Loot Box Regulation Bill Introduced by Washington Senator

[suicidalfranco]

good hopefully it passes and forces publishers to completely ditch this game mechanic

<wishful thinking>

and go back to expansions

</wishful thinking>

[BachChain]

1 hour ago, Princess Cadence said:

Well you get something but if this something is worthless isn't it the same as not getting anything? like invest 100 dollars in CS:GO Keys and end up with just skins worth the penny? You still lost every thing.

The value of skins are subjective, whereas you can directly compare the money you put into a casino to what you get out.

[Princess Luna]

1 minute ago, BachChain said:

The value of skins are subjective, whereas you can directly compare the money you put into a casino to what you get out.

 

[DarkBlade2117]

The moment I am forced to buy DLC to be able to enjoy game mechanics after paying $30-$60 for a game, some of these DLC offering only a quarter of what the base game included but cost the same price is the moment I'll not buy the game. Any game that released with Day 1 season passes I refuse to buy. Maybe it's not as bad for people with money but for many, it's not. It also splits the communities. BF1 is a big example of this. I much support the whales. I think anyone here who thinks some 14 year old has hundreds of dollars to spend on games and loot boxes a month must be blind. And any parent that doesn't know that their kid is doing this are in my eyes just at fault. If some 22 year old wants to spend his extra $300 a month on cosmetics, let them. Even though this is pure speculation but more peoples lives are ruined by drugs, alcohol and other addictions. My Mother spends more money on cigarettes a month than I could/would ever spend on loot boxes/keys. I think most people here think every other kid who plays CS:GO is going to gambling sites, begging their parents to open boxes and more. But they aren't. And as I stated before, any kid who can even spend $100's a month on these boxes though it is shitty that companies want to take advantage of them it is more shitty that parents do not know of this. 
Also. Let me state, a lot of people shit on OW for loot boxes. I don't think many of you actually know how the system work. Is it perfect? Not entirely but it is one of the best ways to do it. You can get 3 boxes a week from them via winning 9 arcade games. Every time you level up you get one. Every event, an event box is given. In events you don't get duplicate event items. In normal boxes the amount of duplicates has been tuned down a lot. You get a loot box in OW and you can open it, no key is needed. Their is no market for OW skins. You don't get a legendary and go see how much it is worth on some market, you get a legendary and either equip it or just ignore it. On top of that, Blizzard has Parental controls. It is quite easy to block any access to purchasing the boxes.

 

EDIT: Also, unless Steam forces me to provide a photo ID, this is about as much as they can do to make sure I'm 21. Even if they ask for a credit/debit card most parents who want their children to have a job allow them to have one. Even with making me upload a photo ID it, it isn't incredibly hard to fake one for showing it online.

[DarkBlade2117]

16 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

good hopefully it passes and forces publishers to completely ditch this game mechanic

<wishful thinking>

and go back to expansions

</wishful thinking>

And split the communities? You think if the loot boxes are abandoned that free DLCs for games like PUBG, Rocket League, OW will continue to be free? So if you don't support loot boxes, you rather have to spend $60-$100+ on DLCs a year rather than dealing with being able to get some cosmetic items and not needing to spend a penny?

[suicidalfranco]

5 minutes ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

And split the communities? You think if the loot boxes are abandoned that free DLCs for games like PUBG, Rocket League, OW will continue to be free? So if you don't support loot boxes, you rather have to spend $60-$100+ on DLCs a year rather than dealing with being able to get some cosmetic items and not needing to spend a penny?

I said expansions, not DLCs. Two completely different things.

Communities getting split: I don't give a fuck. That only matters on multiplayer online games, and those i don't give a fuck about.

Meanwhile warframe, path of exile, dauntless, monster hunter world are able to live and keep releasing content without lootboxes or DLCs, without spitting in the face of their playerbase, without praying on kids.

I more than positive that whales will be happier with direct item purchases than this russian roulette where all odds are stacked against you.

[Princess Luna]

11 minutes ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

you rather have to spend $60-$100+ on DLCs a year rather than dealing with being able to get some cosmetic items and not needing to spend a penny?

