Does this sound familiar?

onetwothree

Not trying to be a troll, just thought this was an interesting read I came across in a reddit thread and given the amount of discontent on this forum, thought some people would find it an interesting read.

"Mobile videogames are literally designed to be frustrating instead of fun.
A great many mobile titles make use of mechanics that are put together with the intention of nurturing habitual behavior, frustrating a user, and then offering a slightly more enjoyable experience after money has been spent. This tactic has proven to be a more profitable model than actually offering entertainment, to the point where some companies take very careful steps to ensure that their games don't accidentally end up being fun.
That sounds like satire, I know, but it's actually true.
Let's suppose you had a game like Galaga, for instance. A mobile game version monetized with in-application microtransactions would probably give you the option to upgrade your ship and your weapons, purchase additional lives, and other such things. You'd be able to earn "soft" (or "grind") currency by killing enemy units, with small amounts of "hard" (or "premium") currency being awarded when you advanced in level or something.
Now, that sounds like it would be alright, doesn't it? Here's where the manipulative part comes in, though: In this hypothetical game, it's virtually impossible to make it beyond the third level without spending money, because there's a "recommended" item of some kind that can only be purchased with hard currency... and it's impossible to earn enough of it from within the game. This is called a "pay wall," and a great many mobile games take advantage of the concept, albeit to varying degrees.
There's only one small problem with the game concept I just outlined: It might actually be kind of fun to play. As I mentioned previously, it's a far better idea to frustrate a user, and then give them a marginally better experience after they've converted to a paying player. So, maybe what we'd do with our hypothetical title is have all of the enemies slowly become more and more difficult over the course of five levels or so. Then, when a user inevitably died, we'd show them some kind of pop-up message:
"The aliens are advancing!" it might say. "Spend 15 SPACE CREDITS to revive?"
You'd be given the option to spend 15 hard currency for a single life... or to buy a pack of lives for only 50! Either way, immediately after you made the purchase, the game would become easier and more satisfying. If there were random items dropped by destroyed enemies, you'd see slightly more of them. Your score would increase more quickly, and there would be more explosions (or in the case of a game like Candy Crush, more flashing lights and noises).
After the level was done, you'd get bumped back into the typical difficulty and the same frustrating experience... until you spent more money, of course"

link to thread https://np.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/35at1l/what_is_one_real_trick_that_companies_dont_want/