Are Loot Boxes Considered Gambling?

[@dominicjose1116]

We should be happy that Keralis' gambling problem only lives in Minecraft.

[@shablam0]

We HOPE so anyway.

[@ssjcrafter8842]

Yes, and I know nobody asked but I think that as long as it's still payed with in-game currency(that is only or "easily" availabe fot getting without paying) it is either fine or worse-then-no-gambling

[@Simon-me9fh]

Xisuma talking about dopamine triggering games while playing a dopamine triggering game.

[@Nugcon]

@@Simon-me9fh that's what games are supposed to do..?

[@meiju1563]

If you think about it, almost all the Hermits have a Minecraft gambling problem (cough cough Grian Mystery boxes)

[@askanswer]

"You're addicted to the sugar and the gambling!!!" lmao

[@gamingpenguin422]

I think loot boxes that you get from just playing the game are fine, it's a small reward. BUT you should NOT be able to buy them in any way, shape or form!

[@gingerrik1422]

yeah and buying them with in game money is also fine by me

[@wwblanch24]

Why not pay to win makes the game way more fun it’s not rigged at all Just kidding it sucks

[@doublesystem9790]

Yeah, i think free lootboxes are fine, but for microtransactions stuff like battle passes or directly buying the items you want are much better.

[@spazmaticaa7989]

Or keys. Like I play Rocket League and I wish they would at least give you the chance to earn the keys and not just the crates after a match. Or just give the crates and don't make us use keys.

[@harleyokeefe5193]

Ginger Rik I only agree with buying them with game money if you can’t buy the game money with real money

[@MazerTime]

Just wanna say, cookie clicker is un example of a clicker game, NOT a game with micro transaction. Cookie clicker is actually really good about this aspect. You straight up cant pay for it. Even the mobile version dont have micro transaction. Shout out to Orteil, the developer, for not milking our money!

[@doublesystem9790]

Yeah, and the developer even has a patreon for people who really want to support him. Sadly, i don't think something similar could work on bigger companies tho, however, more small devs should take him as an example.

[@MazerTime]

i also wanna shout out the Heralds model, where people can pay for 1% increase in ingame income... for everyone. You cant psy to get more yourself. But you can pay so everyone in the comunity can. And that is awesome.

[@itsjustjoel28]

And it’s probably the best clicker game out there probably

[@biblohudson9425]

I think he was talking about how a superficial number contributes to dopamine release.

[@ZachX888]

Yeah I love how it slowly turns into a Shounen where it's just you making cookies and then eventually you find yourself in a trans dimensional octillion cookie making industry. Good times.

[@Pippinn13]

In fairness to iskall, he's said he'd lost diamonds on it as he made the prizes too good, and he'd never been looking to really make diamonds.

[@laartje24]

Yeah but I actually think that this is worse. Because it can give his audience a false image that gambling is fair and profitable. (Don't get me wrong though, I love iskalls videos.)

[@lolbenz]

Also there is no real money involved. So all is good.

[@theunlawfullpenguin6855]

Loot boxes are not gambling because they don't give you anything of monetary value. Gambling is defined as paying x amount off money to get a chance to earn something of monetary value

[@lolbenz]

@@theunlawfullpenguin6855 well I consider it lottery if u have to pay for it. Just like a tombola.

[@evaahh9584]

ThatBigBoy Kebab except you can sell accounts, meaning they *do* have monetary value.

[@Joel-hv3ik]

I had a friend once (a minor) who spent way too much on CS creates essentially just to maybe win something he would turn a profit on, this made me think and I came to the conclusion that it is insane that purchasing loot boxes are legal just because you earn a skin you can sell instead of actual money. There are almost no difference between opening a CS crate and selling the skin and spinning a wheel on some website.

[@robbie570]

Me wondering why the bunnies are following him then realising he has golden carrots

[@Luci_Diavol]

Bun buns like gold?

