Did you guys actually get an education grant? I know Jane mentioned it in passing but considering how some of Ellen's videos have gone it makes me think it wasn't just a quib remark.
I know these videos are comedy bits and aimed at a specific audience (gamers), but this one was very informative and educational. It's the definition of empirical research! The irony is Animal Crossing: New Horizon's wasn't included like Luke mentioned at the end since it's one of the grindiest games of all. It would be interesting to see how much players ear per hour in not just Bells, but also Nook Miles since that's the newest currency and incentive to grind.
I do the opposite when buying a game. Hades cost me about 0.2p for every hour I played, whilst Tekken 7 was about £4 an hour. I know which I feel better about. (Elite Dangerous works out at an amount per hour so low I'd have to be post-WW2 Hungarian inflation to make it equal real cash)
They need to get Jane to critique the science like Andy critiques the art. Much like Andy points out Pikachu's tail shape, I want to hear Jane point out that the net money earned isn't proportioned to a precise amount of time.
I just love the fact Ellen went to this length as I try to stay as free to play as possible on many of these games and did wonder how much it is per hour. Bravo stuff here for sure
@@SimuLord i say this is absolute bad. how many game hours does suicide squad has? or forspoken? but is it worth even a penny? isnt it negative since you have to suffer through terrible story? i say better a 5 hour game that has great story then 100 boring hours. or negative hours that are litterally torture like in the games above.
Ellen breaking character and laughing every time she's mean/aggressive toward Luke is the most wholesome thing I've yet to see on this channel. And yes, that includes the Pikachu drawing challenge and the Kirby yarn doll.
It's probably a harder conversion rate, but I'm also curious as to how this translates back into the games themselves. Are you actually getting more per hour or are some of these games just more expensive to buy things in which then makes it *look* more rewarding, but only because that game charges $10 for a blue gun as opposed to the less rewarding game which only charges you $1 for the same metaphorical blue gun.
Yeah they completely omit the fact that the publishers decide the prices for in game items themselves hence they can make it look like you "earn" more in their game. If you can't convert it to cash you haven't earned anything, it's just the devs and publishers inflating their own ego by comparing who can squeeze the most money out of players while still making them believe they're getting payed. I had really hoped more people would see through this but judging by the like/dislike ratio most people seem to actually prefer working and gambling, not gaming
@@magzpayne this is a VERY late reply, but was just having a peruse and stumbled across your reply. We do actually say this is just what the publishers have said the stuff in-game is worth, in our conclusion around 31:43. But we just note that's it's "a whole different kettle of fish" because we could easily talk/rant for another 30 minutes about whether we think a skin in a game is actually worth the amount they charge for it, and there isn't a super easy way to compare across games (they don't all have the same blue gun/cosmetic, so it ends up being a bit more subjective). I'd hope from the overall tone of the video and the conclusion that most people can see that this isn't encouraging anyone to work and gamble over actually playing games. Quite the opposite. - E
This is a great video and it shows well how the phrase all AAA publishers use "but you can earn it all in game without ever paying a dime" is utter bullcrap as the time you'd need to earn something is generally not worth playing with almost every AAA game nowadays.
@Aodyssey That's a good question. Luke does need to practice his board cleaning and holding skills. However, he was still a good friend, especially when Ellen nearly fell into a spiral near the end. And, he did encourage Ellen to summarize for the home-viewing audience. Hmmm..., priceless - 1000 GBP? IDK.
Ellen: "You cannot cash these out for real money ..." Me, already on the phone with EA Support: "..... yeah ... you know what Tim? Fine. I will be magnanimous and will settle for that discount on my next purchase..."
This is a nice sample sized insight on the psychology behind micro transactions supported by factual evidence using scientific process. Is it the only way to acquire the data? maybe not, but Its a great exposition on the current trend of online game modes and how they operate. Great work Ellen and the talking White board!
I do like it because it is just a glimpse; conversation starter into micro transaction economy. Would love it if we could make a site that would gather data like this to show people. Even just random people playing 1 hr at random times to gather data.
Favorite gag - the lieutenant looks up and says, “Ed, you’ve got something in your teeth.” The guy reaches up out of frame, there’s a “pop!”, and half a banana thuds onto the table.
The economics in video games are actually really interesting. If you get the balance wrong you either are a millionaire by the end of the game after youve bought everything, or you have to grind to get enough money to complete the game
Jane's mad scientist-ness has rubbed off on Ellen and now she has gone too far,poor Whiteboard Boy.Whiteboard Boy really reminds me of someone tall that got experimented on and has turned into a whiteboard holder.
