Video Games

I have played my fair share of video games over the past ten years. My parents used to impose very strict gaming quotas, limiting me to only 25 minutes a week. Along with this came the restriction of YouTube; I could only watch 10 minutes a week of YouTube at the time. Hence, I have no recollection of the memes that were prevalent then, and my friends now are shocked that I do not know them. My gaming limiation has grown more lenient over time, until I am trusted to control the amount of time I spend on games.

Here is a comprehensive list of most of the video games I have played. The ones preceded by 👍 are my recommendations.

Single-player with Story

  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Watch Dogs 2
  • Watch Dogs: Legion
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Assassin's Creed Unity
  • Bully Scholarship Edition

Sandbox/Simulator/Strategy

  • Minecraft
  • Once Human
  • Crusader Kings 2
  • Unciv (unofficial remake of Civilization V)
  • Total War: Warhammer III
  • The Sims 4

Driving/Racing

  • Forza Horizon
  • Test Drive Unlimited 2
  • Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)
  • City Car Driving

Player versus Player

  • Conqueror's Blade
  • Apex Legends
  • PUBG: Battlegrounds
  • War Thunder
  • Enlisted

Others

  • Torn
  • Helldivers 2
  • Hitman Free Trial
  • Half Sword Demo
  • SCP - Containment Breach

Here are games that I have never played, but greatly interests me.

  • For Honor
  • Titanfall 2
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Ready Or Not
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
  • Chivalry 2

I would not describe myself as a hardcore gamer. I have no interest in spending countless hours to make it to the top of a leaderboard, or to prove that I am better than anyone in a game. Instead, I value the unforgettable moments of playing with my friends, especially those that I have known for years and are now separated across continents.

An image of sports cars and muscle cars racing down winding roads.
Met a group of random GTA players in a random lobby. We went cruising together outside of Los Santos. Never saw them after that day.
A wholesome conversation between two players in Torn.
Per5eus is my username in Torn. Jynnx was my faction leader at the time. We were discussing about my contributions in a war.
Two masked individuals taking a selfie over a fallen tattoed man, in a video game.
Playing Watch Dogs 2 with a friend I met in Grade 7. That was the only time we played this game together. We each moved on to other games.
Four futuristic soldiers perched on top of a cliff, in a video game
The circled player is my high school Computer Programming teacher. He introduced Helldivers 2 to us. The other two are my classmates.
A group of medieval soldiers from very different cultures huddled around a campfire.
I am the circled player. Hanging out with my Conqueror's Blade house (think of it like a guild) between battles. We host biweekly Territory Wars and this was one of many.
A squad of US army soldiers in green combat fatigues, aiming in the middle of a field.
A US army squad in Enlisted. This game got too competitive for my liking, and I stopped playing it a long time ago.
An Instagram story of a Minecraft cave, with a row of campfires and two players next to a furnace.
An Instagram story posted by one of my friends. This is an image of me and two of my friends playing a Minecraft server after we are separated across Vancouver, Toronto, and Hong Kong. They are some of my best friends whom I met in Grade 7. At the time of writing, they recently met in Hong Kong. I just moved apartments, so I could not join them.
Note: I covered their Instagram usernames to protect their privacy.

Opinion on PVP Games

PVP stands for player-versus-player. I define a PVP game as any game that involves competition between players. This is certainly not limited to first-person shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive or Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege; racing games also count, if players can race against each other.

Let me get this out of the way. When I play a video game, I expect enjoyment in every moment spent playing it. I do not want to "grind" for hours before receiving enjoyment.

Now, let us discuss the nature of PVP games. Most PVP games take quite some time before one is proficient at it. Before achieving proficiency, one is expected to lose frequently, and inevitably, receive less enjoyment than someone with a higher skill level. Say, if a game requires 100 hours of playtime before one can be considered "skilled", then the initial 100 hours would be suffering. Some games claim to have skill-based matchmaking, but I really doubt the effectiveness of their matchmaking algorithm. Which statistic(s) best represents a player's skill? Is skill even quantifiable? Anyway, my point is, if I have to practice playing a game a fair bit before I can truly enjoy it, then I am not playing it. Video games are not the same as sports. One may gain health benefits playing a sport, even if they are a novice. I cannot say the same about video games. I do not think there any inherent benefits in gaming.

Another problem with PVP games is the pressure to maintain one's skill. Consistency is important. If one takes a break from playing a competitive game, they may find their skills "rusty" upon returning, along with significantly decreased enjoyment. The way I see it, there are only two options. Under normal circumstances, I am not one to deal with absolutes, for I am no Sith, but this is a different case. Casually playing a competitive game will only lead to many losses, heavy blows to self-esteem, and deteriorating sanity. Either one completely stays away from PVP games, or one spends considerable time playing a PVP game for enjoyment. Despite my interest in video games, I am unwilling to let them take up the majority of my day, so I choose the former. Single-player games are all I need.

I have once played 30 hours of Apex Legends. I did not enjoy any moment of those 30 hours. It was the false hope of "it's going to get better" that kept me from quitting any earlier, but I have learned my lesson now.

In very simple terms, a PVP game is a competition of which player is willing to spent the most time of their life playing said game. When I think of the matter this way, the mere thought of getting into a PVP game makes me reel in disgust. You can argue that single-player games are also a waste of time, but at least I can quit or return to them anytime I want with no repercussions.

Opinion on Pay-To-Win and Microtransactions

Pay-To-Win

Pay-To-Win, which we will call P2W for short, is when players can spend real money to gain advantages over others. Said advantages include superior equipment, more daily login rewards*, or better rewards* after completing tasks**. Even if these advantages are small, I would still regard it as P2W. Any kind of performance boost attained through spending real money is P2W. This is not to say that P2W games do not require skill, but spending real money can give a player massive advantages over their opponents who do not spend, and may sometimes undermine the importance of skill.

