without threatening games studios or requiring that capitalism collapses first, what are methods you would use to fix these dumb multiplayer games

because unfortunately i think these guys want skins and progression systems now bleayyeaakkck

i think we gotta trick em into thinking they’ve got skins. my idea is that you get to keep your skins but only until you die, and then it turns into a puff of greasy smoke and you go back to looking like your friend Leonard dressed in lazertag gear. make 'em spend in-game currencies that aren’t tied to real world dollars and i think we have essentially a Skins Methadone Clinic

what are your ideas on how we solve this disGUSTING state of multiplayer games

  • imogen_underscore [it/its, she/her]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    a tangentially related thing that sucks is games being made to do well as an esports product because that’s such a big market now. and on the flip side games that people would love to play not getting made because they’re not considered esports viable (the people yearn for arena shooters). looking at you deadlock…

  • Frank [he/him, he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    I don’t think there’s a solution to game companies using behavioral psychology to influence player behavior under capitalis. Maybe if china or the eu were to ban mtx outright or something. But it’s profitable, reliable, and cheap to implement. They’d be putting cocaine and heroine in baby formula if they thought they could get away with it.

    • 12022081631 [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      2 months ago

      i am indulging in the fantasy that we could just walk in and sneakily fix the games, maybe after midnight if we can get the security codes and the assistance of a few very based coders + we sneak around the lazer grids

  • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    I don’t think you compete against gambling and constantly being X units from Y prize. You don’t make a good relationship by finding a way to make higher highs than an abusive relationship. You don’t stop drinking by having even crazier nights out with a different substance. It’s a hypnotic psychology-based money milking machine. I don’t think you win by fixing the box.

    There are a lot of charmed games out there (a lot of them single player). When I think of good multiplayer, I think of limitless creativity. Your Warcraft 3, Minecraft, Mario Maker, Runescape. Give me a 3D Zelda dungeon maker and watch it print money.

  • laziestflagellant [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    Skins are fine just have them be locked behind achievements, leveling up and fun in game challenges if you’re feeling daring.

    That’s how Monster Hunter does it, there’s even stuff like rare color shifting rainbow dye you can unlock by beating endgame challenges

    • NephewAlphaBravo [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      2 months ago

      As much as I love GenU and Rise for their transmog systems, a part of me still misses the old days of clownsuiting for optimal stats. Fucking around with the armor set finder trying to get a good balance of skills I want but that also look pretty good together.

  • Quake wars had the right of it. You have in-match progression, not meta progression. Go on a massive spree? You unlock cool new thing until match ends. The dopamine ladder has no limit because you reset every time you load in, but it’s a fair field because even the seasoned vet starts at rung 1 at the match start.

    Never got to play the Wolfenstein one, heard good things.

  • OutrageousHairdo [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    I mean it’s not a bad thing inherently, it’s just being done badly. If you played Modern Warfare 2 (as in the original, NOT the remake), unlocking all the little banners and the weapons and the perks and stuff was fun and engaging and not like, predating on players.