The diminutive Ellen telling off her towering “whiteboard man” Luke has me rolling laughing! But jokes aside, this was truly inspired work and should be required watching for anyone starting a game with any form of microtransactions.
Just wanted to add another comment requesting these Oxplain videos keep coming, whenever you can. Really interesting content this week, and after calculating Sonic's top speed I'm looking forward to whatever comes next 👍
Yes this was insightful. I might apply the equation to Star Trek online which has… four different currencies I think. Only one of which is buyable with real money and conversion methods are tricky. Oh wait there are five currencies sorry.
I agree! The times that I do play games like this, I tend to stick to the ones that you have to pay like $40 at once to get anything good so that I'm not as tempted. Wouldn't stop a whale, but luckily I do Not have the money to be one of those.
This really shows how little you actually get in games that work with a microtransaction-based ingame currency monetary system. The fact that you often have to play hours a day to earn even a fraction of what you'd simply buy with a tenner is ridiculously sad. In case it wasn't obvious, I really miss the old days where $60 got you a full game you could play and enjoy for more than 100 hours.
And now it's creeping its way into single player games like in AC Valhalla (& Odyssey and Origins). Even a single player game now roadblocks you to grind so they can frustrate and manipulate you into buying the items with real money to skip the grinding. And like psychopaths, they call it "player choice". No! Player choise is when you gave us cheatcodes. Not our credit card number as the codes.
This was a really good video and I really appreciated the message at the end, but it’s also worth pointing out that it’s not just a test of patience. These practices and actively pray on vulnerable people who are more likely to spend their money on it when they shouldn’t
I feel level up rewards shouldn't be included in your hourly earnings unless the rewards is consistent and level ups occur within roughly a fixed amount of time/games.
I'm mostly appreciative they aren't using any generic or common gags. They just are doing the math and their usual banter and chemistry fills the gaps. It's great.
Another way of looking at how much you can 'earn' in an hour is how much it costs to buy an hours worth of progress. For £3.86, you can get one hour of progress in SWBF2, or 24 hours of progress in FIFA21. Having said that, I know this is mostly a fun exercise and it was fun to watch. Thank you.
I'm pretty sure Ellen just got the entire OX crew blacklisted by all of these companies, especially with that (completely accurate) breakdown at the end. It was worth it though, great work and thank you, OXtra!
First calculating Sonics top speed and now this. More video game math-centric videos please. I enjoy them. The only thing missing in this one is the lab coat. But I guess this was more maths than science.
This was actually really interesting and I'm glad I didn't have to worry my own brain with maths, again. Thank you, Average Gamer and Whiteboard Boy! 👍
Ellen! That was a really well put together video, thank you for all the time you clearly put into making it. Luke! Buddy, you held that whiteboard up so well!
I just love this, because y’all are great to watch and the banter is fantastic. The money part is negligible. You could just entirely make up the math and I’d still be enjoying this.
I’d really like to see someone do the maths like this for earning the new Seals of Endeavor in ESO, seeing as they’re so bloody labour-intensive to get, but you’d have to do it by working out the average amount of Crown Gems you get from cannibalising items in loot boxes to get a direct conversion from Crowns (the currency purchasable with real money) to Seals of Endeavor. And, I do *not* have money to burn on that science experiment 😬
Just want to say, I am loving these OXplain videos. This video, Andy's video about rigged baseball games, and I think Luke has one as well? The OxboXtra crew always make great videos, But these little insight into topics you're curious or passionate about are the most enjoyable. The true icing on the cake.
I love that you did this video! I knew that in game currency was predatory but having it laid out like that made it so much clearer. James Stephanie Sterling would be proud.
awesome video, at first it seems like a fun experiment to rank the games. then it turns into a lesson on the game industry, and how they are just milking the players. good stuff
Came back here to watch this video again after learning from the latest Show of the Weekend that nobody watched it. This was a great video! I had wondered why y'all didn't do more.
