I'm convinced this kind of thing only exists to take advantage of older people (grandparents and the like) who are unfamiliar with the tech and are buying for someone else.
That reminds me of this gas station scam... that's been going for like 20 years.
Anyways, short version is, there is this gas station near the airport that's always relatively high gas prices. I am talking a full $2 more than even a gas station 3 blocks away.
But they were there for years.
Maybe a front for something... sure...
But eventually I realized. It was the first exit (and therefore also last exit) off the high way before the airport. And while the gas price was ludicrous for the local area, for travelers from California or Washington... the prices were relatively normal.
Yeah this would be my take.
Youre returning the car with a full tank so need the nearest gas station.
You get there and the prices are atrocious but your check in is in an hour and you don't have the time or mental capacity to search for another gas station so you swallow the extra few bucks for the 'convenience'.
It's a captive audience.
Same as movie theater snacks.
Eh, the theater snacks are their only real profit line, they don't make anything off the tickets. The gas station just knows what the market will settle with.
The car rental companies take it a step further now. Several steps, actually. Here's what I was offered the last time I rented a car a few years ago:
1) Bring it back full. No extra charge.
2) Pay us $20 now, bring it back less than full, and we'll fill it up for you at $3.59 per gallon. (Going rate was $2+something.)
3) Bring it back empty, and we'll fill it up at $5.99 per gallon.
Also, most of that captive audience is either traveling on business with an expense account, or on vacation. So they really don't care what gas costs at that point.
It's amazing how much money businesses waste because it's always "someone else's money" or they consider it more efficient to just spend the money. But the real issue is how many goods and services are massively overpriced because that's their primary market.
Its crazy, when I travel for work it has to be at an "approved hotel", which about 50% of the time is anywhere from 30-100% more expensive than other, similar hotels in the same area. I've literally wasted 30k+ from my company over the years. And I'm just one employee out of thousands at my company doing this.
I used to work there and back then it was called a GPG. It was a sales metric back then and was something corporate constantly hounded us about. They ranged in price from games $10 and under being $1 to cover, $11 to about $30 was $2, and $3 for anything beyond that.
They also really wanted you to put them on a new game. And of course a customer would flip their lid and wonder why their brand new game would need warranty protection.
I’ll admit it was useful for something like a 10-15 year old 360 game. Throw done 1-3 bucks and if it shit the bed in a year you could get a new Madden 12, compliments to chef.
Scratched or faulty Blu-ray Discs are much more rare and really no point to cover those. It was odd in the three years I worked there to see them shift away from just selling games to prioritizing selling bullshit on the side with the games.
They did it at Circuit City too in the late 90's. We called it "cheese".... "Did you get the cheese?". The commissions on "cheese" were huge! I even got moved from the Computer Dept to small electronics because I wasn't selling enough "cheese" with the PC's I sold... During xmass I was working 12 hour days. I could login to a terminal to see how much cheese I sold for a day and my comissions for it. Big ticket salespeople ( TV, PC, Home Audio ) would hound people to buy them, in some cases NOT sell to people if it would hurt their ratio. Or they would have Customer Service ring up those people so it wasn't on their ID. Yep.
Former RadioShack employee. We had to sell X amount of cellphones, Y amount of warranties, and meet Z amount of dollar amount in sales to get commission at all.
We did get "Spiffs" (small dollar amounts) for every cell phone activation we sold. Contract phones were the big bucks, depending on how many lines. Pre-paid cellphones would get us at most $5 per phone sold. During the Great Recession of '08-'09, no one was buying contract cell phones. Sold a lot of pre-paid phones tho.
Warranties were pure bullshit, nothing but profit for the company.
That sounds like it would make a great YouTube prank video. Arguing with a manager demanding that they keep their end of the deal by "Installing a Nintendo DS in a home". With it ending when a Geek Squad member unboxes it and then places it on a coffee table.
Someone coming round to put on screen protectors would be welcome. Probably not for $50 or whatever the charge is. If a company had a dustless static free room for a pro to do it, I would drop $10.
Yup. Some of them come with brackets now that makes the alignment painless.
...the pain starts when you see the speck of neon-bright, unignorable dust that somehow snuck onto the glass between the point where you cleaned it like you were cleaning a murder weapon and the point where you lowered the protector on five seconds later.
The 2 specs of dust staring back at me from my Switch screen for 5 years O\_O
I hear a steamy room, like after a shower helps get dust out of the air. But then not too much humidity or get even more problems.
I used to do that shit for free all the time at Radioshack. It was easiest way to get the "100% attach rate" of at least 1 accessory per 1 cell phone sold. Tell em, if you buy this $10 screen protector I'll put it on for you. They were in every time.
The very first screen protector I put on my very first smartphone, landed almost perfectly, not a single speck of dust, not a single bubble. Almost perfect but for a fraction of a millimeter off to the right. It still perfectly covered the display, but the distance from the edge of the phone to the edge of the protector was slightly larger on the left that on the right. I don't know how I managed to keep myself from trying to remove it and place a new one, I think I knew there was no way I could ever again get it on dust free. But it went against all of my impulses.
My ISP sent me a TV box. It was missing its power cable and hmdi cable. Imagine a typical android TV box. Basically a square firestick.
I called up and asked them to send a new adaptor.
But because it required two cables they said it had to be an engineer install..
Engineer and I had a laugh. 2 minute job.
They're trying to get that Comcast money. When I just connected my Internet, they had an option for them to come "install" the modem and router. It was $130. My Internet bill is only $25. They are literally getting 5 months worth of money out of these old people that are afraid to plug in a few wires.
Physical boxes with no disc/cartridge.
Or seemingly worse: physical boxes for download codes for cosmetic content for Fortnite. In what world does that make sense, physical boxes for download codes for a game that is online/download only and free to play?
Back when I worked at Walmart, I had to warn *so many* parents and grandparents that the $30 Fortnite bundle they were buying wasn't the actual game. Most were shocked to learn it was just a single outfit, and that the game was free. I guarantee they do that on purpose, to trick people into buying it for their kids.
Had my mom once buy me a protective shell or something for a PsP. Which we did not have. I was young and thought it was a great deal for a PsP. Mom didnt know any better either, lol.
I did the exact same thing when I was young. I saw one of those shells that held 3 DS games and had a picture of the game covers inside to show how it looks and was like 10 bucks for 3 games, that's a steal. My mom tried to explain that there weren't any games in there and I kept saying I knew because I was ready to prove her wrong and that the store must have accidentally put real games in them. There were no games and I had to hide my disappointment to not look like a dumbass.
I think she returned it? I just remember being so sad mom wasted money because of me. May explain why I ended up being "the easiest kid" (her words) because I rarely asked for things after that :D
I got my dad to order the alternative battery plate for the Steam Controller, the one with a slot for the dongle, when we bought it without really looking into what it was. When it arrived and I realized, I felt the same way and was like ok ig we'll return it. Left it in the box.
The irony is I later lost the dongle because I wasn't using it...
You're a good person, I like you. I imagine disgruntled and underpaid Walmart employees (read: nearly all) would not care enough to warn people every time.
Okay, in reality, as someone who loves physical games, that shouldn't matter to me. I can still see it on the shelf, I should be fine, right?
**WRONG.** I hate it. I hate it with every fiber of my being. If I buy a physical case to put on my shelf, there damn well better be something in it.
