Exactly how old are you? Because I remember when my entire Tekken experience was locked behind a $0.25 to $0.50 microtransaction.
People willfully pay for things they enjoy. It’s a fundamental aspect of any economic system. I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time coming to grips with that.
It’s my belief that everyone is a masochist to a certain degree, and those who don’t realize it are in denial.
I drive a vehicle that burns gasoline and contributes to pollution. I purchase products that come in plastic packaging. I participate in an economy that can only exist by taking advantage of people in other countries where labor is “cheaper.” These are all things that I enjoy doing even though I know they’re inflicting suffering on people.
If I don’t do these things I pretty much won’t be able to function in society. And I certainly wouldn’t be able to contribute anything that I think is valuable.
One option would be to end myself, but that would inflict suffering on all my friends and family.
Another option would be to believe that the good I’m doing will outweigh the suffering I inflict on other people.
I’m interested in your thoughts on this. Do you think it’s possible to live a life where you don’t inflict suffering on anyone else?
You’re right, but you’re ignoring a crucial part of the equation which is the person who is suffering enjoys it or else they wouldn’t be doing it.
Haha, agreed. I used to love “going fishing” with my grandparents until I actually caught a fish, then I just felt terrible. I used to have nightmares where there would be fish hooks in my food.
Now “going fishing” to me just means hanging out by the water and being peacefully bored while other people enjoy the things they enjoy.
True, but not always true. Sometimes it’s the boss at work, or the bills on the desk, or the son you used to take fishing before he moved away for college.
Eh. I was being dismissive of people’s genuine concerns. I didn’t earnestly engage with the topic at hand. I was definitely in the wrong and deserved to get downvoted.
I updated a reply I made to another comment in the thread, and I figure I’ll drop it here as well.
As someone who played Payday 2 and had a ton of discussions with my friends about that game’s ever changing monetization models I feel like the ultimate conclusion I came to was “capitalism is exhausting.” And I mean that in the very literal sense that capitalism will result in the physical, mental, spiritual, and financial exhaustion of everyone who doesn’t hold capital. This is not good, but good things can come from it. As more people start to realize the system is broken more people will want to change it. So I was being dishonest, I actually do have a lot to say about video game monetization models, but generally I think capitalism is a self-correcting problem and if you want to reduce the amount of harm caused by greed the only real option you have is to consume less and convince other like minded people to consume less.
The other thing I have more to say about is Tekken 8. Not the character customization feature, but about the story mode which is possibly the best videogame story I have ever experienced. I won’t bore anyone with the details, but the story in T8 is the conclusion to a multigenerational feud between a grandfather and father, and a father and son. It is the end to what could have been an endless cycle of hate and violence. And this ending is only possible because Jin decides to face his demons, forgive himself, and forgive his enemies.
This lesson in my mind is literally the most important lesson for a person to learn, and so I’m willing to forgive the inclusion of microtransactions of it means that some kid somewhere who is struggling with accepting who they are can play this game and come to the realization and sense of peace that Jin and I did.
My dismissal of the “badness” of microtransactions was a result of a belief in the potential “goodness” of the game overall. Obviously these sorts of moral calculations are all relative, but if anyone wants to talk about this more I would love to.
Right, I understand. I was just expressing my thoughts on the article.
I don’t have a strong opinion regarding game content rating systems, except that I don’t know how to quantify how much “good” they contribute to society.
And I don’t have much to say about video game monetization models, except that companies will always try to use a model that they think provides them with the most benefit.
The most interesting thought this article made me think of was “I wonder what kind of hats I’ll be able to put on Kuma.”
Edit: I’ve been thinking about this a bit more because I do think my dismissive attitude towards microtransactions in general is alarming. My comment was dishonest and flippant.
As someone who played Payday 2 and had a ton of discussions with my friends about their ever changing monetization models I feel like the ultimate conclusion I came to was “capitalism is exhausting.” And I mean that in the very literal sense that capitalism will result in the physical, mental, spiritual, and financial exhaustion of everyone who doesn’t hold capital. This is not good, but good things can come from it. As more people start to realize the system is broken more people will want to change it. So I was being dishonest, I actually do have a lot to say about video game monetization models.
The other thing I have more to say about is Tekken 8. Not the character customization feature, but about the story mode which is possibly the best videogame story I have ever experienced. I won’t bore anyone with the details, but the story in T8 is the conclusion to a multigenerational feud between a grandfather and father, and a father and son. It is the end to what could have been an endless cycle of hate and violence. And this ending is only possible because Jin decides to face his demons, forgive himself, and forgive his enemies.
This lesson in my mind is literally the most important lesson for a person to learn, and so I’m willing to forgive the inclusion of microtransactions of it means that some kid somewhere who is struggling with accepting who they are can play this game and come to the realization and sense of peace that Jin and I did.
And if anyone wants to talk about this more I would love to.
Tekken 8 has done a good enough job with their game and character customization system that I wouldn’t mind spending some extra money for cosmetics I enjoy.
Takes a wise person to willingly admit when they lack knowledge imo
No, but I want to give my landlord the opportunity (responsibility?) to see me as a person and not just an income source.
There was a great episode of This American Life where they interviewed a kid who took over managing one of his dad’s properties. One of the tenants was a couple who had lost a child, and they fell behind on rent (and on life in many ways).
One of the things that stood out to me was how difficult it was for the kid to put in the work needed to accommodate this couple. He worked his ass off coming up with payment plans and helping them budget. His big takeaway was that he didn’t ever want to get involved with his tenants again because it was too heartbreaking to be in a position where you’re supposed to evict someone that’s struggling.
Act three of this episode if you want to check it. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/323/the-super
Yeah for sure. You can’t logically prove that world view one way or the other, but it’s something worth thinking about and meditating on imo.
I broadly interpret “form relationships with people that make your life better and avoid shitty people” as “Do what makes you happy with the assumption that everyone is doing the same thing, and that the choice to pursue happiness is correct.”
I definitely get the sentiment of “avoiding shitty people”, but I do think that there is a time and place for it. I have some family members with some really hurtful world views and I still choose to engage with them when I know it will bring happiness for both of us.
But yeah, I don’t think my philosophy is logically perfect by any means. It is admittedly irrational, but it’s the best thing I’ve found for being able to live my life the way I feel like I should be living.
Unless you think that everyone is the same person and humanity is just a distributed consciousness. In which case anyone you end up with at any time is the person you’re supposed to be with. At which point the key to moving forward is trusting and forgiving “yourself”.
Exactly! I think one of the fun things about growing up is realizing that your personal experience isn’t completely unique, and that other people have shared similar experiences. I also don’t think it’s weird to have the idea that many of the things we enjoy and find funny (like puns and silly sounds) would cross language and cultural boundaries.
I was trying to figure out a problem the other day and realized that if I still remembered how to implement some sort of mathematical concept I learned back in high school I would’ve been able to do it. Made me want to call up a friend and say something like “it finally happened!”
Because “gas” is an informal and quicker way of saying gasoline that was adopted by the general public for convenience sake.
Language doesn’t exist to be technically correct, it exists to facilitate practical conversation. The more you look at it from this perspective the more things will start to make sense.
That feels intuitively correct to me, but I’m not sure if I’d say any language is particularly “easy”. Language is complex, complicated and only makes sense in the context of understanding human communication. Although language is also more intuitive than we give it credit for.
I think spoken Japanese is possibly “easier” than spoken English, but written Japanese (outside of digital media) is essentially impossible for me because I don’t have Kanji memorized.
I’d be interested in evidence that supports either claim.
We need an open source electric car.