[@madeleineruusu]

@@Luci_Diavol Bun buns like carrots, the golden shine must be a plus though

[@commandercody634]

I like rabbits because I have cute pet :)

[@epsilon1563]

@@commandercody634 Toast!

[@ThatNoobKing]

I actually didn't know rabbits were drawn towards Golden carrots I mean, it makes sense, they're carrots, but still, their gold.

[@shellshocktm]

I'd also like to add that premium currency is sold in set amounts (say multiples of hundreds) and the cost of in game items may not always tally with the amount you pay which may lead to two scenarios- either you buy more premium currency for something that you want that costs much less (eg. a 50 coin item you want but minimum premium currency purchase is 100) or having the premium currency left over which may not tally with other items you may want further which makes you want to purchase more and so on and so forth

[@fastix9947]

also theres the whole discount thing where you pay less if you buy bigger amounts of in-game currency for example in gta v the most expensive shark card gives you 8.000.000 in-game currency for $99.99 but the cheapest shark card gives you 100.000 in-game currency for $2.99 wich means that to get the same amount of in-game currency the biggest one gives you buying the smallest one you would have to pay like $240

[@Antimonium]

I used to gamble beans and sweet corn and other rice salad ingreients with my friends when we went on hikes, good times

[@briannicholson390]

I wonder if Keralis will see this?

[@mohammedabdelhafez9507]

Lol

[@tuxedo_productions]

In my state (Arizona), gambling is illegal in essentially every commercial manner whatsoever with a couple exceptions: Horse racing (a sizeable industry here) and the lottery (huge tax revenues for the state). Casinos are prohibited here, but Native American tribes are allowed to own them on their land once approved and, as a result, casinos are a huge business here (23 casinos here in Arizona, all of which are on reservations), even though we have some of the strictest laws against gambling in the country. Also, people will sometimes just drive up to Nevada where gambling is legal everywhere since it borders us and Vegas is so close.

[@TristanFox_Art]

i remember trick or treating and afterward me and my friend would gamble the candy we didnt like by throwing dice. that was fun:]

[@Puzlfrek]

Overwatch has a decent loot box system now and as long as you play you can earn them

[@neko9ine-635]

Remember when having a good skin meant that you were good at the game know it means you asked your mum for £20

[@itzvihaan6734]

One of the games I think has done lootboxes right is Overwatch where the lootboxes only give cosmetic items and you get them frequently enough where you don't really have a need to buy more . That being said, there are definitely kids with credit cards out there .....

[@LightlySalted26]

They also don't feel like the central focus of the game, when i open a lootbox in overwatch i just continue with my day. Im not playing just to get more boxes they are more like a side bonus for playing.

[@haydev3060]

Sounds like something a lootbox would say

[@itzvihaan6734]

@@haydev3060 *MISSION FAILED*

[@spazmaticaa7989]

Yeah sadly Blizzard is in a shit storm of there own doing...

[@darthvaderreviews6926]

I think the issue with Overwatch is that instead of paying for the skins, you pay for the boxes. If the boxes were how F2P players earnt skins and you could shell out a premium to bypass the system and get a skin directly, there would be no question about gambling.

[@tranklateste2570]

I (and basically every person on earth) hates when a great game gets ruined by pay to win. ESO is my favourite game ever, but it's a really slow game unless you pay 12 dollars monthly. Also, Nintendo were a really good company back when they didn't have any DLCs or microtransactions. You actually paid for a full game. But Sony and Microsoft made it so that you had to pay monthly just to play with your friends.

[@HelloHi-eu5rk]

I agree on everything you said, I rather be charged $80 bucks than be playing a game that I can pay to win in

[@saincx0m9]

20$ is ok but having it 60$ probably.. a no

[@0bread286]

Well their servers need to be kept up, which is the reason for the whole paying to play online thing

[@penguin-IDK]

angry birds go that game made me spend 400 euro off my dad's credit card account because it popped up after i lost a game after retrying a lot to ''BUY THIS TO UPGRADE YOUR CAR'' and then where you press purchase is in small writing, so my small 7 year old brain just had to do it. so I thought that if i pressed this magic button my game currency would go up. amazed i did this god knows how many times and the price rose up to 400. not fun. Defo too easy

[@Estarfigam]

In some American states they have rules or at least had rules that casinos had to be on a boat. Plus the Lotto is legal gambling.