Depends the DLC, for instance if publishers went back to the old style where the DLC or rather saying the expansion pack as it was popular called back then, was almost a new game on its own right then yes, like VALVe released Half-Life 1 expansions that were full games on its own right, same with Activision releasing the Call of Duty 1 Allied Assault Expansion Pack which had even more missions than the original game which was already plentyful.

 

A few still does this by today like CD Projekt did with The Witcher 3 where the expansions are worth every bit... so if it was to work like that certainly wouldn't mind paying for it... I also don't mind cosmetic items, people should just know when to stop, I got myself a butterfly knife in cs:go and ever spent another dime on it, already enough for the appealing effect.

[CTR640]

2 hours ago, BachChain said:

As much as I hate loot boxes, I can't see them being classified as gambling, since you always get *something*.

I see the loot boxes as gambling. Those gambling machines will also get you something: all same fruit or different and random fruit.

So you get *something* too at the gambling machines for example.

 

You can thank the greedy companies for pushing loot boxes way too far, the gov/senator has to step in.

[suicidalfranco]

2 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

I also don't mind cosmetic items, people should just know when to stop, I got myself a butterfly knife in cs:go and ever spent another dime on it, already enough for the appealing effect.

as someone who has spent 60$ for a demon armor set, that brings nothing to the game other than making you look like something that came straight out of oblivion, in path of exile, i dont mind it either, when it's fair, when you

<example>

don't get it break in 10 pieces, each piece with a drop rate of 0.01%, and only obtainable in 5$ boxes that include hundreds more items in their draw pool most of it being dominated by pebble stones  that have a drop rate of 70% to decorate your hideout.

</example>

shit, even spent 40$ on warframe to buy all color palettes, picked one at a time on a monthly basis till i owned them all, just so i could make a 50 shades of pink Nova frame. Digital extreme could have gone they way of Destiny and made each single color, not palette of colours, one colour, obtainable as a random drop in a box just so they can maximise their profits as much as possible. But they didn't. And now look where they are and where Bungie is.

[DarkBlade2117]

1 hour ago, suicidalfranco said:

as someone who has spent 60$ for a demon armor set, that brings nothing to the game other than making you look like something that came straight out of oblivion, in path of exile, i dont mind it either, when it's fair, when you

<example>

don't get it break in 10 pieces, each piece with a drop rate of 0.01%, and only obtainable in 5$ boxes that include hundreds more items in their draw pool most of it being dominated by pebble stones  that have a drop rate of 70% to decorate your hideout.

</example>

shit, even spent 40$ on warframe to buy all color palettes, picked one at a time on a monthly basis till i owned them all, just so i could make a 50 shades of pink Nova frame. Digital extreme could have gone they way of Destiny and made each single color, not palette of colours, one colour, obtainable as a random drop in a box just so they can maximise their profits as much as possible. But they didn't. And now look where they are and where Bungie is.

Honestly. I spent $18 on cosmetics. Most of these items, actually I think all of them were less than $2. Less than the key itself. Some of the most rare items are already less than $10 and in 2 months the super rare items will all be less than $20.

[OmJo93]

4 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

Nope. Not gonna happen. At least not with only 1 state doing this.

 

If all 50 states do this then yes something might be worked out.

Are video game developers willing to risk this turning into a domino effect?

[CostcoSamples]

Typical.  Government officials just can't keep their greedy paws off anything cool or interesting.  That's a nice little game feature you got there, it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it...  

[Daegun]

41 minutes ago, CostcoSamples said:

Typical.  Government officials just can't keep their greedy paws off anything cool or interesting.  That's a nice little game feature you got there, it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it...  

Cool? Interesting? This 'nice little game feature' is probably the most hated mechanic added to games in recent memory.

[CostcoSamples]

1 minute ago, Daegun said:

Cool? Interesting? This 'nice little game feature' is probably the most hated mechanic added to games in recent memory.

Fine, I'll grant you that point.  But what does it have to do with the government?  What legitimate role could government possibly play here?  Should they now be responsible to regulate video game content production?  In so doing we would find prices skyrocket, quality diminish, innovation stifled. 

[Daegun]

2 minutes ago, CostcoSamples said:

Fine, I'll grant you that point.  But what does it have to do with the government?  What legitimate role could government possibly play here?  Should they now be responsible to regulate video game content production?  In so doing we would find prices skyrocket, quality diminish, innovation stifled. 

