<story><title>Minecraft Set to Launch Its Own Currency</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-10/microsoft-s-minecraft-set-to-launch-its-own-currency</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>xemoka</author><text>Yeah, this stinks. I despise fake currency created to form a disconnect between the real-world costs of items and their &amp;quot;in-game&amp;quot; price. It&amp;#x27;s used as a form of manipulation—and if that wasn&amp;#x27;t the original intent then they really need to re-think their reasoning.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s taking advantage of children and their connection with their funders (parents).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>powvans</author><text>I cannot take my 5 year old son into a supermarket. Entering and exiting requires passing by so much candy and other garbage that it&amp;#x27;s just not worth it. He will invariably pitch a fit when I say no and we will invariably have a tear filled exit from the store. The store is effectively weaponizing my child against me to extract money from my pocket.&lt;p&gt;This is similar. My kids don&amp;#x27;t play video games, but I have friends who will hear no end of whining and crying when their kid needs more Minecraft $$$. Of course they can refuse to participate, but as a parent it&amp;#x27;s frustrating.</text></comment>
<story><title>Minecraft Set to Launch Its Own Currency</title><url>https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-10/microsoft-s-minecraft-set-to-launch-its-own-currency</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>xemoka</author><text>Yeah, this stinks. I despise fake currency created to form a disconnect between the real-world costs of items and their &amp;quot;in-game&amp;quot; price. It&amp;#x27;s used as a form of manipulation—and if that wasn&amp;#x27;t the original intent then they really need to re-think their reasoning.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s taking advantage of children and their connection with their funders (parents).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>aphextron</author><text>&amp;gt;I despise fake currency created to form a disconnect between the real-world costs of items and their &amp;quot;in-game&amp;quot; price.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s the entire point; it&amp;#x27;s a psychological hack. It&amp;#x27;s the same idea as gambling chips at a casino. If they force you to purchase &amp;quot;coins&amp;quot; in bulk, then you are much more likely to spend them freely once you have them than you would with actual cash, as the value is too abstract. They will also set the prices in such a way that you &lt;i&gt;just&lt;/i&gt; need 
 to buy &lt;i&gt;one more&lt;/i&gt; &amp;quot;coin pack&amp;quot; even though you only need a few individual coins to get what you want.</text></comment>