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this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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On the one hand, my gut says "if they have 50k to blow and do so on a game, fuck em"
On the other hand, my experience with addictive personalities knows they almost certainly don't have that money to blow, but they will do so anyway, fucking their life (and possibly their families lives) over even more in the process, and no amount of lecturing them will change, because they need therapy.
My gut isn't as sympathetic as my brain is.
There was a guy that posted on reddit about how he spent thousands of dollars on loot boxes. The way he totally wrecked his finances and his relationship with his wife was harrowing. Everytime he would get the latest and greatest item, character, whatever, they would come out with something new and he would start all over again.
I have to wonder if this is a video game problem, or if it's a sort of financial self-destructiveness expressed through a video game rather than through some other means.
Like, for every person who spends money they don't have on video games, how many people spend money they don't have on fancy cars, or clothing, or expensive pets, other luxury possessions? How many people spend the rent money on sneakers, or the kids' college fund on fancy vacations, or the utility bill money on anime figurines, or their whole paycheck on partying, or their retirement fund on too much house?
Financial self-destructiveness seems to be a problem that some people have. It gets reported heavily when it's expressed through video games, in part because much of the reporter's audience thinks all video games are fundamentally pointless and evil to begin with.
The difference with in-game spending is that they use all the same shady techniques as casinos to exploit those people.
You don't see sneakers shops offering time limited loot boxes for a chance to obtain limited edition sneakers, they also don't show you a big grid of their catalog with holes for the sneakers you don't own. "Just buy those 2 pairs to complete the collection of running sneakers!"
You clearly have no idea what "sneakerheads" are, as these tactics and more DO exist and have for decades. Hell, little kids were getting murdered for their Air Jordans not 30 years ago, walking home from fucking school, son.
Empathetic, to be fair. Sympathetic is to mirror their emotional state, etc. Empathy is to understand it without inhabiting that space/experiencing it yourself.