@redweasel  
I’m not shilling. I’m just pointing out that not every single game is pay-to-win crap that you also have to pay $60 to buy.
 
If you want to be that guy, you do you. But don’t complain when you can’t find anyone to game with.

@Tavi959
 
um, loot drops are RNG, but I think you mean that premium stuff isn’t very rare, so people have a high chance to get it without paying. anyway, it’s nice that some games are designed so you can play without gambling, even if it still totally tempts people to do so, keeping them playing longer than they want to.
 
you think they even need “buy our stuff” advertisements, with people like you going around talking about it? “I enjoy playing w/ friends that I totally have, and you will too if you choose our product. absolutely free. no membership fee, no down payment, play our game I mean play their game… today!”
 
but seriously, enjoy your game. it’s nice to see someone so passionate about something. I worry that wonderful people like you are basically falling in love with an emotional vampire, but me being worried does not mean it’s true. just be careful what you enjoy.

@redweasel  
No RNG involved in any of these games. Microtransactions are 100% optional and don’t give you a measurable advantage over others by virtue of how the games themselves are designed. They offer you cool shit to buy, but that’s it. In Warframe you can accumulate premium currency for free, making purchasing it more a means of getting cool shit faster. In Wargaming’s games, premium currency is almost impossible to accrue in-game.
 
In Warframe’s case, it’s a co-op experience so nobody loses if you pay. And you don’t have to pay because loot drops are plentiful anyway. In Wargaming’s case, buying a premium tank/ship or premium ammunition doesn’t net you much. Premium vehicles aren’t tied to the tech tree, but they provide a crew training bonus. That’s it. And premium ammunition doesn’t grant guaranteed hits, just more damage. Tanks with sloped armor can deflect them same as regular ammunition.
 
I enjoy playing these games with friends. Downloading them is absolutely free, there’s no membership fee, and they’re not bombarding you with “buy our stuff” all the time.

@Tavi959
 
skype is also a “secret, proprietary etc etc” big brother protocol. they’re both pretty much exactly alike under the hood. I never used either, sorry. closed source software’s just not safe to run.
 
the most sophisticated I really get is tox and other than that pretty much email, IRC, and obscure forums about pony pictures. preferably over i2p or tor. I used mumble once, which is like teamspeak except you’re allowed to know what your computer is doing, but I only really find voice chat helpful when my hands are busy playing video games, which I generally don’t.
 

I might be wrong since I don’t go gambling, but I’m pretty sure you don’t have to pay to walk into the casino. I don’t terribly mind games that only have a little sleazy RNG thing on the side to swindle a bit of steady cash for the devs, but I wouldn’t call them free. some are definitely worse than others.

@redweasel  
Warframe, World of Tanks, World of Warships…just to name a few. They do feature a premium economy, which require microtransactions to use, but the games themselves do not cost anything up front and the premium stuff isn’t pay-to-win.
 
Are you still using Skype or something? Everyone I know switched to Discord, so I followed them. After some adjustment, I got used to it.

@Somerandomanon
 
well, if someone said they were gonna let me chat with you, and it was gonna be real convenient, but they wouldn’t allow me to actually talk to you, and I could only ask them to say things to you, on the assumption that it was a private conversation between me and you, I’d be pretty reluctant to talk with you. especially once I learned that they were selling those conversations to market analysts trying to predict how to set their prices such that I’ll always buy at a loss.
 
so I’m not big on those secret proprietary chat programs that are the only programs people even know about anymore. they all suck, and we oughta all have a webserver we can put our audio files on if we want others to hear our lovely voice. or something like that.
 

 
I miss usenet

@Somerandomanon  
Microsoft ruined MSN messenger and then bought and ruined Skype.  
I just hope whoever inevitably buys Discord is a half-decent company.

@redweasel  
Discord is a great chat program. Far less buggy and more stable than Skype. Less call latency than Skype. Better audio quality than Skype. More secure than Skype more usability than Skype… The list goes on… I’ve actually gone as far as deleting my Skype account, because I prefer Discord so much more.

@Tavi959  

no, it’s because they’re playing it all the time, and chatting on…
 
………discord.
 

 
sorry, am I misunderstanding what free means? I thought it meant not costing money.

@redweasel  
I don’t think your friends are going to disappear because you choose not to play Pay for Looty (not the cute poner kind, either) or whatever the latest money grabbing scheme AAA game is. In fact, some of the best games that do feature microtransactions are free and not made to please corporate scumbags.

@Tavi959  

 
no, I’m just worried that all my friends are gonna disappear because they all got hooked on vidya, then the one game will come out that gets me too, because I’m bored and lonely, and all those professional developers are working full time to discover what I can’t help but find appealing.
 
oh wait that already happened, nvm.

@redweasel  
If an idiot with more money than you wants to pay to play in a urine-filled pool with other idiots with more money than you, do you really want to pay to play in the pool? Or is it not perhaps wiser to save your money for a pool worth paying for? Especially when you know that those idiots with more money than you are paying extra to be allowed to pee in the pool and ruin it for everyone else?
 
Buy what’s worth buying by your own standards. And if that doesn’t include products from EA or Activision, so be it.

@Tavi959
 
but then people with more money get more votes than I do. that doesn’t seem very democratic.

@redweasel  
I just don’t buy games that make microtransactions a core game mechanic. When it’s legitimately optional (as opposed to forced into your face constantly) I don’t mind because I don’t feel like participation is required.
 
Giving up is not required. Vote with your wallet.

@natedrake
 
well you could stop buying video games.
 
but that wouldn’t stop companies spending the billions they make selling them, to figure out ways to force you to start buying them.

HA, jokes on you, not everyone has a Credit card

No. Money’s being saved for better use. Like Monster Hunter: World on PC.

No. You may be cute but the answer is no.

No. The answer is no.

You can have my undying something or other.

@Somerandomanon  
HOW DID YOU GET MY CREDIT CARD.

@natedrake  
Best idea for loot box either A no doubles or B triple the gold pay out on them as it’s stands I takes me months to get enough gold to get the skins I want and half the time I miss events doing so.

@natedrake  
About a month. PvP is not my best game mode I always preferred pve and story.

Well, it’s for you after all.

Sure. It’s 1234-5678-9101-1121. It expires on 12/34. Security code is 123 and the name of it is Nunya F. Biznus From Stfu bank.