“ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling,” said an ESRB spokesperson in an e-mail...

>“ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling,” said an ESRB spokesperson in an e-mail. “While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want). We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.”

It's official, Sup Forums: lootboxes are NOT gambling. Now shut up about governments regulating lootboxes as if they were a casino.

the esrb arent a goverement organisation and was founded by the game industry, they dont get to define what gambling is

BASED

>go to restaurant
>really want a steak
>restaurant only does a 4 course pre fixe menu
>ask what's on the menu
>waiter tells you your courses are selected at random
>you're really hungry so you pay the $50 hoping you get steak
>waiter comes out with your food
>you get 4 side salads

lootboxes are gambling you little shit

"We really, really like money," they added while sipping martinis.

>FOOD ANALOGY~~~~~
It's not even funny on purpose, perishable foods are the almost literal opposite of digital collectibles.

This is the same as the FCC saying telecoms didin du nothin while being run by old comcast execs.

>an organization that is literally controlled opposition to government regulation says x
>x is a stance that would dissuade government regulation
Color me shocked.

>declare games as gambling
>games are banned in cities/states that ban video gambling
>ESRB loses money
>???
>profit

China and other countries says it is, Is china more informed than everyone else?

The ESRB is part of the ESA, which is a lobby group for the video game industry.

Of course they don't see it as gambling. They're looking out for the fucking publishers.

Don't think for a second that the ISFE (i.e., the PEGI guys) are going to give a fuck either.

Sup Forums - crying about loot boxes

>buy a key hoping for a knife
>get a 0.3€ pistol
>buy another key "im sure ill get knife eventually"
>get 0.5€ smg
>continue untill you have 120€ less on your bank account and no knife
Sounds healthy and acceptable activity for underage gamers. Nothing gambly at all.

Yeah, when gambling you have a chance to win something of actual value.

What the ESRB thinks is or isn't gambling means exactly nothing.

what about Germany/USK

People use food analogies because they're easy to understand you stupid fuck. I'm not that original poster of the food analogy but people use them all the time because everyone eats, everyone gets it, everyone can relate to the food.

Holy fuck you people are so stupid it hurts.

>go to slot machine
>put in quarters
>keep losing but after every loss they give you a penny back
Whew for a second there I thought I was gambling

>>We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.”
Literally not an argument.
>another unrelated thing isn't regulated so this shouldn't be either

Lootboxes are not gambling, but they are cancer.

>Defending food analogies

>People use food analogies because they're easy to understand you stupid fuck.
>Too retarded in his autistic defense to remember the part where it doesn't make sense to begin with.

I'm sorry you're too much of a retard to understand food as an analogy. People can easily come up with other better analogies, but why bother when food is so easily relatable and you don't know the intelligence of the other person (as in, if you make a "smarter" analogy that they might not get it)?

Why not go to a different restaurant dumbass?

>restuarant
>pay 50 for random food
>get multiple random foods that more than likely aren't worth 50 dollars
>loot box
>pay 50 for boxes
>get multiple random items that more than likely aren't worth 50 (or aren't worth real money at all, ala OverWatch style untradable items)

Come on dude, it's not that hard to understand. Jesus christ.

>Don't think for a second that the ISFE (i.e., the PEGI guys) are going to give a fuck either.
Europe would actually go after that shit, they also made Valve bend over for refunds

Jesus, imagine if lootboxes had a chance of being absolutely empty

This is blatant bullshit, if a casino gave everyone a stale bean for paying to gamble they would crack down on those fuckers asses hard.

Because the billion dollar companies give you a garbage guaranteed item they get a pass.

they took away our vidya
we will take away their money revenue

Oh look, its what I've been telling you retards for the last two weeks

I don't consider them gambling, but they are fucking retarded. Also I don't consider the ESRB an authority on anything. They could tell me water is wet and I'd have to double check.

user...One bomb will make all the difference. You'll be a martyred hero.

