What is your opinion on gaming subscription services?

[Runa216]

I find it disheartening that the entire crux of this argument and the divide between being on one side or the other is whether or not a person cares about monetary value or literally everything else.

Like, the ONLY argument that's pro-subscription is that it's 'cheaper' or 'a better value' or 'gives you more bang for your buck', without considering any other factors. Like, don't get me wrong, I GET it, I understand why this is such a good value, and I do see why you might like it for kids or people who don't really care all that much about ownership, but there are so many other factors to think about for true gamers, collectors, trophy hunters, etc. It's kinda sad that so many are arguing for the services as though the value proposition is all that matters, devaluing the arguments of those who don't find that a factor at all.

Like, money isn't a factor to me at all. I mean, I don't have much money (I'm certifiably poor as fuck), but video Games and my pets are basically all I spend money on outside of bills so I don't care much about the value. What I DO care about is the freedom of ownership, the physical collection, the filled shelves, the ever-expanding need for external hard drives to hold it all, and not having to stream or redownload stuff (I know GamePass doesn't do streaming, but PSNow does and I have 0 interest in it).

My point is, it really is or should be a 50/50 debate based on what matters to you, but reading this thread gives me some weird impression there's more malice and aggression just below the surface than there really should be. like it's a fight just waiting to break out, not a discussion.