DBDs exploitation of FOMO
The game is already made up for 95 percent paid content, and flooded with overpriced mtx based cosmetics and battle passes which if you miss, you might get the privilege of being able to buy a year later of you are lucky.
But now we are doing cosmetics only available for a little while at Halloween, Christmas etc? This is a attempt to pressure players into giving into their fomo and paying up which is degusting.
Comments
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Very much disagree, and totally privileged first world problems.
You don't need cosmetics to play the game, and premium content killers are licenses that can be pulled any time and is out of BHVRs control.
You're an adult, or at least your parents are. Your FOMO is not a seller's problem. Everything in this game, including the game itself is a luxury item.
If you don't have the self control to only buy things you actually want, or make a sensible assessment of what you can afford, that is a you problem.
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I agree and disagree.
I don't mind new cosmetics being made limited time, especially after we now have majority of the cosmetics available for free with shards.
What I do mind is how they removed old themed cosmetics from the store to also make them limited time.
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People be like this bunch of pixels is available only for a limited time it's not fair for a company to pressure me into buying them now because I don't know if I in 4 months I will randomly want to decorate my character with them for a few games, there is nothing I can do about it I just need to grab my credit card and buy them all NOW
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DBD's game pass is one of the best out there. If you finish it you get your cells back and can keep buying future ones. Just pray they don't change that because most other games make you waste time on it every time (looking at LoL, MtG) and some other games don't even have a game pass, but have gacha that actually costs a lot more with very bad rates in general.
The only thing I'd agree that is bad, but I also have no alterative to suggest, is buying licensed killers. That's as close to pay to win as you can get, but as they're licensed I really don't know what a better alternative would be since there are more parties involved in all of that.
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not entirely. There’s various essays on why live-service games exploiting FoMO as their entire business model is very bad, indeed.
kinda dismissive of you, ngl.
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I just pray they don't turn it into a gacha service, which 1000 times worse.
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To make matters worse, the Twins outfit in this rift is just a retread of a prior rift outfit for them. Not even anything original.
They keep doing the Twins dirty.
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FOMO and time limited cosmetics sucks, but like, we don't need cosmetics to play, and all things considered we're getting a lot of them for free through the rift & event tomes when a lot of games won't give us anything at all.
Also, the premium BP is one of the best out there, if you complete it you'll be able to get the next one for free so you only need to buy it once to get every single premium track ever.
I agree their "market system" has gotten worse recently and I stopped buying cosmetics when I became unhappy with how they were doing things, but honestly it could be worse (pretty sure DBD Mobile is gacha based since NetEase acquired it for example)
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DBD has the most fair "battle pass" of any game, period. You only need to generally get 1 level per day. The challenges aren't time limited limited, so you could, in theory, come on the very last day with 0 challenges completed, and complete all of them. 1 level per day with the challenges is going to take you maybe an hour a day tops to play, and given that challenges aren't time limited, you don't have to actually play an hour per day, you could in theory play a few hours each day on the weekend.
On top of that,. if you buy the premium track of the battle pass and complete it, you actually get all of the currency you spent back. This has lead to me personally, only ever buying the first rift, and never purchasing another one ever. When new chapters come out, i use steam to buy them directly, and i just don't buy cosmetics.
I personally like battle passes and events, because they give me content for playing the game, and generally are a higher cost efficiency to get content than it would be if i bought the content directly.
In light of all that, if they want to throw some skins out there for a little FOMO, i'm all for that. It certain is far better than fortnite, or any other game out there even WITH the FOMO dbd gives.
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Video Horror Society is the best example of that. Look at where it got to be with model based almost entirely on FOMO.
Spoiler: It didn't made it out of Early Access.
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I'm so tired of this FOMO nonsense. How dare BHVR allow us to earn cosmetics just for playing their game? Like they've been doing since 2018? Just like any other online, healthy, actively-updated games these days?
Enough already.