[@harbl99]

Free-to-Play games are designed from the ground up as predatory Skinner Boxes. Get the pigeon to click a button and give it a treat when it does. Train it to do this repeatedly. Eventually the pigeon will obsessively click the button whether the reward appears or not, merely in the hope and expectation that it might. You are the pigeon, the game is the skinner box, the "ding" is your treat.

[@Livy_lives]

Man, you should turn these into podcasts! :D

[@tomasnazler2973]

To answer one of the answers by my understanding yes there is math course for lootboxes and it is called theory of games

[@saincx0m9]

Nah B*tch not smart

[@roskahiiri3358]

it is actually called game theory (not theory of games) and I don't think it is really about lootboxes (i think lootboxes are more about probability) but rather strategy and stuff like that (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_theory).

[@twinblade471]

I think the main difference between card packs and loot boxes is that in 5 years you can still have that card but if the game company stops supporting the game all the money you spent is gone.

[@sharpfang]

Poor rabbits, chasing the golden carrots and completely ignored.

[@AlphaC0re]

Xisuma: All you do is click and watch numbers go up! Also Xisuma: *Gathering mass amounts of sand in Minecraft* Jk jk

[@Thedevegon]

i just realized the rabits are following him because he has golden carrots that is so cute

[@monkeymode5652]

"surprise mechanics"

[@KarkaranosBuilds]

Just want to jump in on this with a little bit of the game design side relating to some of the clickers and waiting, as well as the loot boxes: They use things that are intentionally addicting to get players and drive profits. Waiting is one of the things that makes games addicting, since the player then has a reason to come back and get whatever they had to wait for done. With the clicker games, it relies on simplicity, achievements, waiting and rewards. You click the thing, you get something. You get enough of that thing, you get an achievement. It rewards the player, and then new things unlock. The player wants to get the new thing, so they continue clicking. They have to wait to get things to get achievements and it’s a never-ending loop. Plus, the game has no set end, so it’s up to the player if they want to beat their friend’s score or beat their own game. In terms of the loot boxes, they are gambling and should be removed from things. I get that the companies want profit, but the loot boxes take advantage of the player and are generally set up against the player so the player has to buy more to get what they want.

[@LiveHedgehog]

Having to gamble in games to get skins is what annoys me the most. Remember when you'd have to actually accomplish something in the game to unlock different skins? The Lara Croft Tomb Raider games were good for that. Legends especially has a load of different outfits to unlock, and every one is linked to progression you make in the game.

[@bubblesmccarthy1069]

I feel like if we have to ask the question does this children’s game cause gambling addictions? Something has already gone very wrong

[@sortfaar3]

here in norway we have this thing where when you buy a bottle of water or soda you pay 2 kr extra for the bottle and, and then you can return to the store with the bottle and get your 2 kr back. its a recycling thingy, but they added a gambling mechanism to the recycling machines, pretty much a lottery type deal where you bet the money from the bottles and you can either win and get more cash or lose everything. the nice thing is that its the red cross that does this and the money you lose goes to them instead of you. so its recycling + gambling + charity.

[@sharpfang]

X, the waiting strategy, pay to skip wait, is one of most predatory practices. The wait times are calculated to grow in an exponential progression, meaning at certain point the game literally grinds to a halt. Like, to progress to the next mission/level, you have to wait a month. A kids game, 'My Little Pony' would require you to grind for 3 years non-stop to finish the main questline. And that's only when playing optimally, e.g. opening up new plots of land only when required by quests. It's easy to get first 20 plots of land with the timer starting at 30s per plot and ending at something like 1h30. Then you get a quest 'open 15 plots of land' and by the end your timer is 20h per plot... and then you get 'open 30 plots of land' and your timer goes into hundreds of hours....

