[@cristiburlea1965]

Compared to other gacha games, its the only gacha game that its not pay 2 win because pvp doesnt exist

[@michapiasta3072]

The game is balanced around casual f2p, do there is no need to pay.

[@hijodelsoldeoriente]

While I agree on the character banner being bad but not the worst. I can't think of any gacha game with as worse gacha pity rate than Genshin's weapon banner. I truly believe it should be illegal. In contrast to Genshin, I think the most F2P and fair gacha monetization system I've ever seen in the gacha game industry is Punishing Gray Raven.

[@smilinggeneral8870]

@@hijodelsoldeoriente FGO with 330 rolls prequisite for a pity : "Am i a joke to you?"

[@warmpereer65]

@@hijodelsoldeoriente Azur Lane also one of the F2P friendly gacha where you can get most of the ships but if you want skins for that ship you need buy it using premium currency (gems)

[@LuCyOW]

I got a Genshin advertisement right before this video. The irony is too good...

[@7WhiteSword]

the worst part is a lot of people have voted with their wallet that they are okay with spending 40$ for one skin or 200$ for unlocking one anime jpeg… these people deserved to be exploited by these companies

[@DOGEELLL]

Yes this is the consequence of modern gaming just bad taste having idiots that cant play anything good All of these scam would not work against real gamers people that want to make gaming evolve play quality innovation and greatness talented

[@ca_lcium]

I probably spent 200$ on cosmetics during COD Warzone's entire run and my goodness I regret it. I have no idea what I was even thinking. 🤦‍♂ I could get a restaurant meal with the amount of money one cosmetic bundle cost! Never again!

[@FNLNFNLN]

Social pressure can be built into games. Even PvE ones. Generally in the form of letting stronger, experienced players help out new players in some way.

[@OBlueBombO]

Of course I get a genshin impact ad in the middle of this kind of video...

[@laughingstock6078]

i know from experience that the best way to not spend money in video games is to not have money at all in the first place.

[@strippinheat]

The most absurd thing is that you aren't actually paying for anything you don't already have. You are paying to access data that already exists on your drive. Imagine getting dinner at a restaurant and when you get a plate with a steak and two sides, you're told you can't actually eat the sides until you pay more. It was already made, it's right in front of you, but you can't have access to it. Or better yet, imagine buying a car with heated seats that you can't use unless you pay a monthly fee to use the heater installed in those seats. Surely, nobody would ever try to excuse something as ridiculous as that, if some car manufacturer were brazen enough to ever pull that sort of stunt. Surely.

[@pontoancora]

You are describing dlcs. If you want to describe free to play games, you need to imply that all the first food you got was for free, and they keep giving you little bites for free from time to time. You only pay if you are so hungry that you want a full extra steak or maybe add some cheese to the fries they already gave for free. In games like these we can just settle with the basic meal for free, and stop looking the extra options. It's actually easy.

[@strippinheat]

@@pontoancora It's the same thing. You already have all the data. You are paying to access something you already have, sometimes at random, which is gambling. Don't defend any of this.

[@pontoancora]

@@strippinheat the fact that the content is already done don't mean the devs must give us for free. We pay for A content, not the full content they can make. Your point is bs for dlcs and for live service games

[@Kacper42PL]

I miss when video games were a passion project and not a mass produced industry product that's filled with psychological tricks to scam a player

[@m_jay5]

Someone telling me to spend money on in game microtransactions (real life money) for meaningless cosmetics I treat no differently than someone who tells me to try alcohol! Point being, it's peer pressure that I resist everytime

[@WIld-cHILd-1273]

I rarely buy into AAA games anymore so I'm thankful indie games are kicking ass in the industry

[@GarrytheIII.]

I really liked the vid, keep it up!

[@AlanJonesu]

Damn. People really fall for this kind predatory monetization? I caught on really early on when playing Overwatch back in 2018. I didn't take into consideration FOMO, though, and the psychological effect of losing. Maybe it's because I only play Single player, co-op and fighting games mainly, this idea of learning to lose was strongly instilled on me when I played more competitive Street Fighter. So I was calm about my loses and despite even going on losing streaks, I had fun. I guess I had/have other things going on that take priority in terms of what to emotionally invest my time into? Nonetheless, this was an informative video. Thank you!

