Fortnite Reflects Reality (Monday Musings 30)

Everyone has grown up with the belief that if you work hard in life, you can succeed. This is

The Ever-Elusive MG Ramirez

such a nice and comforting idea, but unfortunately doesn't hold true. There are tons of people who work multiple jobs who can't get ahead because they're living paycheck to paycheck, just working to survive.

So a lot of people can't "better" themselves as insensitive people argue, because how can you afford AND spend the time studying, attending College classes when you're working 80 hours/week and often have children to take care of? Whereas there are a lot of people who are simply born into wealth.

This is where Fortnite might be one of the most realistic games on the market. You can spend as much time and effort completing missions to earn your v-bucks (or even your hard earned cash--don't do it!) to buy pinatas called Llamas, which give out randomized loot. Llamas are the only way to get the best and most exciting items, which are the mythic heroes and mythic lead survivors. Through the RNG process, you can play this game for years straight and if you have bad enough luck, you may never get a mythic hero.

Now, if you're a millionaire, you may or may not get all the mythic heroes as well, but your chances multiply greatly as you can easily buy a million Llamas, and through RNG, one of them should eventually contain a mythic hero, though again, this is not guaranteed even for wealthy consumers, because what if you just have really bad luck? So upon opening your millionth llama, you get the same common defender that no one wants?

In other words, no matter what you try to do, how much you play the game, how much you spend, like life, you may not get what you want.

However, the issue here is that we play video games and seek entertainment to escape reality, so do we really need a video game that reflects negative aspects of life? I heard that getting the best items in Hearthstone is RNG, but the more you play, the more likely you get better items, which I think would make Fortnite a better game if they adopt this system, if they must continue with the loot-box. I often see people getting mythic heroes through sheer luck but they stop playing the game (see the auction list of those selling mythic heroes), whereas a lot of my friends continue to play months and months, and still don't get a mythic hero, despite being extremely dedicated.

Do you think I'm being too salty here by criticizing video games that strive to reflect the harsh realities of life, or do you think developers should take the "entertainment as escapism" route and make game-play elements more equitable?

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