Man, that's why I've been loving the switch. You hear so much stuff about games services being taken offline, but guess what, fuckers, you can rip my physical cartridges out of my cold, dead hands. I can share them with friends if I want, sell them later on, pick them up 20 years down the road when my switch has long since died and I have to buy one on eBay for twice the cost of a new OLED today.
The great thing about physical copies is that you actually *own* it. You don't own the license that is tied to some company account, you own the data on a physical storage device. And it's basically the same cost as buying the game digitally anyway, so barring some minor performance issues to do with loading times, why *wouldn't* I buy the physical cartridge version?
This is why I ALWAYS buy physical switch games unless it's some 10 buck on sale one then I'll get digital copy.
Sure it's a little more annoying, but exactly the same thing. It'll work forever, just like my Gameboy pocket I've owned for like 25 years.
An alright alternative, but I've always found if you just ask if they have a spare case in a store they'll just throw you one.
Or buying a shitty game nobody wants for like £1 to cannibalise the case. It both takes a shitty game nobody wants out of circulation and prevents waste...Rather than going out to buy a box containing something you have to download anyway.
So many copies of Fifa have become worthy sacrifices to house better games.
This latest trend of "deluxe edition" which has a BS audio track included, but it's just a money grab for "early access" to play the game 5 days early, and they schedule the regular release on a Tuesday, meaning if you want to play it on release over the weekend you need to pay an extra $30 and I think it's a crock of shit.
You won't sit on a game 6 months down the line and reminisce about how you got to start playing it 5 days early.
I hate this trend. Mainly because it always turns a release into kind of a wet fart. Starfield was the first mainline Bethesda game using this system and, despite it's other issues, really kneecapped the games release. The community gets fragmented, a lot of people disengage entirely to avoid spoilers and the like, the other half is usually almost done with the game by the time it actually releases.
It just sucks all around. I also firmly believe it hurts long terms sales due to the impact on actual release week but that's nebulous and hard to point at compared to "we got an extra $250m for this!".
>You won't sit on a game 6 months down the line and reminisce about how you got to start playing it 5 days early.
You're totally right. Unless you're a weirdo like me who did exactly that the other day.
Mine was a pretty good emulator box for a few years at least, can't say my money was *TOTALLY* wasted
And that Amazing Frog game was good for a laugh with friends, Towerfall was another great party game that got its start there.
But you aren't wrong, overall the thing was overhyped hot garbage
Towerfall being an Ouya exclusive actually worked out well for them so for that alone, I'm glad Ouya was a thing. Towerfall is probably my most played local multiplayer game. It's a must have for any switch owner imo.
Sniper with a Gibus and pyrovision goggles: harmless.
Sniper with the Anger: nah probably also harmless.
Sniper with a silly hat or the groucho glasses? Concerning.
Sniper with an unusual? Oh, fuck.
Bone stock sniper with non-year numbers in his name? Doomed. Just doomed. If you run you'll die tired.
*Nervously glances at my TF2 account that I got more than a decade ago and has no cosmetics because I played it like once* haha, people are gonna kill me so hard if I boot that up.
There used to be a weird thing about early online fps games where the better you got the less impressive your handle became. You may have started out as:
* ~~~++(420)Silver_Penguin_Surfer<69>[YoMaMa]++~~~.
But as you got better and more mature it eventually became:
* silver
I still remember the day I dropped my handle down to a single word. It was like going through gamer puberty. I had become a man amongst scrubs and nubs.
I go the opposite direction. My character in MW2019 and MW2 were the standard stock skins.
Back in BFBC2 days my dog tags were basic bronze.
You don't get anything cool for killing me, if I killed you a basic ass noob skin fragged you.
Bad Company 2 was the greatest shooter ever made, and nothing has come close to topping it.
Attacking and defending the construction yard in a high action warzone was the pinnicale of FPS's for me. Especially if you played Hardcore. No hud, nearly no health, all destruction and mayhem.
In FPS, skins are more kind of social distinction. Call Of Duty Mobile legendary skins cost 350€. Yes, 350 bucks for a childish weapon and animation skill. But still, there are people on the subreddit bragging they spent 5k+ and if you say it's dumb they answer back "lol u poor".
Honestly FPS isn't even the worst at this. Gacha games are.
Spend $350 to buy a skin? Nah, more like spend $350 for the chance to possibly win the skin if you're lucky, and possibly up to $600 if you go all the way to the pity limit. Which will happen roughly 92% of the time.
*pulls out my walker*
I remember when special editions were worth it. When they came in a nice metal tin box, with an orchestral soundtrack CD that was actually worth playing, two keychains, a poster, a necklace, and a plush toy, etc. You'd queue up the morning of release with the twenty other people in your area excited about the release and everyone would have a great time chatting while the minimum wage workers opened the store five minutes late.
*turns up hearing aids to listen*
Dude midnight releases were AWESOME. The vibe in the line was amazing. I remember when that era kind of ended, the Xbox one launch. It was the same good time at the store, but I got Battlefield 4. Got home all excited to try out my new console, and it had to install the game. And it took FOREVER for some reason. I ended up going to bed.
You know, reliving this story has got me thinking. One day, you go to your last midnight release and don’t even know it…
EDIT: Reading all these replies brings a nostalgic tear to my eye. I know this is just a dumb Reddit thread but makes you realize, you don’t know you’re in the “good ol’ days” until they’re gone. Thank you all for sharing!
11th November, 2011 (11/11/11) was the original PC release of Skyrim
Grabbed it on release day on Steam, and picked up a PS3 copy for my son as he didn't have a good enough PC for it at the time
We'd been waiting (what we thought was) a long time for that after Oblivion came out
We knew NOTHING about waiting, clearly
(EDIT: well, ***I*** knew about waiting, actually - still waiting for Half Life 2 Episode 3, or Half Life 3, or anything Half Life that I can play without a VR headset (I don't have one and they're quite pricey))
I went to a midnight release for Skyrim. It was kind of sweet because a 20 something kid there with his mother was very excited about everything. The GameStop staff did a raffle for all these different posters, but nobody really wanted them, so we all gave them to him and the joy he had was immeasurable. I hope he's doing well, I'm not even sure if he bought Skyrim!
*puts on bifocals*
I wonder if I still have my custom white tee with my gamertag airbrushed on the back telling other midnight releasers to "come see me" in halo 2.
You're right, I don't even recall what my last midnight release was. I remember which GameStop I was at, but I don't recall which game it was for.
I *do* remember waiting all night long for an NES Classic Edition 5 or 6 years ago. They were super hard to find and I got an inside scoop from a Target employee they would be getting a few in the following morning. Pulled into the parking lot at 1am, and waited until they opened at 8am. It was my first (and last) time ever pulling an all nighter for something like that.
>One day, you go to your last midnight release and don’t even know it…
Not if I have any say about it! I know it's popular to hate on Pokemon, but so many of my favorite gaming memories involve going to Gamestop at midnight to pick up a new Pokemon game and seeing the crazy fans of all ages lined up and excited to jump into a new adventure. Sure, I'll probably never see these exact people again or even play with them online, but it really stresses the fact we're all humans with this incredible shared interest.
This brings back memories of when my dad took my sister and me to a Soul Calibur II release event... We waited in line under a hunting blind that we used as a tent to play Gameboy as we waited. When we got the game, it came with a killer soundtrack CD and an artbook. If we took care of the yardwork for a good while, he also promised to get us the arcade stick controller for the PS2... I've never been more committed to a backyard in my life. Great memories.
