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The State of Hawaii announces action to address predatory practices at EA and others.
- Thread starter Gamezone
- Start date
double jump
you haven't lived until a random little kid ask you "how do you make love".
what's the context of this gif ?
Memorabilia
Member
Good. EA screwed the pooch hard on this deal. I can't figure out how the execs actually thought this P2W lootbox bullshit was going to skate by. Did they really believe most people would just grin and eat the shit sandwich? Mind boggling.
I still haven't opened my Xbone copy of the game bc I've been waiting to see how things develop. I've got 45 days to return it if need be.
I still haven't opened my Xbone copy of the game bc I've been waiting to see how things develop. I've got 45 days to return it if need be.
To elaborate, I believe the current administration, on hearing Hawaii's previous injunctions against such things at the travel ban, claimed that it didn't know who Hawaii thought it was. Using that image is a repetition of the administration's words... but given the person saying them is also a low-level villain in the movie, the implication is that some moron asshat is about to question the validity of Hawaii's ability to intervene.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Have people forgotten that children only can buy things on their consoles if mommy and daddy give them access to a credit card and a password tied to an account?
genius, I cant wait to hear you're theory on quantum entanglement
Oh they did some fans are quick to forget, some fans already forgot as soon as EA removed (temporarily) the loot boxes. I mean they are probably the same fans that, for example, bought MvCi special edition, the ones that keep preordering Ubisoft and the ones that bought season passes for Fire Emblem Warriors. All's well that ends well, right?
MADGAME
Member
Good. This needs to remain in the spotlight. I hope this snowballs into greater awareness and maybe even regulation.
I honestly think they did. If any mass appeal franchise had a chance to successfully implement and push the boundaries of these systems, Star Wars would certainly be towards the top of the list.
Fuchalmania
Member
I too would love to see a new skate game on modern consoles.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Tell me again how else children buy stuff on consoles unchecked besides how I outlined?
You can literally limit how much money is spent a month on a PS4 system by an account holder. How is this not the best solution for limiting kids access to unwanted purchases of any content?
spectyre
Member
Agreed. I don't see any difference between this and like 90% of mobile games. Maybe Hawaii should start regulating what Android and Apple sell on their devices.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
Regulation? First, EA has turned off the ability to purchase crystals and has sworn to fix it. Second, people need to remind politicians that before they start preaching about protecting children from purchasing unwanted content on their gamestations, they should learn how consoles allow parents to strictly restrict access to mature content AND limit the amount spent on an account. Third, if people are railing on Battlefront 2s gameplay without playing it and are using it as means to complain about play to win, then you are not helping.
Wolfgunblood Garopa
Member
2k should be at that party for their NBA game.
Gamezone
Gold Member
I`m surprised they didn`t get hit harder.
Zog
Banned
The catalyst for action is rarely the first incident. Not taking action after the first incident doesn't mean action can never be taken.
If they regulate this on consoles, they will also regulate it on mobile.
MADGAME
Member
​"Sworn to fix it". Lol okay.
I see you are hellbent on focusing on children, but these systems are 100% designed to prey on weakness to and tendencies toward addictions, and reward the behavior when money is spent. This does not just apply to children, in fact I never even mentioned children.
If you like these mechanics so much then by all means buy the games and spend your money in pay2gamble2win games of chance. I, among many others, see the terrible exploitation in these methods and want it to stop or at least regulated. ​As I stated in my previous post, I hope this time in the spotlight snowballs to even further scrutinization.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
First, the article is a story is about how politicians dont like children gambling on loot boxes in the awesome Star Wars universe. Second, I play lots of games that have pay to upgrade mechanics and I choose not to spend money on them and, *gasp*, I have fun and win occasionally. Lastly, there is a lot of things in life that appeal to people but ultimately, you have the responsibility for your decisions, but choosing to spend a lot of money on something is a choice and no one at EA or DICE or Sony is compelling me to do so beyond my own control.
Access to parents wallets is missing the point. When a games progression is based around the random event of loot box rewards, you've fundamentally introduced a gambling scheme into the game. Should adults be made aware of these mechanisms in order to make a more informed purchase, I believe so. Do what you want with you're own kids, more power to you.
Ron Cadillac
Neo Member
They can also buy prepaid cards with their allowance/birthday money/whatever.
The fact is that they do, one way or another, and these companies know and willingly prey on that. Shitty parenting doesn't give them an excuse to exploit children.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
I am progressing my Heavy and his weapons independent of cards. I have unlocked Luke and Vader. I own the standard edition. I am having a ton of fun. None of this is tied to pay to win.