[@shric-shriccc134]

In some states (like my own) it is illegal to have a casino, slots, poker games, etc. It's why you have to drive three+ hours in any other state direction to go to a casino. My mil used to go to secret slot places in town and would either win rent or lose it. These places get taken down all the time but they also pop back up. So it's a city/state thing.

[@donotperceiveme6198]

I'm subscribed to a tea "loot box". I get 3-5 samples of 7 different teas each month. They have you do a quiz to decide which teas you typically like but there's also a box you can click to tell them so send a wild card tea to you also so you can try different kinds to expand your taste. You can also go and rate how much you liked each tea sample and they have links to all the shops that they got the tea from, so if you have something you really liked you can go buy it from the company that makes it. I ended up finding a really good Lavender Earl Grey tea that I absolutely love.

[@ApexBrachydios]

I remember one time I went to a subway in a different state to my home state and it was instantly noticeable that the gambling laws were different

[@ItSquishy]

Minecraft youtuber teaches us about our economy while mining a large area of sand

[@markof2116]

i discovered this channel during corona and now i listen to it while doung work for school. It is so nice to see that somebody talks about this things

[@randomtangle4629]

The thing about loot boxes is that you can’t cash out. But, it’s operant conditioning, and they reinforce repetitive actions.

[@AlucardNoir]

I think it's not just about microtrasactions, but also about the mentality behind them. In Paradox games for example, every time you buy a new units pack for your game you increase the immersion your game. In most train or airplane simulators, every time you buy a new cockpit you increase the immersion of that one model. And the thing is, in Paradox you always see the effect of all those small purchases in every game, in a train simulator you only see them if you use that train and most train and airplane enthusiasts aren't equally interested in all planes and trains so they won't acquire all train and plane packs. Both sale some cosmetics that will immerse you more in the simulation, but in one you have the incentive to buy all cosmetic packs while in the other you don't.

[@rubenbronco5803]

By Belgian law, loot boxes in games are gambling and forbidden

[@jackschaefer5750]

A lot of the states have it illegal, but the reservations allow it and have a lot of casinos

[@Mutanttheenby]

In my country Gambling is defined as not knowing what you get when you pay for something

[@josipcuric8767]

Roblox implemented a new rule with loot boxes. Now Roblox loot boxes are a bit different, you usually get the as a prize and 70% of the time you can't buy, but some devs give you the option to buy them with real money in the form of robux. The new rule is that the devloper must show all the possible prizes and percentages to get the prizes, they (Roblox) are also monitoring how every dev monetizes their game with loot boxes and will take action if necessary.

[@egg_addict]

Honestly, I love Apex Legends loot box system. Everything in them is purely cosmetic, and they tell you the exact probabilities of certain drops. For those that don't understand how percentages work, they tell you straight out that the probability of high tier stuff is low, and says that you most likely not get a legendary (highest tier) item for 30 boxes.

[@FuzzyNaiyalism]

You can love how a company does it, but what you described is still highly manipulative. Items can affect the game and how people interact with it without changing the mechanics of the game, and putting probabilities does not help the addictive nature of them. It's not a real argument but machines in casinos will also tell you the probabilities and other things like how much it pays out. But it doesn't tell you they rely on people's misunderstanding of probability and the sunken cost fallacy. Someone might see that legendary item is once in 30 boxes and buy 30 boxes, thinking it's guaranteed. And then when they don't get it, go and buy more because they were just unlucky, and they just need to overpower the bad luck. And this is what the lootboxes are designed to bring on. Unchecked spending. It's the reason for the exchange of real money for a fake currency (casino chips and pachinko balls are classic workarounds for that), the reason why some items are on timers, and the reason for duplicate items. It they gave you what you wanted, you wouldn't keep spending.

