Current Events > state in Australia rules lootboxes are gambling

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/11/victorias-gambling-regulator-loot-boxes-constitute-gambling/

In email correspondence with a local university student, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) has revealed that, yes, loot boxes constitute a form of gambling - at least in Victoria.

The correspondence kicked off by way of a student who reached out to the VCGLR, the independent regulator for the gambling and liquor industries in Victoria. They're the body that issues licenses for bartenders, proof of age cards, and generally regulate venues where alcohol and/or gambling will happen.

" My name is Jarrod Wolfe and I am the Strategic Analyst for the Compliance Division at VCGLR. I have received your correspondence in regards to gambling functionality (loot boxes) being incorporated into games.

Your research and suppositions on the matter are correct; what occurs with "loot boxes" does constitute gambling by the definition of the Victorian Legislation. Unfortunately where the complexity arises is in jurisdiction and our powers to investigate.

Legislation has not moved as quick as the technology; at both State and Federal level we are not necessarily equipped to determine the legality of these practices in lieu of the fact the entities responsible are overseas. "

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol
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EA must be pretty nervous right now. Tying your entire character progression to lootboxes was taking shit too far, now they're getting burned.
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We did it reddit
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EA getting BTFO'D

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal
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MC_BatCommander posted...

EA must be pretty nervous right now. Tying your entire character progression to lootboxes was taking shit too far, now they're getting burned.

EA is basically bringing down an entire business model. This is going to ripple across console, PC, and mobile and basically ruin every publisher's 10 year business plan. I suspect we're going to see some heavy turnover at the top of EA in the next few months.
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glitteringfairy posted...

We did it reddit

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Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal

It should be. And regulated as such :3

Make games that incorporate the gambling elements have PEGI 18 rating. Aus uses PEGI, right?
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glitteringfairy posted...

We did it reddit

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s0nicfan posted...

MC_BatCommander posted...

EA must be pretty nervous right now. Tying your entire character progression to lootboxes was taking shit too far, now they're getting burned.

I suspect we're going to see some heavy turnover at the top of EA in the next few months.

I doubt that. Nothing EA or any company can do at this point, so I doubt EA is in some sort of internal crisis in that way. EA is still raking in the big bucks, their not in an jeopardy but whatever long term scheme that was planned is now shelved.

Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal

Do you also think minors shouldn't be allowed to play Star Wars video games because it contains gambling?
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Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal

Gambling should be legal but it should still be gambling. Thus age-restricted / prohibitions and regulations on online gambling / unable to be sold at family-friendly retail stores.
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This isn't necessarily going to change anything.

Could amount to literally nothing, or as little as a patch in a bunch of games that makes a popup screen appear for you to mark "I promise I'm over 18" or whatever the gambling age is.
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TheDarkCircle posted...

s0nicfan posted...

MC_BatCommander posted...

EA must be pretty nervous right now. Tying your entire character progression to lootboxes was taking shit too far, now they're getting burned.

I suspect we're going to see some heavy turnover at the top of EA in the next few months.

I doubt that. Nothing EA or any company can do at this point, so I doubt EA is in some sort of internal crisis in that way. EA is still raking in the big bucks, their not in an jeopardy but whatever long term scheme that was planned is now shelved.

My assumption was that their stocks are going to take a hit, and since the people at the top are beholden to the board, which live and die by their stock price, they're going to want a sacrificial lamb or three to show that they've "fixed" the problem.
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darkphoenix181 posted...

Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal

Do you also think minors shouldn't be allowed to play Star Wars video games because it contains gambling?

I don't have strong feelings about minors gambling.
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This is wonderful news woo
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Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal

Do you also think minors shouldn't be allowed to play Star Wars video games because it contains gambling?

I don't have strong feelings about minors gambling.

regardless of your feelings, the government will regulate games with gambling in it away from the hands of children

so what remains is the question: "is it ok for a star wars game to have gambling in it and thus not legally be sold to children?"
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darkphoenix181 posted...

so what remains is the question: "is it ok for a star wars game to have gambling in it and thus not legally be sold to children?"

yeah
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Balrog0 posted...

yeah

ok, but Disney probably disagrees
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How is this gambling exactly? Doesn't a risk of losing something have to be involved?
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Kolibri X posted...

