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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday November 23 2017, @04:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the microtransaction-fail dept.

Video game gambling schemes known as "loot boxes" or "loot crates" could be banned or restricted by regulators:

We learned last week that Belgium's gambling authority was investigating loot crates in Star Wars Battlefront II over concerns that they constitute gambling. Now, the decision is in, and the answer is a resounding yes, according to Dutch-language publication VTM Nieuws. The commission claims that purchasable add-on boxes, the contents of which are randomized, mix "money and addiction" and thus are a form of gambling.

Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens added: "Mixing gambling and gaming, especially at a young age, is dangerous for the mental health of the child." The commission will now reportedly work through the European Union's process to execute a total ban. We've reached out to Belgium's Gaming Commission for more details on its next steps and the legal implications of the ruling.

The country isn't alone in its stance on loot boxes. Just hours ago, Rep. Chris Lee (D) from Hawaii denounced EA's "predatory behavior" in a speech uploaded to YouTube (first spotted by Kotaku). In the clip, Lee also talks of the detrimental affect micro-transactions have on children, with specific reference to Battlefront II, which he describes as a a "Star Wars-themed online casino, designed to lure kids into spending money".

What Are Loot Boxes? Gaming's Big New Problem, Explained

Press 'F' to pay respects.

Related: Why Call of Duty WW2 Bosses Won't 'Shy Away' from History
Star Wars Game in U-Turn After Player Anger


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  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Friday November 24 2017, @02:55PM (5 children)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Friday November 24 2017, @02:55PM (#601045) Journal

    However, gambling at any age is controlled by many countries with varying degrees of effectiveness.

    That doesn't make it right. Lots of countries have bad laws. The vast majority of laws that interfere with personal or consensual choice are profoundly wrongheaded.

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  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by janrinok on Friday November 24 2017, @06:31PM (4 children)

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 24 2017, @06:31PM (#601097) Journal

    Are you really suggesting that encouraging children to gamble is a good idea? I'll have to disagree with you if that is what you believe.

    • (Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Saturday November 25 2017, @12:27AM (2 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 25 2017, @12:27AM (#601200) Journal

      Are you really suggesting that encouraging children to gamble is a good idea? I'll have to disagree with you if that is what you believe.

      I disagree. When is the best time to learn that the house always wins? Younger is better when it comes to that.

      • (Score: 2, Disagree) by janrinok on Saturday November 25 2017, @05:46AM (1 child)

        by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 25 2017, @05:46AM (#601267) Journal

        Using your logic, we should also ensure that we inject our children with cocaine, just so that they learn that drug addiction is a thing to be avoided. Oh yes, and also put their hand into boiling water so that they can learn the scalding flesh is very painful.and leaves permanently scarred tissue. I genuinely hope that you are not responsible for raising any children.

        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Saturday November 25 2017, @07:05AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 25 2017, @07:05AM (#601287) Journal

          Using your logic, we should also ensure that we inject our children with cocaine, just so that they learn that drug addiction is a thing to be avoided.

          Or shoot themselves in the head to learn that shooting people in the head is bad? Or nuke a city to show that nuking cities is bad? Sure, that doesn't sound so hot.

          I think here the harm isn't significant for video games. It's a cheap way to learn and certainly far more effective than hoping they stumble across the lesson without too much pain at some later date.

    • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Saturday November 25 2017, @09:17PM

      by fyngyrz (6567) on Saturday November 25 2017, @09:17PM (#601501) Journal

      Are you really suggesting that encouraging children to gamble is a good idea? I'll have to disagree with you if that is what you believe.

      No. I'm saying (not suggesting) that laws that constrain informed, personal or consensual choice are an incredibly bad idea.

      You have kids? That makes you a parent. That means you have a job to do. One that is centered about the meaning of "informed." That job is not see that the government puts your kids into a box where breaching the walls thereof drops them into the arrested-and-convicted-can't-get-a-decent-job level of citizenship. That job is teaching your children how the world works, said task (obviously) including a thorough inculcation of the nature of security, risk and reward. If you don't do that job, it's not that gambling sucks, it's that you suck.

      Do your job. Don't try to make (or more precisely, allow) the government do it for you – because they suck at that. In (allegedly) trying to do good, they do huge, huge harm. most gambling laws are classic poster children for those very failings. The vast majority of them should be flushed down the figurative toilet, because they are the legislative equivalent of purest shit.

      Outside of that, any game of chance and most life decisions both involve gambling. It is the stakes that differ.