I don't think it should be demonised.
I finally pulled the plug on videogaming, though, because I found it too compelling; when everything else pales in comparison, and all I think about is the game, and after playing I don't feel very good (as opposed to after reading, for example), it's time to recognize my limitations and stop. I'm still riding out the withdrawals, as autumn is a time where I feel especially drawn to that escape, but I'm confident it'll get easier and I'll continue to thank myself for making the leap.
I do need to actively remind myself that my experience is not universal, and that videogames can be part of a healthy and/or social life.
We might just have different standards, but that's past "social drinker" status to me. I don't know anyone in my social circle (online or offline) that have spent that much on a mobile game, and my social circle games a lot.
How many thousands does someone have to spend to move past "social drinker"?
Anyway though an essential mechanism of addictions is that they are dynamic. You can interview large groups of users of any drug (and also probably gambling) who will attest to its benefits in their lives. Even if they are currently correct, some of them will later become full blown addicts. It doesn't mean they were wrong at the time, just maybe overly confident about why it suits their lives.
A common AA dark joke is that "high-functioning isn't a type of alcoholism, it's a stage in it." A lot of normal users will end up addicts, a lot of mildly problem users will progress. AFAIK the same patterns show in gambling addiction which is imo one of the major problems with these super accessible entry points into it.
Assuming “thousands” means 5000, thats 416 per month. Taking an average cost of 10/drink (5 for beer, 15 for cocktail - this skews higher in major cities, lower out of major cities, lower still outside of cities), thats ~8 drinks a week.
If you spend thousands of dollars on a mobile game, that is dramatically outside the average (of my experiences).
Mobile gaming created an entirely new sector and doubled the total revenue of the games industry. It did it by finding people who weren't playing games, and giving them games to play. I think a lot of the panic around microtransactions is a response to the demographics shifting away from a small group of self-identifying gamers, and investors paying proportionate attention to the demographic trends.
The two markets of course influence each other, but I view that as a net good which drives innovation in both spaces. Nobody is forced to spend money on video games, so if you don't like a game's business model you don't have to spend any money on it. If others agree, it will flop; and the next generation of games will take history into account.
Found a way to skirt regulation and get more people hooked on slot machine type games who previously couldn't be reached due to access or legal issues.
paypal (originally): we're not a bank (we only offer payment services)
uber: we're not a taxi service (we only offer ride booking; and our employees are independent contractors)
airbnb: we're not a hotel service (we only offer short-term rentals)
f2p: we're not gambling (we only hook whales on slot machine-like games)
This is simply not true if a game has addictive features built in. And you know that by now, I am certain.
Maybe part of the fear is that those consuming traditional games would end up spending lot more per game and that is not entirely unreasonable...
My advice to law makers is to regulate these games into the ground. Your statements enforce my world view. My kid will not play these games.
Regulation is always crafted to benefit incumbents and widen their existing moat.
Maybe there's a third option?
We have plenty of existing rules that are fine for enforcing access to markets.
There are tons of people who want to make great products and tons of people who want to buy them and tons of people who want to make them discoverable.
The issue is that large lawbreaking organizations are actively inhibiting that.
Consumers are good at avoiding consumer hostile vendors when they are actually given choices and opportunities to do so.
My moment of realization was when I found out the truth of those "claw machines" that pick up a fuzzy stuffed animal. Turns out the claw itself is rigged so that it rarely grasps tightly.
Any books u recommend on gamifications?
For an introduction to game design in the general sense, there is Jesse Schell's The Art of Game Design. [1] I think it's better to approach gamification as something that emerges from a holistic appreciation of game design; rather than gamification as a goal in-and-of-itself. But that's the long way. I don't know any shorter.
[0] https://www.deconstructoroffun.com/blog [1] https://schellgames.com/art-of-game-design/
Any reward presentation, assume there is a loot table behind it. You see 4 cards on the screen, but there may as well be 1 big slot lever; cuz no matter where you tap you're doing a single prng rand and getting what the loot table says.
The loot tables aren't at all what you expect, they skew heavily towards 'booby' prizes cuz that makes it easy to predict your progression. The screen might show you 4 cool things you can get alongside 1 lame prize, implying 20% odds; but the sum odds of those 4 cool things will be <5% and most of the time you're getting a predictable lame drip.
The one thing working in your favor is a 'pity' counter. Every time you get a booby prize the pity counter goes up and leads to another rand call. If you succeed at beating the pity counter, it'll give you a good prize and reset the pity counter. The net effect is that I can program the reward stream such that you're guaranteed a good item every 50 pulls or whatever. Some games are just straight with you about this, others aren't.
During the onboarding flow, which could be designed to last months depending on the game's age, your entire reward schedule will be painstakingly controlled down to the coin. Not a single rand call in sight.
My advice is to play these games if you understand all this and have friends to play it with. They've got good hobby value, on a per dollar basis. I mean, have you seen the cost of golf? If you don't get how the monetization works, and you're alone, there's healthier hobbies to spend your money on.