How is this gambling exactly? Doesn't a risk of losing something have to be involved?

Losing your money on literal shit items
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Kolibri X posted...

How is this gambling exactly? Doesn't a risk of losing something have to be involved?

When you get so many duplicates of an item, that just one more might as well be worth nothing, then you've made it a lottery type gamble with lootboxes.
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Kolibri X posted...

How is this gambling exactly? Doesn't a risk of losing something have to be involved?

If slot machines gave you back 1 cent guaranteed, would that suddenly make it not gambling to you?
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What if EA is the hero we need right now... What if their master plan was to tank the concept of loot crates in games once and for all by pushing it through in the most extreme way possible in one of its biggest name games.
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EyeWontBeFooled posted...

Balrog0 posted...

darkphoenix181 posted...

meanwhile some gamers try their best to mount a defense lol

but I think gambling should be legal

It should be. And regulated as such :3

Make games that incorporate the gambling elements have PEGI 18 rating. Aus uses PEGI, right?

No, Australia uses a government rating system. If they had PEGI they wouldn't have 500 or so games banned heh.
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Balrog0 posted...

but I think gambling should be legal

It should be, but I want to play video games not gamble.
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I'm glad something is being done about this predatory and anti-consumer tactic that is killing a medium, but if we want to be real, it's not technically gambling because gambling has the possibility of giving you nothing. You put your money in and you are guaranteed to get something. It's like a capsule machine or a pack of trading cards. However, one major difference is that your rewarded items cannot be traded.

But I'm absolutely fine with stretching the definition of gambling to fit this. It's a very clearly exploitative business tactic that lets them create artificial demand by choosing to sell or not to sell their products made of thin air. The amount of man-hours required to create most of these items is incredibly negligible, and often included within the scope of the man-hours required for creating the base game. Especially when it's gameplay related lootbox content like perks/abilities. Literally just a few lines of code tweaking some stats.

The gaming industry isn't going to stop doing it just by people complaining. They're getting far too much revenue from rich people who have no problem paying $250 extra in microtransactions. This is something that requires government interaction.
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I wonder how they will respond to this in BF2. "ok fuckers, No more updates. We just abandoned the game. Have fun, assholes."
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PoopPotato posted...

I wonder how they will respond to this in BF2. "ok fuckers, No more updates. We just abandoned the game. Have fun, assholes."

Then nothing of value was lot. Give the license to a company that cares.
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At the very least I hope this leads to developers being extremely transparent about their lootbox systems considering the backlash.
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The people celebrating this are going to regret it once it devastates the entire gaming industry. So many games rely on this for their funding.
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

The people celebrating this are going to regret it once it devastates the entire gaming industry. So many games rely on this for their funding.

Then I say: Bring on the next great video game crash!
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

The people celebrating this are going to regret it once it devastates the entire gaming industry. So many games rely on this for their funding.

Nothing I play uses lootboxes, so I won't care if this fucks things up.
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R18 ratings or bannings?
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

The people celebrating this are going to regret it once it devastates the entire gaming industry. So many games rely on this for their funding.

Lootboxes don't affect them making a profit. It's a bonus.
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LightningAce11 posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

The people celebrating this are going to regret it once it devastates the entire gaming industry. So many games rely on this for their funding.

Lootboxes don't affect them making a profit. It's a bonus.

......so lootboxes are a bonus for F2P games ..................riiiiiight
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marc55 posted...

LightningAce11 posted...

FLUFFYGERM posted...

The people celebrating this are going to regret it once it devastates the entire gaming industry. So many games rely on this for their funding.

Lootboxes don't affect them making a profit. It's a bonus.

......so lootboxes are a bonus for F2P games ..................riiiiiight

They can use more sensible things. Like just selling the things in the lootboxes.
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Blue_Inigo posted...

glitteringfairy posted...

We did it reddit