When I was in college and money was tight, I sold the log-in info for my World of Warcraft character. I remember that! Didn’t you make like $350? Way to game the system, babe! I thought so, too.
But if you add up what it cost me to get there… $50 to buy the game, $30 for the expansion pack, $15 a month subscription fee… after a few years of that, I’d sunk around $500 into that one game. Not to mention the countless hours I’d spent leveling up my character. Yikes. Well, at least you were able to mitigate the loss a bit https://central-game.com/fatal1ty-birth-of-esports-crymor/. And you genuinely enjoyed playing it, right? I think so… or was I just addicted? Remember when buying a video game meant… you owned it? And you could play the whole thing without spending one more dime? Ah, the good old days! That sales model has been largely replaced by one that asks players to continuously pay money throughout the course of the game. And that economic transition has been very lucrative for the games industry. If you asked an 80s gamer to spend $500-$1000 on a video game, they’d probably choke on their Hawaiian Punch. But today, millions of players do that every year, perhaps without even realizing it. How did we get here? The first “free-to-play” game was released in South Korea in 1999 and over the next decade, the idea spread across the globe, as developers realized that capturing a large audience could be more valuable than any purchase price--kind of how the rest of the internet works. [facebook, youtube, etc.]. Once you have their attention, then you can advertise to them, or sell them little upgrades and cosmetic items in-game. These so-called “microtransactions” have been incredibly profitable. Remember Farmville? This “free” game was making well over $1 million a day from in-game upgrades and boosts back in 2010. The current free-to-play champ, Fortnite, reportedly brings in over $2 million a day. And according to surveys, 90% of people who play the free online game League of Legends have spent over $1000 each on the game. And remember: unlike material goods, these products cost the company nothing to manufacture. Once the cost of design is offset, it’s pure profit. P: So how do these companies pull off this nifty trick of getting people to overspend on something that’s technically free? Like most marketing, the strategy is mostly based on exploiting the customers’ psychology. First of all, if you want people to keep spending, you need them to keep playing, which means these games have to be open-ended and addictive. Forget beating the final boss or rescuing the princess, now it’s all about climbing the leaderboard, raising your level, or expanding your kingdom--objectives that could theoretically go on forever. And the distribution of rewards--like unlocking a new weapon or a bigger castle---has been carefully crafted in look, sound, and timing, to deliver a powerful dopamine rush that players will crave again and again. Developers also know that as much as people like winning, they hate losing more. In economics, this is called “loss aversion,” and it leads people to spend more and more money just to avoid that terrible feeling of being a loser. In Candy Crush, once you run out of moves, you’ve technically lost. But you can use one “Lollypop” to get three extra turns. And you’ve only got a few seconds to decide - hurry before it’s too late! This might not seem that different from the earliest days of video games, where players could pump another quarter into the arcade cabinet to keep playing. But at least you could run out of quarters, and have time to rethink your life goals on the way to the change machine. Today, those little arcade cabinets we keep in our pockets are often linked to our bank accounts, so you can keep continuing and continuing until there’s nothing left. Quarters also have the advantage of saying exactly how much they’re worth, right on the front. Many of today’s games require you to convert your money into unfamiliar currencies, like Fortnite’s V-bucks or League of Legends’ Riot Points. They know people are more likely to spend money if they don’t know exactly how much they’re spending. The newest innovation in microtransactions seems to be inspired from the casinos of Las Vegas: loot boxes. Instead of selling items outright, some games ask you to buy a mystery box that might contain a super rare level 20 Energy Sword… or a worthless stick. Loot Boxes, card-packs and other random-chance items exploit what economists call “variable rate enforcement”. Our brains love unpredictable rewards. Just like with slot machines, the dopamine rush is more intense when the reward is a surprise. So opening a loot box and finding that Hot Pink Top Hat you always wanted can feel more like a win than buying it outright--even if you spent more to get it. Do these strategies work on everyone? No. But they don’t have to. A study in 2016 found that almost half of all spending on mobile game microtransactions came from 0.19% of players, with a very small number (known in the industry as “whales”) spending thousands on their favorite games. So, in effect, these companies are okay with most people enjoying their product for free, as long as they can soak a handful of super-addicted gamers. Unfortunately, a lot of these “whales” turn out to be “calves.” (That’s what you call a baby whale.) Yep, children are uniquely susceptible to these psychological tricks, probably due to their impulsivity and lack of understanding of what they’re actually doing. You’ve probably heard the horror stories. The 17 year old who racked up $7,500 on his dad’s credit card for microtransactions in FIFA ‘16. Or the 7 year old who spent over $6,000 on Jurassic World for iPad. Game developers typically refuse to refund these charges and still have not done much in the way of child protections. However, there has been some push-back from parents, legislators and gamers alike. EA tweaked its rewards system for the popular Star Wars-themed game Battlefront 2 in response to player criticism. The game heavily advertised Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker as playable characters, but one gamer calculated that unless you’re willing to pay for shortcuts, unlocking the characters would require 40 hours of in-game grinding… each. And legislators in states and countries across the world have considered regulating loot boxes like a form of gambling--especially now that secondary markets have sprung up where people can sell the rare contents of those loot boxes for hundreds or thousands of real dollars. And indeed, research has pointed towards a link between the amount one spends on loot boxes and the likelihood of having a gambling problem. If you’re a parent, you might consider only buying games for your kids that are “Pay-Once-and-Play,” or at the very least avoid having any credit card accounts linked to gaming devices. If you are a consumer of video games yourself, remember that enjoying a game is not the same thing as being addicted. And like most non-essential expenses, you should keep track of exactly how much you’re spending on it a month. Microtransaction purchases are designed to be impulsive and thoughtless, so just being aware of what you’re doing is still the best meta. The best what? Such a noob. Okay stop. And that’s our two cents!
