Over a year ago we did a gaming safety article about if Micro Transaction were helping or hurting the gaming industry and there was a lot of comments to us (both from parents and developers) touching on this subject. So, we decided to wait about a year and see if the culture has either change, became better or worse for parents and gaming. Well here are some of our thoughts on the matter.
In the past year, micro transactions have become more part of our gaming then the games itself. In almost every major release there has been some form of real money used to purchase items, stats buffs or other items from the game. Now as people are aware of that this is nothing new, however are gaming companies trying to make us go into more microtransaction as more of a general part of the gaming process or is this another way for them to get more money from the gamer?
We got a chance to play some high-profile AAA titles that are coming out and one of the disturbing things that we have notice is that microtransactions are more present in the games than they were about one year to eighteen months ago. Now it seems that to experience the full game that there is the actual game to purchase as well, DLC, and other add ons that “will make the gaming experience better for the gamer” as they claim. Now you may say that purchasing these items is totally optional, however it just seems that they are trying to entice you into making more purchases just, so you can better enjoy the game. For an example, for the upcoming Call of Duty game, you can just purchase the game alone, but as anyone knows that any Call of Duty game is mostly played for the multiplayer aspect and that some gamers will not touch the single player portion of the game at all. So, for a gamer that is a true fan to enjoy the game, they would have to purchase a Season Pass. Now again this is nothing new, as developers put in a lot of time to make and balance out the multiplayer portion of the game, and this is fine and all, but now they are offering “boost” from double XP to “loot crates” in which that you can get weapons, attachments and other things that will “help” your multiplayer gaming. Again, people will say that this is optional and not needed to enjoy and experience the game, however, think of it from this point of view.
When you go to the movies, you pay the ticket price to watch the movie, buy your food and drinks (that is optional) and enjoy the film, but what if the movie company charged you additional charge to see a deleted scene, or to see the main character in a different outfit, or even to watch the movie scenes that are available for a “upgrade” all of the sudden that movie that you paid to enjoy is now going to cost you more and if anything you are paying just an entrance fee to watch 2/3 of a movie. This is what microtransactions are doing to the gaming industry. Now some game developers may justify that if they are offering the game at a lower price and making up the cost via “in game microtransactions” which is fine, but having a model that in which the gamer must “pay to win” is not. Here is another example LOTR Shadow of War controversy. In Shadow of War there are gamers that are saying that towards the end of the game you can either grind (continuing to play the game, repeating the missions to earn experience points towards your character(s)) or purchase via micro transactions to upgrade your characters to be able to fight in the final boss battle. Now in our opinion this is just placing the gamer into a position that either they “pay to win” or play the game for additional 20+ hours just to see the ending. Another example is the new Star Wars Battlefront 2 that is coming out in which for your multiplayer character you can buy loot crates that have star cards in them that will help you character get better upgrades however this system is more design to be more of a crap shoot with random loot that would cause the player to purchase more thinking that they will get that rare card that will give them better power ups. Again, these are some of the many examples out there in which micro transactions are being used. However, there are some examples in which that microtransactions are being used and do not unbalanced the game.
For an example, Gears of War 4. Microtransactions that are in the game are just cosmetic and do nothing to change the player or the game in any way. For multiplayer, you can purchase packs that will give you “bounties” that will help you get experience points and different skins for the in-game multiplayer characters. Also, there are packs for the Horde mode (5 players vs. waves of enemies) in which you can purchase packs that will improve your class and player abilities in the game. Now because the horde packs only effect the game in a co-op environment, they are not affecting how the game is played against others. As you can earn more horde cards by playing with others after every 10 waves, the microtransaction method is for those that want to get higher in the ranks and not grind. Again, the packs are randomized so multiple purchases are needed before you get the desired cards needed.
Now before this scares you into not ever gaming anymore, remember that there are ways to either limit or take advantage of microtransactions. Always remember that in the end it is what you want from the game, also how much time that you will invest into the game also. Sometimes that microtransactions can add more replay value or even make the game even more fun as you do not have to grind to get the items/boosts/perks from multiple hours of playing. For some that just are going to keep the game and want to have the best loadout, microtransactions can help you to get what you want, but remember that working towards your goal vs. paying for it is much better gaming experience.
For parents that are worried about their younger gamers getting sucked into micro transactions, you can take some steps to prevent the over usage of this.
- Make sure that your credit card/PayPal account is not accessible for your gamer, this will stop them from using it to make multiple purchases.
- Set up a child account on the PlayStation 4/Xbox One so it will have to ask for permission before any purchases are made. (You can go to the platform website for more information on how to set this up)
- Have a talk with your gamer about not abusing and making purchases from within the game.
- For parents that have children, if they want microtransactions, use gift cards to limit their purchased.
- For gamers that are tempted to make those purchases, set a limit for yourself and stick to it.
As seeing that this practice will be around for a while, educating yourself on what microtransaction are and now how they are used by developers (either in a good way or easy way to boost your gaming) know what they are offering and make the best educated choices for yourself, and your gaming family.
As always, we here are Family Gamer Review are here to answer any questions/concerns that you have about this new practice, be sure to drop us a line on social media with the #askfgr and we will be more than happy to answer any questions.
