this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2025
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'Valve does not get anywhere near enough criticism': DayZ creator Dean Hall says the 'gambling mechanics' of Valve's monetization strategy 'have absolutely no place' in videogames (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 3 days ago by Agent_Karyo@piefed.world to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[–] poke@sh.itjust.works 114 points 3 days ago (1 children)

From my perspective its because they're still somehow not even among the worst. Their only way of advertising their gambling is by giving the player a crate. This crate can be opened for $2.50, or sold on the marketplace to someone else who wants to open it. This money can be spent on buying real games.

In cod, you get full screen advertisements on the regular for $10+ skin bundles. In almost every game as a service you get progress in a battle pass that ALWAYS directly contrasts your usually untradeable rewards with what you could be getting if you paid this month's subscription fee.

Valve does have a scummy system, but they make it less annoying and if you choose to not participate you usually benefit with real funds to use on steam. Its hard to hate that over the aggressive advertising of its competitors.

All IMO, though. I'm no psychologist.

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I agree.

But it's important to note that just because it flies under the radar of most people, doesn't mean it isn't an absolutely deplorable system that exploits the difficult to control tendencies of vulnerable people.

It's evil, and while it's "only a little bit of evil" compared to most similar system, there is no amount of evil that is ok.

[–] lemjukes@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Being ‘least shitty’ isn’t really a worthwhile acolade.

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yes. That's what I said.

[–] lemjukes@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 days ago

Oh, sorry, I guess I’ll shut the fuck up now.