Diablo 4's new mount costs more than the actual game

Comments

• Computerchairgeneral@kbin.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It's crazy how far micro-transactions and monetizing games have come since Bethesda charged $2.50 for cosmetic armor to put on your horse. If you'd told someone back then that one day an in-game mount would cost more than the game itself they would have laughed you out of the room.

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  • fishos@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’m so sick of this revisionist bs. Plenty of us were outraged then and warned of EXACTLY this. Y’all reaped what you sowed. Now micro transactions and paid early access are the norm. We screamed and yelled to “vote with your wallets”, and by god, you did. “It’s just a few bucks” is the most common one I hear. Well, now EVERYTHING is “just a few bucks”.

    You won.

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    • rustyfish@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      This. That’s why I gave up on arguing with people a long time ago. There is a shimmer of hope in me that this industry still comes crashing down at some point. I would celebrate it. But by the looks of it, it won’t happen anytime soon.

      The best I could do is not buying anything on release, early access or riddled with microtransactions, mostly indie games and maybe one AAA title a year, also avoid certain studios. Oh, and also don’t really care at all when these kind of news come up. I cared back then, I voted with my wallet and still do, but the other side won. Shit happens. There is nothing I can do other than get angry, but that’s not worth the hassle.

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    • funktion@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The market has spoken, and it said some real stupid shit. I’ve given up on gaming as a hobby, and good riddance.

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    • Donjuanme@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Also let’s not forget the horse armor was the free patch, Microsoft allowed 1 free cosmetic patch on the x-box, then everything else they required Bethesda to put a price on. It just so happened to be win -win for both Bethesda and Microsoft

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  • andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Unless you were in MBA school, at which point they’d hail you as their king.

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  • inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yeah I remember saying that that Bethesda’s house armor bs would lead to gamers being nicked and dimed to death and was soundly called a overreacting whinger.

    And like you said here we are now and gamers are being outright being exploited and you still have people saying it’s all still blown out of proportion like these companies aren’t hiring psychologists to manipulate us to but this bullshit.

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    • veroxii@aussie.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      But they’re not being nickled and dimed. They’re being Lincolned and Hamiltoned.

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    • LunarLoony@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      “But it’s only cosmetic!!”

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  • Tarcion@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Some people would have laughed you out of the room. A lot of people, myself included, warned that this was the kind of shit we’d spiral into with these microtransactions. It was basically confirmed within a year or two with the absolutely insane amount of money mobile gaming was seeing where the base product was just addictive crap with as many microtransactions shoveled in as possible. These games just completely blew the revenue of actual AAA titles would out of the water. It was basically inevitable and we’re now in a situation where we’ve got a generation of consumers raised on this trash.

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  • Mereo@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s a slippery slope. Money talks. They are accountable to their shareholders. So when they saw that people were paying for them, they started to monetise them more and more.

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  • ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Horse Armor? How about a jewel-encrusted horse!?

    Am I alone in thinking this is a joke that has gone over everyone’s heads? Isn’t it just a sparkly topping on a pile of currency anyway?

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• AeonFelis@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

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  • Sylvartas@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The fact that this meme misattributes horse armor to Skyrim instead of Oblivion is bothering me way more than it should

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    • PieMePlenty@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Kids these days don’t know shit man. Skyrim had been out long enough to concieve a kid and watch him graduate. Oblivion might as well have been a DOS title to them.

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    • AeonFelis@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      After so many re-releases of Skyrim, I kind of forgot there were TES games before it…

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  • Asafum@feddit.nl ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I seriously doubt it, but I really hope they keep their word about no more ship sales after the official 1.0 release…

    I can get behind the idea of “you want to support the game at high dollar amounts since you have that kind of cash, go for it.” But I can’t get behind “well people keep buying ships so let’s just keep selling super fucking expensive ships after we’re already “done” with the game.”

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    • c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      As if they’ll keep their word about anything, the game’s only 8 years past their initial launch debut.

