You boot up Dota 2. After playing a couple of matches as Sniper, you realize you have an abundance of unopened chests in your inventory. Thinking to yourself, "I have $20.00 in my Steam wallet, let me buy a key for like, $3." You purchase a key and use it on a chest. As the product in the chest is randomly selected, you get anxious because you really want that new Sniper cape. Then, what do you know, you get the Sniper cape! Your adrenaline is pumping as you think to yourself, "Let me buy another key, see if I can keep my luck going." Six keys and six unappealing items later, you have $2 left on your Steam account. There goes Rogue Legacy or Gone Home. But you know... you still have chests, and your credit card is right across the room...
Dota 2 is a great, free to play game. It doesn't force its purchasable products on you and they are purely cosmetic things you buy. But when a system like the chests, which when opened with a key you've purchased, randomly select an item from a list, are present, suddenly you're playing with fire. So can a consumer be addicted to certain styles of free to play?
I am personally alright with free to play games. They are larger now than they ever have been in the video game industry, and there are mixed opinions about it everywhere, to say the least. The basic function of free to play is to provide a game for free and attempt to make the consumer want/need the items that generate revenue. But can you psychologically become dependant on the purchasable items in free to play games?
In many ways, the Dota 2 example is akin to a gambling addiction. Hitting a "jackpot" and going on an adrenaline rush at getting the results you wanted. So you spend more money in order to duplicate that result. Many free to play games including, but not exclusive to Dota 2, League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, and Ultima Forever use a variation on the tactic that involves paying money for a randomized thing that you want. With Dota 2 it's chests. Team Fortress 2 it's Mann Co. crates. I'm not knocking on the game, but the system can lead to a very similar psychological affliction similar to that of a gambling addiction.
Not all free to play games use this method of monetization though. Right now I'm playing Plants vs Zombies 2 on my iphone. I think the free parts of that game are enough that I don't feel like I need to buy a plant or buy an extra upgrade. But can those more traditional styles lead to a similar dependence to the aforementioned games?
Thanks for reading! Do you believe you can be addicted to free to play? Are you or a loved one a recovering free to play addict? Do you have an opinion/criticism/thought on the blog? Leave a comment!