In terms of your alcohol comparison, this is something I thought about before I actually read your comment and the first thing I thought of was that someone might try to make this similar argument. However, Diablo Immortal isn’t analogous to alcohol. Maybe the whole freemium games market is, but not one game. A better…

Alcohol is one of the foundational vices of human civilization. It seems a little much to suggest we can’t be upset about a new problem like predatory gaming business models unless we’re getting equally upset about an ancient problem like alcohol.

Which was written as a response to an article whether the author had a conversation with another writer about just how SURPRISED! they both were by both how well executed and FUN! the game was while clearly trying to to diminish or recast the specific criticism around the monetization of the game as being far too…

The author concludes with a lukewarm it’s complicated and a metaphorical shrug emoji while saying that they might be wrong.  I am agreeing that they are wrong.

Casinos are regulated (whether you think that regulation is adequate or not), and have a higher barrier to entry. This stuff is the wild west, on a device you carry around with you 24/7. Shunning isn’t going to be an effective strategy as long as these predatory practices bring in more money from whales than they lose…