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[Nilaul]

Did you know that Shadow Of War is rated 18+ in Europe and its illegal (at least in UK) to sell/give it to children.

Thanks for letting me know.

I guess a point could be made how even fully priced 18+ games deceive adults by not stating that loot boxes are essential/ highly recommend to the progression of the game. Something that should be clearly stated on the box in clear bold letters, ods should be stated on the box along with the cost of the lootboxes.

 

[RoninChaos]

Fantastic. This is definitely one of those things that's only given free reign because nobody with any responsibility knows what it is.

It bears repeating, why did Blizzard go out of their way to not reveal probabilities/loot odds in China? Legally, they were supposed to, but it was a better idea for them to find and utilize a loophole than to simply let the odds be publicized.

How is that not weird to everyone?

They did tell us. Legendaries were 11 to 1. Rare items were like 6-1.

 

[Audioboxer]

They did tell us. Legendaries were 11 to 1. Rare items were like 6-1.

Slightly off on the legendaries

Blizzard posted the breakdown on the Chinese Overwatch site. Each loot box will contain at least one rare item, guaranteed. As for epic items, those are found in one if every 5.5 loot boxes, on average.

Legendary items are the most difficult to unlock, appearing once every 13.5 loot boxes.

Important speculation though

These rates apply to the Chinese version of Overwatch. It’s not clear if or how the loot drops change from region to region — there aren’t any U.S. laws in place requiring Blizzard to give us that info.

https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/5/15558448/overwatch-loot-box-chances-china

 

[LordRaptor]

For the people defending lootboxes, the psychological trickery, the absolute lack of transparency, I've one question for you: Why.

There are plenty of things in videogames that are not transparent, and there are plenty of things that use psychology and things like heuristics and player telemetry to improve the final product.
That's not "trickery". That's skilled professionals doing their job.
Most people do not understand probabilities so I do not find it "sinister" that formulas are not always exposed.

Would exposing them be nice? Sure.
I don't think that will alleviate a single problem that the people who hate lootboxes have with lootboxes though.

What do you stand to gain from the status quo?

Uhhhhh that I live in the UK, and the UK has a long ass history of excessive censorship on "moral" grounds?
Like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles not being allowed to be ninjas, and not being allowed to use nunchuks (and Maxi in Soul Caliburs weapon of choice being altered) due to a moral crusade about ninjas in the '80s?

Most film enthusiasts are going to raise an eyebrow by at least some of the titles on this list

What is the threat, that regulation brings to you?

You mean "what is the threat that additional regulations" brings?
Because sale and content of videogames is already regulated.

You just don't think those regulations go far enough, and as I've already said in this topic, thats getting into political pressure group territory, and there are plenty of people out there that would really like to see much more stringent regulations on videogames on a wide variety of other reasons who will jump at the chance to write up some new legislation.

Why should business be exempt from regulation by the government?

Whatareyoutalkingaboutwhoareyoutalkingto.gif

Who is saying that?
Or does your moral high horse gain a couple of inches of stature by pretending the only reason anyone could possibly not think existing regulations don't go far enough are Randian objectivists sat there going "Is a man not entitled to the pixels of his videogames?"

And why personally do you feel this way?

Lootboxes are fun. Like getting rare drops in lootwhore games are fun.
Lootboxes of the type GAF apparently only just discovered exist - dropped slowly over time, bought instantly with real money, and cosmetic - are a pretty fair way of paying for a games ongoing support costs.
They're better than selling map packs.
They're better than locking player capabilities behind arbitrary grind progression systems, or behind achievements.
They're a better way of showing dedication to a game - whether by time invested or by money invested - than purely one or the other.

 

[Delusibeta]

The Government has responded.

In short, they've referred back to the Gambling Commission's report on this issue from March, and that no further action will be taken at this time.