[@izzyvalenzuela7645]

It’s a shame that Genshin is one of the worst kinds of this because I still day dream about how incredible the characters would be as jrpg characters. Like imagine an actual rpg with a great story like Chrono trigger, with art on the level of these characters. Instead of winning the lottery for them you just have to explore a beautiful world and recruit them to your team. Maybe you have to run an errand for some of them, or save their life and they are like a warrior that owes their life too you now. While others were your enemy at one point in the story and you convert them. Could you imagine the possibilities and I’m writing this all on the fly. 😢😢

[@queendeborah14172]

I hate how they baited everyone when you unlocked amber after meeting her at the start of the game

[@fatalblue]

The big question is how much would you pay upfront for a game with Genshin level graphic and a cast of near 50 characters? I'm not knocking on your dream cuz I, too, would love something like it, but development cost is something to consider if you want to make something as big as Genshin, with its level of graphics for a one time cost.

[@pyronado4320]

@@fatalblue 60 dollars it's not that hard

[@izzyvalenzuela7645]

I would easily give it AAA pricing. I mean I’m excited to see what happens with Eiyuden Chronicles 100 heroes!

[@oKenshinHimura]

That is your personal issue. Genshin Impact shouldn't be in this video as it makes no sense.

[@theothermo7783]

I watched this video, Then opened genshin and pulled Diluc Xiao and am now 500k in debt thank Akshon

[@SashoSuper]

Mobile games companies be like: *uncomfortably long snif* money

[@tasoganedude]

More than RM50 in a game called Mr Autofire for Android, which is the price of an average Steam game. (Method 3) And Paladins, which uses Method 2.

[@jeagergaming3258]

As a genshin impact player, it really is not pay to win. Although his example of social pressure does make sense but you don't have to pull if you don't want to. You can play the game with out spending a single cent with the only downside is you only get about 60 primogems a day while events give you 400 to1,000 primogems depending on event type. Buying the genesis crystals to convert to primogems is just a way to get more in a little time.

[@laetitiac9890]

Exactly and they made it actually much easier to get the characters you want without spending, two banners 5* banners and with every rotation you could get the character you wanted but just have patience. You could also do stories open chests etc to get primogems. It’s really not that hard I am only getting Zhongli now after so long

[@mykolaakulov4465]

Timers are not loss aversion, those are combination of future discounting, hyperbolic discounting, and present bias.

[@diogoandrade6894]

I have nothing to say. I just wanna comment so this video gets recommended to more people

[@ngab2208]

thanks for the dividens guyss :)

[@TypicalBaka]

F2p players be built different (°~°)

[@Akkihana]

I really hate how battle passes and in game shops prey hard on the players, you see a very cool skin but you can only get in this pass or maybe is New in the shop but you dont know when it will come back. In-game shop should have all avaible itens at all time (like in league of legends) and you should be able to get battle passes itens after the pass is over

[@Soapy_Papoose]

All dislikes are from microtransaction devs.

[@JohnPaulBuce]

games cant manipulate me to spend money if i dont even have the money to begin with

[@raeelemental7084]

To those who play with a game that has an energy system and is offline... I recommend time travelling... No I'm not joking, just change the date and time of your device... Happy playing! Seriously, the amount of mobile games that have an "energy system that replenishes over time" is why I gave up on mobile games years ago.

[@Maxler5795]

someone for fucks sake send this to the supreme court or something

[@JohnPaulBuce]

even if i have the money, i dont really like buying cosmetics, i wont pay any amount to turn the game into a dress up game, im here to play, to enjoy and get good, if it is pay to win ill just uninstall the thing, it is not worth playing last time ive spent money in game it was 20 cents for a hero skin thats worth 20 dollars + 15 dollars worth of random stuff, thats an obvious exception, 20 cents is nothing, my total spent is now 1 dollar and last time i recharged was half a year ago. i only did it 5 times because im dumb and i didnt follow the instructions properly, couldve been just 20 cents nothing more, i am still very happy with that purchase up to this day even if i dont really use it that much, that event was a blessing other than that im pretty much a f2p games player, hard earned stuff is way more satisfying than paid ones, im glad i stopped playing mmorpgs, that thing takes forever to play

[@thadex454]

3:16 800% EXTRA VALUE>?!??!

[@Pezmage1]

Probably around $200 total while I was playing Dragalia Lost, over the span of a year or so

[@blindedbliss]

7:40 - Whew, referencing a study from the University I was accepted into, the clinical psychology course of... Cool... There's also FOMO, it and the foot thingy made me buy Overwatch Battlepass season 1, for Diva EDM skin exclusively. Then, I bought the watch point pack when it was on sale at the end of that season.

[@blindedbliss]

11:20 - In this particular case, you could just have your friend agree to only use free cards when battling you. Some 'save money' peer pressure at hand there.

[@Dubstepper]

2:32 never thought id hear about mtg again

[@n0_madno916]

What those game dev don't know is that I'm too broke to spend money

[@emiel333]

Great video. I’ve subscribed.

[@abdelali9279]

I think part of the reason developers are so skewed towards live service games, is because people will find it difficult to leave when they think on the "investment" they have made compared to what they can get from it, I mean you bought a good ol' full game at discount and when you finish the main campaings see the credits roll, you feel your $40 bucks were well spent, but when you are in a lose streak playing against sweaty players being told to uninstall, no matter how much you want, you realize how big is your credit card debt that you feel pressured to get all the "enjoyment" out of the game that is comparable to what you have spent to that point, I mean it's like, you don't just leave your card behind because a tire got flat.

[@cloutjumper4852]

How does this video not have over 1k likes?

[@henryfleischer404]

I bought a microtransaction once. I got the cat ears cosmetic in Halo Infinite. It didn't stop me from dropping the game once I was done with the campaign. The feeling of shame I got was kinda nice though.

[@danielmalinen6337]

I'm not aware of how they plan to do it, but in Finland the application of these in-game payments is planned to be implemented in grocery stores sometime in the near future. And when that day happens, we'll see if it succeeds and how, because the purpose is to trick customers into paying more for their food with similar methods.

[@IHaveALotOfBraincells]

I Hate how the market is full of shitty ass freemium p2w games like Clash royale, where i cant enjoy a game without spending loads of money on it.

[@Noah050]

Back when fortnite was big and I was younger i spent a lot on the game. After realizing how dumb it is I stopped and the only thing i buy is games and game pass

[@armorbearer9702]

(5:36) I get it. Getting thousand Korean won makes you feel like you are stretching your purchasing power. I bet it does not feel this way when Korean people convert their won to US dollars.

[@MrLag525]

Genshin Impact is literally a slots game disguised by an open world anime game

[@pontoancora]

You couldn't be more far from the truth. Actually you can play the game without even using the gacha ever. And unlike most games that was described here, that display bundle options like pop-up everything, genshin monetization hides itself in a menu, and if you never click on that, you never will see anything related. The game gives you 8 chars for free, another extra char each each 2 updates, and the first char gets a new version every year. So a player that started on first day, and never opened the gacha system would have 8+10+3, let's round up to 20 characters for free. Not mention these start characters are enough to beat the hardest content in the game. And if you want, the game gives you enough free currency to get 80% of the new characters for free.

[@ciocio-san]

Not defending Genshin’s gacha (fuck you, weapon banner) but Genshin is a lot more than its gacha system. In fact, I’d say the opposite. Genshin is a game made with care under the guise of another scammy gacha game.

[@walterwhite4398]

@@pontoancora that mean if you control yourself from touching the gacha mechanic your gonna save alot of resources

[@pontoancora]

@@walterwhite4398 yes, naturally

[@frap4506]

Its all common sense. But since paying for in game purchases allows gamers to have an easier time in the game, get ahead of others and even give them bragging rights, that's harder to resist for some.

[@CuteAssTiger]

i would much rather buy 20 games full price that i will probably not even play then engage with a game that is free and litteraly designed to be bad . your time has value

[@yourself1210]

I still buy those full price games on sale because I’m stingy with my money

[@CuteAssTiger]

@@yourself1210 Pc keys are always on sale essentially

[@reivalu]

i'm the guy that will pirate games and has barely even spent money on micro transactions

[@RYUkyu1812]

Excellent video! Very informative!!

