Loot Boxes

[Innovindil]

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/loot-boxes-in-video-games-call-for-evidence

 

The government have put out a call for evidence on the impact of lootboxes in video games. Deadline for submission is midnight 22nd November.

 

Let's get this crap banned please. 

[Adster]

Good. The things are the scum of the gaming industry at present and completely brashwain children and problem gamblers. Unbelievable how game developers have gotten away with it for so long. 

 

Let's hope they're banned for fvcking good out of video games. 

[ScrumpyJack]

Wonder what the repercussions will be for FIFA's Ultimate Team, does that classify as a loot box?

 

It will be a good chunk of taxable revenue gone, and given the present state of things the government will want to keep hold of monies where they can.

[Adster]

16 minutes ago, ScrumpyJack said:

Wonder what the repercussions will be for FIFA's Ultimate Team, does that classify as a loot box?

 

It will be a good chunk of taxable revenue gone, and given the present state of things the government will want to keep hold of monies where they can.

That's the prime example of loot boxes. The games that have been scrutinised the most is Call of Duty, Overwatch, FIFA and NBA2k.

 

Personally, I hope it fvcks EA and these other companies up as the tactics employed by them to get people to waste money on chances of items is quite frankly pathetic and opens the door to turn children into gambling addicts. 

 

Scummy monetisation strategies have gone on in the gaming industry for far too long and it needs regulating, as companies clearly cannot regulate themselves. 

 

What ever happened to earning rewards through actual gameplay? 

[LCFCCHRIS]

19 minutes ago, ScrumpyJack said:

Wonder what the repercussions will be for FIFA's Ultimate Team, does that classify as a loot box?

 

It will be a good chunk of taxable revenue gone, and given the present state of things the government will want to keep hold of monies where they can.

 

Just now, Adster said:

That's the prime example of loot boxes. The games that have been scrutinised the most is Call of Duty, Overwatch, FIFA and NBA2k.

 

Personally, I hope it fvcks EA and these other companies up as the tactics employed by them to get people to waste money on chances of items is quite frankly pathetic and opens the door to turn children into gambling addicts. 

 

Scummy monetisation strategies have gone on in the gaming industry for far too long and it needs regulating, as companies clearly cannot regulate themselves. 

 

What ever happened to earning rewards through actual gameplay? 

Agreed. 

 

Without risking sounding grumpy lol, I miss the days of actual DLC for a fixed price. When you'd get a map pack on cod for about £7 that'd bring you 4 maps and a zombie map, or GTA IV DLC that was a full on new story with new cars , guns etc. Now it's all online and lootbox focussed as it makes them so much money.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

4 hours ago, LCFCCHRIS said:

 

Agreed. 

 

Without risking sounding grumpy lol, I miss the days of actual DLC for a fixed price. When you'd get a map pack on cod for about £7 that'd bring you 4 maps and a zombie map, or GTA IV DLC that was a full on new story with new cars , guns etc. Now it's all online and lootbox focussed as it makes them so much money.

I miss the days of you pay for your game and you have your game and that's it. 

[Adster]

Yeah DLC was okay when you know the base game was so good and so much time and effort and passion was put in by the game developers. 

 

Example being the DLC for the Witcher 3. Had no problems paying for that as it was a reasonable price and the base game was absolutely fantastic. They "deserved" more of my money. 

 

Whereas the same shitty DLC by "AAA" corporations like Activision are so bound by yearly release schedules all their games and DLC are half baked and lazy and purely led towards maximising money through new items added into shitty loot boxes. 

[spacemunky]

7 hours ago, ScrumpyJack said:

Wonder what the repercussions will be for FIFA's Ultimate Team, does that classify as a loot box?

 

"Surprise mechanics" - EA

[LCFCCHRIS]

6 hours ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

I miss the days of you pay for your game and you have your game and that's it. 

I agree, but old school DLC was pretty fair, you pay for a full game, then pay a small price for extra content developed after the release of the game. GTA V had loads of potential but it's all online updates and they just left the story. 

[whoareyaaa]

15 hours ago, Adster said:

That's the prime example of loot boxes. The games that have been scrutinised the most is Call of Duty, Overwatch, FIFA and NBA2k.

 

Personally, I hope it fvcks EA and these other companies up as the tactics employed by them to get people to waste money on chances of items is quite frankly pathetic and opens the door to turn children into gambling addicts. 

 

Scummy monetisation strategies have gone on in the gaming industry for far too long and it needs regulating, as companies clearly cannot regulate themselves. 

 

What ever happened to earning rewards through actual gameplay? 

you forgot the biggest of the lot Fortnite

[Innovindil]

8 hours ago, spacemunky said:

 

"Surprise mechanics" - EA

Probably one of the only times I've ever actually been "triggered" in life. 

 

They know exactly what they are ffs. They hire people to do psychological studies on how to rip people off. 

[dmayne7]

Meant to post this yesterday. If you've got 5 mins, get it done.

 

We've at least started to see a shift on loot boxes and season/battle passes being more about cosmetic items but FIFA is the big one that needs to go. FUT is basically for those who have loads of time or loads of money, not skill.

[RoboFox]

I sound like a broken record on here, but it's about time this sh*t got binned once and for all.

 

Pay to win, microtransactions and GAMBLING mechanics are the scourge of games. If you buy them, not only are you thick, but you're actively encouraging a gaming industry which seems to want to embrace them as its primary business model.

 

At best, they hurt the entire industry by destroying honest, comparative judgment between products... i.e. consumers being stripped of the only power they have in a marketplace: to be able place total value on the game itself. A lack of this, and we subsequently see a lowering the quality of games massively. I mean just look at the fvcking state of FIFA in the last decade.

At worst, its dangerous - people spinning that eternal wheel, without fully realizing what it was doing to their bank accounts and more importantly, their brain chemistry. Casinos and gambling companies are forced to employ a strict 18+ policy for a reason, yet these are available to pre-teen kids with logins linked to their parents' cash with one press of a button. 

 

Huge shout out to Hello Games - who released in No Man's Sky - a one time purchase game, and support it continuously with FREE DLC. They're now seeing record players every month four years after release. I hope they're able to set a precedent.

 

The gaming press hate it. Gamers hate it. Everyone knows it's morally bankrupt, yet it continues unhindered.

 

[Ashley]

Learn to trade with Fifa. Best thing I ever did. 

 

Will happily dedicate a thread to trading and sbcs should there be enough interest. We have a few knowledgeable people on the forum too. 

[dmayne7]

1 minute ago, Ashley said:

Learn to trade with Fifa. Best thing I ever did. 

 

Will happily dedicate a thread to trading and sbcs should there be enough interest. We have a few knowledgeable people on the forum too. 

As I posted, some people simply don't have the time, especially if they play any other games.

 

I think it's the balancing act between rewarding people who aren't that great at the game but have the time to earn the rewards (not suggesting that's you!) and those people who are half decent but don't have the time.

 

One thing I meant to say is that the potential increase in game prices would be totally justified if you didn't factor in just how much money companies rake in from microtransactions and the fact the extra money won't go to improving crunch and working conditions (another debate entirely)

[jammie82uk]

Seen online The new wwe battlegrounds game costs £34.99 just to get you the base game 

 

based on the xp earned in the first match it would take 1007 match’s just to unlock all the locked characters or you can short cut by buying “golden bucks” 

 

Wrestlers start at 300 golden bucks, 2300 bucks is £16 

 

there is create a wrestler and create an arena mode which require a large amount of items to be unlocked 

 

[Adster]

10 hours ago, Ashley said:

Learn to trade with Fifa. Best thing I ever did. 

 

Will happily dedicate a thread to trading and sbcs should there be enough interest. We have a few knowledgeable people on the forum too. 

You keep saying this Ashley. Kids don't care nor have the time to want to learn to "trade" or play the market.

 

They want one over on their mates as soon as possible and will happily gamble away money to do whatever it takes. EA knows this and does absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening. 

 

"Learning to trade" is absolutely no deterrent from the fact that gambling mechanics are present in a game rated suitable for kids. They simply shouldn't exist in the form they're in, in any game yet alone one that the company forces you to pay £50 quid for each year for the same fvcking game that you have to start over from again.

 

The pack system in FUT is the worst of the lot and needs banning ASAP.

[LCFCCHRIS]

3 hours ago, Adster said:

You keep saying this Ashley. Kids don't care nor have the time to want to learn to "trade" or play the market.

 

They want one over on their mates as soon as possible and will happily gamble away money to do whatever it takes. EA knows this and does absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening. 

 

"Learning to trade" is absolutely no deterrent from the fact that gambling mechanics are present in a game rated suitable for kids. They simply shouldn't exist in the form they're in, in any game yet alone one that the company forces you to pay £50 quid for each year for the same fvcking game that you have to start over from again.

