Loot boxes FINALLY being investigated by UK Government

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

Gimpymoo

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49661870

So, better late than never after Belgium and Holland took action.

The industry needs to take a SERIOUS look at itself, these things have been a SCAM since day 1 with some developers being worse then others, Electronic Arts and TakeTwo being the biggest culprits along with the king of Loot box, Epic Games.

Games like Fortnite are mostly complete garbage with a gambling element thrown in and it can have a negative effect on a childrens health.

I banned Fortnite in the house very early on having seen how trash the game was and the loot box element was the decider for me.

Interesting to see what EA do with Fifa Ultimate Team as I think it is scary how much cash that generates from gullible children.

The recent NBA2K games have basically been a Casino with a basketball mini-game thrown in.

The US government is also investigating.

Serves them right but as we all know, they will just work around it.

I wonder if the Epic Games Store cash will now dry up and if they will continue bribing developers with Fortnite cash?

Without the Fortnite cash, can Epic continue wooing developers with upside guarantees?
 
physichull said:
Its something that concerns me with children playing these games also. It introduces a lot of peer pressure from friends who have more affluent parents who can afford to splash the cash a bit more and bend to their children's wishes than those who cannot afford to do so. It potentially introduces another form of bullying and that pressure culture well and truly exists already in schools.
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You are spot on with those comments.

I seen through it early doors and banned it from the house.

It creates "haves and haves not" culture which some children are not equipped to deal with.
 
V F said:
This is no different than the Panini sticker album days in the 90s with those extreme rare stickers. Or even collector cards like Pokemon.
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Except loot box items cannot be traded with other plays for the most part so a BIG difference.
 
MegaPinches said:
I'd like to see the gaming industry burn from this for a while and from the ashes we might get back to actual gaming and not playing dress up and OCD collecting crap.
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"here here"

My thoughts exactly.

I dislike using "Fortnite" as the example of the bad guy in the room but personally, it is a micro transaction simulator primarily and a game second.

AAA Games are all about squeezing the consumer for all they can get and worring about the game after that.
 
MegaPinches said:
Who are you to deny people life lessons, its up to people to hang themselves in they want. If there were no tests of will power how would anyone grow as a person. Ban drinking, smoking, fast food, stock market then shall we as well? unethical gambling like rigged FOBT's and the like as they are a con and are not RNG but upfront forms of gambling are fair game.
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Grown adults are one thing, targeting primary school kids and making them feel like **** is another.
 
Rofflay said:
It is not just EA the goverment allow this and would allow it if you all shut up because at the end of the day this makes people work more to buy skins which sloshes about the money making it all more taxable.

I personally think this thread goes deeper than loot boxes
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I hear you.
 
Malevolence said:
You know what's going to happen, rather than taking the fight to the companies like EA *spit* who think loot boxes are OK or telling parents to take control of what their children do online our government will try to enact some ill thought out scheme whereby you have to sign up to some third party website with your real life ID just so you can play a ******* game.
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They will likely just "Tax" Loot boxes :D
 
It is even more of a problem when PREMIUM games utilise the freemium business model, it just feels like a giant scam and for the most part, has almost ruined gaming with a generation accepting it as the "norm" sadly.
 
BowdonUK said:
Also add in the peer pressure element. The fact that there is peer pressure on skins tells the story. The peer pressure should be on how well they play the game.
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Playing as a "Default" skin nowadays is the equivalent of turning upto school in a pair of Sunday market trainers. Players are judged by their "Skin". That is such a fail in more ways than one.
 
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