[@RogueMastermind]

Overwatch 2's monetization makes me miss Overwatch's loot boxes. In fairness, keeping a large live service title going for years is also a huge expense, so I can understand the need to monetize. But rather than gacha elements or any sort of gambling with loot boxes, I prefer earnable currency in-game that can be used to purchase things with the option to pay cash for the thing directly. And if it's a competitive title, these purchases should not offer any sort of competitive advantage. If the developers want to offer limited time sales or limited availability items, they need to inform the playerbase far enough in advance so that the players can earn the required amount of in-game currency. Examples: For Genshin Impact, that would mean removing all gacha elements entirely and just making all characters and 5 star weapons directly purchasable with Primogems. Maybe 4 weapons that aren't exclusive to limited time events or the battle pass can be crafted with region-appropriate materials while 3 star weapons that used to come from rolls would just be lootable drops in the open world. While this would lead to a lot of optimizers having near identical accounts, it would be much more user friendly for low spenders and F2P players, as well as avoiding problems like personal favorite characters being effectively locked behind the gacha maze of paywalls and RNGsus. As a bonus, it also gives both new and veteran players longer term goals to work towards with a guaranteed reward. For Overwatch 2, this just means a combination of lowering the prices of store items and increasing the amount of earnable currency and the rate at which it is earned in game.

[@R8Spike]

this is why you play Len'en BotC, all of the FOMO no way to buy things

[@dermicool2011]

Well gta online is not even that grindy. You can any car you want in under 1 hour of grind

[@MCWolf14]

Micro transactions and freemium games are ruining modern gaming and taking all the fun out of them. Now, instead of game developers being innovative and creating unique game ideas like they used to, they just copy what the most successful games did in the past like Fortnite, or they make the game so pay-to-win that it's basically impossible to win on skill alone which quite literally ruins the game. And then you add in cheaters to the equation and nobody wants to play modern games anymore.

[@senritsujumpsuit6021]

Not all are pure copies I mean Fortnites BR mode only happened because of PUBG

[@diamondhamster4320]

Millions of videos on this topic on KZbin but all the games mentioned in them still make millions and billions in profit cause the people who actually play them and spend money on those games in reallity just dont freaking care.

[@pontoancora]

Maybe they just are happy doing so

[@arkankamil5345]

i dont know why but for me spending money on a freemium game feels bad like it makes the game significantly less enjoyable . like it doesn't feel like i earn it ,it feels like cheating even though like the game and genuinely want to spend money

[@s.b.e._9692]

Pro tip for everyone that started playing hearthstone go play battlegrounds man... You don't have to spend money to win

[@sakuraneko606]

You wanna know my opinion? These predatory f2p games must be stopped this instant.

[@macontu01]

Remember your money is yours. Spending it is your choice being F2P doesn't make you a Jesus selling your house to pay for gacha doesn't do it either. I don't mind paying monthly pack because I love to play it and It cost a lot more to cut loss in FOREX market anyways. $5-6 a month is good enough as long as they can push more good contents.

[@sumoshi5752]

Genshin impact is just an easy to go punching bag at this point.

[@imbtt39]

it's the most popular and the most profitable gacha game atm. it's just funny when these westerners haven't even seen the worst from japanese gacha games.

[@walterwhite4398]

@@imbtt39 well what do you it the biggest ones so obviously it gonna attract alot people with or without self control

[@lavithan4286]

Thats the reason why I don't ever start paying in a game. I may pay for it upfront, but never buy in-game. If I don't enjoy a game without paying money, I don't play it and go back to my safe haven: Minecraft ^^

[@adrianlaurentiu9168]

Man, you should check out Maplestory. They basically popularized the Gacha model in gaming. Such a fun game, but such a money sinker.

[@wiandryadiwasistio2062]

i kinda did the same with houseplants, but there's a twist. some houseplant owners i know are crazy about these ridiculously expensive plants that they want to buy because their peers bought it (for example, the monstera 'thai constellation' which costs around several hundred bucks, enough to buy you a new computer or gaming console or even a small minivan, is always in the trending list and while there's rarely any direct encouragement to buy that plant, these houseplant owners seemed pressured to buy it and eventually buy one, blowing their budget on the go). i don't follow houseplant trends, but there is always a time when i got to meet a rare, exotic plant (esp. those from genus _Euphorbia_ or _Aloe)_ when i'm pressured to buy it as it is stated it's the last stock and if i missed it, it's gone for good. this is what i dislike but i just can't get out because of stock limitation (the only way it'll truly out of stock is if the species has gone extinct; otherwise, i can buy it in the future). it's just gambling all over again because i place a bet if it's really the last stock _and_ if the plant's worth my time, money, and effort to take care of it _(Pachypodiums_ are quite drama queens, so i suggest you houseplant keeper beginners don't buy it 'til you get the basics of caring plants from arid regions or 'drama divas')