The Year Of The Loot Box (The Jimquisition)

[@ince55ant]

Give publishers an inch and they'll take the very concept of distance

[@YTDeepshock]

And the piss. The entire concept of piss distance.

[@h0verman]

give publishers an inch and they'll take four dimensions of physical, observable, conceptual, imaginary, and euclidean space

[@h0verman]

i'm using social media

[@Reverendshot777]

The Boss People can't let the joke be the joke. They have to try and one up it and believe they will be the funnier one.

[@zoltanz288]

Rad McCool Devs are just as guilty.

[@Amadourrr]

cheating back then in games: -opens console command -type cheat -press enter cheating in games now: -opens wallet -types credit's card number -re-evaluate your meaning on this planet....

[@EmilyRose900]

Try telling young gamers about that. They'll shout out every BS excuse verbatim as the publishers and devs have tried to use. Pointing out how shitty their gaming childhood will be in comparison to yours really gets them wound up, which I find to be hilarious.

[@Ganon007]

That's exactly what it is. Paying for cheat codes. How sad...

[@bjornsteelside]

up up down down left right a b credit card number

[@All4Tanuki]

at least amiibos are pretty cheap to fake

[@danceswithmetroids162]

Hell dude, I remember back in the day when cheat codes were just that. A secret combination of button presses that has a special effect, or grants abilities and content. And you didn't have to pay for it. You could put in a string of button inputs and fly your fucking car in San Andreas, but if that came out now it would be $1.99 for the "Car Ability Loot Box" or some shit. Fuck.

[@Haltung]

Thank god for Jim Sterling.

[@southpark36]

"I'll stop talking about game industry bollocks when the game industry stops fucking doing it, alright?" This is why we need Jim Fucking Sterling, son.

[@capthavic]

Activision Blizzard: "I'm innocent!" Judge Dredd: "I knew you'd say that."

[@jacobraphael3995]

capthavic don’t you mean Judge Jim?

[@stimulanttree]

"Ten years in the Iso-cubes."

[@mrskwid1]

Jacob Raphael beat me to it

[@Possiblekim]

Ranked in Wood League 10 years...ONLY!!!???

[@fullmetalarshole]

capthavic Jydge Drydd

[@TheBrokensaintvxvx]

My nephew got star wars Battlefront II for his 13th birthday. When I explained to his father about the gambling aspect placed into the game, and my nephew overheard, my nephew became excited and was ready to spend his $100 birthday money on the game itself instead of better more fair games I have talked with him about. My nephew was more excited over lootboxes than the rewards available or the game itself. This is what the AAA industry wants.

[@holamoco]

Adam Fletcher It's fucked up.

[@lunarnocturne]

Adam Fletcher Dude, convince your nephew's dad to take the game away from him until he knows better. If he was real excited to spend money on gambling on lootboxes, that could be the start of a potential gambling addiction

[@AxelAlexK]

very sad story. I feel bad for kids these days. They see this as normal. The big companies have won in conditioning newer generations.

[@BigBossIvan]

Wow. That’s a future wage slave in the making right there. Sorry to hear that...

[@ehoffart529]

Adam Fletcher I miss the ps1 and original xbox days. The most we ever had to buy besides the game was halo maps on a disc.

[@JackIsMe1993]

Oh, I’m afraid the loot box system will be quite operational when your friends arrive.

[@AmaranthOriginal]

So do we become Jedi by throwing down our credit cards?

[@a.mostert800]

*Taps lootbox* Ah. You want this, don't you?

[@theguywhowentthere3346]

You, like your wallet, are now, mine!

[@darkblood626]

Amaranth- Yes actually. Most of the heroes are locked behind excessive grind walls that can be circumvented by buying loot boxes

[@uchihasilver8362]

"games are too expensive to make" yet the film industry pays out way more to make a film but yet still charges less . . . hmmmm

[@hentkovind9018]

Heh, yep, and they sign a contract which states the show must go on, even when there's nobody in the theatre. LOL. Their loss. Chin up.

[@DATskorge]

Uchiha Silver could you imagine mario question mark boxes with random loot, makes me sick

[@GundamGokuTV]

Colin Froese im sorry COD is a yearly Frachise that they barely change. Most large blockbuster films can cost 100 million dollars to make then you add advertising and everything else. AAA Games cost generally in the single digit millions to make plus advertising the cost ends up being way smaller then films. Unless your FF15 and in development for a decade I think you're not getting close to 100 million on a single games development.

[@cooldudeachyut]

I guess there are more people only watching movies than people playing games, who usually also watch movies.

[@xxxswoopxxx9673]

Colin Froese its not our fault these cunts decide to spend more on advertising and marketing than they do on the actual fucking game.

[@beybladerocks7]

EA now owns the most downvoted comment on reddit for locking darth vader behind a paywall

[@Armoured.Goomba]

Kyle Williams good 😊

[@sugoiuseismoeabuse4058]

In a way that's impressive.

[@h0verman]

* takes of glasses * how many downvotes

[@h0verman]

dear god

[@sugoiuseismoeabuse4058]

If they keep this up they can use it as a tagline "EA - We put the 'In' in Infamy"

[@sunbro6998]

Konami has figured it out .... if they don't make videogames .... Jim can't criticize them.

[@kwazhims3lf]

thank god i stopped giving a shit after MGS 3 missed the whole shitstorm, instead i kinda had fun just watching everyone lose their shit over PT and metal gear good riddance

[@PlasticComplex]

Another genius move.

[@clownavenger0]

Can't wait for bloodstained. We are lucky that Konami's best game devs have left them to make more games for us to enjoy.

[@KaiserAfini]

Sun bro If they sold their IPs, they could retire in gold and diamond castles with every luxury known to men and boglins. But they don't, silly, aren't they ?

[@AkalaTanara]

Yes he can, they just have to fuck up something related to their video games, perhaps another pachinko machine?

[@Espenino]

Monster Hunter: World won’t have loot boxes - devs don’t want players to “skip the experience. saw this comment another place, and though it was nice to hear devs speak against it.

[@Sandity]

Espenino Dauntless wont have them either. And that game is free. If your game is paid to play its EXPECTED that you dont have f2p bullshit in your games. I paid your 60 dollar tag. Dont let the free games look better then your paid experience. It should be the other way around. But free games are much much more alluring as you have alot less to lose and in paid games you have your initial price and whatever else you paid for after. Like wtf. Give me a solid experience of a game and ill reward you with money. Your far less likely to get my money if i feel you game sucks and your trying to get my money with greedy tactics without making a good and polished experience. Lootboxes can be done right and have so in the past but when they are overpriced and take forever to grind for to get anything of any real value it gets abit underwhelming and doesnt leave a good taste in my mouth or give me real reason to grind in the hopes of maybe just maybe getting something worth my time.

[@BigCowProductions]

Espenino Thank you for pointing this out (not being sarcastic)

[@Espenino]

Ofc paid to play games is expected and should not have any f2p bullshit in them, but that is the problem that has (dark) arisen. Dauntless vs Monster hunter discussions can be up to others to decide, cause i like both. My point wasn't really about monster hunter, but the part ''devs don’t want players to skip the experience''. Good to hear negatives againts microtransaction from devs and/or studios.

[@Scorpion122178]

I'm proud to say that since Overwatch came out I haven't bought a single game thats had a lootbox system in it. Overwatch was the last one and I learned my lesson.

[@sinw88]

Im glad to say that i bought overwatch and didn’t unwrap the game until months after the release and then returned it cuz of all the bs

[@sheriffaboubakar9720]

StraightShooterGaming lol it's just cosmetic

[@_ninjas555]

5 years later, I hope you are still holding strong. As far as I know, besides from TF2, the only one in my game library with any sort of microtransactions is Dead Space 3; and 2 if it had them.

[@Aviftw]

Preach Jim, preach! And please don't stop covering this. We as a community need to raise the general awareness of this plague too all of the noobs and the fish in the pond. This has to come to an end.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

but there isn't anyone who already knows. all jim is doing at this point is preaching to the choir and creating a gloom and doom echo chamber.

[@LukeWatson13]

Thomas Jenkins nah Jim is doing God's work.

[@saadrehman1997]

Thomas Jenkins It's working step by step. The BF2 conspiracy has even garnered the attention of mainstream media. It's only a matter of time when legal notice is taken and all this comes crashing down.

[@thomasjenkins7506]

lol, keep dreaming. the lootbox thing didn't make the news because people are talking about lootboxes. it made the news because it's BF2 and no other reason. that's just one of the biggest franchises in gaming right now. no one cares when it's need for speed or shadow of war.

[@saadrehman1997]

lmao then what are we supposed to do? Sit quietly and take it up our asses. This is all short term gain, it will crash , eventually but surely, no amount of a pessimistic outlook will change that.

[@Mousetrap1740]

The "turn players into payers" comment makes a bit of bile come up every time I hear it

[@beatnik09]

It's pretty odious, but at the same time, the audience of that video is mobile developers who often are forced be F2P or very cheap at purchase. They have to make money at some point. That's not defending the idea behind that video, and the phrase is a bit too on the nose, but the concept is important. It's the whole reason Nintendo released Mario Run on iOS first, they had data that said people on iOS spend more in apps than people on Android.

[@flyq7470]

same.

[@Mousetrap1740]

Cory Parker fair enough. But it's still a matter of if or when that whole affair makes its way over to main stream. What was the company that mentioned their microtransactions will fluctuate with market? Sounds like the beginning stages already. Hopefully this balloon will pop soon and companies will stop grinding their names into dust.

[@northerncricket5199]

Wow I guess Konami was really ahead of the curve, gambling was the future of gaming, Konami was just the first to stop making games and start making slot machines

[@JETWTF]

Konami made them before making games.

[@stimulanttree]

I hope EA switches from video games to slot machines. So tired of hearing about their shit.

[@Jorendo]

In the defense of Konami....damn never thought i would say that....they atleast didn't hide the fact it is a gambling machine. They really moved their IP's to actual gambling machines in Casinos. Off all the publishers they been perhaps the most honest ones when it comes to gambling.

[@Lumadous]

Wouldn't surprise me if konami are the ones coding the loot box gambling

[@Craul08]

At least loot boxes don't sexually harass you. Yet.

[@charlx8979]

Crazy Zaul i fully expect them to wolf whistle at me as i go past in game, to be like "you know you want it baby, open up that wallet and let us plunder its depths"

[@diegoantoniorosariopalomin4977]

They will , when activision implements its patents

[@Blunderbussy]

Well, thank god loot boxes didn't came with Advanced Warfare. Otherwise we would have Kevin Spacey popping out of a lootbox and teabagging players.

[@CS-rk6fu]

You wish sweety!

[@thekinkshameexpress177]

if you dont pay for a lootbox the lootbox you get by leveling up is somebody attempting to sexual acts to you

[@XXIIXIIIXXXIXXXIX]

NEVER stop talking about this. We need to have a voice in the community, and people need to stop buying bullshit, so we can show these company's that we will not buy their potions anymore.....even though most still are.

[@DownDitto]

Potions seller! I need your strongest potions!

[@doug2731]

Keep yelling at the clouds with zero impact.

[@berserkerdude]

Amen to that. Keep doing what you do Jim, it's frankly inspiring. Thanks God, for Jim fucking Sterling!

[@grgspunk]

Don't forget to ostracize those who do support them. NEVER let these kinds of fuckers get the impression that they're welcome in *our* gaming community.

[@jasonbenjamin401]

Thank you Jim, I have a Drug and Gambling addiction, Have for years. I used to love games, in fact when I was getting clean I used to escape into the fake realities of game like Red Dead, Borderlands and Diablo to forget the pain for a while. Now these same gaming companies want me to suffer and give in to my desires and play the loot box game. For my own safety I had to stop playing so many game I loved. Thank you for not giving in to the fan boys and girls and keeping up the pressure.

[@zwarriorkrillin6400]

There's always old games; no way to cram microtransactions into a PS2 game from 10 years ago

[@GrandDawggy]

yet, no way YET

[@TheVideoGameManiac]

You could always play older games. Or Nintendo games.

[@johnnybigbones4955]

Good on you for sharing that mate, I hope people who make excuses for this bollocks see this and realize the harm it can do to people like you. I'm a teacher, and seeing this sort of stuff become normalized for my students worries me - it's not possible to develop a gambling addiction if you're never exposed to gambling, but we're gonna have a whole generation of exposure.

[@ryudomaikashi]

Thank you for sharing that, I hope you can stay strong and find some games you can enjoy.

[@Acroliss]

Don't listen to all the people telling you to "shut up about loot boxes already". We need as many people speaking out against this bullshit as possible.

[@frequencyoftruth2303]

SBC Your right this is fact.

[@ZipDraw]

Yeah be the hero we need.

[@belldrop7365]

If people like Jim stops talking about lootboxes because of fanboys protesting, then it will just be Overwatch all over again. Good thing there's a lot more people in his side and a lot less people saying "it's just cosmetic" this time around.

[@Acroliss]

The Boss Yeah that's possible but I still support what he's doing.

[@Brandonious15987]

The Boss I half agree with you. I don't think Jim is in it for the ad revenue but he isn't doing anything constructive to stop loot boxes. If he actually cared he wouldn't play any game with loot boxes. Calling other KZbinrs tools makes him a hypocrite.

[@lucywucyyy]

i heard some shit on the fucking radio today about how pissed off players were at battlefront 2 and its pay 2 grind shit ON THE RADIO

[@erynncollier8672]

Good juju. Keep the fires of discontent burning.

[@ArrowValley]

I don't know what's worse, loot boxes or people that defend them.

[@Ephabia]

If people disagreeing with you on bullshit like bad toy industry business practices is enough to set you off, then it's you. You're the worst.

[@matteblack5805]

People who defend them are worse. loot boxes end when I uninstall the game.

[@tenaciousrodent6251]

Or people who complain about loot boxes wile still buying dozens of them. You know who I'm talking about... -.-

[@BachBreaker8]

Nada Namae STFU

[@chaotea2042]

As someone who occasionally defends them, i'd say the former :) Personally i've got nothing against lootboxes as a concept. Always loved a trading card game after all (card packs are like the grandfather of lootboxes). Whats undefendable is outrageous costing and lootbox systems that offer a duplicate system. Lost planet 2 was amazing, with a in game randomised loot system for unlocking weapons, with no duplicates, so everyone would eventually get every weapon, but you often unlocked different ones to your friends. There, my friend, lies the lootbox dream. Im not getting my hopes up though.

[@emdotrod]

Shit is getting serious when Jim uses Born Depressed

[@Wineclaw]

I was one of the people who bought Overwatch not worrying much about the lootboxes. I never bought one and figured that the system was ignorable as the game itself was enjoyable. I was part of the "it's only cosmetics" crowd and I won't hide it. As time when on, I slowly changed my position on it, namely "cosmetic DLC is fine, but no paid random boxes to get it" Then Shadow of War came out. Then the COD WWII BS happened. The tipping point? EA PR attempt at Jedi mind tricks with that reddit comment (yes, THAT comment). It reeked of slimy, backroom meeting, spreadsheet calculated bullshit. They lost my sale. Any developer/publisher that tries this will not see a dollar of my money. I have a steam backlog, so I'll play those games instead. Fuck lootboxes. Fuck "games as a service". Fuck EA.

[@BigCowProductions]

Wineclaw Amen, brother -or sister-. I was going to get Battlefront 2, lootboxes be damned, since the ship battling is some of the best gameplay I've seen.... But after that comment on Reddit? Nope. All the fucking nope. Give me a ticket to Fuck-that-ville on the nope train

[@Prankmeister1990]

Wineclaw notice too how the OW loot boxes have changed. They finally reduced the drop rates of duplicates like people wanted, but then simultaneously upped the price on event skins. Now, it’s almost impossible to scrounge together enough currency for anything even playing constantly. The only viable solution left is to, you guessed it! Buy more loot boxes!

[@austinhuntley5169]

If Overwatch wanted to be exempted from the list they should have had direct pay for skins since they are purely cosmetic instead of RNG.

[@TheUndeadslayer221]

They said they weren't part of this loot box problem, but too bad, I'm yanking them in with an Iron Hook and chain.

[@talaxin-n8n]

That moment when you open a KZbin lootbox and get a legendary Jim sterling notification. Feelsgood

[@briankinsley7336]

+Bobby Derran overwatch loot boxes usually don't cost anything, I WONT defend the option that you can buy them for money, i agree that its manipulative to have that there, but you can get loot boxes in 3 different ways REGULARLY: leveling up (which is easy as hell, it takes 3-5 games to level up), playing arcade (which gives you 3 loot boxes per week if you win matches 9 times per week in arcade) and you get a free seasonal loot box if a event is active (halloween, new year, summer games, anniversary or omnic-crysis), i have played overwatch for about half a year, have never payed for any loot boxes and have legendary skins for 70% of all characters and at least a epic skin for everyone... but the option to buy loot boxes should get removed

[@squirrel9544]

*Life's good when you're turning players into payers that look like an anime fan on prom night*

[@YTDeepshock]

Here's a TV that looks like a meme singularity.

[@AuroDHikoshi]

Life's good when you're turning players into payers that look like an anime fan on prom night while on a TV that looks like an apple.

[@salongshum]

Make the players cry into a tv that looks like skeleton warriors on prom night, is this memes?