As a parent, I learned about and told my friends about parental controls. The one person I know if personally who had a kid spend a ton of money on game purchases admitted afterwards he should have done more to explain the value of money to his kid. Again, the world is full of seductive, instant gratification. Choosing to buy into it is a weakness.
Ultimately, I would prefer all games like Battlefront and Battlefield have every single thing unlocked on day one and get rid of the progression system. It would be great to have team play and working with others in a giant gaming universe that promoted people playing the objectives and not trying to unlock some special unlock that takes them away from working with others. But, alas, that is not the case with BF2 and I am left playing a pretty awesome Star Wars game.
NumberXV Riku
Neo Member
Saying that because you resist the influence to buy into these systems so its not a problem or issue is like saying "I'm not an alcoholic because I just don't drink, so alcoholism can't be real because everyone can just not drink".
Maybe you should realize everyone has different levels of self control towards these influences, but saying that no one at EA or DICE or Sony is compelling you to buy into these systems is a blatant lie. They are trying to influence people into buying these, its called Marketing.
llien
Member
who.gif
Thank you for insulting people who can't easily cope with pay-to-win, so kind of you.
Thank you for insulting people who can't easily cope with pay-to-win, so kind of you.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
So, we should ban marketing, too?
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
If a flashing icon on a screen compels you to spend money uncontrollably (100s of dollars), then you have a problem. If you spend a fiver a month on a chance to win a special player or buff, you drink one less Starbucks and weigh how much you have gained from that fiver. If you scratch your money together and buy the standard edition of a game and find ways to have fun with said game, then avoid the extra purchases and take pride in not hitting the easy button on life.
LordRaptor
Member
We should obviously ban everything that requires anyone to have any degree of personal responsibility
NumberXV Riku
Neo Member
Never said that, all I said that people ARE trying to influence people to buy stuff, aka Marketing. Regardless of your'e experience with the game there can be no doubt that what EA did and is doing with BF2 is down right greedy and disgusting.
The more this story develops the more it seems that EA has shit the bed so hard that they may have successfully ruined lootboxes for everyone.
Ron Cadillac
Neo Member
Marketing is already regulated and has bans on certain kinds of products, so uh....
Almost like some sort of "gambling addiction" or something!
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
People get addicted to things. We regulate. You know how you regulate game purchases by children? Parental controls and teaching them the value of money. Gambling addiction hotlines are flashed on screens here in the US. In England, gambling is advertised at Premier League games. We dont go blaming football clubs if little Reginald blew his monthly wages on the ponies. No, we tell Reggie we are his mates and we think he has a problem and needs help. And then we go to a football match with him when he gets better.
Croatoan
They/Them A-10 Warthog
Gambling is and should be regulated. You cannot gamble if you are under the age of 18 for example. At the very least these games should be age gated and given a Mature rating.
EA astroturfers everywhere!
I applaud you're strength (personally, I struggle), may the force be with you
Croatoan
They/Them A-10 Warthog
Imagine you go to the store because you want to purchase some eggs. Instead of just buying the eggs directly for $3.99 you have to buy a mystery box that gives you a chance to get the eggs for $3.99.
It takes you 5 tries before you actually get the eggs out of the box. You have now spent $19.95 for the eggs that are only worth $3.99.
This is the difference between loot boxes and microtransactions. Publishers love this because you spend more for getting less.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
And with you, sir. You know, I tend to help others when I play these games and dont focus on unlocks. Perhaps some day we will find ourselves taking an objective together with our standard edition unlocks and defeat the purple carded elitists.
Wolfgunblood Garopa
Member
Corporations understand the science of human behavior and psychology with the express purpose to exploit us. You or I might not fall for it, but that doesn't absolve the corporation of responsibility for what they are attempting to do.
N1tr0sOx1d3
Given another chance
Meanwhile..........in Britain the BBFC? Don't seen a problem with lootboxes.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
If you choose to spend $20 to win $4 in eggs, I will personally drive you to the therapist.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
So, if a buy a crate with points I earned in the game and the satisfaction of watching a purple card fly out is strong and appealing to me, I am a bad person? Perhaps we can make games shock us (literally) when we earn something so we are always reminded that earning something is not to be enjoyed.
Croatoan
They/Them A-10 Warthog
You are being purposefully disingenuous now and borderline trolling if not outright shilling.
In case you are just incredibly dense, you will will spend $20 on those $4 dollar eggs if it is the only way to get them. Please show me where a developer offers you the choice between buying the skin, or item, outright or using their loot box system.
DenogginizerOS
BenjaminBirdie's Thomas Jefferson
I dont need anything in BF2 to play the game. If I want to try and earn it by taking a chance on a crate, I can choose to do so. However, eggs are yummy and great in cakes and I buy them from proper stores that dont require me to gamble to win them.