Loot Boxes are Gambling - Get fucked EA

[Fiye]

Damn here's this mystery box I paid for it can either have the best player in the world or shit and it's all up to luck.

Sounds like gambling

[Salodin]

I think there needs to be regulation on gambling in video games, but also parental controls are a thing. If your kid is buying loot boxed without your permission, then that's on you cause every platform has adequate controls to prevent unauthorized purchases.

My xbox and PC will be properly password protected when I have kids as far as purchases go.

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[Rhyis.]

You do know you can literally go to any walmart, bestbuy, etc. and buy "digital currency cards," right? You can get them for 5-10 bucks (the fifa ones anyway).

The age rating for Fifa is 13+. You should probably be a better parent.

FYI, for the continued think of the children argument, anyone of any age can jump onto legitimate and legal gambling sites and play texas holdem and the like for free to begin with. You are given free play money, that has real world monetary value, out the gate for that web site and you can play with it. From this you can earn other players play money, which again has real world monetary value, or you can lose it all and top up your play money with real money. These are actual legitimate gambling web sites and anybody can pop onto them. All you need is a credit card and to hit a pop up that says you're 18.

If the legislation is this lax with actual gambling, what the hell regulations are you looking for with video games lol

Actually now that I think about it with Bodog all you need is a paypal account and you're free and clear to do sports gambling to your hearts desire.

[Roranora]

holy shit those likelihoods are fucking trash

you know they had a helluva laugh coming up with those bogus-ass names of the player packs too

[Salodin]

The age rating for Fifa is 13+. You should probably be a better parent.

FYI, for the continued think of the children argument, anyone of any age can jump onto legitimate and legal gambling sites and play texas holdem and the like for free to begin with. You are given free play money, that has real world monetary value, out the gate for that web site and you can play with it. From this you can earn other players play money, which again has real world monetary value, or you can lose it all and top up your play money with real money. These are actual legitimate gambling web sites and anybody can pop onto them. All you need is a credit card and to hit a pop up that says you're 18.

If the legislation is this lax with actual gambling, what the hell regulations are you looking for with video games lol

Actually now that I think about it with Bodog all you need is a paypal account and you're free and clear to do sports gambling to your hearts desire.

I want to bet on football this year, what website do I go to?

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[Rhyis.]

Bet365 is probably the best I've used

[BerenTebogo]

I think I've changed my mind

I'm glad idiots are emptying their bank accounts for dumb bullshit

props to game devs for separating them from their money

This really ignores the addiction aspect that some people genuinely suffer from. You know I'm not one to throw around terms like "victim blaming" but there are a whole lot of opinions being thrown around here from people who can't possibly put themselves in the mindset of an addict.

Gambling addiction can be as destructive as alcoholism or drug addiction in terms of the impact to a person's life and the lives of their family members.

Just because it seems silly and unfamiliar given that the landscape for some of this shit is so new doesn't mean that the right take on it is to just say "lol anyone who spends that much money on a game is a retard". People who know themselves well enough to avoid casinos and sports betting and etc. because they know it's a danger to them based on their proclivities can easily be unwittingly sucked into a dangerous downward spiral in games like this because there just isn't regulation and awareness.

I'm all for hot takes and "lol these people are retards" where deserved, and some of these people are straight up idiots ngl, but we regulate other aspects of gambling - both with respect to tangible and intangible goods - this stuff should be no different. Other countries already do it because there has been largely negative societal impact from some of these game mechanics.

Re: Parent better

I have no stance on the kids thing. You can take the "parent better" thing but I'll tell you that I was definitely more of an asshole as a kid than the majority of you and there wasn't rule I wasn't willing to break if I wanted something, even at the expense of getting my ass beat to a level most of you will never experience in your life. I could've gotten any credit card at any time I wanted. Hell, I was stealing my dad's truck after midnight and going out joyriding starting at 13 and I didn't get caught until I was 15.