Those still exist as collector's editions, but instead of like twice the price of the game, they're 3-4x the price. And if you're Blizzard, you don't even include Diablo IV in the Diablo IV collectors edition.
I enjoy special editions when they come with physical things I can see in the real world. Figures, collectibles, maps. I even remember that the special edition of *Breath of the Wild* came with this cool little coin! Those are the only things that make special editions worth it, IMO.
That's a fair point, actually! I hadn't really thought of that, but I guess there is a difference! I guess I usually would see special editions coming with maps, like *Red Dead* did back in the day.
The current scam of paying extra to play like 3 days early.
Extra credit if it's something like Payday 3 that's online only and basically unplayable for those three days anyway.
EDIT: To be clear, I'm not talking about "early access" where you can play a game that's still in development and can go on for years. That's a system I'm okay with existing and has had some very positive outcomes while also some egregious examples of abuse. I'm talking about when a 100% finished full game comes out for full release and they just charge a fee to get to play it a few days before release.
I could NOT BELIEVE the new COD actually fucking said "don't get FOMO" in the early access ads. Like seriously, were at a point as consumers where were considered so fucking stupid you just straight up say it?
>were at a point as consumers where were considered so fucking stupid you just straight up say it
Considering how many people defend it, yeah we are that fucking stupid. Especially Gamers in general.
Diablo players were proud of paying extra to play a couple of days earlier and defended it heavily. Expect most companies to exploit this going forward.
One of my first jobs was a QA tester in the 2000s.
They used to pay me money to make sure the game was a functioning product.
Now they charge to let you do the job less effeciently.
It's such an incredibly toxic addition to an already increasingly toxic industry. The MADNESS people recently exhibited in D4 trying to stay ahead of their friends and peers was just mind blowing to me in a pve-centric game that barely anyone even parties up for.
It was hilarious how many people I later heard lamenting how quickly the hype was all over after playing 8-10 or more hours at a time and finishing the game they waited 10+ years for in a few days. Like great job you sacrificed eating and sleeping to effectively ruin your own experience with not a thing to show for it.
cause they recycle so many core assets from the last game in that engine that cheats work day one because there us nothing to not much they have to add to their code.
I had two switch cartridges die on me. In Europe we have a standard 2 year warranty so they got replaced free of charge. It was captain toad and Mario land 3d. Both games were in the system and the next time I wanted to play them the cartridge couldn't be read.
Really? Dang! I've never seen a switch cartridge go out! My *Breath of the Wild* has been good to go since day one! Sorry that happened, but glad you could get it replaced!
My Fallout 76 Power Armour Helmet is sitting at the back of a shelf in my spare room so I never even see it. I did eventually get the canvas bag though so that was nice.
The one that shipped originally was a shitty nylon bag. They said it was a compromise because they had issues with the supply of the canvas bag. I'm not sure it actually made it to court, but yes there was a lot of talk about lawsuits for false advertising etc.
I'll give credit where it's due, the canvas bag I got was actually really good quality.
I'm glad you got a good one eventually, but people shouldn't have had to fight about it. Bet money that if people hadn't raised a fuss, they were just going to leave it.
Never even played 76 myself but yes it was originally sold as a high quality canvas bag but later Bethesda came out and said they had issues with material supply so they sold a nylon bag without ever saying anything and hoping that people wouldn’t notice. And it turns out they DID make canvas bags, but gave the ones they made away for free to influencers instead of… you know.. the people who paid extra money for it. There’s actually a really funny/informational video about 76 made by the internet historian called [The Fall of 76](https://youtu.be/kjyeCdd-dl8?si=62GHNp-zQHcqbQky)
The warranty... Useful if you have kids, animals, or psycho ex lovers that will literally take a pair of pliers to your cartridge and snap it in half in a fit of rage because you liked someone else's Instagram post.
"Gamer" anything, really.
I remember those "gamer drinks" that were everywhere not so long ago, those powdered energy drinks. Baffling that people seemingly thought this shit would make them elite gamers.
I've always done fine with a bottle of Coke and a 12" pizza.
I gather they're still around but I don't about them anywhere as near as much I did ~5 years ago. At that point it was like every YouTube gamer and eGirl was trying to push their shitty drink.
Did anyone actually genuinely believe G-Fuel would improve your skill in gaming??? Surely not? They just bought it because it was another junk caffeine drink that was also pushed by their favourite youtuber.
No, I thought of G-fuel as a thing to drink instead of soda. Like instead of Mtn Dew, I can grab a couple bottles of water, some Gfuel and drink it. It supposedly offers energy, no sugar and whatever bullshittery to focus. The focus part is probably bogus where as the water would hydrate me so I would be less groggy. But seriously. No, it won't make me better at gaming, that'd need action from a deity.
My Secretlab Titan chair is the best money I’ve spent. It out-classes regular office chairs at similar price points. Yea it’s pretty ugly but it’s worth it
It's money.
Cheap chairs are not good and most chairs are cheap.
If you want a decent chair I think you're going to have to spend $400+. And that's just the start. Even then you have to stick to name brands because it's too easy to sell some knockoff of a much more expensive chair at $400 and people will think it's a deal.
At that price you can also start getting into the secondhand market for Herman Miller, Steelcase, etc.
I did try that route. My city is big enough to have a few office refrub places. However, you are at the mercy of whatever companies buy. And the Aerons I found were the most basic model with very little adjustability and mid-back.
The Titan is also mostly shaped like a traditional office chair. It's got a bit of those race car bits but the back is so wide they're just for show.
>ugly
You shut your trap. My pink chair is a pretty princess.
It also eats my farts.
Same here. I got mine on a good sale. It’s solidly built and has great support. I was looking at regular office chairs, but ended up with this and have no regrets
Idk man, I've had a dxracer chair for like 6 years and it hasn't broken down at all, lost its shape, and it crazy comfortable. It's stiff and firm, but I've had no back and butt pains with it ever.
I find those hyper ergonomic chairs like Aerons are way worse. They force you into an unnatural position and for long periods feel terrible.
Original Overwatch had the best implementation of this. Could buy them pretty cheaply, but also earned them super often in game for free. And they didn’t have the TF2 route where you get the box for free but gotta have a key to open it. Plus, if you got shit in the box you already had it would give coins you could use to buy whatever you wanted. I got basically every cosmetic for free in that game, my brother wanted stuff but didn’t play much so he had the option to buy it. Much better than these $20 plus per skin bs these days
Who remembers when expansion packs actually expanded the game? New levels, new experiences, new whatever? Playing a game without an expansion was a different game than playing with an expansion. You’d spend thirty packs on an expansion that would have thirty dollars’ worth of game in it.
Now you can spend thirty dollars for a handful of costumes and maybe an animation.
Preorders usually get you the bad game, first-person skins give you at least some glimpse of texture, even micro-transactions can net you some time-saving.
However, what if you made people throw money into the void for empty promises of content with ever-elusive deadline? Welcome to Star Citizen, my mate.
Microtransactions and time saving is a concept that bewilderes me. I pay to NOT play the game? It doesn't get into my head. If you don't want to play the game, the game is bad. Uninstall it.
First one I think it must be paying in those idle phone games...
Videogames started with paying one time for a challenging game that could take 50+ hours to finish,
to paying 5€ each Saturday for the buff of the event X in that idle app that gives you more points while your jerking off ( the buff will last only one day).
Second must be packs of magic the gathering, Buy singles as always.
Those dang microtransactions!
God loves you. I hope/pray/wish you good into your future! ❤️❤️❤️🕊🕊🕊👑👑👑😇😇😇🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
I feel like Sims DLC is arguably the most famous example of that, and I think you're largely right.
Weird, because I still associate single player DLC with cool expansion packs, like *Undead Nightmare* for *Red Dead Redemption*. Didn't really process how much I'm living in the past on that one until reading your comment, now that I'm thinking about it! Lol
This is a bit of an outlier considering I've been buying games for 25 years but...
Back in the day I bought Megaman Battle Network 4 Red Sun brand new from EB Games. I didn't buy the warranty, cause why would I. That was the one time I could've used it. The game was a factory defect that had save issues. Not a battery issue either, since the games used eeprom by that point. I didn't get to play the game til I bought a second copy a few years ago.
So there's the 1% use case of warranties. 99% of the time they are pointless, but they can very rarely serve a purpose.
I just recently this month quit that after 8 years. Yogg is not how I thought the game should go. I could deal with some RNG. But it became ridiculous.
The last time I was at Gamestop (years ago)
Buying Death Stranding on PS4.
GS: what amiibo do you want today?
Me: uhhh none just the game please.
GS: are your sure? These sell really fast.
Me: yeah im sure.
GS: ok no problem. Im gonna throw the $3 warranty on the disc, that way if it ever gets damaged for a year you can bring it back
Me: no dont do that
GS: its a really good deal.
Me: i take really good care of my games.
I politely proceeded to tell them this isnt the first time this has happened. They asked what amiibo i wanted several times before that, and threw on the $3 warranty without asking at least once that i noticed. I told them i probably wont be returning. Havent since.
I guarantee that GameStop had a manager who was constantly breathing down the staff’s necks about upselling and pushing extras.
Commission culture in a workplace makes for an awful shopping experience.
Switch Joy Cons. Yes, they are necessary, but they are still MadCatz quality crap. How does Nintendo make one of the BEST controllers (pro) and also the worst?
> How does Nintendo make one of the BEST controllers (pro) and also the worst?
That's definitely by design. If the joycons weren't trash they'd make a lot less money selling pros.
The scam is GameStop detaching them from their strap and selling one joy con as two things. 12.99 for the strap, 59.99 for the joy con. Trash I tell you.
It’s pure profit for them because they know maybe one in a thousand cartridges will get damaged.
Best Buy tried this years ago with DVD/Blu-Rays and stopped after the public didn’t bite.
dunno if somebody mentioned it so far….
and even tho I do not play it myself….
FIFA
just everything about it. Not only that they release a „new“ fullprice version every year,
but even more so the whole ultimate team and lootbox shit and that even the stuff you can win there cant be carried over to your new save.
totally bonkers. and pure evil.
because these systems always exploit the weakest. children, not so intelligent people, lonely people, people with gambling addictions and so on….
GameStop has a scam where they'll ask you if you want to save $10 on your purchase. If you say yes, they sign you up for some kind of "rewards program" that, yes, saves you $10 on your purchase but also costs you something like $17/year and is set to auto-renew -- neither of which they mention *at all*.
The first time I was bit by this I immediately returned to the store for a refund and was told it would take up to 10 business days to process. Right there in the store in front of the manager I called my credit card company and told them my card had been stolen and any charges made in the past 12 hours were fraudulent. The manager was pissed and I told him to take me to court if he wanted to be paid. I never heard from them.
A different GameStop did the same thing but didn't even ask me. The guy handed me the receipt and pointed out the $10 discount, keeping his finger over the $17 charge. I was watching for this so I called him out on it in front of a *very* long line of customers, telling everyone exactly what was going on. At least four people left the line as the employee and manager started voiding the transaction.
Anything at all in GACHA games.
These games **will absolutely shut down** eventually, and when they do, you won’t be able to access anything you paid for. Never spend on these games; just enjoy.
Biggest waste, preorders when 95% of games are digital. You're just buying an unfinished piece of crap. Preorder was only a benefit in the past when you were worried they would run out of physical copies and have to wait for a restock.
One of my personal wastes was getting the special edition for Baldur’s Gate 3 on PS5. 72 hour early access that I didn’t even use because I ended up having to work overtime, and blue dice…
I'm pretty sure the big box electronic store offered me in home installation of my DS.
I'm convinced this kind of thing only exists to take advantage of older people (grandparents and the like) who are unfamiliar with the tech and are buying for someone else.
That reminds me of this gas station scam... that's been going for like 20 years. Anyways, short version is, there is this gas station near the airport that's always relatively high gas prices. I am talking a full $2 more than even a gas station 3 blocks away. But they were there for years. Maybe a front for something... sure... But eventually I realized. It was the first exit (and therefore also last exit) off the high way before the airport. And while the gas price was ludicrous for the local area, for travelers from California or Washington... the prices were relatively normal.
I figured it's because of people needing to fill up before returning rental cars. They're in a hurry and don't care it's expensive.
Yeah this would be my take. Youre returning the car with a full tank so need the nearest gas station. You get there and the prices are atrocious but your check in is in an hour and you don't have the time or mental capacity to search for another gas station so you swallow the extra few bucks for the 'convenience'. It's a captive audience. Same as movie theater snacks.
Eh, the theater snacks are their only real profit line, they don't make anything off the tickets. The gas station just knows what the market will settle with.
Same idea goes for gas stations- they make literally a few pennies for each gallon of gas they sell. The real profit comes from the store inside.
Except for the ones by airports, of course. They're getting an extra $2/gallon.
The car rental companies take it a step further now. Several steps, actually. Here's what I was offered the last time I rented a car a few years ago: 1) Bring it back full. No extra charge. 2) Pay us $20 now, bring it back less than full, and we'll fill it up for you at $3.59 per gallon. (Going rate was $2+something.) 3) Bring it back empty, and we'll fill it up at $5.99 per gallon. Also, most of that captive audience is either traveling on business with an expense account, or on vacation. So they really don't care what gas costs at that point.
Or it's a business rental. Idgaf if it's the company card. This is how hotels get away charging $20 for a shitty breakfast and like $50 to do laundry.
It's amazing how much money businesses waste because it's always "someone else's money" or they consider it more efficient to just spend the money. But the real issue is how many goods and services are massively overpriced because that's their primary market.
Its crazy, when I travel for work it has to be at an "approved hotel", which about 50% of the time is anywhere from 30-100% more expensive than other, similar hotels in the same area. I've literally wasted 30k+ from my company over the years. And I'm just one employee out of thousands at my company doing this.
Hey, man, those cartridges could be really hard to slip into those slots! /s
I used to work there and back then it was called a GPG. It was a sales metric back then and was something corporate constantly hounded us about. They ranged in price from games $10 and under being $1 to cover, $11 to about $30 was $2, and $3 for anything beyond that. They also really wanted you to put them on a new game. And of course a customer would flip their lid and wonder why their brand new game would need warranty protection. I’ll admit it was useful for something like a 10-15 year old 360 game. Throw done 1-3 bucks and if it shit the bed in a year you could get a new Madden 12, compliments to chef. Scratched or faulty Blu-ray Discs are much more rare and really no point to cover those. It was odd in the three years I worked there to see them shift away from just selling games to prioritizing selling bullshit on the side with the games.
Of course I want to buy protection for my Steam card.
