“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs

Re:“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs by themacguffinman on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @06:57AM (#29724037)

Like I mentioned earlier: it's not just about fun/enjoyment, it's about being rewarded by the game. In both real life and games, people will overcome challenges they don't enjoy because it is rewarding in a way that isn't necessarily just "fun". Eliminating a day's worth of grind in real life is surely very rewarding as well but it's very difficult and rare to do. In a game like eg Runescape, such an impactful and rewarding feat is rather achievable, it only costs $10 and almost everyone can afford it. If you don't have $10 to spare then you can achieve it with time. The grind is just a challenge to overcome, and that doesn't have to be fun but challenges are often rewarding to overcome.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs by danShumway on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @07:53AM (#29724358)

> such an impactful and rewarding feat is rather achievable, it only costs $10 and almost everyone can afford it.

There are a ton of problems bundled up in this sentence, but I'm not sure I have time to unpack all of them.

But this is not an attitude that I think a game designer should ever have. I don't think we should be building experiences that boil down to teaching players that spending money is the equivalent of overcoming a challenge, I think players should be extremely suspicious of any game or experience that has that attitude towards challenge. Spending money is not the same thing as achieving something or earning a reward, I think it's really bad for us to encourage that kind of equivalency in a player's mind.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:“Play-to-Earn” and Bullshit Jobs by themacguffinman on Wednesday December 29, 2021 @05:40PM (#29731074)

Well ok, that's just like your opinion, man. Like I said in my original comment, I avoid it personally but I find it hard to criticize objectively. Like so many things these games do, it's just a cheap imitation of real life where this stuff is everywhere. People can and do spend to overcome challenges in real life all the time while the proles meagerly grind away, there's so many meatspace mechanics like this but it takes a lot more than $10. Since many people will never achieve that kind of substantial wealth in their entire lives, these games offer a fake world where they can. Using fantasy worlds to escape the shitty reality we live in is such an old & boring concept.

Meh, it's a free country and games like Runescape are a known quantity that players can choose. I would say that if you want to change minds then make your case, but clearly you don't have the time to do that.

[ Parent | on HN ]