>Europe would actually go after that shit

Not the ISFE, which runs the ratings there. The ISFE is an independent federation made up by all of the major video game publishers, including EA, Ubisoft, etc.

You better believe that they won't give two fucks about lootboxes.

>Literal opposite
Lootboxes are perishable. That game will be gone in a few years.

>Play New Vegas
>It has actual gambling in it
>This is a-okay

>Loot Boxes become main stream
>Everyone gets pissy about it
>GUYS ITS GAMBLING, THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN

I don't understand if this is some kind of Sup Forums inspired attempt to change things or if you guys actually think loot boxes are gambling

USK is a shit, but they also say lootboxes are okay

>GUYS ITS GAMBLING, THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN
Why would you think about the children? They don't spend anything the parents do and it's entirely their choice.

new vegas is entirely ingame thing

loot boxes require you to shell out money to get an incredibly small chance to drop shiny nico nico nii card which with it's stats give you a huge advantage in online rankings of "free 2 play" game about singing anime girls

>Free to play

There is absolutely nothing wrong with loot boxes on a free to play model

nigger just think for 10 seconds about all the shit you just wrote right there

If it ever comes to it, I hope the ESA argues that, because of the efficient markets hypothesis, the expected value of any loot box contents on the secondary market is exactly equal to the cost of the loot box itself, so it can't be gambling.

People in this thread are suggesting loot boxes are "Gambling for children" (even though they don't actually count as gambling) and are insisting publishers are predatory for using them. Yet video games that feature actual gambling within the game world are somehow exempt from this?

I really dont get it man. Its a weird stance to take

Just because you're a pretentious manchild who doesn't think about the details for more than 5 fucking seconds, doesn't make the comparison any better.
>Multiple random foods
It completely depends on what kind of food you stupid fuck unlike items where you objectively won't use more than 50% of them.
Just because you don't give a shit about bok choy and chickpeas doesn't mean they don't have some nutritional value.
Meanwhile, it's all or nothing value wise for loot boxes.

>A mechanic where you can wager real money for a game piece, which can then be either used in the game or cashed in for more real life money

>Not gambling

How fortunate we are to have such keen-eyed eagles guarding our gates.

you really dont see the biggest fucking difference since the black/white crime ratio?

it's almost like one of them cost real money and the other don't

>Game rated 17+
>THINK OF THE CHILLUMS

gambling involves money though

When did Bizarro Sup Forums become real Sup Forums? We have people defending loot boxes. Are they corporate shills? Are they epic contrarians shitposting? Are they BRs that are bored of being newfag pirates? What the fuck is going on?

Perishable in the context of food doesn't necessarily mean it can decay like crackers, oil, and spices, it means it's unusable upon decay.
An outside influence like extermination doesn't freaking count.

The NV gambling doesn't cost real money, you doof.

>outside influence
>Devs killing their own game is an outside influence
U Wot m8.

Quit trying to manufacture a controversy.

Cs:go is not for kids. It's not the game's fault the little shits are breaking the rules.

yeah because kids with access to their parents credit card never ever wasted copious amounts of money on stupid shit before lootboxes existed, right?

>ESRB does not consider loot boxes to be gambling
Who gives a shit? The ESRB exists simply to add an age rating to games. And even then, their ratings are just voluntary guidelines and anyone can tell them to fuck off if they don't want to play ball.
They don't have anymore authority to tell me what is or is not gambling than any random forum shitter.

Imagine being so contrarian you start defending lootboxes.
Pathetic.

BUT THATS THE GAMBLING ASPECT OF ALL OF IT YOU STUPID GOD DAMN RETARD

You pay X amount for items (or food that analogy) and get something worth more or less value back for that X amount. Whether it is more or less than that X is irrelevant; it's the chance aspect. The CHANCE of it being more or less (in most cases it is always less and doesn't even compare to the original value let alone being above the value). That is what gambling is!

Developers most of the time don't own their game assets to begin with and can be replaced with someone else so even the set up to your argument is invalid.