[@ecamiran4004]

As someone in the states, its heavily situational. You can host a poker night and nobody will care. Arcades will have slots machine and those ones where you throw a coin in to try and knock the jackpot out or whatever (prices typically only being tickets). Or there will even be some businesses that go up that use those machines, but typically go out if business when n ok body goes there because the restrictions in having those shops are so high that most people will never even notice that it's there as you can't advertise it in any way or show the inside or anything, so you'll typically only find those in lower income areas where it spreads by word of mouth. But beyond those small scale things, and you start to run in to legal issues on non-reservation soil. (Reservations are considered a separate entity of their own and have different rules and regulations in place.)

[@somebodylikesbacon1960]

3:36 **cough cough cough** supercell games **cough cough**

[@aidancahill9924]

Aaaaaaaaaaaa why do they make it so pay to win

[@somebodyinsane1818]

lol what about iskull's treasure island tricking hermits to buy lootbox and literally scam every1's diamond

[@couch_enthusiast8915]

Collecting resources in minecraft is like a clicker game, you're just clicking on the sand or stone or diamonds or endermen etc and watching the stacks rise. At least it pays off in the long run.

[@ApexBrachydios]

on the nintendo dsi you paid for points that you spend on the eshop instead of just buying a game and you could only buy 1000 points at a time, no less. Also, loot boxes often allow for duplicates, so you don't always win something

[@rwallace20012001]

Children with parents credit cards. Parents credit cards. Parents. who let these people be pare.... No don't go there.

[@bleack8701]

Your way of thinking is why nothing is done about it. It's not that people are irresponsible, it's that they're being exploited. If you give your phone to your kid there's no option to just disable all payment options until you enter a password or something. That doesn't exist on consoles either. Your best option is to remove your information every single time and then type it all in again when you're gonna bug something. This process is INTENTIONALLY annoying. Companies have noticed that did they make something annoying to do it will prevent most people from doing it. It's why a lot of the sites that make money through subscriptions make it hard to find out how to cancel the subscription. Not only that, but by default your subscription is automatically renewed so if you sub just to watch 1 thing and then forget to unsubscribe because you're tired, stressed out, etc you'll get billed again and again each month until you track down where your money is going. Payment methods combined with in game monetization is a horrible combination of people being exploited on both sides.

[@rwallace20012001]

@@bleack8701 u r absolutely right we shouldnt be exprcted to use our heads at all should we

[@DetectiveWraith]

You are wrong about phones, because at least on iPhones, enabling parental controls can make it so you need to ask your parent before you are allowed to buy anything. Now that I think about it, the switch has parental controls as well, and the Xbox has a setting you can activate that makes a passcode required. There are all sorts of ways to stop kids from buying things, just parents often don’t realize they exist.

[@brennanforsberg1733]

In preface I have over 1500 hours in Warframe but I've always really admired their payment model. It's a free to play game but there's no loot boxes. You can unlock almost all playable content for free but there are limited slots for weapons and characters that you have to buy, but since the currency is tradable if you farm rare items you can get the premium currency for free. The main thing people pay for is cosmetics when you know exactly what you're getting and prime weapons and warframes which are farmable in game as soon as they come out. They also have a system where community artist work is submitted to the game and you can buy it with money (not in game currency) and the artist compensated. They one time removed a random transaction because people used it too much.

[@KettleFish]

X u make a good point. On Microsoft rewards the other day they had a flip to win game for 100 points. I had a free go and won 1000 points. Ended up blowing the lot (and more) on the game itself because I thought that I would get more back- didn't read the small print showing the chances and ended up making a loss. I was a bit annoyed because I'm usually quite good with this stuff and only did it out of boredom and curiosity. Gambling really shouldn't be targeted as a way to make money as many people lose everything over it.

[@madeleineruusu]

The bunnies following you around are adorable :3 you should have given them some golden carrots!