[djzombie]

If the legislation is this lax with actual gambling, what the hell regulations are you looking for with video games lol

It would actually be fairly straight forward to implement. Simply say you can not build game mechanics that allow users to trade real currency for a random result.

If you want to have loot boxes that run off currency that is earned in game, fine with me. That would encourage players to play the game more to open those things.

The minute you start charging real money for a result that fluctuates randomly in monetary value, it becomes gambling.

CSGO Case odds if you're interested.
Total: 4792 cases
Blue: 3806 (79.42%)
Purple: 789 (16.47%)
Pink: 163 (3.40%)
Red: 22 (0.459%)
Knife: 12 (0.250%)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Looking through that sheet (multiple tabs for different cases) I notice two things:
1.) the obscene number of duplicate skins obtained
2.) the absurdity that after 4792 cases there are a huge amount of items that haven't dropped. 4792 * $2.50 = $11,980

[Salodin]

If we have laws regulating how adults gamble with their money in a casino, I see nothing wrong with regulating how gambling with loot boxes works either. Doubly so since there is a clear demarcation between a casino as a place to gamble, and the video game often marketed to kids that also has gambling mechanics in it.

Bet365 is probably the best I've used

Ty!

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[arus2001]

More generally, players want shit to be reasonably earnable in-game like they often used to be. None of this "don't spend any currency for 2-3 months just to guarantee an eventual pull of the unit you want later!" that goes on with gacha shit, and that's IF the provider doesn't throw a curveball like diluting the pool with multiple premium units or nerfing global versions or something. If that's not really possible, then you start looking at reasonably priced DLC or expansion packs. No one is averse to spending money where it's earned. People are tired of spending money to get nothing to show of it (or their game disappears). There's so much whale targeting that goes on that I think it's lost that people would be more apt to toss $5 here and there for good deals and would more than likely collectively outbuy what a few whales offer assuming a decent game population.

Sure, hurrdurr business, but there is a point where you've gotta acknowledge that some of this is just predatory greed and all generated revenue isn't actually going back to the real people who give us said games.

[Fondue]

It's not unreasonable to recognize that some arcade/carnival games have gambling elements to them but still want to draw the line at digital lootboxes.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/...carnival-game/

EPSOM, NH (CBS) – Henry Gribbohm says he lost his life savings, $2,600, on a carnival game and all he has to show for it is a stuffed banana with dreadlocks.

[Tokitoki]

Is a Kinect even worth $300 at that time?

Why is his life savings only $2300 at 30?

Was the banana a pity prize?

He definitely has a gambling problem, and I think that's kind of the point. Games like that have gambling elements, especially carnival games, but that doesn't mean you can't also regulate loot boxes, especially when that article says the organizer talked to the contractor and didn't set the game up again. I dunno what came of it after, but that shows there is some consideration of "regulation."

That regulation is what people want for lootboxes.

[6souls]

I never had more that $1000 in my bank account until I lost my job earlier this year and got a hefty vacation time payout. I'm 38.

[Tokitoki]

I think I would be having a panic attack every day.

[Roranora]

yeah the rest of the questions are fair but lots of people don't have much

remember apparently 40%+ of us couldn't afford an unexpected $400 expense

[Roranora]

I think I would be having a panic attack every day.

yep but you've tasted that top 10% goodness

i only panic every other day

[Roranora]

https://kotaku.com/the-human-cost-of...-4-1835859016/

While there's not much about loot boxes in here other than Treyarch developers not having creative freedom and being required by executives to add loot boxes into Black Ops 4, it's still a pretty great article on what many of us already know but is yet nonetheless fascinating to read.

[kuronosan]

Sorry they ruined Call of Duty. EA and those that work them can get fucked.

[6souls]

Sorry they ruined Call of Duty. EA and those that work them can get fucked.

Activision.

[kuronosan]

Wow, yea. Holy shit can't believe I screwed that up.