[@hco4203]

SKELETON WARRIORS

[@NORKIE]

ill be investing my gaming money into the industry just to make profit from dickhead "players"

[@OmegaVideoGameGod]

"Here's a tv that looks like a loot box." "Life's good, when you're a loot box." "Jim fucking loot box sterling."

[@Blunderbussy]

Life's good, when you turn players into a loot box on prom night.

[@OmegaVideoGameGod]

"Jesus fucking loot boxing Christ."

[@suicideassassin6963]

"So here is this giant enemy loot box" "hit the player's wallet for massive cash"

[@bocodamondo]

skeleton lootboxers

[@TwoPairSA]

"Loot box fan on prom night!"

[@TARINunit9]

"I'll stop talking about game industry bollocks when the game industry stops doing it, all right?" Coming back here five years later that line is almost depressing

[@Xearrik]

People don't like to be thought of as a victim. Their defense of these shady companies is selfishly motivated. " isn't taking advantage of me. cares about me. only has my best interest in heart. I'm not so stupid as to allow myself to be fooled." ^Everyone's defense of micro-transactions EVER.

[@AncelDeLambert]

Gollum! Gollum!

[@crowofrevelry]

And many other things besides. Sad how it's come to be so easily analogous to a battered spouse.

[@MrCmon113]

It feels like Stockholm Syndrome. I want to help my friends, but they keep defending their abusive spouse, the loot box roulette.

[@DragonNexus]

See also "Well if people just exercised some self control. I play these games without spending a cent!" Yeah, good for you, champ. I'm honestly very envious at your lack of addictive personality. Meanwhile those of us who *do* have addictive personalities have to be careful of what games we play and how because the psychological element can be pretty damn insideous if you're not actively looking for it.

[@mxxhh]

Xearrik Gaming

[@TheAmazingDolph]

Life's shit when lootboxs take over this industry

[@Ephabia]

Can I have your life? I'd really like it for microtransactions in games I don't need to be the worst that's happening to me.

[@Vioshy]

Here's a loot box that looks like an apple.

[@cornflakeshumunculus8373]

Here's a loot box that cries like an anime on prom night

[@The94Venom]

An apple that cries like Activision on Black Friday.

[@PershingDragoon]

Here's a TV that looks like a lootbox

[@Theladywiththeblackdress]

Does anyone else think games should be legally forced to label their box with CONTAINS LOOTBOXES/MICROTRANACTIONS I gotta feeling if something like this passed games would less likely to include them or at least fuck them over

[@derdrakkar]

Oh yeah, 100%.

[@TheIslesShip]

Alcendence but people know this...? It's common knowledge.

[@Northwite]

"I gotta feeling if something like this passed games would less likely to include them or at least fuck them over."| It wouldn't do anything. Just look at the reddit thread for the Star Wars Battlefront 2 problem and you'll see that the publisher don't give a shit who knows that MTs are in the game. In fact, they'd probably think it's helping them bring MTs to more people's attention.

[@TheIslesShip]

Alcendence also to many people including myself, disregarding how people get addicted to these lootboxes and only looking at how they effect ME the term " includes loot boxes" basically means i have the chance to win whatever dumb cosmetic dlc thing I want without having to buy it.

[@vinter3693]

At this rate we'll be getting laws for it soon. They already got them in Japan for mobile gamess. For example each gacha/loot box must include a list of % of chance to receive each item included in the box. They also have laws against loot boxes where you will receive a special item if certain loot is won.

[@althuror3108]

I'm from belgium, and they're researching the gambling behind lootcrates officially!! We did it boys!!!

[@sytherwusky]

So is Australia

[@Azurath100]

Hi pirates and modders, I would like to thank you for deleting and exploiting loot boxes in the games I wanted to play. I hope I can donate to you in the future since you are the only thing actually keeping the games playable. Thanks again.

[@charlx8979]

Azurath100 but the game balance that is upset by lootboxes will remain in the games Even if you mod them out the game IS STILL FUCKING RUINED BY THEM EXISTING

[@Azurath100]

True, I'm not arguing that point. I'm just thanking the people who make the games playable.

[@Hisu0]

One also has to mention that it is perfectly legal to download pirated versions as long as you have the license, as no license and no EULA can legally hold you to a distribution method.

[@Azurath100]

Suiginryou Hitaiga thank you for the information. Can you point to the source of this particular copyright law, so I can reference it in the future?

[@Hisu0]

US Copyright Code, section 117, reference "backup copy". To clarify, it's more of a grey area, as having a backup copy from a non-authorized source can be considered a breach of EULA. But, EULA is merely an agreement between two sides, and it's not illegal to break it, nor it can contradict existing laws. So, in vivo, it's like this: if you have a license, you can't be held responsible for using a pirated copy as long as you didn't share it, but the publisher can revoke your license if you're breaking an EULA. Again, EULA is not a law, and it's not enforced, so doing things that the publisher may consider a breach of EULA doesn't automatically void your license: it has to be a decision on the part of the publisher, as it's their right, not their obligation, to revoke licenses in violation of EULA.

[@konewhatsthenamespolicy6308]

Blizzard claiming they weren't a problem only made me start blaming them

[@desmondbrown5508]

If a someone has to deflect blame, they are usually to blame. (Obviously that's not always the case, but almost always true of companies)

[@konewhatsthenamespolicy6308]

Desmond Brown at least "any press is good press" isn't so often the case now

[@SuperGlueFingers]

PrettyGoodGaming pointed that out. As they stated: Blizzard was flying mostly under the radar up to this point, then they opened their mouths.

[@Leigh_Magee]

"Pull your box open and show everyone the goods" oh god, I died right there

[@georgedevries3992]

Man, I miss the old Jim. With his OG appearance and this background.

[@nickclark1815]

Every time someone's like, "It's just cosmetic, stop complaining" It pisses me off, yes it is only cosmetic, but cosmetics and visuals are a huge part of games, I've always absolutely loved unlocking alternate outfits, and I'll gladly pay for them directly, but only having a chance to get the particular one I want is just ridiculous. Either it should've been unlockable in the base game, or just let me buy what I want to fucking buy!

[@YomiYT]

When making the Loot Box/Storm analogy, you could've gone with something along the lines of: "The months rolled on. The clouds gathered, they grew darker. Then crates fell from the sky onto Normandy Beach, full of prizes and items that may or may not give players an unfair advantage online, meanwhile giving World War II veterans PTSD; but, don't worry, it's only cosmetic PTSD." Come on, Jim Fucking Sterling Son, that's a creative writing prompt right there. Give us a story involving the loot boxes and Cornflakes Humunculus, or something.

[@DragonNexus]

The domain which birthed the Cornflakes Homunculus is a realm of chaos and sin the likes of which man kind dares not even dream of, and yet even there the concept of loot crates is deplorable and wicked enough to be considered a taboo that must not be broken.

[@haruhisuzumiya6650]

Yomi like pottery or poetry

[@Oops-All-Ghosts]

I think he did that one already, when he was talking about the CoDWWII lootboxes.

[@yakovhadash]

For 200 virtual pogs, you can maybe unlock a box that might contain the Cornflakes Homunculus

[@shoolersjunkbox8622]

If you click on an episode called “The Year of the Loot Box” to complain about Jim talking about loot boxes, I don’t know what to tell you.

[@falconheadbust2518]

Shooler's JunkBox I just dont know what those greedy assholes have to do to convince them that lootboxes aren't there for their enjoyment.

[@jaidev777]

Lol yes.

[@jaidev777]

Because apparently it's not enough for these people to buy in to lootbox games - apparently they also need to make sure no one complains about lootboxes either. Might sound harsh to say but it's true: these people are the industry's useful idiots.

[@shoolersjunkbox8622]

Adrian Shiva Absolutely. I mean, paying for a game, then paying to finish it faster?

[@Edranair]

Yeah... I defended Overwatch for that when it came out, but I will freely admit that I was wrong to do so. The game itself is still solid and fun, but the loot boxes have arguably gotten worse and they were already a serious problem, even if people like me were unwilling to admit it

[@SkellyHertz]

First they came for the FPS players, and I did not speak out. Then they came for the action-adventure roleplayers, and I did not speak out. Then they came for the sports and racing gamers, and I did not speak out. Then they came for me... and there was no one left to speak for me.

[@erynncollier8672]

I seriously can't upvote this comment enough. Excellent reuse of a famous quote.

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

If I had to draw a conclusion for why Valve managed to put crates and boxes in TF2 and CSGO without having everyone slurp on that cash spewing dingus, I'd guess it was because they're a private company and the corporate big wigs couldn't dig their stubby fingers into how much money ol' Gabe was making off the deal. ActiBlizion put all of their cards on the table, so every publisher made sure whatever games they had in the barrel at the moment for their developers got crates added as fast as possible.

