SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
I've shunned all games that include loot boxes, pay-to-win, etc. for quite some time. It used to be that just meant not playing mobile games or the few MMORPGS (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) that consumed your life. I have recently taken to playing Gwent and Hearthstone some, but I've about given up on Hearthstone. There is some interesting content to be sure, but Hearthstone more so than Gwent seems to be very much pay-to-win. I've spent a grand total of $5 on the starter pack for Gwent, because after 10-20 hours worth of play I found I was having quite a bit of fun. I can actually win games against other people in Gwent. As for Hearthstone — it seems that no matter how I play there was no way I was going to win, because I don't have good enough cards.
With the massive user base of mobile platforms, it's not hard to believe that there's a lot of money rolling around. I just wish that mobile gaming wasn't by and large like playing in a Casino. Except, with mobile gaming, there's no chance of a payout.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/05/mobile-platforms-now-account-for-more-than-half-of-all-game-spending
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/05/despite-backlash-loot-boxes-could-be-essential-to-gamings-future
(Score: 2) by arcz on Thursday May 03 2018, @03:16PM (2 children)
There's nothing wrong with random ingame rewards. At least in the USA, in general, the government doesn't have the authority to regulate game mechanics (this is considered a speech restriction under constitutional law). If I charge a monthly fee to play the game I can put as much random loot drops in the game as I want.
Not every incidence of chance is gambling. When you buy a TCG card pack, you are not "gambling" because the money always flows in one direction and the only way to make profit is by reselling cards to other players.
To accept the logic that a random reward item for fixed price is "gambling" you must ban: Toy boxes that contain a randomly colored toy, because some colors might be more valuable than others. Random happy meal toys. TCG sales. All microprocessor sales, because microprocessor manufacturing inherently results in random defects and some processors can reach higher frequencies than others and hence are more valuable. Rocks, because some rocks might contain gemstones and thus the value of a rock is random. etc. It becomes absurd really fast.
TL;DR: Loot boxes are not gambling, because you cannot make money off them directly. Randomness is not the only requirement for gambling.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by arcz on Thursday May 03 2018, @03:25PM
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Thursday May 03 2018, @06:48PM
> Loot boxes are not gambling, because you cannot make money off them directly.
You can though. Selling accounts that have accumulated X rare loot is mundane in the 21st century, to say nothing of the many games with integrated marketplaces or trade functionality.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!