A lot of good games are made under the shadow of capitalism and it's weird to think about sometimes.

Like the whole concept of coin-operated arcade games. The extra life and continue mechanics seen in console games came from a cash incentive to make the player lose.

Or the fact that RPGs almost always charge the player for items. I'm not saying that it doesn't make sense as a mechanic, but I always wondered why people weren't given more healing potions.

The way IP laws work, I'm really curious how games would change once those are gone.

One way I see games changing with the destruction of capitalism:

I think online multiplayer games would be a lot more bearable. There wouldn't be the stratification between people who could afford putting more time or resources into a game and those who can't. Microtransactions and addictive gameplay mechanics wouldn't exist.

  • Evilsandwichman [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    "I think online multiplayer games would be a lot more bearable"

    I think a lot more games would probably looking similar to guild wars 2. One thing I always noticed about GW2 is the powerful spirit of cooperation and the mechanics that foster it. For one thing you don't 'tag' what you fight, meaning others can help and be equally rewarded. Additionally when a boss is killed, everyone gains loot, meaning no conflict between players regarding who gets what and who needs it more; and the 'who needs it more' argument is one I'll be happy to see put to rest as it creates a lot of conflict. Also resources that can be gathered exist for all players; if you mine/log a resource, it'll disappear for you but still be in the world for other players to gather. Also the game rewards helping other players; when you resuscitate a downed player you begin to fill up an 'achievement' bar that grants a reward once filled, and then it can be refilled again and again.

    One thing I've always said about GW2 is that in its mastering of the spirit of cooperation it's the spiritual opposite of WoW, with WoW (at least by wrath of the lich king, as mechanics have changed a lot since then) having mastered the spirit of competition.