[@petkopramatarov8774]

I think Valve gets huge pass, because of how they set it up. They are also predatory, but mask it the best with the marketplace. You can actually make money of the skins and crates. Get a new crate, that is hot af, you can just sell it and get money to buy a new game or "free" keys for other cheaper boxes. Get gloves and you can get more than some people get in months salary in rather developed country. With Valve's boxes you get more "value" than with any other game, so people tend to give them a bigger benefit of the doubt. Also as you point out, being tight-lipped as they are helps. Some of us that follow the gaming industry know that they get a shitton of money from them and this is why they don't develop games any more, but the general public is not so aware. And even though I don't play Overwatch, I at least for now will give Blizzard a pass, because of how dedicated they still are to their games both old and new. D3 was a fuck up, but they made sure to fix it, even though the lack of good content after RoS is disappointing. SC2 is great and even HotS and Overwatch are great games mechanically.

[@Tyrranis]

That could be it, actually. Valve were probably riding the microtransaction gravy-train for so long unaccompanied, as they never told anyone outright how much money they were getting as a result of it. People don't jump onto bandwagons without knowing if they'll get something out of it, and as such since Valve were keeping quiet about the benefits of it, other companies ignored the lootbox trend that TF2 and CS:GO technically started in order to find a more proven avenue for profit.

[@joe564338]

Valve has one leg up on their competition in the fact that their games don't cost $60

[@suplextrain]

As has been pointed out. Lootboxes are sleazy (I hated them in all Valve games and I think Dota 2 is especially disgusting) but they're present in free to play games. With these EA, Activision, etc. titles they're full-priced, have season passes, various silver & gold editions and microtransactions/lootboxes so it's becoming exceptionally sickening. Especially when (as Jim pointed out) some clowns go on about how "games are so expensive to make". Not only does all this stink I mentioned prior shit all over that statement, but companies make mare from microtransactions and shit than from sales. So how exactly does this "games are so expensive to make" apply here? All of this disgusting shit isn't present because it *needs* to be there to cover the cost of the game, but to rake in as much money as possible. Generally the games that have this awful shit are games that would've sold and made their money back anyway. So Valve doesn't get a pass, they're still greedy and sleazy as fuck, but companies like EA, Activision, etc. are trying really really hard to be as disgusting as possible to the point where what Valve is doing almost pales. Like if Valve was a bully that beat kids up and stole their lunchmoney then EA, etc. are mass murdering bankrobbers. Both are clearly bad, but the other is obviously on another level.

[@Videogamer96_]

Valve gets a pass because their a private company, the games that incorporate these practices are free/dirt cheap, and they provide ways for you to sell anything you unbox and turn a profit. If Valve were release Left 4 Dead 3 with microtransactions I'm willing to bet their would be outrage, but that would imply Valve is still making games.

[@Blanklet]

I am still pure..... in my over 10 years of gaming i have never spent money on micro transactions i've bought DLC but only actual extensions and not blocked off sections of the fucking game. Remain strong my brothers and sisters and don't give in to micro transaction fuckery! We CAN NOT LET THIS BECOME THE NORM!

[@h0verman]

i've only bought cosmetics in tf2 in the form of a pink beard and yellow paint for my prized gibus (these things being a 100000% necessity to buy), as well as the two dlc purchases for the binding of isaac: rebirth, which were just massive updates with amazing features rather than already completed content of the game. in fact, those are the only two games i actively play and that's been the case for a year now.

[@zoltanz288]

Shay Stewart Its already the norm.

[@Malouco]

Shay Stewart Amen

[@Malouco]

The Boss sounds pretty pure to me. Buying dlc is fine. I bought dlc to mass effect 2 that was worth the money, sad what andromeda became a fucking nickelodeon cartoon.

[@WildManToons]

I spent micro transactions on Sonic Jump fever a F2P mobile game with a good F2P model that no one talks about and I am to lazy to tell more people about. Oh and Team Kirby clash deluxe a F2P Kirby game for the 3ds that has a decent F2P model.

[@AngeloAbela]

Finally someone acknowledging Blizzard's role n all this.

[@YouLittleBrick]

"Until the game industry stops being bollocks" ? Guess you'll be making these vids forever

[@gentleman_oni]

I wish I had that kind of job security

[@railtracer611]

What is dead may never die

[@RadikAlice]

We'll have Jim Sterling Jr as the new host in a decade or two i guess xD

[@Falxifer95]

And after that Jim Sterling III, and the IV and so on until the game industry stops sucking the big one.

[@TheRixtah1]

I think that was his point

[@MouxoMancer]

The microtransactions and lootboxes is what drove me away from modern games. Modding old games = free added value, and then I donate money to the creators who I feel deserve it because there's quality mods that had effort put into them. Take that game companies!

[@MouxoMancer]

Unless Bethesda has their way to monetize modding...

[@raymondstiegler8670]

Long War and Long War 2 BABY. Also love playing Heroes of Might and Magic 3 mods. Specifically the Heroes of Light Mod. So much free entertainment made by actual good people. What more is there to say.

[@rorynorris4248]

We could always blame Konami, they decided to make gambling machines instead of games, and now everyone else is making games into gambling machines...

[@ThunderShadow98]

When we gave overwatch all those game of the year awards. We gave birth to this monster. This is supply and demand and by giving in and praising overwatch (yes it is a fun game but the loot box system and especially the seasonal loot boxes are the real issue) we told every dev please sir can I have some more like we’re Oliver Twist

[@dragonslair951167]

The real reason loot boxes became so popular was not because of Overwatch (whose lootbox system was actually not very profitable in the long run, because they're cosmetics that people don't really care about and the game is generous when it comes to handing them out for free), but when EA publicly announced that their Ultimate Team gamemode in FIFA (a Pay-to-win mode with lootboxes) had made them an astounding $800 million. Why else would Shadow of War and Battlefront 2 opt for Pay-to-win lootboxes instead of cosmetics?

[@FireSpark]

You know it's getting bad when Jim starts dropping in the 1984 references. Of course, it makes so much sense now! Lootbox is AAA New Speak!

[@LATEXXJUGGERNUT]

double plus loot loot

[@Yazu13Z]

Is this how a business is supposed to work? Force-feeding all of their customers something that nobody wants until it becomes the new norm? This push-back against EA and Star Wars Battlefront 2 was inevitable. If this really is the free market, then let the customers decide what we want and don't want, not the businesses themselves.

[@desmondbrown5508]

@Yazu13Z Well honestly, if customers had any real say then we would have stopped at DLC as early as the Horse Armor. A really small percentage of players ever buy the """extra""" content in the first place, but it doesn't cost them anything to take content that was already planned (or made during development) out of the core experience to sell back later. And it's the manipulation of information and low to no cost of doing these shitty practices that have perpetuated them. Not so much buying customers. They only increased because companies were allowed to control the flow of information to make it seem like the sales were huge, only for us to find out later that it was "whales".

[@MrFright2010]

Well, some call it Stockholm Syndrom, some call it audience retention, some call it securing customers.

[@zoltanz288]

Yazu13Z Business is a dirty word and this is just one of the reasons why.

[@KuraIthys]

'free market'. Hah. Open an Economics 101 textbook sometime. A proper 'free market' condition is only possible if the product being sold has many equivalent versions, (eg, you can buy basically the same thing off of 1000 different suppliers), and there are a large number of buyers and sellers such that neither is unduly large. Basically, if there are 1000 sellers, 1000 buyers, all the sellers are selling something equivalent (so buyers don't care who they buy from), all the sellers and buyers are about the same size, and have similar levels of wealth. Basically, a seller has to be interchangeable with any other, and so does a buyer, so nobody has any disproportionate influence. Only under these conditions can a capitalist 'free market' actually function as intended. anything else creates various forms of monopoly or oligopoly effects, which completely ruins all assumptions related to 'free markets' In the real world, those conditions happen... Basically never. And certainly it's not what's going on in gaming. Hell, copyright laws explicitly give companies making and selling games defacto monopoly rights over their products, which in and of itself means you can throw any notion of a 'free market' right out the window. Games aren't a free market. Most businesses aren't dealing with a free market, but games and other copyrighted media especially are nowhere near close to it.

[@MHSenju3000]

Keep EXPOSING...this battle will get worse before it gets better...

[@MHSenju3000]

zen strata they sre going to keep being predatory until they run us dry. Just like Jim said...if thats the case then make the games free then ill invest in it as much as i feel its worth....they dont want to take that chance...

[@warpzone8421]

The sad truth is, none of us matter at this point. We can fanboy it up or we can riot in the subredits, and it won't make a bit of difference. The AAA industry has chosen to throw all of us under the bus. Only Whales Matter Now. Our money doesn't matter to them. Only Whales Matter.

