Are loot boxes gambling? should they be regulated?

are loot boxes gambling? should they be regulated?

arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/12/meet-the-legislator-trying-to-do-something-about-video-game-loot-boxes/

...

Yes. They shouldn't exist. You should be able to choose what you want to buy instead of rolling for it with money.

...

no because you cant cash out.
not legally anyway

Cosmetic only lootboxes like Overwatch are okay though. When it becomes gameplay-defining RNG it's shit.

yes you can, if it's on steam you can sell it on the steam market and launder the gabebux into real money through 3rd party websites, you lose a bit but thats par with most laundering

Loot boxes with skins > pay to win and locked gameplay features.
Dota did it right allowin players to play the full game unlike LOL where you hwve to buy the characters.

Lootboxes inside fullprice games are pure cancer, just dont buy the game.

>RNG it's shit.
did you mean (((pseudo))) random number generator?

Yes lootboxes are gambling but there is nothing wrong with gambling. It just weeds out fucking retards who are willing to pay cash for gun skins.

How far will this go?

Is RNG gambling? Is that 1/5000 chance of getting that rare drop gambling?

Could a critical hit in a competitive vs game (like League) be consided a gamble? (especially when prizes are on the line?

how far will government go?

Straw man

>Cosmetic only lootboxes like Overwatch are okay though

hello brainlet.

making a game with DLC is always bad because it cuts out content to sell later.

ANY dlc's should be outlawed.

Anyone that plays video games is a manchild, even children

Yes, they're gambling. Theoretically building an economy out of sand should lead to the whole castle crumbling away, but mobile's been doing this shit for years and while that's dead to "gamers", it's still sucking cash out from somewhere.

gamblers are degenerates that deserve to be shot, the mafia had the right idea
the idea of rng in games needs to go too desu literally only exists to please chink gambling addicts and people who are shit at competitive things and need the dice rolls to give them a free win once in a while so they can feel good and pretend to themselves they aren't shitters.

I KNOW this: the game corporations and shareholders are currently absolutely shitting their intestines out until their rectums are prolapsed over this Battlefront 2 controversy and what it will mean for their entire current and future profits and business model if their precious loot box, casino, carnie scam is exposed and goes under.

I hate the argument of "they're for people who don't have time to play games and want a better experience". People who don't have time to play videogames don't buy them or at least shouldn't because that's pissing away 60 bucks and then usually more on enough crates to be decently equipped.

Cosmetic is not OK. That shit should be earned in-game. If you're going to pay for it you should get to know what you're paying for instead of getting fucked with random pieces of a set.

this is about CoD

>are loot boxes gambling?
No. Gambling is betting money for the chance to win more money. Loot boxes are paying money to get an item. You both do not go away with nothing and you do not receive real money from loot boxes. If you're going to broaden the definition of gambling then you are going to have to include other things like trading card packs.
>should they be regulated?
At most maybe the ESRB could factor it in, but in regards to "MUH CHILDREN SAVE US GUBERMINT" no.

amen, leaf. amen.

Fuck their shitty cash cow bullshit. Games need to go back to how they were or die altogether.
Fuck the Videogame Industry(tm). It's not a fucking industry, it's a fucking art.

can they go after hearthstone, shit is a fucking rip off.

Yes
No
People wasting 100s of dollars for chances to get skins should get what's coming to them.

trading card packs should have been outlawed, if you buy those you're an idiot but you're also posting an weebshit picture and you're a lolbert, so you're 0 for 3

Yeah, and the companies should be encouraged to target only these people at everyone else's expense.
You're a short-sighted retard.

pay 70 bucks for a game and season pass whatever

only 10,000 hours to unlock everything if they don't add new content....

If the loot box provides just cosmetic changes, they're not really gambling. They are, but they're not egregious.

Lootboxes the provide gameplay benefits are CANCER though. Regulate that shit like Casinos get regulated.

>Target those people at everyone's expenses
How so? How am I affected by people gambling at a casino that are not people who are directly related to me?

Because games are being developed with the addicts who pay the most in mind.
Are you a child? Older games are better than every new release lately. Everything is dissected and sold back to you when it used to be a part of the game that you had to unlock by playing.
If you can't see it then I don't think you actually play games at all.

