I remember when you simply purchased a computer/video game. If it was good, there maybe was an expansion pack available later. This slowly evolved into season passes, downloadable content, and microtransactions. This exploded when mobile games became popular on smartphones. There are still many games available for purchase, but the majority are either subscription based, full or ads, or pay-to-win with microtransactions.
There is one game I am playing that is the worst offender of this trend: Last Fortress Underground. I saw an ad for the game on Instagram that looked interesting, so I downloaded and installed the game. It turned out the ad was a complete lie; the gameplay and graphics are nothing like what was shown. Many people have commented on the false advertising, but they are still showing on social media. It is another clone of the “build a base, join an alliance, and fight other players” genre. In these games, you can gain huge advantages by spending money, and the gameplay is designed to allow “whale” free reign to massacre and wipe out non-paying players.
Here is an example. One element of the gameplay is to send out expeditions to gather resources or attack zombies and other players. Initially, it was just a standard vehicle with no attributes. Later, this was expanded to four vehicle options with better options locked away. To unlock, you had to collect parts and “repair” the vehicles. You can find parts in the game, but the drop rate is incredibly low. However, like every gameplay element in the game, you can pay to skip the grind. If you want the best vehicles, it costs $500.
As you can see, it requires 500 parts to repair the last two vehicles. I have been grinding since the beginning, and I only have 91. If you want to buy the parts outright, it costs $100 for 100 parts. I read one of the higher-level players on my alliance spends $300 per week on this game. Accordingly, it is impossible to beat a higher-level player in gameplay. This is simple psychology: the developer needs to maintain this lopsided environment to encourage players to spend money. If free players can compete with big spenders, then there is no incentive to spend. This theme is pervasive throughout this genre of mobile games, though in my opinion, Last Fortress is the worst offender.
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Then why keep playing? I am gullible and this is the fourth game of this type that I have downloaded. I wrote about the first one, Age of Z Origins. I was finally able to leave the game even though I made some friends online, and uninstalled the app. These games usually lure you in with base development for the first week, and players are shielded from the real game model until later. When you finally realize how much you need to spend to keep up, you are faced with the sunk-cost fallacy with time and money already spent. Anyway, I am trying to be a casual player and not spend any money. We will see if I need to quit and uninstall this app soon as well.
Life with chronic diseases 