[@xenonsha3324]

i solve this bullshit with piracy.

[@mesothelimoa341]

Warp Zone the Whales however are few and far between. How long will it be before the Dolphins and other marine critters disappear? Who will the Whales have left to brag to? They'll get bored and disappear too at some stage.

[@drakan4769]

+Mesothelioma how long indeed I wonder? the mobile industry hasn't run into this problem, nor does it look like they'll run into it any time soon, and they've been at this for a while

[@NeflewitzInc]

After the halloween event in Overwatch this year I became disgusted with how they made every skin a legendary. I started examining the amount of money I'd spent on lootboxes for their events and not including the $60 price of the game, I got the edition with the extra skins, I'm looking at somewhere between $400-$600. I was so disgusted with myself for buying into this shit that I've stopped playing it.

[@bruhfunnies3441]

I feel the exact damn same. I'm pretty sure I spent a similar amount of money on this crap.

[@ryngraham648]

At any point does personal responsibility come into play I buy loot boxes in overwatch during events but I don't drop hundreds of dollars on them

[@moviemanreviews5577]

Yeah I felt the same with Rocket League (I don't play Overwatch) I would watch unboxing loot boxes videos on YT and it made me buy keys and open loot boxes too. It didn't hit me until it pissed me off so much bc I didn't get what I wanted after paying 10 bucks. That I realized how terrible and like gambling this system is. I still play the game occasionally but stay away from loot boxes...

[@ThisChangeIsAwful]

happened to me the first mobile game I played. I'm wayyy more careful now.

[@skeletonwizard708]

I want to stress the Mike Morhaime, who's products I love and enjoy, is definitely full of shit. Because a little less than a year after Overwatch made ALL OF THE MONEY, Heroes of the Storm got a 2.0 launch which jam-packed a fairly normal RMT Moba into a LOOTBOX-STRAVAGANZA, which COULD drop Heroes. Blizzard knows *exactly* what they're doing, unless you believe they're just idiot savants who keep lucking their way into global acclaim. Also, for my fellow Blizzbois who still think this won't affect them, might I share a little detail that I found exceptional interesting from this years Blizzcon: "There are no plans to inject lootbox based content [into World of Warcraft] *at this time*." They are coming for you. The reason why this is important to talk about ad nausium is because if you don't, they *will come for you*.

[@truetype80]

Skeleton Wizard I think it's all Activision fault. This didn't start until after they bought blizzard

[@dextrodemon]

they really started the whole exploitative thing with world of warcraft, just it was to make people keep paying for the sub free instead of for individual dlc, most of the mechanics work more or less the same way and they employed psychologists to work it all out just like they do now, it's not at all surprising that they would lead the market in tricking people into giving them money.

[@charleslindeman2169]

Lootboxes are absofuckinglutely coming for World of Warcraft. If you think I'm lying, let me remind you of the celestial steed. You know, that $25 horse that *came with nothing fucking else* and is still, to this day, $25.

[@blackdeath099]

Skeleton Wizard Overwatch's business model is the best compromise for a game to deliver new content regularly without spreading the player base thin. What the fuck do you people want? 40$ expansions with new maps and new heroes, dividing the player base in half? Pay to unlock heroes with the better heroes being more expensive? Rotating heroes? Or wait... Right! You want the god awful model that are annual full price releases (Yeah, where's Overwatch: modern warfare 3 already?). God fucking damn. Are people totally blind to the good compromise that is having 10% of the player base paying for the rest to have every single fucking content update for free? To me, OW struck a pretty nice balance. You people will never be pleased and Jim is very representative of the type of gamers that will always be whining and never be pleased. People seem to forget of an era where you bought a game and that was it. No patches, no new content, no nothing. Content and support isn't free and Blizzard, like every single company on earth, isn't there for charity. At some point, you've got choices to make and I'm glad they didn't shove any of the fucking trash that is in their free to play games in OW. But of course, let's all pretend OW is the devil incarnate. Let's not talk about Hearthstone. You guys are delusional. HS makes more money in card packs in a day than OW in a month.

[@yani9o]

Skeleton Wizard the second they include lootboxes into wow is the second someone listening to pump up kicks is entering blizz hq

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

The other thing to worry about is how much worse can it get? Stuff like cosmetic skins used to be free in game rewards, usually unlocked for doing something hard or special. Then they started to sell packs of costumes for a dollar or two. Eventually we started to see a single character model for that same price or more. Now we've gotten to the point where you pay money to randomly get a single piece of costume, often broken up into six or 8 parts. Instead of a full outfit, you get a hat or a pistol grip. What's next opening a loot box to get special in game currency to open another level of loot box? After all getting an item in every box is obviously too much. Lets gamble to get points to buy that premium loot box with the real items in it.

[@durandol]

This is why we need to develop the means to immortality, so people like Jim can continue to report on the gaming industry's bullshit until the end of time.

[@andrewmcmillan229]

If immortality were created the same rich fuckwads who control the world now will be the same rich fuckwads who control the world forever. I, for one, hope we never develop immortality.

[@Kaotiqua]

Now Available!!! IMMORTA-LOOTBOX! For just $750,000 you can buy a *chance at eternal life! All Immortaloot Boxes contain either a single fragment of the Immort-O-gramaton, OR... a coveted moldy sock! Everybody wins! *chances of finding fragments of the Immort-O-Gramaton are 1/64,000,000. 10 fragments will create a single Immort-O-Gramaton, which may (or may not) grant eternal life.

[@Lugbzurg]

Nah, he just needs a son. A Sterling Son!

[@cytorakdemon]

Whenever I see someone say "loot boxes are optional", "loot boxes are okay if they're cosmetic", "Overwatch is the only one who does loot boxes right", I think back to Overwatch's second Halloween event. I got bored of Overwatch during the first Summer Games event, I hated playing against teams who were comprised of one hero, I hated Lucio Ball, and I got so sick of grinding levels in AI matches just to get loot boxes full of sprays and voice lines. But I was more than happy to drop the occasional $25 on loot boxes because I wanted skins for my favorite heroes. After the Horde mode Halloween event, I got a second wind. But by the time Christmas, I lost that wind. I gave up playing Overwatch regularly, except during events and when they added a new character. Fast forward the year when the second Halloween event hit, and my favorite character got a skin I had been hoping for so long. I wanted that skin for my favorite character, for a game I barely played, when a month prior I was considering uninstalling Overwatch from my Xbox. I had psyched myself to grind away in Overwatch for a month to get that skin before the event ended. One week into the event, I didn't have the skin, even after grinding days away in Horde mode in arcade. Then I came to the realization, this event could end and I still couldn't get that skin by traditional grinding... but if I bought loot boxes. Bare in mind, the last time I bought loot boxes in Overwatch was during the first Christmas event, I went almost a whole year "clean" from buying them. I worked myself up into an anxiety attack that nearly brought me to tears. I wanted this skin, but I didn't want to spend money on a game I wasn't interested in. But this skin was so cool, and I might not get it... I bit the bullet and held off on buying loot boxes. Two weeks later, the skin I sought after since the start of the event, dropped from a box I earned just from winning consecutive matches in Arcade. I had the skin I wanted... and I felt nothing, I barely touched Overwatch for the rest of the event. I completely ignored the second Christmas, and the events that followed. Don't let anyone, "gamers", "journalists", developers, or publishers tell you "loot boxes don't hurt anyone if they're optional and just cosmetic". Because every time I see a new loot box mechanic pop up in a game, I remember the time Overwatch turned a nearly 30 year old into an emotional wreck because he might not get the skin he wants and might have to spend money on microtransactions for a game he was bored of playing nearly a year prior.

[@BiTheBooks]

Damn...and sadly it's not surprising that big corps wouldn't give toss about how this affected you. I felt a similar way about some new shiny car in Rocket League, but like you I said no. Never got it, but it did feel good to tell a virtual slot machine that it could pull my knob for a change b/c I wasn't gonna waste my money! Fucking lootboxes...

[@gentleman3313]

I swear Jim! Thanks for making these loot box videos. I am sick of game companies treating us like we are just wallets with arms and legs!!

[@LuxasVTUBER]

2017: Year of the Lootbox 2018: ?

[@agaistrauss2014]

Luxra 2018: Year of monthly subscription single player games

[@Pomek36]

2018: Year of finding a new hobby

[@markmillett6540]

oh please don't jinx it. If EA sees this comment they will do it.

[@HoriTheRed]

Subscriptions are not predatory enough mate. Seasonal lootboxes with time limited shit in theme. Oh already done? I don't know lootbox subscriptions that you cannot cancel without sending a handwritten letter.

[@smjaiteh]

Year of the falling stock prices.