Lootboxes ARE gambling.
They shouldn't be regulated by any fucking goverment, DUH.
If the game is 18+, they should be technically allowed, since adults buy them.
ANY sort of game with a rating lower than 18+, SHOULD BE PROHIBITED FROM ANY SORT OF randomized money transactions.
Lootboxes should be culturally shunned.
No, consumers should be able to exchange time with money, since it's their private commodity. What should be done is you buy what pay for; like Warframe does it for example, and League of Legends used to.

tf2 isnt cancer retard

So people want a nanny state that tells businesses and consumers what they can and can't do?

Some lawmakers did ask the ESRB to at least classify games with loot boxes as 18+ or something like that and the ESRB responded by saying "No, we're not gonna do anything because we don't give a shit". So now the government has to get involved. I don't like it but the ESRB was given a chance to regulate itself and chose not to so fuck them.

The only "regulation" I'd support is that odds need to be published, it's bullshit that you can buy a box with a "rare" drop and not know what the odds actually are of winning. Also by posting them officially hopefully less get rigged.

the esrb is out of control sometimes

It's definitely gambling and absolutely AIDS

Socialists trying to ban everything they don't like.
No difference from these faggots banning loot boxes to the SJW infesting gaming. If you don't like something, ignore it and go do something that you enjoy, while leaving those who do enjoy it to go about their business.

jesus fucking christ. There is no bottom

what are the sites? i have AM golden bashers i want to get rid of

>wants to protect minors from "psychological manipulation"
is he banning marriage?

Microtransactions and loot boxes should be banned. Really, anything short of DLCs and expansions that are made after the original product, should be banned.

>regulate
>loot boxes
fuck off

Yes. Any form of microtransactions should be banned so we can return to having game developers actually focusing on making good games.

Fuck this central planning asshole. Deserves death.

how are loot boxes = microtransactions

No one wants loot boxes, not even gamers. If there are microtransactions for any in-game item I'd rather just pay to get it, not pay for a chance to get it.
This includes cosmetics and digital cards like in Hearthstone.
Loot boxes should either be outright banned or be required to raise a games audience rating to R18+.

I guess by gambling it's implied that you're spending real money and microtransactions generally mean any kind of purchase in a game, which includes loot boxes

You can't cash out on Steam, Overwatch, ect. There is no way to turn what you put in into cash without selling or 'illegal' methods.

>Spend real-world money for a chance of a payout.

Sounds like gambling to me.

You triggered a bugman mod.

Micros should only be available for free to play and all pay to win games should be 18+

so long as people are willing to pay there will be in game purchases. dont like it then stick to nintendo or ps2

Fuck, videogames are cancer these days.

Youd be surprised man
> play wotlk private server with slight pay to win
>normie starts playing and brings his normie gf with him into our guild
>he buys legendaries and all the other crap for more than 500 euros
> plays one day a week to join a rnd heroic for 4 weeks
> never to be seen after that

ah for like the lootbox things you buy, gotcha. Those are kinda niggery, but hardly gambling. Most games guarantee some level of reward based on the box, and pretty much every game lets you buy them with some "currency" earned in game

What does this have to do with socialism or social justice.

>Valve creates the idea for Loot Crates with TF2
>over the last 10 years, "Loot Boxes" have become a norm
>recent explosion in modern games has more than quadrupled the amount of games that have loot boxes in the span of two years
Maybe something can finally be done about the fucking payment bullshit they make for their gambling crates.

So children who play videogames are more manly than children who don't?

The problem is these Jew gaming companies give chinks and other third world subhumans pennies on the dollar for DLC in an effort to get wealthy western autists to sink thousands of dollars into their game to compete in the rankings. These kikes might as well be selling crack, it’s a racket built on taking advantage of the mentally ill

>are loot boxes gambling?

Yes.

>should they be regulated?

Yes. Any game with lootboxes in them should be made Adult only and parents who buy said games for their kids should be penalized.

>inb4: hurrr dey aren't gambling because you alwyas gets something from dem

If someone puts money in a slot machine, it's gambling.
You open the door that "as long as you get something from your payment, it's not actually gambling", and what do you set the precedent for?