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We're complaining about time-limited collections. 😒
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Well to play devil's advocate, FOMO is a cornerstone of commercialization and BHVR is a commercial entity.
There is plenty of free crap in this game and plenty more that can be bought with nothing but free grindable currency.
The goal is to get players online, limited events/items get players online whom might otherwise be more complacent about getting something.
When they start doing paid for gambling crates, where you drop money for the random chance at an item, that's when you can stick a middle finger at them. I don't see that happening anytime soon though.
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someone's fomo may not be the seller's problem. - But a seller targeting vulnerable people by intentionally creating fomo-situations is unethical. If this practise is also making up the majority of the profit then it's plain disgusting. I have no clue how large the sales share of the fomo-cosmetics is for dbd so I give them the benefit of the doubt they don't base their entire sales model around exploiting vulnerable groups. - But intentionally creating fomo-situations is still something I consider unethical and a company should be focused on having less of these situations, not more.
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That is not why VHS failed.
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I can imagine, but the OP wasn't very specifc. Everything they mentioned describes event cosmetic just as much as store ones, and we haven't had any limited-time store cosmetic have come out in a while. I figured they were talking about the upcoming Halloween event rather than getting a head start of beating this dead horse about cosmetics that haven't even been revealed yet.
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It wasn't the sole factor, but it's definitely part of it.
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the fact that they abused FoMO was the last of the reasons VHS failed.
non-existent community management, excruciatingly slow content cycles, a closed beta that lasted far too long, just to name a few.
I think a better example would be Fall Guys.
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To me, there are no sane person willing to financially support a dev if the only return they get is through an unpredictable rotation in-game store. It's basically gambling to me.
I dropped Fall Guys hard because of that and the recent news is proof to me that FOMO is a last-ditch tentative to stay relevant in the consumers' mindset. But everyone want to be Fortnite so much, too bad for them
Here is two other examples: Knockout City and Rumbleverse.
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When I changed platforms fully at end of last year, I left all my Halloween, Christmas, etc, stuff behind. So I havent had any of that stuff all year. And you know what? My gameplay was not affected in the slightest. If you miss out on something you want this year, I promise you, you will be absolutely fine until next year rolls around.
I want to add that I do understand the vulnerability of those who experience FOMO. But I just want to try and offer a different perspective. We aren't talking about food and shelter here - things we *need*. At the end of the day these are just cosmetics in a video game. I suffer from severe anxiety and I address this vulnerability in the best way i know how, because it's my responsibility to myself to do so. I go to therapy, I meditate, or I take meds if needed. It is my responsibility to manage my conditions, not anyone elses.
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They are indeed just cosmetics in a video game... so why is there a limit to their availability? It's not like BHVR is gonna run out of these to sell. That's what bothers me. Probably others too.
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DBD's limited-time cosmetics do suck, especially since they started introducing them not long after the "all original skins will be available with shards" announcement, clearly as a way to get around it in a scummy way. Also BHVR retroactively removing previously-always-available skins from the store and making them limited-time was disgusting.
All that said, in general the monetisation of the game is actually really fair, at least compared to other games. Their Battle Pass is easily THE best one in any game I've seen in terms of bang-for-your-buck AND since you only ever have to buy it once ever, or never if you had Amazon Prime during that particular month.
They also charge less for actual gameplay-affecting things (characters and their perks) while charging much higher for cosmetics, which are completely optional, and you can STILL get a lot of cheap cosmetics through the season pass. I've gotten dozens and dozens of cosmetics for essentially £10. You can also earn original characters just by playing the game, never having to even spend for them (though this IS a big grind).
Look at TCM which is looking to charge DOUBLE for characters while charging less for cosmetics. The feedback has been hugely negative.
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I'm fine with limited skins since you do get a chance to get it again the next year if you decide you want to get it. It's not the absolute end. But what I do dislike is when these exclusive skins are mainly for certain characters like Feng. Nearly every event this year she had limited event skins in the store. Lunar, anniversary and now halloween most likely. So obviously they are trying to milk in this tactic on a certain fanbase of one character.
