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Belgium says loot boxes are gambling, wants them banned in Europe

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Froz3n

Member
While loot boxes are the most boring addition to gaming and multiplayer titles in general, it did allow new monetisation models that were generally okay, e.g. dota 2 free to play with cosmetic items only. Now this is also likely to be banned. This could mean price rises for games in the future as a result, or simply more games that eschew loot boxes and "randomess" in exchange for buying concrete items, i.e. just selling the items inside the crates in the first place.
 
S

SmashTheState

Neo Member
Froz3n said:
in the future as a result, or simply more games that eschew loot boxes and "randomess" in exchange for buying concrete items, i.e. just selling the items inside the crates in the first place.
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Ok, so we pay for what we want. Just like in real life. When i go to the store i don't buy shit that i have a chance of getting. If I want a box of lucky charms i just buy a box of lucky charms
 
F

Froz3n

Member
FIREKNIGHT2029 said:
This is great news. They need to stick with standard DLCs or forget it. Loot crates are a scam especially in $60 games.
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There was a time where everyone also hated 'DLC' and wanted proper expansion packs, like the Witcher 3. Now we wish for a time where we merely had DLC. This is kind of sad.
 
M

Martinski43

Member
There are online casinos that are dime a dozen these days if you want gambling. Put your loot boxes on those sites instead you sleeze balls.
 
F

Froz3n

Member
SmashTheState said:
Ok, so we pay for what we want. Just like in real life. When i go to the store i don't buy shit that i have a chance of getting. If I want a box of lucky charms i just buy a box of lucky charms
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Yeah in general that would be a better way of doing it. However the companies doing loot boxes would likely make less money as the semi-legal addictiveness of the gambling aspect I'm sure made them a boatload of money from the "whales" etc.
 
S

SmashTheState

Neo Member
Froz3n said:
Yeah in general that would be a better way of doing it. However the companies doing loot boxes would likely make less money as the semi-legal addictiveness of the gambling aspect I'm sure made them a boatload of money from the "whales" etc.
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couldn't agree more and im sure the likes of EA would find new, even more inventive, ways of scratching that gamblers itch
 
M

Martinski43

Member
Froz3n said:
Yeah in general that would be a better way of doing it. However the companies doing loot boxes would likely make less money as the semi-legal addictiveness of the gambling aspect I'm sure made them a boatload of money from the "whales" etc.
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Or make a game that people want to buy. Also called a good game. Then it will make money.
 
FIREKNIGHT2029

FIREKNIGHT2029

Member
Froz3n said:
There was a time where everyone also hated 'DLC' and wanted proper expansion packs, like the Witcher 3. Now we wish for a time where we merely had DLC. This is kind of sad.
Click to expand...
I know, it’s very sad but it’s the world we are in now. If we don’t fight back these stupid publishers will keep taking more and more from us for less content.

A line in the sand needs to be drawn somewhere. EA is finally learning that there’s a limit to how much they can scam people and hopefully other publishers will learn in time.
 
F

Froz3n

Member
Martinski43 said:
Or make a game that people want to buy. Also called a good game. Then it will make money.
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Yeah I of course agree that this is the ideal way, and we have some studios like CD project red that have self respect and actually do it. Meanwhile valve have entirely given up on making games as a business model because loot boxes and hats make so much money. So my concern is, we all want loot boxes gone because they aren't fun and generally promote unbalanced game mechanics, but what are we willing to accept in their stead? Once games can't monetise that way anymore they'll likely jack up prices or come up with something even worse, until that gets banned 10 years later. And what about the existing games on the market? Are they suddenly going to be banned if they contain lootboxes then?
 
Spukc

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
I hope you guys realise that they will figure out another way now to fuck us even harder.
Member that online pass ?
 
S

SmashTheState

Neo Member
darkziosj said:
Giveme that instead of lootboxes.
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Yeah I mean imagine you go into a restaurant and the price of a meal is 10 bucks. Wow thats reasonable you think, however you soon realize that every little fucking add-on down from the soy-sauce to the side salad are extra. So now, after everything is said and done, you have a 50 dollar meal. A good meal but its 50 bucks.

I would honestly just rather go in and pay 50 bucks for the combo set with everything included and be done with it. The point is I think most people get tired of the act of these publishers nickel and diming the shit out of us
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Good. Fuck loot boxes.

I guess im lucky since to me the whole concept of loot boxes just instantly makes me not want to spend any money.

I got a bunch of cars in rocket league and I purchased a few skins in LOL back in the day. I would have never spent a cent on microtransactions in either of these games if my only option to get those items was through loot boxes.



