#or dm me because i hate spamming asks on the dash omg

[cupidlakes]

do you have any thoughts on george getting the genshin impact sponsor and advertising it even though it’s a gacha game? you don’t have to reply btw

oh! this is an interesting ask i haven’t even finished watching the stream and i don’t know much about genshin impact because i’ve only played a little (f2p) ages ago and i don’t know to what extent the game relies on you rolling to have an enjoyable/not severely limited experience BUT i can give my opinions on gacha and predatory gacha games as someone who was an ex-whale/previously (and now admittedly) addicted and what i think about “promoting” them

first thing to note is that there is a way to enjoy these types of games without falling into the trap of forking out all your money to enjoy them however it’s undeniable that they prey on those vulnerable and inclined towards addiction and use addiction tactics to make their money

genshin impact does seem like a really lovely well-polished game! and it’s no wonder that it has seen the success it has but i worry for those financial unstable, and yes, young people who get hooked onto these games and fall into the trap of essentially gambling for virtual happiness/fulfilment when it’s something you largely and will likely regret later on

again, not everyone! but anyone who has spent too much on something they’re not into anymore or actively playing will know this feeling especially when having whaled such huge amounts of money on something that’s not... tangible it is just completely virtual at the end of the day and completely unsatisfying to think about when you lose interest, like that’s money i could’ve put toward my future and i did set aside money for my savings but so much more of it could’ve gone towards that instead of the anime girl on my phone that i don’t need + spent upwards of $1000 to get, even if it was something i could afford because my job was well paying at the time and i lived w/ my parents so i had a lot of expendable income and this was the rhetoric i stuck with, it wasn’t responsible at all and i was a really young adult who didn’t understand that, i do now

and as for what i think about george “promoting” it? either way i’m going to sound biased but my honest opinion is that yes while he should be more careful about what he promotes to his very young and very impressionable audience (like my gripes w/ him going on omegle sometimes), he seemingly didn’t even know the mechanics of the game and i doubt he thought twice about the systems in place, genshin impact seems especially predatory for the measures they take to drag people into their system but this is to me is what a raid sponsor or a dragon city sponsor on youtube is, the difference is people think others won’t play those games because they’re not as polished but clearly there’s an audience for them if there are companies cashing out millions to youtubers to promote them

so i can’t be a hypocrite and stomp my foot and claim i’m mad at george (or karl + tina even though i think they actually play it) for taking a sponsor and not knowing about what the game was/is like when so many others have done the same, it’s also purposeful that the sponsors get streamers to play the game on stream because it’s like an involved sneak peak to people interested without giving them the full experience, what i mean is even if he spent a little on stream trying to get a character it doesn’t take into account the larger picture/how things can spiral from there like needing to roll EVERY time for your favourite character (and despite being partnered i don’t think george will be playing much more) so yeah. those are just my thoughts

in general the problem with these games and gacha in general is that it’s been normalised to a saddening degree with no support or limits on these games in places like america/europe (japan for example has strict regulations on mobile gambling) and almost every game now has it in some sense (battle passes, loot crates, micro-transactions etc.) i think what’s important is just being aware of advertising of these games, deciding if it’s ultimately worth it if you know you’re someone who gets hooked onto things really easily and getting help/support when you see yourself falling into that trap and also being transparent w/ people

but again i don’t think i can solely lay blame on george for any of this