Let's talk micro transaction

My take on micro transaction. Should you ever spend on digital items in a game.

Let begin by the first statement.

NO.

Micro transaction was made during the early days of facebook and then mobile game with their pay a dollar to "regenerate" , "refill" up to "a dollar for X currency"

In this case it's a terrible business practice and game milking habit. But sadly many game release has some form of micro transaction. Most notably "Loot Box" games.

As a player, even a casual one. Avoid if all micro transaction type games when ever possible, if not play for free. I'm a will admit that I have spend quite some fortune under the micro transaction and saw now value after a set amount of time. And worst the game just dies overtime.

Now there is also the notion of pay 2 win. I will discuss this one another post.

Also I did cover a little on "buying" / "bypass the grind" on injustice 2 mobile heroes. Sadly I have to revise some of the contex of it. Mainly the dollar value of a digital item.

The easiest way to combat micro transaction games is not to play and don't even bother.

But as a gamer, and a fan of a certain game franchise I will play said games even with micro transaction.

However after discovering various tricks, a little trial and error ( spend some to understand it anyways) I came out some rules when ever I play a game with "micro transaction"

The first is to know your average local game price of an AAA title.

By default it's 60 USD or about 240 MYR in my home country. With this I can easily make a budget and justification.

Next is spotting a heavy micro transaction game, usually this include most mmo rpg range and now spreading to all mobile games. The most common thing between then is "energy refill" "dual currency" and  lastly "cosmetic skins".

So here goes,

ALL MICTO TRANSACTION IS OPTIONAL AND IS ONLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSE, BE RESPONSIBLE.

1. most micro transaction game has a build in "energy" system, treat it as a controled play time and then rest when it's "recharging" no rush anyway.

2. Most "strategy" / "building games" have a build timer which can last for days. Same as above just chill. No rush

With 1 and 2 I actually use create a mini schedule for myself to rotate various games. And most mobile games takes only 10-20 mins per day to complete a small "story" segment, some will take up to an hour at most.

3. Never buy exclusive items or skins or emote with real money, if I ever see this it's huge red flag for "cash games"

4. Never buy a "chance box" aka "loot "box"

3 and 4 is tough as some "could be" in the Gray area, this 2 deserve a dedicated post by itself which I will be putting out soon.
A simpler version when in doubt, NO

And lastly

5 "discount / sale / bundles"
The most dangerous segment, of the micro transaction part of any game. "Save 20%" it says, usually this encourage you to spend more, "buy 10 free 1" another common marketing technique and a pretty efficient one. Also NO

Why you ask?

Every micro transaction taken is a small amount / or large that could be spend on a new game instead. Which is a better.

Also an informed consumer is a good consumer.

REMEMBER GAMES ARE CREATED TO BE AN ENTERTAINMENT NOT A COOMITMENT. BE RESPONSIBLE