Shilling? I think D:I is predatory garbage. I just don’t know the backstory over at NetEase because I’ve never done the research. 

Don’t plug Lost Ark on the blog. It’s a predatory casino the likes of which no other MMO can rival run by Amazon sharks. It runs out of ~Steam~ and drops you off to literally pay for any kind of progress you want to make. Those numbers are 75% bots which are allowed by Amazon and Smilegate to inflate their…

....did you? There’s a deal with a publisher, but the physical release isn’t due until next summer. 

I bounced off of FFTA, and I don’t think it was just because of the kiddy aesthetic. It’s also just mechanically different in a lot of ways that some folks don’t enjoy. Also after going back to it a few weeks ago, I’m not a fan of the interface.

I’ve literally never bought a loot box, but random rewards can be very fun. Would Diablo be half as interesting if nothing dropped except money and you had to buy all standard equipment from a shop? Would anyone do endless boss runs?

I don’t know how many of you played Kingdom of Loathing, but back in the day they had a gambling function that used in-game currency, which in turn could be purchased by selling donation items [Mr. A]. This quickly became a headache for the devs and players alike. People who donated tons of money to gain essentially…

This is exactly why loot boxes are gambling. Your addicts are complaining that they’re no longer getting their high - because just paying for what you want doesn’t trigger that endorphin rush for them.

It’s just that rationally you should be able to understand that in the long run it’s cheaper.

Battlepasses, FOMO and ridiculously overpriced items are worse than loot boxes so I can see why they are upset. See: Overwatch 2

I think an even better question is why does it matter at all. 

I’d take “casual gamer” as a term to describe someone’s level of engagement (e.g. “I play games on my phone while I’m on the train, but don’t really consider it one of my hobbies” vs “playing games is one of my major leisure activities”), but people use “casual gamer” often enough to mean “person who plays games that…

This.

The fact that people are upset that they actually did something that in reality favors the consumer pretty much proves that these mechanics are preying upon addiction.

On today's news: Gamblers upset casino closed.

Yes, you are gate keeping.  Are they playing a game?  Then yes, they’re gamers.

Garvin,

To be honest, I did read (on Kotaku?) about the QAnon radio host and how frequent it gets played and that drove me away from the game, despite being interested due to the PNW setting. I’m sure I “could take” the guy looking at his girl’s butt no problem and I’d also survive the QAnon radio, but it’s a game. It’s…

I really enjoyed Days Gone for what it was - a marginally above average open world zombie game. It even had some moments where it was a great game. Especially early on, when every encounter with a horde is a pants-shitter moment, every shootout is life or death, and every bullet a careful value-assessment about if…

“Garvin has since moved on from Sony Bend Studio, and is now working on a game that has NFTs.”

Wait, was the game supposed to be a vehicle for conservative views? Now I’m extra glad I skipped it despite it being included in the PS+ collection when I got my PS5. I just got bored with zombies a long time ago, and wasn’t interested in playing an open world game centered around facing hordes of them or seeking out…

I played the game to completion, plus a bunch of side content, and I agree with your conclusions. The game’s issues ultimately came down to the gameplay, and had nothing to do with “woke reviewers”. He might have half a point with “reviewers who couldn’t be bothered to actually play the game”, except that I view it as…