      “But but but S42 is done and now they’re making the PU more quickly!”

      Yep, and I’m sure they’ll reach their 100 star system goal (lol) in about 40 years. Orrrr they’ll just release 5-10 solar systems and then shrug when people ask why they stopped.

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• jjjalljs@ttrpg.network ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Every time this comes up (which is too often) I’m like “Who is buying this?” How can we make them stop? Do they need help?

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  • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    People with poor fiscal responsibility skills, such as children, people with ADHD, and people with mental health issues like depression.

    They literally hire psychologists to make this stuff as enticing as possible by pushing the right buttons in your brain.

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    • Etterra@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Don’t forget the people with more money than sense. Whales are what keep the microtransaction mechanic alive and well.

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  • ericbomb@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yes.

    People who spend 10s of thousands of dollars on micro transactions do need help.

    Said help probably needs to come at a government level banning things that were designed in a computer lab to be digital Crack.

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    • Carighan@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It’s such a shame that the OW1 discussion about loot boxes went nowhere in regards to giving ingame gambling the same legal framework as IRL gambling.

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  • bcron@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Might be the people that play only one game. I used to play WoW and then Diablo III exclusively like it was a full time job, and wound up in social bubbles with people who were equally invested. I never spent money on cosmetics or in-game items or anything but at that point it’d be pretty easy to rationalize since it’s something someone is spending 20-80 hours a week playing.

    Back in WoW we used to sell one slot on our Algalon raid (hardmode only raid boss) and pay for our Ventrilo and website with that lol

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    • excitingburp@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Grubby is a good example of someone who was recently reformed. In one of his early Dota 2 videos (some time last year), he admitted that he didn’t know that games outside of Blizzard had gotten so good - he actually only played Blizzard games and nothing else. It’s been pretty wholesome watching someone learn the wider gaming world.

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  • ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Whales, idk if we can make them stop, often times yes they need help

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• kebabslob@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I love the “blame the consumer” mindset so much! It always leads to change and reform

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  • Carighan@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I mean I do blame the consumer. Specifically for not voting in harsh consumer- and worker-protection laws curbing corporate abilities.

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    • haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think the issue is only blaming the consumer and especially when pointing to the cause of the issue.

      Is it naive to vote for someone who obviously tells you all you want to hear but has a record of taking advantage every time they get your vote? Absolutely.

      But so is walking in a city at night. All kinds of bad things can happen there but someone who hasnt seen evil firsthand will not recognize it easily.

      I grew up in a very rough part of a big city. I knew you cant go outside unarmed at night and especially not linger there. But I cant expect friends from other places who havent seen this to act „wisely“ without telling them. This why we advocate without looking down on people.

      Have a good one.

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  • Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If consumers as a whole keep buying overpriced skins then yes, I will blame the consumers for enabling this behavior.

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    • DaseinPickle@leminal.space ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      These companies are using dark design patterns to manipulate kids and young people into a pattern of behaviour. You can blame consumers, but it’s not exactly a fair fight. These big companies have behaviour specialists employed and tons of data, used specifically to get people to act dumb in a way that benefits these companies. Heroin pushers are more honest.

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  • Dra@lemmy.zip ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This whole attitude of “its not their fault they can’t help but hand over their money and buy overpriced shit” has got to stop

    The generation is contributing to inflation because of inability to restrain themselves from buying frivolous shit for extortionate amounts of money, then complaining that no jobs pay enough while they try to launch an onlyfans career.

    This then makes prices rise for everyone. The infantilzation is astonishing.

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    • Fenrisulfir@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Did you seriously just write that zoomers buying horse armor caused my groceries and rent to get more expensive

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    • yamanii@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      There’s no vote with your wallet when the supply is infinite and intangible, me not buying the microtransaction is one person, but a single whale will buy several, getting multiple votes in “yes please continue to shove shit down my throat” this isn’t voting at all.

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    • kebabslob@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You really think boycotts work? Is that for real? Do you have evidence? Like any example, at all, of boycotts working in gaming?