[@the_22nd_pilot82]

what you were saying about mobile games pay-to-play strategy kinda reminded me of an old Game Theory video. It is really sad to see how companies market those kind of things at kids, like the only game that comes to mind is the mobile Animal Crossing game, where I'll admit I spent money on it and later wondered why on earth I felt like I needed to craft a certain piece of furniture or a certain shirt or whatever, it really does nothing for me in the long run.

[@aarondwyer2163]

I used to play a game called be the king it has loot crates but you always knew what you got. I was banned from the game because I figured out how to get the best rewards and spend the least money. It was kinda funny they said I was cheating cause of everything I had . They have changed the way the system works since then

[@anthonybenavidez2980]

i feel like loot boxes make most games pay to win instead of based on actual skill

[@guesswho2232]

Hey, X! Idk about most other states, but at least here in Wisconsin gambling is illegal*********. The reason it put the asterisks there is because of the Native American Reservations. Now, these are a whole other topic entirely, but essentially the Constitution has little to no control over what happens in them and so, gambling popped up in them. I suppose its just because there was a gap in the market, so people jumped on it. I think LA is a reservation as well (but don’t take my word for it!).There is a really weird exception up here in Milwaukee. It’s called the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. It’s technically part of a reservation..... but its not on a reservation??? I’m not sure how that happened or if it’s even legal. Just some cool info I wanted to share :)

[@gammagalaxy8103]

I know that the state of Alabama is so strict on gambling that they don't even have a lottery. People will drive to neighboring states (like mine) just to buy tickets when there are big jackpots

[@avishkumar2788]

"I have done nothing in my life" - me on my deathbed

[@ploperdung]

12:13 SKITTLES!! YEET!!

[@the_sky_is_blue_and_so_am_I]

Same

[@beatles9880]

so there are lots of types of gambling, two of these categories in the UK are AWP's "amusements with prizes" is your basic fruit machine, only people over 18 are allowed to use, and there are SWP's "Skills with prizes", these are the machines you see in most seaside arcades like the grabber machine penny drops and so on, these machines can be played by children, although the name suggests skill is needed often it also depends on luck. I think that loot boxes could fall into a category like SWP's where children can use them.

[@Rubber_Bandz]

Some of the older Pokémon games with the game corner got higher age ratings in some countries because they had gambling in them

[@skyecase5968]

To answer the illegal gambling question. Yes and No. In some states it is entirely illegal, in other its entirely legal, in other states, sports gambling is illegal, meaning you can't bet on a team to win or lose

[@jack_mackay]

Love the feature from syndicate and Tmartn

[@gingerrik1422]

i am fine with lootboxes as long as you dont have to pay real money

[@nameaccount9598]

I don't think that any person really believes that loot boxes aren't gambling. The only reason some people claim they think it isn't is because they profit from it or are denying their addiction.

[@exlforever]

This is also very good advice, But I was mostly focusing on the sand

[@joshmccarty8800]

That and they will make it where you buy say 600 mine coins for $10 but the map is 700 mine coins. So you either pay $20 for the map or you buy more mine coins and get another map.

[@mickyj0101]

I think, if you are able to buy the loot boxes, then it is gambling but if there is no way to buy the loot boxes, it isn't gambling since you don't pay any money. If you can only get the boxes from, for example, winning games, then I don't think it is gambling. The only issue is that people may end up getting addicted to playing the games to get the loot boxes in the end.

[@Danicker]

I play Texas hold em Poker at my local casino. It's the only thing I gamble money on. I'm about a break-even player so I don't make much money but I get a free night of fun and card with my mates. Gambling is okay if you do it healthily, but it's easy to fall into a downward spiral. A good rule of thumb is: never bet an amount your not prepared to lose, or: mentally 'write off' the money you've put down to play a game and view that as your cost for a good evening

[@freeman9586]

Well, that was unconfortable, playing Factorio while binge-hearing old xisumasays videos and getting called out with doing nothing with my life. But you are right I guess. But now I gotta get back to my Factory, bye.

