we switched over to Christkindl a while ago, which makes it a lot easier, just having to buy for one person, and being able to spend a lot more on that one present. it's a lot less wasteful too. maybe your family would be open to that?
@shadowskill11: because some gamers are autistic, some are handicapped, some are completely dependent on others for their welfare, some cannot understand the implications, and likewise some carers won't realize the cost involved until it's too late.
it's too manipulative a process and too varied an audience to say that all choices are going to be made clearly and in full awareness of the consequences. that's how all those scams on the internet function, all those awful dodgy adds that you never click on, people click on them, people who don't know any better, that's how come they proliferate, they take advantage of ignorance and stupidity, and just because you're free and clear doesn't mean they don't have terrible consequences for somebody somewhere.
My Skyrim character, Dragon Age: Origins' pause/party combat, my kids in Fable 2, Cyrodiil, The Tower of Latria from Demon's Souls, the class mod system in Borderlands 2, Halo 4's sound effects, the random chatter in GTA V, the dead giants in Brothers, the dialogue in Journey.
If they don't break the game then don't buy them. Nuff said. No one is forcing you.
it's not that simple, people get hooked by these things, it's not clear to some folks what they're getting involved in, or there's assholes who don't have to worry about paying the bills, landing an uninformed family member in it because they don't care.
but stricter regulation is not out of the question and i think likely to happen eventually. all it would take is a flood of sob stories about families who ended up broke cos their kid was left unsupervised.
there are millions of scams out there that work because people don't realize they're being scammed, and the marketing departments of games publishers are very clearly encroaching on that territory with how some of these currencies and pay-walls are presented and placed.
in Dota 2 i can see it being pretty harmless, and I'm sure there are other examples where it's under control, but as far as Microsoft, and now Sony, are concerned i find the whole thing appalling, it even bothers me that bullshit like avatar items are given equal place with legitimate content dlc in their online stores, and i really wish more industry people were calling out for restraint.
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