RzrTrek:

As much as I want loot boxes and gambling elements to go, it's sad that it had to be put into law and banned. We should have been louder 5 years ago instead of handing the keys over to our self entitled politicians who have a much darker agenda. Now they get the fame and can portray as the heroes (which they clearly aren't) but now that it's done I do believe there's room for some celebration.

I see what you're saying but there's no other alternative. We could sign petitions and make Reddit posts about boycotting and it wouldn't have done anything at all. Even if you yourself devoted your whole life to getting games to stop using gambling methods without having laws be put in place, you wouldn't succeed, and I don't mean that as any offense toward you. Those who exploit others will never stop doing what they do until they are forced to stop. The whole reason governments exist in the first place is to put order to things for the sake of its citizens. Otherwise, you have anarchy. So that being said, Belgium's government is working just fine and served a law in their people's favor. Not every politician is a corrupt greedy asshole. Sure, a lot of them are, but many of them have their job because they legitimately care about making the country they serve a better place.

Let's not forget where this loot box idea came from - mobile games. The entire app store, both iOS and Android, is a cesspool of loot boxes (mobile games originally started out like PC games, using the pay-to-play model, but quickly devolved into loot boxes as devs found it more profitable). I consider it an example of what a free-market approach to gaming would look like, where devs chase the biggest pot of gold. The whales, the richest 1% of gamers, ruined it for the rest of us by paying to win, and mobile games today are little more than match-3 casinos where you buy power-ups to win. The state of mobile gaming is a constant reminder of what can happen when the rich and powerful have their way - they will rig it so that they have the overwhelming advantage. Frankly, it's a testament to the power of PC gamers that this model hasn't consumed the PC gaming market (yet). If developers (and the whales) had their way, then all PC games would use pay-to-win loot boxes, where the richest gamers pay their way to the top. Forget about skill and dedication - money is the only thing that matters and the richest players always win. IMO, a free-market approach will not stop loot boxes. Downvoting on reddit and publicly shaming companies won't stop them (it will only stall them) and the only real solution is government intervention. As with Belgium, governments need to step in and stop the free market from having its way.

Exactly, I think Japanese gacha in mobile phones (pre-smartphone) games was first loot boxes. People spent like $100 at start of each month as their mobile payment cap was lift. Good thing is, mobile carriers had a cap, so person couldn't spend more than $300 back in a days. Credit cards and other payment solution took care of that cap pretty fast.

F**k lootboxes and f**k encouraging children to gamble

It's a tough one because "They" can actually do loot boxes in a right way and a wrong way. I'm guilty of buying keys in Rocket League to open the free loot boxes and it can become pretty addictive. At least with Psyonix some of that money goes to actual college funds and competitive prize money to help eSports. Again though it's all 100% cosmetic with RL so no advantages gained. Even after saying that though there's a problem with the actual drop chances in those loot boxes but there's a work around of sorts because you might be able to trade for what you want and even a way to buy any item you want. I just find it risky to use 3rd party sites to buy those said items which are cheap enough but are they trust worthy with my CC details. Psyonix has a store and could easily add items like decals and rare cars gained atm only through boxes.

Reddoguk:

I'm guilty of buying keys in Rocket League to open the free loot boxes and it can become pretty addictive. At least with Psyonix some of that money goes to actual college funds and competitive prize money to help eSports.

Can't you directly donate to help eSports? Why only donate a small percent, when you can give all 100% of your donations where they belong. Easy, cut a man in a middle. Where only right way loot boxes work is 100% free of charge and guaranteed to drop within progress or time. PERIOD.

https://media.giphy.com/media/FA77mwaxV74SA/giphy.gif "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction." Issac Newton.

D3M1G0D:

Let's not forget where this loot box idea came from - mobile games.

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