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After playing World of Warcraft for 15 years, I started becoming increasingly bored and disgruntled with the game. The game being grindy and repetitive is no real surprise, I mean it's an MMO. But the one thing that was really frustrating was paying monthly for a subscription and a huge chunk of cash for an expansion, but still having extra stuff flashed in my face all the time that was simply not possible to earn in-game. Mount skins, cosmetics, miscellaneous stuff that is only available in the Blizzard store. They also began adding loyalty items that require being subscribed every single month, and doing repetitive, extremely boring stuff on top of the other repetitive boring stuff, so basically double dipping on your grind, which really isn't fun.

Aside from that, I also played other games that required a heavy amount of grinding too, and each one of them had similarly frustrating elements. Destiny 2, overwatch, Battlefield, Fortnite, Halo, and the list goes on. Each of them has the same issue: fear of missing out. FOMO basically makes it so that if you don't seize the opportunity to spend real life money, you will never be able to obtain something really cool, because it's only there for a short time, and then it's gone, and you are made to feel guilty and bad about it. It's just kind of depressing playing kind of games and realizing that you are now mentally dependent on financial transactions in order to get the full enjoyment of the game. That to me is a very very awful way to live life, and it really messes with your emotions

So I ditched every game that had any element of an in-game purchase. This is honestly helped my mental health a huge, huge amount. Now, I only play games that either have no microtransactions in them at all, or are completely free and 100% possible to play with no purchase required at all. So games like team fortress, deadlocked, Stardew Valley, and many other indie games that you can purchase and then never have to worry about getting suckered into the microtransaction cycle for

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[-] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 81 points 1 month ago

Maybe its the 'tism but I never gave a shit about most microtransactiony things unless they have a "pay-to-win" element. That's why I gave up on GTA online.

But if its just like "exclusive skins", I could give a shit. My default skinned character can still win against a guy in a bear-suit with a golden AK and that's really all I need. I have no particular FOMO of not winning the fashion part of the game.

I do wish games I could turn off their constant begging for my money though.

[-] RonnieB@lemmy.world 48 points 1 month ago

My problem with "its just cosmetic" is that it turns the entire main screen into ad space, along with loading screens and wherever else they can jam it in. I don't play game to be advertised to.

Of course I can choose not to buy in, but if it didn't have a psychological effect they wouldn't be doing it.

[-] Exusia@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago

An argument I heard, and adopted is that it's never "just" cosmetic. Your enjoyment of the game is impacted by how you perceive your avatar. This is why fortnite skins sell so well to new players. It's not just cosmetic to drop $20 on Cuddle Team Leader. It makes a user feel silly and increases enjoyment running around as an obvious pink mascot costume. It prolongs how long you play both by increased enjoyment, and sunk cost fallacy. In any game with cosmetics, purchases drive playtime.

[-] hoshikarakitaridia@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

Yeah I had to realize that as well at some point.

Used to play games and I was so focused on gameplay, I always thought "why even have a lot of art in there". But then you realize if the art sucks, you wouldn't even be giving it a chance.

And this extends to skins and stuff. If it's "just cosmetics", that still means there is some art that is now hidden unless you throw money at your screen. And depending on how much it is, the game might be way too boring without it. So you're still buying bits of a game after the fact. And voila, we're back to the reasons why DLCs suck.

[-] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 month ago

You used to unlock cool stuff by playing the game.

They removed that whole loop of discovering cool stuff by doing cool things and replaced it with cash grubbing.

[-] aphonefriend@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 month ago

Played Terraria recently and this concept you speak of shined in it. Almost forgot how fun discovering new things as you play the actual game was.

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[-] Buttflapper@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

My default skinned character can still win against a guy in a bear-suit with a golden AK and that’s really all I need. I have no particular FOMO of not winning the fashion part of the game.

Sure, until Activision starts using its new patented pay to win technology

Twitter user strahfe recently shared a patent by Activision that suggests buying cosmetic items could increase your chances of being placed in games against less-experienced players. The patent reads: “The microtransaction engine may match a more expert/marquee player with a junior player to encourage the junior player to make game-related purchases of items possessed/used by the marquee player”

I'm not heavy into conspiracies, but I'm suspicious enough to not give Activision the benefit of the doubt and bet that they've done this in secret if they have a patent for it. But really... if we're even thinking about these kinds of things, the game is a lost cause.

[-] ihatetheworld@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago

It is always such a satisfying feeling to loot the $999 weapon skin off your enemy dead body.

Thank you for spending on my behalf and letting me play this game as a f2p and for letting me use your rare skin.

I avoid any games that have p2w mtx but I can tolerate it somewhat if it is a PvE only or 'single player' like in Genshin-like games.

