You're right - but many games are specifically built to trigger a fear of missing out now.It's okay to miss out on things. You don't have to do everything in a game. :)
So you do recognize that developers are specifically designing their games to hook people in with the fear of missing out, instead of simply being fun.There are many, many good reasons from a game design point of view to do that. Game design directly ties to monetisation and profitability.
* Time-limited content gives more engaged players more reasons to play during said time periods.
* It brings back players that may have lapsed in the past, as it provides them with something new and fresh to earn.
* It incentivises players to spend money on grind boosts, currency boosts, progression shortcuts and similar things, providing an opportunity to make more money.
* It offers opportunities to create more non-standard content that may otherwise have hard time getting greenlit and invested in, such as event-themed items, content and events that do not fit as part of the regular in-game worlds and universes, and similar.
* Skill-gated content provides more ways for skillful players to distinguish themselves over players of lesser skills.
* It helps push skillful players to do their best even more, raising the bar regarding how competitive an experience can be.
* This can create social drama and social prestige opportunities for both the game systems and the players.
Can expand with a lot more game design reasons, but I have to go and annoy some people in Sea of Thieves now. :p
I would say that most of these timed events are exploitative. "The only input needed is attention and time" - which is limited for most people.I wouldn't say all retention features are exploitative. Anything on a timed cadence would fall into the retention category, from daily quests to weekly raids to special modes and events. The majority of retention features are very beneficial to the player and the only input needed is attention and time.
So you do recognize that developers are specifically designing their games to hook people in with the fear of missing out, instead of simply being fun.
It's predatory behavior to get players to spend money, just as loot boxes were.
I would say that most of these timed events are exploitative. "The only input needed is attention and time" - which is limited for most people.
It's even ruining single player games now. I found the way recent HITMAN games handled their timed "elusive targets" to be very exploitative.
So you do recognize that developers are specifically designing their games to hook people in with the fear of missing out, instead of simply being fun.
It's predatory behavior to get players to spend money, just as loot boxes were.
Black Friday stuff is sold always, not only on BF.Some of yall are something else.... timed events are predatory? Preying on FOMO? Like how is that any different than when stores have sales on stuff? Is black friday predatory because of FOMO?
Some of yall are something else.... timed events are predatory? Preying on FOMO? Like how is that any different than when stores have sales on stuff? Is black friday predatory because of FOMO?
BF is a yearly occurring event lmao
With MP events you can be lucky if what you're missing out ob will ever come back before supports ends.
It also causes players to have permanently missed out on content, providing them with a reason to no longer play the game. As I mentioned earlier, I booted up Rocket League after a long time of having not played it and saw a battle pass 20 days into the season. I can't unlock the pass any more (or it's a lot more difficult) because I'm late, so why engage with the progression system at all? And if I found the progression system to be important, I've missed out so why play the game any more?* It brings back players that may have lapsed in the past, as it provides them with something new and fresh to earn.
No offense, OP, but this is such a weird post. You don't like the fact that you are unable to acquire cosmetic content in games you don't spend enough time playing?
I, too, don't like the fact that I am unable to enjoy all the great games I can't find the time to play.
OP has a very valid point. I personally think no games should have 'missable' content. I'll grind for it, but don't give me a time limit.
Ultimately, developers are shooting themselves in the foot. The constant, relentless grind will cause burnout. And once you miss out on too much exclusive stuff you might just drop the game entirely. FOMO is a double edged sword.
Costco takes it even a step further with it's "treasure hunt." They regularly rotate limited stock items that never come back. This is meant as a reward for regular shoppers and to encourage other shoppers to keep coming back.
I guess it's difficult for me to relate with the OP, as I rarely experience FOMO, and I really don't care about cosmetics in games. The idea that someone's enjoyment of a game is dependent on the outfit their character is wearing just feels...weird. In the few multiplayer games I have played (Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Gwent, Faeria, Dota Underlords etc.), I never bothered with cosmetic items.It's not weird. All of these games have monetisation schemes and reward systems that play on the players fears of missing out. They skew the best rewards (e.g. the best cosmetic skins) towards players that invest a massive amount of time in the games. They offer no transparancy as to how that content will (if ever) be accessible for players that missed out.
Playing a small amount of each game does not mean that that player likes that game any less, than players that play that game dedicatedly. It simply means that you have varied tastes. Despite this, playing a small amount of each game leaves the player with the worst experience of each in terms of cosmetics and rewards.
I'm currently juggling Destiny 2, Modern Warfare, Crash Team Racing Nitro Kart, and Apex Legends.
