While there may be something about the transition of business practices during a buyout, I bet that little has to do with the overseas/domestic issue. There are a lot of great things (as well as bad things I guess) that cultures have exchanged. This is probably only a minor aspect of the issue...businesses need to make money. International companies are able to carry on successful and ethical operations.

What has become an issue, IMHO, is how the customer base is portrayed. The dynamics of the game is so closely related to animal training that it smacks of a disrespect of our intelligence, and this is more likely the root of the issue. Every trick in the book is being thrown to get us to spend, and the brazen attempt to elicit a response as a failure to meet a goal and satisfy our factionmate/GREE masters culminates as the trait reinforced: the repeated in-app premium currency purchase.

I want a game, not a task list, and not a slot machine. I have plenty of task lists; slot machines have a real payout.

Compare the gameplay to classical animal training; I trust you can fill in the blanks:

http://seaworld.org/animal-info/anim...aining-basics/

and



Applied:



I wonder if customer enlightenment is part of the operant conditioning cycle, and how this kind of behavior is addressed, besides becoming part of the "band."