Why You Should Stop Moaning and Vote With Your Wallet

The internet is many things. It’s diverse, it’s confrontational and it’s controversial, but perhaps most importantly it loves to moan. Everyone enjoys a good moan, but the internet seems particularly skilled at it. Every time a new piece of news comes out of the games industry, it’s inevitably followed by a chorus of complaining commenters, aggrieved by it in some way or another. This has, sadly, become an accepted part of the internet.

But maybe it shouldn’t be. Maybe we shouldn’t all accept or partake in this pattern of complaining about every little detail and instead perhaps endorse a new mantra: ‘stop moaning, and vote with your wallets.’

Stop moaning, and vote with your wallets.

But first, an explanation. When I urge you to vote with your wallets, I mean that instead of simply complaining about things on Reddit or NeoGaf, you should simply avoid purchasing the product that has pissed you off so much. This basic practice would eliminate a great deal of the whining that takes place on the internet, and actually encourage developers and publishers to listen to consumers.

Season passes are one such example. Every time a game is released with a season pass alongside, the news is greeted by a cacophony of wailing and whining, as gamers complain about the death of video games and declare that publishers are turning the art form into a cynical, money-making exercise. To some extent, this is true. Season passes are generally pretty terrible, and an excuse for publishers to rinse gamers of their money. However, something must be remembered. Season passes have been hated for as long as they have existed, and yet they have remained, some 5 years after LA Noire first introduced the concept. But why are they still a thing? Because people moan and groan about the implementation of season passes, and ultimately end up buying them anyway.

LA Noire is arguably the first title to have implemented the season pass model. Image credit: Nickmiestersa/Youtube

Publishers have no incentive to alter their practices when they are making money hand over fist, and why would they? Their primary aim is to make money, and if season passes are selling, they have no reason to change anything. These multi-million dollar companies don’t particularly care about people on the internet whining about their practices- they care about money, and they care about results. Moaning won’t change anything, but maybe something else could.

If people make the decision not to buy season passes, things are more likely to change. Not only do those who get mad not buy the product that supposedly angers them so much, but publishers suddenly start losing large sums of money, and that’s when they start to pay attention. If their profits began to dwindle they’d be forced to respond, and the season pass model would quickly become untenable if it hampered sales to a large extent. This begs the question, why don’t people vote with their wallets instead?

This industry is dominated by money, and it is only by affecting that monetary flow that fans can affect real change.

This whole concept has become even more pronounced with the recent pricing announcement for No Man’s Sky. The release date was widely accepted, but it was the pricing that irked large swathes of the internet. Prior to the revelation of this information, many had expected the game to be sold at a lower price point. However, this has transpired not to be the case, and it is in fact a fully-priced release. Sadly, according to parts of the internet this announcement is akin to the murder of a family member, or another such heinous crime.

Many have denounced this price point, claiming that a small team should not be charging such a price for their game; a frankly ridiculous and illogical argument. I won’t go into the many reasons why these arguments are ridiculous, but once again, the idea of voting with your wallet does come into play. If these people are so angered by No Man Sky costing £50, then they simply shouldn’t buy it. Hello Games clearly feels that their game is worth that amount, but, if it’s not, then you don’t buy it. Don’t waste the time and energy moaning about it, just don’t buy it; this in itself is a more powerful way to affect change in the industry than whining on internet forums.

Many feel that No Man’s Sky won’t be worth it’s £50 price tag. Image credit: SCEE/PressXtra

Ultimately, moaning doesn’t help. I understand that it is human nature to complain about things we dislike. We all do it. However, after a while it becomes pointless, especially within the games industry. This industry is dominated by money, and therefore it is only by affecting that monetary flow that fans can affect real change. Perhaps, therefore, it is the internet community that should change. Perhaps it is time that parts of the internet stop complaining, and vote with their wallets instead.