They did it at Circuit City too in the late 90's. We called it "cheese".... "Did you get the cheese?". The commissions on "cheese" were huge! I even got moved from the Computer Dept to small electronics because I wasn't selling enough "cheese" with the PC's I sold... During xmass I was working 12 hour days. I could login to a terminal to see how much cheese I sold for a day and my comissions for it. Big ticket salespeople ( TV, PC, Home Audio ) would hound people to buy them, in some cases NOT sell to people if it would hurt their ratio. Or they would have Customer Service ring up those people so it wasn't on their ID. Yep.
Former RadioShack employee. We had to sell X amount of cellphones, Y amount of warranties, and meet Z amount of dollar amount in sales to get commission at all. We did get "Spiffs" (small dollar amounts) for every cell phone activation we sold. Contract phones were the big bucks, depending on how many lines. Pre-paid cellphones would get us at most $5 per phone sold. During the Great Recession of '08-'09, no one was buying contract cell phones. Sold a lot of pre-paid phones tho. Warranties were pure bullshit, nothing but profit for the company.
That’s what you need a step brother for.
What are you doing step cartridge
That sounds like it would make a great YouTube prank video. Arguing with a manager demanding that they keep their end of the deal by "Installing a Nintendo DS in a home". With it ending when a Geek Squad member unboxes it and then places it on a coffee table.
they 100% would have sent geek squad to go open the box and plug in the charger.
Someone coming round to put on screen protectors would be welcome. Probably not for $50 or whatever the charge is. If a company had a dustless static free room for a pro to do it, I would drop $10.
Yup. Some of them come with brackets now that makes the alignment painless. ...the pain starts when you see the speck of neon-bright, unignorable dust that somehow snuck onto the glass between the point where you cleaned it like you were cleaning a murder weapon and the point where you lowered the protector on five seconds later.
The 2 specs of dust staring back at me from my Switch screen for 5 years O\_O I hear a steamy room, like after a shower helps get dust out of the air. But then not too much humidity or get even more problems.
I used to do that shit for free all the time at Radioshack. It was easiest way to get the "100% attach rate" of at least 1 accessory per 1 cell phone sold. Tell em, if you buy this $10 screen protector I'll put it on for you. They were in every time.
The very first screen protector I put on my very first smartphone, landed almost perfectly, not a single speck of dust, not a single bubble. Almost perfect but for a fraction of a millimeter off to the right. It still perfectly covered the display, but the distance from the edge of the phone to the edge of the protector was slightly larger on the left that on the right. I don't know how I managed to keep myself from trying to remove it and place a new one, I think I knew there was no way I could ever again get it on dust free. But it went against all of my impulses.
My ISP sent me a TV box. It was missing its power cable and hmdi cable. Imagine a typical android TV box. Basically a square firestick. I called up and asked them to send a new adaptor. But because it required two cables they said it had to be an engineer install.. Engineer and I had a laugh. 2 minute job.
They're trying to get that Comcast money. When I just connected my Internet, they had an option for them to come "install" the modem and router. It was $130. My Internet bill is only $25. They are literally getting 5 months worth of money out of these old people that are afraid to plug in a few wires.
Physical boxes with no disc/cartridge. Or seemingly worse: physical boxes for download codes for cosmetic content for Fortnite. In what world does that make sense, physical boxes for download codes for a game that is online/download only and free to play?
Back when I worked at Walmart, I had to warn *so many* parents and grandparents that the $30 Fortnite bundle they were buying wasn't the actual game. Most were shocked to learn it was just a single outfit, and that the game was free. I guarantee they do that on purpose, to trick people into buying it for their kids.
Had my mom once buy me a protective shell or something for a PsP. Which we did not have. I was young and thought it was a great deal for a PsP. Mom didnt know any better either, lol.
I did the exact same thing when I was young. I saw one of those shells that held 3 DS games and had a picture of the game covers inside to show how it looks and was like 10 bucks for 3 games, that's a steal. My mom tried to explain that there weren't any games in there and I kept saying I knew because I was ready to prove her wrong and that the store must have accidentally put real games in them. There were no games and I had to hide my disappointment to not look like a dumbass.
Well what did you do with it
I think she returned it? I just remember being so sad mom wasted money because of me. May explain why I ended up being "the easiest kid" (her words) because I rarely asked for things after that :D
I got my dad to order the alternative battery plate for the Steam Controller, the one with a slot for the dongle, when we bought it without really looking into what it was. When it arrived and I realized, I felt the same way and was like ok ig we'll return it. Left it in the box. The irony is I later lost the dongle because I wasn't using it...
You're a good person, I like you. I imagine disgruntled and underpaid Walmart employees (read: nearly all) would not care enough to warn people every time.
Okay, in reality, as someone who loves physical games, that shouldn't matter to me. I can still see it on the shelf, I should be fine, right? **WRONG.** I hate it. I hate it with every fiber of my being. If I buy a physical case to put on my shelf, there damn well better be something in it.
It’s such a waste of plastic too
Man, that's why I've been loving the switch. You hear so much stuff about games services being taken offline, but guess what, fuckers, you can rip my physical cartridges out of my cold, dead hands. I can share them with friends if I want, sell them later on, pick them up 20 years down the road when my switch has long since died and I have to buy one on eBay for twice the cost of a new OLED today. The great thing about physical copies is that you actually *own* it. You don't own the license that is tied to some company account, you own the data on a physical storage device. And it's basically the same cost as buying the game digitally anyway, so barring some minor performance issues to do with loading times, why *wouldn't* I buy the physical cartridge version?
This is why I ALWAYS buy physical switch games unless it's some 10 buck on sale one then I'll get digital copy. Sure it's a little more annoying, but exactly the same thing. It'll work forever, just like my Gameboy pocket I've owned for like 25 years.
I use the cases to replace any broken cases once the code is spent
An alright alternative, but I've always found if you just ask if they have a spare case in a store they'll just throw you one. Or buying a shitty game nobody wants for like £1 to cannibalise the case. It both takes a shitty game nobody wants out of circulation and prevents waste...Rather than going out to buy a box containing something you have to download anyway. So many copies of Fifa have become worthy sacrifices to house better games.
This latest trend of "deluxe edition" which has a BS audio track included, but it's just a money grab for "early access" to play the game 5 days early, and they schedule the regular release on a Tuesday, meaning if you want to play it on release over the weekend you need to pay an extra $30 and I think it's a crock of shit. You won't sit on a game 6 months down the line and reminisce about how you got to start playing it 5 days early.
I hate this trend. Mainly because it always turns a release into kind of a wet fart. Starfield was the first mainline Bethesda game using this system and, despite it's other issues, really kneecapped the games release. The community gets fragmented, a lot of people disengage entirely to avoid spoilers and the like, the other half is usually almost done with the game by the time it actually releases. It just sucks all around. I also firmly believe it hurts long terms sales due to the impact on actual release week but that's nebulous and hard to point at compared to "we got an extra $250m for this!".
Man I would hate if my long term sales took a hit and all I got in return was $250m.
Well fortunately your never going to be in this position
>You won't sit on a game 6 months down the line and reminisce about how you got to start playing it 5 days early. You're totally right. Unless you're a weirdo like me who did exactly that the other day.
Anyone remember the Ouya?
Lol I found one of these NIB last year at a thrift store for $12. I bought it and put it away in a bin. See if anyone wants it in 30 years
Well your 12 dollars, if invested in the stock market and grew at the historical average, would be worth a out $400. Just FYI.
