TotalBiscuit talks about Overwatch's microtransactions and progression systems for 40ish mins

[Brobattington]

[QUOTE=Max;50459730]Doesn't the cap reset at rank 100 as well?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, sort of. Each time you reach/pass level 100 you get a little star underneath your badge thing and your level resets to 1 again. It's basically a prestige system. Don't know how many times you can do it though.

[Ganerumo]

[QUOTE=Rossy167;50456529]But Overwatch's loot system isn't a 'grind' because you're not unlocking anything of substance, it's not a strong new sword it's a fancy skin.[/QUOTE]

Two things are important to mention when it comes to the "grinding" aspect of the loot boxes.

First is, the XP cap maxes out at level 23. This means you get about 23 relatively quick to earn loot boxes before the game normalizes it and you start earning boxes at the same frequency, save for some occasional bonuses like playing in a group or getting your first win of the day, which I don't think are particularly visible in the long run.

Second is, and it's the most important one by a mile, that action required to grind for boxes is to just play the game as intended with no further action needed. You just play the game as you normally would and these things drop at a rate you can expect, on a measurable and visible value that steadily goes up regardless of whether you win or lose, so long as you actually stay until the end of the match.

[Spazi]

[QUOTE=NoobSauce;50456568]cosmetics are meaningless. they hold no importance in gameplay. you get them for free when you play the game and can buy them optionally. that's it, no more no less. why are people complaining about this

this entire argument is stupid.[/QUOTE]

I disagree with the idea that cosmetics are meaningless, and with TB in that regard.

It's very subjective, but a game is more than just its gameplay. Cosmetics make up character visuals which is a significant part of the game's visuals overall.
The fact that Overwatch's default characters look great was a major selling point for me.
F2P games way too often nickle and dime you for cosmetics, making the default characters look dorky and undesirable. Character visuals are an identity and distinction thing, and they're exploiting just that.

As the popularity of cosmetics suggests, standing out in games is really important for a lot of people, which is not surprising because that's what we deal with every day in real life. That's why I would prefer cosmetic customization be a core feature of games, rather than a luxury.

Furthermore, an interesting thing that I noticed is that TF2 gained a lot more depth after it got its cosmetics. Distinguishing and judging players by their fashion almost completely dictates how I fight against them. Gibus? Free kill. Australium? High priority target.
Recognizing friends on the battlefield also allows for a LOT of memorable gameplay to happen. When playing with friends, we share the experience in a way that wouldn't happen without cosmetics, and indeed didn't happen back in 2007.

[Kljunas]

[QUOTE=Talishmar;50463748]I disagree with the idea that cosmetics are meaningless, and with TB in that regard.

It's very subjective, but a game is more than just its gameplay. Cosmetics make up character visuals which is a significant part of the game's visuals overall.
The fact that Overwatch's default characters look great was a major selling point for me.
F2P games way too often nickle and dime you for cosmetics, making the default characters look dorky and undesirable. Character visuals are an identity and distinction thing, and they're exploiting just that.

As the popularity of cosmetics suggests, standing out in games is really important for a lot of people, which is not surprising because that's what we deal with every day in real life. That's why I would prefer cosmetic customization be a core feature of games, rather than a luxury.

Furthermore, an interesting thing that I noticed is that TF2 gained a lot more depth after it got its cosmetics. Distinguishing and judging players by their fashion almost completely dictates how I fight against them. Gibus? Free kill. Australium? High priority target.
Recognizing friends on the battlefield also allows for a LOT of memorable gameplay to happen. When playing with friends, we share the experience in a way that wouldn't happen without cosmetics, and indeed didn't happen back in 2007.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, visuals are an important part of games, at least to some people. For instance I really like when getting new gear in an RPG also changes how my character looks, and it's just not nearly as exciting when it doesn't.

I don't really get how people like TB can be like "you shouldn't care about cosmetics, it doesn't matter how slowly you're unlocking them because they're meaningless, etc." then turn around and buy 50 loot boxes or whatever. Seems a bit contradictory. Even if he hadn't bought any himself the fact that a lot of people do indicates that cosmetics are in fact pretty important to at least a portion of players.

[Rossy167]

[QUOTE=Mattk50;50455955]I dont really have a huge issue with cooldowns, its just that by using them as their exclusive method to regulate ability usage they limited themselves pretty severely in the design stage, causing heroes to feel less diverse overall. Tf2 for example has a few cooldowns, but mostly thing are used as you want and that adds a lot to gameplay feeling smooth and allows characters to be more varied.[/QUOTE]

I didn't see this before:

But cooldown based abilities are quintessential to the entire game. Like, being able to use abilities "as you want" rather than on a cooldown would completely kill the competitive nature of the game and just make it an unfun clusterfuck. The whole point is that there's a selection of predefined and designed heroes each with their own strengths and weaknesses, cooldown based abilities are completely necessary to create that kind of gameplay. I'm now trying to imagine a situation where Junkrat's conc mines are ammo based rather than on cooldown and feeling bad for anyone who thinks that'd improve the game. Or even worse, taking his conc mines away and replacing them with something that is ammo based, completely killing one of the mechanics makes the hero so godamn awesome.

[Spazi]

[QUOTE=Kljunas;50463889]Yeah, visuals are an important part of games, at least to some people. For instance I really like when getting new gear in an RPG also changes how my character looks, and it's just not nearly as exciting when it doesn't.

I don't really get how people like TB can be like "you shouldn't care about cosmetics, it doesn't matter how slowly you're unlocking them because they're meaningless, etc." then turn around and buy 50 loot boxes or whatever. Seems a bit contradictory. Even if he hadn't bought any himself the fact that a lot of people do indicates that cosmetics are in fact pretty important to at least a portion of players.[/QUOTE]

I've been starting to wonder that.

The cosmetic stuff he buys probably doesn't put a dent into his budget, with him being an adult with a job and all.
Does he even know what it feels to be in the position when the game is designed to tempt you into spending money and time, but you don't have either to spare?

[Rossy167]

[QUOTE=Talishmar;50465112]I've been starting to wonder that.

The cosmetic stuff he buys probably doesn't put a dent into his budget, with him being an adult with a job and all.
Does he even know what it feels to be in the position when the game is designed to tempt you into spending money and time, but you don't have either to spare?[/QUOTE]

I think TB, Jesse and Dodger are the best, but the way they talked about 'Onlywatchers' on the Co-optional Podcast kinda highlighted for me that they're not exactly above being a little disconnected from the core of gamers. Like that's just what happens when a large part of your job is just playing games, not to mention games you've been given for free, which kinda kills the idea of value proposition right there even if it does make perfect sense that games media are given review codes.

[Kljunas]

[QUOTE=Talishmar;50465112]I've been starting to wonder that.

The cosmetic stuff he buys probably doesn't put a dent into his budget, with him being an adult with a job and all.
Does he even know what it feels to be in the position when the game is designed to tempt you into spending money and time, but you don't have either to spare?[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't say this is even a matter of budget. Regardless of how much money he spent on cosmetics and how much that money was worth to him, the fact that he spent anything at all still means that those cosmetics do increase his enjoyment of the game to some extent. I don't think this is a disconnect from the general audience as much as an internal weak point in his reasoning.

This is why I find it baffling that he asks "Does it matter how long it takes to unlock the next box?". Well yes it does! If loot boxes bring enjoyment, then drop rate becomes a factor in how enjoyable the game is. Not necessarily a huge factor, but a factor nonetheless.