Froz3n said:
Yeah in general that would be a better way of doing it. However the companies doing loot boxes would likely make less money as the semi-legal addictiveness of the gambling aspect I'm sure made them a boatload of money from the "whales" etc.
Click to expand...

Sure. But if your game is fun and people enjoy it you will still make a lot of money.

Legue of Legends not only became one of the biggest multiplayer games ever, it also made a lot of money without loot boxes (haven't played in years so I don't know how it's now. But back then you could buy any character or skin you wanted directly )

And you can still have whales. If Overwatch let player just buy the skins they want I have no doubt there would be people spending hundreds of bucks getting all (or most) of them.

Spukc said:
I hope you guys realise that they will figure out another way now to fuck us even harder.
Member that online pass ?
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I'd rather get online passes back.
If I didn't want to spend $60 on a new copy I could just wait a few months and get Battlefront 2 for $30 on some sale.
With how it is now , neither time nor sales will change the fact that the progression system is based entirely on loot boxes
 
Consumer

Consumer

Member
the scale of lootboxes didn't quite register to me, since I'm not a F2P/mainstream gamer, until that shit seeped into Rocket League. video games are addictive in nature, so exploiting that by locking gamers' dopamine fix behind an RNG paywall is disgusting.

i dont expect lootboxes to be banned – not in NA, anyway – but i do expect high transparency going forward (from publishers), and every game containing lootboxes rightfully being rated 18+/M.
 
Revolutionary

Revolutionary

Member
Cosmetics are fine as a means to support the game. Gameplay advantages are not. Here's hoping they make that important distinction as they take this further.
 
S

Stormblessed

Member
Jamix012 said:
I'm sure a lot of people would rather this.
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I'm sure they won't raise prices anyway. The market won't bear it, any hike gets you too close to $100. People who tout the argument about price increases when defending microtransactions and loot boxes are typically engaging in corporate apologia.
 
Zog

Zog

Banned
Night.Ninja said:
The prices of games will just go up
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Why do you suppose they have found numerous ways to add extra costs but haven't raised the standard price of games? They must realize that many people won't pay more than $60.

Either way, I currently don't buy DLC, micro transactions,season passes, etc.... I also don't pay for online play. I usually don't buy games at full price, I wait for a sale or a price drop so if they raise prices, it won't affect me.
 
Mr Moose

Mr Moose

Member
royox said:
But it's still gambling by concept.
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You don't get better shit though, you just look better than the scrubs. I think it's a better way to do it, though to be honest if your game is £45/$60 and you sell 15M copies, you shouldn't need lootbox shit to make up any money, that shit is just greed.
 
gioGAF

gioGAF

Member
Amazing! Finally someone does something about this shit. I hope this leads to other places coming to the same conclusion.
 
Zog

Zog

Banned
FIREKNIGHT2029 said:
I know, it’s very sad but it’s the world we are in now. If we don’t fight back these stupid publishers will keep taking more and more from us for less content.

A line in the sand needs to be drawn somewhere. EA is finally learning that there’s a limit to how much they can scam people and hopefully other publishers will learn in time.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don't think that's how it works. It's more like 'give in today and fight another day'. They will bring it back just like Bethesda brought back paid mods, once the heat dies down and they will keep trying until finally they succeed.
 
royox

royox

Member
Mr Moose said:
You don't get better shit though, you just look better than the scrubs. I think it's a better way to do it, though to be honest if your game is £45/$60 and you sell 15M copies, you shouldn't need lootbox shit to make up any money, that shit is just greed.
Click to expand...


Yes yes I totally agree with you...but the point is that it's still gambling.
 
Grylvak

Grylvak

Member
Belgium knows what's up. I'm fine with DLC and expansion packs where you know exactly what you're getting when you pay, but completely random boxes where you don't know exactly what you're getting is insane.
 
Zog

Zog

Banned
Grylvak said:
Belgium knows what's up. I'm fine with DLC and expansion packs where you know exactly what you're getting when you pay, but completely random boxes where you don't know exactly what you're getting is insane.
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It's funny how people feel the need to tell us what they are ok with along with what they are not ok with. It's ok to not be ok with something without a disclaimer.

Anyway, I believe that they are all stops on the same train. Expansion Packs were always going to lead to DLC to micro transactions to loot boxes and pre-order culture was always going to lead to season passes which is just pre-ordering DLC.
 
LordRaptor

LordRaptor

Member
Congratulations internet mob, enjoy the vastly shittier alternatives your knee jerk parroting the opinions of uninformed youtube dickheads is going to now bring
 
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