Lootboxes and Gambling, plans for the future

We all know what this is about. Its been in the news, its on the internet, its being shouted from the rooftop. EA has taken the goose that laid golden eggs and made turducken out of it. Politicians, parents, lawyers, and gamers everywhere are furious with EA about their absolutely evil lootbox system. Quite rightly they should be as well, as they had taken an revered game series about a respected franchise and boiled it down to "Who wants to pay us so they can win more?".

Now, I love the GGG way of doing things. Free to play, and if you want to support them, you can buy some optional extras. Beautiful. The way it should be. That said, the lootboxes I can purchase from GGG, are demonstrably gambling. I can put in 30 coins, and get something worth 100, or 200, or 15, or 50. I do not have a problem with this personally, as I find you usually get more value than what you put in. The lawyers of the world though will likely not see it that way though.

I would ask GGG then, are there contingency plans for the future? Will you keep the boxes and likely cop an adults only rating in many countries, or will lootboxes be quietly removed? Perhaps even a system that allows you to buy a 100 coin item at a discount, so long as what you receive is randomized? I would ask the players, what would you like to see happen?

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Damiano777 wrote:

I can put in 30 coins, and get something worth 100, or 200, or 15, or 50.

Please tell us which MTX is worth 15 or retract that claim.

Not considered gambling if the outcome results in a net gain with every box.

Meh, I really dont care about loot boxes if they are cosmetic only. I get why they do it. It clearly attracts a certain crowd to blow their money. They eventually offer the loot box items for direct sale and they let a lot of really cool MTX go to direct sale without ever being in a loot box.

I really think you are jumping the gun on so many levels right now. You make it sounds like a) regulations on loot boxes are for sure and b) they are imminent.

The former I could see, but it will not be for a while. And I really don't think it will be a big issue for GGG if they lose them. You are falling into the trap where because right now the gaming community has a hard hate on for loot boxes they are posting every tidbit related to someone saying loot boxes are gambling. This can make you think the issue is more known/gaining traction when it isnt.

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Damiano777 wrote:

Perhaps even a system that allows you to buy a 100 coin item at a discount, so long as what you receive is randomized? I would ask the players, what would you like to see happen?

That's basically what it is now, you put in the 30 coins and you get something that is at least 30 coins.

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Sarno wrote:

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Damiano777 wrote:

I can put in 30 coins, and get something worth 100, or 200, or 15, or 50.

Please tell us which MTX is worth 15 or retract that claim.

Duplicates are worth exactly nothing to me ;). And I think in the case of portals it is even demonstrably true that they do not add value, because you can equip the same portal on multiple characters at once.

Also, some of the MTX have an effective value of zero to me, because I just will never use them (too ugly). So yeah, while it may not technically be gambling, it effectively is.

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Char1983 wrote:

So yeah, while it may not technically be gambling, it effectively is.

I hadn't claimed otherwise.

False. It is gambling. The definition of gambling is:
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome.

Doesn’t matter if its a net gain or not.

Just remove the boxes its scumbagish. Make the items available for purchase.

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TheAshmaker wrote:

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PUCivilEngineer wrote:

Not considered gambling if the outcome results in a net gain with every box.

False. It is gambling. The definition of gambling is:
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome.

Doesn’t matter if its a net gain or not.

but the outcome is certain you will always get an item of greater or equal value...

also wager means to risk something or to place a bet, players are not doing this with boxes

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TheAshmaker wrote:

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PUCivilEngineer wrote:

Not considered gambling if the outcome results in a net gain with every box.

False. It is gambling. The definition of gambling is:
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome.

Doesn’t matter if its a net gain or not.

Literally every time you post, all I can see: