Should we boycott games with loot boxes?

Submitted ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨gandolfini_the_grey@lemm.ee⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

I have been avoiding multiplayer Valve games like Counter-Strike 2 and Team Fortress 2, due to their in-game economies that have created an underage gambling gray market, which Valve has done little about. However, I am on Linux, and the choices for multiplayer shooters are few. Besides, my small boycott is not stopping Counter-Strike 2 from being the most played steam game. Are boycotts really the best solution to stop this epidemic in gaming? How can we best prevent these gambling grey markets and the gaming to gambling addiction pipeline?

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null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I pretty much can’t play anything any more because I refuse to play anything with loot boxes or timers or in-game currency.

There are very few games on Android you can just buy and play casually to relax for a few hours.

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- vxx@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Stardew Valley
  
  Balatro
  
  Slay The Spire
  
  Lichess
  
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  - overload@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Final fantasy tactics is decent on android too
    
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- kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  As for android games… If you like puzzles like sudoku, check out Simon Tatham’s Puzzle collection. Simple ad-free online experience with a varied collection of puzzle games.
  
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Vipsu@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
If one wants to play F2P games I would like to recommend the no gatcha challenge. Meaning no gatcha or any in-game purchases. Rewards from forced tutorial pulls can often be sold / deleted or if the first pull isnt random then that doesnt count.

For battle pass games with only cosmetics I encourage to only use default skins, emotes, avatars, frames or etc. It probably annoys a lot of people to get owned by someone wearing “noob” skins.

If the games are still good / enjoyable after these restrictions then they just might be actually good f2p games.

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- natryamar@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Do you have nay suggestions?
  
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  - Vipsu@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Pretty much any game with gatcha like the Hoyoverse games. These often have some sort of endgame paywall but it could take hours to reach it. If the game is bad or simply unplayable without gatcha its a bad game. Free premium currency can often be used for non-rng non-gatcha stuff.
    
    Competitive games usually only have cosmetics so you can just use default skin, ignore battle pass and focus on getting good and having fun. Some people could even get salty for getting their ass handed to them by someome using default costume.
    
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abbotsbury@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’ve been boycotting CS2 (née CSGO) since November 2019 when they introduced Fortnite skins with annoying voices that you couldn’t turn off or disable.

I don’t think it has worked but I’m definitely never playing another Valve multiplayer game, they always turn out the same way.

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- RonnieB@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Played cs2 after not playing any counter strike for years. What an awful experience. I miss the days of finding a community server with people you get along with, or leaving a server you don’t like. Matchmaking you can’t leave, skins, loot boxes, has ruined online multiplayer for me, but it’s not going anywhere, sadly.
  
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RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Realistically, you and the other dozen people here on Lemmy that see this aren’t going to make a difference. Its too far gone. You are free to play or not play whatever you want, but it won’t make any changes to how businesses in the gaming industry monetize their products.

It would be nice if businesses cared about their customers, but money talks way louder than feelings. And there are too many stupid people that will keep paying for Candy Crush MTX.

Personally, I am okay with RNG based rewards that cost real world money if the game is free to play, as long as it offers a way to get the RNG rewards by playing the game even if it is at a reduced rate. Even if it is Pay To Win, at least reviews will tell me going into it so I can decide for myself whether I am okay with potentially playing at a disadvantage or not. In some games that won’t really matter to me, such as if I don’t want to really engage with PvP, for example. But other games that are PvP focused, I probably won’t play unless the rewards are cosmetic only. RNG based rewards that cost real world money in a game that costs money just to gain access to or play the game that are not entirely optional cosmetics are stupid IMO, and so I just don’t buy or play those games.

It sucks, but a loss of only 50 or so players from here on Lemmy is nothing to game publishers that gain and lose thousands more players naturally and not because of monetization per week.

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DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

~~Loot~~ Skinner box

And absolutely

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hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Yes

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SuperSpruce@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Definitely boycott paying real money for lootboxes or games with real money lootboxes.

If you’re not paying, then it’s just a factor to consider, the companies won’t care about you much

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RedFrank24@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I’m still waiting for a reliable way to pirate games with micro transactions and lootboxes.

Like, I know Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has daily quests and a rotating cash shop, and that must be talking to some sort of server that isn’t guaranteed to be there. Surely there’s a way to mock that server?

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Korhaka@sopuli.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Wasn’t playing them in the first place. Also a Linux gamer, if you want a shooter. Isonzo. Easy Red 2 is alright too, not quite as polished as Isonzo but it does have vehicles in it and is more single player/coop focused than PvP.

Will me not buying lootbox microtransaction bullshit games make any difference to the industry? Almost certainly not. But it really doesn’t matter much either. I can buy the few good games instead and just ignore what the rest of the industry is doing.

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monkeyman69@lemmynsfw.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Yes.

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SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
I don’t play CounterStrike or Team Fortress 2 because I’m not a god damned masochist.

In the end, I’m technically already boycotting them.

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Quill7513@slrpnk.net ⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
yes, if for no other reason than that they’re tricking you into thinking they’re more fun than they are. you can have more fun playing other games with actual mechanic designs

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