If not overly manipulative or overly forced on the player, they can be a fun bonus for the game. Overwatch 1 comes to mind as an example, and War Thunder’s battlepass missions are sometimes good.That said, it should be basically offering an alternative approach to playing, rather than the more abusive, “Log in daily and grind for 8 hours” that is so common. “Play 3 arcade mode games for a free skin” is encouraging you to take a break from comp and try a more casual mode. Its a great way to reward less serious play. “Kill 3 enemies with small, medium, and large caliber guns for a new decal.” encourages trying new equipment and playing off-meta equipment. Theres lots of boons for this sort of content (if implemented well), regardless of the monitization.
Edit: To put it another way, players optimize the fun out of games - examples could be playing only the meta, or taking the game way too seriously. Good battlepasses and missions encourage trying other ways to play for variety or for fun.
They’re maybe not wrong. When every other game is using all kinds of dark patterns to keep players addicted, not doing the same risks losing your playerbase to them.
I feel this, and my solution was to play different games, not try to make the same handful of games more fun.
That’s a huge reason why I don’t play MP anymore. To get good at MP, you need to play and train on the meta, and if I’m going to play something competitively, I want to get good at it. Whereas with SP, there’s no reason to play the meta if the devs made the game properly. I hate getting OP in SP games, so I avoid playing the meta because wrecking things without any effort just isn’t that fun for me.
So if you find a game to not be much fun anymore and you’ve put in dozens (or hundreds) of hours, thank the game for the time you’ve spent with it and move on, there are plenty of other great games out there.
If not overly manipulative or overly forced on the player, they can be a fun bonus for the game. Overwatch 1 comes to mind as an example, and War Thunder’s battlepass missions are sometimes good.That said, it should be basically offering an alternative approach to playing, rather than the more abusive, “Log in daily and grind for 8 hours” that is so common. “Play 3 arcade mode games for a free skin” is encouraging you to take a break from comp and try a more casual mode. Its a great way to reward less serious play. “Kill 3 enemies with small, medium, and large caliber guns for a new decal.” encourages trying new equipment and playing off-meta equipment. Theres lots of boons for this sort of content (if implemented well), regardless of the monitization.
Edit: To put it another way, players optimize the fun out of games - examples could be playing only the meta, or taking the game way too seriously. Good battlepasses and missions encourage trying other ways to play for variety or for fun.
They can be a nice addition, but the article is written as them being a necessity for player engagement.
They’re maybe not wrong. When every other game is using all kinds of dark patterns to keep players addicted, not doing the same risks losing your playerbase to them.
I get it. I hate it, but I get it.
I feel this, and my solution was to play different games, not try to make the same handful of games more fun.
That’s a huge reason why I don’t play MP anymore. To get good at MP, you need to play and train on the meta, and if I’m going to play something competitively, I want to get good at it. Whereas with SP, there’s no reason to play the meta if the devs made the game properly. I hate getting OP in SP games, so I avoid playing the meta because wrecking things without any effort just isn’t that fun for me.
So if you find a game to not be much fun anymore and you’ve put in dozens (or hundreds) of hours, thank the game for the time you’ve spent with it and move on, there are plenty of other great games out there.