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It's an element of Japan that's often overlooked in guidebooks. Which is strange because it's so dynamic in sounds and visuals... ...it's hard to miss. Pachinko is a familiar addition to the Japanese cityscape http://oncasinogames.com/canada/neteller-casinos/.
Its boldness can make it seem intimidating and inaccessible. It's a staple of the Japanese aesthetic Strange, loud, bright, and exciting. The first time I ever encountered Pachinko. I heard it before I saw it. It's like a sensory experience. It's bright and really it's loud. It's really- I can't underline how loud it is. In the simplest form, it's a cousin of pinball with its earliest roots in 18th Century France. In the 1920s, an earlier version of the game became a staple in local candy stores in Japan. Japanese children started calling the Game "Pachi Pachi". Referencing the machine's unique sounds. Neon colors reminiscent of JPOP music videos. On steroids. There's rows upon rows of Pachinko machines and in a country that's pressed for space... It's unbelievable, how giant Pachinko parlors are. To understand Pachinko a little better, let's see how the machines are made. First, holes are made in the pachinko board into which metal pins are inserted. The metal pins are checked by hand for spacing accuracy. Win pockets and spinners are attached. Yes, there are multiple win pockets. Now we have all the front pieces in place. Time to install the circuit board. Add the lever, ball collecting tray, and window frame. Connect the electronics and test out the machine. There you go Arigatou Gozaimashita! (Thank you very much!) At first glance, it seems like it's just pachinko machine after pachinko machine, but they're actually customized and themed like this one with a gun. *bang* It seems like there's a... ...secret society around pachinko. It doesn't seem like anyone doesn't know what they're doing. So, to just walk in and kinda sit down, it's intimidating. The reason everyone seems so comfortable, is cause in the end. It is actually quite a simple game. The game is played by turning the lever to release metal balls. This initiates an orchestra of sounds. Turning it too hard sends the ball flying past your target. Turning it to little prevents the ball from reaching your target at all. The ball has to land in a winning pocket in order to start gaining favorable numbers. And the trick is to find that sweet spot. It's easy to grasp after a while, basically you want the ball to get... ...into this hole. One hole. Once you get it into that hole, some other holes open up that are... I mean each machine is a little different, but there's one hole that's important. This is a game of probability and statistics. Some chance, some skill. The machines display their recent data allowing players to decide which machine is worthy of their time. If you look at a pachinko parlor, you're going to see a ton of numbers above the machines These include statistics, like how many times it was played. How many times it was won. How well the machine did. And that's why, when... ...in the morning you look at a pachinko parlor, often times you'll see a line in front of it. Because people are queuing to pick their favorite or best machine. People approach pachinko differently, some people want machines that have won a lot. Some people want machines that have won a little the day before thinking the probability will be higher for them to win that day which adds an element of gambling to the game. The games are built this way, with all this noise and lights to immediately grab you and immerse you in the environment. It's like you're cut off from the world in that moment It's just all of a sudden happening. It's- you're just there. It's not like, no warming up, all of a sudden- just goes. This one has a sword. It's iconic. It's an element of Japanese Pop culture. The sounds. The lights. The pins. The metal balls. It's some chance, some skill. It's ubiquitous to a point that's unimaginable. Unless you come to Japan and see it for yourself. I hope this video. Shed some light on what pachinko is and how it came to be so popular in Japan. Are you driven by purpose? Did you know that you can enjoy life to the fullest, that every moment can be filled with joy, happiness and fulfilment? If you didn’t, you’re not the only one.
