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International Concern Over Loot Boxes
jcsww
Member Posts: 6,827 Arc User
in Ten Forward
"Fifteen gambling regulators from across Europe, as well as Washington State Gambling Commission, have signed an agreement to work together to address the risks created by the blurring of lines between gaming and gambling."
Although I am personally not too fond of loot boxes. They do bring a lot of money into games. I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason we have had some superb talent additions to STO are because of this extra revenue. I am not trying to start a discussion about being for or against loot boxes in the game. However, my concern is for the longevity of STO if there is a crackdown on loot boxes by countries and states.
Although I am personally not too fond of loot boxes. They do bring a lot of money into games. I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason we have had some superb talent additions to STO are because of this extra revenue. I am not trying to start a discussion about being for or against loot boxes in the game. However, my concern is for the longevity of STO if there is a crackdown on loot boxes by countries and states.
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Maybe! There are plenty of other games that use similar techniques as well in different ways to keep people playing. Personally, i think Facebook is a bigger problem and on a larger scale. The point of when is it all enough of an issue for money it makes to take second place. Australia seems to be looking at things as well with this study.
Pffftttt
this grey market legality should of been closed the moment it was discovered. it was always going to be exploited and self-regulation? EA, PWE, Blizzard and others all follow this trend where they are binging on this, they won't stop until someone forces them to stop.
regulation only works so long as the powers are real enough to put an end to it, if the regulation is ineffective then it won't work and companies will just steamroll it. soon enough this has to be addressed with actual powers and no amount of holding actions will change that.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
"... showing the odds (which are pretty good compared to other games) ... "
Lock box ships are 1 in 250 and you also get the 4 lobi; R & D packs are 1 in 100 and you get the 10 lobi.
If you open 250 or 100 you only have a 2 out of 3 chance of getting 1 (or more) of the jackpot ship, but you'll at least get the lobi ship,
Of course the smart thing to do is sell keys or packs for EC and buy the ship you want from the exchange for a 100% chance of success.
£1.700 worth of keys and 1 ship won.
Ouch. If you've really only gotten 1 ship out of 1,000 boxes you've beaten incredible odds in the worst way. The expected return for that many is roughly 4 ships, where some people will get more, some less.
Of course we did tell you over and over in the forums not to open boxes, but for some people the gambler's rush is its own form of entertainment.
Overall, the things I've gotten and sold on the exchange, plus the exchange value of the things I've gotten but kept for my own use is definitely higher than what I would have spent on keys buying them off the exchange. granted, not by a huge amount but still, if you use say 200M ec worth of keys to open boxes and end up with 100M ec worth of gear that you like and use, another 150M ec worth of gear you sold on the exchange, plus a bunch of lobi and a bunch of "meh" stuff, not much of a gamble in my mind.
Certainly the summer, winter and anniversary tokens for lobi needs nailed down to a specific number not the random pittance they currently have.
They may also have to tighten up or alter the chance of a chance prizes such as the cosmetic shields which are buried in the weapon crates. Ideally those cosmetics would be shifted into the store and just sold as is without the gambling aspect.
Advertising every time someone wins a top prize may also have to go. While its true the spam can be removed on PC but not an option for console.
In the case of STO, the fact we ALWAYS get something, such as Lobi, and the fact that we cannot sell these items to others for real world money, will be in STO's favor. Not only that... the ONLY thing that is required is that initial key purchase. Everything other than the Lobi can be put on the Exchange for others who do not open lockboxes to purchase with in game currency.
For Team Fortress 2... its the fact that pretty much everything in their crates can be obtained in one of four ways.
The ONLY thing that you're gunning for in a crate would be an Unusual quality item, that has no stat bonuses and just some fancy cosmetic effect, or a Strange quality, that tracks kills and has no stat bonuses. Hell... you can still play with stock gear and win.
Its games that put items that are pretty much required to stay competative into these boxes that push it. Battlefront 2 was a prime example. Thank you EA Greed.
Done right, a lockbox system is a good source of income. Done wrong... its a problem. STO is actually doing it right. Sure the big shiny is nice to have... but its not required.