[@commanderdj]

with the "pay to speed up" process i find myself not doing it because i know it would ruin the experience

[@Hiznogood]

Hear hear! Some wise word there, Xisuma! I too don’t like to gamble with money, and if I do it’s buying a lottery ticket or similar from sporting clubs to support their youth teams. They often cost like £2 and half of it goes to the club. I rather give the £2 directly to the youth club, but that’s not always possible. I never ever will buy a loot box for money or pay for micro transactions. I don’t buy in game money with real money. I rather pay for a full game up front, rather been scammed by AAA games publishers. I do buy DLLs, but only the ones that give real content, not skins an other crap.

[@osmo2384]

with minecoins they actually have the price in your currency next to the purchase box as well as in minecoins so it's not as bad.

[@Roaxial]

Minecoins would definately better if you could get them through achievements

[@charlieanderson5490]

@@Roaxial I don’t think you realize how mine coins work. How would mojang pay the people who made the things. Although I really like the idea of skins being unlocked through achievements

[@Dcat682]

Lootboxes are a fun feature in games. It gives a dopamine rush and can improve RNG heavy games by giving a visual to the randomness. I love Loot Boxes in Overwatch. I'm awarded a box for doing stuff in game and get free stuff. I don't like using real money for loot boxes. It's the same reason I never played Pokemon. I could spend my money to get something I might never use or I could go to ebay and buy the specific card. As long as you can't pay real money for lootboxes they can be a really cool and fun mechanic in games. The problem is where real money is involved.

[@SurpriseTea]

My dislike against loot boxes started before it became considered as gambling by many, because of a simple reason: it was so obvious that it's not a fair game. If game has loot boxes, it's clear indication of intends to give you less bang for your buck. It's clear it has "filler items" like sprays in overwatch solely to lower the changes of getting something actually good.

[@James-k1416]

What do you think about iskall minigame R.U.N is that considered at gamble?

[@cleio81]

I dislike lootboxes intensely. Especially in the pay to win format. Im always happy to help support a company with a good game. But so many of these things are predatory in nature, they take advantage of children who don't know better and adults who just want to have fun with their limited free time. I hope they get regulated hard worldwide.

[@gogojuice1802]

I personally don’t mind the overwatch loot boxes just because how easy it is to get loot boxes like one or two games maybe to get one

[@codebreakeruk6533]

Not just predatory to children, but also to those with mental/learning differences. And as you've already mentioned, people who are more... tof lack of a better wrod, gulible to the dopamine tricks.

[@selvesteraudrin4605]

When he said he said whale strategy i immidiately thought castle clash

[@awesomesauce_3516]

My grandfather had a massive gambling problem. I know how life-ruining it is

[@armil4594]

Keralis is *quaking*

[@lavaking4665]

I only gamble when using in game money that wont affect me and even then i always to my very best to not do it as usually things go wrong and problems arrise

[@rex_tcminecraft9121]

i am ok with anything of the game until it either says watch ad, buy now, or wait for ~~:~~. then I immediately switch to another game

[@idk3284]

If you gambling in game, as long as you don't use real life moneyt's fine But you need to know, Gambling in game is different than irl, Irl, you can lose everything if you gamble

[@palfers8781]

i have never felt good about a microtransaction after i bought it

[@masterdeetectiv9520]

Technically speaking in gambling if you lose you lose money and go in debt but in lootboxes you still always get something, but you don’t know what it is. So lootboxes are more like irresponsible spending

[@aidancahill9924]

It's still gambling though, you don't know what you are going to get and how valuable it will be. If you get an item that you will never use or appreciate, is it really winning anything Hmmmm why am I replying to this a year later I'm really bored ok

[@MasterFalkner]

are trading card packs considered gambling?

[@KarkaranosBuilds]

MasterFalkner In a way, it is since you have the randomness of it, but it also isn’t. It uses game mechanics and techniques that are similar to those behind gambling though.

[@telendar2949]

Yes and no. In a way it is because what you get is random even though there's a logic in the "rarity" of cards contained in packs (for exemple, a MTG booster always contains at least 1 rare and above, 4 uncommon and 10 common). But in another way it doesn't trigger flashy visual and sound effects that will trigger that dopamine rush that gets you hooked more easily.

