And that last bit is exactly why I refuse to pay companies that deliberately add inconveniences in order to get me to pay for more convenience. By paying, I’m encouraging that practice.
With Free to Play games, it’s not even just “badgering you for money.” The whole idea is that they provide a somewhat enjoyable or satisfying experience (often using tricks there, too). Then they take it away. But then, if you pay just this small amount, you can get back to your fun. Now, isn’t it worth it?
I tend to avoid anything that makes me feel like wanting to do something I would usually not want to do. With ad supported video, I usually can find a way to view it without ads. That’s where the manipulation is: in the ads themselves, or in the inconvenience of them plus an offer to pay to get rid of them.
But with F2P, the manipulation is baked into the experience. They aren’t just bombarding you with ads, but making it harder not to want to pay.
If it can make me feel that way, then it can work on anyone.
The ads that make me laugh are the ones for windows. Buy one, get one free! What this means, of course, is that the little-kept secret is that windows are w-a-a-a-y overpriced to begin with, and even with a BOGO deal, you’re still paying way more than they’re worth. Either that, or the labor cost has been jacked up to compensate.
You mean with cash, right? Because presumably you’re still using google search or some other free product that’s costing you in time and frustration and data gathering. Are you okay with paying with those? Because by paying with attention, data, etc. you’re absolutely encouraging this exact behavior – that’s why google has 6 billion daily users and paid search services have like a hundred thousand.
I honestly don’t quite understand your attitude in general. I respect your explicit refusal to be manipulated by dark patterns, but you seem to equally condemn or reject services that are offering you a fair deal with no dark patterns. “We give you the best thing we can, you pay us for it” - you reject the idea of signing up for that too.
I can’t figure out what a working society would look like in your world.
I like software that gives you a free sample. I’m okay paying for a game, or whatever, that i will enjoy it that solves some problem for me. But i want to know whether it will perform as advertised before plunking down cash.
I have a couple of truly free phone games i enjoy (Simon Tatham’s Puzzles, for instance) but mostly i acquire games that come with ads or other limitations in the free version, that you can pay a one-time fee to get rid of.
Free trials / demos are not an example of enshittification or dark patterns if they’re just a sample of an honest product, which it sounds like you guys are describing. The game itself is - pay us and we’ll give you the best experience we can, the free trial is basically just a free sample. if Nintendo made the best Mario game they could, set the price at $60, and let you play the first level because they think the sample will convince you to buy the game, that’s still an honest deal. There’s no dark manipulation there. In that case, the “free” isn’t “you’re paying with your time, energy, frustration, data, willingness to watch ads” – it’s more like “we’re convinced our product is good and we think our sample will help you come to that decision”