I have a job, if games will let me spend money to surpass the NEET masses. I will do it

China were the first to recognise video game addiction as a serious issue, and took steps to mitigate the harm it can cause.

People seriously underestimate how quickly they are catching up, and even surpassing the western world in some areas.

But you actually own those cards, you don't own any of the shit you get out of lootboxes.
And is having some sort of worthless consolation prize really the only thing you need to circumvent gambling laws?
I don't buy this shit.

>Developers
So the fucking publisher who owns the game shuts it down. This is still not an outside influence. Now bring back those goalposts, I'm tired of dealing with you retarded kids.

So better encourage it even more!

They're right, though.

Gambling implies chance of loss, as in getting nothing. Loot boxes always get you something, so it isn't gambling.

>BUT THATS THE GAMBLING ASPECT OF ALL OF IT YOU STUPID GOD DAMN RETARD
Then why not compare to actual gambling than trying to double down on how much of a fat fuck you are like you just did in that post.
You're defending the fact Sup Forums needs comparisons 6 year olds can comprehend than asking for the slightest intelligence.
Which ironically makes you look like a moron WITH the slightest intelligence.

Im literally watching a 15y old playing for a spot on a 150k lan tournament.
Its very much a game for kids.
>parents credit card
No they use their own, visa electron works.

Whatever the reason, they need to be gassed.

PEGI also agrees. Whether it's gambling or not is beside the point as it's still anti-consumer as fuck.
People moaned when on-disc DLC was a thing, and now it's returned as on-disc DLC you might never see because of RNG.

>This Slot machine guarantees a payout of a quarter for every dollar you put in it, therefor it's not gambling so let's install some in every grade-school.

t. ESRB and OP.

>filename
So you're just a shitposter pretending to be retarded then.

Top kek, it's just another made up excuse for chinese authorities to exert control. China is a total shitshow.

Jesus christ, I'm not saying that food analogies are good (because a lot of people do use them wrong) I'm just saying they're easy to understand/relate to/etc. Who gives a shit how intelligent your analogy is or sounds when the point is gotten across either way? No one gives a fuck if you write an award winning level analogy on a fucking video game image board. Get your point across as easily and understandable as possible and that's it. For fucks sake.

Probably a mix of all the things you mentioned with a pinch of reddit. Enjoy your new hell.

Yeah, casinos need to catch on and start paying out at least a penny every time.

It doesn't even have to be actual money, it could be a piece of cardboard with "fuck you" written on it.

How can people be THIS upset by something completely non intrusive, you could play the whole fucking game without having to open a single box, not to mention you get around 1k silver coins per completed mission and a free xp boost.

Just because kids have been and will always be dumbshits, doesn't mean you should reward or encourage their dumbshit behaviour.

>Non intrusive
Loot boxes are shoe horned into every fucking game in existence now. Back when I used to play Mech Warrior Online they were trying to force loot boxes into that game.

>something completely non intrusive,
You mean the fucking giant in game ads I get everytime i'm at the main menu?

Yes. Clearly the evil communists' ploy is to capture all innocent lootbox-spamming scum companies for the greater good of Lenin-Mao.

Actual industry insider here

If loot boxes end up getting phased out in one way or another, the plan is to go to gated entry fee. You know the normal/silver/gold edition stuff you see in a lot of games? Imagine that but instead of just getting extra stuff actual swaths of endgame content are locked behind having silver/gold editions

ITT: maximo autismo
-lootboxes aren't gambling
-the ESRB isn't a government agency
-the ESRB is run by people who are not gamers, much like the MAFIAA
-nobody is forcing you to buy this latest fad of DLC

thats the price for kreamy cold ice cream.

>There will be a point in time that video games being cut into pieces is common and you don't get to choose which piece you get because when you buy it, it's random, and you might get doubles so you have to trade your extra for another piece.
The future is so bright. Thanks corporatism.

