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So this thing with EA and Star Wars Loot boxes being so expensive, and their contents hard to get by normal play... http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/16/loot-boxes-are-not-gambling-ea-tells-european-gaming-commissions-7085544/ Now Europe is asking if Loot boxes are gambling. I never really thought about it because this poo poo is so accepted in video games, F2P and such, but when you think about it, you’re paying real money for virtual tokens that allow you to play a game of chance, which awards prizes randomly. That sounds a lot like gambling. And gambling needs regulations. Obviously games have had this element of chance and random loot drops forever and that’s part of the fun, but once you involve real money in direct exchange for a chance to win, well... Personally, I think it would be great if this was a kick in the nuts for the whole Loot box trend. More articles asking “Did you know your kids are gambling in the latest STAR WARS VIDEOGAME?”.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:25
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 11:31 |
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Yes. They are absolutely loving gambling. I've known for years that game development conferences are HEAVILY about how to basically exploit gambling practices for profit. They saw how RNG is addictive in games like Diablo and wanted to find a way to make money on it. If you're spending money to spin a wheel and get an item of an unknown value it is Goddamn close enough for me. Gambling in games should be with in-game currency only and there should be no way that pay currency ever gets figured in the mix. I could tolerate micro transactions (even though buying power has always been bullshit) as a concept but not this. The only reason I've never cared is they've always felt optional to me. A thing I could do, but had no need to engage in. It wasn't until the CS:GO Lottery scandal did I realize how big a business they were, but then tying them to progression so they could no longer be ignored... that's why I hate them most of all now. Comfy Fleece Sweater posted:Personally, I think it would be great if this was a kick in the nuts for the whole Loot box trend. More articles asking “Did you know your kids are gambling in the latest STAR WARS VIDEOGAME?”. Said kick in the nuts is why EA is rolling things back. Disney delivered said kick, because reddit pushed that very same message. This whole fiasco has had the most civil and organized reddit response in the history of loving reddit, I have no idea how. Blazing Ownager fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Nov 22, 2017 |
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Nov 22, 2017 03:27
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Being cheap landfill destined plastic crap is worse than the gambling. This is all ironic since online poker is legal in Europe, which you can ruin yourself much more easily than loot boxes.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:29
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Nov 22, 2017 03:32
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Yes for sure. Especially if you can sell the items you get to other players for real money like on Steam. And actually there are many sites where you can gamble with in game items (based on their value in USD) in games of chance or betting on esports.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:36
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True story: I'm not a gamer, but I tend to get swept up in internet outrages easily. During the peak of the EA debacle, I ended up experiencing severe chest pains whenever I read the phrase "loot boxes". So I greasemonkeyed up an autocorrect like function that would jumble the phrase as "BOOTLOXES", and this staved off any potentially worrying heart problems for a while. Well one night, I smoked up some sneaker weed I found in my closet and proceeded to get my rear end so fuckin baked that the next time I locked eyes on the word BOOTLOXES I experienced what I can only describe as a brain crash - my thinking became incoherent, my chest felt like a vacuum, I was seeing stars. Eventually this star imagery coalesced into a memory of a video featuring a camgirl fisting herself with a puppet. I came so hard I blacked out. Woke up half a day later with piss like a terrible Russian soup.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:36
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'‘A player’s ability to succeed in the game is not dependent on purchasing crates. Players can also earn crates through playing the game and not spending any money at all. Once obtained, players are always guaranteed to receive content that can be used in game.’ How does that stop it from being Gambling? That's just their stock response to 'Are loot boxes bad???' They just fire back with, 'No, you can just get the same thing by playing!' and people eat that up. That's not what people are asking here though. With real gambling you just get money, and you can just get money through working hard, too. People are dropping cash for a randomized reward, and it's randomized to encourage people to drop more cash on it to get that Jackpot rush.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:39
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Blurry Gray Thing posted:'‘A player’s ability to succeed in the game is not dependent on purchasing crates. Players can also earn crates through playing the game and not spending any money at all. Once obtained, players are always guaranteed to receive content that can be used in game.’ Looks like someone never heard that time is money
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Nov 22, 2017 03:45
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Gambling addict here. f there is a rush its gambling, period.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:46
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pay2win lootboxes only show up in trash games so it's kinda hard for me to care oh nooooo, they ruined an uninspired AAA shooter that's banking 100% on your childhood nostalgia for the tired Star Wars license
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Nov 22, 2017 03:47
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obviously yes
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Nov 22, 2017 03:48
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*bolts a lottery onto a game and gives 0 value consolation prizes to losers* Is this gambling?
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Nov 22, 2017 03:50
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I have $25 burning a hole in my pocket. what should spend it on besides pokemon go coins
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Nov 22, 2017 03:51
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Lauroon Kyanka posted:I have $25 burning a hole in my pocket. what should spend it on besides pokemon go coins Random trash-tier Fiverr on the subject of "loot boxes" and post the results here.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:51
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I literally spent money on Killing Floor 2 to open a box that had a chance at containing an item worth magnitudes higher higher than other items that could be within. Spend money on long-odds towards making more money that you cannot influence in any way. That's pretty much gambling.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:53
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No, this is something worse. At least with gambling you might actually win some money back.
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Nov 22, 2017 03:53
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predatory capitalism aimed at children is p edgy stuff
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Nov 22, 2017 03:56
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Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:*bolts a lottery onto a game and gives 0 value consolation prizes to losers* I am Mr. Bigtime Business Suit, and I say no. No, because [reads unrelated stock response off the wrong card].
