gaming What's the big deal with lootboxes?

[CastletonSnob 3,074]

Lootboxes in games have been the subject of a lot of controversy lately. Can someone explain why they're considered bad?

[Black Sabbath 2,486]

In cases such as Star Wars Battlefront 2, they're considered bad because they give an unfair advantage to people who are able to afford to spend large amounts of real money. 

[Passion 3,484]

Due to their gambling nature.

 

Long story short, lootboxes are designed to develop addiction in players as per default. The issue with them however is that companies do not disclose the chance of people gaining rewards. The "chance" involved in gaining items you want is, by definition, gambling in itself.

It is extremely hurtful to the community and unhealthy to the point where goverments have taken action and are pushing to regulate their contents by, for example, posting a clarified and crystal-clear list of what you can gain from boxes and what are the percentages to gain those.

 

ESRB rating commission/ESA also doesn't have it easy, because major companies like EA and Activision are literally pushing them behind the scenes to make everything not to allow lootboxes become categorized as gambling. ESRB ceased working towards the good of families and kids, and is currently money-driven machine sponsored by the greedy people at the top of aforementioned.

The income these companies have had from lootboxes is ASTRONOMICAL. Activision Blizzard earned $4 billion from microtransactions in 2017, so the stakes are high.

 

I'll leave this here if you want some more, YongYea has been following the lootbox controversy closely lately, however be advised that (rarely) he might use some stronger language.

 

 

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

They suck for two core reasons.

The first is that they take advantage of the same tactics casinos use to hook people with harmful gambling tendencies. UNLIKE casinos though, they don’t have any legal oversight or age restrictions, so they can just run wild.

The second reason they suck is that the studios and publishers that put them in games almost always build the games around them, cheapening the experience, and generally making them very intrusive as they try their hardest to steer you towards spending more money on top of the money you already spent BUYING the game.

A lot of times they try to spin it as giving the player “more choices”, but by putting a cash price on ways to skip over parts of the game (ie, the grinding that usually occurs when loot boxes are present) they are literally saying there’s more TANGIBLE WORTH to not play the game.

Edited April 10, 2018 by ShadOBabe

[SkyDive 269]

I can see the experts are here, and I am not needed XD

Edited April 10, 2018 by SkyDive

[Nye 1,652]

I think game theory did good in their 30 minute explanation.

Spoiler

 

 

[Snow Frostflame 3,568]

They really aren't that bad, if I may be so bold. Yes I think its horrible to have lootboxes that give you an advantage I get that. Though good setup ≠ good player, I've been able to go against players with better setups and still dominate them, its all about skill. Going back to lootboxes and other microtransactions, they have been an on going thing for years, but why are they now a problem? People need to realize what kind of deep shit they're getting into by wanting them gone, and I think these two videos explain it perfectly.

 

 

[Celli 4,338]

It's basically digital gambling, some are cosmetic, some are pay to win. Honestly though they don't belong in $60 games.

[Rising Dusk 27,884]

7 minutes ago, Celli said:

It's basically digital gambling, some are cosmetic, some are pay to win. Honestly though they don't belong in $60 games.

Hit the nail on the head.  Unless the game is meant to be a long term online multiplayer, ie Overwatch, lootboxes should remain cosmetics only for games you paid for, while pay to win lootboxes, ie Star Wars Battlefront 2, should not.  When one is having to dish out more money for a game they already bought just to remain competitive online, something went wrong.

[Celli 4,338]

2 minutes ago, Rising Dusk said:

Hit the nail on the head.  Unless the game is meant to be a long term online multiplayer, ie Overwatch, lootboxes should remain cosmetics only for games you paid for, while pay to win lootboxes, ie Star Wars Battlefront 2, should not.  When one is having to dish out more money for a game they already bought just to remain competitive online, something went wrong.

Eh, even in the case of overwatch, I'm not a fan of having to gamble for the potential skin I want. It's not as bad because you can get them by leveling or doing weekly events etc, but it's still to the point where you'll want to fork over cash for a bunch. Also OW kind of popularized loot boxes. 

[Rising Dusk 27,884]

5 minutes ago, Celli said:

Eh, even in the case of overwatch, I'm not a fan of having to gamble for the potential skin I want. It's not as bad because you can get them by leveling or doing weekly events etc, but it's still to the point where you'll want to fork over cash for a bunch. Also OW kind of popularized loot boxes. 

There are indeed many ways to get the skins you want and yeah, it is still gambling even with the free loot boxes you get.  Blizzard could have gone the same route League of Legends did and just have a direct payment method for the skins you want, but they tried to a different route.  At least forking over cash for a chance at that skin doesn't affect the actual balance of the game, just goes to further development funds.

While Overwatch might have popularized what we keep seeing popping up in more and more games, the concept behind forking over cash for a random chance of an item has been around a long time in app games.

[Celli 4,338]

5 minutes ago, Rising Dusk said:

There are indeed many ways to get the skins you want and yeah, it is still gambling even with the free loot boxes you get.  Blizzard could have gone the same route League of Legends did and just have a direct payment method for the skins you want, but they tried to a different route.  At least forking over cash for a chance at that skin doesn't affect the actual balance of the game, just goes to further development funds.

While Overwatch might have popularized what we keep seeing popping up in more and more games, the concept behind forking over cash for a random chance of an item has been around a long time in app games.

Yeah, TF2 was the first to do the random chance boxes, but tf2 is free to play.

[EpicEnergy 23,220]

Cause they don't give you what you want, they have a extremely small chance of giving you what you want so you end up paying a ton of money just to get one item.

[Pandora 38,064]

Lootboxes.. trashboxes I mean... they don't really give you what you want, you pay lots and.. usually are just for dumb things like.. a special skin.