There are a number of streamers that I quite admire and they put out some quality content for the most part. Many of the have put together some sort of story about microtransactions and how they are universally despised but that doesn't stop major studios from including them in their games.
The reason they do it is because people keep paying for them because some people want them. I think that MOST people do not want them and I stay away from all "free to play" games because I know damn well that the game is definitely not free to play. What? Do you think that some company with 1000 staff just puts a game out there for free out of the goodness of their hearts? Come on now.
I have a real problem with Playstation Plus lately because it seems as though they are throwing games at us every month that should have been free-to-play from the start and then they "gift" them to us even though the game in question is a microtransaction nightmare.
Basically, if you are firing up a game for the first time and the EULA and other legal warnings are something you MUST scroll through in order to even get to the start screen for the first time playing it you can be assured that this game is a microtransaction nightmare.
If you see the above, the game is going to suck and you should turn around right away. The last 3 games that I have seen with this at the start started throwing in-game currency at you straight away and the unlockable content was in theory possible to accomplish but looking online will show that it will take hours upon hours to get that much in-game currency. It's just stupid.
However, most of the opinions i see out there are calling for some sort of government intervention to make this "illegal" and I couldn't disagree with this notion any more than I already do.
I believe that the gaming industry is one that can and should be self-regulating. It just is going to take a bit of dedication on our parts. EA has forever tainted their name in my and most other people's books and therefore, when I see that EA has something to do with a project, I avoid it. It's as simple as that.
If we punish companies by not using their products because they fill them with microtransactions they will stop doing it. We don't need to get the government involved.
The government, basically anyone's government, ruins almost everything they touch and once you open that door for them to come in, they will never leave. If we allow the government to be an aspect of regulating gaming then the next thing you know they will be regulating content (which they already do in some countries like Germany.)
If we put too much bureaucracy into the game-creation process then the games will inevitably have to become more expensive for us to purchase and then the next thing you know independent publishers won't be able to afford to enter the marketplace.
You hold the power to punish microtransaction oriented game-publishers. Hold them accountable, call them out, avoid their products, spread the word online, make cure they know that you are cancelling your membership or will not buy their products anymore because of it. We don't need some senators to do this for us because if it goes down that road I can promise you they WILL fuck it up.