[@CazTheGamerGuy]

Life's good when you're a lootbox containing a TV that looks like an apple on prom night!

[@CommanderWiggins]

Caz Making gamers cry like a Ubisoft game on Launch Night

[@mel0_archive498]

SKELETON WARRIORS!

[@dibuk123]

Just pounding it.

[@markmillett6540]

nopls and pounding it

[@moonmannd7501]

Caz *containing a chance

[@WingsofRedemption]

You got to admire Konami at this point. They didn't pretend to want to make games they went all in and made gambling machines. The fact Electronic Arts is being a underhanded verison of Konami.

[@Arrusoh]

I for one am happy the Jim talks about Loot boxes. Because of that I know which games to completely avoid. So it saves me a lot of money.

[@anone.mousse674]

“There has to be a patient zero somewhere.” Fuck me does he mean Edit: Yep, it’s Overwatch.

[@totaldestruction152]

Anon E. Mousse Yep. The whole "it's just cosmetic" thing came from Overwatch.

[@DepressedTraveler]

I would say Team Fortress/CSGO Might be patient 0

[@ThomasFuglseth]

People tend to forget one of the other "pioneers", which in many ways was as crappy at least as Battlefront 2, namely Mass Effect 3's multiplayer mode. It did a lot of the same shit as later games, but probably wasn't as well known.

[@wile123456]

Taterdude Guy atleast tf2 turned free to play, cs:go doesn't have an excuse. You can also trade your items and sell them, making them way less shit, but yeah, rng is still annoying as fuck.

[@Stormeris]

Team Fortress is at least free2play. Overwatch is the one that started the whole FULL PRICED GAME + LOOTBOXES

[@WailinRaknar]

I used to do tech support for a large electronics company, and one call I had will stick in my mind forever. A gentleman called to complain about some mobile marvel game that changed the mechanics of the game which I guess used to be heavily P2W and this customer was quite upset, mainly because he had spent $56,000 within a 6 month period. The new mechanics basically made his $56,000 worth about $100 in the old system. Characters that were permanent were now limited use so he couldn't steam-roll the competition. Guy wanted me to get in touch with Marvel to help him get a refund, as if I had that kind of power or something.

[@McMeatBag]

Jesus WTF

[@mytwosense9135]

Wasn't Marvel War of Heroes was it?

[@WailinRaknar]

I honestly don't remember, but it happened about 6ish months ago I believe.

[@Nuvizzle]

Also let's not forget: long before the outrage over paid mods and horse armor, Activision Blizzard was coming up with a scheme to try and sell you mods for Starcraft 2. It got so much shit from the community that they never went ahead with it, of course, but they were still the first to throw the idea out there, so of course someone else was going to try it eventually.

[@WXdestroyer]

Sly Goat This reminds me of when Valve started selling mods on Steam; there was apoplectic backlash and Valve was forced to backtrack within a week.

[@Pork_Chop007]

This man is a gaming Jesus. Please Repent gaming industry.

[@genuineculter5640]

Or possibly video gaming tubby hitler.

[@johnnycomelately9400]

The BFG Guarantee More of a Mussolini I feel.

[@xmm-cf5eg]

I would say the videogame media equivalent of Herr. Bismark, not perfect, but definitely useful to establish gaming rights.

[@Judicius]

People should really look at the State of Virginia's gambling laws. Reading them, there is no real wiggle room. Gambling is specifically defined as "Making, placing or receiving any bet or wager of money or other thing of value, dependent upon the result of any game, contest, or event the outcome of which is uncertain or a matter of chance". That pretty much covers loot boxes perfectly. The State code further states that such practices are Illegal in Virginia, even if the company carrying them out conducts its business outside the borders of the State.

[@fumbleweeddumblecock2360]

So take them to court, see who wins.

[@kunstderfugue]

So every AAA game from this year is actually illegal to distribute in Virginia, that's kinda funny

[@xXSoulGeoXx]

Judicius one thing that can make this better is just not involving real money into this Heck, we love to grind and work ourselves to get that armor ( any RPG ever ) so why make this easilly obtainable by money?!! Just see at the Super Mario Odessy Costumes, that's a system I can see working D;

[@ArchmageOfAnarchy]

"Year of the lootbox"? God thats now my least favourite Chinese zodiac...

[@No-wt3mf]

The difference between gambling and loot boxes is that in gambling you can actually win something of value

[@smjaiteh]

Never forget: Blizzard’s first name is Activision.

[@SteelerFan716]

Sambou Jaiteh Well, it used to just be Blizzard.

[@MelMelodyWerner]

Actually, its first name was Silicon & Synapse :L

[@cvc-gamingglitchrespositor9607]

My dear brethren, do not ever forget, when you hear the progress of lights praised, that the loveliest trick of the Devil is to persuade you that it's just cosmetic!!

[@ArioDragon]

Actizzard

[@MidoriMushrooms]

a painful reminder :(

[@kublaikant]

In an age of multiplayer, online games sold primarily on the quality of the graphics and customizability of characters, "just cosmetic" actually literally means the same thing as "really, really important to the game experience we are selling."

[@MyZOMBIESLAYER]

Thanks for not shutting up about loot boxes. Someone needs to keep getting on these company's cases and spreading the word of these joy vampires. I loved RDR, GTA 4 and Gears of War 3 for their ease of play-ability, but the sequels for these games are so bogged down with microtransaction horse shit. I remember picking up Gears 4 without really thinking about it. It was 90 GB which already had me annoyed, but then I got into the game and there are 3 ways of getting characters and weapon skins. The first way is to grind out the fake currency of the game and buy a loot box that might not even give you anything worth a damn. The second way is to grind out "scrap", the other fake currency that actually lets you choose/build what item you want but you have to destroy other items to get it. Finally, you can just buy the boxes like they want you to. Fuck game companies, thank God for Jim.

[@onedeadsaint]

I've played and loved the games you mentioned, however gears 3 had an obscene amount of IAPs for the time. still played the shit out of it, but it always bothered me that all the cool cosmetic shit was behind a paywall.

[@windmonkey95]

My god I can't think of a game I have more play time on than GTA 4, it was such a fun and free game with limited DLCs that were actually reasonably priced and exceptional in quality. GTA V, while I did play it for a decent amount of time, eventually became such boring chore to play. The story was fun but the online was nothing but grinding out the same 2 missions over and over again literally hundreds of times to eventually have enough money to buy one car that would become slow and outdated in a month when the next dlc pack came out. The money system in that game, which every single aspect of the online experience is based around, completely sucked the fun out of it for me. Unfortunately Rockstar pretty much broke every sales/earnings record possible with GTA V and their fucking unbelievably, downright disrespectfully, priced $100 shark cards that literally don't even give you enough money to buy one in-game yacht. How the hell can a single in game item cost nearly double what the entire game is worth? Unfortunately there is absolutely no incentive for them to not implement that same money system in Red Dead Redemption 2, so let's all get ready for that game to be an insane grindfest for new horses and longer lassos or whatever.

[@MyZOMBIESLAYER]

You could at least earn characters like the Kantus by completing challenges in Gears 3. In Gears 4 cool cosmetics are expensive/timed loot boxes. I'm not defending the shenanigans in Gears 3 but it wasn't as assaulting as it is now.

[@onedeadsaint]

Zana Nol absolutely. I played gears 4 for all of maybe 4 hrs. and only cause my brother bought it. game is pure garbage.

[@MyZOMBIESLAYER]

Pay to Yeehaw!

[@kylejohnson8387]

That "thank god for me" was boisterous and beautifully brutal bro

[@ianaddyman1006]

Tf2 made lootboxes and safely kept the flame secured, overwatch ran into the flame, carried it to 5 barrels of oil. And then wanked as the fire began to spread out of control.

[@JackTheripper911]

Ian Addyman this comment is gloriously amazing

[@devilmikey00]

I think TF2 only avoided the flaming because it was a years old game well outside the mainstream journalistic eye and it went F2P a year later. Being the new hot thing has a huge effect on if your horseshit will be covered or not.

[@evillecaston]

Accurate description. Valve stared the fire, but kept it hidden so it didn't completely burn everyone. Blizzard found the flame and sold it for maximum profit, because that's what they do.

[@LordVader1094]

Ian Addyman At least TF2 has the excuse of being a f2p game, and the lootboxes don't actually speed up your progress in the game either since the stock weapons are some of the best in the game in fact it's easier to get what you want weapons wise by either directly buying it or trading for it and finding it. The issue here is having lootboxes in full price games that are directly tied to a purposefully implemented grind.

[@adaniels15]

I don’t want to make you even angrier Jim, but the lootbox bullshit isn’t limited to video games and the internet. The toys section at the target I work has “blind bags” everywhere. Almost every isle has one or two sets of them, and we have multiple sections that are filled with them.

