When the price paid for a game was the one on the price sticker!

I was first attracted to Jack's work through his 'How to Play' series. I'm glad that he's keeping his ear to the ground about what happening in the world of video games, particularly the increasingly predatory behaviour of games companies who want us to continue to pay to play (let alone win) in perpetuity.

This is painful to see.

Ah yes.  Oblivion.



Where it all began...

Ok, I just have to link this here. It's from when blizzard starting selling mounts.

To me, DLC in itself isn't that bad (especially if it's to do things like add planned content that was originally cut during production or to address things like plot holes and gameplay issues). The problem is paid DLC and especially on-disk DLC.

As for micro-transactions, I don't mind them if they're purely cosmetic. People are free to pay for shiny stuff if they really want to, just as long they aren't paying to win.

@Zero,

But when it is impossible to level up without in-game credits and the quickest way to get said credits (by several orders of magnitude) is to buy loot crates en masse from the in-game store then you've stumbled onto a racket.

Then there's the subtle psychological tricks they use to pressure you into buying...

@BenRG - Yes, that's what I meant by "paying to win".

This is why I liked Horizon: Zero Dawn so much. A complete story, no loot boxes, and the DLC was announced months after the original release and wasn't needed for the "complete" story.

I agree, the problem is when it's pay to win. Otherwise, the money is yours, do what makes you happy.