DANG, you mean inquisition, I thought many of the fans loved it, though I was never a fan of the series
Yes Prime. People with more resources than I have studied this thoroughly -
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/03/01/why-its-scary-when-0-15-mobile-gamers-bring-in-50-of-the-revenue/#319cdb9b1ad8
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/08/28/mobile-gamings-whales-overwhelmingly-male-spend-big-on-all-types-of-video-games/#3a0d0f3038ac
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/195806/chasing_the_whale_examining_the_.php?print=1
And no, you donât stop magically being an addict when thereâs no more Profit to be made off of you. But thatâs the point.
But if GBX makes money off of increasing the cap to 150, and they decide theyâre ok with it and want to make more money off of doing so, then thereâs nothing to keep from raising the cap to 300. 500. 10000. Not to mention other systems that could be introduced. Will GBX do that? Itâs my hope that they donât. But theyâve laid the groundwork for it.
And then that addict, which is in this context referred to as a whale, will continue to spend money on them.
As for how I know addicts will play Battleborn, Iâd say that itâs shorthand for probability. One can never know anything for certain.
http://www.techaddiction.ca/video_game_addiction_statistics.html
41% of all gamers studied exhibit some symptoms of addiction, 7% of those exhibited dependence, or <3% overall.
Letâs skew Battleborn conservatively and say its population selects for just 2% of the population as dependent, because reasons.
Battleborn has sold at least 280,000+ copies with 14,000+ Players just on Steam in the last 2 weeks.
2% of 14,000 is 2800 (Correction 280), likely to be dependent on video games and recently having played Battleborn. If even 10% of that population are addicted, thatâs 280 (Correction 28) people. Just on Steam these past two weeks. I donât have stats for Xbox or PS4. But youâre right, I canât know for sure.
Itâs just likely enough that Iâd make that statement without having to get in to the semantics of it usually.
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Math is hard.
But you still didnât answer the question - how can an addict be an addict if there is no source of addiction left (no more levels to gain⌠booster packs = meaningless)
Theyâre still an addict. They either keep playing waiting for more progress to be available, start over with a new account, or move on to another game.
Addiction isnât a hat you put on. Youâre an addict because youâre sick. Itâs not what youâre addicted to, itâs that youâre an addict, your addiction is just what youâre dependent on at that time.
I would highly encourage you to spend some time with addicts in recovery: AA, Volunteer Centers, etc⌠and go see first hand what addiction looks like. Itâs something I encourage everyone to do, as it can help those who have never strived against addiction develop an understanding of what it truly is.
Just as an example of why the quoted question in particular is harsh is this article on the âdry drunkâ (authorâs term, not mine) when one has a relationship with an alcoholic -
One of the saddest and hardest parts of addiction is that getting the substance or source out of your life, or âquittingâ isnât the last step, itâs just the first on a long road. And the hardest part is that youâll always be an addict, thereâs no cure, just living day by day. =(
Not gonna mention any specific Games cough,cough Star Wars battlefront season pass and game, Cough cough but Many other game companies charge a Large amount for dlc that usually has very little content, and back to EAâs Star Wars Battlefront, they had an expensive as everything game 60$ American for 7 modes, 3 specific to the game, 2 memorable, and 6 heroes. This is crappy in comparison to the original games, but whatever. Then the 60$ dlc is availible, with 8 heroes, 4 game modes, 2 of note, and this is garbage. EA overpriced the game and DLC, and Considering Gearbox sets the prices awesomely low, I think this cap change is fine.
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I have played addictive MMOs and been addicted to a game.
This is not the same thing at all.
Gearbox increased the ranks to put new titles and achievements into the game, because these are tied to the progression system, and that has been stagnant for months.
For a Skinner box analogy to work, Gearbox would need to have been teasing us with gradual command rank increases ever since launch. Thatâs not how it has happened - on the contrary, theyâve actually kept the level cap stubbornly low, and moreover, any experience earned after the cap has simple gone nowhere. In other words, the satisfaction-loop in this game has been the opposite of a Skinner box: from the very beginning, we pulled the lever and got nothing. Thatâs what weâve been conditioned to expect.