>Moving goalposts
>When you're doing the opposite effect of strawmanning
If it only doesn't exist when someone decides to get rid of it, than it's not really perishable.
By that logic, EVERYTHING is perishable and literally any negative variable is an inside influence.
>I'm not saying that food analogies are good (because a lot of people do use them wrong)

Holy shit you fucking loser, you admitted you have nothing at stake here but being a massive faggot who wants to win an argument.
Literally nothing implied I didn't know that.
>Hurr durr, why do so many people criticize using a common and permanent experience that is required in every breathing being with video games, a freaking hobby.
Because it's so easy, it's retarded to use in the first place. Most people are gonna try to think about the variables of the food analogy because everyone knows about fucking FOOD and how they're DIFFERENT than VIDEO GAMES.
You need to get the fuck off Sup Forums and interact with people normally because it's obviously affecting your logic.

Assuming you are an insider: why not just, idk, sell a fucking game for 60 dollars that's actually worth 60 god damned dollars. Stop spending trillions on marketing that no one gives a shit about. Make the game, make it good, make it worthwhile (as in, all content in game, little to no DLC within the first 6months, no lootboxes/etc, etc), and you'll fucking rake in the cash. Is that so hard to fucking understand? Save money on the marketing because it's overall worthless, and make the game better.

>Moving goalposts is strawmanning
Are you literally retarded? THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE GAME SHUTTING IT DOWN IS NOT OUTSIDE INFLUENCE AND THIS MAKES THOSE ITEMS PERISHABLE. Why the fuck do you retards enjoy paying for stuff that will be taken away from you? Is this digital cuckoldry?

>Actual industry insider here

Actual industry insider here

I hope you guys pirate any game that gates content.

>Walk into a shop to buy a product
>There is a 50% chance the guy gives you the product or a punch in the face
It isn't gambling if you get something from it, guiz!

>Who gives a shit how intelligent your analogy is or sounds when the point is gotten across either way?
Actually I'll emphasize this one.
Read it. Freaking read it. You're saying
>Wow, who cares if I even MAKE sense to anyone who has anything above a 3rd grade education.
This is the core of neo Sup Forums. Contrarian to the point even making sense isn't a goal over being able to do what you want.

lmao

good bait

...

>Just play another game that doesn't use lootboxes
>4 years later
>Every game has lootboxes

How intrusive would you actually say this is? you see this once in the main menu and then you enter the game and forget about it.

Once upon a time when you bought a game, you got the game. Then came expansion packs. These were alright since the base game felt full and it added some new things without requiring the development time of a proper sequel. Then came horse armor. This was laughed at but quickly became the norm. Then came microtransactions. Suddenly what were once unlockables and cheat codes were now behind a paywall. Then came loot boxes. Some idiots defended them despite being the same thing as microtransactions but now you can't get what you want without luck or more money.

And now we're at loot boxes giving meaningful stat increases and greatly affecting gameplay. Next stop on the tour is EA's old plan to make you pay pennies for every bullet. You're witnessing an actual slippery slope playing out. There's nothing more intrusive than cutting content people already paid for. The only thing in the budget that's increasing is marketing so they can scam more casuals that need everything watered down.

Holy shit why aren't they even trying to hide it anymore?

>Moving goalposts is strawmanning
>I said you're strawmanning when you say I'm moving goalposts.
The intelligence in this thread is astounding.

That's a nice opinion they have on this issue. Too bad their opinion doesn't matter for shit. Do you know who's opinion does matter? Your local congressman or state senator.

If you guys want this shit to change, you need to step up and get in touch with your local government officials. Don't be surprised if you have to get in touch with them at least once a week. How do you think the NRA is able to get their shit done?

But user, the publishers don't want more money, they want ALL of the money.

They'll use every strategy possible until that is achieved, which will be never. So I hope you are looking forwards to endless cycles of bullshit nickel-and-diming schemes until the "TRIPLE AAA" industry finally fucking collapses.