> We know that micropayments can work because mobile games are a thing
Do we?
If anything, we know micropayments won't result in quality journalism because mobile games are a thing.
> but mobile game developers have figured out how to get people to spend money on in-app-purchases (IAP), by turning it into a two-step process.
Nah. I mean yes this is one of the psychological tricks that makes players pay on mobile, but it's not that big a deal. The real deal of mobile games:
- Difficult curve design: you know how slot machines show you two matching symbols and one off, instead of three random ones? It has to make the player feel like they can reasonably beat the level, but just "a little bit unlucky..."
- PvP element: Basically pay to win, but presented more like 'grind to win.' Free players can theoratically beat who paid if they grind for needed resources for thousands of hours. So they can tell themselves that they're just 'saving time' when they eventually pay.
- Soft porn: A lot of mobile games from Chinese/Japanes/Korean publishers are just soft porn by western standards.
Are these what we want to replicate on news sites? I think this article sugarcoats the dark patterns in mobile games to convince the author themselves that micropayment won't lead to a race to the bottom.
Do we?
If anything, we know micropayments won't result in quality journalism because mobile games are a thing.
> but mobile game developers have figured out how to get people to spend money on in-app-purchases (IAP), by turning it into a two-step process.
Nah. I mean yes this is one of the psychological tricks that makes players pay on mobile, but it's not that big a deal. The real deal of mobile games:
- Difficult curve design: you know how slot machines show you two matching symbols and one off, instead of three random ones? It has to make the player feel like they can reasonably beat the level, but just "a little bit unlucky..."
- PvP element: Basically pay to win, but presented more like 'grind to win.' Free players can theoratically beat who paid if they grind for needed resources for thousands of hours. So they can tell themselves that they're just 'saving time' when they eventually pay.
- Soft porn: A lot of mobile games from Chinese/Japanes/Korean publishers are just soft porn by western standards.
Are these what we want to replicate on news sites? I think this article sugarcoats the dark patterns in mobile games to convince the author themselves that micropayment won't lead to a race to the bottom.