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Nov 22, 2017 03:56
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is it even gambling if you get account-locked cosmetics like overwatch? everyone can get them, they don't do anything, and you can't sell them. seems like a fine system to make a few bucks off the ol fat whales i'd def agree it's gambling if you pay money with expected payout of some monetary value, either directly being able to sell through the platform or even third party resell (like old d2 trade forums)
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Nov 22, 2017 03:57
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aren't bosses in world of warcraft basically loot boxes? players pay $15 a month to RNG the items they need to get stronger and enjoy more content that was inaccessible to them previously
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Nov 22, 2017 03:58
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Percelus posted:predatory capitalism aimed at children is p edgy stuff and my kids def won't get a credit card until their late teens as well. i'm not convinced that children are really the ones spending mega bucks buying zany toilet hats, and instead 25-30+ something lonely goony whale types
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Nov 22, 2017 04:00
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I only play board games such as Axis & Allies (A&A), original poster (OP). I usually cheat overnight and add a few tanks and subtract units from my opponents. This too, is a form of gambling, as if I got caught I think the ruffians I play A&A with would likely manhandle me from head to toe.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:00
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Xaris posted:is it even gambling if you get account-locked cosmetics like overwatch? everyone can get them, they don't do anything, and you can't sell them. seems like a fine system to make a few bucks off the ol fat whales i guess that's a question about the purpose of gambling regulations if gambling regulations exist only to prevent money laundering, loot boxes not being convertible to currency is valid for them to not fall under the laws if gambling regulations exist, at least in part, to prevent the gambling industry from loving over people too much, too hard, too fast, then loot boxes are definitely gambling
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Nov 22, 2017 04:04
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i suppose the primary issue would be that, if you said loot boxes were gambling, then they basically couldn't exist due to digital gambling laws this is probably a touch too far, but going in the other directions on creating addendums to digital gambling laws to be slightly more permissive to things like loot boxes, then you open the flood gates for shadier poo poo to slip through
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Nov 22, 2017 04:06
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yeah right and uhhh is pokemon trading card booster packs gambling as well?? how about those kinder eggs where the toy is random? lmao retards asking the hard hitting questions here.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:06
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Xaris posted:is it even gambling if you get account-locked cosmetics like overwatch? everyone can get them, they don't do anything, and you can't sell them. seems like a fine system to make a few bucks off the ol fat whales Agreed, a big part of gambling is the expectation of material gain. Cosmetic poo poo and even playable characters don’t really count because they don’t have any real value. Even if it’s transferable, is the value in the item or is it for the players time to hunt that poo poo down
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Nov 22, 2017 04:07
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in the end, loot boxes should probably filter under the general umbrella of microtransactions which probably need to have regulated created for them tbh
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Nov 22, 2017 04:09
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yes I definitely think tax dollars should be spent on enforcing regulations for freaking video game loot boxes, are you serious
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Nov 22, 2017 04:17
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this... this loot box.. this is gambling!! i will not tolerate this and hereby boycott all EA games *buys $500 worth of hearthstone packs*
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Nov 22, 2017 04:18
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Blazing Ownager posted:I've known for years that game development conferences are HEAVILY about how to basically exploit gambling practices for profit. They saw how RNG is addictive in games like Diablo and wanted to find a way to make money on it. If you're spending money to spin a wheel and get an item of an unknown value it is Goddamn close enough for me. I've never enjoyed gambling and I've never liked Blizzard games (or anything like them) and it's only within the past few years I put the two together.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:19
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Xaris posted:is it even gambling if you get account-locked cosmetics like overwatch? everyone can get them, they don't do anything, and you can't sell them. seems like a fine system to make a few bucks off the ol fat whales Yes it is gambling, full stop. It should be noted that other industries are not allowed to do this. Loot boxes are a pure greed move to create a worse consumer outcome because the companies decided that simply selling a product did not make them enough money, and people somehow bought and defended their half assed explanations.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:23
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Is it gambling if there's no hope of making a real return on investment?
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Nov 22, 2017 04:26
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Napoleon Bonaparty posted:Is it gambling if there's no hope of making a real return on investment? Heck, I'm sure some games have better odds than some state-run lotteries - that's not the issue lol.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:28
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chumbler posted:Yes it is gambling, full stop. It should be noted that other industries are not allowed to do this. i'm totally in agreement that poo poo like tf2 or csgo is gambling or some other shady money-laundering mmo iap poo poo, but i have zero problem with the way blizzard did lootboxes in overwatch. now i'd have a problem if they let and even encouraged you to resell stuff
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Nov 22, 2017 04:30
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Absolutely not. Gambling only happens in very specific, very detailed circumstances that you can find in the legal code. None of those strictly defined situations applies to loot boxes. Coming up next, Russian Loot Boxes. One in every hundred player... dies!
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Nov 22, 2017 04:31
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Xaris posted:Other industries like... magic or sports trading card booster packs? cereal box toys? sweepstakes? horse races? or even buying a loving bag of fortune cookies, since fortune cookie fortunes are just as useless as locked toilet-gorilla hats. I would feel no worse for wear if we got rid of all those things through regulations.
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Nov 22, 2017 04:32
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Magnitogorsk. posted:yes I definitely think tax dollars should be spent on enforcing regulations for freaking video game loot boxes, are you serious Spending tax dollars on law enforcement creates jobs. We should be enforcing all the laws
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Nov 22, 2017 04:33
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They are identical to slot machines so No
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Nov 22, 2017 04:34
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Part of the problem with discussing a policy about something like this is that there are varying kinds of loot boxes. Also really has to depend on whether or not there's painting way to trade specific items with other people for money and if there are rare high-value items that can be traded this way
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Nov 22, 2017 04:35
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Spinster posted:Gambling addict here. Wanna bet?
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Nov 22, 2017 04:36
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