the free market is what naturally exists without any government whatsoever.
Hahaha, nooo. In the absence of restraint you get robbed and pound sand. The state-of-nature wild-west is never what y’all mean, when you fluff up “the free market.” You mean a space where competition matters because people can trust they’re making rational decisions on good information.
Charging real money inside a video game is inherently irrational because all the information is made-up. There’s only one vendor and they control gravity. The environment is as arbitrary and fictional as any con-artist’s story. More “tiger rock” than “deed to the Brooklyn Bridge,” but still a complete fabrication that exists only to part you from your currency in exchange for approximately dick.
There’s a difference between defending something and refusing to attack it.
Declaring an absolute right to manipulate people is the first one.
“Manufacturing consent” is not some unfortunate side effect, for you. You defend it by name. You describe it the way more sensible people describe religious freedom. How much more throat do you have, if that’s not a full-throated endorsement?
Here, I’ll be more libertarian than you: why shouldn’t we let people get scammed? Fuck 'em. They’re adults, right? It’s their money to lose. How can I be absolutely free to manufacture consent, if lying isn’t an option? It’s an abrogation of my right to free speech. Lying is legal. Scams should be legal as well, because ethics shouldn’t dictate the law. They clicked Buy and it’s my money now and tough shit. Caveat emptor, bitches!
Please tell me why you think that’s wrong.
When did I say [fire codes are tyranny]? I merely said I should be able to buy something that doesn’t pass code
Do you read all this, or just type it?
There are plenty of people who genuinely like the MTX model.
And a bunch more who FUCKING HATE IT, but are subjected to it anyway, because hey guess what - other people’s decisions also affect you. What everyone else wants and does will always limit your choices. We have to ensure assholes and morons don’t ruin it for everyone else. Sometimes that means enforcing building safety, Jesus Hoobastank Christ, and sometimes that means recognizing a bullshit way to make money is illegitimate and unacceptable.
“Just sell video games” is not exactly an anticapitalist hellscape. We have to stop the abuse.