As long as games arent gamepass exclusive, and direct game sales stay consistent, I think we are largely safe.

But Im not exactly sleeping with both eyes closed, so to speak.

Tbf if an EV is burning you probably need an electric fire extinguisher, instead of the normal type thats for more common fire fuels.

Path of Exile.

Its 100% free, so you can play it like a demo until you are either fully in or bored.

It gets a season refresh every 3ish months with an entirely new mechanic, so most experienced players restart it 4 times a year, play a new build, and then stop playing when bored and return at the new season so its always got reasons to peek back in and see if you want to rejoin.

The leveling system is a little daunting at first, but the base game is completely playable newbie blind even if you pick “suboptimally” from the skill tree. If youre too worried about FoMo, there are tons of guides online for builds, both top level and newbie friendly.

The attack/skill system is very interesting and completely moddable, tons of replayablility.

If you like diablo, try PoE.

Thats fair, I probs shouldnt have used “paid for” in the metaphorical sense in a discussion about actually buying things lol

Incorrect. The second payment is the loss of content they dont get because they dont buy.

The guy has already repeatedly stated he doesnt buy microtransactions. The second payment is not the mtx he doesnt buy, its the lost content that the $60 game doesnt give him

Compared to previous diablos and other current arpgs, with normal expansion and base game content. Or are you saying you havent seen the constant content complaints about this game since its launch?

You have to be joking. You are genuinely surprised that clash of clans, the microtransaction king of store over content isnt a good example? The game series that is the punchline of in game purchases? Maybe try games not known for being the biggest cause of this problem

Examples? How about the game the thread is about? And how dead and devoid its updates have been, with a robust and full shop?

Was the game everyone is talking about for doing this not enough? What about every game that opens a beta, with a fully fleshed out shop but lacking actual finished polished features? Halos recent flops for example?

Do you grasp how poorly your argument looks when youre having to bring up iphone games as your shining example? Games whose active design from menu, to level creation, to difficulty curves, are all built to try and push you towards that shop? Games whose gameplay is directly altered because of the push towards the shop?

You pirated diablo 4? Gotta say, thats impressive to do for a server game.

And poe has much cheaper, frequently on sale, qol purchases.

Do I need a $2 currency storage tab? No. Will it make the game mildly smoother, and functionally be the “price” of the game for me if thats all I ever buy? Yup.

Do I get to play as much game as possible before I decide to “buy” the game and get my currency tab? Absolutely.

Cheap qol purchases for a f2p game makes the outrageous cosmetics far more acceptable.

The smell people associate with a chlorine pool is actually the smell of the compound created by the chemical reaction of pool shock cleaner and human piss.

If it smells like classic pool? Its probably piss.

Yes.

And youre currently swimming in a urine filled game, because 1/4 of dev time, money, and company resources are spent on actual game content while the other 3/4 go towards the next round of store items.

The pool is lower quality because of the piss. You can still swim just fine. So shut up and swim. Right?

The game is lower quality because of the focus on microtransactions. You can still play just fine. So shut up and play. Right?

You paid the bills by purchasing the game.

Diablo isnt a f2p, you paid up front.

Youre paying a second time for less game than cheaper games give you.

This isnt poe.

They dont bother making full new expansions. They make half an expansion, and spend twice the time and money making in-game store items.

Youre paying full price for less game and some pretty store windows to walk past.

And with every expansion, less game and more store is made. At least the whales get more content, youre getting even less than that.

There are cheap flappy clones you can get pretty easily.

Hell, take a beginners gaming programming class and make it yourself, if you genuinely love the gameplay that much. Its not that complex, and would probably make a good first project to work towards.

Its also crucial, when trying to teach these methods to a child, that you frame them as multiple options that can and will fail to help, and that the failure is of the method not the child.

These techniques are akin to shoes. You go to the store to try on a bunch of different styles to see what fits, whats comfy, what looks good, and what you ultimately want to wear outdoors. You dont fail to fit a pair of shoes. They just arent your size.

Trying a bunch of coping mechanisms and skills that dont work will feel like failure if framed incorrectly, and make it harder to try the next one. Kids dont always know how to change their frame of mind around these things, so its key to help make sure they dont think of it as another test to pass or fail.

You mean you didnt stop buying apple products? Lots of people, myself included, avoid slave labor brands.

(And also most jobs and housing do require a phone, and its better to buy a used phone second hand than a brand new phone every time. Utility devices are far more nuanced and intricate about “ethical” choices than a video game.)

E: also, this thread specifically is about death of the author, which I dont think anyone would apply to iphones at any point regradless

I dunno what fantasy world youre living in, but here in reality you get downsized and laid off regardless of how good your games do.

Unless youve missed the game trends for the past 4 months?

Im having a hard time believing you dont remember your own point

But I dont really have time for you to sober up, so unless you can get your shit together Im probably bored of babysitting you

You cannot be this stupid

Its literally the post, stop eating glue and read the title my guy