I envy fengs getting skins nearly every update. But I also feel bad for them because they are the ones spending the most. But oh well. I get to save more money for my fav character tho.
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I see where you're coming from but this is not about the consumer side of things but how a company looks at things.
The assumption is: vulnerable people that, for one reason or the other, are unable to manage their condition exist. Everyone is aware of that.
The question is: what does a company do with that awareness?
Option A: acknowledge that there has to be a middle ground between exclusivity as a salespoint and (involuntarily) taking advantage of these people.
Option B: create a marketing strategy specifically targeting these people to exploit them and aiming to squeeze as much money as possible out of them, maybe even disregarding any other forms of marketing strategies aimed at other consumer groups.
The first is alright and how firmly as company is placed in that group generally depends on the trajectory,imo; do they try to improve the situation for vulnerable people by reducing exclusivity where possible or are they leaning more into exclusivity and fomo?
While bhvr is probably not in the B camp (seasonal stuff does come back eventually, overall more cosmetics are available for shards and the rift pass is basically a lifetime pass) I don't like the precedent when it comes to retroactively making items in the store more exclusive by limiting the availability to a few weeks a year.
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This deserves a standing ovation.
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FOMO until it comes back next year.
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It goes back to corporate responsibility and personal responsibility.
I have read several of said articles, I have a degree in Games Software Development; marketing strategies and business models were covered in one of the major modules, mostly for those who intended starting their own gaming company.
I do understand the topic at hand, and am well aware that 80% of a games profit comes from 20% of the playerbase. The 'profitable' players are known as Whales, while the rest are called minnows.
I fully understand that FOMO is a genuine condition, but I look at it the same as any form of addiction as Alcoholism or Gambling addiction. If you suffer from gambling addiction, you don't go to Las Vegas, instead of condemning Las Vegas for existing.
The reason I'm so dismissive, I've studied games that have absolutely absurd marketing models, and there are number of them that are plain disgusting. My favourite go to example is Marvel Strike Force. I'm just saying, if you are claiming BHVR is 'exploiting' FOMO by having seasonal event skins and a battlepass, you don't know what you're talking about.
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with full respect, i thoroughly disagree. While I agree that user responsibility is a factor, you claiming addiction is as simple as “don’t go to vegas” does not sit right with me. That’s not how addiction works, especially online addictions.
In the Netherlands, parliament passed a bill that allowed online casino’s to start advertising everywhere, on the condition that they take more responsibility with safeguarding users that are at risk to spend too much money.
The result? Endless ads, everywhere you look. Youtube, television, radio, those ads in the corner of websites, everywhere. And not limited to any time period either. Kids of all ages have seen this stuff, and they’ve seen it more than any other kind of ad at this point.
And the safeguarding? A single pop-up appearing when you hit a certain amount of money spent. That sufficed, i guess. No locks, no hard caps, a single pop-up.
Addiction is a mental disorder, as you know. Obviously I haven’t studied psychology, but I have seen someone go through it myself. A cousin of mine just recently came clean from drug abuse, but he’s mentioned that while he may be clean now, he has to actively keep himself away from other substances, lest he substitutes the one thing for another. That’s not going to fade. He constantly has to keep his impulses in check, but when every online hobby wants him to start his addiction all over again, he has to stay away from it entirely. Surely that’s no longer his fault.
Kids are also prone addiction, even if they don’t have any history of addiction before it. FoMO by extension too, since their ability to judge worth is not fully developed yet.
Both kinds of people are actively being targeted by these kinds of schemes, as you well know. Especially with the latter, you can teach kids all you want, but it only takes a bit of curiosity for a kid to throw all caution to the wind and take a look. And that’s where it starts. Many don’t get hooked, but you also cannot ignore that there are many that do. Because they didn’t go to absurd lengths to prevent themselves from being exposed to it.