[@salt_factory7566]

9:57 Eurasia is just cosmetic, East Asia is only optional, and Oceania exists for player choice.

[@GravityTrash]

The biggest reason why Valve can't entirely be blamed for this: _Because you can get items other than in the Crates_ The only reason to open a crate was to try getting an unusual or a rare item for $2.49 for the hopes of getting something $20-$500 in rare scenarios. You can then attempt to sell back any non unusuals for money, and these are usually worth 10 _cents_ to other people, who can freely purchase with metal crafted from _free_ weapons. *There is freedom to how you obtain items in Team Fortress 2. **_Not fucking Overwatch_*

[@Noodles1771]

The goal for developers & publishers is to make your pc into an arcade that needs a quarter every time you sit down to play a game.

[@beerwig6493]

A quarter? Try a Dollar. But yeah. Agreed.

[@tmcm8320]

Regulations are the only hope to stop this.

[@Noodles1771]

Sadly, T MCM you're probably right.

[@johnsullivan937]

nope, 9/10 times devs doing the grunt work just want to make a good game. they are just held on short leashes by their pimp publishers.

[@struggleryoutube]

Fucking Ubisoft was the least shit company this year... God help us all.

[@stimulanttree]

Bojack not bethesda? Oh wait.. They released a working game that got patched and made it unplayable for a large number of people. Blast..

[@RabbyBabu]

For honor. Dont forget that pile of shit. and maybe they'll catch up on microtransactions with the AC game

[@jorelc6]

Remember the forgotten For Honor , and how expensive was to max out every class, that game had game play issues (pro players blocking FOR EVER). Wildlands was meh to say the least and then they nailed it with Mario&Rabbits (but that's Ubi Barcelona , and for Nintendo only ) so multiplatform games that were any good from Ubi...AC?

[@EVacStation]

They also introduced that Bethesda Creator's Program (aka Paid Mods). They earned their shit this year.

[@EVacStation]

Of the "NORMAL" offenders... yeah, I'd say Ubi is the least offensive of the big offenders. But if you're going overall, I'm sure there are way better picks.

[@casulrekr6340]

I was passive with Overwatch's loot boxes. I thought you were overreacting all those months back. WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED JIM

[@TaylorFrye94]

Casul Rekr he is still overreacting. They are easy to get for free. Plus you get all new characters and maps and game modes and events for absolutley FREE. No game do you get that much content for absolutley free. Anyone who complains about overwatch is overeacting its a great model that has hiven me plenty of gameplay and rewards for free.

[@TheDakattack3000]

Taylor Fry And right there is the problem with gaming currently. Just because you see the success of overwatch and what it has done now doesn't mean the loot boxes are justified. That's like saying that Steelers did a great year in football despite ben Roth raped a bunch of women. It's not apart of the football game right? So why is it still an issue? The loot boxes in any game, no matter how successful, is unnecessary. I can tell you games that don't employ this that do have great replay value that came far before this shit ever cropped up. Every game company that uses this model is gonna make it work because it blurs the lines of progression and be indifferent to it, when there is clearly an issue with it. The model for overwatch might work, but I don't have to like it and many others agree to a point. Personally I think there is a better way of doing that and it's the fact the game is DESIGNED to do that is reasonable to be upset. Look I can understand people enjoy video games and want to just escape the lives they have into their virtual world's, but not looking at the problem and ignoring or say "not my problem" IS A PROBLEM in it of itself. If you stand by and just let it happen, you long term encourage the problem to crop up more. By voting for your wallet, you want games to continue to do this. We are the market for those companies and when you stop and think about it, the fact that this has become a controversy is indicative of what the market thinks. They basically have said "yes we want those loot boxes, we want those season passes, we want those microtransactions". It doesn't matter if overwatch is the least offensive culprit: it is still a culprit and still offensive. So I don't agree at all with your logic.

[@TaylorFrye94]

DakAttak The Maniak normally id agree with you if Blizzard was giving nothing in return for Free, but they are. The Overwatch lootbox system has given me multiple map pack free, multiple characters free, multiple game modes free, multiple events free, countless skins free. They couldve easily made all of this micro transactions. 5 dollars for junkertown map, 2 dollar for a legendary skin, or 10 dollar characters. The prices of those have been even more exorbitent in the past. Ive never bought a map pack or any dlc other then the witcher expansions and the left behind dlc for Last of Us. This game is the first multiplayer game ive gotten obsessed with because Ik I will never have to pay more to try a new character or play on the new maps with friends. Its a great business model. Lootboxes are a hated buzzword and for good reason with bullshit like wat EA pulls. But if you lump good models like Overwatch with the bad ones then we will all go back to microtransactions that I hate. I hate 99% lootbox models. But Overwatch has it right if you actually analyze thier model. I paid 40 bucks for this game and gotten enough content that EA and other companies would price at 200 bucks or more. So yeah. Your doing a diservice to the argument.

[@TheDakattack3000]

Taylor Fry clearly you didn't listen to me so I'll say it again: it doesn't matter how much success or good it does with that system. Overwatch can do a billion maps and characters and "free" shit all it wants from that system: the issue is that system is still not acceptable and is not healthy for players at all. It encourages that kind of tactic and it makes it okay to keep doing it. It affects other games too. It goes beyond your game ya know. It's why Jim is making a dam video about it. Overwatch popularized it but that doesn't mean it's a special snowflake. If anything, it's the chief culprit and core problem of where we get now with all the loot boxes and shit. So no, no matter how good it is, no matter how much they "give back" to players it's a load of shit to make whales spend money so it blurs the lines more and it ghosts out of legality.

[@TaylorFrye94]

DakAttak The Maniak Oh PS lootboxes were in Team fotress 2 and Counterstrike way before overwatch was released. They were already mainstream on PC through those games. Other companies like EA wouldve taken the same model from them and fucked it up for everyone. Oh and in those games you couldnt even earn them through gameplay you HAD to pay. So overwatch got it right. The VALUE and BENEFITS for customers absolutley do matter.

[@stalkholm5227]

I play Overwatch, but I can't stand the loot boxes. "This loot box has a .002% chance of having at least one thing I want, and a 100% chance of having at least one thing I don't want, you're telling me to pay you to be disappointed." Or worse, the community comes back with "You can just get them from playing the game, if you don't like playing the game then maybe this isn't for you!" I like origami, but if you tell me to make 1,000 origami cranes in a row I'm going to have a bad time. Flippin' Whales man, I hate those guys.

[@supergluehotty]

Don't hates the whales. Hate the marketing.

[@ianrocha4896]

You know, I wonder if it would be possible to set up a publically funded 'Gamer Advocacy' stock group, whose mission would be to buy up stocks for major publishers, with a goal of having enough leverage to force a change in business priorities.

[@h0verman]

that would require a lot of people with money willing to 1.) be aware of these problems and 2.) accept that they need to be changed despite the fact that these people could objectively benefit more from indulging in the current business practices. otherwise, that would be great.

[@BlitzIn4]

This has been happing for a while with Ubisoft. The company that used to own Activision until 2013, Vivendi, owns 25% of Ubisfot stock and is shooting to buy 30% before end of year, which is supposed to trigger an auction, under French law, for ownership of Ubisoft. But Vivendi said they don't want control, they instead want to be able to make decisions in board member meetings or some bs. Cost them 15B euro's or $17.5B so far. Ubisoft's stock has more than doubled over the past 12 months. Activision's has went up about 500% since 2013. EA's stock is bonkers.

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

The thing about great games is that they pop up and then disapear. As if they never existed in the first place. As for creating a game, creating and playing are two different things. Similar in ideals but seperate in designs. In other words, what you create now will never change the industry in a way that Loot Boxes does. If it does not gain profit, then they will not listen.

[@BigCowProductions]

I would back a patreon that did that

[@WushuKnight19]

First half of 2017: Best year in gaming. Second half of 2017: WHAT THE FUCK!

[@RufusOmega]

Why? What came out in the first half of 2017 that made it so great?

[@WushuKnight19]

Uhh...Is that sarcasm?

[@avenge2168]

RufusOmega shit b8 m8

[@ArioDragon]

Tales of Berseria and Nier : Automata to name a few. Also there's Nioh , Horizon Zero Dawn , Persona 5 , Blazblue Centralfiction , Tekken 7.

[@RufusOmega]

No, not sarcasm at all. There's genuinely not been that many games out this year that would make me say the year was anything other than average. Nioh is good, and Nier: Automata could have been if it wasn't a broken mess that Squeenix have made no effort to fix. There were some good DLCs for games that came out last year, but that's about it. 2016 on the other hand; that was a year with some seriously great games.

[@gooieglopp]

Thank you Jim, for continuing to be the voice of reason in this shitstorm of an industry.