Conversely, in addictive games, you are always teased with some kind of progress, however tiny. ITâs never the case that nothing comes out when you pull the lever, even if what you get is insignificant. Then microtransactions make it unethical by allowing you to get those âhitsâ quicker or in bulk. Battleborn is the very opposite of that sort of game: itâs kind of game that will stop your progression short and say âThat was all you get in terms of little quantitative gains - now you either enjoy the game experience or you leave to find a game that appeals to the gain-chasing addict in you.â
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I donât even want to think about what the Battlefront games have become. Battlefront II from 2005 is still the king.
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So youâre literally complaining that the game is going to be more fun and get players to keep coming back to play it? Thatâs about what I got out of that.
This isnât WoW or some other MMO where people get addicted and waste their life playing the game for years. When you get down to it, nothing changed at all.
Thereâs no difference in how Skinner Box-y or how compulsive players are going to play the game, except that now they can do it longer and continue to enjoy the game.
Honestly, Iâm extremely annoyed with you, OP. It looks like youâre just trying to stir up even more bad press for Battleborn. Hundreds (and possibly hundreds of thousands) of games have both a leveling system AND a micro-transaction booster, like you describe as the issue⌠and they are for some reason not worth your time to mention?
I honestly donât get why youâre so upset over this practice, when itâs extremely common and nowhere near as problematic as you imply it is.
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On a less critical note, @zesban, I am totally with you in being disgusted with the culture of microtransactions, milking addiction, and using whales to fund games that are designed around operant conditioning. When micro-transactions were first announced I said some pretty strong things in that regard myself.
I just donât feel, in my experience with games that prey on addiction, that Battleborn is anything like that sort of game. True, I have friends that chase titles etc., but Iâve always been quite happy playing the same character at the max command rank, getting no XP or titles or any kind of ârewardâ, all the while knowing that the game isnât holding back tempting achievements from me. Iâm able to take week-long, even month-long breaks from this game without feeling anxious. That wasnât even remotely the case with my former MMO addiction.
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If youâre comparing Battleborn to heroin, I donât think youâve ever tried heroinâŚ
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iâm out of likes, can someone like this for me? @HandsomeCam got any to spare?
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Done; whereâs my song? Do something⌠Festive.
"oh, @HandsomeCam
oh, @HandsomeCam
thy name is derailment!"
I will quit contributing to the derailment of the thread now
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Damn right you will⌠This is my turf.
@arcaneredneck: Iâm, uh⌠Iâm intrigued by your last comment. Are you saying heroin is as good as Battleborn? Because iâm sold then. Or are you saying itâs the other way around, because heroin was here first?
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Any comparison of video game addictions to drug/alcohol addictions isnât quite going to work, because both of those have heavily negative side effects. Gaming doesnât. (Apart from chewing through your free time like a fat kid in a cookie store)
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No, heroin is pretty bad.
I remember a long time ago, there was a girl I knew from a country I loved. I made an oath to her.
Her name was Lady Liberty.
She told me, âWinners donât do drugs.â
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Battleborn is the first game Iâve ever bitten the bullet on for microtransactions. Sometimes I feel quite ashamed of myself for wasting that kind of money on something worthless, but then I go watch Orendi and Kelvin dance and sing and I feel better.
Itâs also something that works better in a PvP game like Battleborn where youâre always encountering different people, taunting them, etc. If I hadnât bought the Handsome Collection, I would never have even considered buying skins for Borderlands. I play solo most of the time and itâs a first person game. Whatâs the point?
âŚIâm really clutching to try and justify this arenât I?
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Serious gaming addiction can have adverse side effects on your health and social life, so I wouldnât say that.
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I donât see why you have to justify buying skins any more than buying the game itself! I simply have more fun when Iâm pretty. Iâve spent actual money on mobile dress-up avatar games. I am unashamed.
As Iâve said many times before, if Battleborn added a microtransaction-fuelled paper doll mode where I got to buy accessories for my babes, Iâd be all over it. And then Iâd charge gorgeously into battle and drink blood from the skulls of my enemies fyi.
To be clear, itâs the gacha/gambling stuff that makes my skin crawl.
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Believe me. I abhor microtransactions, even made a deal breaker for most games for me, and put me on hiatus in regards to Bb. But Pendlesâ Puppetshow taunt made me cave in.
OT:
People already have said my view on your opinions. Iâll leave it at I disagree. And even if it was true, why go for Bb exclusively? While I hate them, they donât encourage addiction in the slighest. Overwatch has MTâs that are pure RNG. Why not go after that then if you are concerned about this?
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