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• dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  If youre still playing D4, I dont know what to tell you. Most people who pay attention to industry news and the game design philosophy of Blizzard knew well enough to pass it over.

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  • Kolanaki@yiffit.net ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I saw someone mentioned the other day in that thread about buyer’s remorse that they didn’t even feel like they were playing a game, that it played itself basically and that just made me think about watching my son-in-law playing Diablo 3 and all he really did was walk around while shit died around him and I asked how that was even fun anymore and he turned to me with a straight face and said “it’s not fun. I just want to 100% it.”

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  • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    i only played it because it came free with my xbox. then starfield came out and i completely forgot about d4

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  • CobblerScholar@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I was hoping in vain that Blizzard might pivot even a little when they saw the backlash but nah people continue to throw money away on bullshit so of course Blizzard wouldn’t

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  • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Now I feel all the more right for skipping over it. To be honest, I didn’t mind Diablo 3 once it had all its content and was no longer a dual-wield credit card simulator. It was a pretty fun game by the end IMO. Diablo 4 didn’t feel right to me so I just skipped it.

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    • Syndic@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      D4 really isn’t that different from current D3. In some areas it’s actually better. But of course both of those suck compared to D2 or PoD.

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• Nacktmull@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Stop 👏 playing 👏 games 👏 that 👏 rip 👏 you 👏 off 👏

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  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Or just stop playing games that exist as shitty GACHA vending machines.

    It isn’t even the cost per-say. Its the fact that mounts were implemented in D4 as a practical afterthought. They barely affect gameplay, you can’t take them into dungeons, they don’t have any kind of skill progression or character synergy on their own right. Barely more than a TF2 fancy hat.

    I got D4 at base price on release, played the main act, and shelved it months ago. I can’t imagine still playing a game that’s been nothing but bloody runs since that initial release. Nevermind paying $60 for a fucking cosmetics improvement while I grind mobs for incremental stat increases at the level cap.

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    • tryptaminev@feddit.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      TF2 fancy hats are relevant to the game. They provide an entire economy and allow for style, when finding ever new or enjoying old ways of hilarious frags.

      They are not an after thought, but a solid part of the games progressed development. However they are not providing an advantage in the core play, so everyone can still enjoy the game.

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  • TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    At least Diablo is easier to quit than games that literally condition players into a gambling addiction. But all this is easier said than done.

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    • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I mean Diablo is pretty addicting too lol, one of my friends dropped out of school for Diablo. Then again, one of my friends almost dropped out of school for Modern Warfare 2 - not that it wasn’t fun of course (most fun CoD imo).

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  • FlavoredButtHair@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Also stop pre-ordering games that aren’t complete.

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• formergijoe@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Meanwhile, Helldivers 2’s armor is like 2 bucks, and you can find the currency in-game.

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  • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Its nice to see a low cost microtransaction, and nice to see that you can get the currency in game but really thats just the same as it was a few years back before it went full 100 dollar for a reskin mode.

    You are defending a game by pointing out that its money grabbing methods are less greedy than another company.

    Games wont make the billions and billions they make now if they move away from the in game purchases models but they also evidently dont need billions and billions to operate.

    Some of the best games on the market were made on small budgets by indie developers and sell well because the are fun and people actually want to play them.

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    • yamanii@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I would argue that on online game kinda needs a stream of revenue that’s doesn’t only come from the first purchase, since that will stagnate.

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  • DuckPuppet@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    For Democracy!

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• XTornado@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Do you guys not have phones?

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• yamanii@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  What happened to the micro part of microtransactions? This is why I only bought one skin in Genshin Impact since they give you extra funny money for your first time to get it, but a second skin will double than the first so I’m never buying one ever again.

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  • samus12345@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Macrotransactions.

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    • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I will only pay if I get Robin Williams. This is the hill I will die on.