I should acknowledge that I speak from a player's perspective, and not from a business-making perspective. I would, however, argue that a "good" game should strive towards finding a win-win situation for both players and business owners. I would then argue that P2W games favour the business owner more than the enjoyment of players.

For example, War Thunder is a P2W game. One can purchase vehicles that range between 30 USD to 70 USD that clearly outperform standard vehicles. Some premium vehicles can be directly bought using an in-game currency, Golden Eagles (GE). However, GE is what one would call a premium currency, meaning that its main source comes from being bought with real money, and not through completing in-game tasks**. Though it may be possible to earn enough GE to buy a premium vehicle without spending real money, the time required is gargantuan, to a point that it feels more like a grind than actually satisfying gaming sessions. Unfortunately, I have to admit that it is incredibly subjective on exactly how much time is considered gargantuan. It is also worth noting that War Thunder is free to download. Perhaps being P2W is the major source of income for the game developers, but let us first look at a different game.

Apex Legends is also free to download, yet not P2W. Any microtransactions (we will get into this topic later) in the game are purely cosmetics and have no effect on one's performance. I have heard that one can spend some kind of premium currency to purchase new characters, but I am not sure if this constitutes a "performance boost". A new character may have new abilities, but that does not necessarily mean that they are better than the characters one starts with. Contrary to War Thunder, Apex Legends's ability to make money seems to come from selling cosmetics that do not impact performance as premium vehicles in War Thunder do.

Here is my take on P2W games. Personally, I would never play them. A battle of "whose wallet is thicker" is pointless and not something I would take part in. Even if it is possible to compete without spending, the additional effort one needs to put in is not worth my time. I do not enjoy Player Versus Player (PVP) games, but if I have to play one, I would most definitely prefer skill-based rather than P2W. If a game has never been advertised for providing skill-based PVP, then there is nothing wrong if it turns out to be P2W. On the other hand, if a game claims to be skill-based but is in fact P2W, then the developer of said game is blatantly lying.

*Rewards that allow a player to perform better than others, for example, better equipment, in-game currency that can be used to purchase better equipment, greater experience gains to hasten leveling up, etc.

**Tasks, missions, quests, objective, operation, contract, job. Whatever the game calls it, but you get the idea.

Microtransactions

Microtransactions are purchases that a player can make after purchasing a video game. Microtransactions can give performance boosts (P2W) or only for cosmetic purposes (not P2W). Hence, all P2W games have microtransactions, but not all microtransactions exist only in P2W games.

Here is my take on (non-P2W) microtransactions. In the end, you decide whether or not to purchase cosmetics. I do not see a point in complaining that cosmetics are too expensive, for cosmetics are not necessary to, well, win. If the microtransaction is more than you are willing to spend, do not make the purchase. If the microtransaction is affordable and you want to look flashy, or you want to support a free-to-play game, go for it. It does seem ridiculous if a single microtransaction costs 50% or more of the base game***, but in the end, no one is forcing you to make that purchase. Remember that this is highly subjective. Just because you find microtransactions too expensive does not imply that everyone feels the same. I find that some internet users conclude that a game is "bad" because something dissatisifies them, without looking for any kind of general consensus among the community.

Total War: Warhammer III does an excellent job with their microtransactions. Now, subjectively speaking (as the majority of this "blog" is also subjective), to purchase all the downloadable content (DLC) of this game is quite expensive. For context, DLCs in this game unlock new factions that one can play as, whether that be Elves, Dwarves, or Greenskins. Even though these factions are locked behind DLCs, players can still fight against them and get a feel of how they play (to actually play as them, one would have to buy the corresponding DLC). I might not have the DLC for Dwarves, but I can play as Grand Cathay and attack them, observing their units and see if I want to play as them. This allows one to better decide if the DLCs are worth buying. Giving players an opportunity to experience the product before going ahead with the microtransaction makes Total War: Warhammer III really special.

The Sims 4 is an interesting case. The base game is free, but DLCs range between 7 CAD to 55 CAD each. More specifically:

  • Expansion Packs each cost 54.99 CAD
  • Game Packs each cost 29.99 CAD
  • Stuff Packs each cost 14.99 CAD
  • Kits each cost 6.99 CAD

These are not microtransactions, but more like "megatransactions". If the packs are expensive because the base game is free, I can somewhat understand. Comparing The Sims 4 with the pricing of other games that I have played, I would say that the base game plus one Expansion or Game Pack is worth somewhere between 20 CAD to 30 CAD. However, for an Expansion Pack alone to cost 54.99 CAD is unacceptable for me, even after considering that the base game is free. I think purchasing one pack along with the base game is worth it, but the more additional packs one buys, the less worth it is. Then again, as I said earlier, no one is forcing me to make any purchases.

***As the name suggests, microtransactions should be micro, hence a microtransaction that costs 50% or more of the base game sounds out of place. Also think about this. Say, a base game costs 50 CAD, and one of its microtransactions costs 30 CAD. If 50 CAD can buy you a game, 30 CAD should buy you more than half that game, yet microtransactions often add much less content than the base game. Seems not worth the money (not applicable if the base game is free). In the case that the microtransaction costs more than the base game, should it not contain more content than the base game? If it offers more than the base game, should it be a standalone game? I think there are problems with these "megatransactions".

Final thoughts: I do not like P2W games.
P2W games should be make it clear that they are P2W. P2W is unacceptable in a game that claims to be skill-based.
Non-P2W microtransactions are optional, hence it is pointless to complain that they are too expensive.
I would make microtransactions to support a free-to-play game, given that it does not cost more than 50% of the base game.