Do you absolutely, positively, MUST, WITHOUT QUESTION, have the Astika for the Supremacy trait to be able to do any content in the game? Nope. Its a nice little boost... but not required.
The only time these things are considered required is by a player driven meta. Not the actual content itself.
i'd rather they just make the booby prizes you get in lockboxes convertible to lobi, like ESO does with their lobi equivalent
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Guess we better ban Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, sporting events, video games, movies, TV shows, the internet, and politics since they are all addictive. The only acceptable hobby is watching paint dry to avoid any form of addiction.
Nope. Paint is a chemical compound, and clearly addictive. Ban that too.
But then, I have control of my credit cards, as long as I don't get inside one of those Hallmark Stores...
Uh...they aren't planning on closing all those Hallmark Stores are they?
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
So I guess the only acceptable hobby is staring at a cave wall after removing all forms of technology and relying on a diet of moss since hunting animals and eating tasty food is addictive.
That is delusional to think so and I really hope the Devs have a backup plan up their sleeves for the time after the lootbox.
All this "they are fine, they cannot cash out" talk is based on laws post digital age. The current lawmakers care essentially for the addictive effect and that kid have the option to spend real money to get their gamble rush and are willing to change the laws to accommodate this. So even if their weasel out of that in this phase they will have to face a next one.
Its either that or RL casinos can now allow minors as long as they cannot cash out but get toys as their prices.
Gambling is an addiction. Lootboxes foster that addiction and take money while doing so; regardless of cash-out or not. Unregulated and open to minors. And that is why they constantly smack down on them.
Yes, STOs lootbox is harmless in comparison. But its still a lootbox and the keys to it are tied to RL cash. And if the devs operate with the stern believe that they wont get regulated along with the others they are gambling themselves big time with STOs future. Because when the laws roll out you wont have an STO extra clause; they will all get swapped under one rug.
Virtual items have no value and it all belongs to PWE anyway. if i'm brutally honest you are actually throwing money away on what is essentially a blackhole on a rented account which you do not own. there is no value to any of these infernal lootboxes and there never has been.
Look up Terms of Service 5.1 and 24.2.
PWE hold the rights to everything on their services.
Zen has no value. that means everything you get from the zen store including lootbox keys are just as worthless.
You don't actually get anything in the end, you just lose money on a system designed and gamed by Cryptic and when it is time to pack it all up, your accounts will be wiped no matter how much effort you spent on it, PWE has that right to do what they like with that account, and they walk away with all your money.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Spent probably £300 on keys and Promo boxes and won at least 7 or 8. Buy Zen cheap and Keys on sale. But I'm lucky.
That would make lock boxes more attractive to me. The vendor trash doesn't really do it and since that is what you are almost guaranteed to get out of them. Something like 100 mark of your choice, 500,000 EC, 20 Lobi per box minimum, epic gear upgrades, and so on. That way, even if I am not interested in the ship, there is a choice of something else I more than likely need to encourage me to spend some money.
I think there is a fine line between encouraging gambling and allowing a person to make their own decisions.
Hopefully a solution can be found that will help those who spend uncontrollably whilst still allowing 'freemium' games to continue.
Actually forgot about the need to change how much junk padding they pile into the boxes. Most of which needs to be stripped out for being worthless.
Last game I dropped currency on gambleboxes for was POE because the boxes were dropping extra stash tabs as one of the consolation prizes. I've had a few junk things like the fireworks I never remember about but the cosmetics are well made and I didn't mind dropping the points on them because the boxes were cheap and I've never felt the obligation to pay for a great game.
Something most F2P's don't seem to grasp as they push the store first and quality of gameplay second.
A firm age restriction would essentially be a ban, because it would not be feasible for them to verify the age of everyone buying keys in an online game.
My character Tsin'xing
Is that a problem, or just the nature of many laws.
Speed regulation for example - sure, you also protect other people, but you also protect the driver. And the driver is the only one to be guaranteed involved in an accident due to his excessive speed.
If you have a family, one member of the family going into debt from gambling of any sort will also hurt the other members of that family.