Well, it seems the controversy of this week is going to come winding down as ESRB has said that do not find loot boxes to be gambling. They base this off of the idea that they are like trading card games in the fact you are getting some return. For example, when buying a pack of trading cards you are guaranteed 5 cards. Or like a booster pack for Magic the Gathering a certain set of regular, a certain set of uncommon, and a rare.
I really feel want to fight this more but then at some point, I will be picking hairs here. I also don't think I know enough about the psychological effects behind these to use it as a stand-alone argument either. There has been a lot of talk about how these are a prime example of a Skinner's box, which is used in the operant conditioning of animals. This is something I need to think a little on but there seems to be a good case for the analogy I'll visit later.
While you can almost certainly argue that a lot of trading card games and even trading cards themselves are gambling there is a far greater certainty in a pack of MtG cards then what you are getting from a loot crate. Take for example Star Wars Force Arena. When you get a pack you are guaranteed a certain number of cards but the rarity is never guaranteed. You are essentially hoping to get something rare or you can get skunked out with just commons. This is far from the certainty of a MtG pack, granted the rare you get there might not be the best as well. On the other hand, it would be difficult to quantify value from in-game loot.
While the ESRB was created by large video game companies I am not suspecting foul play here. They do hold the club of the genuinely feared AO rating above everyone's heads so it's best to be judicious with it. I think they genuinely believe value can be seen to be gained here. Although most of us who have been sucked into a plethora of loot crate openings and learning the unpleasantness of getting the same trash over and over again will politely disagree. Especially because they can see it as all in game even if you do get a better item, which is a fair point. It will all immediately lose value as everyone moves to the next title anyways.
At this point with an authority like this falling so distinctly to one side and the government being the way it is, there will most likely be no actions towards it. The action has to be from the consumers not supporting this business practice. Do I see this happening? No. It's really hard to tell people not to play the new Star Wars Battlefield if they just don't care about the loot crates. It's a solid title and others are fine with letting the "whales" of the industry supporting their free or in this case, not free experience. I will be honest, I just don't like them so my opinion being objective here might not be very likely.
I really feel want to fight this more but then at some point, I will be picking hairs here. I also don't think I know enough about the psychological effects behind these to use it as a stand-alone argument either. There has been a lot of talk about how these are a prime example of a Skinner's box, which is used in the operant conditioning of animals. This is something I need to think a little on but there seems to be a good case for the analogy I'll visit later.
While you can almost certainly argue that a lot of trading card games and even trading cards themselves are gambling there is a far greater certainty in a pack of MtG cards then what you are getting from a loot crate. Take for example Star Wars Force Arena. When you get a pack you are guaranteed a certain number of cards but the rarity is never guaranteed. You are essentially hoping to get something rare or you can get skunked out with just commons. This is far from the certainty of a MtG pack, granted the rare you get there might not be the best as well. On the other hand, it would be difficult to quantify value from in-game loot.
While the ESRB was created by large video game companies I am not suspecting foul play here. They do hold the club of the genuinely feared AO rating above everyone's heads so it's best to be judicious with it. I think they genuinely believe value can be seen to be gained here. Although most of us who have been sucked into a plethora of loot crate openings and learning the unpleasantness of getting the same trash over and over again will politely disagree. Especially because they can see it as all in game even if you do get a better item, which is a fair point. It will all immediately lose value as everyone moves to the next title anyways.
At this point with an authority like this falling so distinctly to one side and the government being the way it is, there will most likely be no actions towards it. The action has to be from the consumers not supporting this business practice. Do I see this happening? No. It's really hard to tell people not to play the new Star Wars Battlefield if they just don't care about the loot crates. It's a solid title and others are fine with letting the "whales" of the industry supporting their free or in this case, not free experience. I will be honest, I just don't like them so my opinion being objective here might not be very likely.
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