This started out as a series of indignant tweets but I needed some room to really spread out. Alright, let's do this.

Microtransactions are everywhere.

Every fuckin' game has them these days. There's "free to play" and "not free to play but you can pay for optional cosmetics and then we'll release DLC free" or in some cases even "not free to play and we'll charge you for everything, all cosmetics and DLC because fuck you, you're idiots and we know you'll pay for it" models. Can't move for 'em.

Seriously, we're knee deep right now.

For the most part, I'm OK with it. I'm lucky enough to have a chunk of disposable income that I'm happy to spend on cosmetic junk for games in which I intend to invest a relative amount of time. New hats? Sure, why not. They make my PUBG lady look cool while she jumps out the aeroplane. Who doesn't like hats?

Now I'm going to shelve that line of thought and jump back ten years to World Of Warcraft. Those were the days, huh? When you spent hours and days grinding out the gear you'd need to complete your raid at the end of the week? And then when you successfully completed that raid and you got a cool new mount or helmet or... whatever it is Priests have. Staves? Sure. The point is that you earned it and you got to walk around with it and people would throw you jealous/admiring glances as you strutted through Orgrimmar. I assume they were admiring glances.. it's hard to tell. The models were pretty low-poly back in the day.

Anyway the point was that there was a sense of pride associated with the gear you owned. Every piece came with a story. This helmet came from the Firelands! These boots came from Ulduar! They were a physical manifestation of your achievements, and they weren't just cosmetic, there was a sentimentality attached to each piece. They gave your character character.

Fast forward back to Now

This helmet? I got it in a loot crate. I had to buy 16 of them to get it.

This isn't a rant about spending money because, as has already been proved multiple times, I will willingly and enthusiastically spend moneys on stupid virtual cosmetics without complaint. This is an issue of game design principles, and giving players an emotional attachment to your game that is dependent on an investment other than money. By making everything in a game available for purchase through external currency you undermine any sense of pride a player might have from earning it ingame. A system in which you can simply buy the same content that is otherwise earned trivialises the achievement of the player who invested the time to get it. So why should they bother? I think this is why so many online communities attempting to promote the loot crate model have so much difficulty retaining their fanbase; without that emotional attachment, loyalty will only last so long. Where's the pride in just being able to throw money at a game until you get what you want?

Why should anyone give a fuck that you've got a cool hat if they know you didn't even need to kill anything in order to get it?

Ultimately it seems in the best interests of publishers to lock the best content behind ingame achievement. Part of me suspects this is why Destiny was so wildly successful despite being so bloated. Sure, have microtransactions, but don't only have microtransactions. Maybe don't overcharge for redundant DLC packs either (Destiny i'm still looking at you, you bastard) but there's a balance in there which rewards everyone and keeps people coming back for more.

That's why the real indicator of commitment in Hearthstone is in the golden hero powers, not the cards you own, or that one time you made legend with a dumb pirate warrior deck.

Right. Good. Glad we all agree.

Thanks for reading,

Love Sweep