Zachary Amaranth said:
He also talks about the psychology of F2P, encourages us to google it (spoilers: this is not a very positive thing) and compares it to pitting willpower versus the freemium aspect (spoiler: this does not just apply to freemium in paid games).
That's not the point. It's not that freemium hasn't been used to do shitty things. Rather, it's that singularly demonizing the entire idea is intellectually lazy.
Honestly, given how long ago I clarified that (3 seconds after my original post) I almost think that this is intentionally dishonest.
No, it's not. I felt compelled to point out a verbatim snippet of text because it feels as though you are (deliberately or not) simplifying Jim's opinion to the point of distortion. Speaking of which...
But then, I've noticed people don't take the whole of what Jim says, they only cherry pick the parts which are favourable to their argument.
Huh, that sure seems familiar. Notice how I didn't immediately retort with "free to play is good." That isn't the point. The point is that you're trying to force the video into a set of premises that it can't really entertain.
Just so that I'm not just using abstract generalizations (and so I can be obnoxiously pedantic), let me give a very specific general summery of each part of the video.
0:00-0:20: The intro.
0:20-1:27: Jim mentions how he found it sad that he specifically had to mention that leveling up in Dynasty Warriors 8 with gold had nothing to do with real money. Note that Dynasty Warriors 8 is a traditional retail game.
1:28-1:42: Free to play started out as a good idea, and then the industry missed the point.
1:43-1:56: Jim specifically mentions games that have free to play elements that aren't free to play.
1:57-2:22: Dead Space 3's micro transactions were justified by their presence in mobile games.
2:23-3:02: Jim fears that the practice of retail games with micro transactions is likely to continue.
3:03-3:40: Jim mentions arguments by defenders of the practice that the entire system is optional.
3:41-5:02: This is an entire explaining of how adding free to play elements fundamentally how a game play system works.
5:03-5:27: Jim specifically says that this isn't a problem with true freemium games because they are free and therefore the game system being designed with microtransactions in mind isn't a problem.
5:28-5:40: Paying for a game to advertise to you is a disgusting idea.
5:41-6:21: Dead Space 3 was a lesser experience than it's predecessors because the previously made design was compromised to facilitate micro transactions.
6:22-6:43: The idea of publishers complaining about single player games being too short and then selling ways to beat the game faster is hypocrisy.
6:44-7:37: The industry is planning on making more money not by expanding the audience, but by trying to squeeze as much money out of the consumer.
7:38-7:50: The practice of changing game design to fit micro transactions isn't optional to the consumer.
7:51-9:00: The decision to do all of this is being made by people who have no idea how game design works.
Where is the big condemnation of free to play games that isn't a case of cherry picking?
And to clarify, I had just watched the video. While he gives limited praise to token games, that doesn't exactly speak well of free to play as a whole. It's even offered as a freaking disclaimer, rather than the thrust of his argument. Fox News did more to demonstrate that not everyone agrees games lead to murder in their "murder simulator" article.
Has it ever occurred to you that he may wanted to specifically say that the video wasn't arguing for the exact point that you're trying to make with it?
Clearly, his encouragement to research the psychology of F2P was praise for it. My bad, and Thank God for Jim!
Jim wasn't doing the conspiracy theorist bullshit practice of avoiding critical questions by saying "do the research." No, he was simply saying that the way free to play games work and necessarily impacts design, and therefore, there is no way to avoid being affected by the presence of microtransactions. Id est, it's not a problem with freemium games, it's a problem with freemium games that you're expected to pay up front for.
Alas, since I posted this in an edit a whole fifteen seconds later, it will be ignored too....
Well, you can just dismiss me and I can, in turn, dismiss you. But what does that do other than shut down the conversation?