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The Unreward System (Patreon)

Published:
2019-02-27 15:37:42
Imported:
2020-05

Content

Another editorial from yours truly today. I've written about the Unreward System, a way in which "AAA" videogames manipulate gameplay rewards to make their monetization more appealing. 

Hope you enjoy it! 

Files

Blog | The Jimquisition

Comments

moosemaimer

The last online shooter I played was Quake Wars, which had a leveling system, but the only thing that affected was the rank that appeared in front of your name. All gameplay unlocks were for the specific 3-match "campaign" you were currently on, so if you saw someone running around with akimbo silenced SMGs it wasn't because they bought a crapton of boxes, it meant they were absolutely killing it that game. And then Activision demanded they shut down the tracking servers to focus on building a console port nobody bought.

Tobasco da Gama

More longform Jim? I haven't been THAT good lately, but I'll take it. The Overwatch "tag" thing reminds me how custom tags were a standard feature in early Source-engine games like HL:DM, CS:S, and TF2. (I think the feature may have been introduced even earlier in the QuakeWorld days, but I'm not 100% sure) You'd just drop in a GIF in a settings screen and press whatever key you had bound. Obviously, lots of people abused the tags for vile shit, but my point here is that this was a free feature that was driven purely by player creativity that now is a locked-down monetization vector.

Anonymous

I'm finally beginning to take-away from Jim's overall message that you gamers may not realize that you've become the animals in the factory farm. I think I'm glad to see written content on Jim's site once again! I don't know about the new website design... I tried to comment but couldn't use my old sign-in, and had difficulties. P.S. The last vid's bookshelf of toys in the old wood panel basement was a big turn-off for me. It's making me think I should've grown out of this shit by now!

Faith and Valor have a good month creators. Love all that you do.

I remember long ago playing Vanilla WoW and thinking it was using predatory tactics. It makes the first ten levels happen in an hour of play and the increase in ability be extremely vast only to then see it taper off as you got to higher levels. I watched friends chase the high of leveling up because we’re all addicted to the “sense of pride and accomplishment.” I remember thinking WoW does this so we keep paying for the monthly subscription. They were raking in the money then. As a casual gamer now I wonder how gamers today afford to even play with all they ways the “itch” is applied these days?

Anonymous

More longboi Jim? Awww yisss!

Anonymous
>>20272014

I played World of Warcraft for so damn long. I was hooked on grinding for pets and mounts. Even though I absolutely knew I was giving in to bull$#!^ Skinner box grinding I couldn't stop. I don't do this with lootboxes and anything like that, thankfully, but the addiction was mighty, and more frustrating because I knew what I was letting the game do to me.

Anonymous

I spent about 5 years with League of Legends as my go-to obsession. Say what you want about how League works (and I do) but to this day it has the best monetisation model of any game I've played: It was free, and if you wanted skins for your character, you could pick up some RP and buy exactly which one you wanted, with the nicer looking ones costing more. Yes they used a bullshit fake currency and yes they badly implemented lootboxes after Overwatch made them big, but for 5 years if I liked a skin I could wait for a sale or pick one up for about 5-15 bucks and buying actual in-game advantages was restricted to earning them through gameplay (the old rune system). All this to say that I love Overwatch and Apex both, but its insane to me that in OW I can only buy the thing I want by opening lootboxes and hoping I get coins or duplicates - and if I get a duplicate, it gives a 5th of the coins that duplicate is worth, punishing me for having opened lootboxes before?? I couldn't express my disappointment that Apex caps lootboxes so after you hit that level 100 you've gotten all the free shit you ever will, end of story. I won't be buying the founders pack or anything else until they remove that bullshit Unreward System.

Trevor Bond

Pretty well why I gave up on video games. I play them for free at someone's house or when they give them to me because they aren't using them anymore, or I don't bother.

Anonymous

<i>"No one knows for what reason, because no one knows anything, and the sand swallows those with banners as it swallows those without. And the sand covers everything: my life, my prose, my eternity. I carry my awareness of defeat like a banner of victory.”</i> ~<b>Fernando Pessoa, <i>The Book of Disquiet</i></b> P.S. (did I successfully disguise my overwhelming sense of hopeless frustration at the games industry with enough literary panache?)

Perpetual Noob
>>20281723

I had no idea loot boxes stop in Apex. I'm wicked far away from 100 but that...that is such a stupid move on Respawn's part. Are we positive EA isn't lying about having a hand in Apex's development? I don't want to believe Respawn would be such jackasses (though apparently they are). 😞

Twit In A Hat

Are we <em>sure</em> these aren't online casinos?

Anonymous

Jim went on the jimquistion 1 love the layout 2 i now on fucking switch just watched you destroy worlds and moon fucking loved oh the ufo is related to either a nazi thing that they was working on and in the surrender when to the US to devolop tech. Or its to do with the Apollo missions that was run by the NAZI that made V1 and V2 to hit the UK and other european nations when they was losing nothing to do with supporting Nazi ideals. I hope that help thank god for you and you made me a fan of switch . Brill content loving justin and the other lady on the switch cast thing xxx .