Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)

EA Access is well worth it tho... :shifty:

Hime wrote:Does that article have definitive proof that a developer has artificially padded a game to make loot boxes more appealing?

No... it is an opinion piece. But an example can be seen in Shadows of War where, after the main storyline has been completed, the remaining quests are geared for higher character levels / numbers... which can more easily be acquired from the randomised loot boxes than through.

Like I said in the Forza thread, I shall not be purchasing any game with any kind of loot box bullshit in there. The only one I have in my current library is Rocket League and I'm pretty sure they added that quite some time after launch.

Glad GameCentral and other sites are starting to take notice and hopefully spread the word.

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:Like I said in the Forza thread, I shall not be purchasing any game with any kind of loot box bullshit in there. The only one I have in my current library is Rocket League and I'm pretty sure they added that quite some time after launch.

Glad GameCentral and other sites are starting to take notice and hopefully spread the word.

Indeed; i would like to at least play shadow of war at some point, but i'm definitely not in a hurry and will probably wait to buy it second hand on console from one of my local indie shops if possible; WB get no money from the sale and i'm not supporting GAME either.

Their inclusion in forza is the most unpleasant for me; a genre and franchise which seemed to be avoiding all that nonsense. Given the pseudo-vegas setting of the new need for speed and the fact that ubisoft is on the crew 2, i expect lootboxes in both. Oh well, saves me money i suppose.

Trelliz wrote:The ESRB has ruled that lootboxes aren't gambling however as they are funded by publishers this is hardly surprising.

I think this is going to require legislation to fix.

It's a bit depressing when China has better regulations on loot boxes than we do.

EA haven't had a single penny off me this gen, and this is coming from someone who bought loads of EA games last gen including buying Mass Effect and FIFA games on multiple platforms.

What a fall from grace.

Edit: Dead Space, Skate and Mirrors Edge too

Loot boxes just make me feel old and confused.

I see them when playing Gears of War 4 on the very rare occasion I put the game on. I am bombarded with loads of boxes that I missed and they are full of tickets and cards I don't care about. There is an option to flip each card tantalisingly slowly, I cannot think of anything more dull. I have a restricted time to play nowadays and don't want to spend the first twenty minutes turning cards over that contain digital nothings.

Winckle wrote:
Trelliz wrote:The ESRB has ruled that lootboxes aren't gambling however as they are funded by publishers this is hardly surprising.

I think this is going to require legislation to fix.

I do not envy anyone who wants to try to explain lootboxes to politicians.

Trelliz wrote:
Winckle wrote:
Trelliz wrote:The ESRB has ruled that lootboxes aren't gambling however as they are funded by publishers this is hardly surprising.

I think this is going to require legislation to fix.

I do not envy anyone who wants to try to explain lootboxes to politicians.

Just go with "Think of the children!" and you'll get enough votes.

The only times I've hard to deal with loot boxes are...

Rocket League (doesn't bother me too much apart from ending up on teams of people who are there farming the crates and not playing the actual game)

...and...

The Division (can you buy those with real money? Even if you can't they're strawberry floating annoying as you spend more time inventory managing all the gooseberry fool that comes out of them than playing the actual game)

Like others, I am instantly turned off any game that has micro transactions or multiple versions on day 1 where you need to be an expert to figure out exactly what you need to be buying for a complete game.

Where would physical loot boxes like Loot Crate etc. fall in this debate? The principle is similar in that you pay a set amount of money to receive a bunch of items with no idea what you're getting until you open it often meaning it could be a bunch of stuff you have no interest in, surely that's just as much of a gamble as digital loot boxes.

samoza wrote:Loot boxes just make me feel old and confused.

This.

I hate how gaming culture has changed over the past decade, I can't get my head around why things like microtransacttions, loot boxes and season passes are an acceptable part of gaming for so many people - they're just such bad value and nothing more than a means of extracting extra cash from consumers for meaningless tat.

IAmTheSaladMan wrote:Where would physical loot boxes like Loot Crate etc. fall in this debate? The principle is similar in that you pay a set amount of money to receive a bunch of items with no idea what you're getting until you open it often meaning it could be a bunch of stuff you have no interest in, surely that's just as much of a gamble as digital loot boxes.

Those are physical items which you can give away or sell and have some inherent real value - they are a non-issue as you haven't bought anything else first beforehand.

Trelliz wrote:
IAmTheSaladMan wrote:Where would physical loot boxes like Loot Crate etc. fall in this debate? The principle is similar in that you pay a set amount of money to receive a bunch of items with no idea what you're getting until you open it often meaning it could be a bunch of stuff you have no interest in, surely that's just as much of a gamble as digital loot boxes.

Those are physical items which you can give away or sell and have some inherent real value - they are a non-issue as you haven't bought anything else first beforehand.

That's a good point, I hadn't thought of it like that. I'm just not really a fan of buying something without knowing what you're getting, Same goes for CCGs and blind bags etc.

IAmTheSaladMan wrote:
Trelliz wrote:
IAmTheSaladMan wrote:Where would physical loot boxes like Loot Crate etc. fall in this debate? The principle is similar in that you pay a set amount of money to receive a bunch of items with no idea what you're getting until you open it often meaning it could be a bunch of stuff you have no interest in, surely that's just as much of a gamble as digital loot boxes.

Those are physical items which you can give away or sell and have some inherent real value - they are a non-issue as you haven't bought anything else first beforehand.

That's a good point, I hadn't thought of it like that. I'm just not really a fan of buying something without knowing what you're getting, Same goes for CCGs and blind bags etc.

They are the perfect storm of artificial scarcity and behavioural conditioning; two things which are inherently anti-consumer.

Microtransactions have tripled the value of the games industry

Well, there it is.

Looks like loot boxes are here to stay then

It's become an unstoppable force so my reaction is to just ignore it and everything to do with it. I'll sink deeper into the tide of amazing indie and lower budget games that come out so often that I literally can't keep up with it, only popping my head out for the odd AAA gem like Dishonored 2 and Prey.

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Ironhide wrote:I hate how gaming culture has changed over the past decade, I can't get my head around why things like microtransacttions, loot boxes and season passes are an acceptable part of gaming for so many people - they're just such bad value and nothing more than a means of extracting extra cash from consumers for meaningless tat.

In a market crowded with consumer choice, it's all about publishers making more money out of the customers they do have. I'm not saying it's right, just that is what it is.

Paid content in videogames (DLC, season passes, micro transactions and loot boxes)

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