Opinion Piece: Microtransactions

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I have issues with the way monetization is happening in the large-scale games industry now. I am completely on the side against micro-transactions and loot-boxes in games. I may tolerate them in free to play games, and I will not deny the fact that I have spent money on some of these free to play games, but I despise them in games you do have to pay for. I had a personal policy of never buying a game that had either of these practices in them. I would actively avoid them regardless of how good the base game might have been because to me, once you put a monetary value on the game, ask players to pay for a game in order to play it, that should be it. I am happy to look the other way when it comes to post launch content. I have no issue paying for DLC if I personally feel the DLC is worth the price (you will have to do a lot to convince me a single map should be worth $10 for example). Nevertheless, there is a difference when it comes to micro-transactions. Because it's not paying a few dollars for more content, it's paying a few bucks for in game coins to help you get in game content, be it a up front charge as a way of avoiding grinding in the game, or a loot-box, where you're paying for the chance to get the thing you actually want. Either way, it is never "one and done". Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fuelled though has broken this rule, not because of choice, but because of a new practice that Activision started doing relatively recently, post launch micro-transactions. So with that, allow me a moment of your time to rip these mechanics and implementations a new one.