This moment came about right after a dream I had. In the dream, I saw a handwritten poster on the wall of a bright room. It said: “You can enjoy life to the fullest and achieve anything that you want, anything, when you are living life on purpose.” And the best bit of all, was that the poster, was signed by me! When my eyes opened, I immediately sat up and started writing frantically. Since my writing was far slower than the thoughts surfacing from my inner mind, I quickly resolved to talk into my voice recorder: “I was born with a specific gift and talent.” “I have exceptional strength in something in my life.” “How can I be driven by purpose?” “What is my purpose?” The voice recorder to my mouth, I recorded what I thought my strengths were, what I enjoyed doing, what I wanted to give to others, and who those others are. Eventually realising that I wanted to offer something creative to the world, I set about discovering exactly what I wanted that to be. If you, suddenly, need essay about purpose, i can advice you a writing essay service. I began by jotting down what I enjoy doing, what things have a deep meaning to me, what I like reading and watching, what CDs I listen to, what my hobbies are. I then narrowed the list down to the things I enjoy doing on a consistent basis, after that I narrowed it even further to see if there was a pattern, a similarity in the top five items on my list. This insight alone had made an incredible difference in my life. I used to haphazardly work on one project then move on to the next with no real sense of direction. But now I focus on getting things done, easily and with great pleasure. I feel a deep sense of fulfilment when I’m done. The big difference now is that I have an intense sense of passion in what I’m doing. Am I now driven by purpose? In the years and months since I began the journey of living my passions, there have been many times when I felt fear, when I stood face to face with obstacles that seemed too big to overcome, when I felt it was time to take the next step but did not have the courage or knowledge how. I needed to find the courage to continue. And the great thing was I didn’t need to look too far. The courage had always been there. It was at these moments of fear that I found I grew as a person, for these moments inspired me to review my passions and look within me. Passion was the driving force that had fuelled me to triumph over any fear, any obstacle or challenge that stood in my way. Stephen King : « The writer’s job is simply to provide a show » According to Stephen King, one of the most important advice to be given to young writers is that representation takes form in the mind of the reader. Good descriptions allow a good representation. 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Plan out your work. Writing without a goal sometimes allows the apparition of a good idea or two but it is not a viable mean to produce a complete story. Write about what you know. Your own subjects of interests, your feelings, your beliefs, your friends, your family, all of it can be a good material support when you start writing. Develop your taste for solitude because writing is one of the loneliest job in the world. Finally, persistence is absolutely essential, producing these words is not enough; you will also need to survive critics and rejection. But the pleasure of seeing a book you wrote in a library is a reward worth all the efforts endured! Although the economy is slowly but surely coming back to life, there are still a great number of people who are scrambling to make ends meet, financially speaking. It’s not easy to pay the bills when there is no overtime to be had at work.
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You need to advertise your posts that you are publishing regularly. The easiest way of doing that would be to go and visit websites and blogs that you think your potential audience would like to read about. There you could post a comment about how the content of your website would be interesting to those readers so that they might want to also visit your blog to learn more about what you have to say. That’s an ideal way to advertise your sites. However, for some reason lots of blog owners seem to screw this one up. The thing is they often drain Their efforts trying to advertise blog posts they write on other blogs that don’t really suit the purpose. For example, what’s the benefit of going for a blog or website that isn’t popular at all? It’s like advertising on a TV show that is airing at 3:30 AM. Even though ít might well be an interesting and entertaining show, but why would one want to put efforts in advertising if only few people watch it? The same applies if the website you’re aiming at has only a handful of visitors each day. Chances are that only a few people will be reading that beautifully-worded comment you leave at the end of some article. Therefore, before strategizing about it, you want to find out how many visitors the website you’re aiming at is getting. Just try the site out on Alexa to get some estimation. Another good indicator can be the pagerank a site is getting. Would you believe that there are blog owners and webmasters who believe in advertising the blog posts they write just about anywhere? What would it be like, as an example, if you run a blog with the focus on the New York Knicks and you go and leave a comment on a site called Fashion First? Would you think that it would be of much use trying to attract visitors to your blog this way? Some may reason that there must be a few Knicks fans among those fashionistas. Go figure. But to merely go for blogs that deal in the same general subject that your blog is about, simply isn’t enough. In order to really focus your efforts by targeting at the very kind of people who tend to usually be interested in your blog’s topic, you need to look at the keywords that match your blog in particular. Then go and search for blogs that answer to those very keywords and post on them. On the other hand, in some cases, if you’re sure that you know your target audience, you might deviate from the straight Narrow a little bit. For example, if you’re still writing about the Knicks, and you know your audience well enough so that you can make an educated guess about some incidental interests your readership might have – like entertainment websites, food websites, or whatever, it can ge a good practice to leave comments on those websites as well. Doing so would not be a bad idea at all. |
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