One of the funny things that have been anchored in the community of a game for years is that they sometimes forget what it looks like for someone from outside. This happened to me this week when Blizzard announced that it would bring prey boxes back Overwatch 2 In Season 15 After I dropped the Mystery Cosmetic Packs when the continuation started in 2022. When I saw that, my immediate thought was “Oh, the people who have them back, finally got what they wanted”, and then I went mentally to the next thing.
I forgot that if they hadn't taken care of it Overwatch 2 You could be confused for several years why Blizzard would make this choice, let alone Free it as something that is worth celebrating. In years of nostalgia it is the “way of how things used to be tied up in the original” surveillance and an aversion to Overwatch 2'S monearization disorders. The return of prey boxes does not mean Perhaps Get the skins you want.
Why did people want prey boxes back in Overwatch 2?
When Overwatch 2 It was completely reorganized how they unlock and buy cosmetics. Blizzard added an in-game shop in which cosmetics are switched on and off weekly and which can be bought with currency in the game and in real world. Compare this with how you would unlock most things in the original surveillance; They would unlock a prey box with every level they won and would hope and pray that the skin they wanted was inside. They could not control what they got from them, but the compromise was that everything, from skins to Siegposen, was available free of charge. However, if you are not as patient, you can also buy prey boxes with real money as you get them. So there was an element of gambling.
To the original the original surveillance was replaced by the sequel and I had unlocked so many cosmetics that opening the free prey boxes I got was a waste of time because I mainly found duplicates. Sure, I probably spent a few dollars here and there to find something specific, but the money investment was nothing compared to what it cost me to buy new skins Overwatch 2Store.
This is part of why the fans asked for a return to prey boxes. They are pretty much a gaming mechanic who encourages the players to spend real money in the hope of finding their desired skin, but there was still the possibility to earn them free of charge. A committed player could get everything he wanted without paying a cent, but in Overwatch 2 This mercy or Kiriko skin that you viewed is locked up behind a paywall and probably costs a pretty cent.
It's easy to see how someone could long for the days surveillance Not so much money investment in the top investment Such a grindingAnd it is a rather damn criticism Overwatch 2The expensive business that some people consider to be a gambling for the preferred approach. But take a look at prey boxes in one surveillance-Shapated vacuum does not tell the whole story, which is why people who are not in the trenches with payload push are confused by excitement.
Are Overwatch 2'S Beuteboxing exploitative or just another progress?
In video games, prey boxes have always been a controversial form of microtransaction. Most Gacha games use them in an inherent exploitial way Because you need considerable money or time investments, only the desired rewards are obtained. Such mystery packs were also a heart in Complain And legislation As parents and chosen officials, they consider a predatory business model. With all this luggage, it probably looks crazy from the outside when Blizzard crashes her return, and the fans answer with excitement and strive to accept them with open arms. However, Blizzard does not bring her back from the sound, and the approach that the team takes this time sounds less exploitative than before.
In an interview with IGNPresent Overwatch 2 Director Aaron Keller confirmed that prey boxes were only available for the Battle Pass and have completed challenges without being bought with real money. Keller also confirmed in one Interview with Youtuber Emongg If you get a double cosmetics, you can roll again so that you do not waste the limited prey boxes that you can receive per season. Overwatch 2 Has found so many ways to monetize things that were once free in the original, that I am surprised that Blizzard did not try to monetize the gambling on it, but if you consider that the gambling aspect is so hindered that the US is so hindered -Government is probably the safer approach. Blizzard also tries to be more transparent about what they could get through explicit drop rates so that there is a less randomized secret.
Ultimately, what Blizzard described is surveillance. As long as there is no predatory option to pay them with real money, I do not see the damage to give people a coincidence to earn old cosmetics that have been turned out of the shop. The small bright chests that have broken up with a solemn fanfare is a nostalgia game just like that Overwatch Classic Bring Modi and the old 6V6 format back. But in another timeline, bag boxes could have been brought back exactly as they were, ready to use money from some bad merciful nightmilds to get the latest legendary skin.
Printing boxes will return in season 15 on February 18.