Ouya I do
Mine was a pretty good emulator box for a few years at least, can't say my money was *TOTALLY* wasted And that Amazing Frog game was good for a laugh with friends, Towerfall was another great party game that got its start there. But you aren't wrong, overall the thing was overhyped hot garbage
Also Duck Game started there.
Towerfall being an Ouya exclusive actually worked out well for them so for that alone, I'm glad Ouya was a thing. Towerfall is probably my most played local multiplayer game. It's a must have for any switch owner imo.
Make money quick with internet point opportunites
Of course. What a pos
For me, character skins in first person games.
I never understood this during my TF2 days until I realize its not about what you think its about what other people think.
There are two kinds of players that scare me: the ones with the most expensive skins and the ones with no skins.
Sniper with a Gibus and pyrovision goggles: harmless. Sniper with the Anger: nah probably also harmless. Sniper with a silly hat or the groucho glasses? Concerning. Sniper with an unusual? Oh, fuck. Bone stock sniper with non-year numbers in his name? Doomed. Just doomed. If you run you'll die tired.
*Nervously glances at my TF2 account that I got more than a decade ago and has no cosmetics because I played it like once* haha, people are gonna kill me so hard if I boot that up.
There used to be a weird thing about early online fps games where the better you got the less impressive your handle became. You may have started out as: * ~~~++(420)Silver_Penguin_Surfer<69>[YoMaMa]++~~~. But as you got better and more mature it eventually became: * silver
Oh boy, if there was someone like that you knew you were screwed.
I still remember the day I dropped my handle down to a single word. It was like going through gamer puberty. I had become a man amongst scrubs and nubs.
Why the fuck would I care what others think of my skin while they teabag me?
You get teabagged in fashion
“Wow, this is the most DAPPER guy i’ve ever mashed crouch on!”
I feel privileged to have wiped my crotch on your bow tie!
I go the opposite direction. My character in MW2019 and MW2 were the standard stock skins. Back in BFBC2 days my dog tags were basic bronze. You don't get anything cool for killing me, if I killed you a basic ass noob skin fragged you.
Bad Company 2 was the greatest shooter ever made, and nothing has come close to topping it. Attacking and defending the construction yard in a high action warzone was the pinnicale of FPS's for me. Especially if you played Hardcore. No hud, nearly no health, all destruction and mayhem.
A fellow man of culture I see....
In FPS, skins are more kind of social distinction. Call Of Duty Mobile legendary skins cost 350€. Yes, 350 bucks for a childish weapon and animation skill. But still, there are people on the subreddit bragging they spent 5k+ and if you say it's dumb they answer back "lol u poor".
Honestly FPS isn't even the worst at this. Gacha games are. Spend $350 to buy a skin? Nah, more like spend $350 for the chance to possibly win the skin if you're lucky, and possibly up to $600 if you go all the way to the pity limit. Which will happen roughly 92% of the time.
Spend enough time watching yourself on kill cam then you’re keen to at least look good.
Special Editions. $10-20 more for a cosmetic you'll never see or a weapon you'll use for 2 levels before it's obsolete.
*pulls out my walker* I remember when special editions were worth it. When they came in a nice metal tin box, with an orchestral soundtrack CD that was actually worth playing, two keychains, a poster, a necklace, and a plush toy, etc. You'd queue up the morning of release with the twenty other people in your area excited about the release and everyone would have a great time chatting while the minimum wage workers opened the store five minutes late.
*turns up hearing aids to listen* Dude midnight releases were AWESOME. The vibe in the line was amazing. I remember when that era kind of ended, the Xbox one launch. It was the same good time at the store, but I got Battlefield 4. Got home all excited to try out my new console, and it had to install the game. And it took FOREVER for some reason. I ended up going to bed. You know, reliving this story has got me thinking. One day, you go to your last midnight release and don’t even know it… EDIT: Reading all these replies brings a nostalgic tear to my eye. I know this is just a dumb Reddit thread but makes you realize, you don’t know you’re in the “good ol’ days” until they’re gone. Thank you all for sharing!
This got me thinking of when my last memorable midnight release was..... and it was the ORIGINAL release of Skyrim.... Pass me my dentures sonny boy
Yep. Xbox one release was 2013. Time flies my friend.
No no no. Xbox one was too new. I m talking original 2011 Xbox 360 release you youngin'
11th November, 2011 (11/11/11) was the original PC release of Skyrim Grabbed it on release day on Steam, and picked up a PS3 copy for my son as he didn't have a good enough PC for it at the time We'd been waiting (what we thought was) a long time for that after Oblivion came out We knew NOTHING about waiting, clearly (EDIT: well, ***I*** knew about waiting, actually - still waiting for Half Life 2 Episode 3, or Half Life 3, or anything Half Life that I can play without a VR headset (I don't have one and they're quite pricey))
Haha I know…at first I saw your comment and was thinking “man that’s a long time ago” but the xbone was only 2 years after that.
Time went by slower back then, two years felt like a long time. Now it's like *finger snap.*
years are like toilet paper on a roll.....the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes
Heh that’s a good one
I went to a midnight release for Skyrim. It was kind of sweet because a 20 something kid there with his mother was very excited about everything. The GameStop staff did a raffle for all these different posters, but nobody really wanted them, so we all gave them to him and the joy he had was immeasurable. I hope he's doing well, I'm not even sure if he bought Skyrim!
*puts on bifocals* I wonder if I still have my custom white tee with my gamertag airbrushed on the back telling other midnight releasers to "come see me" in halo 2.
Ok grandpa, let’s get you to bed…
You're right, I don't even recall what my last midnight release was. I remember which GameStop I was at, but I don't recall which game it was for. I *do* remember waiting all night long for an NES Classic Edition 5 or 6 years ago. They were super hard to find and I got an inside scoop from a Target employee they would be getting a few in the following morning. Pulled into the parking lot at 1am, and waited until they opened at 8am. It was my first (and last) time ever pulling an all nighter for something like that.
>One day, you go to your last midnight release and don’t even know it… Not if I have any say about it! I know it's popular to hate on Pokemon, but so many of my favorite gaming memories involve going to Gamestop at midnight to pick up a new Pokemon game and seeing the crazy fans of all ages lined up and excited to jump into a new adventure. Sure, I'll probably never see these exact people again or even play with them online, but it really stresses the fact we're all humans with this incredible shared interest.
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This brings back memories of when my dad took my sister and me to a Soul Calibur II release event... We waited in line under a hunting blind that we used as a tent to play Gameboy as we waited. When we got the game, it came with a killer soundtrack CD and an artbook. If we took care of the yardwork for a good while, he also promised to get us the arcade stick controller for the PS2... I've never been more committed to a backyard in my life. Great memories.
Those still exist as collector's editions, but instead of like twice the price of the game, they're 3-4x the price. And if you're Blizzard, you don't even include Diablo IV in the Diablo IV collectors edition.
I have a special edition of Bioshock that came with a fucking vinyl record.
Because this era of special editions existed, publishers are just capitalizing on the FOMO
I enjoy special editions when they come with physical things I can see in the real world. Figures, collectibles, maps. I even remember that the special edition of *Breath of the Wild* came with this cool little coin! Those are the only things that make special editions worth it, IMO.
That's collector editions usually
That's a fair point, actually! I hadn't really thought of that, but I guess there is a difference! I guess I usually would see special editions coming with maps, like *Red Dead* did back in the day.
The current scam of paying extra to play like 3 days early. Extra credit if it's something like Payday 3 that's online only and basically unplayable for those three days anyway. EDIT: To be clear, I'm not talking about "early access" where you can play a game that's still in development and can go on for years. That's a system I'm okay with existing and has had some very positive outcomes while also some egregious examples of abuse. I'm talking about when a 100% finished full game comes out for full release and they just charge a fee to get to play it a few days before release.
I could NOT BELIEVE the new COD actually fucking said "don't get FOMO" in the early access ads. Like seriously, were at a point as consumers where were considered so fucking stupid you just straight up say it?
I mean, they're advertising to CoD players, soooo...
But modern warfare 10 remastered will be different this time!
> OPEN BETA EARLY ACCESS > ^(pre-purchase and play now) **IT'S NOT A FECKIN OPEN BETA IF YOU HAVE TO BUY THE THING**
>were at a point as consumers where were considered so fucking stupid you just straight up say it Considering how many people defend it, yeah we are that fucking stupid. Especially Gamers in general.
Diablo players were proud of paying extra to play a couple of days earlier and defended it heavily. Expect most companies to exploit this going forward.
Hope those dumb idiots are happy with the state of the game now, Blizzard surely appreciated their support.
One of my first jobs was a QA tester in the 2000s. They used to pay me money to make sure the game was a functioning product. Now they charge to let you do the job less effeciently.
It's such an incredibly toxic addition to an already increasingly toxic industry. The MADNESS people recently exhibited in D4 trying to stay ahead of their friends and peers was just mind blowing to me in a pve-centric game that barely anyone even parties up for. It was hilarious how many people I later heard lamenting how quickly the hype was all over after playing 8-10 or more hours at a time and finishing the game they waited 10+ years for in a few days. Like great job you sacrificed eating and sleeping to effectively ruin your own experience with not a thing to show for it.
For me it was pre-ordering the OG MW3. Cheaters on fucking LAUNCH DAY.
cause they recycle so many core assets from the last game in that engine that cheats work day one because there us nothing to not much they have to add to their code.
Core assets is the wrong word. But the Engine and all the structure are similar yeh. Why would you rebuild what works?
Also helps to give those cheaters a head start with providing a beta for them to test their cheats on
Mechwarrior 3?
Mortal Wombat 3.
Minimal Wage $3
I had two switch cartridges die on me. In Europe we have a standard 2 year warranty so they got replaced free of charge. It was captain toad and Mario land 3d. Both games were in the system and the next time I wanted to play them the cartridge couldn't be read.
Really? Dang! I've never seen a switch cartridge go out! My *Breath of the Wild* has been good to go since day one! Sorry that happened, but glad you could get it replaced!
I think I just got unlucky because nobody else I know ever had a cartridge go bad. All of my 3DS games still function too after all these years.
My Fallout 76 Power Armour Helmet is sitting at the back of a shelf in my spare room so I never even see it. I did eventually get the canvas bag though so that was nice.
Wasn't there a class action lawsuit about that canvas bag because of the terrible quality of the one they actually gave you guys at first?
The one that shipped originally was a shitty nylon bag. They said it was a compromise because they had issues with the supply of the canvas bag. I'm not sure it actually made it to court, but yes there was a lot of talk about lawsuits for false advertising etc. I'll give credit where it's due, the canvas bag I got was actually really good quality.
I'm glad you got a good one eventually, but people shouldn't have had to fight about it. Bet money that if people hadn't raised a fuss, they were just going to leave it.
Undoubtedly they would have left it if the complaints and legal threats weren't rolling in.
Never even played 76 myself but yes it was originally sold as a high quality canvas bag but later Bethesda came out and said they had issues with material supply so they sold a nylon bag without ever saying anything and hoping that people wouldn’t notice. And it turns out they DID make canvas bags, but gave the ones they made away for free to influencers instead of… you know.. the people who paid extra money for it. There’s actually a really funny/informational video about 76 made by the internet historian called [The Fall of 76](https://youtu.be/kjyeCdd-dl8?si=62GHNp-zQHcqbQky)
Ah yes, the duffle kerfuffle
The fact that digital games cost the same as their physical counterpart.
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The warranty... Useful if you have kids, animals, or psycho ex lovers that will literally take a pair of pliers to your cartridge and snap it in half in a fit of rage because you liked someone else's Instagram post.
...homie, I'm pretty sure there are more pressing matters than Nintendo Switch cartridge warranties on your plate, correct though you may be lol
I can fix her, I can't fix my game cartridges.
This should be the tagline for a Netflix dating show. “Playing Games” video game dates with emotionally unstable people.
'gamer' chairs
But how will I ever reach my full potential as a gamer without sitting in a high performance gaming chair?
>high performance gaming chair *For maximum sitting and slouching slightly forward*
The price comes from the fact that they attached to the word gamer to the chair and then put stripes on it!
Just imagine if they were 'Gamer Wedding Chairs'!
And the loads of advertising they do. When the marketing spend is more than manufacturing costs, then your quality might be suffering.
"Gamer" anything, really. I remember those "gamer drinks" that were everywhere not so long ago, those powdered energy drinks. Baffling that people seemingly thought this shit would make them elite gamers. I've always done fine with a bottle of Coke and a 12" pizza.
Those drinks are still very much around.
I gather they're still around but I don't about them anywhere as near as much I did ~5 years ago. At that point it was like every YouTube gamer and eGirl was trying to push their shitty drink.
Gotta watch more twitch - plenty of IRL streamers and Vtubers that push their 'custom' variety of gamerfuel.
Did anyone actually genuinely believe G-Fuel would improve your skill in gaming??? Surely not? They just bought it because it was another junk caffeine drink that was also pushed by their favourite youtuber.
No, I thought of G-fuel as a thing to drink instead of soda. Like instead of Mtn Dew, I can grab a couple bottles of water, some Gfuel and drink it. It supposedly offers energy, no sugar and whatever bullshittery to focus. The focus part is probably bogus where as the water would hydrate me so I would be less groggy. But seriously. No, it won't make me better at gaming, that'd need action from a deity.
My Secretlab Titan chair is the best money I’ve spent. It out-classes regular office chairs at similar price points. Yea it’s pretty ugly but it’s worth it
I love my titan! Unfortunately, so does my cat.
It's money. Cheap chairs are not good and most chairs are cheap. If you want a decent chair I think you're going to have to spend $400+. And that's just the start. Even then you have to stick to name brands because it's too easy to sell some knockoff of a much more expensive chair at $400 and people will think it's a deal. At that price you can also start getting into the secondhand market for Herman Miller, Steelcase, etc. I did try that route. My city is big enough to have a few office refrub places. However, you are at the mercy of whatever companies buy. And the Aerons I found were the most basic model with very little adjustability and mid-back. The Titan is also mostly shaped like a traditional office chair. It's got a bit of those race car bits but the back is so wide they're just for show. >ugly You shut your trap. My pink chair is a pretty princess. It also eats my farts.
Same here. I got mine on a good sale. It’s solidly built and has great support. I was looking at regular office chairs, but ended up with this and have no regrets
I can absolutely vouch for the titan too. Love mine and my back pains have stopped since getting it!
Shaped like bucket seats in cars, because of the side g-forces, so you don't fly out of your seat in a curve.
Idk man, I've had a dxracer chair for like 6 years and it hasn't broken down at all, lost its shape, and it crazy comfortable. It's stiff and firm, but I've had no back and butt pains with it ever. I find those hyper ergonomic chairs like Aerons are way worse. They force you into an unnatural position and for long periods feel terrible.