Because it’s online, hell, especially because it’s online, these addictions are especially dangerous, because it’s so easy to get going. It’s just a few clicks away. In the case of the Dutch gambling ad, the bill may have been partially reverted, but the damage has already been done.
So do you then look towards the parents, who cannot and shouldn’t be on top of their kids’ online habits at all times? Towards those of whom you know have an impaired sense of judgment? Who can’t consume any form of media without being bombarded with “join now!”, “buy now!” “limited time only!”?
Or do you look towards the industry, who knowingly uses practices that will affect those most vulnerable to it? I don’t give a damn that it’s the single most profitable scheme in the industry. It’s negligent at the very best, and downright malicious at worst.
Sure, DbD is very much mild when it comes to FoMO exploitation, but just because it’s mild that doesn’t mean we cannot condemn it for what it is. Hell, that’s how it was able to manifest into the industry standard it is today—nobody tried to nip it in the bud, and here we are.
We have not forgotten the retroactive limited-time cosmetics.
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I heavily disagree with that statement just because you can keep buying passes just with one purchase doesn't make it good as it still encourages fomo
Now what they should do is do what halo infinite does with its battle pass and allow people who missed a battle pass season to progress through it for a fee(no fee if you upgraded to the premium track before the season ended)
Legit wished 343 didn't screw up with halo infinite's content updates for the first 3 seasons as I think the way you can do previous battle passes is amazing and should be a standard for games with battle passes
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Your points are valid, and you're right, I am being a little boarish in my responses, so I can perhaps be a little more diplomatic. Though I will not lie that I am continuously frustrated by a number of the clickbait "lets attack BHVR for the sake of it" threads in this forum.
e.g. A bug with a perk is morphed into "BHVR shadow-nerfed <perk_name>, disgraceful practice".
I do of course understand mental health issues are not to be made trivial of, anyone who has ever suffered from moderate to severe anxiety and depression knows how dangerous it can be, and ofc addiction is in a similar bag. However, I suppose it all gets a little political at this point. In order to appropriately "protect" people who are vulnerable, you essentially have to play bigger brother and actively take away their freedoms for their own good. In your casino scenario, you'd have to have people with such a condition on a list, and actively block them when they reach a certain agreed limit, set by some metric based on their life and earnings.
For a real world example of this issue we're discussing, take a hoarder, which is not far removed from someone who must own all collectibles in a game. There is some other underlying condition causing the hoarding, but typically there comes a point where others have to step in and usually forcefully clean out that persons home and force that person to go to therapy... you have to actively deny that person the freedom to have agency on their own lives. It's tragic, but how else do you deal with it? How much concession do make for people's mental health issues?
Relating back to the original point, having a seasonal or limited time event item is an item that most people will buy to support the developers for the game they enjoy, and have something in return that is funny and somewhat unique to them. It's like a kickstarter, you pay for exclusive content to help drive further development of the main project. You can take that away of course for the people who have the FOMO issue, but what you're saying is people who want to buy these limited event items can't ever have a novelty limited event item because some people can't control their own inhibitions and must own everything.
I suppose I'm biased looking at FOMO, because at best I liken it to a hoarder... in which case that's a severe issue that any kind of online store regardless of limited event content would be a problem... and anything short of that I'm... well much less charitable on, which I will leave there for the sake of not attacking or shaming anyone.
I would go on... but as I say, there is a real risk of this debate becoming very political, so I'll finish by saying, I understand your point, and agree on some points, but overall, I still maintain that there is nothing inherently wrong with a limited event item, especially the way BHVR have done them.
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Just want to add that I appreciate that you responded to my admittedly emotion-fueled rant in such a polite manner.
Have a good day
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I know lots of people who start playing and ask me where they can get half the outfits I have, ready to buy them right then and there.
