ESRB defends loot boxes.

Discussion in 'Off-Topic' started by Hakija, Oct 11, 2017.

  1. Hakija

    Hakija Chaos Pony Viking

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  2. Damion Sparhawk

    Damion Sparhawk The Missing Link Viking

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    gambling is a simple concept, insert cash, RNG happens, you lose. if you're not guaranteed to get something equal to the value of the money you inserted into the RNGesus machine, then gambling has occured.
     
  3. Hakija

    Hakija Chaos Pony Viking

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    It IS gambling, in a sense. But in the same sense, so is buying a pack of Magic cards.
     
  4. Hollister

    Hollister Fun-Taker Berserker

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    Buying card packs is not gambling, because the lowest amount of physical goods you receive is the amount you paid. If you buy a 3 dollar pack of cards. you will always get at least 3 dollars worth of cards. You may get something higher every now and then, but never under the amount you paid.

    Digital items are not real. you get nothing physical ever. A digital items value is only worth what the person perceives it to be or has a collectible worth in some other way as in achievements. So nothing has a base value as its all digital. Unlike a physical good item that can be sold or traded for something else of value. Unless you can trade or sell the digital items for something else of value, they have zero value in the real world. They are locking game mechanics behind a loot crate gambling system that can and will benefit those that pay more money into it.

    So now they have a really pretty game with a massively loyal customer following that has a gambling game in it, which the house always wins no matter the outcome. yup see no problem here.

    These digital items can also be taken away at a moments notice because they are shutting down servers or change in game parameters.


    while a pokemon card will last forever in the physical world as long as it is taken care of.
     
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  5. Damion Sparhawk

    Damion Sparhawk The Missing Link Viking

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    I mostly agree with Hollister except to say that this is where the concept of 'fair market value' would come into play, one guy could buy a pack of magic cards, decide the rare wasn't worth it, and toss the entire pack in the garbage because to them, it was worthless, and that person might argue that it's gambling because if you don't get a good rare, then you wasted your money. (extreme example sure, but people can be extreme at times) However there've been enough games and collectibles sold over the course of time to grant a certain amount of value to the concept of collectability as well as the value of a physical product itself, regardless of it's value to you, the individual. The ability to collect them might lend a leg to stand on to the digital collectibles as well, if it weren't for the fact that the digital content providers offer no assurance that their collectibles will exist any longer than the game itself, nor do they provide any real ownership of the digital content provided, except within the confines of their controlled environment, and that is entirely at their discretion. So there is no fair market value to even the tokens you might 'win' and neither want nor value yourself, and there's no guarantee anyone else will find value with it in the future market, because there may not -be- a future market, and while sure you might turn around and say there's plenty of collectibles who've ended up with little to no value relatively quickly, even those failures have a chance to grow into a value simply by their obscurity, which you can see if you've ever bothered to watch American Pickers. And even if they turn out to be worthless a Magic card can always provide twenty seconds of entertainment XD.
     
  6. Hollister

    Hollister Fun-Taker Berserker

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    Jim does a wonderful job of smacking these AAA games around.


     
  7. j.p.

    j.p. Well Liked Berserker

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  8. Damion Sparhawk

    Damion Sparhawk The Missing Link Viking

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  9. Hollister

    Hollister Fun-Taker Berserker

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    you seem surprised by the greed that publishers are showing as of late.
     
  10. j.p.

    j.p. Well Liked Berserker

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    A $60 single player game. And of course it has a $40 season pass. And day-one DLC.
     
  11. Damion Sparhawk

    Damion Sparhawk The Missing Link Viking

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    the term you're looking for here is 'disgusted' not 'surprised'
     
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  12. Hollister

    Hollister Fun-Taker Berserker

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  13. Lardaltef

    Lardaltef Well Liked Berserker

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    And all because it needs an internet connection. Wait can you play it without internet?