The booster pack. Now, many people who never played card games might not know what a booster pack is by name, but chances are good that if you are a gamer, you have experienced them before. In the classic sense within competitive card games such as Pokemon and Magic the Gathering games, there is usually a starter deck that has a deck built with certain basic cards that allow you to play the game, just maybe not well or not the way you want to. How do you get more cards? That’s where booster packs come in.
They are a small pack of cards that usually have a set amount of each rarity, so you will get a good and rare one no matter what. The thing that made these booster packs such a hot item was that there was a chance that any of those cards in any of those packs could be THE ONE. The holographic Blastoise or legendary monster or maybe even one of the most rare cards in the world that could get you a small fortune. (See: Black Lotus) It was all possible. It was and still is gambling for children. And as a child, I loved every second of it! Tearing the foil and looking at each card, one at a time, smelling the straight from the printer smell, feeling the crisp unworn edges of each card. It was glorious. And as I moved the card to the side and caught a glimpse of the next one. Could it be? Could the next card be the one that would make all your friends jealous? That would complete your Combo deck? Or provide you with your favorite Pokemon to enter the fray? There are entire YouTube channels that have millions of views dedicated to these kind of openings.
While the popularity of trading card games may have waned since their golden age, booster packs have not gone far but have in many cases been disguised and have not change one bit in others. (I’m looking at you Hearthstone.) Game developers are aware of that joy and excitement that booster packs once had, perhaps because they knew the joy of opening a new pack with their adolescent fingers just like I did or maybe because they know it’s a effective way to add replayability to any game as well as provide extra profit.
In app and in game purchases have swelled in frequency and, from purely aesthetic add ons to dlc expansions, it is experienced in some form or in almost every game. In a handful of games, these in game purchases are for crates or packs. In some games like Mass Effect 3‘s Multiplayer there were these crates that you could purchase with in game credits that you collect over time or pay out of pocket for. These crates held new weapons power ups and characters. Because this was game was only co-op, having a super powerful weapon or amazingly overpowered super rare character does not really feel unfair or that money can tip the favor from one player to another like it does in other games. Other games like Hearthstone and many Free-to-Play MMOs turn buying a lot of these packs into an almost secured win. But we might be entering a different era of booster packs in games.
One popular recent release that employs boosters in a new way is the multiplayer shooter from Blizzard, Overwatch. After you gain each level you are rewarded with a loot box which doesn’t contain any weapons or powerups, doesn’t provide you with any new characters or new abilities. The only thing that is in those boxes are purely cosmetic items. This doesn’t diminish their quality though. Just as with Team Fortress 2 and their hats, some of these cosmetic items are highly rare and desirable but they do not change the gameplay or ensure a winning team. They only show off how either lucky or financially committed you are to have your finishing pose or skin or cinematic for your favorite character. While you can purchase loot boxes, you do not have to. Some find it absurd that in a game you pay $40 to $60 for, you have to pay extra for the boxes, but I argue because it isn’t game changing items within those boxes and you get them with every level anyway, charging for them doesn’t hurt anyone. You have all you need to succeed from the moment you enter in the disc.
This is the exemplar booster pack of the new era. I have played many games where money ruins any enjoyment to be had yet the way Overwatch employes booster packs it makes the game more fun: for the players with the money it makes them excited to play and show off their winnings, for other players, if you get a cool skin for a character you never play as, this system encourages experimentation and it extends replayability beyond just the gameplay, and last but not least, its all up to chance. What if that loot box has the skin for your character? Or has the spray you want to paint the town with? Maybe just one more game or maybe a few dollars can’t hurt.
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