[ SECRET POST #5965 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5965 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 42 secrets from Secret Submission Post #853.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

07. https://i.ibb.co/QYRLSBm/gachasecret.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

This entire secret is a shining example of "it is easier to fool someone than to convince them they have been fooled."

You sound like a generally smart person, OP. Having done this doesn't make you a stupid person or a person with no self control, it just makes you someone who was at one point emotionally/psychologically vulnerable. And everyone, in the long-enough-run, has a moment of emotional/psychological vulnerability.

Gacha games and shit like this are called predatory because its exactly people in those moments that they're waiting to jump on and suck dry, which they do, a lot. They know it, of course. Catching "whales" and waiting patiently to catch them is their entire business model.

This isn't to say gacha games can't be good games or fun game or totally safe to play as long as you stay calm and rational all the time or have the patience to trudge through f2p. But to deny that the system is lurking there, all the time, luring people with shiny colors and flashing lights and 8000% made up value promos just waiting for every single one of its players to have a moment of weakness, is being willfully blind.

I hope you find something that makes you happy again, and I hope it's not another gacha.

[(Anonymous)]

Oof, OP, that's a lot. For what it's worth, the whole gacha profit model absolutely does rely on the use of frustration to manipulate players. If they don't weaponize frustration like that (and some gachas actually don't) they're leaving money on the table and usually don't last very long because they're not turning a tidy enough profit. Most gacha I've played have resulted in me ragequitting after some difficult battle left me in tears (again, that frustration, which the game was hoping would make me spend). If I ever find myself in that situation of crying over a gacha game, I delete the app and never look back. That really sucks what happened to you. At the same time, I'm glad you've reached that point with Genshin Impact.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry, OP.

The mechanics of chance in games like this are also addictive, in the exact same way that gambling is addictive. The uncertain outcome both tricks your brain into thinking you have a chance to win each time you play, and also heightens the dopamine rush you get the few times you do win (which is usually something small). Then you want to play again because you've convinced yourself that you can win, and your brain wants more dopamine.

I know you want to believe that this was all you, not the game.

But I hope you can realise that this is an example of games like this being predatory - they are appealing to people at their lowest moments, and the game knows this and is based on that business model.

Sure, freeware games can also be addictive - but you can't waste 5 months of savings on in game purchases when in a low spot in those games, which is a biiiiig difference.

I hope this also gives you more compassion for people who have been preyed on by games with microtransactions, or online betting apps, or casinos. Where appropriate there should be limits on someone's ability to lose their money on all these things.

[(Anonymous)]

+1. It's a predatory business model, just like slot machines. They're designed to teach kids and teens that gambling is fun, and to encourage you chase that rush. I was in fact addicted to a freeware game during a bad time in my life, but that only had negative consequences for my mental health right then, I didn't then have to rebuild my bank account while also clawing my way out of serious mental health issues.

It's a little bit you in that you thought you could play casually, but it's mostly on the very deliberate game design, and I'm sorry for what happened.

[(Anonymous)]

Nah, it has nothing to do with gacha. I know people who literally put themselves into credit card debt ordering takeout multiple times a week/buying expensive limited-edition makeup palettes because their justification was that they were stressed and they deserved nice things. It was the exact same logic at work here. "I am stressed, but if I get this thing it will make me feel better." Only it doesn't because that's not the actual issue at hand and getting that thing is just putting a temporary band-aid on the deeper underlying problem.

[(Anonymous)]

Can't relate to this as I'm f2p and always have 180 wishes more or less. I had problems with gambling as a kid however Genshin doesn't tempt me at all. BTW Baizhu is close combat single target, js. Collei is enough if you don't want to raise traveler. Maybe OP could try the new Star Rails game? Wuthering Heights will be out soon too.

Idek I just don't expect to get lucky, hence the 180 stored wishes (250 atm).
Baizhu should get a rerun some time, maybe they'll do 3 banners. At least you didn't get your account stolen.

[(Anonymous)]

NAYRT but can I ask what Wuthering Heights has to do in context of F2P gaming?

[(Anonymous)]

They meant Wuthering Waves, a game coming out soon try is supposed to be a Genshin competitor.

[(Anonymous)]

yeah!
/that anon

[(Anonymous)]

I mean, quite frankly, if as a grown adult you can't set a budget for something and then stick to that budget, you have issues that run way deeper than gacha.