I dislike the practice of having mtx of any kind in pay to play games so I tend to avoid those too.

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[-] TommySoda@lemmy.world 48 points 1 month ago

I cannot tell you how much better my mental health has been since I stopped playing Apex Legends, Overwatch, and Rocket League. I never had anything against the gameplay of these games but the microtransactions and battle passes were just straight up toxic. After a couple weeks you simply don't give a shit anymore and it's amazing. I see my roommate playing these games until 3 AM every day because he has to do his daily challenges for 4 different games. He'll be so pissed off that he can barely speak as he powers through game after game to get them done so he can go to bed. And in hindsight, that's probably what I used to look like back when I played those games.

[-] Buttflapper@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

Apex Legends ... the microtransactions and battle passes were just straight up toxic

My friend bought Battlepass for Apex once because it had a pretty decent skin in it. Then, he was straight up *PISSED * when next season they had the most ridiculous, incredible looking skin ever. He felt like he had to purchase it again that season, and was bitter he spent money the previous season for something so mediocre. That kind of thought process is just awful. These games lure you right into it.

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[-] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 34 points 1 month ago

May I recommend taking it a step further and going for games that have no cycle in them at all? That is, finite games that you can play and actually finish, for good. That's what I've been looking for a lot lately.

Some recommendations:

  • The Talos Principle (puzzles with a story)
  • Outer Wilds (best to go in blind, read absolutely nothing about it, not even the steam description)
  • CrossCode (fast paced fun combat and a cool story and characters. Somewhat grindy but still finite)
  • Beacon Pines (short and sweet visual novel)
  • Chants of Sennaar (language translation game, surprisingly fun and satisfying)
[-] carbonari_sandwich@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

Chants of Sennaar is absolutely one of my favorite games. It's one of the few games I've played where the mechanics of the game and the themes of the game were in perfect harmony.

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[-] Krakaval@jlai.lu 23 points 1 month ago

If everyone was following your path, micro transactions wouldn’t be there anymore.

[-] idyllic_optimism@lemmy.today 18 points 1 month ago

I was thinking of Stardew Valley and Rimworld while reading your post, sure enough SDW was mentioned at the end :D

[-] idunnololz@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

The Java edition of Minecraft is also pretty good for having no microtransactions.

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[-] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

Sell me on rimworld! What do you like about it/what do ya like to do

[-] Okami_No_Rei@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

Rimworld is a great Colony Sim if you love the idea of Dwarf Fortress but want a gameplay experience that's much more accessible with a much softer learning curve.

It plays into the chaotic post apocalyptic Mad Max style hellscape fantasy really well, and does not attempt to police your morality. You can love and care for your colonists, meeting their needs and growing to know them as individual people with their own unique stories, or you can play as efficiently or sadistically as you like, throwing ethics out the window and following the Geneva Suggestions wherever you deem prudent.

The base game is good for hundreds of hours of play, and expansions bump that up to thousands of hours of fun, but it also has a very healthy modding community if that's still not enough.

If you're unfamiliar with the Colony Sim genre, the basic idea is that you start with a set of semi-randomized colonists on a randomized map and need to build up a functioning Colony to survive. You the player take the role of a manager or overlord and set tasks for your colonists to complete, which they then take time to carry out while you watch and plan the next set of tasks. You need to gather materials, build shelter, grow or hunt food, defend yourself from wildlife and raiders, and recruit new colonists.

Rimworld in particular has fun building mechanics with an emphasis on building power grids and heat management (air conditioning and heating to keep your colonists comfy and keep food from spoiling). It's a lot like a top-down Oxygen Not Included, but with simpler mechanics and more focus on its (procedurally generated) story.

[-] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 month ago

Neat! Thank you for taking the time to make such a comprehensive review. Sounds like it’s up my alley! I enjoyed Frostpunk and the Tropico series (as well as Banished although I thought it was sort of boring after a while).

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[-] exu@feditown.com 7 points 1 month ago

Cannibalism is a viable option. Do you need more?

[-] PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago

Child labour was what got me into Frostpunk. Sold.

[-] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

I knew a guy who got real into it and started an "Accidental Cannibal Cult". It was fun to listen to, if nothing else - I don't get into those games much. Kinda like hearing EVE Online or Dwarf Fortress stories.

[-] HeadfullofSoup@kbin.earth 4 points 1 month ago

Over 2000 hour of play and i never won once but had so much fun losing in some really stupid way and some tragic one too.

