MP's discuss banning Loot Boxes in online games.

[dunover]

MP's are likely to decide that 'Loot Boxes' available to children are in fact a disguised form of online gambling. They want them only to be available to age-verified players and allege game producers have been evasive when it comes to the psychology of the rewards structures.

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[Kroffe]

MP's are likely to decide that 'Loot Boxes' available to children are in fact a disguised form of online gambling. They want them only to be available to age-verified players and allege game producers have been evasive when it comes to the psychology of the rewards structures.

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But its not loot boxes, its a "Suprise mechanic"
Atleast that what EA calls them.

Loot boxes might be one of the worst things to ever make its way into games.
"Here, why dont you pay €1.99 a pop for lootboxes to unlock all the features in our full-priced game."

 

[goatwack]

Ban this sick filth!

But once MPs and The Guardian have worn themselves out with their outrage, companies like EA et al will just find other ways of monetizing their IPs.

Good luck stopping EA (think of them as the BTG of video games) making kids spend tons on superficial in-game content. They will find a way

 

[News Hound]

We covered this, this morning on Casino Gazette earlier today FWIW. Will be covered later on CM News.

 

[mack341]

This kind of predatory fleecing would've killed the industry in previous decades, but it seems with the pester power of children and parents not wanting little johnny to miss out like they did, [ having to wear 4 stripe woolworth 'adidas' trainers comes to my mind ] it's going to carry on.

I would've thought the progressive swedes might be one of the first countries to try and challenge this practice but it's good old blighty trying to lead the way.

I wonder what the share price of EA is and whether it flinched on this announcement/proposal...

edit: at the foot of the article " Sweden is also investigating them. " so things are afoot in our nordic brother's kingdom

 

[lotusch]

MP's are likely to decide that 'Loot Boxes' available to children are in fact a disguised form of online gambling. They want them only to be available to age-verified players and allege game producers have been evasive when it comes to the psychology of the rewards structures.

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Yeah heard it on the radio this morning on the BBC news.
Shocking really.
I mean loot boxes are commonly used in games and contain rewards for achievements of completed quests for example.

Unless they mean loot boxes that you have to purchase in free to play games like the social games on Facebook or Google Play.
That is a different story.

 

[goatwack]

Yeah heard it on the radio this morning on the BBC news.
Shocking really.
I mean loot boxes are commonly used in games and contain rewards for achievements of completed quests for example.

Unless they mean loot boxes that you have to purchase in free to play games like the social games on Facebook or Google Play.
That is a different story.

It's definitely the latter. The 'evil' version of loot boxes

That would also include sub-games like in FIFA, where there's a card collecting element called 'FIFA Ultimate Team' (I think)

Players purchase card packs blind, all to get better players or star cards. It's a far cry from collecting my Mexico '86 Panini stickers back in the day

 

[News Hound]

Finally covered here: Loot Boxes Should be Banned say MPs

 

[Ace864]

I wish that the BBC raised this issue when I was a kid. Surprisingly, we didn’t even notice that we have problems like that. My parents used to buy us cards and other things related to gambling. Our dad taught us how to play poker, and we used to play it with our classmates. I even made some extra pocket money on that game. Only now I realised, that playing poker or gambling is the only possible way for me to reduce stress after a long working hours. Now, I try to reduce the gambling time, and find new ways to relax. Still, sometimes I gamble on **spam** It’s hard for me to quit completely, and I have no idea what I can do about it.