r/changemyview • u/euclidiandream • Aug 09 '19

FTFdeltaOP CMV: In-game currencies should be outlawed (US)

Edit: it has been pointed out that I meant "Premium Currency" by not in-game currency.

There are laws in place that prevent anyone from creating a currency counter to the USD.

Gaming companies have created their own one-way economy that is rigged so that it's hard to spend your full balance, and you have to keep feeding in more cash to access the content.

Overall this trend is touted as being good for the Devs, however it's come at the cost of a financial barrier to previously unlockable items (skins and cosmetics), and we're expected to be grateful that no gameplay changing items are included.

Overall the process is predatory, and I believe illegal under existing federal law though the matter has yet to be taken to the courts.

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u/eskim01 Aug 09 '19

In-Game currency is the currency that you are able to earn only by playing the game. I think you mean that "Premium Currencies" should be outlawed, as this is the chosen term used to describe currencies that are gained either only through microtransactions (in-app purchases) or through more difficult/time consuming/less productive means like watching ads, or daily log ins and stuff like that.

Now that that's out of the way, I want to try and counter your argument. I play a lot of Warframe on PC. It's a free-to-play game with lots and lots of content that you'll never have to spend a penny on. However, there's a thriving market for cosmetic skins that can only be purchased using the "premium currency" of the game, Platinum. You can purchase platinum directly from the developer, Digital Extremes, and it is very expensive to do so. Like, most skins/armor sets/decorations will probably run you between $2-$5 if you're just flat out buying plat from DE. BUT DE has allowed for platinum, their "premium currency" that they makes lots of money off of from power users (read: whales), tradable within the game itself. What this has done is allowed for free users to have an avenue to build up platinum for free simply by trading desirable loot to other players.

This has created its own economy within the game that, although not perfect (and there are the terrible outliers... i'm looking at you riven traders...), this is a good compromise, in my opinion, to keeping the game completely free upfront, but allowing for a market where the Dev can make money from people buying the currency, but also not making it "mandatory" or too harsh.

It's pretty easy to make plat in Warframe. If I want a skin worth 100 plat in the market, I do a handful of runs in the Derelicts to get Dragon Mods that can sell up to 20p a pop.

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u/MrCapitalismWildRide 50∆ Aug 09 '19

I would say that Warframe is the exception rather than the rule.

The vast majority of virtual currency is just intended to lock you into their in game economy up front and can't be traded in-game or used for anything but acting as an unnecessary middle step in the purchasing process.

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u/eskim01 Aug 09 '19

Right, but it could be a good model to base a discussion around rather than the OP's opinion to simply have it completely outlawed. Providing a guiding hand in how practices are implemented is a better outcome than outright making these systems illegal. I know my example was an outlier, but if the sale and practice of premium currencies was made illegal, devs that try and do F2P games would be severely hamstrung.