Fortnite and junior playerbase problems

To keep a thread from being derailed, here's a more specific breakdown of how Fortnite has been deemed problematic by gamer parents.
Or at least, the gamer parents I communicated with.

This game wasn't really on my radar until this conversation was started, then I became more then a little concerned.

The first person was commenting on how their offspring was wasting all their allowance and earned money on Fortnite's ingame store.
The second person then came in and explained they'd had to lecture their nephew about deceitfulness because they were scamming money from all their relatives to pay into the Fortnite ingame store.

Both these people then told me exactly what was being purchased, emotes and outfit customisations.
These things have no practical benefit ingame (in terms of improving gameplay), yet apparently a fortune is spent by the junior playerbase in acquiring them.

Much later, I communicated with a 3rd gamer parent and related the highlights of this conversation to them, to which they responded that their own children have become so focussed on Fortnite that when their parent tries to get those children to play any other game, the attempt is completely ignored.

From my perspective and most likely, those of the gamer parents I communicated with, Fortnite is encouraging an addictive like obsession in their junior playerbase, one that is causing them to spend money to do so.

That's why I distrust this game so much and get annoyed when I see the Fortnite toys/merchandise for sale, it's promoting a product that is encouraging self-destructive behavior.

How sheltered are you from the wider world? What Fortnite does is nothing new, micro-transactions dominate the gaming world and Fortnite is simply the biggest game at the moment that does it.

If anything, the fact that Fortnite's micro-transactions doesn't impact gameplay is why it's better than most. 99% of mobile games are pay-to-win where no amount of skill will overcome the bigger wallet.

Is micro-transactions a disease that should be eradicated? Yes, undoubtedly. Is Fortnite the cause? Hell no, it's been going on for many many years and is simply another result of the profit-driven world we live in.

When Fortnite loses popularity then another game will reign supreme that is full of micro-transactions.

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Originally Posted by Tilarta

Much later, I communicated with a 3rd gamer parent and related the highlights of this conversation to them, to which they responded that their own children have become so focussed on Fortnite that when their parent tries to get those children to play any other game, the attempt is completely ignored.

From my perspective and most likely, those of the gamer parents I communicated with, Fortnite is encouraging an addictive like obsession in their junior playerbase

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Dude, up until I became a parent and hobby farmer I'd had game obsessions since I was a kid! Always had at least a dozen games for whatever console I owned but there would always be one that I would play non stop. Off the top of my head:

*Asterix (Atari 2600)
*Ms Pacman (Atari 2600)
*Super Mario Bros (NES)
*Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)
*Street Fighter II Turbo (Super NES)
*Super Mario 64 (N64)
*Goldeneye (N64)
*Halo (Xbox)
*DOAX Volleyball (Xbox)
*Sims 2 (PC)
*WoW (PC)
*Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)
*Fall of Cybertron (PS3)
*Transformers Earth Wars (mobile)

Each time that game would get mega preference over any other game I owned for about a year, with me playing the others only occasionally. Then something new would come out and I'd hardly pick up the old one again. It's just the cycle. And it was never like playing video games was all I did with my time, it's just that whatever time I did spend playing games was usually devoted to a specific one.

Now my son is the same. He played Marvel Super Heroes (PS4) for ages and now has no interest. Then the same happened with Super Mario Bros Wii. Right now he has no game he is particularly into.

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Originally Posted by Tilarta

That's why I distrust this game so much and get annoyed when I see the Fortnite toys/merchandise for sale, it's promoting a product that is encouraging self-destructive behavior.

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How is it self-destructive behavior? Do you have a link to any news stories about it as I haven't heard anything but then I don't keep up with gamer news much so I really don't know. Seems just like the normal gamer cycle to me but maybe there is something happening with this game in particular I am unaware of.

It's up to parents to be parents. If your kids like video games then by all means let them play, but have rules in place. For instance our son is not allowed to play until 4pm each day and then has to stop at dinnertime. And right now he is not even making use of that right, hasn't in weeks. He's got plenty of other interests to keep him occupied. And parents need to encourage their kids to have a wide variety of interests. If you let your kid do nothing but watch TV, or play video games, or eat candy or whatever then of course they will get addicted. Can't blame a product for that.

The majority of those games listed are once-off purchases though, with no micro transactions involved.
Basically, pay for the game once, no more money to be made.

Transformers Earth Wars being the obvious exception, with their use of character unlocking crystal bundles, fuel cells, resource buying etc.


I never looked for news articles about Fortnite, this information came direct from the parents or relatives of Fortnite junior gamers.
Although they did state that it was more widespread then the isolated incidents they were recounting.