[@Dornick_]

the thing i dont like about the marketplace is that the creators of things dont always get to decide how many minecoins something costs so that means the free texturepack i use every day costs $50.00 in minecoins i mean what the heck microsoft (microsoft owns bedrock mojang owns java)

[@jacobcoleman4046]

A lot of it comes down to impulse control, if you get preyed on by these systems it is your own fault, there are lots of other addictive things which haven't been banned, like cigarettes, which are way worse for your health and wallet than any microtransaction, lootbox, or gacha game That said systems that prey specifically on child are obviously illegal, but its a lot harder to enforce an over 18 policy online than it is in real life, such as when buying lottery tickets.

[@pspdude2316]

Gambling and the yakuza (Japanese mafia) made the Nintendo company to what it ia today

[@mollof7893]

I am one of those who’re ok with lootboxes that gives skins but am against pay to win. I like how Overwatch does it, they give will give you things you don’t have and when you have everything you’ll get money

[@ghoulishtoast1241]

When I was alot younger, must have been in Year 3 or something like that. I played the Simpsons tapped out game, and since I found out my Mum's apple store password I was able to buy a bunch of donuts for $100 so I could buy a bunch of things faster in the game. My parents were furious and as a kid I didn't really understand what was wrong. I would say micro transactions like that available to even kids should not be allowed.

[@basv458]

Loot boxes in games like cs:go are in the Netherlands forbidden by law since its seen as gambling in reach of younger audience.

[@telendar2949]

Xisuma listening to Yongyea and Jim Sterling I guess ^^

[@Anay_Rohatgi]

yes but in the minecraft bedrock marketplace they also give the currency value along with the original minecoin

[@debishvebishwish4839]

It's unbelievable how tons of Japanese mobile games relies heavily on these "whales" that it is such a normal thing there. Anyone that downloaded a free game is expected to spend money at some point. It's basically pay2win. You spend money to get a CHANCE to get this card or character that depending on tier can boost up your ranking in an event. And different events have different boost card/item.

[@estellefreya]

I heard that the government even had to change the rules because a lot of people complained that after spending tons of money they didn't get the item/card they want (Fate Grand Order?) so now playing gacha games will give you the item you want after a certain amount of money spent, but I'm not really up-to-date with this kinda thing... When you think about it, fukubukuro is also a gamble (especially those that don't show what possible item/set you might get) and it's also a huge thing in Japan :x it doesn't matter that they said you're getting items worth more than what you pay, because no companies want to lose money :/

[@bengoodwin2141]

If you can buy them with real money yes, by definition

[@Not-Lunar]

I'm still slaty about Halo 5 and Battlefront 2

[@MK_MitKit]

Battlefront 2 is actually worth buying now. No more lootboxes, no more pay to win, more content than there was on release and more planned ahead, and on sale for $5 quite often.

[@wwblanch24]

In halo you can easily gain the packs with req points which you can’t buy

[@Not-Lunar]

@@MK_MitKit yeah I am planning to buy it when my pc is up and running

[@Not-Lunar]

@@wwblanch24 you are right but in warzone you can be at a very high level but still don't have basic weapons like a DMR for example and also stuff like armour for example you can onlx grt in loot boxes but in halo reach xou get the by getting credits (which you can't buy with real money too) and buy the armour piece directly and in halo 3 you complete achievements. I just hope that they go to old system in halo Infinite.

[@wwblanch24]

Seek37 I would love a dmr so much, true though

[@WhiteMageTali]

While watching this I thought about Lotto Tickets and scratch offs. Those are considered gambling but legal!

[@endlessenchants9391]

Not legal everywhere. In my state casinos and lottery is illegal. People go to Tennessee to buy lotto tickets

[@WhiteMageTali]

Ooh, I had no Idea. Here in Kansas people spend so much on lottery.