 

The pack system in FUT is the worst of the lot and needs banning ASAP.

It's actually worse than gambling in a way because you have 0 chance on anything back. As you say , always starting over every year too.

[howlinmadmurfdoc]

I don’t know a lot about some games but packs in FUT is nothing but gambling. At the very least it needs regulating like gambling sites with deposit limits and time out periods. It’s horribly addictive and EA have milked a loyal player base unregulated for far too long.

[Innovindil]

8 hours ago, Adster said:

You keep saying this Ashley. Kids don't care nor have the time to want to learn to "trade" or play the market.

 

They want one over on their mates as soon as possible and will happily gamble away money to do whatever it takes. EA knows this and does absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening. 

 

"Learning to trade" is absolutely no deterrent from the fact that gambling mechanics are present in a game rated suitable for kids. They simply shouldn't exist in the form they're in, in any game yet alone one that the company forces you to pay £50 quid for each year for the same fvcking game that you have to start over from again.

 

The pack system in FUT is the worst of the lot and needs banning ASAP.

Hear hear. It's nothing to do with there being other ways of making in-game credits. "everything is unlockable through gameplay" is the same lame duck excuse these shitters have been pumping out for years. It's all about this gambling metric shouldn't exist in games in the first place. 

[Ashley]

14 hours ago, Adster said:

You keep saying this Ashley. Kids don't care nor have the time to want to learn to "trade" or play the market.

 

They want one over on their mates as soon as possible and will happily gamble away money to do whatever it takes. EA knows this and does absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening. 

 

"Learning to trade" is absolutely no deterrent from the fact that gambling mechanics are present in a game rated suitable for kids. They simply shouldn't exist in the form they're in, in any game yet alone one that the company forces you to pay £50 quid for each year for the same fvcking game that you have to start over from again.

 

The pack system in FUT is the worst of the lot and needs banning ASAP.

100% agree with you mate. 

 

They need to be gone ASAP. 

[Captain...]

19 hours ago, jammie82uk said:

Seen online The new wwe battlegrounds game costs £34.99 just to get you the base game 

 

based on the xp earned in the first match it would take 1007 match’s just to unlock all the locked characters or you can short cut by buying “golden bucks” 

 

Wrestlers start at 300 golden bucks, 2300 bucks is £16 

 

there is create a wrestler and create an arena mode which require a large amount of items to be unlocked 

 

I think there is a difference between being able to unlock everything and play to win mechanics.

 

Having lots to unlock is a good thing, grinding to get the next weapon/move is a part of what makes games enjoyable. Rewarding people on multiplayer games for skill and effort is just.

 

Where the problem is is random "loot boxes" stars wars battlefront 2 is the biggest offender of all the games I've played. Play to get credits or just buy credits then use those credits to get something completely random and of no value.

 

I think as long as you know exactly what you're spending real money on and can make a value choice it's ok. 

 

Pay to win mechanics is another thing, but that is more about gamer ethics than gambling.

[twoleftfeet]

On 24/09/2020 at 10:41, whoareyaaa said:

you forgot the biggest of the lot Fortnite

Is fortnite the worst you can at least see what (i knew it is sod all) you are getting for your money and if you buy the battle pass providing you get to level 100 you get more than enough v bucks to buy the next battle pass. I could be considered an offender because its a game aimed mire at youngsters. But as kids werent we suckers for panini stickers buying 3 million stickers to collect about 200 or so stickers.

Is anyone watching the current Epic games v apple court battle over the revenue of in app purchases.

[Finnegan]

I wouldn't get too excited.

 

Wasn't it Belgium that took a similar government enquiry and "cracked down" on gambling in games and the net result was just EA had to put the probability of getting a special card out of packs on the UI somewhere in tiny fine print.

 

Didn't actually change the mechanics at all and didn't prevent anyone buying them.

 

Sorry, but the industry makes way too much money for it to get properly regulated at this point without full scale revolution. It's on a long list of things that won't change until the wider population sit up and take mass action, in this instance by just not buying the game. It won't happen. 

[Ashley]

On 24/09/2020 at 10:41, whoareyaaa said:

you forgot the biggest of the lot Fortnite

Fornite? 

 

One of the only games that aren't Paying, unless you mean what I'm saying? 

 

Buying cosmetics gives you no advantage in game and you don't have to buy them. If you play it right you'll only have to ever buy one battle pass too.. to continue to get free ones for the next season etc.