I could talk for weeks about the sheer nepotistic corrupt bullshit in the early years, when an Ayn Rand roleplaying group (not kidding, they were called "Taggart Transdimensional") got unique advantages from the devs that no one else could access all in the name of "roleplaying." They conjured up fictional characters that gave those advantages (the very first and exclusive t2 mining laser blueprint originals) to their Randroid favorites, and over and over again changed the rules to fit their favorites, year after year.
The dystopian corruption of the setting was coming from inside the development company.
That's so much worse, it's pay to be scammed instead of pay to win then
v0v in a competitive game with noncosmetic monetization, I would rather stomp whales than have the leaderboards consist entirely of Gulf princelings.
Whales aren't rich people, they're neurodivergent vulnerable people 99% of the time. It's jus bullying
The addictive cost of predatory video game monetization
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
I am not watching a 35 min video, so I think this a natural place to end this discussion.
I am not trying to continue the argument but I would like to summarize the video because it is definitely too long
tl;dw predatory monetization practices are primarily targeted at neurodivergent and vulnerable players because things like the impulsivivity symptoms of ADHD and the generally lower quality of life they experience can make them easier than other demographics to be lured into predatory and addictive monetization strategies. Lootboxes specifically are particularly guilty of this as they directly mimic slot machines and other gambling mechanisms. As someone who is neurodivergent I can confirm this makes perfect sense to me.