10 Things Video Games Need To STOP Doing

A common misconception amongst gamers is that microtransactions are a bad thing. As a microtransaction is literally a small transaction, that makes no sense. They allow costly expansions to be split into their component parts and sold separately so devs can see what players want and what they're not bothered about. It's a good thing, so why do microtransactions get such a bad rap?

In many people's eyes, they have become synonymous with pay-to-win schemes in games. Buy a faster car than you can find in the game and you'll win all the races. Get quicker cooldowns for your armies and you'll destroy the enemy easily. Your real-life money now translates to doing better in video games.

This sort of design has two effects on gameplay. The first is that once one person starts paying to win, everyone else needs to pay just to have an even playing field. The second is that the game design will inevitably change in order to push people towards making these sorts of purchases.

Let's be charitable and assume that these aren't designed to drive more players to pay into the game, but it makes no difference. A little more difficult here and there, a little more unfair; all to allow those who paid to win a little more challenge in the game. And it all pushes more players to need these little pay-to-win microtransactions just to play the game.