Poll of the Day > A blow against loot boxes?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Well, if you're Dutch it is.

PS You might need to use some sort of translation thing if you can't read Dutch.

https://nos.nl/artikel/2228041-populaire-games-overtreden-gokregels.html

Now, I do want to point out that as long as loot boxes give only cosmetic item or just nothing that can give advantages in online PvP, I have no problem with them. But I do think loot boxes are a form of gambling and a person can get addicted to gambling. While it's fine to have loot boxes for adults, you really can't just implement them because the fact is that teens and younger often play these games. There's protections against other addictive things for children so it makes sense for something that can be addictive, like loot boxes, to have restrictions. Especially when it's known minors partake in the activity.

Even though I'm fine with loot boxes like I said before, I'd be fine with them just being done away with altogether.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

I'd be fine with [lootboxes] just being done away with altogether.

I don't mind them much. That being said, I only play a handful of games that use them. And they are usually just cosmetic, anyway. Which is fine. And you can get them without buying them. Which is also fine...
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Having your gokregels overtreden sounds painful.
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Even if it's just the Dutch that criminalize lootboxes, that'll be a blow for them everywhere. That means the EU release of a given game can't have them, and if the EU release doesn't have them, you can guarantee other regions will be up in arms about getting an inferior product. That, or they just won't distribute the game in the Netherlands, which is also suboptimal.
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LinkPizza posted...

I don't mind them much. That being said, I only play a handful of games that use them. And they are usually just cosmetic, anyway. Which is fine. And you can get them without buying them. Which is also fine...

Yeah, but the thing is it that some don't have just cosmetic items and some really entice people to buy them by making them hard to get. Or making it so you can only get them with real money. It's really making it so that someone has to step in to regulate them.

adjl posted...

Even if it's just the Dutch that criminalize lootboxes, that'll be a blow for them everywhere. That means the EU release of a given game can't have them, and if the EU release doesn't have them, you can guarantee other regions will be up in arms about getting an inferior product. That, or they just won't distribute the game in the Netherlands, which is also suboptimal.

Well, to be fair, they're only going against the loot boxes that have gambling elements. Which is all fine by me!
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Having your gokregels overtreden sounds painful.

It does? I couldn't imagine, but that is the funny about mondegreens when you actually do understand the language. Also, I can imagine the g's really mess up the way you think it would be pronounced.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Yeah, but the thing is it that some don't have just cosmetic items and some really entice people to buy them by making them hard to get. Or making it so you can only get them with real money. It's really making it so that someone has to step in to regulate them.

I guess regulating them is fine. Make it so they only have cosmetic items. And that they are available in game without having to buy them... That would make it ok. Like Overwatch, I guess. They are available in game. And AFAIK, they only contain cosmetic items(skins, voice lines, spray paint designs, etc...)...
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Well, to be fair, they're only going against the loot boxes that have gambling elements. Which is all fine by me!

At some level, they all have gambling elements. They use the principle of random rewards to keep players feeling like they almost won something and should keep trying, which is exactly how gambling hooks people. Randomized rewards are used in many, many other circumstances in gaming for exactly that reason (MMO's being one of the foremost culprits there), but the problem with loot boxes lies in that players can pay to roll the dice instead of just having to continue playing, meaning preying upon their potential gambling addiction directly costs them money.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Well, to be fair, they're only going against the loot boxes that have gambling elements. Which is all fine by me!

That's literally ANY loot box.
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adjl posted...

At some level, they all have gambling elements. They use the principle of random rewards to keep players feeling like they almost won something and should keep trying, which is exactly how gambling hooks people. Randomized rewards are used in many, many other circumstances in gaming for exactly that reason (MMO's being one of the foremost culprits there), but the problem with loot boxes lies in that players can pay to roll the dice instead of just having to continue playing, meaning preying upon their potential gambling addiction directly costs them money.

Revelation34 posted...

That's literally ANY loot box.

In a sense, yes. But what's being targeted are the ones that can have an actual money payout of real life money. That is what makes something gambling rather than just a game of chance.

If you spend $5 on a loot box for a chance to get that cosmetic item, you're doing a game of chance.

If you spend $5 on a loot box for a chance to get a cosmetic item and then you plan on selling that item for a gain, then that's gambling.

At least that how I read the article. If anything that has an element of chance in it is considered gambling, then if you rolled a dice right now you are gambling. That's not how gambling works.
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So, then we make it so you can't sell it to another person. That works, right?
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