With the mod and dlc each new game are mostly unique

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[-] shneancy@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago

i don't know when or how it happened but once i realised FOMO was being used against players regularly and aggressively i just- stopped caring. Oh a limited time special one week offer especially for me now and never again? Too bad i just launched the game and have no intention of buying your "newbie pack". Oh my event limited time items? Dang, those look expensive, anyway i'm happy with my normal looking armour and normal looking tools/guns cheers

& i only ever buy cheap cosmetics. If your game is bad and grindy when i play it without throwing money at the screen then your game is bad and grindy & i will tell all my friends about that experience

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[-] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

I'm glad I've had a few epiphanies over my gaming time that have resulted in no desire to spend any money on P2W or content skipping.

First one was in the first Turok game on N64. I was playing normally but at some point looked up the cheat codes for things like unlock all weapons, unlimited ammo, and unlocking all levels. There was one weapon that you needed to collect hidden pieces of from each level, and then you only got 3 shots with it that would pretty much AoE clear an area. There was another gun that you'd only find 2 shots of ammo for at a time that was similar. I had fun for a bit running around and shooting those guns at will, but after that it was hard to get motivated to play the game without the cheats because I knew the big weapons were basically just temporary consumables, which meant I'd probably never use them while trying to ration them for moments they'd be most useful. Using those cheat codes ruined the game for me.

The second epiphany was after raiding for a while in WoW and thinking about the loot motivation. It was a circular motivation: you get better loot so that you can raid more to get even better loot. If the loot was the main motivation, then it was pointless because the loot didn't serve any purpose outside of the game. So it only made sense to do raiding because I enjoyed the process, not because of the rewards. And this applied to most reward mechanisms in games. Taking that logic just a bit further made me realize that P2W is actually paying money to avoid playing a game and short circuit right to getting the rewards, which was kinda pointless when the rewards were meant to improve the experience of playing the game. Either a) you don't want to play the game at all, or b) you don't get as much satisfaction from using the better loot or whatever because you skipped the part where you had to do it without those rewards.

And then the last one is finding PvP less satisfying when the game mechanics give significant advantages based on either time spent grinding or paying money to avoid grinding. Did I just win because of my skills or because I've acquired better gear? Did I just lose because the other player outplayed me or because they got better gear? And I didn't even want to give any satisfaction to those who just paid money to win and don't worry about what it does or doesn't say about their skills. It's similar to the line of thought when you know cheating is possible... Did I get beat by someone skilled enough to aim better or someone using an aim bot?

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[-] zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com 15 points 1 month ago

My mental health improved after dropping games with time gating and or daily quests

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[-] Nexy 14 points 1 month ago

I started playing only arcade games for some months now and I'm so happy, this games are just gameplay and nothing more!

[-] AgentGrimstone@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

Whenever I feel FOMO, I just remind myself of all the other FOMO items I bought in past games and how much I don't care about them anymore.

[-] yamanii@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

It's refreshing seeing your list since people often blame gachas nowadays, but MMOs were the issue originally, it's just that other genres took a lesson from MMOs so now we have way more grinding options and it gets tiresome.

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[-] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 month ago

When I did this quitting thing from MMOs and FOMO inducing gachas that you describe, I suddenly

  • got a non-dead-end job
  • got a girlfriend
  • got a promotion
  • travelled around Europe
  • girlfriend died
  • travelled around Europe some more
  • got another girlfriend
  • ended up in Canada
  • got married
  • got kids
  • stuck in dead-end job again without promotion for the past five years

I still think it was worth it to quit though. My mind just gets stimuli from the seemingly simplest things, like looking at a beautiful tree on the roadside, brutalist architecture, interesting conversations that I focus on instead of my mind wandering onto the next mount or raid boss I will have to tackle.

And when it comes to gaming, if I want to satisfy my itch for twitch and a bit of adrenaline, roguelites scratch it the best, without the long term commitment to playing them for days or even hours.

But what works best to keep sanity is exercise, and with riding a road bike at least twice a day I can combine elevated heart rate with zoning out and Zen for stress relief really well. It's simply meditative.

I think of the twelve years I've spent playing MMOs fondly, lots of memories were made. But I would never do it again. And it has nothing to do with self-control, and willpower to not start it again, although quitting cold turkey definitely required both. But it had everything to do with the realization that it's a trap that's a poor substitute for real life, even if real life has dealt you shitty cards.

I can spot the hazy, reality-disconnected look of addicts from a mile away. The self-deluding statements when the topic somehow gets brought up. And I can do nothing but feel a bit sad for them, and hope that somewhere, someone manages to gently nudge them on a path that helps them escape from this trap.

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[-] RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

I don't think its so much the microtransactions as it is games with a highly competitive spirit. PvP games in particular. I don't find myself having any negative feelings after playing a game like Zenless Zone Zero or Goddess of Victory NIKKE, but after about two matches of Dead by Daylight, a game with a notoriously toxic playerbase, I definitely feel worse than before I play, particularly if the matches do not go well for me.

