Are Loot Boxes Gambling?

[Pocahawtness]

Well of course they are! But, well, no they are not... In most countries gambling requires cash, so by converting your cash to in-game currency first, game developers manage to sidestep the law and avoid regulation. But the fact remains that games companies are adopting a position of low morality over this. If the cash was not first converted to in-game currency, the law would pounce on them for encouraging kids to gamble. The real question here is whether the law will change? Personally I believe it will. And about time too. This needs regulation!! Games companies may not have broken the law but they have been far from squeaky clean.
Regulatory bodies have been muttering about this for some time. The US, UK and Australia to name a few. Personally I think the first western country to actually do something ( and that may be Australia ) will trigger the rest. Good on you Australia! But what do you guys think about all this?

[8ullfrog]

AO is a kill-strike.

[ReBoot]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Count_Dandyman:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ReBoot:

You're wrong. Theres another, rather logical choice already existing in other media: Mark it adult-only.

Yeah except they haven't done that for the other things that use the exact same methods and still allow those to be sold to and marketed to kids.

You need to be mature to go to a casino. You may have noticed how I talked about psychological mechanisms and bad actors. While baseball cards and blind bag toys are technically identical to loot boxes, the non-technical aspects, the ones actually important for psychological effects, aren't the same. They in fact are very similar to casinos.

[Cherrycat]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Count_Dandyman:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Cherrycat:

Loot boxes were accepted because the companies were giving you games for free, now the AAA studios want some too.

This is the problem with the video game industry, no amount of money is enough (at least ones that are on the stock market). It's literally never enough, lootboxes could not just be left for f2p games where we accepted it, the trillion dollar AAA games industry wanted more cash to push up stock prices too. When they force gamers to accept lootboxes in AAA games it won't even stop there, they will push harder with even worse things because the stock price has to keep going up forever. There is never a finish line, there is never enough money for a game company that has to push up share prices.

We need a video game market crash, badly.

that would only be true if EA hadn't been one of the main frontrunners of lootboxes for Fifa.

Blizzard started it with overwatch, then when other companies saw they got away with it they all piled on.

[8ullfrog]

EA straight up has gambling, it's called pogo

[MancSoulja]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Cherrycat:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Count_Dandyman:

that would only be true if EA hadn't been one of the main frontrunners of lootboxes for Fifa.

Blizzard started it with overwatch, then when other companies saw they got away with it they all piled on.

They've been in FIFA since FIFA 12, that's 4 years before Overwatch came out. You have Tencent to thanks for lootboxes. They started in their Asian games before being brought over to the west.

[8ullfrog]

Apparently I am somewhat mistaken about pogo, still casino level clientele. One need not a shred of maturity to be in a casino, one must simply be of legal age. They even try to avoid right turns in a casino to discourage critical thinking. I mean it is an acknowledged science.

[Baron Von Boom]

They wouldnt exist if they werent

[8ullfrog]

...Still miss the Star Trek Experience. I mean it was mostly a Hilton casino, but that restaurant and museum, better than Disneyland for me. I even got to beam aboard the Enterprise-D.

[The nameless Gamer]

When it comes to lootboxes, it's pretty simple. Gambling is participating in a game of chance in an attempt to win something. Buying lootboxes is participating in a game of chance in an attempt to win something. Therefore: lootboxes = gambling.

[Count_Dandyman]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ReBoot:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Count_Dandyman:

Yeah except they haven't done that for the other things that use the exact same methods and still allow those to be sold to and marketed to kids.

You need to be mature to go to a casino. You may have noticed how I talked about psychological mechanisms and bad actors. While baseball cards and blind bag toys are technically identical to loot boxes, the non-technical aspects, the ones actually important for psychological effects, aren't the same. They in fact are very similar to casinos.

that would be true if it weren't for the fact certain blind bag toys very heavily advertise themselves based on super rare versions you could get hell there are ones over here that are advertised around how you might get real gold or diamonds and no matter if you like it or not there is no real difference in psychological mechanisms and methods between a physical pack of pokemon cards and EA's lootboxes in Battlefront 2 that kickstarted the debate.

I'm not a supporter of lootbox practices and do think things need to change but the reality is as scummy as it sounded and as disgusting as it is that they got away with it by pointing to these other things that are allowed to do what they do it wasn't wrong and is the key reason why they have been able to push it as far as they have. Laws have to stay consistent and that consistency means it is either ok for everyone to use a particular method and way of selling to kids or that no-one can do it.

[ONe_mOMENT]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από MancSoulja:

They've been in FIFA since FIFA 12, that's 4 years before Overwatch came out. You have Tencent to thanks for lootboxes. They started in their Asian games before being brought over to the west.

Zynga with their facebook games and TF2 predate both from America companies that i can think of 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Sister wasted a bit on Facebook games in back in her 20s when it was a new thing. Never got it myself. And only ever bought 1 TF2 key for a box.

[8ullfrog]

I ran into the blind box crap with the Halo 2 Joyride Spartans. My particular armor color was some stupid gamestop exclusive, and I could only pick them up at Comic-con. One time had a vendor angrily correct me with a finger in face saying "We get what we get when we cut open the box". Like, I get they were running a business, but if I want one in teal, I want one in teal. (I HAD TO BUY A LOT OF NON TEAL ONES TO GET IT).

And I like to open the stuff I buy, put it out on the desk, maybe have one aiming his sniper rifle at my wifi antenna. Teal spartan sits in his blister pack.

I got out of the game when they hit $30 for the non-rare ones.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Count_Dandyman:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από ReBoot:

You're wrong. Theres another, rather logical choice already existing in other media: Mark it adult-only.

Yeah except they haven't done that for the other things that use the exact same methods and still allow those to be sold to and marketed to kids.

Yea kids can't have loot boxes cause it's gambling. But here kids you can look at this cartoon with huge naked titties in this japanime game all you want that's all well and fine since it's only cartoons having sex. Just no gambling or violence.

[8ullfrog]

You seem very angry.

[Count_Dandyman]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Killroy was here:

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Count_Dandyman:

Yeah except they haven't done that for the other things that use the exact same methods and still allow those to be sold to and marketed to kids.

Yea kids can't have loot boxes cause it's gambling. But here kids you can look at this cartoon with huge naked titties in this japanime game all you want that's all well and fine since it's only cartoons having sex. Just no gambling or violence.

someone forgot to take his meds I think seeing as nobody said that is ok and there are already systems in place saying those games shouldn't be sold to kids.