I tell them that they're not in the store and come around during certain holidays, and others are rift exclusives. Well, they would have spent their money, but they end up stop playing (not over the cosmetics, over bordem) and never spent their money, whereas they would have.
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I find it ironic you thanking someone for being polite when you were kind of rude and condescending in your response to me, implying I was a child and also later implying I am attacking BHVR for the sake of it, when all I was expressing is my frustrations with how something in this game is handled.
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I’mma need to see what post you’re referring to cause I don’t remember calling anyone a child recently.
Also, there’s a difference in long, argument focussed discussions, and straight ranting. The forums tends to have both, and I will replicate the vibe I get from the post I reply to.
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"You're an adult, or at least your parents are"
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I do not recall saying this. I also can’t find the quote when i search for it.
If it was me, I can say with some confidence that all it was, was me not assuming your age.
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annnd i now see that was another person, so I do apologise for that. I am a little heated by having people claim I'm attacking behaviour for the sake of it and for clickbait and downplaying a concern I have to that level, i let my frustration get in the way of what i was reading.
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All good. May i offer a bird to relieve some stress?
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thank you kindly
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So, BHVR should exploit new players into buying cosmetics before they get too bored. 😀
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Countries banning gambling and smoking from public spaces prove you wrong.
There will be a time in which Las Vegas will have to stay relevant without gambling.
And sure, there are other games that have worse FOMO. But enough with the whataboutism: we can have better things, we just have to push for them.
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Its okay when they are transparent with this, like if they tell us "this is a time limited cosmetic, but it will come back next year, same time".
There are two aspects to this that I really find scummy, though, and the responsible person should feel ashamed for that:
1) taking away cosmetics that have been a stable of the game for many, many years and moving them into the "Special Occasion" section. Thats really non cool.
2) claiming "all cosmetics will be available for shards after 4 weeks", but when people got all hyped up for the last years christmas sale going for 4 weeks and 3 days, it was backpaddeling and claiming "yeah, that 4 weeks is only for general cosmetics, not for the FOMO stuff. Sowwy." Sheesh, okay, okay, no christmas gift for the community, I get it ...
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Corporate exploitation of any kind is not okay, no matter how much you try to justify it as "not that bad."
And to the people saying DbD has the best battle pass, you know whose battle pass is better? Deep Rock Galactic. Wanna know why? Because it's free, and all unearned rewards are immediately dropped into normal reward tables when the battle pass ends.
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Seriously?
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Yes, seriously. DRG does have paid cosmetic packs but these are cheap compared to DbD's $15 for 1 skin, and they transparently exist as a way for loyal players to pay more money to the devs to keep the game developing. There are still plenty, PLENTY of cosmetics to earn just by playing the game normally, and the rewards expand further with every season they do.
DbD would be a lot better about this stuff compared to other games too, if Iri Shards weren't such an agonizing grind.
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Remember the time the community wanted so much to support the devs they had to release a second Supporter DLC?
That's how much DRG handles its monetisation scheme better than DBD.
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IMO deep rift cosmetics should be made available again even if it’s auric cells only, while I’ve unlocked them all one thing I really liked about DBD was there was little FOMO aside from charms which aren’t really a big deal, yearly items are annoying but at least you know they’ll be back.
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If Iri Shards weren't such an agonizing grind.
Funny how everyone that says "you can buy some of them with shards" forgets to mention that part
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The people who say that are the ones with 5000+ hours and 20,000+ Shards that already have everything they want so they don't feel the grind anymore.
New players, however, get completely shafted.
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To be fair I don't really get the FOMO Issue if it comes to cosmetics. Like we are talking about dressing a character which does not give you any benefit. And like why would someone be mad just because they couldn't get a cosmetic in a game ? Like either buy it and support the devs or don't buy it and set a standard for yourself - which is totally fine.
And having Halloween Cosmetics only on Halloween in Sale is nothing crazy and nothing new. The only problem issue I see is that they argued on twitter that they don't want to create something for P100 Players as a reward because of FOMO.
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