Today’s “Mein-MMO asks” revolves around a topic that has occupied the whole world for days: Halloween. This custom has appeared in various online games in its American form for years, as it did in 2016. Almost every game already has an event in Halloween style or is about to start one – even in FIFA 17. Therefore, we ask you: Do you think that’s cool, or does it annoy you?
Halloween events as far as the eye can see
Halloween is not only becoming more popular here, but also in online games the spooky festival is being celebrated more frequently. Some in-game events are directly referred to as Halloween events, while others celebrate their own versions of this festival, which are linked to the lore. There is the “Schlotternacht” in WoW, the “Schattennacht” in Paragon, the “Shadow of the Mad King” in Guild Wars 2, or the “Festival of the Lost” in Destiny. A compilation of many Halloween events can be found here.
Despite the great variety of these events, they have a few things in common: On the one hand, there are creepy decorations and costumes everywhere. The horror and monster theme can be found at every event. On the other hand, the controversial side effect is also present, which is that many of these cosmetic Halloween items can be purchased for real money. A prominent example is the MMO shooter Destiny, which even advertised with a dedicated trailer for these microtransactions – which is not well received by the community at all.
Halloween events are good and well: they bring some variety to the game and provide new items that you can acquire and collect. However, they are also often used to encourage players to spend a little money – after all, you want to wear that one cool mask in the game. Thus, Destiny’s Festival of the Lost has also been referred to as “Festival of Microtransactions”. And when an in-game event is mainly about opening your wallet – and less about providing fun gameplay content – many players think: This event can do without me!
What, no Halloween celebrations here?
A stark exception to the current Halloween craze is “The Division”. Yesterday, the developers confirmed that there will be no event and no special items for it. They have been busy enough in the last weeks and months completing update 1.4.
Looking at the comment section for this news, it becomes clear: No one is truly sad about it. Friends are tagged with the motto: “Hey, look, there are indeed still games without a Halloween event.” One reader finds the whole fun annoying anyway.
Therefore, we now ask you directly: What is your stance on all the Halloween events? Are you excited about them or do you have better things to do than to stock up on masks? And what do you think about the microtransaction topic related to Halloween?