Im the kind of player that doesn't spend money unless I feel like something provides me value. Ive played ZZZ since release and haven't spent a single cent, and NIKKE since its release and only spent $25 total. I have enough self-control to handle those games and can spot bad value in games like gacha games pretty fast. So for me it isn't really about microtransactions, its definitely about competition with other players, and interactions with them. Playing a game of DBD, winning, and then having everyone (usually TTV streamers) call you names in chat or on their stream and report/mercilessly harrass you ( for winning in a video game, mind you) is a completly different level of toxic that I doubt many would be able to properly handle long term.

Its why I pretty much never recommend DBD to people.

[-] Buttflapper@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

I don't find myself having any negative feelings after playing a game like Zenless Zone Zero

I agree with the rest of what you said but this part is crazy. Gacha games are so heavily monetized it's wild. I played zenless as well up until a few weeks ago, that game is such a trash can. I used every single currency that I had earned in the entire game and couldn't get The character I wanted. Some people spend as much as $2,000 on the game just trying to get a single character. That kind of gambling is even worse than what I'm talking about

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[-] rimjob_rainer@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Welcome to capitalism. Big gaming companies do not care about games anymore, they care about how to maximise profits. Their games are manipulative and developed together with psychologists solely to get your hard earned money at any opportunity. They got so good at it, that they are able to release pieces of software which are looking like games but actually are milking machines and no games at all.

You just have to take a step back and you will be able to easily differentiate between products of corporate greed and games.

Games once were supposed to be entertaining and even art. And there are still some, mostly indies.

[-] WhatYouNeed@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

We'll take cash, we'll take checks,

We'll take credit cards, we'll take jewelry,

We'll take your momma's dentures if they got gold in them!

[-] EatATaco@lemm.ee 11 points 1 month ago

Just ditch the idea that you need any of those things. You don't. From a personal gaming perspective, these have been great for me because I get to play all of these games for free because other people are paying for it for me.

I understand the joy comes from playing the game itself, not the loot.

This is a life lesson as well. You don't need any of the flashy shit. Trying to avoid it is a losing battle, better to just understand it.

[-] swunchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago

I feel that playing a game that has micro transactions and not participating in them still contributes to the problem. In fact, it seems to me that these micro transaction heavy games NEED people that don't buy the cosmetics. It creates a greater sense of superiority in the people that do buy them by creating a hard line between the "plebs" (f2p players) and themselves. Regardless of how it makes you personally feel, lots of others will succumb to the social pressure of wanting to feel superior to f2p "bots"/"noobs"/"plebs". It's the same reason that people buy shit that they don't need in real life, the difference being that you don't get to choose whether or not you participate in an economic system

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[-] FoxFairline@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 month ago

If you want to scratch a similar itch, and have not already, try Guild Wars 2.

It does have microtransactions, but only because they have no subscription fee and they are mostly cosmetic with a few rare exceptions.

It also has no FOMO except cosmetics from certain festivals, which you can also buy in the next year.

It is still the best MMO on the market IMHO, because it values your time and money compared to other games in the genre.

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[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 month ago

I dropped them all like 8 years ago. Not even the microtransaction parts for me since I never played any pay to win games and not big on caring about skins or hats. It was that any game time I had, felt like I had to play league of Legends, or I'd fall behind.

So I dropped it and have happily gone back to pretty much exclusively single player games. It's nice.

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[-] WhyFlip@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

No shit. Micro transactions have completely turned me off from gaming, starting with TF2.

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[-] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 month ago

0 A.D is an free open source age of strategy kind of game. Add it to your collection.

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Team Fortress, I'm assuming you mean TF2, was one of the very first games to have microtransactions. They aren't required for play but they're definitely there.

[-] JoYo@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago

i just started playing on Ascension wow private server.

their take on classless is so nice.

[-] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 7 points 1 month ago

I left mmos due to my wife spending to much on "free" games for awhile. I miss them in some ways but also am sorta glad. They were easy to over indulge in and I have a lot of responsibilities. single player, buy once and done, games along with streaming shows or movies is so much easier to take or leave. No limited events or dailies or anything.

[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

I’m able to keep these games around because I’m pretty good at ignoring FOMO and microtransactions. I don’t need everything. One fun skin that I like when I’ve already enjoyed the game more than I’ve paid? I’ll consider it. But I don’t need everything from events - sometimes they’re just a good reason to play it together with friends at that time, like when the carnival is in town.

Still, there’s enough games out there that no one really needs to consider those types of baited experiences, especially if you know you’re susceptible.

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this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2024
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