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  • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Dumb fucks kept giving shitty publishers like Activision and Ubisoft money for microtransactions, so those companies did what any good capitalist would do: see how much you can fleece the idiots.

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    • Zahille7@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I saw a post a couple years back in the Red Dead subreddit where someone posted a screenshot of their character. They had something like thousands of gold bars, and when someone asked how he had so many, the OP actually said that they spend $100 a month on the gold packs. Each month.

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    • CosmicCleric@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      see how much you can fleece the idiots.

      AKA “charge what the market will bear”.

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  • derpgon@programming.dev ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’ve got good news for you, the bonuses reset every anniversary (around September).

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    • good_girl@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think they stopped that after fontaine. HSR didn’t reset theirs iirc.

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  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    At least Genshin Impact had a fucking plot, too. I can stomach dropping an extra $30 on a game after the first 100 hours. But D4 just stopped being a story after release. I was having fun exploring the world and plot in Genshin for the better part of two years (thanks, COVID!) I cleared D4 in a month. Cleared it again with another class. Got bored and shelved it.

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    • TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Genshin is good in some aspects, but it shows how desensitized we are that we accept the egregious gambling and the endless grind that only exists for the sake of retention. Can Genshin players really talk shit about this when in average it takes around $200 to get one single 5* character? Even if you are not paying that yourself, the game is built that way to exploit those who do.

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  • Killer@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I buy the monthly cards in advance and use the gems they give you from that, best value way of getting them

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• Kalkaline@leminal.space ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I need to make a game for suckers.

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  • superduperenigma@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Step 1: make some genuinely top shelf, genre-defining games in the 90s and early 2000s

    Step 2: Sell out

    Step 3: Become shittier than anyone could ever imagine

    Step 4: Charge 1 kidney for a shitty in app purchase

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    • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Step 3.5: Use psychology to “convince” children and those with certain mental health issues that they need the in app purchase.

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    • WarmSoda@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      What, dont you all have kidneys?

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• GilgameshCatBeard@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t people warned about this before the game even came out?

  This should fall under the purview of “fools and their money.”

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  • TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Such that laws are created to protect people from scammers? Because that is what really should be done. With the rise of this "buying is not owning’ bulshit, it has been a long time coming.

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• umbrella@lemmy.ml ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  i got plenty of hate when i said years ago this is where the mtx slippery slope would get us

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• FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This sort of thing is exactly why I mostly just play retro games.

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• caut_R@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This year‘s CK3 DLC package is also very close in price to the „base game.“ Naturally, it provides nowhere near as much content and I refuse to believe it requires near as much work either.

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• avater@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  don’t play diablo 4 but is this story not a little bit overblown since you get the mount skin as a bonus for buying 70€ worth of they premium currency ? So you actually pay for the currency and not the mount…

  Again not playing Diablo 4, not defending Blizzard and a true supporter that the coolest looking stuff should be exclusively achievable by actually playing the freaking game!

  If you now excuse me, got to continue playing Last Epoch.

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• ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Somehow that’s not surprising, which is sad.

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• ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  And it looks like the result of a transporter malfunction involving Baron Rivendare’s Deathcharger and Butt Stallion.

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• Smacks@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  And I’m sure several whales have already bought several

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• LightDelaBlue@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  If they still play honestly …

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• crossmr@kbin.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  No it doesn't. Social media sites that have moderators really need to take a stand about clickbait garbage headlines like this. It's like getting a free t-shirt with a car purchase and claiming that T-shirt costs $40,000. You're buying coins which already cost that much, the coins with or without the mount cost that much. Currently you can buy those coins and get a free mount. Lots to be upset with Diablo and Blizzard, but this is just garbage.

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• Beardedsausag3@kbin.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I'm sat down and still fell over with shock.

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• Kbin_space_program@kbin.social ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Question from someone who plays warframe.

  They do their prime bundles for a decent chunk of money. But it's also a really good deal just for the paid currency.
  And you can get the same things in game for free.
  So how much is the actual item vs the currency?

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