I feel like this video is on its head. The more worthwhile question for me is "is it worth it to spend real money or not?" The vast majority of people say "no, never!" But, I'd like to know how long it would take to "earn" £5 by playing. Is it better to play to unlock, or is it better to just buy the thing? The results are the same, but it feels different when put that way. So here's how long it takes to earn £5 worth of unlocks rather than just spending the money. SWBF2 - 1.29 hours Apex L - 3.13 hours Fall Guys - 8.19 hours GTA O - 9.80 hours ACV - 18.51 hours Fifa - 31.25 hours Fortnite - undetermined (dividibg by zero is a no-no) But, suffice to say I'd rather spend £5 for an unlockable I really want than have to grind 30+ hours of a game. But with SWBF2, I can get an unlockable by playing for little over an hour, which means I will never pay to unlock something in that game. My son has a weekly allowance he almost always spends on videogame unlocks (Fortnite, Roblox, etc.) But, I'd rather spend real money and give him a gift of a buff-cat skin than have him spend hundreds of hours playing a video game.
I am enthralled with this video. I would gladly watch more of "Ellen explains things with passion while exerting mild aggression towards the white board" type content. I am keenly aware of the time I've wasted on infinitely playable games with microtransactions (and also the money I've wasted on them). I cannot look away!
In conclusion, creating a huge fuss over this predatory, convoluted, obfuscated nonsense & basically guilting the publisher into behaving (multiplied by a bit) equals considerably better for the player.
Absolutely well-done! Both insightful and well-explained while still being funny, and it must be hard to remain lighthearted when discussing the trend of how little your time is worth. I especially appreciate the side remarks about how convoluted the different currencies are. Some 2K games have as many as 4 currencies you can earn from play-through! I don’t game like I used to, and I think this is why. Games feel like work.
Ya know, when I saw the title, I thought it was a Josh Strife Hayes video, and was surprised it was Oxtra. But someone needed to do the math (yes, I'm American and we don't put an s here) and speak for the people, and you've done a damn good job of it!
Oxplain is very quickly becoming my new favorite series, even with two videos out (I think?). Weird to have measured with math the gaps for some Pay2Win games.
This is really a great video! It's great to show information like this to people to show some manner of transparency with microtransactions. Showing an actual concrete number to people really helps with showing how much you spend/can earn. Love seeing this information
I'm glad you're bringing this to more ppl attention. It's something more ppl need think about before making in-game purchases. I should know. I spent an obscene amount in a mobile game that I finally had to uninstall for my own financial health.
Unless you have something that's price is extremely stable, don't think you could. Rivens and most prime items would just throw all calculations into a blender of numbers.
I have never been so legitimately interested in mathematics , it's a subject that literally made me cry in elementary and middle school and even my senior year of highschool. But for some reason I find myself genuinely enjoying this video. Probably cuz I am not the one doing the math.
It occurs to me... Tom Scott did a video with a title that accurately displayed the video's views... I wonder if it would be possible to do something similar with this title, changing the displayed currency based on where the viewer is.
This needs to be one of the metrics by which video games are measured. Just like we rate graphics, sound, story, and so on, we should also be rating how much the developers value our time. Also, Ellen deserves an award for journalistic excellence for this video.
I'm not completely sold on the methodology (rather than cutting off earnings outside the hour, it might have been better to pro-rata them according to the time you were working towards them within your allotted hour). That's my boring accountant brain talking though, and regardless it is still an interesting experiment and I think the rough results still stand. Surprised you managed to get in any games on Battlefront 2... On PC it's virtually dead whenever I've tried.
Tbh, it would have been better to have multiple sets of 1 hour playtime instead of just the 1 hour per game, in order to limit the influence of (semi)-random events as seen in SWB2. Also it would have been a good choice to include the extra earnings from plays lasting longer than 1 hour, but calculate the hourly earnings from the total (earnings per session / minutes spent in session x 60) since it would be more fair for the general play time as games usually aren't played for exactly one hour. But with 7 games, Ellen already spent a good day to run them once and the video is mostly meant to be entertaining instead of trying to publish a paper ;) @Outside Xtra: if you're interested in publishing a paper I am open to do the calculations for you ;)
I see that Oxtra is fishing in Sir Swag's waters, very interesting. Another thing to keep in mind is that you can't transfer these winnings into your local currency, as game companies usually only use exchange rates when the number goes up compared to Dollars.
Every single episode of Oxplain so far has been fascinating and I'm thoroughly enjoying how much work you guys put into it. Keep up the fantastic work!
I introduced my brother to Genshin impact and absolutely regretted it. He’s spent _at least_ $500...and I originally liked the game as a hardcore free-to-player because they weren’t super stingy 😅
As a very big math nerd, I appreciate this video very much. The math is great, the amounts are actually fascinating, and the sass from Ellen to her very professional white board holder all combines for a lovely time.
