VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

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darkgodakito
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VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by darkgodakito »

Within the last month or so, the gaming community at large has started to rebel against the idea of having loot boxes and micro-transactions injected into full priced AAA games. What do you think about this practice? Are loot boxes killing gaming? Do they provide unfair advantages to players willing to buy them? Are they manipulating and harming players with vulnerabilities to gambling? Let us know what you think!!

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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by VicMonado »

While it's easy to say that all loot boxes and micro-transactions are bad I do think it is more of a case-by-case basis thing. I think they can be legitimate business models, especially for developers starting out who have put their games out for free as an example. I wouldn't go as far to say as they're killing gaming, more that it's eating away at sections of it (as you mentioned AAA). Yeah where I draw the line is what you're describing as pay to win, that is scummy and shows how much the developer cares about the player's enjoyment. The gambling psychology part is no doubt a factor but I have no solution that isn't oppressive besides raising awareness similar to actual gambling apps and sites.

Very loaded subject had to dramatically cut this down and it's still long-ish.

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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by YotaruVegeta »

(I sure hope that whoever put in a "the" filter is having a blast with it, because I'm not!)

Remember those golden years, when we first played Overwatch, and getting new costumes and sprays was delightful? Yeah, not so much now. People think that it got bad when big corporations like EA decided to put loot boxes in the single player mode of games like Shadow of War. Nope! Where things went wrong is when people decided to stream the opening of 50 loot boxes or more. Yes, companies are getting greedy now, and they're chasing a money trend. Do you blame them, though? They're chasing a trend that we made successful! What they're doing with it (some games, like Star Wars Battlefront 2, have become pay to win) is disastrous, but crack dealers stand outside in bad weather because a lot of crackheads want their fix.

We do this all the time. We say "EA sucks" but still buy their games. We'll also say "loot boxes suck" but people will still participate in this practice, which is even worse than gambling.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by Burst Angel »

I have to say Loot Boxes and Micro-transactions are a doubled edge sword. While I have not yet bought any unless you believe buying gold in WOT is a Micro-transactions. I was Looking forward to getting Shadow or War, Battlefield WWI, Call of Duty WWII, and Star Wars Battle Front II, but when I heard you couldn't much unless you bought Loot Boxes to get better stats, Gear, and Weapons I halted on buying them. I will still get Shadow of war though but I won't be doing any Loot boxers. for I heard that if you buy them early on in the game the loot in them will be obsolete when your character levels up. the other games I probably won't be getting them unless they cut back on items you need to be a good/ decent play. But that will never happen, because companies will never go back to making less for a game if the can make more money from the consumer after buying there $60. games.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by Weltall »

I have but one thing to say about loot boxes. NUTS
Insert witty quote here to prove how smart I is.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by Androes »

Loot boxes are a tool for extracting even more money from gamer after buying the game. Most of this companies already make million from selling million of copies of this games, but apparently that not enough the companies want more money.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by xahldera »

Let me break down the topic question by question.
What do you think about this practice?
It is a travesty. A damning indictment on an industry which no longer cares about making quality products and instead earning large amounts of moolah. The only way this could be more egregious is if the CEO's of all the video game publishing corporations literally threatened you and your family with death or bodily harm unless you handed over large stacks of cash to avoid this. If they cannot make a game that is able to make enough money from the offset, they should perhaps look into a different industry, like real estate or stocks and securities. I accept gaming is not a charity but by that same token I can vote with my wallet and leave if I think your product is not worth my time or greenbacks.
Are loot boxes killing gaming?
They have for me personally. The nonsense around lootboxes has gotten so bad I have not touched a game in two months and I have no inclination to look at any, even any of the more interesting indie titles that aren't yet infected by the need for microtransactions and lootboxes. And this is not just because I'm far too busy at work. This time last year during the silly season at work I was still able to put aside some time to do a quick bit of gaming. Not anymore. It's gotten that bad that I've found solace in "old man" hobbies like ham radio and photography. At least I do not have to insert my credit card details to unlock features in my DSLR camera or two way radio (And hopefully that won't happen)!

If the lootboxes continue to infest other games, I can only see gamers being put off so badly that at best, they will just play old games over and over again or buy second hand copies of old games with nothing going to the publishers for newer titles, or at worst, they do what I do and just not play and buy any games at all and get driven to other interests. Like me. :P
Do they provide unfair advantages to players willing to buy them?
Some of them do. But even if they don't provide any direct advantages, as Jim Sterling put it, they create this atmosphere where you see other players with the new, shiny stuff and it makes you jealous and want the new, shiny stuff. The publishers engender this environment of "haves" and "have nots". And if it does provide a "pay to win" strategy, that only makes things worse.
Are they manipulating and harming players with vulnerabilities to gambling?
Yes! See above. I've personally probably spent more than I should've on microtransactions in some free-to-play games I've played in the past. At least those were exactly that, free to play. But when microtransactions and lootboxes appear in full price games, that just seems cheeky. Jim Sterling covered this repeatedly but it bears repeating again. The games publishers are obsessed with funnelling cash from you into their coffers and that of the various nameless, faceless investors who are only interested in ensuring that whatever money they get from the games industry goes into their pension plan hedge fund or their 5 luxury yachts and the best way to do that is to just make paying through the nose for "just cosmetic" stuff and "unfair advantages" far too addictive to resist for certain vulnerable people. This is no better than the slot machines and table games in Vegas designed to keep getting you to keep playing to the point where you lose your shirt off your back.

My apologies for the long rambling reply. TL;DR: Lootboxes suck and make me sad and not play video games.
Last edited by xahldera on Fri Dec 22, 2017 1:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by LordArmorBaron »

When it comes lootboxes they should not be in full price AAA games, maybe free-to-play since they are free. Lootboxes make games unfair really quickly like how in UFC you can buy better punches and go online to fight others in ranked matches. So imagine you are put in a match and the person who pays more can now beat you in 30 seconds while you just try to block anything coming at you since you decided not to pay. Mostly of the free-to-play games push lootboxes and are built to have a plateau effect in which they want you to pay more spend hundreds of hours to get to the next stage, or stop play. I would not want games like the Witcher, FF(insert number here), Uncharted, and others to start putting lootboxes in all games.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by thatanimeguy »

I wouldn't say that lootboxes or micro-transactions are "killing gaming" as a whole, it's just killing my drive to play games. I think this topic is an extension of the trend of games having basically necessary pieces of story and game play be DLC's rather than putting out the whole game. Video game companies are facing the same problem that Hollywood faces, they've made it too fucking expensive to create content. Developers feel that they have to milk every cent out of a game and lootboxes and micro-transactions are a piece of developers trying to do that.
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Re: VGP 292 Discussion Topic: Loot boxes and Micro-transactions

Post by vailreth »

Unfortunately, thatanimeguy, the information seems to point toward a different scenario in general. in the reality, for most Companies the prices of R and D, Production and in general marketing have either remained the same or gone down sometimes faster than inflation has increased. https://youtu.be/0qq6HcKj59Q No, microtransactions and LootBoxes in AAA gaming are pure avarice... they are making record profits before even before these additions.
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