![]() Michael de Plater gamely answered my questions about loot boxes in Shadow of War by saying they're there for the hardcore players who might want more options for customizing their fortresses and orc armies, another set of dials to turn on the game's systems. Loot boxes, he implied, were the solution that let developers make those kinds of games. What every big-budget developer wants right now is to make a game that people can play forever. You might be tempted just knowing that they're there. You might also just be a completist and feel compelled to race through Shadow Wars as quickly as possible-and then you might be tempted by its loot boxes. Doing that, with or without loot boxes, will take a while, and Shadow Wars is only something you'll play if you really like Shadow of War. However, there's an incentive to play this fourth act besides the joy of orc-hunting and collecting-a bonus ending that you can achieve after reaching the final stage of Shadow Wars. It is, according to the developers, there for players who want to keep engaging with the Nemesis System, making new frenemies to strategically take down an army, one by one. You're not even really presented with them as an option until you finish the story and begin the game's fourth act, called Shadow Wars, which is essentially a bonus round, a long, ten-stage war where you recruit orcs to help defend your fortresses from the hordes that will besiege it, and take a few of your own. To Shadow of War's credit, you do not need to buy loot boxes to complete the game at all. The presence of loot boxes wears on your will, and while it can be easy to hold out and not buy any indefinitely, the moment you cave, well, you're done for. This is the one aspect of the controversy that's hardest to convey to anyone who doesn't play these games-it's really hard to not buy these things if they're there. Just about all of these games let you get loot boxes from simply playing, but it takes a little while-but if you can just buy them, what's stopping you? ![]() Loot boxes that could potentially give you a boost in-game to save time, however, are widely frowned upon in comment sections and internet forums, while developers and publishers say they're just offering players who might not have the time another way to see all it has to offer. This was the approach taken by Overwatch, the game that arguably popularized loot boxes in modern games. These loot boxes-as they've come to be called-have been proliferating in games for years now, and in 2017, they're inescapable.įor a while, there was a line deemed acceptable: If loot boxes offered strictly cosmetic items that did not affect how you played the game, they were fine. Forza 7 has them, Star Wars Battlefront II will have them, and hell, even NBA 2K18, while it doesn't take the "box of loot" approach these games do, encourages you to spend real cash at every turn. Part of the reason why Shadow of War's random chests have become a flashpoint simply boils down to timing: Every big game is doing this in 2017.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |