NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malmuria" data-source="post: 8916925" data-attributes="member: 7030755">I'm not sure the primary issue in the OP is the use of technology per se. Colville himself uses Fantasy Grounds and <a href="https://youtu.be/zFj48x0c4EM?t=92" target="_blank">has said that he misses</a> using it while at the table, and in fact his ideal set up is to still use the VTT for its automation and maps even while playing in person.  I think it more has to do with this<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l198KwRfeo&t=474s" target="_blank"> distinction between "folk" and "official" dnd</a>.  This split--or rather spectrum--already exists and has existed from the 1974 publication, where the "<a href="https://dmdavid.com/tag/meet-the-woman-who-in-1976-ranked-as-the-second-most-important-person-in-roleplaying-games/" target="_blank">$10 price of the original box struck many gamers as outrageous.</a>"So it's less about technology than about who owns and controls the necessary infrastructure and at what point that becomes a monopoly; whatever Hasbro is doing now is thus a small microcosm or example of larger trends.   From a folk dnd perspective, the concern is that activities that were once part of a commons become the purview and ownership of a corporate entity (i.e. "monetization").  From a more consumerist perspective, the main freedom people have is the freedom to buy or not buy.  So if you don't like it, don't buy it.  Consumer boycotts and letters are very much a part of this perspective, though apparently too radical for some.To be clear, people worry about microtransactions because they've led to real financial hardship, whether that be individuals spending <a href="https://kotaku.com/meet-the-19-year-old-who-spent-over-10-000-on-microtra-1820854953" target="_blank">thousands of $</a> on microtransactions or that <a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/over-1-in-10-young-gamers-get-into-debt-because-of-loot-boxes.html" target="_blank">9% of all UK</a> children/teenagers borrow, in some cases secretly, money they cannot repay to purchase loot boxes.  Again, in the West at least, most of the culpability for debt or purchases is seen to lie with the debtor/consumer, even as the corporations boast massive profits, so calls to regulate this activity are usually limited in effect.  The small scale ttrpg version of this is kickstarter and crowdfunding, which is unregulated and available to bad actors, where neither kickstarter nor those bad actors suffer any real consequences for failed kickstarters.[SPOILER="tangential - key points from uk loot boxes study"]Key points• Nearly one in four (23%) 11 to 16-year old gamers said they had paid money to open loot boxes• One third (31%) of young gamers said they struggled to keep track of how much they spent on loot boxes and one third (33%) said they did not feel in control of their spending on loot boxes• One in four gamers spend over £100 on loot boxes on average over the course of a game• One in six (15%) had taken money from their parents without permission to buy a loot box; and one in ten (9%) had borrowed money they couldn’t repay, while one in ten (11%) had either used their parent’s credit or debit card, or borrowed money from friends or family to do so• Nearly a quarter (24%) of gamers said they felt addicted to loot boxes and, because of the feeling of being cheated or ripped off by loot boxes, over one third (44%) said they experienced feelings of frustration and anger more often than they otherwise would have[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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