[@lordofhnajuty]

10:48 You know, Jim was saying how he called it, and after rewatching this video .... HE BLOODY WELL DID CALL IT!

[@OzbangB]

Soon we will see lootboxes go into casinos replacing the slot machine. We will see games like Overwatch, Cod and Star wars with only the loot box section on screen. I wonder if thats the extreme we need for somebody in power to say "that's gambling" instead of the current bull we are getting now.

[@HistoricaHungarica]

Do you mean... *HIT THE LEVER!!!*

[@TurboTsunam1]

I love Overwatch and have been playing it since launch. But I have to agree that it had a hand in normalizing loot boxes in games

[@huauua5414]

no, it got its fucking arm stuck right into the gaming industrys ass.

[@HandsWithLegs]

TurboTsunami yeah I’d agree they definitely had a hand in normalizing it, but they also implemented it faaaaaaaar better than a lot of the others that added loot boxes. They really aren’t hard to get in game, really only a few games and you have one. And the coins really helps with the randomness problem (although with the changes to dupes and the fact you get less coins does make that harder and should be addressed). And it means we get all the content updates for free and there is no season pass so I’ll put up with it

[@FlorenceFox]

Same. I still play it, but I've promised myself I'd never buy another lootbox once I realized just how shitty the practice really was.

[@skywise8]

I had to stop playing overwatch because of the loot boxes

[@KingOskar4]

TurboTsunami Overwatch has proven how effective loot boxes are at earning money, and every publisher wants to have both.

[@ColonelRPG]

Please don't stop talking about lootboxes. This stuff needs to be exposed.

[@girlywolfpup1588]

agreed

[@tetchedink7980]

Colonel RPG agreed

[@youreokayboah2128]

Colonel RPG Agree 100%

[@knerf999]

Pin this please.

[@Adam2050]

Hardly exposing shit that's public?

[@ProtoZealott]

Let's also not forget Blizzard's Hearthstone. It hides behind the label of F2P and CCG, but it's hands down one of the most expensive 'Free to Play' games on the market. You can spend 200 dollars USD every expansion, on top of playing the game on a regular basis, and you'll still be missing a decent chunk of the legendary and epic (2 highest rarity cards). Add to that they've been going out of their way to make the game more expensive each expansion, and you can see what Blizzard really thinks of the people playing their game.

[@dragonslair951167]

Most epics and legendaries don't end up being playable. Most end up being niche cards that are played in meme decks if anything. While that leads to a lot of bad drops, the vast majority of them are not necessary to make a competitive deck, and can be safely dusted to make the decks you really want. Or you can just play Hunter or Zoolock and always have a dirt cheap competitive deck.

[@WesBWhitacreIII]

I still don't know how the FTC hasn't gotten involved with Activision's patent. They spell out that they are literally changing how the game plays to go out of there way to, unbeknownst to the players, advertise in game products to them in game and worse, specifically targeting those that have in past themselves bought items so they are more likely do buy more items again. This feels like a cut and dry, quintessential example of something that is against the FTC's Full Disclosure guidelines.

[@JCE3000GT]

Pretty clear that it is. Maybe the FCC just couldn't be bothered?

[@RobotnikPlays]

Life's good, when you're turning players into a TV that looks like an anime fan on prom night!

[@Pancoar]

Seriously, don't listen to people who cry "boohoo stop talking about lootboxes!!" Because yes, it may seem "futile" since millions of people still buy into this shit, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to bring awareness and attention to these predatory and manipulative business practices shit like "Scientific Revenue" and others. Also SCREW you Take Two. Guess I won't get Red Dead Redemption 2 and Borderlands 3 until their "complete/GOTY" editions come out and then wait until they are on a 75% sale. Don't worry I have plenty of games to play in the mean time so I can wait for games to go on sale. Also indie games are alive and well. And Thank God for you, Jim FUCKING Sterling Son

[@BloodpactORG]

You were doing fine with: "Also SCREW you Take Two. Guess I won't get Red Dead Redemption 2 and Borderlands 3" Until you lost it with: "until" Sorry, but your words are feeble and useless when you self-demonstrate your spineless inability to completely commit to not buying it *at all* They obviously have power over you.

[@BigCowProductions]

Bloodpact Guild You'll need to tone down the ridiculousness a bit. If he buys the game new, or does so for $20-30 1-3 years down the line (isn't 8t fucking ridiculous to wait over a year for a "complete" edition? I'm still waiting on ffxv), it *will* not count towards their predatory metrics. Publishers rely on pre-orders and day 1/week 1 sales. If we wait, they still lose.

[@BloodpactORG]

Point is, there are 50-150 games being released *daily* on Steam. 60% of those are gaff, admittedly, but why is it with "AAA" (doing the Jim voice) games, people start moving the goalposts? "I, uh, totally hate what you're doing, so I'm going to punish you by waiting a bit to give you money!". Just play anyfuckingthing else. "But I'm a fan of the series!" I hear you wimper. So? I have 5000 hours in Morrowind and loved The Elder Scrolls series to bits for 15 years. But if they come out with microtransactions or Denuvo in the next one my hands are washed with the series in an instant. I don't owe them my patronage, and it won't keep me up at night to ditch it by the wayside if they try to take advantage of me. *Because it's personal.* You guys really need to be better at taking the industry condescension for what it is; a direct challenge that says "we put this shit in here because we *know* you're too fucking weak to stay away, chump!" Solution: stop being so weak. I've heard all the bad reasons. (The most common being the social aspect of talking about games with friends like moms named Jennifer talk about The Bachelor or whatever repugnant reality show is on these days, which is the worst reason, *gaming by peer pressure,* how could you be this flaccid of a spine - at least play games because you *want* to play a game)

[@rockstar5274ify]

I'm so glad that this channel exist

[@Baconbits16]

I think this is my favorite episode on "loot boxes" and you're absolutely right this is the year of the loot boxes and I think you can take that metaphor outside video games as well. Let's officially call 2017 the Year Of the Loot Box.

[@hypethekomodo6495]

Honestly, the Loot Box Fiasco has more or less turned me off from most AAA games released this year. I'm not paying $60 for only part of an experience. But hey! All of my favorite games this year have been made by smaller indie teams, and I'm more than happy to support them with my cash to continue making things over rewarding these greedy publishers with their manipulative trash bins.

[@Echomemes]

Well, it's been like that for me for a couple of years. Not to brag of course, I just wanted to say that every single time in the last few years (still happening as of now) I suggest indie games to people who aren't interested, I get all kinds of stupid excuses. Generally tied to the big budgets AAA games have (despite Kickstarter existing). There are people out there who are so unwilling to play indies they can't even imagine there are masterpieces made by one person such as Dust, Braid, Axiom Verge and Undertale. Damn, even when talking about 3D graphics, Hellblade looks incredible and it's not AAA. It's just homeostasis, sticking to your comfort zone and not willing to try out new stuff. So yeah, GG for making the clever decision, good luck telling that to people who won't listen.

[@MisterBolticus]

*E 1 M 1* Thank God for you Jim, You, YongYea and Angry Joe for being our voices in this entire shitshow

[@janbosch5951]

At DOOM's gate seems very fitting indeed! RIP AND TEAR!

[@womanized9808]

And TotalBiscuit?

[@MisterBolticus]

LetsRaceBwoi haven't watched him in a while but assuming he's also been covering it naturally he's included lol

[@MisterBolticus]

laz kar tbh I'm not even sure what "whale" is supposed to imply so it was wasted on me 😂 something to do with him indulging loot boxes to test them despite criticising it? Other than that I have no guesses

[@rodemus18]

14:47 “games are too expensive to make my round and ready ass!” -a new great quote from the greatest showsman in games media

[@Syntraph]

Keep exposing them, Jim Sterling lord and savior, saving the gaming industry one video at a time

[@Choteron3]

I was waiting for this video so much. thanks jim and dont stop talking about the shitty microtransactions.

[@ivanpabon2741]

I only bought one game this year and i feel like I'm done for the year

[@dragongrandmaster]

which game if i might ask

[@devilmikey00]

There's plenty of great games from the first half of this year free of this horseshit. He mentioned a whole bunch of them in the video. They are all probably pretty easy to find on the cheap as well. Not to mention 99% of indie titles feature none of this.

[@raphk9599]

ivan pabon Cuphead? That's what i bought. Games have out grown me, it a strange new world and really cant stomach the blatant push for gambling to kids.

[@216Eva]

I just bought Wolfenstein 2. No Microtransaction, No Lootbox,etc. Just a great single player and a great story.

[@216Eva]

It's a good 8 to 9 hour game. I thought it was a lot harder then the last one.

[@Judas_Krimson]

Now it’s even worse, it’s going to be the year of SURPRISE MECHANICS.