1st Physical Source-Book

Griffiths, Mark. Gambling and Gaming Addictions in Adolescence. BPS Blackwell, 2002.

In an effort to obtain more knowledge about microtransactions, I headed down to the Auraria Library to find a physical source. In my search throughout the databases of the Library I found a book which seemed to fit the bill. It was called Gambling and Gaming Addictions in Adolescence by Mark Griffiths. While it covers more of just the act of playing games in general, there was one quote that really stood out for me. Marks quotes a definition from Marlatt et al," defines addictive behavior as: a repetitive habit pattern that increases risk of diseases and/or associated personal and social problems. Addictive behaviors are often experienced subjectively as 'loss pf control. These habit patterns are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short term reward), often coupled with delay deleterious effects (long term costs)." I feel as if this quotes sums up what microtransactions are supposed to do. Micropayments generally range from 99 cents to 5 dollars. Companies purposely make the game more of a chore to play through as if a mud is slowing down the player. As it becomes more and more frustrating to try and get through anything, the player turns toward the microtransactions. "It's only 99 cents to get past this chore, that's not that much." This simple thought then begins to spiral out of control. For short term gratification, in this case getting past an object/level, the player spends 99 cents but soon enough he realizes that every level is a chore. As this occurs he is pushed to spend more and more passing everything he doesn't want to play and that 99 cents can become much more. Long term he spends much more then just 99 cents, not only wasting his own money but giving more incentives for companies to continue this practice, after all the more players that do this the more profit is made. This is just one example of that scenario, the biggest problem lies with card packs and loot boxes especially those with different rarity's like common through legendary (FIFA, NFL).