>2 dollar slot machine! Don't worry, it's not actually gambling, the minimum you get in return of each roll is 10c, you always get something so it isn't actually gambling goy, send your kids.

At least in TF2 you can sell the loot for real money. People legitimately make money on the virtual items.

Compare that with Blizzards greed which will ban you if you try.

but you can use points or whatever that you earn in game

Who gives a shit if they're gambling
All I know is they're annoying as fuck to see.

Don't like it? Don't play it. I hate nigger vernacular so I filter the words "based" and "nigga" because I don't want to see posts by nonwhites

They are using psychological manipulation on minors that should be stopped.

loot boxes are cancer

So they're going to stop all the, "It's okay to be trans," shit aimed at children then?

>This is bad.
>"It's okay to have a sex change," is good.
Bizzaro World is now in the Real World.

...

What’s a loot box?

I have nothing against Volvo specifically, but it's still nuts to go spending 2.50 for every roll just to get something you end up selling out for 3 goddamn cents.
The people who have that sort of money to play frivolously with in the first place are either kikes trying to spread their kikery, or people who have no self-control.

But what if the children consent?
Iam all for voting with your wallet.
Just dont play the games you hate, boycot EA and Activision.

children under the age of 13 have no business being online since that's an actual crime. And, most games with Cash Shops are 18+ anyways. Keep better tabs on your fucking kids, you lazy ass parent, letting the TV/PC raise your children.

>But what if the children consent?
Well if they can get a sex change then gambling should be fine.

...powerful

which is crazier, spending $2.50 for a 1% shot at some rare shiny item?

Or spending thousands of dollars for a golden frying pan?

I don't care if they are 'gambling' or not. I just want them fucking gone dead and buried in a pile of dead Jewish corporate fuckers.

LEAVE MY VIDEO GAMES ALONE

Yes. That stuff shouldn't be aimed at young kids.

The less regulations the better. If they’d regulate loot boxes it will become a nightmare. If you don’t like loot boxes don’t buy them, stop getting the state to nanny you

Heres another one. A little random.

I don't think it's gambling but i'd support this guy because fuck loot boxes

I wished they would but you and me both fucking know that'll never happen.

You have to convince a bunch of whores with "choke me" daddy issues.

18+ internet would be good

They shouldn't have to be dealing with all this sexual shit that those ages. All it is is a good way to fuck someones life up in the future.

>making a game with DLC is always bad because it cuts out content to sell later.

Not always true (Witcher III - Blood and Wine) for example, but certainly the way fuckers like EA do it, I agree, is shit tier.

I have no problem with people paying real world money for ancillary items like skins and stuff which have no material effect on gameplay outcome, but pay2play on fully priced games is bullshit.

EA and others need to be seriously penalized for their bullshit transaction models.

It's funny how they want rules to apply to a group they hate but not to themselves, innit?

>rare shiny item
Assuming you're going to spend $250 worth in keys for that 1% shiny, you're still going to fall prey to the RNG Valve put in place. The lowest Unusual for TF2 is $20, with a 200 item gap in between before the next unusual finally hits $30.
It's a safe bet that you're going to come up short, even with a 1% chance.

As for the golden pan, that shit is nuts to even think about.

In an ideal world people would stop buying their junk and we wouldn't need Big Brother to fix it.

Tell us about these bugmen and how they have wronged you. Your digits tell me you are friend of kek.

It's not something I can just boycott you retarded lolberg because the entire game is being designed around them. When will you imbeciles understand that the whales dictate the market all on their own without the rest of us needed to have any input whatsoever.

I'm ok with trans people, but this confusing little kids needs to stop.

>I can just boycott you retarded lolberg because the entire game is being designed around them
>the entire game
You boycott the entire game, idiot.

A leaf just said something reasonable. I have to get off the internet a minute.

I won't deny you usually come out short, but my initial point was you at least get something of value out of it in the end. You aren't just pouring money down a hole the way you are with blizzard or LoL skins.

People make money in TF2 just buying and reselling, which legitimately teaches you something about trade.

>looks like an honest thread
have a bump, we need more honest threads.

fpbp

hi kripp