I don't disagree that this is something that the government really shouldn't be getting into, at least not at this point. I just don't want people to think that the types of lootboxes that started this (Battlefront 2 style, not Overwatch) are something that's good or even acceptable.

[CostcoSamples]

1 minute ago, Daegun said:

I don't disagree that this is something that the government really shouldn't be getting into, at least not at this point. I just don't want people to think that the types of lootboxes that started this (Battlefront 2 style, not Overwatch) are something that's good or even acceptable.

I'm definitely with you on that.  Loot boxes are the worst and the trend can't die fast enough!  

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Seefer said:

Gonna crack down on trading card games too? Do you know what this crap would mean to those industries? Not to mention any other game of chance that kids play?

Trading cards isn't gambling. This is.

[Drak3]

Just now, RorzNZ said:

Trading cards isn't gambling. This is.

They literally only differ in one way: physicality.

[Seefer]

12 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

They literally only differ in one way: physicality.

This.........and physical trading cards have a monetary value on them as you can sell them or trade them so it makes it WORSE

[Seefer]

4 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

good hopefully it passes and forces publishers to completely ditch this game mechanic

<wishful thinking>

and go back to expansions

</wishful thinking>

I'd rather pay for loot boxes if and when I want to in order to get cosmetic crap and get heroes and maps for free (I play OW) than have to pay out the butt for the cost of expansions in order to get heroes and maps in order to play with friends.

 

Parents just need to learn to say no and adults need to learn self control, end of story.

[suicidalfranco]

7 minutes ago, Seefer said:

I'd rather pay for loot boxes if and when I want to in order to get cosmetic crap and get heroes and maps for free (I play OW) than have to pay out the butt for the cost of expansions in order to get heroes and maps in order to play with friends.

 

Parents just need to learn to say no and adults need to learn self control, end of story.

i'd rather pay for an expansion than play russian roulette where items have a 0,01% drop rate

if they want to add cosmetic i'd rather have the option to directly buy the skin i want that playing russian roulette where it or parts of it have a 0.01% chance of dropping

 

the sooner they apply the ban for minors the better, flush away the shit i say

[mr moose]

How did this go from an investigation into loot boxes to being about bad parents?    I swear some of you must have really bad parents if you think parents are responsible for everything going on these days.    You know they said the same thing back in the 90's, they blamed ADHD on parents, in the 80's it was parents who let their kids listen to heavy metal and before that in the 70's and 60's and they blamed rock n roll and the hippy movement on poor parenting too.

 

Welcome to life, In life when someone doesn't like something they organise a movement against it, those who disagree miss out.  Sometimes it's valuable to society and sometimes it's not.  Everyone is misguided about something at some point so it's best not to throw to big of a stone in case you drop it on your foot.

 

 

 

 

[ravenshrike]

Again, none of this would have been a problem had certain games in question been properly rated AO by the ESRB. The entire purpose of the ESRB, like the MPAA, was to avoid govt. regulation. They failed badly at their jobs.

[Seefer]

1 hour ago, mr moose said:

I swear some of you must have really bad parents if you think parents are responsible for everything going on these days. 

 

Welcome to life

 

 

 

Parents can say no to using their credit card, what? Do you think a kid is going to grab a credit card from their parents without asking or if they do they won't get punished severely? Sorry but that IS on the parents and parents are also there to guide kids, my mother when I was growing up taught me respect, right and wrong and consequences, somewhere that all got lost.

 

So if the parents don't say no to them buying loot boxes it IS on them.

[Seefer]

1 hour ago, suicidalfranco said:

i'd rather pay for an expansion than play russian roulette where items have a 0,01% drop rate

if they want to add cosmetic i'd rather have the option to directly buy the skin i want that playing russian roulette where it or parts of it have a 0.01% chance of dropping

 

the sooner they apply the ban for minors the better, flush away the shit i say

Sorry I don't like being FORCED to pay to play with my friends, I'd rather have the option of paying for a loot box, would I prefer to buy skins individually? Sure, but it's not like I can't earn loot boxes by playing the game (again I only know about Overwatch).