I say this because I know people who have blown massive amounts of money on non-gacha things for the exact same reasons. "I was stressed so I bought things to make me feel better" only all they did was end up running up huge credit card bills on stuff they didn't actually need.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think this is quite the same. Skinner boxes are effective on people in a different way. Like, "retail therapy" generally doesn't involve gambling/loot boxes of variable gains, and people who splurge on stuff to feel better at least are guaranteed whatever item they buy, and aren't lured in by casino-like "just one more pull" mechanics.

Like the gambling aspect is literally scientifically proven to be more addictive than plain old shopping.

It's like saying someone who is addicted to opioids and someone addicted to weed is the same and it's all about their personal self control. It's really not. Some things are legitimately more addictive than others.

[(Anonymous)]

It's the exact same philosophy behind it, though. "I feel shitty, so I'll get this cute skirt and then I'll feel better." And sure, you get the skirt, but it doesn't actually make you feel better, so then you think "well if I buy some shoes to go with it, THAT will definitely make me feel better," only that doesn't make you feel better either, and you just keep going deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole and buying more and more stuff in the hopes that the next thing will be the one to magically fix whatever is making you feel bad. I've seen it happen to people multiple times, which is why I don't think it's something related to gacha specifically but rather an issue of trying to use spending money on something you want as a form of therapy.

Spending money when you're stressed and feeling lousy is a recipe for disaster, period, because it's way too easy to fall into the trap of "I'll just buy one more thing because SURELY that will make me feel better."

[(Anonymous)]

+10000

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, I just remember the people who managed to get into insane credit card depth because they were addicted to buying all the crap from homeshopping channels back in the day so I'd say it's kinda similar after all.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel like that kind of thing was actually way more predatory because they would deliberately obscure the true cost of the items by doing things like saying 'this can be yours for only 5 payments of $19.95!' without ever mentioning that 5 payments of $19.95 is effectively $100. So you'd get people thinking they weren't spending that much because they were only paying $19.95 at a time without ever stopping to look at just how much it cost in total once you put all of those payments together.

At least with stuff like gacha, you're paying the full amount for each charge up front so it's not like you get blindsided by how much you spent in total.

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, there's a reason microtransactions are so popular in games, and it's because even if you're great at budgeting it gets hard to notice all the little amounts you spend, especially if it's over weeks.

It's easy to get caught up in the bundles and sales and promotions, too.

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly this ^^^

[(Anonymous)]

Do... do people just never look at their emailed receipts or something? I love it because it lets me keep track of exactly how much I've spent at a glance. I have a folder in my email specifically for Google Play stuff so it's easy for me to look and add up just how much I've spent in any given time period.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel for you because while not that extreme, I have been in a similar position before with this game and I know this doesn't help you but: the Traveller is a dendro 5 star. With full constellation once you're done with the main plot. I mean, I get wanting the special new characters and all but the Traveller is right there, just waiting to be built. And their dendro skill is actually pretty decent.

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't played sumeru yet. I get needing a dendro character, but why would you specifically need a dendro 5 star? Would a 4 star not do the job? (Traveler aside).

nayrt

[(Anonymous)]

Four stars would work. Dendro traveler is actually really good though I know a bunch of people like to dunk on traveler for not being as good as the gacha characters. Collei is free just for getting to a certain (pretty easy) level in the Spiral Abyss (and right when Sumeru was first released there was an event that let everybody playing at the time get her for free. Probably because a lot of puzzles in Sumeru involve dendro and need bow characters). Yao Yao is actually pretty good for dendro application as well as healing (though she took a while to grow on me because I don't really care for chibi characters) and a lot of people probably got her for free back during Lantern Rite earlier this year.

Probably part of the issue is that simply most of the Dendro characters up till now have been 5 star ones (and the really good ones like Nahida and Alhaitham especially) so it almost feels like if you want to take advantage of the newer powerful dendro reactions you have to get a 5 star. Baizhu probably seems tempting on his own for multiple reasons (he's been anticipated ever since he showed up in the story near the beginning of the game and only now is finally becoming available) and it seems nice to have a character than can shield, heal, and apply dendro while not on the field. That's a lot of support roles squished into one character slot so you can maybe get more creative with the other three slots.

[(Anonymous)]

The 4 stars are also characters you don't have totally guaranteed (you can sometimes reach hard pity twice without getting one of the 4 stars in a banner, happened to me with Candace) but that aside, yes, 4 stars would also work just as well. But the only guaranteed dendro character you have is the Traveller (whose changing elements imo are something they did specifically for players who don't have the new characters to still be able to explore and solve world puzzles and everything).

[(Anonymous)]

(This was supposed to be a reply to the one above this.)

[(Anonymous)]

Collei too, similar to Barbara and Xiangling
The only elements with no guaranteed characters are Anemo and Electro.