I think the fear of missing out is important in getting people to engage with the current content but at the same time, you can have a system that relies on FOMO without absolutely preventing players from unlocking that content in the future. Crash Team Racing Nitro Fuelled does this well, as I'm always compelled to participate in the current season in order to get rewards because I know that if I miss them, I'll need to buy them with in-game currency afterwards.
Also related to what you were saying about it being a double edged sword, for me a big factor is also just not playing games with 'season 7' style battle passes. You look at games like Fornite and it's like 'season 9' and things like that, as a prospective player all I see there is that I've missed 8 seasons. That's not appealing, FOMO mechanics work because they emphasise that players will miss out if they don't play, but games like Fortnite and Apex Legends emphasise the content that has already been missed. I'm not sure what advantages there are to presenting it like that.
We doing fishing analogies now?That's correct. And also besides the point. You can be an expert fisher who knows the right bait and lures or whatever that drive fish wild...that don't mean you expect to catch every single damn fish in the lake. Like come on.
I guess it's difficult for me to relate with the OP, as I rarely experience FOMO, and I really don't care about cosmetics in games. The idea that someone's enjoyment of a game is dependent on the outfit their character is wearing just feels...weird. In the few multiplayer games I have played (Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Gwent, Faeria, Dota Underlords etc.), I never bothered with cosmetic items.
I also don't understand the 'gotta have them all' collector mindset. For me, objects (whether real or virtual) only hold utilitarian value, and I don't get sentimental or fond of them. I do get immensely fond of people and ideas, just not...things.
I guess OP's complaints might be valid for a lot of people who share OP's experiences, regardless of what I find personally relatable. As such, I believe I'm unable to contribute to this thread in any meaningful manner. I'll see myself out.
But isn't that just...life? There are so many things we'd like from life, that we might never be able to have. Like, I might want to date a person who has zero interest in me. If she/he doesn't want to date me, there's nothing I can do to 'work towards' attaining it. There's a brand of chips I LOVE, and the company that used to make it has stopped doing that. Again, nothing to be done about it.For me, it's not really the fact that I need every cosmetic, but the fact that I've missed out, and can never attain it again, that really puts me off for some reason. I suppose even though I don't care about having everything, I like the idea that if there's something I like I can work towards attaining it.
Everyone is blaming OP's mentality when he's right. Every dev wants you to make their game your job, and it sucks. It affects more than just battle passes. It's a shit design trend, and I hope it goes away soon.
my completionist tendencies make me feel guilt for choosing instead of joy for playing. blehhh
Consider that your proximity and exposure to it has normalized these techniques, so that you no longer see it for what it is.Hey, this might be an interesting thread. Let's discuss things from a professional point of view as someone with actual industry experience.
Several posts later: predatory, exploitative and stuff. Never mind, maybe the next thread will be more sane. :)
Absolutely. That's why it's becoming so prevalent, and why people need to push back against it.Unfortunately, this is often the easiest thing to do. It's much easier to lean in to progression systems, reward conditioning, etc instead of digging into the really difficult stuff -- e.g. 'finding the fun.'
Not all of them are, but most that I experienced have been.Care to elaborate on why most timed events are inherently exploitative? Just because they require a limited resource doesn't mean they're inherently exploitative.
Not all of them are, but most that I experienced have been.
Take the HITMAN games: these are single player games, but they add "elusive targets" once every week or two, that unlock items which are not just cosmetic, and cannot be obtained via other means.
This is designed to pressure people into buying the game as close to launch as possible so they don't miss out on that content, like they would if they bought it on sale later, and to keep influencers coming back to the game and promoting it.
Take the HITMAN games: these are single player games, but they add "elusive targets" once every week or two, that unlock items which are not just cosmetic, and cannot be obtained via other means. They even go as far as hiring celebrities to make the events more appealing.
I failed those missions and the game removed them. Was I robbed and exploited because I was not a good player?
This entire thread is a cyclical bullshit. Everything can be boiled down to being exploitative:
• Discounts for purchasing the game
• Marketing to pressure you into buying the game
• Graphics to make the game look good and appealing
• Creating more content to boost the value of the game to attract more players
Yet, none of you geniuses have presented the alternative. Or, one did, who suggested that developers abandoning the game right after launch is the way to make multiplayer games.
The good thing about MHW is that all those timed quests are available again in big future seasonal events, like the current holiday event. So even though iceborne is the latest expansion and it has exclusive quests, you can still play all (or almost all) vanilla quests.I stopped playing MH World because of to many timed / exclusive events. I missed some weapons / armorsets and felt left behind. In the end i stopped playing MH World at all, although i played several hundred of hours of different MH titles.