What they told me was that Fortnite Developers are intentionally targeting the junior players with their ingame store, which I am not entirely comfortable, going after the young and impressible instead of the more experienced adults players who could/might be more responsible with their money expense.

That's what caused me to be more concerned about Fortnite then any other micro-transaction supported game, the fact they were making money off junior players instead of adults.

And they can keep adding new emotes/costumes whenever they want, making it an never-ending chain of income/obsession.




I should point out that Transformers Earth Wars isn't exactly free from this kind of thing either, it's just a lot more money is invested for spurious reasons, like a Top 5 leaderboard Alliance spending 100s of dollars per weekend, every weekend, just for their bragging rights.

Some reports have even reached me of the more obsessed players spending 10,000$ on the game and well, you can imagine how low a regard I have for their intelligence now.

While I did make some purchases in Transformers Earth Wars, I eventually realised the money would be better spent on real Transformer toys rather then a chance at a virtual one.

If you're not familiar with the game structure of Transformers Earth Wars, you need 3* quality minimum and 4* for high level activity, but they're hard to obtain due to intentionally engineered low unlock rates:
10% chance for 3*, 2% for 4*.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tilarta

I never looked for news articles about Fortnite, this information came direct from the parents or relatives of Fortnite junior gamers.
Although they did state that it was more widespread then the isolated incidents they were recounting.

What they told me was that Fortnite Developers are intentionally targeting the junior players with their ingame store, which I am not entirely comfortable, going after the young and impressible instead of the more experienced adults players who could/might be more responsible with their money expense.

That's what caused me to be more concerned about Fortnite then any other micro-transaction supported game, the fact they were making money off junior players instead of adults.

And they can keep adding new emotes/costumes whenever they want, making it an never-ending chain of income/obsession.

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Yeah but if they are young gamers then they can't buy anything in the game without their parents enabling them to do so. So the parents can simply say no. They do that from day one no problem. When my son wanted to buy a character in TF F2F I told him straight out that we never spend money on these games and he accepted it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tilarta

I should point out that Transformers Earth Wars isn't exactly free from this kind of thing either, it's just a lot more money is invested for spurious reasons, like a Top 5 leaderboard Alliance spending 100s of dollars per weekend, every weekend, just for their bragging rights.

Some reports have even reached me of the more obsessed players spending 10,000$ on the game and well, you can imagine how low a regard I have for their intelligence now.

While I did make some purchases in Transformers Earth Wars, I eventually realised the money would be better spent on real Transformer toys rather then a chance at a virtual one.

If you're not familiar with the game structure of Transformers Earth Wars, you need 3* quality minimum and 4* for high level activity, but they're hard to obtain due to intentionally engineered low unlock rates:
10% chance for 3*, 2% for 4*.

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4* Are pretty easy to get. I've got literally dozens of 4*, I don't even bother upgrading my 3* anymore.

I spent $7.99 on the game once, about 18 months ago when my son was playing my game and accidentally used up over a years worth of coins I'd hoarded, so I spent a couple of bucks and replaced them. Thats it. Easy to get ahead in the game without spending any dosh.

But yeah, you are right - there are some nutters out there that spend so much on these games, they are people in my Alliance that have spent hundreds of bucks. It can be pretty addictive and full on.

I have played FFXI pretty hardcore since 2007. Everyone has their obsession. Parents have a responsibility to control kids until they leave home then it is a matter for the child. I probably have over 2000 hours on FFXI alone not to mention Halo, PUBG, age of empires, C&C, etc

From what I was told, the junior playerbase use real world cash to buy a Fortnite game card in the local stores like Big W and then use that to buy whatever cosmetic items they want from the ingame Store.
I'm not sure if they require parental permission for that.

The case I mentioned above with the scammer nephew is he was tricking his relatives into giving him money to feed his Fortnite store obsession and thus, learning dishonesty on top of another problem.





I have 28 4*, only one of which came from a paid bundle.
The rest were earned for free.

The reason I stopped paying money to Transformers Earth Wars was I tried for a few specific unlocks and just got duplicates instead.
I was specifically trying to get Snarl and Dustup in 3* (to unlock the Volcanicus and Victorion Combiners), but it never worked, so I told myself, you're paying for nothing, it's time to stop.

Yeah Earth Wars bundles suck. You need a good alliance to get the good stuff but need to also pay to stay really competitive . I stopped when my alliance was requiring huge event output. Just stopped finding it fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gQOYAp1-oU