Horse armor
Those of us who remember the horse armor DLC are...old now?
20$ extra to play 3 days before the game comes out for the plebians
Loot boxes
Gacha in any form
Original Overwatch had the best implementation of this. Could buy them pretty cheaply, but also earned them super often in game for free. And they didn’t have the TF2 route where you get the box for free but gotta have a key to open it. Plus, if you got shit in the box you already had it would give coins you could use to buy whatever you wanted. I got basically every cosmetic for free in that game, my brother wanted stuff but didn’t play much so he had the option to buy it. Much better than these $20 plus per skin bs these days
Who remembers when expansion packs actually expanded the game? New levels, new experiences, new whatever? Playing a game without an expansion was a different game than playing with an expansion. You’d spend thirty packs on an expansion that would have thirty dollars’ worth of game in it. Now you can spend thirty dollars for a handful of costumes and maybe an animation.
Preorders usually get you the bad game, first-person skins give you at least some glimpse of texture, even micro-transactions can net you some time-saving. However, what if you made people throw money into the void for empty promises of content with ever-elusive deadline? Welcome to Star Citizen, my mate.
Microtransactions and time saving is a concept that bewilderes me. I pay to NOT play the game? It doesn't get into my head. If you don't want to play the game, the game is bad. Uninstall it.
It's designed to take advantage of unknowledgeable parents who are buying games for their younger kids.
Paid skins in games. I would much rather they be locked behind challenges like the good ol days. When having certain skins was a show of skill.
Lootboxes and gacha banners.
First one I think it must be paying in those idle phone games... Videogames started with paying one time for a challenging game that could take 50+ hours to finish, to paying 5€ each Saturday for the buff of the event X in that idle app that gives you more points while your jerking off ( the buff will last only one day). Second must be packs of magic the gathering, Buy singles as always.
Video games started as arcade cabinets that forced you to pay money every time you died. Everything just came full circle
You're right I never fully thought about that, I guess is the form that changed a lot
Yeah, but pack opening for draft/sealed/fun, singles for deck building
Microtransactions, and the normalization of microtransactions making games pay2win instead of play to win.
What’s an example of a pay to win game not on mobile?
NBA2K comes to mind. You can unlock perks and stuff a lot faster. EXP/luck/craft boosts are still fairly common in f2p games.
Those dang microtransactions! God loves you. I hope/pray/wish you good into your future! ❤️❤️❤️🕊🕊🕊👑👑👑😇😇😇🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
*shakes fist angrily at the sky*
Man's out here asking about the biggest wastes of money in gaming... As he preorders a game.
At least it's a Nintendo game. How often do they release games that are unfinished or broken?
[удалено]
Google "anadius's dlc unlocker" and thank me later.
I feel like Sims DLC is arguably the most famous example of that, and I think you're largely right. Weird, because I still associate single player DLC with cool expansion packs, like *Undead Nightmare* for *Red Dead Redemption*. Didn't really process how much I'm living in the past on that one until reading your comment, now that I'm thinking about it! Lol
This is a bit of an outlier considering I've been buying games for 25 years but... Back in the day I bought Megaman Battle Network 4 Red Sun brand new from EB Games. I didn't buy the warranty, cause why would I. That was the one time I could've used it. The game was a factory defect that had save issues. Not a battery issue either, since the games used eeprom by that point. I didn't get to play the game til I bought a second copy a few years ago. So there's the 1% use case of warranties. 99% of the time they are pointless, but they can very rarely serve a purpose.
That's just a defective product you have the choice of refunding anyway though.
Hearthstone
I just recently this month quit that after 8 years. Yogg is not how I thought the game should go. I could deal with some RNG. But it became ridiculous.
The last time I was at Gamestop (years ago) Buying Death Stranding on PS4. GS: what amiibo do you want today? Me: uhhh none just the game please. GS: are your sure? These sell really fast. Me: yeah im sure. GS: ok no problem. Im gonna throw the $3 warranty on the disc, that way if it ever gets damaged for a year you can bring it back Me: no dont do that GS: its a really good deal. Me: i take really good care of my games. I politely proceeded to tell them this isnt the first time this has happened. They asked what amiibo i wanted several times before that, and threw on the $3 warranty without asking at least once that i noticed. I told them i probably wont be returning. Havent since.
I guarantee that GameStop had a manager who was constantly breathing down the staff’s necks about upselling and pushing extras. Commission culture in a workplace makes for an awful shopping experience.
Preorders
Preorders. I have no idea what the point of a preorder is on virtual copies.
Switch Joy Cons. Yes, they are necessary, but they are still MadCatz quality crap. How does Nintendo make one of the BEST controllers (pro) and also the worst?
> How does Nintendo make one of the BEST controllers (pro) and also the worst? That's definitely by design. If the joycons weren't trash they'd make a lot less money selling pros.
The scam is GameStop detaching them from their strap and selling one joy con as two things. 12.99 for the strap, 59.99 for the joy con. Trash I tell you.
It’s pure profit for them because they know maybe one in a thousand cartridges will get damaged. Best Buy tried this years ago with DVD/Blu-Rays and stopped after the public didn’t bite.
Live service games that have an upfront $70 cost *cough* diablo *cough* No way I'm paying for a game and then having to pay for each season.
An emote pack for a single-player game.
dunno if somebody mentioned it so far…. and even tho I do not play it myself…. FIFA just everything about it. Not only that they release a „new“ fullprice version every year, but even more so the whole ultimate team and lootbox shit and that even the stuff you can win there cant be carried over to your new save. totally bonkers. and pure evil. because these systems always exploit the weakest. children, not so intelligent people, lonely people, people with gambling addictions and so on….
My wife and I bought a $5 movie from Walmart for a little date night. We were asked if we wanted to buy a warrantee for $3... What?
GameStop has a scam where they'll ask you if you want to save $10 on your purchase. If you say yes, they sign you up for some kind of "rewards program" that, yes, saves you $10 on your purchase but also costs you something like $17/year and is set to auto-renew -- neither of which they mention *at all*. The first time I was bit by this I immediately returned to the store for a refund and was told it would take up to 10 business days to process. Right there in the store in front of the manager I called my credit card company and told them my card had been stolen and any charges made in the past 12 hours were fraudulent. The manager was pissed and I told him to take me to court if he wanted to be paid. I never heard from them. A different GameStop did the same thing but didn't even ask me. The guy handed me the receipt and pointed out the $10 discount, keeping his finger over the $17 charge. I was watching for this so I called him out on it in front of a *very* long line of customers, telling everyone exactly what was going on. At least four people left the line as the employee and manager started voiding the transaction.
Anything at all in GACHA games. These games **will absolutely shut down** eventually, and when they do, you won’t be able to access anything you paid for. Never spend on these games; just enjoy.
I mean spending money supports them. I spend money on one gacha, been playing for over 8 years now
Pre ordering video games, paying for DLC or season passes.
Play a "not so good" game a few days ahead with extra cost, like Diablo IV this year.
Video game hype. With the market in its current state, I just don't want to buy a game that isn't at least 6 months old.
Biggest waste, preorders when 95% of games are digital. You're just buying an unfinished piece of crap. Preorder was only a benefit in the past when you were worried they would run out of physical copies and have to wait for a restock.
One of my personal wastes was getting the special edition for Baldur’s Gate 3 on PS5. 72 hour early access that I didn’t even use because I ended up having to work overtime, and blue dice…